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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Validation of the Sixth Doctor..., June 3, 2004
Like many Whovians, I've always harbored a dislike for Colin Baker's portrayal of the Doctor. Abrasive, argumentative, and rude, it seemed as if this Doctor was a throwback to his original incarnation. While being crotchety seemed to fit the elderly William Hartnell and added to his charm as Doctor Who, in the younger Colin Baker the effect was rather off-putting.However, I have to say that in retrospect, the lad was actually pretty darned good. I've picked up a few of Colin's adventures on DVD, and have come away with a new appreciation of his take on the Doctor. The Second Doctor and Jaime visit a space station on behalf of the Time Lords. Some scientists have been tinkering with a time machine, and the Time Lords are concerned. However, the Sontarans attack and capture the Doctor and the prototype machine with the help of the station's director. They plot to use the Doctor's DNA to enable them to complete the time machine and travel in time. Enter the Sixth Doctor and Peri, who try to recapture the Second Doctor and save Time itself from the Sontaran warlords. The story is rather inventive in "The Two Doctors", although the Spanish locations are kind of a waste since the show could have been shot just as easily in the UK. The installment was somewhat disappointing in that the cannibalism angle was never fully explained or exploited, and the 45-minute episode length works against the best concepts of the show. There also seems to be a spot of meanness (so common to the Colin Baker era), as one of the minor characters gets murdered pointlessly. The Doctor himself steps way out of character and takes a life in a somewhat glib manner. Still, we have Patrick Troughton, and even in the padded parts, he makes the show a joy to watch. The villains are somewhat entertaining, as well, and the locations are pretty. As for extras, there are two segments of raw footage (one in the studio, one on location), that give the viewer an idea of how the show was put together. Another segment recounts the difficulties encountered in finding suitable locations not only for the story, but for those interested in the industry. There's also a nice retrospect of Robert Holmes' work on Doctor Who, which is a loving tribute to the late writer by his co-workers on the show. The best part of this set is the segment where a young Who fan gets his wish and becomes part of a new, mini-Who adventure with Colin Baker, the Sontarans, and Teagan aboard the TARDIS, complete with impressive floor effects. I love this segment for three reasons; first, it was very, very well-done work. Second, the kid proved to me that Colin's Doctor had fans, as evidenced by his costume, patterned after Colin's, and made "by his Nan." Third, and best of all for me, was Colin's Doctor talking smack to Teagan and pointing out what a mouthy, sour, pain in the neck she was. Teagan is the one companion that grated on my nerves to the nth degree, and one which I've always heartily despised, so full marks to whoever wrote the segment, and for Colin, apparently acting "from the heart." Oh, and if all of that were not enough, let's not forget Patrick Troughton's second Doctor (along with companion Jaime) making a triuphant return to the series. That alone is worth the price of admission. Overall, this is a surprisingly well-packed DVD for the Sixth Doctor, generally known as being the least-loved. If, like me, you never really cared for Colin Baker as the Doctor, you may want to try this one out. You just might change your mind.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Irresistible, January 18, 2008
I could probably write a novel about my tribute to "The Two Doctors" but I'll do my best to keep it short. My favourite two doctors from the classic series (and indeed, overall) are Patrick Troughton and Colin Baker. So it doesn't take a genius to work out that this story is my favourite all-time. Why? Simply of the fun that the story seems to have. It's as though everyone decided to take a holiday and make this story while they were doing so.
The result? A dark comedy would be best how I would describe "The Two Doctors." Robert Holmes's new creations, the Androgums, are best realised through him, as we hear about blood ties similar to Scottish clans like "Franzine Grig" or "Quarnzine Grig." Shockeye in particular, craving a human, and every time he manages to capture either Doc, Jamie or Peri, someone always interrupts him. You can't help but laugh out loud, reminds you of those stupid telemarketers who ring you just when you're about to have dinner.
The script is littered with one-liners, ones that just make you do a double take and laugh in surprise, from all sorts of characters, Oscar delivering some of the best, such as "My father slept in a steel helmet during the war," What, just the steel helmet? "Competent people, trained in the time of bandages," and when Doc 6, Jamie and Peri come out of the TARDIS and Oscar mistakes him for a policeman, "I can tell by your raiment that you belong to the plain-clothes branch" and the Doctor looks down at his outrageous clothing, along with Jamie and Peri, who aren't exactly in "plain clothes." Not to mention Doc 2 and Shockeye when Doc 2's been turned into an androgum and they discuss "shepherd's pie" which apparently is a cannibal dish!
Not to mention the TARDIS scenes, where Doc 2 and 6 abuse the machine in exactly the same way, The Doctor going through business cards "Christopher Columbus..." looks over at Peri, "He had a lot to answer for!"
The difference between this and the other two multi-doctor stories is whereas "The Three Doctors" and "The Five Doctors" merely rode on an anniversary celebration (and thus barely have a storyto hold it together), "The Two Doctors" actually does have a story to it, and actually balances out both that, and the two doctors turn up by coincidence. People have complained about that being a weak explanation for them showing up at the same time. Uh, hello? It may be weak, but it's far more realistic than Borusa taking all five doctors from their timeline and then giving him enemies to fight, to weaken their chances of them getting what he wants (but that's another review) As Doctor 6 says, "When you travel around time as much as I do, you're bound to run into yourself at some point"
And finally, the scene that everyone whinges and complains about (with such little reason to) Poor old Colin sounds so weary about it in the commentary, wonder what the count is on how many people have complained to him about it. I am of course talking about the Shockeye killing scene. I have no problem about it whatsoever. Come on, people, the Doctor was desparate. Shockeye chasing him with the strength "to snap you in half with one hand" What's the Doctor supposed to do. Just smile at him and say "That's okay, kill me anyway"? And considering the Second Doctor used a machine to kill a Cyberman in "The Invasion," The Fourth Doctor aged Sutekh to death, The Seventh Doctor manipulated Davros to wipe out an entire planet, the Tenth Doctor killed a Sycorax and on and on. I get the feeling people criticise Colin Baker's doctor simply for being Colin Baker's doctor. I would rather travel with the Sixth Doctor than the Ninth Doctor who let all the people down who were fighting to keep the Daleks at bay and then simply refused to use the Delta Wave because it "made him a killer"
Overall, I wish I could give it six or seven stars, but five will have to do. Watch it as a dark, snarky comedy and maybe you'll get new appreciation for it.
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19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fatal curse for two Doctors, August 13, 2004
BBC Video continues to turn out the quarterly releases of the Doctor Who back catalogue on DVD and the latest pairing brings two stories from the latter years of the series lengthy broadcast run. Although technically featuring stories from two different eras of Doctors (and featuring a third in a guest role) both The Two Doctors and The Curse of Fenric come from the very troubled final years of the show's 26 year run when even the fans found it hard to find favor with their hero's antics and the general viewing public made it clear that they could care less!
The Two Doctors was unfortunate enough to be on air when the show was famously cancelled by the BBC, albeit to return 18 months later in a revised and truncated format. Perhaps it is for this reason that this story is not that highly rated, but in all honesty it's more likely to be that the adventure was typically symptomatic of everything that seemed to be wrong with the production at this time.
The first six part adventure to be made and broadcast since 1978, this lengthy story was in fact broadcast in three double-length episodes at the beginning of 1985 in the first full season to feature the controversial sixth Doctor, played by Colin Baker. I've always believed that Colin had the personality and charisma to be a very, very fine Doctor indeed and had he followed Tom Baker and not Peter Davison, things could have been very different for him. As it is, his characterization was horribly misconceived, as was his truly appalling costume and he successfully alienated the very loyal and devoted fans of the show and the general public alike. By the time The Two Doctors was on air, one third of the audience had switched off from the start of the season and the BBC was naturally looking to see why. They blamed the violence enveloping the show and watching this story, they wouldn't be far wrong.
Written by probably the greatest writer ever associated with the show, the late, great former script editor Robert Holmes, this story had so many elements that could have made it a success, but was completely let down by some gratuitous violence, grisly, unnecessary deaths and far too complex a plot. Even the return of one of the show's most popular incumbents, second Doctor Patrick Troughton and his popular sidekick Jamie were unable to save the show. More's the pity since Troughton died the following year and this is hardly a fitting tribute to his contribution to the show.
When the program did make it back on to air in 1986 it was a shadow of its former greatness and although it staggered onwards for another four seasons, the death knell was never far away. The Curse of Fenric comes from the very end of the show's run and is possibly the greatest example of everything that was wrong with the production at the time. Essentially, from the very beginning of the series in 1963, the production team had always worked with their backs to the wall, with never enough time or budget to achieve what they were striving for, and yet, in 26 years, they'd always managed to find entertaining and popular stories that generally worked against all the odds. The Curse of Fenric was simply an unworkable mess. A good mess; a promising mess; but a mess nonetheless. It's staggering to think that a professional TV producer would pull together a script that was so incredibly complex and essentially unworkable under the show's format and then be surprised that the material couldn't be worked into the show's slot. It's only thanks to home video and DVD that we can now see the show how it was intended, which rather ignores the fact that it is a TV show intended for a much wider audience and not the select fans who will buy the DVD or Video.
The DVD set contains the four episodes as they were transmitted (itself a first for home video) plus a (second) attempt to restore all the deleted material and re-order the scenes to make more sense. Certainly it does just that, but I'm still baffled 15 years after it was made and I doubt it will ever truly make sense! Thankfully the writer has recorded a long explanation of how his story was meant to be. Thanks, but that doesn't and didn't help the viewers of BBC1 back in 1989! But as always with the Doctor Who DVD's, it's the extras that make these releases so worthwhile, regardless of the quality of the stories themselves. With the Two Doctors there are all sorts of goodies, including a great commentary from the main cast and director and all sorts of out-takes, behind the scenes information and (perhaps unwisely) a lengthy piece by the producer's ex-partner explaining at length how they unnecessarily set the story in Spain so as to get some fabulous vacation time for themselves. Oops! The Curse of Fenric commentary from Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Nicholas Parsons is also highly entertaining and the extras on this two-disc set certainly prove most interesting, even it is all a bit long winded.
Doctor Who was never very good when it took itself too seriously. The fans love all the in-jokes and references to the past. But it hardly works for the general viewer who simply is baffled because they didn't see the story from last season that ties into this, or can't remember something from 10 years ago that drives the whole plot. Sadly, that's what Doctor Who in its final years was all about. At least these discs go someway to making it a little clearer!
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