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Doctor
Who:
The Ark in Space
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5
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10 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
Doctor
Who is one of the most enduring and endearing science fiction
television shows of all time. The fan base of the show seems
to replenish itself with each passing year in a way most TV
programs can only dream of. Of all the dunderheaded blunders
the BBC has committed over the years surely canceling Doctor
Who was one of the greatest. Easily the most profitable BBC
production ever, their killing of the golden egg-laying goose
is proof positive that people in suits rarely know a good thing
when they see it. Even after being canceled nearly 15 years
ago Doctor Who lives on in constant reruns, original
novels, radio shows, audio tapes, comic books and even stage
performances. Obviously the public's hunger for the Doctor's
adventures is still strong and the annual rumors of a TV rebirth
are enough to send hopeful shockwaves through fans (no matter
how unlikely those rumors may be). As it's a very profitable
commodity, Doctor Who has had a good life on home video.
Almost all of the surviving shows have been released on tape
over the years and now they're slowly being given exemplary
treatment on DVD.
As The Ark in Space begins the fourth Doctor (Tom
Baker), along with companions Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) and
Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), is making his first trip
in the TARDIS. Intending to make a short hop from 20th Century
Earth to the moon, the machine instead materializes inside a
futuristic orbiting space station. An angry Doctor explains
that Harry has caused the mishap by messing about with the TARDIS'
controls. Curious about where they've found themselves, the
three travelers manage to get the station's power switched on
and the air circulating again. The Doctor surmises that the
satellite was built in the late 29th or early 30th Century but
appears to have sat dormant for thousands of years past that
time period. They discover that the place is a cryogenic storehouse
for samples of the entire flora and fauna of Earth as well as
a select group of human beings. After awakening one of the preserved
people they learn this futuristic "ark" was created
so that some remnant of the human race could survive a series
of deadly solar flares. Unfortunately the intended cryogenic
sleep of 5,000 years has lasted a good deal longer because of
an invasion of the ark centuries before by an alien race known
as the Wirrn. The one member of the Wirrn on board is long dead,
but by reactivating the ark's systems the Doctor has awakened
its dormant larvae and they are beginning to grow. And when
the station's newly revived commander is attacked by the larvae
he begins to slowly transform into an adult Wirrn.
The Ark in Space is a fun Doctor Who story but not
a great one. It's very derivative of The
Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass
and the Pit as well as It!
The Terror from Beyond Space, but it has some ideas of its
own. The strength of Doctor Who was always the writing
and the performances. The show never had a big budget and so
most complaints against the show fall into the 'lousy special
effects' category and this story is a perfect example. The exterior
space station FX shots are very sloppy and poorly done and the
on-set practical effects of the insect-like Wirrn are a little
silly. Any time the man-sized insects are seen interacting with
another actor I kept thinking it would've really helped if they
had dimmed the lights to hide the poorly articulated costume.
While there's no way to get past the low-budget effects of the
on-set creature work, this DVD has remedied the bad outer space
shots. In what I think is one of the coolest DVD extras of all
time, you can choose to watch The Ark in Space as it
was originally broadcast or with the space shots replaced with
brand new CGI effects! These new shots are seamlessly incorporated
into the story and are fantastic. One of the first things I
did when I bought the disc was to compare the new to the old
and it was a revelation. The best part is that if you're a purist
you can still watch the older version with the flick of a button.
From its beginning in 1963 Doctor Who was produced
in a serial format with each story in four or more segments
with each chapter ending in a cliffhanger of some kind. For
years the show was broadcast in the States in an omnibus format
with all the chapters edited together to present each story
as one long piece. I've always hated that way of watching Who
and I'm glad that recent video releases and DVDs have adopted
the original multi-segmented presentation. Ark is a four-part
adventure and plays much like an old Republic serial with each
chapter introducing new complications and dangers until the
nail-biting finale. It's great fun and manages to be a show
that young and old can enjoy together, although not always for
the same reasons.
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Warner's
DVD is a very good presentation of the show. I've watched this
story on an old VHS tape and the sharpness on display here is
almost more than I would have thought possible. The picture is
very good but it does give the occasional over-bright surface
a green smear. This is a minor problem that was present on the
old videotape as well. Where this DVD really shines is in the
extras package. Along with the already mentioned new CGI special
effects for the story there is a commentary track with stars Tom
Baker and Elisabeth Sladen and producer Peter Hinchcliffe. There's
a lot of good information and some fun anecdotes on the track
but it could have been tighter or more structured. It only got
really interesting in the last few minutes when Baker began to
talk about his sometimes troubled personal life. Also in the track
I was gratified to have Hinchcliffe clear up one nagging continuity
problem (in Part Three) as being the result of self-censoring
and not poor filmmaking. Additionally there is a brief video interview
with set designer Roger Murray-Leach and a vintage news piece
with Tom Baker before the show was broadcast. The story can be
watched with pop-up production notes that are very informative
but a little repetitive. Other extras include a photo gallery
of 30 or so images, some raw 16mm special effects footage from
the story and a neat set of 3D schematics of the ark and its shuttlecraft.
All in all this is a great DVD that fans of the show will be very
happy to see, but I don't think it will convert non-fans. While
not one of the stronger stories they ever did it could be a good
starting point for the curious.
Doctor Who is a wonderful show for anyone tired of
formula American TV or those of us weaned on written science fiction
— where the ideas and characters are the most important element.
I look forward to every Who DVD I can get my hands on.
(You can check out EC's take on the Doctor Who: The Key To
Time 6-disc box set by clicking here.)
2/08/03 |
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