I’ve just picked up the latest Doctor Who DVD release and can’t wait to get it home and re-watch these classic Tom Baker episodes.
I’m particularly looking forward to State of Decay as I love vampire movies and have fond memories of this adventure from when I was younger.
The reviews are generally good, here’s hoping I’m not dissapointed.
I’ve still got a pre-recorded cassette tape of Tom Baker reading the novelisation of “State of Decay” bought with my birthday money in the days before repeats or VHS. Brilliant story. Warrior’s Gate is a real treat as well.
Hunt down a copy of the book of Warrior’s Gate if you can; it really fleshes out the story, in unexpected ways. If you’re familiar with the show, the first page will make you go WTF? but it’s good, trust me!
Thanks for the advice, I’ll see if I can track down a copy.
What is the official title of the DVD and where did you get it? I think I will have to purchase!
It’s called the E Space Trilogy, I got mine from WH Smith, but it’s also available from Amazon (hence the link).
There are three individual DVDs in the box set:
Full Circle
State of Decay
Warriors’ Gate
In case you don’t know they are a loosely linked trio of adventures in an extradimensional space called E Space, which is outside of our universe (in the storyline) and how the Doctor tries to escape.
“State of Decay” has a few clunky lines of dialogue (“You fool! You’ve killed him! The blood of the dead is stale and flat!”), but does hold up well as a story. “Warrior’s Gate” though is one the highlights of the original series.
About the only thing wrong with the E-space trilogy IMO is that it introduced one of the weakest, most useless companion characters ever - Adric. Romana & K-9’s departure were sad, but at least they were well-done, and not tacked on at the last minute (as was Leela’s).
I read recently that Adric is the second least favourite companion, the least favourite being Mel (Bonnie Langford). Must say I agree, so must have the producers as they got rid of him in a spectacular way, causing the KT event which killed off the dinosaurs while fighting Cybermen. Proper Cybermen that is, not these modern day Cybus knockoffs.
Well, I watched the first disc yesterday (Full Circle), not a bad adventure, but not a classic.
Too much Adric for one thing and there were too many characters, it all felt a bit muddled. Plus the whole Spiders to Marshmen to People thing was a bit poorly explained, although a very good idea.
As with many episodes of this time K9 was underused and spent most of the time with his head being used as a totem of some kind having been knocked off by a Marshman.
Apparently it was written by a fan of the series, how he got to write a script I will never know. (This could just be jealousy on my part as I would love to have the chance to write a Doctor Who script).
For the first part of a trilogy it’s not too bad, I am looking forward to State of Decay.
I’m not overwhelmed by the trilogy, but it’s an entertaining set of average episodes. I’d say that “State of Decay” is the best of the three.
“Warrior’s Gate” is something of a mess in parts (I have not read the book, so the unfleshed out parts aren’t there), but it does have one of my favorite lines: “I’m finally getting something done!”
The most tacked-on, least meaningful companion departure: Dodo Chaplet. Written out MID-SERIAL (The War Machines), without even a goodbye scene (at the end of ep. 4, new companion Polly mentions that Dodo has decided to stay in London).
The book of Warrior’s Gate was written by Stephen Gallagher (scriptwriter) under the pen name John Lydecker. More details here.
I don’t really understand the hate for Adric. Certainly his departure was one of the top two companion departures in the series (and #1 if you believe the retcon for Peri’s). I find him a much more engaging personality than someone like Nyssa. But he was hurt by Tom Baker’s leaving the series. He was quite good in The Keeper of Traken with Baker alone. Baker’s doctor always was a little boy and the two played off each other nicely. But Peter Davison’s more serious version left Adric with little to do.
I also don’t mind Mel. Nyssa is my least favorite, next to Kamelion (barely a companion), and Ace (who had just one shtick).
Nyssa gets short-shrift because she was perpetually overshadowed by her other travelling companions. Of course, the Doctor is the star, Tegan had been planned from the start to be Romana’s replacement as the principle companion, and Adric & Nyssa were added late in the day (they were each originally only intended to be characters for the first serials they respectively debuted in.) As written, Adric was whiney, irritating and not especially useful. Additionally, the actor playing him was bad, even for the level of acting on Doctor Who. Nyssa never got to develop as a character, because there wee simply too many companions at the time and the writers always shoved her into the background. But she was at least played by a competent actress.
I liked Nyssa, Tegan on the other hand was whiney and annoying. The actress was pretty, but the character did nothing but complain about the situations they got into. Luckily she left, but then came back and then left again.
I think they got a bit bogged down in the Davidson era, particularly when the Doctor had three regular travelling companions, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough. There wasn’t enough for any of them to do an the characterisation was generally poor. I initially disliked Turlough, but he grew on me, particularly when his links to the Black Guardian were revealed.
Not yet had chance to watch State of Decay, but it’s on my to do list.
The problem with the Davidson era was that Davidson depended on the scripts, and the scrips were uneven. When they had a good one Earthshock, Time-Flight, Arc of Infinity, and Mawdryn Undead, it could be a great show, but when the script stunk (Four to Doomsday, Kinda, The Black Orchid, The King’s Demons, Warriors of the Deep*) Davidson wasn’t an interesting enough character to make it work.
*My vote for the worst Doctor Who series ever.
Yes there were some good and bad stories in Davidson’s era. Is Mawdryn Undead out on DVD? I only seem to remember seeing it when it was actually aired.
I agree that Kinda was the worst of Davidson’s run, but think that the McCoy era story featuring the Kandyman (can’t remember the name) has to beat it as the worst Who story ever.
I have the Under the Sea Box set and haven’t yet brought myself to watch Warriors of the Deep. I’m sure I will one day as I like the Sea Devils, hopefully they will return at some point in the new series.
Apologies for disturbing the thread. But can you Doctor Who people tell me what I should start with watching, if I have never seen the show before? Is the series that started in 2006 a good place?
You don’t need to have seen any of the original series to enjoy the new series, although there were some classic episodes in the past.
I suggest that you start with the Christopher Eccleston run and then work up to the latest David Tennant episodes.
If you want to pick classic episodes from the past I suggest:
Genesis of the Daleks (Tom Baker (4th Doctor))
Tomb of the Cybermen (Patrick Troughton (2nd Doctor))
The Sea Devils (Jon Pertwee (3rd Doctor))
These are good episodes that will give you a feel for the original series. no doubt other will have their own favourite adventures.
So… I went looking for this at the store, but just about everywhere I look has this as pre-order only, including amazon and not available until may? Can I ask where you found it?
Thanks!
I’m in the UK, as far as I know all the major chains are stocking it as is Amazon.co.uk.
I’m fairly sure I didn`t imagine buying it as it is sitting on my shelf and I watched the second disc, State of Decay, a couple of days ago.
Where in the world are you?