Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord (Stories 144 - 147)
by Nicholas Mallett, Ron Jones, Chris Clough
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Colin Baker, Lynda Bellingham, Michael Jayston, Nicola BryantDirector: Chris Clough, Nicholas Mallett, Ron Jones
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Mono; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Mono
Format: Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, Limited Edition, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Restored, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 350 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- The three videos in this Limited Edition Boxed Set contain all four episodes of Doctor Who's immortal adventure, "The Trial of the Time Lord," starring Colin Baker as the Doctor. VIDEO 1: THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET - The saga begins when the Tardis is drawn into mammoth space station. The Doctor emerges alone to face a tribunal of the Time Lords, and placed on trial for cosmic interference. The trial
Movie Reviews of Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord (Stories 144 - 147)
Movie Review: A review of the DVD rather than of the Story
Summary: 5 Stars
So far, all the reviews have been about the actual 14-episode story on this DVD. Let me start by quickly saying how much I love this season-long epic. I know, I know...it has its flaws, it was riddled with behind-the-scenes turmoil which kept the story from really coming together onscreen, some of the trial scenes simply don't make sense, etc.....but I still love everything about it. I've always loved Colin's portrayal of the Doctor and I think some of his best work is in this season. He was obviously VERY happy to be back to work on the show he loved after a long hiatus.
But "Trial of a Timelord" has been written about a great deal, and other reviewers here have already given you very good reviews of the actual story. My review, then, is about "the rest of the story"....the DVD packaging of "Trial".
Which, by the way, is excellent.
Even if you don't love this season, you have to admit that this is one of the strongest collections of special features on any Doctor Who DVD. What is most admirable here is that the team that puts together these DVDs did't shy away from the controversy that surrounded this season. These features aren't "Doctor Who Confidential" styled pats-on-the-back. The features show the good and the bad in equal measure.
Here are some of the highlights:
- There's a "making of" documentary for each of the four stories that make up "Trial". These are all really great, very entertaining and educational. But the highlights are seeing Tony Selby and Brian Blessed talk about their time on the show. They very obviously loved doing it.
- There's a 55 minute documentary on Colin's time as the Doctor. It goes into great details about the detioration of the relationship between John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward, the hiatus, the reasons behind the "Trial" story, Colin's firing....its really good. Its a very revealing, "cards on the table" type of discussion. Its amazing to see that even 25 years later, talking about this stuff is difficult for Colin. Its also great to see Eric Saward talk about his role in alienating people who had been his friends and co-workers.
- There's a short bit of commentary with Colin and Nicola watching the scene in Part 14 where the script, at JNT's urging, undoes Peri's death from Part 8 by saying she was living happily-ever-after with King Yrcanos. While Nicola was aware that they'd done that....she'd never seen the scene in question. Her reaction to it is pretty interesting.
- There's a great documentary on what would have been Season 23 had the hiatus not happened and they'd gone on to do Colin's second season as planned. Most of this is pretty well known, and three of the stories were later released as novels. But this is illustrated by new artwork, is narrated by Colin, and talks about each of the stories and the shape of the season. Very enlightening.
- There's a fun little half-hour piece on cliffhangers. Authors, editors and scriptwriters talking about the show's cliffhangers -- which ones were great, which ones didn't work, which ones could have been brillian but weren't, etc. A very fun piece.
- There's a fairly substantial clip from a talk show after the end of the season that has a group of people from one of the DW fan clubs talking about the "Trial" season, and what a mess it was, and if fans couldn't follow it how could the general public? So after a series of comments from each of them, the host says "Well, now lets hear from the producer and the writers of this season". John Nathan-Turner and Pip & Jane Baker seemed genuinely caught off guard to learn that these people didn't completely love their work! It's really interesting viewing.
All-in-all its a stellar package. The sound in particular is cleaned up very nicely. And the picture looks great. There seems to be more contrast in the opening courtroom scenes, where the set looks a bit more darkly lit and moodier. Even if I were't a fan of this season, I would probably give this DVD release of it 5 stars simply on the strength of the packaging, the extras, and the great lengths that the Restoration Team went to to bring us a very thorough and enlightening set. Very well worth the money. I highly recommend this set!
Summary of Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord (Stories 144 - 147)
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