Doctor Who - The Ark In Space (DVD)

The Ark in Space was Tom Baker's second outing as the Fourth Doctor, and pretty much sums up everything that was great about his era of Doctor Who. The Doctor and Sarah Jane, accompanied by blundering Harry Sullivan, find themselves on board a space station that contains the last remnants of humanity, waiting in suspended animation to begin a new life once the Earth has recovered from a massive flare of solar radiation. But there's monsters on board. This apparently simple premise sets up a surprisingly rich and layered story from hallowed Doctor Who scribe Robert Holmes. Even though it follows standard genre formula (the Doctor and ...  Read the complete review

I thought it was about time that I reviewed the latest Tom Baker DVD release (because the next DVD is about to be released very soon). Before I do this I really need to give you a brief plot outline (so you have a bit of an idea of what I'm rattling on about!). If you just want to launch straight into the DVD stuff skip the next 3 paragraphs! The Doctor, and his companions Sarah-Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter), materialise (accidentally as per usual) on an apparently deserted Space Station. It is thousands of years in the future and a group of colonists have been forced to abandon the rapidly uninhabitable Earth. They are ...  Read the complete review

Another release from the much-appreciated tom baker/philip hinchcliffe/robert holmes era of doctor who. The story itself concerns the remaining survivors of the future planet earth, now in suspended animation on a space station, to eventually reawaken to start a new life on another planet,the main problem being,that they are not alone on this station.... Not alone because A)the doctor and his travelling companions, sarah and harry, have landed there and B)because an insect race named as the wirrn are also on board looking for a new source of food.... The story is a classic piece of doctor who, as our heroes, along with a handfull of comrades try to fend ...  Read the complete review

OK, I'll be straight with you from the off - I'm not keen on this story. It lacks any suspense, fear, realism or humour. That said, I love all of the Beeb's Doctor Who DVD releases, because they always pad them out with lots of extra material. This one comes with an audio commentary by Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Philip Hinchcliffe. It's a rather dull and slow-moving commentary to be honest, and didn't live up to my expectations. Philip Hinchcliffe has a bit of a tendancy to drone on a bit, and even Tom Baker's sense of humour seems subdued. Uniquely however, this DVD also has brand new CGI footage to replace the woeful ...  Read the complete review