Hey guys!

I agree with most of your quibbles regarding these two classic stories. Wish I had the time to enter a thorough analysis, but I'll leave Axel f to do that (and he does it well!)

I loved both "The Silurians" and "The Sea Devils" - to quote the DVD packaging, they are 'quintessential Pertwee'.
My only major gripe with both stories was the appalling incidental music (and I thought "The Silurians" was too long, at least by one part. Incidentally, I thought it was Part 5 that had the bad picture quality)

Incidentally, I never liked Mike Yates all that much - the part would have been much better if it had been given to Paul Darrow, methinks.
Oh, and I thought the Sea Devils were some of the best designed monsters from the Pertwee era and the story itself is an all round classic........by far the best Pertwee/Master story of them all (gotta love their sword fight!).

To preempt Axel F., I'm going to say that "Warriors of the Deep" wasn't all that bad this time around. (it was a lot better than Johnny 'Wanky-wank' Byrne's other contributions.) The major let-downs of this story were Ingrid Pitt and the Myrka.....I thought that apart from that it was quite reasonable, not fantastic, but not bad either.

WARRIORS OF THE DEEP

So we come to the infamous Season 21 opener.

This story is one that raises many questions - not all of them good.

This stage of the show's life sees it at an artistic nadir.

Further pandering to Ian Levine's ideas, JNT seemed determined to create 'fan based tales' rather than stories for the general audience.

Considering Levine's input, it's curious to the numerous continuity problems within. 

Why are the Sea Devils sub-servient to the Silurians?  Aren't they meant to be equal?

How did Icthar survive the bombing in The Silurians?  It seems as if there is a story missing in between The Silurians and Warriors explaining this....has this been taken up in a Missing Adventures novel I wonder?

Why does the Doctor still call them Silurians when in The Sea Devils he clearly states that 'Silurian' was the wrong term for them?

None of those things make any sense, which really let down the story.

The basic plot by Johnny Byrne is actually quite sound - the Cold War themes suit the Silurian/Sea Devil strand - it's just that the execution is so poorly done.

A huge problem is the Silurians and Sea Devils aren't Byrne's characters.  There is a touch of remoteness to things which lack the moral compass of Malcolm Hulke's writings.

I found it frustrating that the Silurians were revealed in the story's first few minutes, therefore robbing things of any suspense.  This reflects overall however with the lack of tension being noticeable.

Again, questions are raised - why do Tegan and Turlough show a lack of remorse at the Doctor's apparent drowning?  Why does he leave the Tardis door unlocked so that the sea base personnel can enter it?

Plus if the Myrka attacks the sea base, why doesn't it flood??

The realisation of the Myrka is appalling - something that bedevilled the loose outfits of the Silurian and Sea Devil costumes...although I did like the Sea Devil re-design in general.

The performances are far too theatrical to suit the tv medium - making the characters deliver stilted dialogue.  Action should flow naturally instead of being forced - something ignored here.  This aspect plagued the majority of the JNT era.

The kung-fu capers of Ingrid Pitt are unintentionally amusing - providing the only genuine mirth in the whole story!

Overall the story does have its merits - let down by a really rushed and terrible production.

The dvd itself is pretty good, with great picture and sound.

'The Depths' feature is very amusing, with Peter Davison and Janet Fielding making a fine pair.  You can't go wrong when Davison lets fly with his opinions, and he's in fine form here.

The other extras are reasonable, shedding more light on the Myrka's horror.

As a start to Season 21, it's pretty bad....although I most certainly prefer this to a lot of the McCoy era stories.

It's sad that JNT was resistant to using previous writers/directors who were used to the series' dynamics.  I understand his need for new blood, but a few 'old timers' certainly wouldn't have hurt to steer things correctly.

The 'Beneath the Surface' box set in general is well thought out and hopefully 2Entertain can maintain their increasing high standards with their future output.

There's a lot to say about Warriors. And some of it's even positive. I missed ep 1 on first transmission, so the introductory cliff hanger with Turlough pronouncing the Doctor dead rang very false indeed! When this was released on VHS, the ABC had an ad for the tape focusing on the killer satellite attack at the start -- an otherwise completely forgettable scene.

I'd guess the Sea Devils are sub-serviant because the still have no character! Scales of Injustice was the Virgin Missing Adventure which attempted to fill in the gap, its author Gary Russell is known as a continuity wonk to put it politely. Apart from the laughable Myrka the rest of the production is merely poor, the monster needs to be parodied as a pantomime horse.

I'm not entirely dismissive of Byrne, while he managed a string of absolute stinkers for Who (Keeper of Traken, Arc of Infinity and this) he always had interesting ideas. The fact that JNT turned to him for two season openers says that he saw Byrne as a dependable worker if nothing else.

THE TIME MEDDLER

The finale to Season 2 sees the show in a transitional phase.

The recent departure of Ian and Barbara and the upcoming behind the scenes changes shows the seeds for Hartnell's own farewell being sown.

Whilst Hartnell would continue for another season and a bit, the program and the times were changing.

New companion Steven Taylor has a good first story which showcases his inquisitive nature and fearlessness in combat.  His interaction with Vicki makes for a good team-up.

The Meddling Monk as played by Peter Butterworth has an almost mischievous Patrick Troughton-esque quality to it.  It's interesting that the Monk isn't exactly a villain, but a misguided idealist who believes he is making the world a better place. 

This part of the story robbed some much needed suspense somewhat, with his character not really posing much of a threat.  However Butterworth's enthusiasm in playing the role is clear to see.

It's refreshing seeing 'the primitives' in the forests showing some intelligence for once, using their wits over endless agression.

The story moves along at a reasonable pace for a mid 60s adventure and maintains interest. 

One of the very rare instances of seeing every four corners of a Tardis is seen when Steven and Vicki explore the Monk's machine. It was a pity that not much was spoken about the Doctor's and the Monk's pasts....which I think would have made the story more compelling.

Was there an explanation as to how the Monk escaped his confines at the end of the story? Was a Missing Adventure made of this I wonder?

I found it amusing that throughout the story Steven kept referring to the Doctor as 'Doc' - something which Tegan herself would say many times to the first Doctor in 'The Five Doctors' - I wonder if Terence Dicks took this bit out and put it into his later script??

I'm not usually a huge fan of the first Doctor stories, although I must say that William Hartnell was great in this - showing why he was the perfect actor at the time for the role.  His old man persona cleverly disguised his analytical mind and zeal to capture the evildoers.  I'd go so far as to say I think this is one of the best Hartnell performances I've seen thus far.

I noticed the story followed the same template as previous ones, by having Hartnell absent for an episode - in this case episode 2.  I think this was common practice until the beginning of the Pertwee era, which ensured the Doctor appeared in every episode hereafter.

As for the dvd itself....the picture quality is reasonable, although I perhaps wouldn't expect too much considering the age of the material.  What's on display is certainly better than the VHS version for sure.

The extras are somewhat light on, with a documentary on the story sadly missing.

The pick though is 'Stripped for Action - The First Doctor in comics' which is a great feature in the early forays into comic strips.  This is a very interesting doco which I hope is repeated for the other Doctors - which judging by the way it's presented appears to be the case.

Overall the story is pretty good and holds the attention better than other Hartnell tales.  The dvd's tribute to Verity Lambert is a nice touch for a woman who was a trail blazer in every sense.

After the Doctor found the gramophone, Radio Times printed a letter from an irate viewer about this historical inaccuracy. I think it's quite rude to let someone who obviously shouldn't have access to the media by dint of mental incapacity show themselves up in a national forum like that.

"The DVD's tribute to Verity Lambert is a nice touch for a woman who was a trail blazer in every sense."

Since I found out about the passing away of Verity Lambert, I was sad (she is the Godmother of the show) and I was also interested as to what the BBC will do in tribute to her (especially in regard to Dr Who).
What's the special feature you mentioned above really like, Axel F? Does it do her justice? How in-depth does it go? Do you think more will come along about her? (I hope so)

Coming soon........."The 5 Doctors" - Special edition
(I'm really looking forward to all the special features on those DVDs!)

There are 2 small tributes to Verity Lambert on the Time Meddler dvd.

The first one is a text essay on her achievements, listing most of the tv work she did.

The second is a photo gallery of her at work throughout the years.

Sadly there isn't a real documentary as such.....although one would assume it will be included in a future 1st Doctor release.  I hope there will be as I think fans owe Verity a great deal for her contribution to Who lore.

Yes I'm looking forward to the new Five Doctors dvd - although BBC plays the 'dvd double dipping' game as well as the others it seems!!!

Having said that, maybe 2Entertain can
re-release Spearhead in Space with a better extras package - for such a landmark story it deserves one.

I didn't enjoy "The Time Meddler" (found it rather boring) but I'd really like to see the special features about Verity Lambert.
Somehow I'll have to arrange to see them without watching the main feature!

Apparently - since 2006 I think - "The Chase" has been scheduled for release. Even though it is a silly story, I still quite liked it....and if it is the next Hartnell release, let's hope that it will contain substantially more tributes to the late, great founder of Dr Who.

Axel F, as for your prediction about "Spearhead from Space", I have noticed that you have an uncanny ability to stay in tune with the logic(?) of the BBC/2entertain's DVD future release schedules...so I wouldn't be at all surprised if this Pertwee classic is soon re-released with a smorgasboard of special features.
So after looking into the tea leaves, Axel F, what do you foresee as:
a) the possible features on the re-release of "Spearhead from Space"  and
b) what do you think will be the possible future DVD releases for the rest of 2008 and for 2009? (please foresee an imminent release of "Kinda"/"Snakedance" in a boxed set )

Ha ha, well I'm not psychic, but I like to at least dream of what may come next!!!

For the Spearhead re-release it definately should have a doco on the genesis of the 3rd Doctor's reign - how Pertwee came to be cast, the establishment of the new format and the show's move into colour.

Plenty of material for the extras methinks.  An updated audio commentary featuring Terence Dicks wouldn't go astray either.  Maybe the photocall broadcast on the BBC about Pertwee's casting can be including as well.

As for what's up next....going by the obvious I would imagine that a Kinda/Snackdance box set would be in the works, plus a box set for...

The E Space Trilogy
The Black Guardian Trilogy
The 2 Peladon stories
Trial of a Timelord

I still think that even though Claws of Axos has already been released, 2entertain should consider releasing a box set of the 8th 'Delgado Master' season.

By having more box set releases that way more stories can be released quicker, instead of the dribbles of individual stories over the years.

Excellent ideas - boxed sets are the way to go because they allow us to view ongoing narratives in Dr Who stories (eg Peladon, the Mara, the Black Guardian, etc)and they certainly do help prevent us from having to wait for dribs and drabs of releases like we had to endure throughout the whole of the 1990s when the stories were released on VHS.
(I think your guesses as to what boxed sets are to come are quite educated - but I certainly won't be hurrying out to get the Black Guardian trilogy ("Terminus" and "Enlightenment" are in my opinion Davison's 2 worst stories) and I found the E-Space trilogy to be a right bore (though, I admit that as both you and Martin have argued so many times before, the concept was good)

I'd really like to get a Kinda/Snackdance box set but I think your idea about a Master box set from Season 8 would be difficult to implement - for a start, which stories would be included? "The Daemons" has already been cleared for release by the BBC and the British Board of Film Classification, so it's release will be sooner than later. And if the boxed set were to have "The Mind of Evil" (a classic story!), there would be all the associated problems of it only really existing in black and white. That just leaves "Colony in Space" which is the weak link of Season 8 and "Terror of the Autons" (possibly the best of Season 8?)....now if they were to release a boxed set of any of these stories it must be obvious that there are a number of problems - I'm thinking that it may be a good move to put the re-release of "Spearhead from Space" in a boxed set with "Terror of the Autons" and "The Daemons" - now that's a good idea (if I do say so myself!). The boxed set's themes would therefore include the introduction of the Pertwee years, the introduction of colour, the introduction of The Master, two of the most significant clashes between the 3rd Doctor and the Master and a sort-of conclusion to this clash between Time Lords with The Master's capture in "The Daemons". OK - so what do you think of this as a boxed set???
Incidentally, did you know that "The Trial of a Timelord" will be released as a box set this year? And we are also getting a rather odd other boxed set too in the form of "The Invisible Enemy" (a funny old classic) and "K9 and Company" (a complete embarrassment) - again, 2entertain are selling a classic with a load of rubbish in order to get the rubbish out of the way!

I think your ideas for extras on "Spearhead from Space" sound excellent - I especially would like to see the features on the show's move into colour and the photocall broadcast on the BBC about Pertwee's casting...they would certainly be both informative and very enjoyable.

Not sure about putting K9 and Co with The Invisible Enemy - one of many odd decisions by 2entertain!

Well if for various reasons Season 8 can't be produced in a box set, your ideas seem sound.

The re-release of Spearhead would mix well with The Terror of the Autons...and maybe perhaps as a side feature on one of those discs include the first ep of the new series featuring the Autons as well???

I've mentioned this before, but what I would love to see on the Trial of a Timelord box set is a re-construction of the original ending by Robert Holmes/Eric Saward - maybe in animated form?

Also perhaps an examination of the original Season 23 highlighting what we would have seen.

I reckon they should do an animated show based on these original scripts, just to see how things could have turned out.

Wouldn't the Mind of Evil be colourised in some way?  Seems strange why they went to so much trouble to colourise The Silurians and Terror of the Autons and not that one.

Whilst I agree the Black Guardian trilogy did have its many faults, at least it provided a focus - something the rest of season 20 lacked.

Hopefully 2entertain will be good enough to release more dvds at a better schedule...I'm rather upset that their delay in releasing all of the Hartnell stories has robbed fans of hearing any more of what Verity Lambert had to say about certain stories.

If things are delayed too often, sometimes it can be too late.........

Axel F., you have brought up a number of very imoportant points and I'm going to try to them here (I hope it'll make sense):

As for the special features for "The Trial of A Timelord", here they are (courtesy 'Dr Who Online):

Trial of a Time Lord - DVD due
News Dated: 20/2/2008

The BBFC website have confirmed that Trial of a Timelord will be released on DVD this year.

The Trial of a Time Lord has the following cleared DVD extras:

The Mysterious Planet

00:02:16:15 DOCTOR WHO (TITLE SEQUENCE - TEXTLESS)
00:03:06:10 DOCTOR WHO (THEME MUSIC REMIX)
00:02:47:12 UNTITLED (THE TRIAL THEME)
00:06:29:12 THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - COLLECTION 1 - PHOTO GALLERY
00:14:22:11 WOGAN (ARCHIVAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE)
00:06:49:08 UNTITLED (BLUE PETER - 18/09/86 - ARCHIVAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE)
00:09:57:14 DOCTOR WHO (TRAILS AND CONTINUITIES)
00:01:13:06 UNTITLED (35MM FILM SEQUENCE)
00:02:21:10 POINTS OF VIEW
00:08:26:14 DOCTOR WHO - THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET - DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES
00:24:58:12 THE MAKING OF THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - PART ONE - MYSTERIOUS PLANET

Mindwarp

00:06:55:06 THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - COLLECTION 2 - PHOTO GALLERY
00:03:14:22 BBC CHILDREN IN NEED (ARCHIVAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE)
00:04:33:16 DOCTOR WHO (LENNY HENRY SKETCH)
00:21:00:10 DOCTOR WHO - NOW AND THEN - ON THE TRAIL OF A TIME LORD (FEATURETTE)
00:03:29:22 UNTITLED (TRAILS AND CONTINUITIES)
00:05:34:11 TV TALKBACK (ARCHIVAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE)
00:09:01:15 DOCTOR WHO - MINDWARP - DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES
00:02:21:17 UNTITLED (A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH - FEATURETTE)
00:20:20:15 THE MAKING OF THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - PART TWO - MINDWARP

Terror of the Vervoids

00:05:53:16 THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - COLLECTION 3 - PHOTO GALLERY
00:07:30:10 UNTITLED (SATURDAY PICTURE SHOW - ARCHIVAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE)
00:28:18:05 NOW GET OUT OF THAT - DOCTOR WHO CLIFFHANGERS (FEATURETTE)
00:03:12:11 DOCTOR WHO (TRAILS AND CONTINUITIES)
00:14:02:23 DOCTOR WHO - TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS - DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES
00:10:55:24 DOCTOR WHO - THE LOST SEASON (FEATURETTE)
00:19:14:18 THE MAKING OF THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - PART THREE - TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS

The Ultimate Foe

00:04:59:15 THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - COLLECTION 4 - PHOTO GALLERY
00:10:27:10 OPEN AIR (ARCHIVAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE)
00:13:30:17 SATURDAY SUPERSTORE (ARCHIVAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE)
00:55:04:08 TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS (BEHIND THE SCENES)
00:03:53:05 UNTITLED (1985 HIATUS - MEDIA FOOTAGE)
00:00:57:23 DOCTOR WHO - COMING SOON TO DVD... - THE BRAIN OF MORBIUS (TRAILER)
00:00:13:20 DOCTOR WHO(TRAILS AND CONTINUITIES 1)
00:00:22:03 UNTITLED (TRAILS AND CONTINUITIES 2)
00:00:33:15 UNTITLED (TRAILS AND CONTINUITIES 3)
00:04:35:01 DOCTOR WHO - THE ULTIMATE FOE - DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES
00:03:43:12 UNTITLED (DOCTOR IN DISTRESS - MUSIC VIDEO)
00:15:11:03 THE MAKING OF THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD - PART FOUR - THE ULTIMATE FOE

This is likely to be a box-set and features Colin Baker as The 6th Doctor.

[Source: BBFC]

I'm sure you'll have a lot to say about all these features, dude - especially the inclusion of "Doctor in Distress"

Martin or the Doctor Who Restoration Team would be able to answer why "the Mind of Evil" can't be colourised like "Terror of the Autons" etc (I think it's got something to do with there being no colour prints from off air sources or video recordings which can be used to facilitate the process of restoring the balck and white versions to the former colourised glory - now that's just layman's knowledge, it's best to go to Martin or the Doctor Who Restoration Team about this one.

The Black Guardian trilogy was the worst part of the Davison years - I thought it totally sucked (Valentine Dyall's over-acting was irritating to say the least, Turlough was too creepy, "Termius" was an utter bore with lousy acting, a very poor script/story and possibly the silliest looking monsters in the show's history (is that thing a space dog on steroids?) - and as for "Enlightenment", the whole supporting cast did their fair share of over and under acting. The greatest cringe moment in the show's history has to go to Linda Baron's cliffhanger for Part 3 in which she provides a whole new perspective on over the top acting whilst talking to the camera - this has to take the cake as the worst cliffhanger in the show's entire history (a status that it can share with the 3 cliffhangers from "Four to Doomsday").

And to complete this diatribe, I'll say again that I agree with you about the need for 2entertain to get their DVD release schedule running in a coherent and logical manner that represents the interests of the fans (the consumers of the DVDs). As I've said so many times before on this site - 2entertain do not apply reason, logic or the profit motive to their actions when it comes to their release schedule of classic series Dr who on DVD.

hmm very interesting details there.

Hopefully the extras on the Trial box set will at least delve into the original ending in someway....I'm sure Eric Saward will have a LOT to say about it - particularly since certain people are no longer around........

As for the inclusion of Doctor In Distress...erm right, they must be desperate for extras!!!

In my opinion the worst ever cliffhanger of all time would be the one from Dragonfire where the McCoy Doctor deliberatly perched himself off the edge of a cliff - truly appalling!!!

The story goes that Ian Levine found out Pertwee stories were being played on Boston's Public Broadcasting Service station WGBH in 1978, and sent cash for a contact to rent a Betamax VCR and record them for him. He ended up with a bunch of Beta NTSC Pertwees in colour, some of which are redundant and some of which are unique. Mind of Evil is the sad one out, as a football game was recorded over the story leaving three clips.

For the 30th anniversary in 1993 the BBC (pre-Restoration Team) separated the NTSC colour signal and restored Silurians. There is no NTSC colour copy of Mind of Evil, Which only leaves colourisation proper. The Restoration Team are scathing of the test recolourisation Levine presented them with, so he had a public call for helpers to colourise Ambassadors of Death.

Thanks, Martin - you're the man to talk to when it comes to these things!

But...I don't understand what you mean about "The Ambassadors of Death" because that has only been partially colourised, just in bits and pieces throughout parts 2-7. It's quite a messy job really - and why won't they do the whole thing?

(Pity about "The Mind of Evil", that's a classic story)

Ambassadors was damaged by bad reception in its US off air colour recording, leading to a rainbow-like separation of colour. Episode one exists in a master video format, the rest suffer from the rainbow effect to some degree. As colourisation is labour intensive it's a good test subject; hence Levine chose this when he found someone wiling to do some work on the story. When he turned the sample over to the Restoration Team they deemed it below par, by their standards the work has to be done professionally--which the BBC won't pay for. He was continuing with the project as a labour of love, as it'll never get an official release.

"Ambassadors of Death" and "Mind of Evil" were  2 of the best Pertwee era stories. I think it's a damn shame that they both exist in either only a black and white or semi-coloured condition 

Ambassadors suffers badly from 7-episodeitus. It's the weakest story of one of the best seasons, and it's still pretty good.
I could have sworn we saw the Keller machine parasite, but having seen Mind of Evil since, we don't much.

I think these are the origins of the Levine off air colour material:

The Silurians WTTW Chicago
The Ambassadors Of Death WNED Buffalo
Terror Of The Autons WTTW Chicago
The Mind of Evil WTTW Chicago or KCET Los Angeles
The Daemons KCET Los Angeles

...but I could be wrong!

Season 7 was by far one of the greatest years in Doctor Who history and I agree that "Ambassadors of Death" did suffer from the elongated 7-episode format. Even so, it's still a good story and I really liked all the action in the first two episodes - it was the time of 'serious Doctor Who'.

Interesting to read your information about where the colurised material comes from. I'm very glad that we've got you around, Martin. You really should write more - and get your work published, too.