Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: September 17, 1996
• Run Time: 144 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303943330
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,863 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Opening with the Doctor, John Pertwee, materializing the Tardis in a starship to avoid collision, "Frontier in Space" is the first half of a space opera that ends on a cliffhanger leading into "The Planet of the Daleks" (1973). It is the 26th century and the Ogrons, previously seen in "Day of the Daleks" (1972), are raiding spaceships from both the Earth and Draconian empires, intent on provoking interstellar war. Ranging from deep space to Earth and Draconia, from a lunar penal colony to the Ogron home world, the Doctor discovers that the Master (Roger Delgado in his final performance in the role) is set to plunge the galaxy into chaos. Fans expecting Dalek action should be aware that the psychotic pepperpots only appear at the end, although Katy Manning proves heroine Jo Grant's resilience, and thanks to especially strong make-up and costuming, the Draconians are an impressive addition to the show's gallery of aliens. The inevitable cheap special effects and some flaky continuity aside, this is Doctor Who near its ambitious best, even if splitting six episodes onto two tapes does seem highly unnecessary. Sci-fi aficionados will not need much convincing that this story provided inspiration for Babylon 5's Earth-Minbari war. --Gary S. Dalkin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My life at your command!, May 19, 2002

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS] (VHS Tape)

From the video cover of Frontier In Space, one can see the players involved--the Doctor, a Draconian, a Dalek, an Ogron, and the Master. But how and why?

The Cold War and the pre-World War I balance of power are the inspiration for Frontier In Space. The title is taken from a line spoken by the Draconian prince, where a treaty between the Earth and Draconian Empires established a frontier in space. Well, that frontier is about to erupt into full-scale war.

Jo and the Doctor materialize aboard a bulk freighter, which is subsequently attacked by Ogrons, the dumb-as-toast ape-men from Day Of The Daleks. However, the crew of the freighter see them as Draconians, a green reptilian humanoid race. Jo sees the crewmen as Drashigs (q.v. Carnival Of Monsters) so the Doctor deduces that someone is using "ultrasonics geared to stimulate the fear center of the brain." That is, the crewmen saw what they feared the most. Coupled with that is that along with the cargo, the Ogrons steal the TARDIS. The cargo, okay, but why the TARDIS?

Jo and the Doctor are falsely accused of being spies for the Draconians, while also accused of being spies of Earth military leader General Williams, a Draconiaphobe. This is reminiscent of the accusations levelled against the Rosenbergs in the 1950's. They tell the truth but expectedly, are not believed by the Earth President and Williams. The Doctor is sent to a lunar penal colony for political prisoners, while Jo is picked up by a certain suave-talking goateed bogus commissioner from Sirius IV, who claims she and the Doctor are master criminals.

I can see why Jon Pertwee found the Draconians as his favourite alien creatures, because of their realistic humanoid appearance and reptilian bubbles; their mouths move like a human. And the highly pronounced shoulders make their robes look like Japanese samurai as Script Editor Terrance Dicks pointed out. The traditional address of a Draconian noble: "My life at your command."

As in The Time Monster, the Doctor has a wonderful anecdote scene when he tells Jo of how the Medusoids captured him and had to let him go because they ran out of mind probes, which told them the Doctor was going to meet a giant rabbit, a pink elephant, and a purple horse with yellow stripes. It cheers her up while they are awaiting their fate in the cell on Earth.

Jo has chatty moments, when she is trying to escape from the freighter cell, and also when she tries to cover for the Doctor while he is making his escape from the cell of the Master's stolen ship. Strange, cells seem to play a huge role in this story.

The Master has his moments, as he reads The War Of The Worlds, and recites Tennyson: "My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure." This was also Roger Delgado's last Who appearance before his untimely death in 1973.

A successful political drama, Frontier In Space can either be seen as a stand-alone story of six episodes, or as the first half of a twelve-part Dalek story when in conjunction with the following story, Planet Of The Daleks. This is also akin to both The Daleks, split into two stories, and the epic twelve-parter The Dalek Master Plan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One long episode in this Doctor Who season, April 5, 2002

By 

Junglies (Morrisville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This six part adventure is another constituent part in essentially a season that was one long Doctor Who story.

Frontier in Space postulates two great empires, one human, one Draconian on the brink of war with each other. The Doctor and Jo arrive in the middle of an attack by the Dragonians on an earth ship and become embroiled in the bitter struggle between the two.

All is not as it seems as the attacks are being perpetrated by Ogrons (last seen in the machine in Carnival of Monsters) which does not make sense to the Doctor. Somehow, Earthmen and Draconians see the attackers as being members of the race that they hate/fear the most and both refuse to believe that a third party is involved.

Eventually the Doctor discovers the mastermind behind the plot and ultimately the real power involved.

This story as many of the third Doctor stories is shot partly on location. The device of a season long plot laid the groundwork for a similar season under Colin Baker much later and has much to commend it. However, the story is somewhat drawn out and would benefit from better editing. All in all a good premise and a pretty good tale but the models do look a little pokey in today's world.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Epic Doctor Who, December 7, 1999

By 

Anthony J. Sanborn (Gray, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is an episode of Doctor Who I would define as an epic. It possesses many great qualities that set it aside from many other Doctor Who stories. "Frontier" has many, many varieties of colorful sets, fantastic aliens, and of course the Master as played by Roger Delgado. The beauty of this particular tale lies in how the story is unfolded and how it is directed. The feel of the story makes you get the sensation of travelling from one side of the galaxy to the other constantly. The space scenes are questionable in realistic qualities, but they possess that certain Doctor Whoness that makes these scenes so enjoyable. The story also explores racial questions through the Earthmen and Draconian's hatred of each other. The Master also plays an excellent role in using this hatred to his advantage. A surprise enemy turns in the end of this episode. One of the best of the best!