I remember this being the first DVD I ever purchased, owning it on VHS was great but the DVD featured new effects, it was so exciting. I digress.
It's actually an excellent feature length episode, they had so much to overcome and lots to incorporate. Problems included the death of William Hartnell several years earlier, but Richard Hurndall put in an excellent performance as Doctor number one, managing to keep the first Doctor in character, that worked. Problem number two Tom Baker had refused to appear, what a shame for us all, but being the outgoing actor I can imagine it would have been to soon, footage of the incomplete Shada used instead, it worked quite well too. More problematic was attempting to get each character to do something, some had more to do then others, but being Peter's time only fitting he got the Lion's share.
Troughton and Pertwee were lots of fun, effortlessly slipping back into their Doctorisms. Turlough I felt sorry for in this story, as the current companion he gets so little to do, Tegan was much better off.
The missing element though Tom Baker made me sad, I think he made that role his own, had he been there though he may have overtaken it.
The story is actually really clever, I love the concepts of the Death Zone, the Time scoop, and the awesome Raston Warrior. They tried to put so much in, and for the most part it succeeds, I just wish there was more screen time for some of the characters.
Made for the fans, but they carried it off, 8/10
It's actually an excellent feature length episode, they had so much to overcome and lots to incorporate. Problems included the death of William Hartnell several years earlier, but Richard Hurndall put in an excellent performance as Doctor number one, managing to keep the first Doctor in character, that worked. Problem number two Tom Baker had refused to appear, what a shame for us all, but being the outgoing actor I can imagine it would have been to soon, footage of the incomplete Shada used instead, it worked quite well too. More problematic was attempting to get each character to do something, some had more to do then others, but being Peter's time only fitting he got the Lion's share.
Troughton and Pertwee were lots of fun, effortlessly slipping back into their Doctorisms. Turlough I felt sorry for in this story, as the current companion he gets so little to do, Tegan was much better off.
The missing element though Tom Baker made me sad, I think he made that role his own, had he been there though he may have overtaken it.
The story is actually really clever, I love the concepts of the Death Zone, the Time scoop, and the awesome Raston Warrior. They tried to put so much in, and for the most part it succeeds, I just wish there was more screen time for some of the characters.
Made for the fans, but they carried it off, 8/10