Doctor Who: Remembrance Of The Daleks (BBC DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: A+ Episodes: B+
Quick
quiz, who was the first Doctor to encounter flying Daleks? If you said Christopher Eccleston's 9th Doctor
(2005), you'd be wrong by seventeen years!
Story no. 152 features Sylvester McCoy as the 7th Doctor in Doctor Who: Remembrance Of The Daleks, and pits him and his companion, Ace
(Sophie Aldred) against not one, but two rival factions of Daleks. McCoy's sometimes campy Doctor shows a much
harder edge in this story of a quest for a powerful artifact called The Hand of
Omega. In a bit of creative story
revision, this powerful Macguffin ties back to the 1st Doctor (William
Hartnell) from 1963. This creative
license with the Who mythos enrages some diehard fans, but it does make for an
interesting plot twist.
This
series of episodes benefits from solid action sequences, quality effects
(including some excellent model work on the Dalek landing shuttle), and great
performances from McCoy and company. In
addition to the Daleks, another sinister villain connected to them also makes a
surprise appearance toward the end of the show. These elements combine to make Remembrance one of the strongest of the
older Dalek stories to be released so far.
This set
contains the usual bevy of solid extras, including interviews, commentaries,
and special documentaries ("Back to
School" shines among the offerings) on the cast and creation of the
episodes. Both McCoy and Aldred appear
and provide some nice insights into a period in the show's history where things
began to go a bit downhill. A second
disc contains a documentary called "Davros
Connections" which details the background and creation of the
villainous creator of the Daleks, and gives further insight into his tortured
history.
Picture
and sound both get the job done on this release; a BBC restoration team
refurbished this story back before an earlier, 2001 release, so details are
sharp and clear. "Remembrance of the Daleks" might
be Sylvester McCoy's best moment as the 7th Doctor, and it will make a worthy
addition to any fan's Who collection.
- Scott Pyle
