Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Producers: Peter Bryant
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 13
• Studio: BBC Video
• VHS Release Date: October 7, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000AGQ29
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,329 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover
On November 23, 1963, the BBC launched the world's longest running science fiction television series when it aired the premiere episode of Doctor Who. To celebrate the Doctor's 40th Anniversary, BBC Video presents the largest Doctor Who video collection ever assembled. On home video for the first time, these eleven adventures span 16 of Doctor Who's 26 seasons. With four Doctors, 19 companions, 56 episodes and 46 cliffhangers, fans will agree that this cosmic collection is "bigger on the inside."

The Sensorites STARRING WILLIAM HARTNELL

The TARDIS arrives on board a spaceship in orbit around a planet called the Sense-Sphere. The alien Sensorites have trapped the ship's human crew in a state of semi-permanent paralysis. (6 eps)

The Reign of Terror STARRING WILLIAM HARTNELL

The TARDIS materializes near Paris in 1794 - one of the bloodiest years following the French Revolution. The Doctor and his companions, Susan, Barbara and Ian, soon become involved in efforts to rescue prisoners from the guillotine. PLUS BONUS EPISODES STARRING PATRICK TROUGHTON: The Faceless Ones, Episodes 1, 3 Soon after the TARDIS arrives at Gatwick airport in 1966, Polly and Ben vanish. The Doctor and Jamie learn that Polly and Ben are just two of many young people who have recently disappeared. The Web of Fear, Episode 1 - The Doctor, Jaime and Victoria find the London Underground teeming with Yeti in the story that introduced UNIT.

The Time Meddler STARRING WILLIAM HARTNELL

The TARDIS arrives on an English coastline in the year 1066. Exploring, the Doctor discovers that one of his own people, the Monk, is conspiring to tamper with the odds in the upcoming Battle of Hastings. (4 eps)

The Gunfighters STARRING WILLIAM HARTNELL

The TARDIS arrives in the town of Tombstone. The Doctor, having hurt a tooth eating candy, visits the local dentist, Doc Holliday, just as his feud with the Clanton family is escalating. (4 eps)

The Ambassadors of Death STARRING JON PERTWEE

The Doctor joins UNIT's investigation into the mystery surrounding Mars Probe 7. The three astronauts on board have made no communications since the capsule started back from Mars seven months ago. (7 eps)

The Mutants STARRING JON PERTWEE

The Time Lords send the Doctor with Jo into the 30th Century to a Skybase orbiting the planet Solos. Solos is due to gain independence from Earth's waning empire, but its Marshal is determined to prevent this, despite the high occurrence of mutations in its native population. (6 eps)

Invasion of the Dinosaurs STARRING JON PERTWEE

The Doctor and Sarah Jane return to 20th Century London to find it has been evacuated due to the unexplained and random appearance of prehistoric monsters. (6eps)

The Invisible Enemy STARRING TOM BAKER

The Swarm, a space-borne intelligence with grandiose ambitions, infiltrates the TARDIS and infects the Doctor. The only hope may be to miniaturize clones of the Doctor and Leela and inject them into the Doctor's body to search and destroy the nucleus. (4 eps)

The Creature From the Pit STARRING TOM BAKER

The Doctor and Romana receive a distress signal and arrive on Chloris, a lush, verdant but mineral-poor world. All metals are controlled by its ruler, Lady Adrasta, who keeps order with the aid of her Huntsman and his wolfweeds - mobile balls of vegetation. (4 eps)

The Horns of Nimon STARRING TOM BAKER

A Nimon has promised the planet Skonnos that he will restore it to its former greatness. In return the Skonnans must provide young sacrifices and radioactive crystals, both of which they plunder from the nearby planet Aneth. With the TARDIS immobilized for repairs, the Doctor and Romana encounter a Skonnan spaceship, and soon find themselves doomed to enter the Nimon's labyrinthine power complex. (4 eps)

Meglos STARRING TOM BAKER

The Doctor is invited to visit the planet Tigella by its leader, Zastor, whose people's are splitting into two opposing factions, the religious Deons and the scientist Savants. The TARDIS is intercepted by the megalomaniacal xerophyte Meglos. (4 eps)

Product Description
Contains 11 adventures, 56 episodes "The Reign of Terror" "The Sensorites" "The Time Meddler" "The Gunfighters" "The Ambassadors of Death" "The Mutants" "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" "The Creature From The Pit" "Horns of Nimon" "The Invisible Enemy" "Meglos"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 11 Tapes at a better value., September 29, 2003

By	Matthew L. Roffman (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This set includes the last ten complete Dr. Who Stories to be released on video; The Reign of Terror, The Sensorites, The Time Meddler, The Gunfighters, The Ambassadors of Death, The Mutants, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Creature From The Pit, Horns of Nimon, The Invisible Enemy, The Creature from the Pit, The Horns of Nimon, Meglos. PLUS you get the Web of Fear/Faceless ones missing episode bonus tape. Looking strictly at the prices, it does not appear that this bonus tape will be included in the American release of the Reign of Terror like it will be England. At the time of my writing this, these tapes are individually priced at $19.50 for a total of 195.00 and it won't even include the Missing Episodes tape. This is a better value. Here are some other facts about this set.

The Sensorites, The Gunfighters, the Reign of terror and Missing Episodes from Web of Fear and The Faceless Ones have been treated with a process called Vidfire to get the studio scenes to look more like their original video broadcast pictures (which I personally think makes the show look like it's on a lower budget but oh well, we've got to be purists about this).

The Ambassadors of Death is a composite of color and black and white footage due to the fact that some of the color footage has been lost. %70 of it is in color and I didnt even notice some of the color/black and white transitions. Also, the first episode of Invasion of The Dinosaurs is Missing in color form. They may have colorized it for this release but I don't know.

I wrote this reveiw to concentrate more on some of the facts of behind the video releases. Not to give episdoe synopsis. Please say it was helpful.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The final 11 stories--and that's the end of the Whoniverse, November 7, 2003

By	Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

OK, I've already individually reviewed the final eleven extant stories in the Doctor Who canon that have finally been released on video, but not as a whole. Key, [#]=rating

The Sensorites (1964)--The Doctor and companions have to help Earthmen under mental thrall of the Sensorites, and the latter, a telepathic race who fear the Earthmen exploiting their mineral wealth and who think an encounter with the Earthmen is the cause of a plague from which their race is dying. A good story on trust between different races--[4].

The Reign Of Terror (1964)--In the next story, the Doctor and friends are separated in the France of July 1794. Ian, Barbara, and Susan are captured and sent to prison, where they await a fate with Madame Guillotine. The Doctor tries to rescue them. Episodes 4 and 5 are missing, but are linked by narration from Carole Ann Ford (Susan). This historical drama features Robespierre and Paul Barras, who led a coup against the latter, but the appearance of Napoleon is a historical inaccuracy. This also has Episodes 1 and 3 of the incomplete The Faceless Ones(1967), and Episode 1 of the 6-parter The Web Of Fear (1967)--[4].

The Time Meddler (1965)--The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven land in Northumbria, in 1066, where they encounter Saxon villagers, Viking invaders, and a mysterious monk who seems to recognize the TARDIS. Not purely historical, but interesting nevertheless, with Peter Butterworth scoring as the Monk--[4].

The Gunfighters (1965)--The Doctor, Dodo, and Steven play cowboys in Tombstone, Arizona, where the local authorities happen to be a certain Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and the dentist Doc John Holliday. Mostly played for laughs and a novelty in the show's history, with Dodo clearly enjoying herself on the saloon piano. And love "The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon," sung by Lynda Barron throughout the story--[5].

The Ambassadors Of Death (1970)--This seven-parter is half done in colour, half black and white because some of the original colour segments were unwisely junked by the BBC. A Mars probe is rescued after seven months' absence, but have the astronauts returned safely? And what did they bring back from space? The Doctor's attempts to discover the truth is met with sabotage, delays, and murder. A take on alien invasion on Earth, the space race, and xenophobia--[4].

The Mutants--An underrated six-parter on the evils of empire, apartheid, and administrators who hold out against giving a state independence, the Mutants has the Doctor and Jo helping out the native Solonians under Ky break away from the sadistic Marshal. Also inspired by Gibbons' The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--[5].

Invasion Of The Dinosaurs--Dinosaurs have invaded London and the Doctor and UNIT have to find out how and where the gigantic reptiles are coming from. Has some mad scientist secretly bred them and they've gotten loose, or is there a more sinister explanation? The bad realization of certain dinosaurs, and the bad bluescreen effects sinks what could have been a very effective allegory on what post-industrial pollution can do to the world--[3].

The Invisible Enemy--K9, the robot dog, is introduced in this story of a virus whose nucleus finds the Doctor, due to his intelligence, as a perfect host to rule the galaxy. "The age of man has ended. The age of the virus has begun." Or so the nucleus wishes. Highlight scene is the trip through the Doctor's brain by clones of the Doctor and Leela--[4].

The Creature From The Pit (1979)--The Doctor and Romana fall afoul of the dictatorial Lady Adrasta, ruler of the verdant jungle world of Chloris and owner of the sole ore mines, who throw those who displease her into a pit, where a monster lives. The Doctor finds out about the monster and gets involved in the politics of the planet--[4].

The Horns Of Nimon (1979/80)--In this twist on the Theseus versus the Minotaur legend, the Doctor and Romana help out the Anethans from being made sacrifices to the Nimon, the benefactors of the Skonnons, a warlike militaristic race on the skids, who want a Second Skonnon Empire--[4].

Meglos (1980)--the Doctor and Romana, en route to Tigella, is intercepted by the shape-shifting cactus-like alien Meglos, who puts the TARDIS in a time loop, while he impersonates the Doctor and goes out to steal the Dodecahedron, the Tigellans' unstable power supply, aided by some rough and tough space mercenaries--[3], due to a lack of desirable characters.

In some cases, it is justifiable to say that the least popular stories were saved for last, e.g. The Gunfighters, The Mutants, Invasion Of The Dinosaurs, The Creature From The Pit, The Horns Of Nimon, and Meglos. However, the first two are severely underrated, and for those like me whose favourite Doctor is Jon Pertwee, it's a relief to finally have the last two stories of his era available.

And that's it, Who fans. Unless some miracle occurs, like some missing episodes from the William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton eras showing up that merit the release of a previously incomplete story, it is indeed, the End Of The Universe. Sad, isn't it? Overall rating: 4

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a Dream come True!, July 3, 2003

By	David Slater (Port Lavaca. tx. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Here is Whats in the box set...

AMBASSADORS OF DEATH
CREATURE FROM THE PIT
The Invisible Enemy
The Sensorites
The Time Meddler
The Gunfighters
The Mutants
Meglos
The Horns of Nimon
Invasion of the Dinosaurs
The Reign of Terror Collectors Set