Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy - Full Circle/State of Decay/Warriors' Gate (Stories 112-114)
by Peter Grimwade, Peter Moffatt, Paul Joyce
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: George Baker, John Leeson, Lalla Ward, Matthew Waterhouse, Tom BakerDirector: Paul Joyce, Peter Grimwade, Peter Moffatt
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 279 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-05-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- The Tardis has brought the Doctor, Romana and K9 to an alternate unvierse, E-Space, where huge poisonous spiders, space vampires and gateways between past and future are commonplace.Running Time: 279 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 883929066971 UPC: 883929066971 Manufacturer No: 1000094920
Movie Reviews of Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy - Full Circle/State of Decay/Warriors' Gate (Stories 112-114)
Movie Review: Night must fall, Romana, even in E-SPACE
Summary: 5 Stars
"One good solid hope's worth a cart-load of certainties..." well, any fan worth their salt will certainly want this set...
The on-again-off-again blocks of tight continuity and multi-episode story arcs of the new Doctor Who series has already primed fans for the return of this string of CLASSIC Doctor Who stories and some of the best of Tom Baker's final season as the 4th incarnation of the Timelord. This set comes not only at a peak of the show's popularity, but during the restyling of the shows look (and sound). Producer John-Nathan Turner, retooled, the theme and graphic for the 80's, even the Doctor's threads, JNT introduced his appropriately somber plum gear. This set contains the finest examples of all of those changes, end for the Timelady Romana and K9, also the beginning of the end for the 4th Doctor.
"Full Circle" is the first of this arc featuring not only an introduction E-Space, a smaller universe with a universe, but the Doctor's questionable next companion, Adric. Adric is a sortof smarter-version of the 2nd Doctor's Highlander companion Jamie, crossed with Dickens' "Artful Dodger." Will Sci-fi writers never learn, the arrogant oversmart teenager is never appealing on screen, just as poor ole' Weasley Crusher. "Full Circle" for it's faults contains some great moments for Baker to chew-up the scenery, and some superb costuming, the Marshmen ala' creatures of the Black Lagoon. "Full Circle" is a tale of a culture apparently stuck in endless preparations for a "return home" with several dark secrets which further delay their journey. Determined to get "back to the basics" and have the Doctor solving problems without any quick fixes, the producers planned to remove K9 from the series. Already, opening the season with him exploding in saltwater, the assault on K9 continues having him spend much of this 4 parter with his head off.
The next story "State of Decay" is the best of the three...finally VAMPIRES in the Doctor Who Universe (or in this case an E-Space universe)...The Doctor tells in hoarse whispers how "every known planet has legends of vampires" and reads ancient tales of the early Timelords and the war with the Great Vampire and his minions, he reveals how after the bodies were tallied, he remained unaccounted for. Before Steven Moffat's episodes aired, State of Decay was surely the creepiest of the long running series. An ancient rocket, it's fuel tanks filled, not with fuel, but BLOOD!! Hoo, hoo! Genius! An the superb attention to atmosphere in "the village," even Romana's wardrobe to the Hammeresques trio of kingly vampires...Genius, I say again.
Finally, the escape from E-Space in "Warrior's Gate." Featuring a strange and interesting use of a virtual environment, while fairly common now was less successful in past attempts when the series worked "set-less." Here I feel it works well achieving the "nowhere" effects (much like the 2nd Doctor's visit to the Land of Fiction), although much of this episode is overcomplicated and artsy. The cat-people make-up, of the Thrails and the neat Gundan robot warriors all add the high-concept effort of this unique story. In some early moments two of the crew of the Slaver ship indulge an homage to "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" even including the coin. The story follows a cat-like race that while once cruel masters themselves, are currently in need of liberating, the Doctor's prime hobby. As always more great dialog, gems like the Doctor's, "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." and from Romana, "Astral Jung!" The final farewell to Romana and K9 is brief and less moving than many departures in the show's history, although the Doctor assures us that she will be more than just alright...she'll be SUPERB.
The E-Space Trilogy is a really good set of DVDs to own at a pretty good price.
E-SPACE DRINKING GAMES...Drink whenever:
...the TARDIS Monitor shows an exterior shot of someplace they're not.
...you see a technacothaka or any other quirky turn of phrase like the "Three Who Rule," "the Wasting" or even "Mistfall."
...K9 is broken, abused or otherwise written out of the story.
...the Doctor misquotes Shakesphere...like 'He who outlives this day and comes safe home shall stand a tiptoe when this day is named and rouse him at the name of E-Space!"
...the Doctor says, "SWARMED" ...what? "Swarmed."
...Adric seemingly or actually betrays Romana to gangs or vampires.
...a character melodramatically utters the title, example. "...we've come Full Circle!"
...we see an establishing shot that is a model or a matte...like the STARLINER, The Tower, the Warriors Gate or the long shots of the SlaveShip.
...the Doctor shows off his (architectural) expertise and misses the mark like in the Tower of the Lords in "State of Decay" he says the decor is rococo when actually it's late Saxon/early Romanesque...oh snap!
More Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy - Full Circle/State of Decay/Warriors' Gate (Stories 112-114) reviews:
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1 2 3 4 5
Summary of Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy - Full Circle/State of Decay/Warriors' Gate (Stories 112-114)
DOCTOR WHO:E SPACE TRILOGY FULL CIRCL - DVD MovieThe E-Space Trilogy is a well-regarded trio of stories from the tail end of Tom Baker?s tenure as the Doctor (and the show?s 18th season), and find him lost in a parallel universe full of alarming new foes; the trilogy also serves as a farewell to one of the Doctor?s best-loved companions, Romana (Lalla Ward) and an introduction to one of his most controversial, the teenaged Adric (Matthew Waterhouse). The TARDIS enters the alternate universe--known as Exo-Space or E-Space in 1980?s Full Circle, which finds the Doctor and Romana charting a course for their home planet of Gallifrey but instead finding themselves on the planet Alzarius, where a small band of humanoids find conflict within their number as well as from menacing, reptilian Marshmen. One of the humanoids, a teenager named Adric, stows away aboard the TARDIS and accompanies the Doctor to a new planet in State of Decay; there, they discover a medieval-like society in the grip of three lords who demand sacrifice from the population. The true identity of the lords lends an air of Hammer-style horror to the story, which is perhaps the most engaging of the set. Finally, an escape route from E-Space is revealed in Warriors? Gate, but first, the Doctor and his companions must contend with a slave ship and its cargo of lion-like creatures called Tharils. Though the Doctor is eventually freed from E-Space, his departure does not come without its costs, as revealed by the final fate of Romana and fan favorite K-9 Mk II.
Though by no means among the best of the Baker episodes, the E-Space Trilogy delivers plenty of thrills in its three stories. Fans may find areas to quibble over--especially in regard to Adric, whose presence pales in comparison to Baker?s previous companions--but they bear up well in regard to solid plotting and consistent entertainment, especially when compared to the lighter tone of the previous season, which was overseen by Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy fame. Baker and Ward are once again the anchors of the show, and her departure is an unfortunate one (the Doctor would struggle to find an equally strong companion in the years that followed); Baker of course, remains a pleasure as the Time Lord, though one can occasionally perceive his growing dissatisfaction with the role (he would depart the series at the end of the season). And perhaps that?s the reason why he is absent from the set?s wealth of extras, leaving Waterhouse to contribute the majority of the commentaries, though Ward weighs in on Warriors? Gate. Archival footage from UK TV chronicles Waterhouse?s debut on the series and preserves the original continuity announcements from the BBC broadcasts, while featurettes cover everything from Ward?s stylish wardrobe to the making of each episodes. One of the most interesting extras is ?Leaves of Blood,? a 20-minute examination of vampires in literature and history, and featuring comments by such noted authors as Ramsay Campbell and Kim Newman. Deleted scenes and an isolated score option round out the supplemental features. -- Paul Gaita
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