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The Complete Specials were something of a rush job, released only ten days after the last of the five episodes included was broadcast. It doesn’t have much in the way of extras even though it is packaged like the season box sets of the last four years.
The Next Doctor takes the Tenth Doctor on a solo trip to Victorian England where he meets a man who seems to be a future reincarnation of himself, fighting a group of streampunk Cybermen up to some kind of world dominating mischief. All is not what it seems and The Doctor discovers that the ‘Next’ Doctor is a man with a tragic story to tell. Of course, The Doctor puts everything right, but there is a melancholy about him as he set off again, alone. 10/10
Extras Doctor Who Confidential is a short version of the programme broadcast after the episode on Christmas Day 2008. It includes interesting interviews with David Morrisey and Dervla Kirwin. 9/10 Doctor Who At The Proms was already included on last year’s series Box Set, so I really don’t know why it was included here. 6/10
Planet of the Dead is the last fun romp for The Doctor. On the trail of a wormhole, he boards a London double decker bus and he and the other passengers including the glamorous jewel thief Lady Christina de Souza find themselves on a desert planet with a terrible secret. Unlikely allies and a flying bus make for spectacular fun. But there is a dark warning – He will knock four times. 10/10
Extras Doctor Who Confidential goes to Dubai where an accident involving a big red bus and a freight transporter creates a huge headache and an ingenious solution to the crisis. 10/10
The Waters of Mars is a much darker story. The Doctor disobeys the Laws of Time and tries to prevent the events of a fixed point in time from unfolding. As good people succumb to a terrible death and become water zombies, The Doctor has to face the fact that he has made a dreadful mistake. 10/10
Extras Doctor Who Confidential returns to the quarries where Doctor Who location filming traditionally belongs as South Wales becomes Mars. 9/10
The End Of Time, Part One needs rather more concentration than a viewing public relaxing at the end of Christmas Day might actually have. It is setting up the Doctor for a massive fight to save humanity, but by the end of it quite a lot of threads are left undone. Of course, that is the point of a cliffhanger, and perhaps a lot of people had forgotten that. 9/10
Commentary A commentary by David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Euros Lyn is included on this disc. David and Euros have plenty of interesting things to say, but Catherine Tate shows herself up a little with rather stupid comments that prove she really doesn’t know much about Doctor Who. It’s a bit of a shame, really, as she is well liked as a Companion. 9/10
Extras Doctor Who Confidential documents the beginning of the end for the Tenth Doctor, including interviews with June Whitfield and Bernard Cribbins. 9/10 David Tennant’s Video Diary – The Final Days is the last of a series of very enjoyable candid reports from David himself that have appeared on all the box sets from his first year as The Doctor. The end of an era is never more obvious than here. 10/10
Doctor Who BBC Christmas Idents. Never before have the idents that introduce programmes over Christmas featured a particular programme. They probably never will again. This is a record of a unique event. 10/10
The End of Time, Part Two is a high octane Doctor Who fan’s indulgence. The Time Lords are resurrected and then banished again. The Master finally redeems himself with an almost selfless act that saves Creation. The Doctor rescues Wilf and fatally injures himself in the attempt and ties up all of his loose ends before going not too softly into the good night and regenerating into his eleventh incarnation. 10/10
Commentary The Commentary this time is by David Tennant, John Simm and Euros Lyn. John Simm is a fan of Doctor Who and so are his kids. He is enthusiastic about his role in the series and it shows. David, of course, is in retrospective mood. Euros holds the conversation together. 10/10 Doctor Who Confidential marks the end of an era. It is David Tennant’s ultimate swan song as well as the first real introduction to Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. 10/10
Doctor Who at Comic Con is a reminder of just WHY Christopher Eccleston once said he wouldn’t do conventions because ‘he has a life’. San Diego Comic Con is the biggest and most insane of them all, bringing out every anorak in the nation. 2009 Comic Con, though, was rocked at the foundations by the double whammy of Doctor Who and Torchwood: Children of Earth. And David kissed John Barrowman! 10/10 Deleted Scenes includes explanations from Russell T. Davies. Mostly time constraints necessitated scenes being cut from all five of the stories, but some came out because they slowed the action or didn’t quite work. 10/10 Overall, nicely packaged, with a few nice extras but the feeling that it was a rush job stayed from start to finish.
9 out of 10 |
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