Product Details

• Actors: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward
• Directors: Alan Bromly
• Writers: Bob Baker
• Producers: Graham Williams
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: May 8, 2012
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B007AAEZY0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,895 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"Interfere? Of course we should interfere! Always do what you're best at!" declares the Doctor at the beginning of Nightmare of Eden, a four-episode story from the classic British science fiction series Doctor Who. In no time at all, the Doctor is masquerading as an intergalactic insurance agent, seeking to separate two spaceships that merged interdimensionally, and investigating the smuggling of the most dangerous drug in the universe--and that's leaving out the alien monsters roaming around. Nightmare of Eden is a particularly jam-packed story from the Tom Baker era, considered by many to be the best of the early Doctors; with his mop of curly hair, his bulging eyes, and his toothy grin, Baker's Doctor was wildly capricious and charismatic as he jaunted around time and space, applying his fierce intelligence and staunch moral sense to all sorts of thorny situations. In Nightmare of Eden, the Doctor is accompanied by the second incarnation of Romana (Lalla Ward), a Time Lady, and the robot dog K-9, who is loved and hated in equal measure. Nightmare of Eden has even more cheesy special effects than usual (the spacecraft are particularly unconvincing), but the zippy plot, good dialogue, and solid performances--including some startling moments that mix humor and horror, potentially giving younger viewers unsettling dreams--keep the show engaging. Among the extras are a featurette about the fractious making of these episodes (loaded with caustic comments from technicians); reminiscences from the writer, Bob Baker (who later went on to write for Wallace & Gromit); an interview with Lalla Ward; and strange but enjoyable conversation by three people whose relationship to Doctor Who is never explained, but who cheerfully discuss Nightmare of Eden in engrossing detail. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Two spacecraft fuse in a hyperspace collision. Fortunately the Doctor, Romana and K-9 arrive to help. But when a crewmember is found clawed by a ferocious animal, it seems there's something even more frightening stalking the corridors. The answers lie with zoologist Professor Tryst, his CET protection machine, and a planet called Eden - the home of the ferocious Mandrels.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "Here, have a jellybaby! Don't forget to brush your teeth!" May 11, 1999

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

"Nightmare of Eden" is actually a hidden gem. Even though the acting and direction is alittle awkward at times, and the design of the Mandrels(why is the Graham Williams era filled with unimaginative monsters?) is laughable, the story itself is very adult, one of the few Who strories to deal with the addiction of drugs. The script is absolutely hilarious! Tom Baker excells(as does Ward)! The scene where Rigg has been drugged by Vraxion, witnessing the massacre of his passengers on the Empress by the Mandrels is a scream: "What's all the fuss? They're only economy class?" David Briely's voice for K-9 this season is also a welcome change, almost giving him a personality and humor. Tryst gives us his best Dr. Strangelove/Peter Sellers impersonation(without the physical humor). I used to think that "The Creature From the Pit" was the funniest ever Tom Baker adventure, I might be wrong. But don't take my word for it, I liked "Time and the Rani"!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "Have a jelly baby, and don't forget to brush your teeth" February 29, 2004

By Jason A. Miller VINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

One day, they will make a TV-movie about the October 2003 Staten Island Ferry disaster, and that movie will be atrocious. Right before the ferry is about to crash, some actor, who's already seen "Nightmare of Eden", will utter the line, "Oh no!". That's what actor David Daker did right before his character's starship collided with a space freighter. It is not, on its face, a proud moment, or a good beginning for a story.

"Nightmare" tops several "Worst of" lists in the "Doctor Who" pantheon. Worst costumes, certainly. There's not a single character in this piece who's dressed sensibly. Starting at the top, Romana appears to be dressed in a gray maternity gown. With red trim. Most of the starship crew is dressed in leather: the ship's crewmen are wearing red sleeveless vests with glitter added. And white pancake makeup, to boot. The two federal agents whose comic banter takes over the second half of the story, are dressed like the biker from the Village People. Tryst's team wears white T-shirts under black vests, so the only thing missing, cleary, is the rhinestone studding. Daker's black jumpsuit has spandex sleeves. I won't even get into what the starship passengers are wearing. I fly coach three times a month and they just don't issue that at the departure gate.

The special effects are bad. The opening shot is of a styrofoam spaceship wobbling its way across the stars. There's a lot of experimental computer imaging in this 1979 epic, but explosions happen before the gun blasts which cause them, and after Della is shot in the neck, she famously falls to the floor clutching her midriff.

So why, then, is "Nightmare of Eden" so entertaining? At what point does "bad" become "good"?

Make no mistake, this is deep in the doldrums of Season 17. There's the serious plot masked by the off-the-wall script. Two spaceships collide, one still half in hyperspace. The resulting dimensional instability causes a bunch of ape-like monsters wearing bell-bottoms to kill a dozen extras merely by brushing their elongated arms across the victims' heads. Seriously, what is the message of "Nightmare of Eden"? With the customs agents trampling over everyone's civil rights, and the drugs giving several people a really bad trip (including, presumably, the director who quit and the costume designer), you could package this on the "Starsky & Hutch" DVD and it would seem right at home.

There are moments of great subtlety in the script. Before Vraxoin is slipped into his Kool-Aid, Rigg is unusually competent for a "Doctor Who" starship captain. He blows the Doctor's cover after just one scene, and holds his own on the witty banter front for several scenes after that. Once he gets high, he gets to deliver some wickedly funny lines ("They were only economy class, what's all the fuss about?"). The rest of the comedy is a little too broad (Geoffrey Hinsliff and Peter Craze are awful), and Lewis Fiander's accent remains baffling, but at least Fiander seems to be intentionally overacting, so I can take the joke. I do not understand, however, why he pronounced the word "three" as "ten". Or why customs officer Fisk is introduced as a "Water Guard". There was no water in this story. Again, it wasn't just Captain Rigg who was on the Vraxoin.

Tom Baker is completely off the wall. He's already been much maligned for the "Oh! My fingers! My arms! My legs! My everything! Ohh!" shtick. But he also bites into a phallic green appendage for the second story in a row (remember "The Creature From the Pit"?) and tells us that it "didn't taste at all bad." Lalla Ward remains the picture of confidence and competence. Maybe she was having flashbacks to "Hamlet".

I come away from "Nightmare" with Lewis Fiander saying: "We worked on this idea together, before he died, of course. Then we stopped." If I close my eyes, I am having a great time. And learning to brush my teeth after meals.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Low Budget Production, Twice Over. April 7, 2012

By Phil Rosenbach

Format:DVD

I feel I should address a matter of concern before beginning this review. Someone commented on my review of "The Daemons", thinking my review was phony since I posted it before its U.S. release. Let me just say that you U.S. readers of my reviews get a special preview as to what you can expect to buy before the U.S. release, due to the fact that I have access to the U.K. versions, which are released weeks earlier than here in the States. So please don't think I'm making up these reviews without actually seeing the releases just for the sake of trying to get my review posted sooner than most other people here in the U.S.

In addition, I believe that I'm going to have to admit that I may no longer be qualified to comment on "improved" picture quality, since my last review of "The Daemons." This is due to the fact that since then, I have changed out my old, low-def, 4.3 aspect ratio TV, for a newer, 720, 16.9 aspect ratio TV, and I'm playing these on my Blu-Ray player, which up-converts the picture quality of DVDs. The problem that I have noticed with watching these classic Doctor Who shows with this new set up, is that since they were not made for hi-def, they sometimes actually look WORSE on a hi-def TV played on a Blu-Ray player. So I apologize for not being able to give you a rating on how much better the picture has improved on future reviews. In my opinion, these classic episodes did look better with my old TV. Alternatively, with some experimentation, I unboxed my old DVD player, and use yellow RCA video cable. Since these produce a lower quality image, it's almost like watching this on my old TV, which ironically, now looks better.

Now on to Eden. Well, as always, if you don't know the story by now, you're not going to learn it from me. Any simple web search can tell you all about this, and since many other reviewers do a recap of the story, I won't. I prefer to tell you about the bonus features and other extras which may help you decide if you want to make this a part of your collection.

Putting the audio and text commentaries aside, there are only four special features. Let me clarify. There are some other miscellaneous extras like the photo gallery and "Coming Soon" trailer, but really, how "SPECIAL" are those? Regarding the text commentary, that is only interesting to the individual buyer. Personally, I believe I have read every single one. Now go ahead, and "GEEK ME" if you will. As far as the audio commentary, I almost had to call my cardiologist when I heard Toby Hadoke once again moderating it. Will there be no end to this suffering? The contributing commentators, who were ACTUALLY A DIRECT CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THIS SHOW AND DESERVE THE RIGHT TO BE A PART OF THE COMMENTARY, are Lalla Ward (Romana), and Peter Craze (Costa), writer Bob Baker, effects designer Colin Mapson and make-up designer Joan Stribling. I don't know about anyone else, but knowing the history of Lalla Ward and Tom Baker, I would give both of my hearts to hear them do a commentary track together. But we all know, THAT will never happen, so once again, no Tom Baker on the commentary track.

As for the other special features, "The Nightmare of Television Centre", a making of feature, was to me, the most interesting of the four features, and regrettably too short for me. "Going Solo", is an interview with writer Bob Baker. I found that to be only mildly interesting. "The Doctor's Strange Love", is yet another piece consisting of three people who once again had NOTHING to do with this program, sitting around and talking about this story. Who the hell gives a damn about this! Paying for this DVD, and having this "Special Feature" is like having you pay me to read my reviews. I find it insulting, and didn't even watch the whole thing because I was so fed up. Finally, "Ask Aspel", is a nice little interview, featuring Lalla Ward, and was produced around the same time as "Nightmare of Eden.

It was stated during interview that "Nightmare of Eden" was a low budget production back in the 70's, and I feel, after watching these so called "special features," the production of this DVD was equally low budget, if not lower. I would rate the show itself as 4 stars, partially due to my adoration of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, but rate the extras as 2 stars. And so My Bottom Line is, any fan of the Tom Baker Era, as well as Lalla Ward, should SERIOUSLY CONSIDER adding this to their collection, but only for the purpose of watching the show itself.

I realize that this review was a bit longer than some people may have wished for, but I felt it was necessary to address a few matters which may affect future reviews. I hope that this review was helpful to you, and please tell me your opinion(s) on my review so that I can hopefully improve upon future ones. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and hopefully, consider my humble opinion(s).