 As usual, a solid release, brimming with extras... and a very welcomed surprise. |
| Review Date: February 10, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Twiddles42, MN, USA |
It was a shock to see an incomplete story... made complete via animation?!
The highlight of this story is the background history and what transpired to make this 'missing' story into a released DVD set.
The sixth season of the show (1968-1969) had a lot of scripts falling through. As a result, commissioned stories had to be stretched out longer. "The Invasion" is one such story. The good news is, the gravitas of the character and performance of the actor (Kevin Stoney) playing Tobias Vaughn helps elevate this story and keeps it moving. The story is essentially him vs the Doctor, with Tobias attempting to use the Cybermen to his benefit while the Doctor enlists the help of a newly formed secret paramilitary organization that battles alien invaders; UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce).
I would say episodes 6 and 7 do drag on a bit, but there are plenty of set pieces that re-awaken you at the right times.
As usual, sound and video for a program made in this time are sensational. And the extras and commentaries made by still-living cast and crew alone pay for this story; and then we get the story itself...
Here's the rundown: In the 1970s, the BBC junked many programs from its archives. The Patrick Troughton era of "Doctor Who" was badly hit. As a result, most of his stories have been destroyed.
Fortunately, over the years, episodes are found in warehouses, returned to the BBC by countries who bought licenses to air the old episodes during the 1960s and never junked the films themselves, or returned by collectors - who are far more philanthropic than many we'd otherwise give the title to.
Additionally, during the 1960s, home video recorders didn't exist. (Another 12 years would pass before the technology became feasible... or popular.) So people recorded them onto audio tape, often by dangling a microphone in front of the TV set.
As part of the restoration process (and having seen many VHS copies, some work had to be done), the end result of episodes 2, 3, and 5-8 are marvelous. And this is the first professionally released version of the story where all the Cybermens' dialogue can be heard distinctly, with full clarity. The previous releases I've seen just didn't have the cleanup applied and the difference is PHENOMENAL.
But the icing is on the cake: Episodes 1 and 4 have been re-created via cleaning and amalgamating numerous audio tape sources, with animation applied. And the animation is spectacular. It doesn't steal any opportunities to go "over the top", there is a genuine sense of the animators trying to be true to the original footage as possible (though some embellishments are inevitable; the master tapes and films nonexisting). It's very clever, grabs your attention, doesn't seem at all shoehorned in, and the audio quality is spectacular. The extras go into the history of program junking, how audiotracks were recovered, and a well made piece on how they were cleaned - I don't want to spoil it here, but as with the main story, there is not one piece of extra that does NOT entertain or edify!
HIGHLY recommended. |
New Animated Episodes, New Era for the Greatest Doctor!
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| Review Date: December 2, 2006 |
| Reviewer: HarryFan, Pacific NW |
I had the good fortune this week to view the newly released DVD set from BBC of the great Doctor Who adventure, The Invasion, with the two "missing" episodes animated by Cosgrove Hall - amd I'm delighted to report, it is fantastic! As many Who fans will have seen the (rather poor quality) VHS of some years ago for this riveting story, I'll turn right to the restored Episodes 1 and 4. How good a job did the animators at Cosgrove Hall do? A very good job indeed. Turning to the animated versions of the characters themselves, the portrayal of Zoe is amazingly faithful to Wendy Padbury's original, with all of her subtle facial expressions and visual personality intact. And what a fine actress she is! The Jamie recreation, while certainly recognizable, is not quite as successful - he must have a more difficult face to render. As for the great Patrick Troughton himself, well, for the most part the animated version is a near-perfect recreation of my favorite of all the Doctors (or perhaps it's a tie with Tom Baker); at some angles, though, particularly when the Doctor is looking upward, the animated character looks a bit like George Washington coping painfully with his wooden dentures. It's true. Minor quibbles aside, though, quite a glorious reconstruction of these missing episodes. Also excellent are the animated alter egos of the supporting characters, including the villain Tobias Vaughn (but for some reason, without his lazy right eye in the animated version, a physical trait that adds to the character's menace). The animated action sequences are always excellent, with a particularly convincing cow in Episode 1, staring in through the TARDIS window. Giving nothing away, the first few moments of Episode 1 involve a missle being fired at the just-reassembled TARDIS (Invasion followed Mind Robber in sequence), and this and the other special effects probably look considerably better, less budget-constrained, than in the lost originals. As for monsters, there aren't any in Episodes 1 and 4, until the last few moments of Episode 4, where they make a most dramatic appearance, not to be missed by any Who fan. What a perfectly wonderful way to recreate this masterpiece. I enjoy the telesnap-based recons a great deal, but clearly animation is the way to go with these missing episodes. A triumph! And if we're very very lucky, this might be the harbinger of things to come from BBC/Cosgrove Hall. The bulk of the Second Doctor's episodes are "missing from the BBC archives," and likely to remain so, barring the opening of some Middle Eastern film library or mad collector's shelves. These include some of the very finest, most well plotted and superbly acted stories in the entire series: Fury from the Deep, Macra Terror, Power of the Daleks, Evil of the Daleks, the two Yeti stories, and much more. Obvious follow up projects would include the Tenth Planet, Ice Warriors, and Moonbase, which are reasonably close to being complete in the archives. Some of these stories, and particularly the monsters and other special effects, may actually benefit from being animated - given the budgetary constraints imposed on Doctor Who in this early time period, the monsters aren't always as convincing as they might be (part of the charm of the series, I recognize).
Reserve your advance copy of this lost masterpiece today! Support this glorious and thoroughly successful breakthrough. And join in the hope that The Invasion will signal a new era for Patrick Troughton, the greatest Doctor of all! (Now how about the First Doctor's Marco Polo, or Dalek Master Plan . . .?) |
"PACKER" The Invasion gets a Glorious Reconstruction.
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| Review Date: August 16, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Armchair Pundit, Durham City, England. |
Season 6.
UPDATE (Nov.5/06):~I watched the restored version of this story yesterday and all I can say is; "Well worth a purchase", the animated episodes add to the story with their moody stylized artwork.
Cartoon, not computer generated.
The likenesses of the characters are spot on.
The vidfired picture quality is much improved over the VHS version.
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This great eight episode story is out now in the UK with the two missing episodes getting a full length animated reconstruction with the original soundtrack spliced in.
The eight episodes are split across two disc's.
It's getting animated by Manchester based Cosgrove Hall.
(They did Dangermouse in the 80's.)
Gets a US release March 6,07.
Perhaps the BBC are going to reconstruct other episodes, If this sells well?
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Okay animated reconstruction may not be as good as having the actual episodes as originally filmed, but it's a heck of a lot better then Nick Courtney taking Three minutes to talk about a twenty five minute episode.
(Like on my VHS release.)
We have to thank 60's Doctor Who fans who audio taped all the stories, that the soundtrack to the missing episodes still exist at all.
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I've always felt Tobias Vaughn to be one of Who's best; "Human" villains.
A particularly good scene that shows Vaughn at his vicious best, is when the captive Professor Watkins says he will kill Vaughn if he gets the chance, so Vaughn gives him a gun and taunts and then wallops Watkins into shooting (Vaughn) in the chest. With no effect on Vaughn as his body has been Cybernized. (If there is such a word?)
This story has that; "classic" scene of the Cybermen coming down the steps near St Pauls Cathedral.
The name Packer (Vaughn's nasty but not too bright security chief) is said many times and in many different inflections by Tobias Vaughn. (Just try and count them.)
Troughton has always been my favourite Doctor, and I can't wait to see this story get the; "Vidfire" treatment. The picture quality on the VHS release was pretty ropey.
The best Doctor & the best enemies, (Tobias Vaughn & 60's Cybermen) the silly but loyal Jamie, and the gorgeous Zoe !!!
A GLORIOUS COMBINATION.
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DVD Special Features:~
Eight episodes.
Disc 1:~
Ep.1~animated
Ep.2
Ep.3
Ep.4 ~animated
Extras:~
Commentary by:~ cast,production staff,animators.
Love off Air:~ History of fan audio recording.
Doctor Who confidential:~ interviews with the animation team.
Character design:~ featurette.
2 animated trailers.
Disc 2:~
Episodes:~5,6,7,8.
Extras:~
Commentary:~ cast,production staff.
Evolution of The Invasion:~ a 50 minute look at the story.
Photo gallery.
Original links:~ Nicholas Courtneys links to the missing episodes on the original 1993 VHS release.
Originally broadcast BBC 1:~2/11/68-21/12/68 |
Innovative solution
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| Review Date: May 12, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Christopher Abbot, Oak Bluffs, MA |
Many years ago my local PBS station showed Dr. Who on a regular basis. Unfortunately, due to licensing agreements and lack of funding, we often received only endless reruns of the Tom Baker series. Finally, several of the Patrick Troughton episodes were aired, and I remember being charmed by his Doctor's vulnerability and humanity.
Due to its incomplete nature, however, I had to wait until BBC Video produced a VHS version of The Invasion, with links to the missing episodes provided by Nicholas Courtney.
Now, the BBC has found a clever solution to the problem of the missing episodes (1 and 4): cartoon images have been added to the soundtrack, which was obtained from off-the-air tapes, made by fans, of the original broadcasts. While the animation is by no means state-of-art, it suits the '60s nature of the program.
Since the storyline includes one of the Doctor's few really iconic antagonists in the Cybermen, it has always been on my list of essential programs. Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines return as Zoe and Jamie, who provide a nice balance to Troughton's Doctor--it was actually pretty progressive to have the female assistant be the brainy one, while the male was there to ask the Doctor for explanations (and to provide the occasional flash of leg!). And one can't underestimate the importance to later program developments of this first appearance of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the Unit team.
It would be easy to criticize the melodrama of much of the storyline, and the campy nature of the buffoonish Packer--but that's the fun of Doctor Who, and I for one quite enjoy suspending disbelief for the duration of this very entertaining program. |
Animation experiment brings the Doctor alive!
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| Review Date: March 7, 2007 |
| Reviewer: JKO, New York, NY USA |
A slightly mis-matched pair of releases from the Doctor Who vaults comes our way from the BBC. The Invasion, an epic 8 part story from 1968 made in glorious black and white - at the time the second longest story yet made - and a brief two-parter, The Sontaran Experiment, squeezed in from 1975. But there's a lot to enjoy here to celebrate the classic era of the show.
The Invasion stars Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor, featuring in a format that set the stage for his successor Jon Pertwee's tenure in the role. After the success of the Web of Fear a year earlier, when Yeti invaded the London Underground and the Doctor helped the British military contain the threat, the production team set about creating another London/alien invasion story, with the military presence expanded to a fictional international force known as UNIT. They brought back the same character and actor from the Yeti story to lead this force, promoted him to Brigadier and thus launched one of the most popular and enduring characters from the show's history.
This particular story was something of a milestone in Doctor Who history, even though it was born out of a panic to replace some rejected scripts. Not just because it created a new format for the show, but mainly for its impact on the viewing public. When the Cybermen emerged from the London sewers to enslave the human race, marching inexorably down the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral, the impact on the psyche of the British children watching was enormous. I know I was not alone in avoiding all sewer manhole covers for years to come! Alas, episodes 1 & 4 were junked by the BBC in 1971 and the remaining 6 were of poor quality tele-recordings. Inadequate linking material, intended to bridge the gaps, was recorded by Nicholas Courtney - The Brigadier - for the 1993 VHS release, but now the brilliant boys at Cosgrove Hall have replaced the two missing episodes in their entirety with animated recreations of the missing footage. I wasn't sure at first about the concept, but all doubts were dispelled as it is so brilliantly executed. Using the original soundtrack, the animation has been recreated perfectly and fills the void wonderfully.
Apart from the animation and phenomenal restoration work, there are many extra features describing the animation concept, process and restoration, as well as an in depth feature on the making of the programme and the era in general. The care and love that went into making these two episodes is evident. It thus seems almost churlish - and certainly geeky - to make any criticism, but there is one error which is almost unforgivable! The animators have given the Doctor's assistant Zoe the wrong costume in the early part of episode 1! It would have been an easy mistake to make, except that the previous episode (which runs immediately into this story) does exist and photos from episode 1 are abundant. They've drawn her with the costume she adopts about mid-way through the first episode. For all their attention to detail, it seems a very basic error to have made.
The commentary from Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe) and Nicholas Courtney for the six live action episodes is very entertaining, as is the one from the animators and restoration team for the two missing episodes. But I wish they'd have included Derrick Sherwin, the script editor, eventual producer, creator of the UNIT format and author of this particular tale. Much as I like hearing the Brigadier, he does get used rather often on the Doctor Who commentaries. A minor quibble.
With all of these extras and goodies, it's a shame to compare the relatively thin co-release, The Sontaran Experiment. A two part adventure from Tom Baker's first season in the role of Doctor number four, this very short story really belongs as a tag-team with the preceding four-part adventure, The Ark in Space. It's really using all the location and outside broadcast allocation that didn't get used in the studio based Ark story. By releasing it alone, I think the BBC are stretching fan's patience just a tiny bit, but they have at least included a very well made documentary on the history and evolution of the Sontarans and there's a great commentary soundtrack too. Seems a bit much to shell out $13 for two episodes, but as a fan, I'm just glad to have them in my library. As the first story ever made to be made entirely on location and entirely on video tape, it's an interesting milestone in the Doctor Who evolution.
A good pair of releases. One probably too long and one probably too short, but together forming another great pair of entries into the Doctor Who DVD collection. |
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