This TV special promises a lot, bringing past Doctors together with the current one (at that time Peter Davison).
However, in practice, there are really only two other genuine Doctors in evidence - the funny little one, Patrick Troughton, and the tall, sardonic one, Jon Pertwee. Brief inserts of unused footage allow Tom Baker to be seen - but blink and you might miss him. And as William Hartnell had passed on by the 1980s, the original Doctor is played by Richard Hurdnall (very well, it has to be said, but he isn't Hartnell, who appears at the very beginning in footage from an old adventure saying he'll be back!)
So much for the doctors - what about the plot?
Each Doctor is removed from their separate time streams and placed in Gallifrey, where they have to battle old foes (The Master and the Cybermen), and the hallucinations of old friends. All is of course not what it seems, and the villain of the piece takes time to reveal himself. In the meantime there is friendly banter between the Doctors, who are not best pleased at meeting their other selves in the same time and space - one always feels that the Doctor is an arrogant being who likes to revel in his own glory, not sharing it with others.
Nevertheless the camaraderie is pleasing and it is good to see familiar faces back again, including Sarah-Jane, the Brigadier, and other companions.
'The Five Doctors' may be breaching the Trade Descriptions Act a bit, but it is watchable, short, and of some interest.
However, in practice, there are really only two other genuine Doctors in evidence - the funny little one, Patrick Troughton, and the tall, sardonic one, Jon Pertwee. Brief inserts of unused footage allow Tom Baker to be seen - but blink and you might miss him. And as William Hartnell had passed on by the 1980s, the original Doctor is played by Richard Hurdnall (very well, it has to be said, but he isn't Hartnell, who appears at the very beginning in footage from an old adventure saying he'll be back!)
So much for the doctors - what about the plot?
Each Doctor is removed from their separate time streams and placed in Gallifrey, where they have to battle old foes (The Master and the Cybermen), and the hallucinations of old friends. All is of course not what it seems, and the villain of the piece takes time to reveal himself. In the meantime there is friendly banter between the Doctors, who are not best pleased at meeting their other selves in the same time and space - one always feels that the Doctor is an arrogant being who likes to revel in his own glory, not sharing it with others.
Nevertheless the camaraderie is pleasing and it is good to see familiar faces back again, including Sarah-Jane, the Brigadier, and other companions.
'The Five Doctors' may be breaching the Trade Descriptions Act a bit, but it is watchable, short, and of some interest.