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This review is of the "UK" Blu-ray of "The Abominable Snowmen," one of the better stories of Patrick Troughton's time as the Doctor, from his second season. While Amazon includes a warning that it is "Region B/2" and "will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, South America..." the discs are "region/area free" and work on several brands, other than SONY, of "region A/1" players sold in the US and Canada. Details later. Note, however, that the DVD release requires a player that works with Region 2 or Region 4 discs.
As with many other Doctor Who stories of this era, all copies were "lost" by the 1970s, with only the second episode rediscovered in 1982. But fans of the show recorded the sound off the air when the story was originally transmitted in 1967, and these recordings have been used to recreate the episodes, which on this release includes both "photographic reconstructions" and animated versions, the latter in both colour and black-and-white.
The TARDIS arrives, in 1935, at the Det-Sen Monastery in Tibet, where the Doctor wants to return a Holy Relic, a Ghanta, entrusted to him during a time of great trouble 300 years earlier, by the monastery's Master, Padmasambhava. Leaving Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling) in the TARDIS, the Doctor sets out for the monastery, but on the way discovers a dead man at a campsite, with signs of violence. Arriving at the monastery wearing a fur coat, he is accused of the murder by English explorer Edward Travers (Jack Watling) who, searching for the reclusive Yeti with his companion, had been attacked by a large, hairy creature. Meanwhile, Jamie and Victoria have left the TARDIS to do some exploring, finding some very large footprints and a cave with a few improvements that look man-made. And soon enough, one of the hairy title characters appears. But these are not the timid, seldom seen Yeti of legend, but are aggressive, nearly indestructible, and seem to be controlled by a mysterious external force. And somehow, Padmasambhava (Wolfe Morris) is still at the monastery, alive after 300 years.
The story moves along well despite its length, if watched with a day or more between episodes. The animation, by Digitoonz with post-production by Shapeshifter, is an improvement over what was done with "Fury from the Deep" and the third episode of "The Web of Fear," but other animation teams have provided better results with these "lost" stories. The backgrounds in the monastery are very good, and plot details can be shown that likely get lost with still images alone, but facial features are only approximate, and there are some strange body movements. Walking often suggests the characters are on stilts, and knees, when shown, usually don't flex. In his notes, Gary Russell complains that the original production didn't employ Asian actors, and claims the animation has improved this aspect of the characters' appearance. A good excuse for not needing to match the actors' facial features, but while some of the original makeup and costumes reflected Doctor Who budgets of the 1960s, the animation can hardly be considered an unqualified improvement. Of the "regulars," Patrick Troughton' general appearance isn't too far off, but no animation could do justice to his expressive abilities. Deborah Watling suffers rather badly, Frazer Hines not quite as much. But the absolute worst job is on the Yeti, who are not "The Faceless Ones" but have at least eyes behind all that fur.
The "Photographic Reconstructions" give a better idea of what the show looked like, and of course match the existing Episode Two. In the "reconstructed" episodes, lack of movement and repetitive use of the same images tend to test one's attention span, but inclusion of CGI-animated Yeti provides interest. They look much like those in the existing episode, though the creatures' movements aren't much more convincing than their cartoon versions. Other scenes are also given the CGI treatment, a couple of which might have better been left as still images, but most succeed fairly well at suggesting the motion in the original story.
I prefer the "photographic reconstructions" to the animated episodes, but I'm biased. I didn't waste my youth watching cartoon adventures; we had REAL actors for that purpose, like Richard Webb as Captain Midnight, and Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Still, it is a shame that due to funding issues no further animations of these "lost" stories are likely in the near future.
The release has the usual commentary tracks, a "Photo Gallery" and, if not a large number of "Bonus Features" there is a very good 40-minute "making of" with Toby Hadoke and Frazer Hines, on location of the original filming in "Tibet" -- Snowdonia National Park in Wales, where they discuss the production and introduce other people involved, live and by archive footage. The 8mm "home movies" taken by Frazer Hines and director Gerald Blake at the time the story was filmed are also very welcome "bonus" features.
As with other "Classic Who" Blu-ray releases this one is "region/area free" but the video frame rate is 50 Hz, which is not compatible with some brands of Blu-ray players locked to "Region 1/A," so Amazon's warning, while inaccurate, has some validity. The main issue is with players from SONY, which from the number of Amazon's customer ratings may well qualify for the description "most players sold." Websites with lists of compatible "Region A/1" players can be found with a Google search on "Blu-ray 50 Hz" though while useful these tend to be incomplete and a few years old. I've had success with LG models BD530, BD670, BP175 and BP350, as well as Samsung's BD-P1600, BD-E5700 and BD-F5700. Even the old LG-made Insignia players NS-WBRDVD and NS-BRDVD4 are compatible. Two Philips-Funai models that play these discs are the BDP-2501/F7 and BDP-2985/F7, though an older Magnavox MBP5120F/F7, also made by Funai, did not work with them.
While a "60 Hz" Blu-ray is expected in a couple months, these usually lack the booklet supplied with the "UK" releases that have background information on the original production and on the animation, along with a list of what's on each of the discs. The recent "60 Hz" Blu-ray of "Galaxy 4" was transferred 4% slow, the difference between frame-rates of the original video and the 24p "movie" mode of the release, and while the pitch of the sound was corrected, these "UK" editions, on the players mentioned, have no issues with playback speed. Of lesser importance, the "50 Hz" Blu-ray has a reversible cover insert for the disc case, which allows matching the appearance with earlier Region 2 DVD releases and avoiding the "new" Doctor Who logo. However, the artwork on the cardboard slipcase is not reversible.
With the good story, fine "making of" feature and at least adequate animation, I have no problem rating this release at a 5-star "I Love It" level.
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Fine Troughton-era story, good video release
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2022
This review is of the "UK" Blu-ray of "The Abominable Snowmen," one of the better stories of Patrick Troughton's time as the Doctor, from his second season. While Amazon includes a warning that it is "Region B/2" and "will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, South America..." the discs are "region/area free" and work on several brands, other than SONY, of "region A/1" players sold in the US and Canada. Details later. Note, however, that the DVD release requires a player that works with Region 2 or Region 4 discs.As with many other Doctor Who stories of this era, all copies were "lost" by the 1970s, with only the second episode rediscovered in 1982. But fans of the show recorded the sound off the air when the story was originally transmitted in 1967, and these recordings have been used to recreate the episodes, which on this release includes both "photographic reconstructions" and animated versions, the latter in both colour and black-and-white.The TARDIS arrives, in 1935, at the Det-Sen Monastery in Tibet, where the Doctor wants to return a Holy Relic, a Ghanta, entrusted to him during a time of great trouble 300 years earlier, by the monastery's Master, Padmasambhava. Leaving Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling) in the TARDIS, the Doctor sets out for the monastery, but on the way discovers a dead man at a campsite, with signs of violence. Arriving at the monastery wearing a fur coat, he is accused of the murder by English explorer Edward Travers (Jack Watling) who, searching for the reclusive Yeti with his companion, had been attacked by a large, hairy creature. Meanwhile, Jamie and Victoria have left the TARDIS to do some exploring, finding some very large footprints and a cave with a few improvements that look man-made. And soon enough, one of the hairy title characters appears. But these are not the timid, seldom seen Yeti of legend, but are aggressive, nearly indestructible, and seem to be controlled by a mysterious external force. And somehow, Padmasambhava (Wolfe Morris) is still at the monastery, alive after 300 years.The story moves along well despite its length, if watched with a day or more between episodes. The animation, by Digitoonz with post-production by Shapeshifter, is an improvement over what was done with "Fury from the Deep" and the third episode of "The Web of Fear," but other animation teams have provided better results with these "lost" stories. The backgrounds in the monastery are very good, and plot details can be shown that likely get lost with still images alone, but facial features are only approximate, and there are some strange body movements. Walking often suggests the characters are on stilts, and knees, when shown, usually don't flex. In his notes, Gary Russell complains that the original production didn't employ Asian actors, and claims the animation has improved this aspect of the characters' appearance. A good excuse for not needing to match the actors' facial features, but while some of the original makeup and costumes reflected Doctor Who budgets of the 1960s, the animation can hardly be considered an unqualified improvement. Of the "regulars," Patrick Troughton' general appearance isn't too far off, but no animation could do justice to his expressive abilities. Deborah Watling suffers rather badly, Frazer Hines not quite as much. But the absolute worst job is on the Yeti, who are not "The Faceless Ones" but have at least eyes behind all that fur.The "Photographic Reconstructions" give a better idea of what the show looked like, and of course match the existing Episode Two. In the "reconstructed" episodes, lack of movement and repetitive use of the same images tend to test one's attention span, but inclusion of CGI-animated Yeti provides interest. They look much like those in the existing episode, though the creatures' movements aren't much more convincing than their cartoon versions. Other scenes are also given the CGI treatment, a couple of which might have better been left as still images, but most succeed fairly well at suggesting the motion in the original story.I prefer the "photographic reconstructions" to the animated episodes, but I'm biased. I didn't waste my youth watching cartoon adventures; we had REAL actors for that purpose, like Richard Webb as Captain Midnight, and Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Still, it is a shame that due to funding issues no further animations of these "lost" stories are likely in the near future.The release has the usual commentary tracks, a "Photo Gallery" and, if not a large number of "Bonus Features" there is a very good 40-minute "making of" with Toby Hadoke and Frazer Hines, on location of the original filming in "Tibet" -- Snowdonia National Park in Wales, where they discuss the production and introduce other people involved, live and by archive footage. The 8mm "home movies" taken by Frazer Hines and director Gerald Blake at the time the story was filmed are also very welcome "bonus" features.As with other "Classic Who" Blu-ray releases this one is "region/area free" but the video frame rate is 50 Hz, which is not compatible with some brands of Blu-ray players locked to "Region 1/A," so Amazon's warning, while inaccurate, has some validity. The main issue is with players from SONY, which from the number of Amazon's customer ratings may well qualify for the description "most players sold." Websites with lists of compatible "Region A/1" players can be found with a Google search on "Blu-ray 50 Hz" though while useful these tend to be incomplete and a few years old. I've had success with LG models BD530, BD670, BP175 and BP350, as well as Samsung's BD-P1600, BD-E5700 and BD-F5700. Even the old LG-made Insignia players NS-WBRDVD and NS-BRDVD4 are compatible. Two Philips-Funai models that play these discs are the BDP-2501/F7 and BDP-2985/F7, though an older Magnavox MBP5120F/F7, also made by Funai, did not work with them.While a "60 Hz" Blu-ray is expected in a couple months, these usually lack the booklet supplied with the "UK" releases that have background information on the original production and on the animation, along with a list of what's on each of the discs. The recent "60 Hz" Blu-ray of "Galaxy 4" was transferred 4% slow, the difference between frame-rates of the original video and the 24p "movie" mode of the release, and while the pitch of the sound was corrected, these "UK" editions, on the players mentioned, have no issues with playback speed. Of lesser importance, the "50 Hz" Blu-ray has a reversible cover insert for the disc case, which allows matching the appearance with earlier Region 2 DVD releases and avoiding the "new" Doctor Who logo. However, the artwork on the cardboard slipcase is not reversible.With the good story, fine "making of" feature and at least adequate animation, I have no problem rating this release at a 5-star "I Love It" level.
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2022
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 21, 2022
As with many other Doctor Who stories of this era, all copies were "lost" by the 1970s, with only the second episode rediscovered in 1982. But fans of the show recorded the sound off the air when the story was originally transmitted in 1967, and these recordings have been used to recreate the episodes, which on this release includes both "photographic reconstructions" and animated versions, the latter in both colour and black-and-white.
The TARDIS arrives, in 1935, at the Det-Sen Monastery in Tibet, where the Doctor wants to return a Holy Relic, a Ghanta, entrusted to him during a time of great trouble 300 years earlier, by the monastery's Master, Padmasambhava. Leaving Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling) in the TARDIS, the Doctor sets out for the monastery, but on the way discovers a dead man at a campsite, with signs of violence. Arriving at the monastery wearing a fur coat, he is accused of the murder by English explorer Edward Travers (Jack Watling) who, searching for the reclusive Yeti with his companion, had been attacked by a large, hairy creature. Meanwhile, Jamie and Victoria have left the TARDIS to do some exploring, finding some very large footprints and a cave with a few improvements that look man-made. And soon enough, one of the hairy title characters appears. But these are not the timid, seldom seen Yeti of legend, but are aggressive, nearly indestructible, and seem to be controlled by a mysterious external force. And somehow, Padmasambhava (Wolfe Morris) is still at the monastery, alive after 300 years.
The story moves along well despite its length, if watched with a day or more between episodes. The animation, by Digitoonz with post-production by Shapeshifter, is an improvement over what was done with "Fury from the Deep" and the third episode of "The Web of Fear," but other animation teams have provided better results with these "lost" stories. The backgrounds in the monastery are very good, and plot details can be shown that likely get lost with still images alone, but facial features are only approximate, and there are some strange body movements. Walking often suggests the characters are on stilts, and knees, when shown, usually don't flex. In his notes, Gary Russell complains that the original production didn't employ Asian actors, and claims the animation has improved this aspect of the characters' appearance. A good excuse for not needing to match the actors' facial features, but while some of the original makeup and costumes reflected Doctor Who budgets of the 1960s, the animation can hardly be considered an unqualified improvement. Of the "regulars," Patrick Troughton' general appearance isn't too far off, but no animation could do justice to his expressive abilities. Deborah Watling suffers rather badly, Frazer Hines not quite as much. But the absolute worst job is on the Yeti, who are not "The Faceless Ones" but have at least eyes behind all that fur.
The "Photographic Reconstructions" give a better idea of what the show looked like, and of course match the existing Episode Two. In the "reconstructed" episodes, lack of movement and repetitive use of the same images tend to test one's attention span, but inclusion of CGI-animated Yeti provides interest. They look much like those in the existing episode, though the creatures' movements aren't much more convincing than their cartoon versions. Other scenes are also given the CGI treatment, a couple of which might have better been left as still images, but most succeed fairly well at suggesting the motion in the original story.
I prefer the "photographic reconstructions" to the animated episodes, but I'm biased. I didn't waste my youth watching cartoon adventures; we had REAL actors for that purpose, like Richard Webb as Captain Midnight, and Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Still, it is a shame that due to funding issues no further animations of these "lost" stories are likely in the near future.
The release has the usual commentary tracks, a "Photo Gallery" and, if not a large number of "Bonus Features" there is a very good 40-minute "making of" with Toby Hadoke and Frazer Hines, on location of the original filming in "Tibet" -- Snowdonia National Park in Wales, where they discuss the production and introduce other people involved, live and by archive footage. The 8mm "home movies" taken by Frazer Hines and director Gerald Blake at the time the story was filmed are also very welcome "bonus" features.
As with other "Classic Who" Blu-ray releases this one is "region/area free" but the video frame rate is 50 Hz, which is not compatible with some brands of Blu-ray players locked to "Region 1/A," so Amazon's warning, while inaccurate, has some validity. The main issue is with players from SONY, which from the number of Amazon's customer ratings may well qualify for the description "most players sold." Websites with lists of compatible "Region A/1" players can be found with a Google search on "Blu-ray 50 Hz" though while useful these tend to be incomplete and a few years old. I've had success with LG models BD530, BD670, BP175 and BP350, as well as Samsung's BD-P1600, BD-E5700 and BD-F5700. Even the old LG-made Insignia players NS-WBRDVD and NS-BRDVD4 are compatible. Two Philips-Funai models that play these discs are the BDP-2501/F7 and BDP-2985/F7, though an older Magnavox MBP5120F/F7, also made by Funai, did not work with them.
While a "60 Hz" Blu-ray is expected in a couple months, these usually lack the booklet supplied with the "UK" releases that have background information on the original production and on the animation, along with a list of what's on each of the discs. The recent "60 Hz" Blu-ray of "Galaxy 4" was transferred 4% slow, the difference between frame-rates of the original video and the 24p "movie" mode of the release, and while the pitch of the sound was corrected, these "UK" editions, on the players mentioned, have no issues with playback speed. Of lesser importance, the "50 Hz" Blu-ray has a reversible cover insert for the disc case, which allows matching the appearance with earlier Region 2 DVD releases and avoiding the "new" Doctor Who logo. However, the artwork on the cardboard slipcase is not reversible.
With the good story, fine "making of" feature and at least adequate animation, I have no problem rating this release at a 5-star "I Love It" level.
Fine Troughton-era story, good video release
By Stanley Kohl; on October 21, 2022
This review is of the "UK" Blu-ray of "The Abominable Snowmen," one of the better stories of Patrick Troughton's time as the Doctor, from his second season. While Amazon includes a warning that it is "Region B/2" and "will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, South America..." the discs are "region/area free" and work on several brands, other than SONY, of "region A/1" players sold in the US and Canada. Details later. Note, however, that the DVD release requires a player that works with Region 2 or Region 4 discs.By Stanley Kohl; on October 21, 2022
As with many other Doctor Who stories of this era, all copies were "lost" by the 1970s, with only the second episode rediscovered in 1982. But fans of the show recorded the sound off the air when the story was originally transmitted in 1967, and these recordings have been used to recreate the episodes, which on this release includes both "photographic reconstructions" and animated versions, the latter in both colour and black-and-white.
The TARDIS arrives, in 1935, at the Det-Sen Monastery in Tibet, where the Doctor wants to return a Holy Relic, a Ghanta, entrusted to him during a time of great trouble 300 years earlier, by the monastery's Master, Padmasambhava. Leaving Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling) in the TARDIS, the Doctor sets out for the monastery, but on the way discovers a dead man at a campsite, with signs of violence. Arriving at the monastery wearing a fur coat, he is accused of the murder by English explorer Edward Travers (Jack Watling) who, searching for the reclusive Yeti with his companion, had been attacked by a large, hairy creature. Meanwhile, Jamie and Victoria have left the TARDIS to do some exploring, finding some very large footprints and a cave with a few improvements that look man-made. And soon enough, one of the hairy title characters appears. But these are not the timid, seldom seen Yeti of legend, but are aggressive, nearly indestructible, and seem to be controlled by a mysterious external force. And somehow, Padmasambhava (Wolfe Morris) is still at the monastery, alive after 300 years.
The story moves along well despite its length, if watched with a day or more between episodes. The animation, by Digitoonz with post-production by Shapeshifter, is an improvement over what was done with "Fury from the Deep" and the third episode of "The Web of Fear," but other animation teams have provided better results with these "lost" stories. The backgrounds in the monastery are very good, and plot details can be shown that likely get lost with still images alone, but facial features are only approximate, and there are some strange body movements. Walking often suggests the characters are on stilts, and knees, when shown, usually don't flex. In his notes, Gary Russell complains that the original production didn't employ Asian actors, and claims the animation has improved this aspect of the characters' appearance. A good excuse for not needing to match the actors' facial features, but while some of the original makeup and costumes reflected Doctor Who budgets of the 1960s, the animation can hardly be considered an unqualified improvement. Of the "regulars," Patrick Troughton' general appearance isn't too far off, but no animation could do justice to his expressive abilities. Deborah Watling suffers rather badly, Frazer Hines not quite as much. But the absolute worst job is on the Yeti, who are not "The Faceless Ones" but have at least eyes behind all that fur.
The "Photographic Reconstructions" give a better idea of what the show looked like, and of course match the existing Episode Two. In the "reconstructed" episodes, lack of movement and repetitive use of the same images tend to test one's attention span, but inclusion of CGI-animated Yeti provides interest. They look much like those in the existing episode, though the creatures' movements aren't much more convincing than their cartoon versions. Other scenes are also given the CGI treatment, a couple of which might have better been left as still images, but most succeed fairly well at suggesting the motion in the original story.
I prefer the "photographic reconstructions" to the animated episodes, but I'm biased. I didn't waste my youth watching cartoon adventures; we had REAL actors for that purpose, like Richard Webb as Captain Midnight, and Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Still, it is a shame that due to funding issues no further animations of these "lost" stories are likely in the near future.
The release has the usual commentary tracks, a "Photo Gallery" and, if not a large number of "Bonus Features" there is a very good 40-minute "making of" with Toby Hadoke and Frazer Hines, on location of the original filming in "Tibet" -- Snowdonia National Park in Wales, where they discuss the production and introduce other people involved, live and by archive footage. The 8mm "home movies" taken by Frazer Hines and director Gerald Blake at the time the story was filmed are also very welcome "bonus" features.
As with other "Classic Who" Blu-ray releases this one is "region/area free" but the video frame rate is 50 Hz, which is not compatible with some brands of Blu-ray players locked to "Region 1/A," so Amazon's warning, while inaccurate, has some validity. The main issue is with players from SONY, which from the number of Amazon's customer ratings may well qualify for the description "most players sold." Websites with lists of compatible "Region A/1" players can be found with a Google search on "Blu-ray 50 Hz" though while useful these tend to be incomplete and a few years old. I've had success with LG models BD530, BD670, BP175 and BP350, as well as Samsung's BD-P1600, BD-E5700 and BD-F5700. Even the old LG-made Insignia players NS-WBRDVD and NS-BRDVD4 are compatible. Two Philips-Funai models that play these discs are the BDP-2501/F7 and BDP-2985/F7, though an older Magnavox MBP5120F/F7, also made by Funai, did not work with them.
While a "60 Hz" Blu-ray is expected in a couple months, these usually lack the booklet supplied with the "UK" releases that have background information on the original production and on the animation, along with a list of what's on each of the discs. The recent "60 Hz" Blu-ray of "Galaxy 4" was transferred 4% slow, the difference between frame-rates of the original video and the 24p "movie" mode of the release, and while the pitch of the sound was corrected, these "UK" editions, on the players mentioned, have no issues with playback speed. Of lesser importance, the "50 Hz" Blu-ray has a reversible cover insert for the disc case, which allows matching the appearance with earlier Region 2 DVD releases and avoiding the "new" Doctor Who logo. However, the artwork on the cardboard slipcase is not reversible.
With the good story, fine "making of" feature and at least adequate animation, I have no problem rating this release at a 5-star "I Love It" level.
Images in this review
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