The Five
Doctors
25th november 1983
(90-MINUTE TV MOVIE)
Back in 1999,
The Five Doctors was a pretty obvious choice for the BBC to use
as a pilot to launch their Doctor Who DVD range. Not only does it
feature the first five Doctors (or, as David Tennant more accurately puts
it, “three and a half doctors and a bloke in a wig”), but it is abounding
with friends and foes from the first twenty years of the classic series,
and also conveniently exists as a already-remastered and ready-to-go
special edition.
However, the original DVD release of The Five Doctors was a
remarkably barren affair. I would’ve thought that, as the BBC were testing
the market for future releases, the disc would’ve been brimming with
captivating bonus material to try and show off the capabilities of the
format, but the disc featured little else beyond the main feature. Even
the presentation of the release was poor – the cover design was plain and
would not correspond with future releases, and the menus on the disc
itself were nothing like as impressive as they would be from The Robots
of Death onwards. Most importantly of all though, the 1999 DVD lacked
one fundamental ingredient that many fans felt bordered on blasphemy – the
original transmission version of The Five Doctors. It is therefore
of little surprise that the Restoration Team have now elected to supersede
their experimental 1999 effort with a hefty two-disc 25th anniversary
edition that no-one could convincingly argue leaves anything out.
Above: Sixth Doctor Colin
Baker presents the blockbuster Celebration documentary
The first disc
of the set contains the ninety-minute version of The Five Doctors
that aired on 25th November 1983, together with over twenty minutes’ worth
of continuities and a fifty-minute blockbuster documentary that is quite
simply (and rather fittingly) entitled Celebration. A wonderful
example of why Doctor Who DVDs are still worth their salt
irrespective of however many copies of each serial you already own across
various media, Celebration is presented by sixth Doctor Colin Baker
and features contributions from many of those involved with producing
The Five Doctors back in 1983, as well as some of those who recall
enjoying the finished product when it first aired.
Personally, I
found the latter to be the most interesting – to me, it was far more
intriguing to hear new series writer Paul Cornell and his peers reminisce
about the Longleat extravaganza and the Target novel “from the future”
than it was to hear the cast and crew share their memories about making
the story. Nevertheless, the ‘making of’ aspects of the documentary are
still interesting, explaining how Terrance Dicks’ script for the special
was borne out of Robert Homes aborted Six Doctors pitch, which
featured an android impostor masquerading as the first Doctor; how Tom
Baker pulled out late in the day and was subsequently replaced in the
programme by some footage from Shada and in the publicity shots by
his Madame Tussauds waxwork; and how half the country went hunting for
Mark Strickson after he went incommunicado and the BBC needed him for a
remount!
Now I’m not
normally one to take an interest in trails and continuities, but the
selection on offer here are distinctive in a number of ways. Firstly,
The Five Doctors was broadcast as part of the Children in Need
telethon in between the series’ regular seasons. Accordingly, it is Terry
Wogan who introduces the show; not some disembodied voice emanating from
behind a blue-green sphere. Furthermore, the ninety-minute special would
later be divided up into four standard-length episodes for repeat
transmission in the summer of 1984, and so the continuities included
contain each artificial episode’s opening and cliffhanger, complete with
titles and all.
The transmission
version of The Five Doctors itself is every bit as good as I
remembered. However, I must confess that it has been a while since I saw
the story in its original form as the VHS copy that I won in a UK Gold
competition back in 1995 has long since been lost to eBay. Fair
dues, The Five Doctors is foppish, contrived and unconditionally
mind-boggling, but underneath all the deliciously excessive layers of
companions; enemies; monsters; and Doctors, there is a plot screaming to
get out - and it’s actually quite good. Finally we get to put a face to a
name with Rassilon, and he’s far from the holier-than-thou founding father
of the Time Lords that we previously believed him to be. We get to witness
Borusa’s heartbreaking fall from grace. We are even made to feel a bit
sorry for the Master - all he tries to do is help the Doctor (albeit it
for selfish reasons) and he gets shot at; kidnapped by Cybermen; knocked
out by the Brigadier; and tied up by three Doctors. The Five Doctors
certainly did what it set out to do - celebrate and pay homage to the
first twenty years of the Doctor Who phenomenon. It was never going
to be a classic story, but it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable nostalgic
ride even twenty-five years on.
My
appreciation of the story this time around was heightened further by what
is being branded “the best easter egg ever.” With a little bit of
jiggery-pokery, viewers can select to watch the transmission version of
The Five Doctors with a commentary by Helen Raynor, Phil Collinson and
the man himself – tenth Doctor David Tennant. Recorded back in 2006 during
the filming of Gridlock, this exclusive commentary is a
champagne-fuelled - but nonetheless heartfelt - look back at the show by
three people who vividly remember being blown away by it in their early
teens. At one point Tennant goes so far as to say that The Five Doctors
was “...one of the most exciting things that had ever happened,” and that
every time another old companion or monster reared its head he felt like
he was “overdosing on e-numbers.” The less said about his reported crushes
on Lalla Ward and Nicola Bryant (or Collinson’s on Turlough!) the better,
though…
The second disc
of the set features the hundred-minute 1995 special edition of The Five
Doctors together with a further glut of special features, including
the Peter Davison / Terrance Dicks commentary originally recorded for the
region 1 release. The special edition features over ten minutes’ worth of
new and extended scenes, as well as new visual effects and a 5.1 surround
soundtrack. I think it’s fair to say that I’m probably more familiar with
this version than I am with the original now, but even so it’s difficult
to say which I prefer. Whilst the original transmission version is shorter
by a good ten minutes, the pacing of the special edition seems faster
somehow; perhaps due in part to the reordering of certain scenes. The
merit of the new visual effects is something that’s often feverishly
debated in fan circles, but to me both the ominous black triangle and ‘Mr
Whippy’ seem as bad as each other, and so it really comes down to which of
Rassilon’s voices you prefer. The 5.1 mix is undoubtedly the special
edition’s greatest selling point – it really adds a whole new layer to the
story if you have the proper equipment.
The bonus
material on the second disc is spread across several shorter featurettes.
The most notable is The Ties That Bind Us, narrated by eighth
Doctor Paul McGann, which looks back at the multifarious continuity of
The Five Doctors with a worrying level of precision. I liked how, once
again, the new series was not excluded; it’s great to see both series
being examined in the same breath. The half hour’s worth of studio footage
and outtakes is no more than amusing nonsense; only those who are amused
by a Dalek trundling round screaming “bugger, I’ve lost them” will really
get anything out of these features, and only the most hardened completists
will appreciate the (Not So) Special Effects skit. The disc is
rounded off with a generous selection of publicity clips that, if nothing
else, serve to highlight just how comprehensive this release is when
compared to its 1999 forerunner.
In all, my only
frustration with this bountiful release is its markedly half-hearted cover
art, particularly on the DVD’s sleeve. Normally I love Clayton Hickman’s
artwork and, until I flogged it a couple of weeks ago to make room for
this reissue, my special edition DVD had spent a few years clad in the
breathtaking alternative cover that he made available to fans “as a
Christmas present” on the BBC website in 2004. It’s a shame he couldn’t
have just cribbed that design for this release.
On a final note,
I’m pleased to report that the Gallifrey chronicles are set to continue on
DVD this May in the erratic Tom Baker six-parter The Invasion of Time,
but precisely what the future holds regarding further reissues is
uncertain. Whilst I sincerely hope that the special edition of
Remembrance of the Daleks will see the light of day as a stand-alone
release sooner rather than later, I can’t say that I’m in any particular
rush to replace the likes of Vengeance on Varos and The Ark in
Space with newer, flashier versions when there are so many wonderful
serials not yet represented on DVD which would make far more worthwhile
releases. As gratifying as this release is, I’d hate to think that it’s
the precursor to a flood of queue-jumping revisitations.
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The first Doctor was taken out of time shortly after The Daleks’ Master
Plan, as is explained in the short story Roses.
The second Doctor is aware that Jamie and Zoe’s memories of their travels
with him were blocked following his trial at the end of The War Games,
suggesting that for him, these events occur some time afterwards.
Given the tight continuity between The War Games, World Game and
The Two Doctors, we posit that the second Doctor was taken out of time
subsequently. Indeed, given his comments about
“bending”
the laws
of Time here, we suspect that for him, these events take place towards the
end of his time spent working for Celestial Intervention Agency; perhaps
even just prior to his forced regeneration and exile.
The third Doctor appears to have been taken from a point late in Season
11, as he is already well-acquainted with Sarah Jane Smith. Given that he
is on Earth and alone when he is abducted, and that he has a palpable
rapport with Sarah Jane here, we posit that for him, these events take
place just prior to the radio drama The Ghosts of N-Space. The pre-Monster
of Peladon placement obviates potential difficulties when considering
the ramifications Faction Paradox (temporarily) altering the Doctor’s
history in Interference. Also of note, the fact that the third
Doctor knows what his next incarnation will look like suggests that he has
already encountered his fourth incarnation at least once previously, in
some (as yet) undocumented adventure.
The fourth Doctor is abducted from the events of Shada. As a
result, in his eighth incarnation, he would take Romana and K-9 back to
Cambridge to effectively remount the adventure.
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