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Special Features
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
One of the more controversial episodes in the long history of the BBC's Doctor Who series, this 1989 three-part story starring seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy has generated an equal amount of praise and brickbats for its complex plot. In the serial, the Doctor and his companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) travel to Victorian England, where they encounter a scientist (Ian Hogg) whose research into evolution hides his true identity as an alien determined to assassinate Queen Victoria. Platt's script is rich with dialogue and detail that for some fans, fleshes out the hidden pasts of the Doctor and especially Ace, while others consider it needlessly confusing, but wherever one's opinion falls in regard to the script, Ghost Light stands out as one of the more atmospheric stories from the Sylvester McCoy period, with strong performances by the cast (most notably, McCoy himself, who plays down the humorous aspects of his portrayal) and direction by Alan Wareing (his final turn for the series). --Paul Gaita
Product Description
London, 1983. An old house mysteriously burns to the ground. One hundred years earlier, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace arrive at a sinister mansion, where they discover that Ace's past and the house's future are inextricably linked.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By G.Spider
Format:VHS Tape
This adventure reminds me of a good painting - no matter how many times you see it you always find something new.
Possibly the most densely-plotted Dr Who story ever written, virtually every word has some deeper meaning or significiance. The Doctor/Ace double-act was one of the strongest Doctor/companion teams ever in the series - what other Doctor would take his companion back in time to make her face her worst nightmare? In this case it's a Victorian mansion which will one day become the haunted house Ace entered as a teenager. The sets are lavish and look like they were made for a high-budget period drama, the music is superbly brooding and the dialogue is powerful. With its themes on evolution, its gritty realism and its well-written characters, this is up there with the best of the '70s Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee stories.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Connor
Format:DVD
Much like the Curse of Fenric, this story is maligned on Amazon, yet it is such a well-done episode in many aspects, these negative reviews are rather revolting and surprising. Ghost Light is one of McCoy's best adventures from his strong final season alongside The Curse of Fenric, Survival, and Battlefield. It is a wonder Who stopped here- it was getting good!
The story is very complicated but is brilliant once you get it and it will take some time to get! Luckily, the DVD is perfect for viewing the story over and over again, and the commentary really helps along with the making of feature and the deleted scenes. The story revolves around the weird happenings at a Victorian Manse in Perivale called Gabriel Chase where evolution seems to be going faster and faster and something clearly wants that to stop. With a mirage of weird and wild characters, great sets and costumes (typical BBC), and an eerie score by Mark Ayres evoking Dracula-esque feelings, Ghost Light may be baffling but it is visually beautiful and viscerally appealing, not to mention so rewarding for those who finally figure out this interesting and fantastic story.
McCoy is once again great as this new, darker Doctor, and Aldred continues to impress as Ace, who is really put up center stage this episode and we learn a load about her past. Ian Hogg is great as Josiah, and the other guest actors, for the most part, do fantastic. The actor who plays Light is hammy and the story is a bit too rushed with no throwaway lines making it hard to keep up. Overall though, my complaints are few. The story is actually creepy and very dark.
It's odd Doctor Who left after Season 26 when the ante was yanked up with good production, good stories, and a new darker, more adult tone. Ghost Light is a great example of a shining late of late Who. The DVD is packed with fun features and is a must buy for fans and for those naysayers who claimed to be confused. Watch it again!
The story is very complicated but is brilliant once you get it and it will take some time to get! Luckily, the DVD is perfect for viewing the story over and over again, and the commentary really helps along with the making of feature and the deleted scenes. The story revolves around the weird happenings at a Victorian Manse in Perivale called Gabriel Chase where evolution seems to be going faster and faster and something clearly wants that to stop. With a mirage of weird and wild characters, great sets and costumes (typical BBC), and an eerie score by Mark Ayres evoking Dracula-esque feelings, Ghost Light may be baffling but it is visually beautiful and viscerally appealing, not to mention so rewarding for those who finally figure out this interesting and fantastic story.
McCoy is once again great as this new, darker Doctor, and Aldred continues to impress as Ace, who is really put up center stage this episode and we learn a load about her past. Ian Hogg is great as Josiah, and the other guest actors, for the most part, do fantastic. The actor who plays Light is hammy and the story is a bit too rushed with no throwaway lines making it hard to keep up. Overall though, my complaints are few. The story is actually creepy and very dark.
It's odd Doctor Who left after Season 26 when the ante was yanked up with good production, good stories, and a new darker, more adult tone. Ghost Light is a great example of a shining late of late Who. The DVD is packed with fun features and is a must buy for fans and for those naysayers who claimed to be confused. Watch it again!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By R. Sundquist
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
GHOST LIGHT is amazing. Watch it once and you'll be befuddled. Watch it twice and you'll be astounded. At the very least it's one of the more complex stories they ever did, simply because they don't stop very often to explain what's going on. Ace was always a bit smarter than the average companion, and here she proves that she can work the plot out on her own without needing to constantly ask the Doctor what's up. Why do all the older companions need to be certifiable idiots? One effect of making Ace brighter is that they needed to make the Doctor smarter to show her up, and Sylvester McCoy is definitely up to the task. He's quiet and cunning and utterly cool.
We get an excellent guest cast. Most memorable for me is Michael Cochrane as Redvers Fenn-Cooper (James Fennimore-Cooper?), a great white hunter gone insane and skulking about a Victorian mansion. The mansion is eerie, populated by weird creatures and weirder humans, and some who aren't quite human. The music is a huge step up from the early-Eighties muzak, and contributes to the gloomy, spooky atmosphere.
Three aliens are living on Earth, in Perivale of all places. One plots to assassinate Queen Victoria while he keeps the other two locked away. One of them, "Control", breaks free and wants to become more human. The third, "Light", gets loose and threatens to freeze all life on the Earth to stop it evolving -- it turns out that these three were a survey team, but their insane, obsessive leader could not deal with all lifeforms on Earth constantly changing and evolving, so they ended up staying much longer than they'd planned. They have a Neandertal butler as well.
The story makes good use of the theory of evolution as well as Victorian anti-evolutionists. The result is a creepy and suspenseful little chamber-drama, the like of which DOCTOR WHO had never quite managed before -- although some episodes of the new series have come close.
We get an excellent guest cast. Most memorable for me is Michael Cochrane as Redvers Fenn-Cooper (James Fennimore-Cooper?), a great white hunter gone insane and skulking about a Victorian mansion. The mansion is eerie, populated by weird creatures and weirder humans, and some who aren't quite human. The music is a huge step up from the early-Eighties muzak, and contributes to the gloomy, spooky atmosphere.
Three aliens are living on Earth, in Perivale of all places. One plots to assassinate Queen Victoria while he keeps the other two locked away. One of them, "Control", breaks free and wants to become more human. The third, "Light", gets loose and threatens to freeze all life on the Earth to stop it evolving -- it turns out that these three were a survey team, but their insane, obsessive leader could not deal with all lifeforms on Earth constantly changing and evolving, so they ended up staying much longer than they'd planned. They have a Neandertal butler as well.
The story makes good use of the theory of evolution as well as Victorian anti-evolutionists. The result is a creepy and suspenseful little chamber-drama, the like of which DOCTOR WHO had never quite managed before -- although some episodes of the new series have come close.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Doctor Who Reimagined by David Lynch
If an episode of Doctor Who had been written, directed, and cast by David Lynch, it might look a lot like Ghost Light. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lee Leonard
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dr who a scifi winner
What can I say about dr who is I don't have a favorite dr I love them all this show has been around since the 60s and its popularity still grows today it can be seen everywhere TV... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alan Perry
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Doctor: "Oh, things are getting out of control - even *I* can't...
Another incredible story from the most underrated Doctor. I ordered this because it was the only cheap one that came from the good era of Sylvester McCoy, but even I, huge fan of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Patrick Correa
5.0 out of 5 stars
I read the book so finally seeing it was great
I had read the book a few times but never was able to catch it when it was showing on TV. So this was great to finally get to see it as well as the extras.
Published 2 months ago by Sandra Weierman
4.0 out of 5 stars
great classic Who; good story line, acting
ALL Dr. Who's are good, great imagination vitamins for the mind, but the very first shows were kind of simple, being a kind of Sesame St. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Karl M. Schulte
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought Provoking
A very enjoyable story that makes one think. Ace his companion is as usual her spunky lovable self as she aids the Professor (her name for the Doctor) in solving this mystery.
Published 3 months ago by Padraic Baker
2.0 out of 5 stars
Major Audio problem
I'm pretty unhappy with this release. The music track has been remastered and is far too loud. In the original TV version it was rather subtle. Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. C. Cronvich
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Doctor and Ace vist a house in victorian era that houses an evil...
In the Sylvester McCoy era Doctor Who epsidoe entitled "Ghost Light" the Doctor and Ace have travled to 1883 to a house that Ace came upon in 1983 in her home town of Periveal. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Jacob
5.0 out of 5 stars
Doctor Who: Ghost Light (Story 157) (DVD)
doctor who:ghost light is one of the most detailed stories of any doctor who period. it has a haunted and creepy old house storie feeling to the alien threat which makes the story... Read more
Published on April 16, 2010 by angelicbeing2001
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Favourite Story of the '80s
Ghost Light is a brilliantly complex and unusual story that benefits greatly from repeated viewings. Read more
Published on November 17, 2009 by Roger Robinson
