|
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Special Features
- Commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and script editor Andrew Cartmel
- Fan commentary on episode 3 by the winners of a Doctor Who Magazine competition
- Cat Flap: two-part documentary on the making of Survival
- Deleted and extended scenes
- Outtakes
- Continuities
- Photo gallery
- Isolated score
- Radio Times listings
- Subtitled production notes
- Endgame: documentary on why Doctor Who was canceled at the end of season 26 and what might have happened had it continued
- Search Out Science: Schools program featuring the Doctor and Ace
- Little Girl Lost: retrospective look at the development of Sophie Aldred's character, Ace
- Destiny of the Daleks: Anthony Ailey's last appearance as the Master, in these links from the 1997 computer game
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The final serial in Doctor Who's original run on the BBC (before it was revived in 2005), this three-episode story stars Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, who brings his companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) back to Earth, only to discover that a race of feline aliens have turned the planet into their private hunting ground. The aliens, called Cheetah People, are traveling between their dying planet and Earth to kidnap humans for food--and lurking behind the whole scheme is none other than the Doctor's arch enemy, the Master (Anthony Ainsley in his final TV performance as the character). Despite the relative lack of quality of its video cinematography, Survival is a sold serial from the McCoy era, with some genuine suspense and an affectionate (if temporary) send-off for the venerable sci-fi hero.
The two-disc set of Survival is typical of the impressive presentations that the Doctor's adventures have received on DVD. Two commentary tracks have been recorded--one featuring McCoy, Aldred, and script editor Andrew Cartmel, and the other by the winners of a contest sponsored by Doctor Who magazine (this appears only for episode 3). The hour-long, two-part Cat Flap (one of the original titles for the serial) covers the making of the serial from start to finish, and Endgame is an intriguing look at how the program might've continued after Survival had it not been cancelled in 1989. Little Girl Lost is a 15-minute exploration of Ace's character from her debut story until Survival, and Destiny of the Doctors features footage of Ainley as the Master taken from the 1997 computer game of the same name. The extras are rounded out by several deleted and extended scenes, a round of outtakes, the standard photo gallery, text-only commentary track, Radio Times listings (in DVD-ROM format), and a 20-minute episode of a U.K. educational program called Search Out Science, which features McCoy and Aldred as their characters in a discussion of (what else?) time and space. --Paul Gaita
Product Description
The Doctor takes Ace back to her hometown of Perivale, only to find that something is very, very wrong. Many of Ace's old friends and neighbors have disappeared while domestic pets become victims of unseen killers. Will the hunter become the hunted when only the fittest survive? (Episodes 1-3, 72 mins)
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes
Documentaries
Music Only Track
Other
Outtakes
Photo gallery
Production Notes
Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Crazy Fox
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Survival"--possibly one of the most unintentionally ironic titles in world television history, for it's with this storyline that "Doctor Who", TV's longest-running science fiction program, beloved by generation after generation across the English-speaking world, died. Not a spectacular death, either, but shot like a dog and left to expire like something the cat dragged in, a random casualty of beastly BBC infighting and survival-of-the-fittest competition with other programs. Of course, in those last months of 1989 when "Survival" originally aired, the viewing public couldn't know that this was to be the show's final breath or, as it turns out now, the beginning of its sixteen-year hibernation. Indeed, the storyline was not intended as such, and it strains unfairly under such a heavy retrospective burden. And yet as a fan I found it pretty much impossible to blinker my hindsight and just watch the story on its own terms.
I'll try to do so now, though. In and of itself "Survival" is a pretty standard example of "Doctor Who" at the time, neither a classic nor a clunker. More coherently plotted than "Ghost Light" but not as consistently interesting as "Remembrance of the Daleks", it still entertains as a reasonably sophisticated sci-fi adventure. In context, this story does fit right in with the two storylines preceding it ("Ghost Light" and "The Curse of Fenric") by focusing more on the character of the Doctor's human traveling companion Ace than on the kindly renegade Time Lord himself, here especially as this tale begins with their visit to her old home neighborhood in the run-down suburbs of London and follows her missing friends to the bizarre planet of the Cheetah People. The Doctor's almost just along for the ride here, a real role-reversal indeed. Also linking these last three stories of season 26 is the common theme of evolution, or Darwinism to be more exact--a complex link in which the ever-dynamic ever-changing burgeoning profusion of lifeforms postulated by that theory is celebrated in "Ghost Light" whereas here the moral consequences and ethical repercussions of the theory (the cold, hard law of the jungle) are roundly criticized and vilified implicitly and explicitly. Along with this there also continues a politically leftist emphasis in the show, for the writer clearly categorizes basic competitive capitalism and violence in self-defense as Darwinist negatives. Writer's prerogative, certainly, but traditionally "Doctor Who" had been so crafted as to appeal commonly to folks of various political orientations, which somehow seems a fairer and wiser policy in light of its wide viewing audience.
And the whole non-violence bit gets the writer in a double-bind at the story's climax, and in what constitutes the story's main flaw the writer can only extricate herself from this by cheating: the Doctor and the Master, both of them gradually devolving into more primitive forms, are locked in mortal combat hand to hand and tooth to claw when the Doctor finally takes the moral high ground and refuses to fight, teleporting away instead. Yeah right. This avoids both the option unpalatable to the writer of having the Doctor kill the Master in self-defense and the logical upshot of the writer's stance (unpalatable to us) in which the Doctor would passively allow the Master to kill him instead, but all at the cost of dealing the story itself a nasty wound indeed. For that matter, the ethics of leaving a guy behind and stranding him on a world that's about to explode and disintegrate seem just as questionable if not more so than a good man-to-man round of fisticuffs.
That aside, the story has a lot going for it all the same. The script is extremely well-written and some of the dialogue is positively inspired. The realistically contemporary setting adds grit and tension to the adventure and is a good contrast to the oddly surreal landscapes of the Cheetah Planet. The Cheetah People are interesting aliens though very imperfectly realized make-up-wise; something less ambitious may have been called for, since the transitional phase with the funny eyes, fangs, and claws works pretty well. But still, an unusual concept, and in "Doctor Who" it's the concepts rather than the effects that count in the final analysis. Furthermore, however one feels of Anthony Ainley's take on the Master (I'm not usually too keen myself) he gave the role his all for the better part of a decade and here managed one of his more subdued and convincing performances. And Sylvester McCoy is as dependable as ever as the Doctor. So "Survival" may not be a fitting end to the show or at least to the classic run of the show anyway, but it does afford a good few hours of speculative science fiction enjoyment and survives on that strength.
I'll try to do so now, though. In and of itself "Survival" is a pretty standard example of "Doctor Who" at the time, neither a classic nor a clunker. More coherently plotted than "Ghost Light" but not as consistently interesting as "Remembrance of the Daleks", it still entertains as a reasonably sophisticated sci-fi adventure. In context, this story does fit right in with the two storylines preceding it ("Ghost Light" and "The Curse of Fenric") by focusing more on the character of the Doctor's human traveling companion Ace than on the kindly renegade Time Lord himself, here especially as this tale begins with their visit to her old home neighborhood in the run-down suburbs of London and follows her missing friends to the bizarre planet of the Cheetah People. The Doctor's almost just along for the ride here, a real role-reversal indeed. Also linking these last three stories of season 26 is the common theme of evolution, or Darwinism to be more exact--a complex link in which the ever-dynamic ever-changing burgeoning profusion of lifeforms postulated by that theory is celebrated in "Ghost Light" whereas here the moral consequences and ethical repercussions of the theory (the cold, hard law of the jungle) are roundly criticized and vilified implicitly and explicitly. Along with this there also continues a politically leftist emphasis in the show, for the writer clearly categorizes basic competitive capitalism and violence in self-defense as Darwinist negatives. Writer's prerogative, certainly, but traditionally "Doctor Who" had been so crafted as to appeal commonly to folks of various political orientations, which somehow seems a fairer and wiser policy in light of its wide viewing audience.
And the whole non-violence bit gets the writer in a double-bind at the story's climax, and in what constitutes the story's main flaw the writer can only extricate herself from this by cheating: the Doctor and the Master, both of them gradually devolving into more primitive forms, are locked in mortal combat hand to hand and tooth to claw when the Doctor finally takes the moral high ground and refuses to fight, teleporting away instead. Yeah right. This avoids both the option unpalatable to the writer of having the Doctor kill the Master in self-defense and the logical upshot of the writer's stance (unpalatable to us) in which the Doctor would passively allow the Master to kill him instead, but all at the cost of dealing the story itself a nasty wound indeed. For that matter, the ethics of leaving a guy behind and stranding him on a world that's about to explode and disintegrate seem just as questionable if not more so than a good man-to-man round of fisticuffs.
That aside, the story has a lot going for it all the same. The script is extremely well-written and some of the dialogue is positively inspired. The realistically contemporary setting adds grit and tension to the adventure and is a good contrast to the oddly surreal landscapes of the Cheetah Planet. The Cheetah People are interesting aliens though very imperfectly realized make-up-wise; something less ambitious may have been called for, since the transitional phase with the funny eyes, fangs, and claws works pretty well. But still, an unusual concept, and in "Doctor Who" it's the concepts rather than the effects that count in the final analysis. Furthermore, however one feels of Anthony Ainley's take on the Master (I'm not usually too keen myself) he gave the role his all for the better part of a decade and here managed one of his more subdued and convincing performances. And Sylvester McCoy is as dependable as ever as the Doctor. So "Survival" may not be a fitting end to the show or at least to the classic run of the show anyway, but it does afford a good few hours of speculative science fiction enjoyment and survives on that strength.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This was the last story of the original "Doctor Who", which ran on the BBC from 1963 - 1989. Think about that for a moment. Six US presidents were in office during that time (more or less... JFK was killed the day the show started to air). When the program started we hadn't been to Moon. By the time it ended, we'd lost interest in going back there. If you added up the runs of the original "Star Trek" series, "The Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" you end up with twenty-four seasons of television. "Doctor Who" wound up with twenty-six. Of course, you can add "Enterprise" into there to boost the numbers and make it twenty-eight, but now with three seasons of the new "Doctor Who" on the air, and a fourth coming, "Star Trek" still loses.
There were a lot of problems with "Doctor Who" throughout those years. This is somewhat to be expected with a show that runs that long, after all. The SFX were usually laughable, even by the standards of the time. The monsters were frequently silly and the less said about some of the costumes and sets the better. But there was always a great enthusiasm on the part of the show. The people involved took it seriously. Most of the stories were original and interesting and the actors were, in general, top-notch, especially the ones who played the Doctor.
Sylvester McCoy was the first Doctor I paid attention to, really. My local PBS station started airing his shows right about the time that I was begining to get into "Doctor Who". The first episode I ever remember seeing was Doctor Who - Remembrance of the Daleks. Though now I've gone back to see all the other Doctors, plus watched the TV movie and the new series, and though I like all the Doctors, the 7th one still holds a special place in my heart.
Which is why it's too bad McCoy was the one duty when the show finally folded. His Doctor was intelligent, funny and charming, but had a great ruthlessness about him when it was called for. Part of his charm was the various elements of the so-called "Cartmel Master Plan". Even as a wee shaver I took notice in "Rememberance of the Daleks" when the Doctor makes a verbal slip that implies he worked on the original time travel technology with Rassilon and Omega.
"Survival" is the 7th Doctor's swan song, even though he returned for the TV movie. It's the last time we really see him on screen running the show, and it showcases great deal of what made him so cool. You see the humor, the kindness, the charm and the ruthlessness. You also see the evolving relationship with Ace, always a favorite companion, and of course Anthony Ainley's last "real" performance as the Master, finally allowed to be something other than a two-dimensional Evil Overlord (tm).
There's a lot that works in this story. Even the make up on the Cheetah People is rather decent. The story is tightly plotted and intesting, and reveals quite a lot about Ace and her life before she met up with the Doctor. In fact the only real complaints I have is that the story is rather short at only three parts, certain character's deaths were very, very telegraphed and the puppet cat looked just dreadful.
Despite those complaints, this was well worth seeing, and it's therefore somewhat surprising that despite the fact that I've been a fan of the show for about twenty years, I'd not seen this episode until a few days ago. But I'm happy to have seen it now.
The DVD is crammed with the usual extras the BBC throws onto these, including commentaries and behind-the-scenes stuff. Very illuminating is a documentry on the end of the original series, where you also get to hear some vague ideas on what might have been had they been on the air longer.
All in all, while this is not the best "Doctor Who" episode, it is very good, and a reasonably decent farewell for the show. It wasn't the send off the deserved, but it was better than what, say, "Enterprise" got, where their last episode was a decent "Next Generation" episode. Watch and enjoy the end of an era.
There were a lot of problems with "Doctor Who" throughout those years. This is somewhat to be expected with a show that runs that long, after all. The SFX were usually laughable, even by the standards of the time. The monsters were frequently silly and the less said about some of the costumes and sets the better. But there was always a great enthusiasm on the part of the show. The people involved took it seriously. Most of the stories were original and interesting and the actors were, in general, top-notch, especially the ones who played the Doctor.
Sylvester McCoy was the first Doctor I paid attention to, really. My local PBS station started airing his shows right about the time that I was begining to get into "Doctor Who". The first episode I ever remember seeing was Doctor Who - Remembrance of the Daleks. Though now I've gone back to see all the other Doctors, plus watched the TV movie and the new series, and though I like all the Doctors, the 7th one still holds a special place in my heart.
Which is why it's too bad McCoy was the one duty when the show finally folded. His Doctor was intelligent, funny and charming, but had a great ruthlessness about him when it was called for. Part of his charm was the various elements of the so-called "Cartmel Master Plan". Even as a wee shaver I took notice in "Rememberance of the Daleks" when the Doctor makes a verbal slip that implies he worked on the original time travel technology with Rassilon and Omega.
"Survival" is the 7th Doctor's swan song, even though he returned for the TV movie. It's the last time we really see him on screen running the show, and it showcases great deal of what made him so cool. You see the humor, the kindness, the charm and the ruthlessness. You also see the evolving relationship with Ace, always a favorite companion, and of course Anthony Ainley's last "real" performance as the Master, finally allowed to be something other than a two-dimensional Evil Overlord (tm).
There's a lot that works in this story. Even the make up on the Cheetah People is rather decent. The story is tightly plotted and intesting, and reveals quite a lot about Ace and her life before she met up with the Doctor. In fact the only real complaints I have is that the story is rather short at only three parts, certain character's deaths were very, very telegraphed and the puppet cat looked just dreadful.
Despite those complaints, this was well worth seeing, and it's therefore somewhat surprising that despite the fact that I've been a fan of the show for about twenty years, I'd not seen this episode until a few days ago. But I'm happy to have seen it now.
The DVD is crammed with the usual extras the BBC throws onto these, including commentaries and behind-the-scenes stuff. Very illuminating is a documentry on the end of the original series, where you also get to hear some vague ideas on what might have been had they been on the air longer.
All in all, while this is not the best "Doctor Who" episode, it is very good, and a reasonably decent farewell for the show. It wasn't the send off the deserved, but it was better than what, say, "Enterprise" got, where their last episode was a decent "Next Generation" episode. Watch and enjoy the end of an era.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By G.Spider
Format:VHS Tape
This adventure, featuring council estates, city squallor and grim reality, demonstrates how the series had moved on in its 26 years.
The gritty portrayal of Ace's home of Perrivale provides a good contrast to the science-fantasy atmosphere of the Planet of the Cheetah People. The Ace/Doctor double-act is at its best here, there is are some superb pieces of dialogue and dark undertones, and Anthony Ainley is at last playing an alternative incarnation of the Master rather than a parody of Roger Delgado's version. The Master's sense of emotion and desperation in this story provides a new angle on the character and makes it a shame this was to be Ainley's last appearance in the series.
The Cheetah people do, admittedly, appear to be on the cheesy side, but they are saved by their portrayal and some stunning camerawork. The soundtrack, original and atmospheric, is also a high point. If this story really does prove to be the final TV serial adventure of the Doctor then at least we can be thankful the series has finished on such a high note as this.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Job
I made an error previously with the other Dr. Who and confused you with Hastings, sent in a timely fashion, I'm a fan on both this Dr. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Paul B. King
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cat Scratch Fever
The final episode of the Classic Who series (8, you special snow flake, you!), Sylvester McCoy really hits home about what this show is truly about; "that good in the end survives,... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lissa
5.0 out of 5 stars
The last Classic Doctor Who episode to be aired.
This story was actually the last episode of the classic series to ever air, which is ironic given its name. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Keitheaux
1.0 out of 5 stars
Belongs in the Cat Litter.
It was an act of mercy when the show ended, all the way through the eighties it had limped along with fewer and fewer viewers. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Cliff Hanger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Doctor Who - Survival [VHS]
The old Dr. Who is by far one of the best ongoing series on TV now. Give it a try.
Published 15 months ago by retiredfella
3.0 out of 5 stars
Here kitty kitty!
Survival is a typical McCoy season 25 and 26 story, interesting plot which keeps you engrossed in the story. However it loses points because it tries to serve a moral message. Read more
Published on May 9, 2011 by John Liosatos
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Somewhere the tea is getting cold"
Survival the final epsidoe of sci-fi longest running show in history comes to an end. The Doctor and Ace travel to 20th century earth to visit Ace's old home town. Read more
Published on September 22, 2009 by Jacob
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Wretched cats! Get out of my garden!"
SURVIVAL is probably more notable for what came after it than it is for its own merits. Or perhaps I should say that it is notable for what didn't come after it, as this serial was... Read more
Published on May 30, 2009 by Andrew McCaffrey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Survival: Yes; Sylvester: No
I've read other reviews that relegate Sylvester McCoy's Doctor to the bottom of the heap. Based on this one story, I'd have to agree. Read more
Published on April 30, 2009 by Howard M. Kindel
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not the Who I know
I never took a shine to McCoy as the Doctor. Everything about his portrayal of the Doctor iiritated me, from his quirky mannerisms, to his bizzare innunciation of words. Read more
Published on June 19, 2008 by A. Shapiro
