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By
WAYNE KLEIN
The third season of Doctor
Who had a lot of changes. First we get a temporary
companion a bride that gets transported to the
TARDIS as she's walking down the aisle, a new
traveling companion Martha Jones, the return of
the Daleks, Captain Jack returns and so does the
Doctor's most powerful adversary the Master. All
of this happens in 13 episodes plus the Christmas
special "The Runaway Bride".
In "The Runaway Bride" a woman (Catherine Tate)is
mysteriously transported to the TARDIS in
mid-flight. The Doctor must discover how she got
there and return her to her wedding which is
already in progress. More importantly he must
discover what is so special about this woman that
she should just appear on the TARDIS.
Still reeling from the loss of Rose, the Doctor
(David Tennant) is the walking wounded when he
first meets Dr. Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) in a
hospital that has been transported to the moon.
The Judoon an alien police force for hire have
isolated the hospital as they track down a plasma
vampire hiding there.
The strongest episodes outside of these two are
"Blink" a creepy episode that involves creepy
statuary that move and attack people when they
aren't looking. The three part story arc involving
the Master's return "Utopia", "Vote Saxon" and
"Last of the Time Lords". The former is little
more than an excuse to reintroduce the Master
(John Simm). The Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness
(John Barrowman) and Martha go to the end of time
and find a small group of humans trying to escape
to Utopia a planet at the other end of the Galaxy.
They are dependent upon Professor Yana (Derek
Jacobi) in figuring out how to launch their
rocket.
In "Vote Saxon" and "Last of the Time Lords" the
Master escapes taking the TARDIS to modern day
England where he masquerades as Prime Minister
Harold Saxon. He uses his position to enslave the
Earth and capture the Doctor.
The weakest episodes for me were the two stories
involving the Daleks set in 1930's New York. It's
enjoyable for the period décor, performances and
the action sequences but suffers from some silly
elements that undermine the show. The whole
mystery involving the "Pig Men" just didn't work
for me. "Gridlock" reintroduces the Face of Bo
(and we finally find out about the relationship
between the Doctor and this enigmatic character).
Even the weakest episodes though have something to
enjoy about them.
The first season looked good but the blacks
weren't very solid. This set looks much better
with solid blacks, accurate colors and detail.
The audio is still problematic however. The 5.1
mix allows the music to often drown out the
dialogue (unless you crank up one speaker at the
expense of the others). This has been a common
complaint for the previous two sets as well. I'm
surprised the BBC hasn't fixed this issue as it
has been a common complaint among those who have
purchased the show.
Once again the BBC comes through with some
terrific special features for this set. We get a
commentary track on every episode (many of them
featuring star David Tennant and writer/producer
Russell Davies). Curiously, Freema Agyeman who
plays Martha only appears on the final episode of
the set in a commentary with John Barrowman.
We also get "David's Video Diaries" which takes us
behind-the-scenes on various episodes throughout
the third season. It's a nice "informal' peak into
the production of the show. This crops up in three
parts on separate discs for episodes including
"The Runaway Bride" and "The Lazarus Experiment".
"Music and Monsters" was a special that the BBC
did on the music of Doctor Who hosted by David
Tennant and featuring brief interviews/appearances
by various cast members from the three season
revival.
"Doctor Who: Confidential" the BBC TV series that
takes fans behind-the-scenes over the last three
years appears solely on the final disc. These are
edited versions of the programs that appeared on
each Sunday. It's narrated by Anthony Head ("Buffy
the Vampire Slayer") and features interviews with
cast and creative crew for the show.
We also get teasers for various episodes,
outtakes/deleted scenes and previews for other BBC
on DVD TV shows. Included as well is a booklet
with a brief description of each episode, credits
and a brief introduction written by David Tennat.
Overall the third season was a strong one with a
number of terrific episodes. Even the weaker
episodes had something to recommend them. As
always the set impresses with the special
features. The image quality is improved over
previous sets but the audio is a bit more
problematic with an oddly overpowering 5.1 mix.
My only complaint is the packaging. It's nicely
designed but my set wouldn't hold any of the DVD's
on the bottom. It appears that the plastic holders
that are supposed to hold the discs secure are
defective for the entire set. I don't know if this
is a widespread problem or not but just be aware
of it as the discs will fall out and can get
scratched when you open the set. |
