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Doctor Who: Invasion of the Dinosaurs (Story 71) (2012)

Jon Pertwee , Elisabeth Sladen , Paddy Russell  |  NR |  DVD
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Product Details

  • Actors: Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin, John Levene
  • Directors: Paddy Russell
  • Writers: Malcolm Hulke
  • Producers: Barry Letts
  • Format: NTSC, Color
  • Language: English
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: January 10, 2012
  • Run Time: 148 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B005KQVD3M
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,429 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Special Features

None.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) arrives in a modern-day London under attack from prehistoric monsters in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, an infamous 1974 serial from the 11th season of the venerable British science fiction series Doctor Who. Though its dreadful puppet dinosaurs have the scorn of generations of fans, Invasion of the Dinosaurs does have an intriguing storyline in Operation Golden Age, a bizarre plot to return the Earth to the purity of its pre-human days through time-travel technology. As noted in the fine making-of featurette, People, Power and Puppets, which is featured on the set's second disc, the ecological-extremism element lends much-needed gravity to the serial, as does a subplot involving UNIT captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin), whose brainwashing by the supercomputer BOSS in 1973's The Green Death makes him a willing accomplice to the Golden Age scheme. Of course, any semblance of verisimilitude goes out the window anytime Pertwee or companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) have to face off against the stiff rod-puppet saurians, but both actors shoulder the burden manfully, and Franklin makes the most of Yates's brief moment in the spotlight. There's no question that much of Invasion of the Dinosaurs is a misfire for the Pertwee-era Doctor, but by the same token, it's also not the unmitigated disaster it's been made out to be since its original airing.

The two-disc Invasion of the Dinosaurs set presents five of the serial's six episodes in their original color presentation; as Who historians well know, episode one was erased as part of the BBC's recurring practice of wiping tapes of past television shows, but a black-and-white 16mm work print was eventually unearthed, along with a scene not shown in the original broadcast that is included in the set's brief collection of deleted scenes. Viewers can watch episode one in its monochromatic format or in a version that attempts to approximate the original broadcast color quality. Also included are two audio commentaries, one featuring director Paddy Russell, script editor Terrance Dicks, Yates, and several other cast and crew members, while the other offers John (Sgt. Benton) Levene's observations on 10 minutes of Part Five. Now and Then revisits the serial's extensive London locations, while Doctor Who Stories: Elisabeth Sladen Part 1 presents the late actress's lively recollections of her brief tenure as companion to Pertwee's Doctor. The extras are rounded out by a clip from a broadcast of England's long-running Billy Smart's Circus that features Pertwee behind the wheel of the outrageous Whomobile, as well as a photo still gallery, a PDF of the Radio Times listings that can be viewed in DVD-ROM format, and the by-now standard production notes subtitle option. --Paul Gaita"

Product Description

Returning from their adventure in medieval England, the Doctor and Sarah Jane are bewildered to find London deserted and under marshal law. Even more startling is the sudden appearance of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the street. When they reach UNIT headquarters, they learn from the Brigadier that the city had to be evacuated when dinosaurs began appearing all over London. Fortunately, the prehistoric reptiles disappear almost as soon as they appear, but their random visits naturally caused "considerable panic and some loss of life." The Doctor believes that the dinosaurs are being transported through time from the Mesozoic age, but he needs a live specimen to test his theory. Meanwhile, Sarah applies her reporter's instincts to uncovering a hidden agenda. This video features over two hours in color, but Episode 1 is in black-and-white.

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
(15)
4.6 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars My First Doctor Who! October 8, 2011
Format:DVD
Now, all of us lets be mature and get past the puppet dinosaurs and see that "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" is a great addition to the series. The story is excellent. The acting, well, it was the '70s, give 'em a break. The chemistry between Sarah Jane and The Doctor is brilliant, especially during the first episode. The line between good guy and bad guy is tremendously well slurred and makes us wonder if The Doctor's doing the right thing. All in all, this is a great story and a wonderful tribute to the late Sladen, forever in our hearts.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wondrful fun but DVD puzzles at times. January 16, 2012
Format:DVD
First off, let me say that I dont have a problem with the dinosaurs. Why? Because I saw this story in High School (20 years ago +) and I thought they were dreadful, but acceptable considering I understood the limitations of the production. Over time the the dinosaurs became exgerated in my head. I thought of them as being much worse than they truly are. So. that stuff aside. Its a solid story. I wish I could say that the color enhanced episode one is a major disappointment. Color restoration had been impressive in the past on stories such as Terror of the Autons. For this version BBC only had partial color information and added the blue with a computer. So the blues look great and the rest looks pretty rough, especially browns and flesh tones. I must say that I am puzzled as to why they couldnt use a computer colorization technique to bring the entire episode up to the standards of the rest of the show. Especially when one considers they had the rest of the serial for reference it is a puzzle. Is colorization that expensive? Some of the color by computer work done in the past ten years has been quite impressive if not perfect. But superior to what BBC has provided. Note to anyone making a movie with puppet monsters/dinosaurs/spaceships: Try filming things backward and then reversing it in editing. It effectively creates the illusion that the object is propelling itself.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Doctor Who: INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS August 10, 2012
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The 5-Star rating is for the quality and value of the DVD. Superb job as is typical of the Doctor Who Restoration Team in their production of Classic Era Doctor Who DVD's.

INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS
Story # 71
Season 11's Second Story
Third Doctor, Jon Perwee Era, final season 1973-74
Second Classic Sarah Jane Smith story

OVERALL STORY RATING 8/10
INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS is a 10/10 story pulled down to 8/10 solely due to poor dinosaur special effects. If the viewer is willing to put forth a tiny bit of effort and engage their imagination when the dinosaurs are onscreen, the reward will be a truly superb story well worth the watching. It is truly sad that such an excellent story is pulled so low by a single problem. Were it not for the poor dinosaur special effects, INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS would likely rate among the finest WHO stories of all time, possibly even in the top 25.

Essential for SARAH JANE ADVENTURES fans, and highly recommended for Whovians, both veteran and novice .

STORY & SCRIPT 10/10
Excellent Malcolm Hulke script. Many twists, turns and surprises for the viewer. Great dialog, impressive and creative story idea, believable and intriguing idealists as not-evil-just-misguided-villians. All elements combined make for an impressive, intelligent well-above-average-WHO story that will engage the viewer mentally and emotionally.

ACTING 10/10
Superb performances across the board for main cast, UNIT and guest cast. Jon Pertwee's "Third Doctor" is one of the best and most unique in WHO history, and he and Elisabeth Sladen have an entertaining, very watchable closeness and rapport making the Pertwee/Sladen companionship one of WHO's best-ever pairings.
... Read more ›
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Dinosaurs & Time Travel January 27, 2012
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Being old school Doctor Who, the special effects are less than special. However, Dr. Who is a plot and character driven sort of thing and, as with most episodes, the actors and writers deliver something that is still fun to watch, even when the special effects of the episodes date back almost as far as the dinosaurs.

The story features a limited time travel element and addresses the ethics of using extreme measures in the service of environmentalism. While Dr. Who often seems left-leaning, these episodes are clearly critical of the "by any means necessary" approach to environmentalism.

As with many stories, there are captures and re-captures that tend to wear a bit thin-but when you have a lot of time to fill and a budget of six pence and a button, such is how things go.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Well done DVD January 24, 2012
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I haven't seen this episode in some time and I mostly just remembered the story of the first episode being wiped (in color format) because it was called only "The Invasion" in an effort to surprise viewers when the dinosaurs come.

The DVD is high quality, with many enjoyable extras. I generally watch the episodes at least once with the info text on, even though I have now learned that this is often a repeat of stuff from the features, the deleted scenes, or the commentary. However, it gives the information right when needed, which is good. I enjoyed the 'making of' featurette and the Elisabeth Sladen segment. The first episode is available in colourized version as a special feature, but is presented in B&W by default.

I received Doctor Who: The Android Invasion (Story 83) at the same time. The similarities were weird, starting with arrival in a deserted town, but this is the better of the two episodes, in my opinion, and a much better collection of extras.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Dinosaurs run amuk
Yeah, it's obvious that not a lot went into the dinosaurs but the story was great. I would take it over any FX showcase movie put out today.
Published 4 months ago by Matthew Petersen
5.0 out of 5 stars Doctor Who
Love Jon Pertwee. Dr. Who is wonderful Has only gotten better over the years. Let's keep going for fifty more
Published 4 months ago by Sandra Gass
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Releases of the Dr Who DVD Range
I will start with the only negative aspect of this item, which is that the first episode did not get a full restoration to its glorious original full color. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Normal Universe
4.0 out of 5 stars Don't worry Brigadier the Brontosaurus is large, placid and stupid
This is a very good story from Jon Pertwee's final year as the Doctor. It's an interesting story, has a good cast and is well acted, and it has one of the best episode cliffhangers... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Nancy A. Fox
2.0 out of 5 stars Jurassic crock
I hate it when the BBC updates the special effects in an original Doctor Who story with state-of-the-art digital effects, as they did recently with "Day of the Daleks," for... Read more
Published 16 months ago by buckbooks
5.0 out of 5 stars Dr Who Dinasaur Invasion
A hard to find dr who with pertwee, great show over two hours with six parts and covers dr who folklaure and helps new comers to understand the show.
Published 16 months ago by J. K. Wayner
4.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent BBC restoration
This six-parter contains the usual fine BBC presentation and atones for past carelessness in destroying original material (causing Episode 1 to exist in black-and-white only) by... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Harold W. Cornelius
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank god for DVD and video.
Never has a Doctor Who story inspired me as much to sit down and write a review as this one did. If we were to believe so called fandom, then this story would be the so-called... Read more
Published 16 months ago by The Cougar
5.0 out of 5 stars The Doctor and Sarah Jane must try and find out why dinosuars are...
In the Jon Pertwee era epsidoe entitled "Invasion of the Dinosuars" The Doctor and Sarah have returned from there adventure in the 12th century only to discover London deserted. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Jacob
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