:: theLogBook.com DVD Reviews ::

A relatively large box set mixing new material with earlier existing releases (and a few box set exclusives to force the completists’ hand - don’t you hate that crap?), the Davros box set chronicles the multiple rises and falls of the fictional creator of the Daleks throughout his appearances in classic Doctor Who. I think I’ve mentioned before that one can tell which elements of the classic series are about to resurface in the current series by paying close attention to the classic box sets, and there are numerous rumors which seem to point in the direction of reacquainting oneself with the Davros mythology being a good idea. Here, then, is every story of classic Doctor Who in which the maniacal, Dalek-wheelchair-bound genius appeared, in one convenient package…at least for U.K. fans. (more…)

“Don’t ask. I have no idea,” says Sarah “Nyssa” Sutton at one point in the audio commentary for the 1982 four-parter Time-Flight, and later Peter Davison himself admits, “You’re right. I have no idea what’s going on.” Such is the fate of one of the more convoluted early adventures from Davison’s era of Doctor Who, which was released alongside Arc Of Infinity - another story which can’t really be considered a fan favorite. The two back-to-back stories represent the end of the 19th season and the beginning of the 20th, and I think there’s a reason these two examples of how not to top the most-popular-classic-Who-episode polls are already on DVD. It was surprising enough to see Timelash make it to DVD, but a dual release (or, in the U.K.’s case, an actual box set) of not-fondly-remembered material is even more surprising. (more…)

When this sixth Doctor story was announced as an upcoming DVD release, many a fan doubtless scratched their heads and asked “Why!?” After all, even as early as its original broadcast, Timelash had acquired a stellar reputation…for being one of the first volleys in what some fans considered the nadir of ’80s Doctor Who, a period encompassing The Trial Of A Time Lord, the firing of Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy’s uneven first season. As it turns out, BBC Video knew exactly what it was doing in giving this story a DVD release, for all of that makes for meaty bonus features.

The central featurette on this relatively “light” release is appropriately titled “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly”, and it pulls very few punches in analyzing Timelash’s successes (using young H.G. Wells as a character) and failures (some of Doctor Who’s lowest production values of the Colin Baker era, an occasionally incoherent script, and an admittedly hammy guest shot by Paul Darrow of Blake’s 7 fame). (more…)

Aired in November 2007 as a prelude to the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica, Razor is a bit of an enigma - as fans waited for the resolution of the cliffhanger ending of season three, what they got here was an oddball out-of-time tale which lives - continuity-wise - in the middle of season two. It boasts stunning effects work, decent performances, and some of the most dramatic scenes in Galactica’s history as it rewinds to Pegasus’ escape from the all-out Cylon attack on the colonies. On DVD, it also boasts some extra scenes (which may seem suspiciously familiar) and more bonuses than some of the show’s season box sets. (more…)

As many fan historians have pointed out, The Time Warrior was the beginning of the end of an era for Doctor Who, and it’s that theme which drives the bonus material on this DVD featuring the first appearances of the lovely Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and the decidedly less lovely Sontaran warrior (the late Kevin Lindsay). Other DVDs had already used Sarah’s character as a theme (Hand Of Fear, her final appearance as a regular on the show) and Sontarans too (The Sontaran Experiment, which we already reviewed here), so aside of the particulars of this story’s production, the winding down of Jon Pertwee’s stint as the Doctor is a natural theme. (more…)

For the second season of Battlestar Galactica on DVD, Universal Home Video took an approach that had been standard practice for overseas releases for years: split the season in two. I’m not sure if they did themselves any favors by calling the second half of the season “2.5″, which made me have flashbacks to the bizarre features-minus-the-movie X-Men 1.5 DVD from several years ago. But that’s a debate for the marketing department. Let’s talk toasters. (more…)

This first installment of what many hope will be a series of new Babylon 5 stories has two segments. A third was originally planned, but was cut for budgetary and logistical reasons during the preproduction process. As a result, Voices in the Dark clocks in at a little over an hour, plus a number of short featurettes included as extras. I’d like to start this review on a positive note, so I’m going to discuss the second segment first. (Spoilers below, and feel free to check out the plot synopsis in the LogBook entry.) (more…)

As the last adventure of the original series proper - separated from the first episode of the new series by fifteen years and the one-off TV movie starring Paul McGann - it almost seems like the DVD release of Survival has a lot of ground to cover, and a responsibility to bring the show’s story from the making of Survival itself up to - at the very least - the beginning of production on Christopher Eccleston’s first episode as the Doctor. And perhaps surprisingly, this 2-DVD set covers quite a bit (but not all) of that ground. (more…)

The final story in John Nathan-Turner’s ambitious trilogy designed to revive the character of the Master, and the third and final story included in the New Beginnings DVD box set, Castrovalva also brings the Doctor a new face for the first time in seven years - Peter Davison. It’s not much of a surprise to see that Castrovalva’s DVD bonus features revolve around the newcomers to the show, which, at this point in its history, meant…everybody. (more…)

With its historic place in Doctor Who legend as Tom Baker’s last turn as the incumbent Doctor, Logopolis is almost guaranteed to have killer bonus features.

The main featurette, A New Body At Last (actually named after a quote from the previous story, The Keeper Of Traken), takes a surprisingly no-holds-barred, no-punches-pulled look at Baker’s exit from the TARDIS. Baker himself, writer Christopher Bidmead, co-stars Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton and Adrian Gibbs, and numerous others deliver a warts-and-all retelling of both the making of this particular adventure, and of Baker’s decision to leave the show permanently. (more…)