Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - Meglos [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the best from the latter Fourth Doctor era.

Meglos captures the essence of the mathematic-scientific theme so common to Tom Baker's last season and Peter Davison's first.

The culture of Tigella is divided between scientists and spiritualists. Neither knows true nature of the Dodecahedron, the powerful 20-sided orb that powers their civilization.

Meglos is a super-intelligent plant who can alter his shape at will. With a motley group of space pirates he goes in search of the Dodecahedron.

Those who liked Leisure Hive, Warrior's Gate, Logopolis, and Castrovalva will like Meglos.

Now All Of The 4th. Doctor Stories From His Last Season Are Out!!!!

As Amazon (who I love) has not given us the info for this Doctor Who DVD release here is the info from (The Know All, and See All of Doctor Who DVD's in the USA) Steve Manfred website:

Doctor Who: Meglos: starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Romana as Lalla Ward, and John Leeson as the Voice of K9.

All 4 episodes of the story, digitally remastered and restored.

Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

Optional commentary track by actors Lalla Ward and Christopher Owen (Earthling), co-writer John Flanagan, and incidental musicians Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell.

Information Text subtitles option. Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

"Meglos Men" An 18-minute featurette where writers John Flanagan and and Andrew McCullough tell us about the writing of the story, with a little visit also to script editor Christopher H. Bidmead

"The Scene Sync Story" An 11-minute featurette about a pioneering bluescreen special effects technique that saw service in this story.

"Jacqueline Hill - A Life In Pictures" A 13-minute featurette about the life of Jacqueline Hill, who played original companion Barbara Wright in the first two seasons in 1963-65 and returned in this story to guest star as Lexa. Featuring interviews with actors William Russell (Ian Chesterton) and Ann Davies (Jenny in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Hill's best friend), Producer Verity Lambert, and Hill's widower Alvin Rakoff.

"Entropy Explained" A 5-minute featurette presentation from a physicist who tries to explain the concept of entropy in layman's terms.

Photo Gallery: 4 minutes of still photos taken during production of the story.

PDF Files: Place this disc into your computer and you'll have access to PDF files containing the original 1980 Radio Times TV listings for this story.

Isolated Music option: Selecting this will play the story with only the music soundtrack playing.

Coming Soon trailer for the forthcoming story The Mutants.

1 Easter Egg.

"Quirky" Meglos comes to DVD and as the previous reviewers have stated so well is that despite it's faults this late Tom Baker era episode is worth revisiting and/or purchasing. Most Who fans would probably not have Meglos on their top ten lists yet there is still something about Meglos that resonates in the minds of Who fans; One memory that lingers is the sight of Tom Baker in the "Cactus" make-up which is one of the best make up jobs from the classic series...creepy, eerie and totally believable! Yes the story does lack pace and is, at times early on, boring. But Tom Baker (playing hero and villain to perfection) and Lalla Ward really shine here as does the excellent incidental music by Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell ( and a quick nod to Dick Mills for sound). Keep in mind as well that watching Meglos (along with Leisure Hive) is watching the birth of the John Nathan Turner era of Doctor Who. JNT made no bones about sending the show down a completely different path from before and that is evident here with Meglos. With Mathematically minded script editor Christopher H. Bidmeead at hand and the wonderful Barry Letts over seeing JNT's efforts for a time, season 18 (Tom Baker's Last)weaves an excellent tapestry of color, style and story that demands each of it's seven episodes be be seen in succession and that is the best reason to buy Meglos as it is part of the larger tale that is "the end of an era"...The Great Tom Baker Era!!!

The Tigellian's would die without their power source (the Dodecahedron)! So it explodes and the Doctor takes the earthman back home. Ahh! And just what are the folks on Tigella left to do? I wouldn't pass up a Tom Baker episode of course but they left a pretty big hole in the plot, no?

Meglos, a sentient cactus and last survivor of the planet Zolfa-Thura, enlists the help of the Gaztaks, a treacherous band of interplanetary space pirates, to impersonate the Doctor and steal the Dodecahedron, a massive crystal that serves as the power source for the planet Tigella. The Doctor has been invited to Tigella by Zastor, an old friend and respected elder statesman of the planet, to resolve a growing dispute between Tigella's scientists, the Savants, and its religious faction, the Deons.

Tom Baker does a marvelous job playing a dark version of himself that is discomfortingly malevolent and yet physically identical to the Doctor except for brief periods when he breaks out in cactus skin. Jacqueline Hill plays Lexa, the leader of the Deons, in a return to the series after playing the Doctor's companion Barbara Wright in the show's first and second seasons.

The Special Features menu includes a whimsical memoir by the story's writers, John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch, a pair of actor-writers whom script editor Christopher Bidmead hired after seeing some of their satirical work on the London stage. A thoughtful remembrance of Jacqueline Hill reveals, among other things, the crucial role she played in the early career of Sean Connery. A brief documentary chronicles Scene Sync, a new technology used for the first time in the making of "Meglos," which allowed the movement of cameras when taping with color separation overlay, or CSO, a technique that allowed actors to walk among models and miniature sets.

The Tygellians live underground due to the fact that the surface is covered in sentient hostile plant life that consumes meat. Instead they live in vast complexes that is powered by a device simply called the dodecahidron. A device that fell from outer space and has been used not only as a power source but worshipped as a symbol of the gods trying to help them. Both scientists and priests want to use it for thier own puposes. Meanwhile the power source is failing and only one man can fix it...The Doctor.
Meanwhile a band of space pirates have landed on a dead planet with its cargo an earthman. The General along with his second in command enter the only building on the planet. Inside they find the sole survior Meglos a cactus like being that is bent on reclaming what his. The lost dodecedron. What the tygellians don't know is that its a power spource to the single greatest weapon in the universe and Meglos needs it to rule. A plan has been hathced and Meglos impersonates the Doctor. Meanwhile he traps the real Doctor and Romana in a time hestrieses which causes them to relive the same few momets over and over untiil Meglos gets what he needs. Will the Doctor figure out why they are looping? Will he be able to help the Tygellians in time? Tune in and find out in Meglos!

Romana: "Oh blast! Here we go again!"
Doctor: "Now what's wrong?"
Romana: "Now his probe circuit's jammed."
Doctor: "Well, that's easy. Waggle his tail."
Romana: "All right. I've tried everything else."
K9: "Thank you mistress. Repairs complete."

Like Monty Python's "Deja Vu" sketch, that bit of dialogue gets repeated over and over inbetween Episode 1 and 2 of Meglos, when the title character traps the TARDIS in a Chronic Hysteresis, which is a time loop. Whether or not you like hearing the same bits of dialogue and action over and over will determine whether one will like Meglos. However, there are some slow parts and not many memorable characters--save Deedrix, Zastor, and Lexa--that don't make this an outstanding story. So, as the Doctor says, "first things first, but not necessarily in that order."

The planet Tigella is ruled by the elderly Zastor, who has to mediate between two factions--the Savants, or the scientific caste with their white one-piece body suits and blonde hair, who use the unstable Dodecahedron as their power source and the salmon and black-robed Deons, who worship the Dodecahedron. This conflict between rational and religious-minded people is universal, those who demand proof and those who believe. The Deons have an advantage, in that they believe it came from the heavens, where the Savants think it came from somewhere, anywhere, but not the heavens. To fix the instability of the Dodecahedron, and to placate both sides, Zastor calls on the Doctor, who's in orbit nearby. He describes him as the man "who solves the insoluble by the strangest means. He sees the threads that join the universe together, and mends them when they break." In other words, he has the "maturity to respect many points of view."

That twenty-sided object is the cause of all the fuss in this story. As part of a peace treaty ending the war between Zolfa-Thura and Tigella, the Dodecahedron was taken to Tigella. Ten thousand years later, Meglos, the last Zolfa-Thuran, enlists the aid of General Grugger and the Gaztaks, which isn't the name of a cheesy rock band but a band of marauding mercenaries for hire, to get the Dodecahedron. Meglos, having intercepted Zastor's invitation to the Doctor, impersonates the Time Lord.

There are some interesting bits. General Grugger's hat and costume are akin to a Tartar chieftain. The concept of unstable body transfer was also explored in the last Star Trek episode "Turnabout Intruder", but since when did Captain Kirk start turning into a humanoid cactus? Tom Baker's cactus makeup is quite a sight and fright.

Who fans will recognize Jacqueline Hill (Lexa, the leader of the Deons) as one of the First Doctor's very first companions, Barbara Wright (1963-1964). This was Hill's last Who appearance, as she died in 1993.

"Not impossible. Merely beyond your comprehension," says Meglos. As for this story, "not unwatcheable--merely away from greatness." I will say it's the worst story of the 18th season, but not all that bad.

Like Monty Python's "Deja Vu" sketch, that bit of dialogue gets repeated over and over inbetween Episode 1 and 2 of Meglos, when the title character traps the TARDIS in a Chronic Hysteresis, which is aEoh dear, I think I'm in a time loop. Help!

I agree with other reviewers that this story is a comparatively weak entry for Season 18. However, compared to any number of stories from seasons 11, 15, 17, and 24, this one is superlative.

I'll start with the bad: The only thing fundamentally wrong with this story is that it does too many things without saying much about why those things happen. Yes, there apparently was a civil war on Zolfa-Thura regarding the Dodecahedron power source. We would like to know more about that as the emphasis on this story feels flat because of it. Meglos can change form and inhabit other creatures - is this related to the civil war or a natural trait? Why does Meglos need a human (non-Tigellan) to inhabit, what's so special about the Tigellans that they couldn't be used as hosts? Meglos' ability to control time is the one remaining factor of interest... he's able to be and do so much and the viewer isn't told anything as to why. Except for mentioning a war... We know the Dodecahedron energy source mysteriously landed on Tigella - could this power source have been a key reason for the Zolfa-Thuran civil war, based on some sort of morality? Who knows? We do know that the Deons, ruled by Lexa, claim the energy source to be given to them by the Gods. The Savants, scientists, don't believe in the idea that the Gods helped them out and wish to study the device. But are barred by the Deons. It's a straightforward example of a theocracy and manages to keep the viewer from thinking of WHY they got the device in the first place, but that is also an anti-climax.

In short, the story essentially begs for a prequel (unlike re-using the Autons as rumored for this new Dr Who TV series...).

Now for the good:

Tom Baker's cactus make-up is superlative and almost disturbing to look at, the idea was conveyed exceptionally well.

The direction and camerawork is pretty inventive at times too.

So is the model work, though upon repeated viewings some of the limitations become obvious. (But for a low budget show made in 1980 to compare with mindless fluff like "Buck Rogers", this stuff still looks very good for the time. And if you look at any Buck Rogers episode, it looks cheaply done too.)

Whatever else can be said for the plotline (it needs a prequel!), the music makes it all the much better. Fortunately, the soundtrack had been released on its own and is well worth the purchase.

K9 gets abused and kicked around.

Jacqueline Hill (original companion Barbara - 1963-1965) was hired to play Preistess Lexa. As a couple of companions had played unrelated characters in the past, I see no reason to say this casting was biased in any way. Indeed, she does quite a passable job in the role of Lexa.

Acting, overall, is rather good. Tom Baker, as in all of season 18, excels. I'd gotten very tired of the excessively comic style and producer John Nathan-Turner made the right decision to make him more somber. The entire season has this somber effect, though it was never explained why the 4th Doctor's persona changed. (an "untelevised adventure" featuring a significant defeat against the Doctor would readily explain the change in attitude.) If only Tom Baker stayed on, what would season 19 have been like?

All in all, this story is worth at least a rental. Far worse stories exist, and this story is not worthy of the low reputation bestowed upon it.

Dungeons and Dodecahedrons! Somebody call Gary Gygax's estate! Meglos Is on DvD at last! An early story arc from season 18, Tom Baker's final season... In case the plum duds and the new wave opening didn't tip you off....

"1st things first, but not necessarily in that order"...Seriously this is a favorite of mine, maybe it's the quirkiness of the bad guys or the stereo-typicalness of the religious zealots, or even the random Aurhur Dent-like Earth-man tossed in the mix, but's worth seeing and owning. Someone must agree with me because the title villain turned up in and early Draft of 'The Lodger' from series 5 last year.

The story takes place mostly on two worlds in the same star system...1) Zolfa-Thura, a desert world devoid seemingly of life structures bar five giant screens; 2) Tigella, a jungle world inhabited by the white Beatle-haired Tigellans, themselves divided by 2 castes, one Tech-minded, the other intensely faithful to a enigmatic 12 sided
Power source. An old friend of the Doctor invites him to Ti-whatzit to mediate a religious/technological despite, only Meglos accepts the invitation instead, as the Doctor's Doppler and with his own designs. So when the real Doctor arrives the mistaken identity hilarity ensues worthy of Shakespeare or maybe Star Trek.

The story has some of my favorite music ( like the techno sacrifice hooks), make-up (like the cactus faced Tom Baker) Banter (especially between the mercenaries) and cameos (i.e. Jacqueline Hill as Lexa the leader of the Deons who was the First Doctor's companions Barbara Wright way back from the shows very first episode, y'all !)

Meglos Drinking Games, drink whenever:

..."K9's probe circuit is jammed."
or "He has his tail Waggled."

...whenever a title character says, "Chronic Hysteresis," "Dodecahedron" "Tigella" or, why the Hell, even "Zolfa-Thura."
"
...If you experience any "Deja Vu "
of your own during any part of the story.

... Whenever mercenary "General Grugger's hat enters the room."

in my opinion this is not one of the best of Tom Bakers as are any of the ones from his last season.

A cuctus like creature takes over the body of a human who then impersonates the doctor sounds like something blake edwards would be better at writing. It was nice to see jacqueline hill,who played barbara all those years ago in the begining, have a big part in this one, however the rather silly special effects (including some very bad CSO effects) make this one a bit hard to give more than 3 stars.

I also has some problems with the video as it flicked at times and the picture became 'washed out' but i wasn't sure if this was a problem with this copy or with the release in general, and it was not bad enough to make me spend the time and effort to get a replacement only to find out it that every video was like that, so no biggie there.