Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: BBC Warner
• VHS Release Date: May 8, 2001
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005ASPL
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,226 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At long last..., May 30, 2001

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you only own one other Dr. Who video, your collection is incomplete without The Tenth Planet. It depicts, of course, the most significant turning point in the history of the show, the departure of William Hartnell as the Doctor. That, in itself is more than enough reason to buy this video.

As a special bonus, there are the Cybermen. Don't be fooled as I was by the still photos which gave them a cheesy appearance. They don't appear terrifying at all until you see them in action. The lip action and voice characterization are nothing less than chilling. I first saw the Cybermen in "Revenge" then later in "Earthshock" and "Attack" and found them scary enough then. Now that I've seen "Tenth" I realize that they actually got less and less scary as time went on, which makes this one the scariest ever.

The reconstruction of the unfortunately missing final episode is surprisingly and absolutely brilliant. The audio track is complete and there are stills that refresh every couple of seconds. The only times that I was reminded that it was a reconstruction was when lines of text would scroll across the bottom of the screen to depict what was happening or when brief clips of actual film would delightfully appear. And the regeneration scene is complete. So there is not much that is missing after all.

Bottom line, get this one.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new body, at last!, July 29, 2001

By 

Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Whether you grew up watching "Doctor Who" as it was first broadcast in the UK, or in endless 1980s US PBS reruns, "The Tenth Planet" is one of those stories you were dying to see again and again. Annoyingly, you couldn't, because the BBC destroyed all prints of the fourth and final episode, and the story was thus "incomplete" and never re-aired.

The recent BBC releases of stories featuring William Hartnell, the First Doctor, have been exemplary, and this VHS continues the trend. The first 3 episodes of "Tenth Planet" -- long seen only on dim, bootlegged, Nth generation copies of the original -- are nearly pristine. Episode 4 is reconstructed using existing still photos, the audio track, and a few well-used video effects which serve to add to the pictures, not detract from them. (It's heartening to note that for this story, the "restoration" team did not seek to alter the existing footage by replacing scenes with outtakes, or digitally "correcting" old special effects, as was done with the ill-advised "The Five Doctors -- Special Edition")

The seminal moment here is the First Doctor's death, and subsequent regeneration into another Doctor, another actor. Using 8mm film footage, this video presents the complete regeneration, and it's wonderful to watch. The sequence is an innovative bit of studio-bound 1960s TV direction and is most impressive.

The story itself doesn't hold up perfectly -- it was, after all, made 35 years ago and will come across as archaic, no matter how it's packaged and presented -- but most "Doctor Who" fans should be willing to overlook the inherent flaws and enjoy the story on its own terms. "Tenth Planet" offers a rare look at "adult" monsters and ethnic diversity in a "children's" show, and of course it's the first appearance of the Cybermen villains, whose popularity persists to this day.

Regardless of what you think of the story itself, the existence of this video satisfies one of the greatest wishes of all "Doctor Who" fans. Add to that the obvious care that went into recreating the lost Episode 4, and you have one of the most significant, appealing DW video releases of all time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, May 23, 2001

By 

"palladin5" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Although perhaps a bit cheesy by today's more sophisticated standards, this is a must have piece of Who history. This is the first appearance of the Cybermen and Mr. Hartnell's last story.

The story does a good job of showing the tension of a remote international space tracking station trying to get men in space home safely while facing huge obstacles (A new planet threatening earth, and waves of attacking Cybermen.) When the bases C.O. begins to crack from the pressure, you can begin to feel the tension yourself.

I am extremely pleased with the recreation of the fourth episode. It contains the full audio track accompanied by a slide show of corresponding images from the missing episode. There are also short grainy video clips from time to time. When the still picture fails show the action you are hearing, text scrolls across the bottom of the screen describing the action. "Ben checks the hall and sees that its clear" for example. The regeneration sequence is fully intact (grainy video).

Hopefully the BBC will release more classic Who with reconstructed missing episodes of this quality.