Doctor Who: The Ark In Space
Few Doctor Who stories have withstood the test of time as well as The Ark In Space. Over the years, Ark has garnered praise for beating Alien to virtually all of its dramatic punches, some incredibly innovative sets (some of which, as revealed by their designer on this DVD, were literally smoke and mirrors), and the first real hints of Tom Baker’s Doctor Who persona. And on rewatching this four-parter on DVD, with tons of extras, I’m reminded of why every bit of that praise is absolutely well-earned.
The commentary this time around is a real all-star job, though in the end it’s a slight disappointment. Tom Baker joins Elisabeth “Sarah” Sladen and producer Philip Hinchcliffe for the commentary, but I’m sure many fans - both diehard and casual - will be disappointed to hear that Sladen and Hinchcliffe do most of the talking. In fact, at first one isn’t sure if Baker even wants to be there - he says very little, mainly cracks jokes, and when one of the other participants addresses him, he dismissively answers “yeah yeah yeah,” as if he doesn’t want to be disturbed while watching (and admittedly Baker does point out that he hasn’t seen Ark since its original broadcast in 1975). He later gets into the swing of things, but it’s still on the eccentric side. But would you expect anything less of Tom Baker? When he does let it all pour out, it’s almost sad - he earnestly enthuses that Doctor Who was the best job he ever had as an actor, and nothing since can compare. And I believe him there.
Also included are two interviews, one with ace BBC production designer Roger Murray-Leach (who not only created Ark’s incredibly expansive sets, but the sets for Blake’s 7’s Liberator as well) which was shot especially for the DVD, and a vintage TV interview with Tom Baker on location shooting Revenge Of The Cybermen (which was part of the same season). Both are entertaining in their own way (especially the look on an elderly gentleman’s face as he’s exiting a pub just as Baker and two fully-suited Cybermen are entering, or Murray-Leach insisting that he doesn’t want to talk about Blake’s 7 as his interview begins), and add a lot to the package.
One of the DVD’s most fascinating features is a branching option which can, if you so choose, replace the original episodes’ model work with newly-rendered CGI versions of the same scenes. The original version can be watched in its entirety as originally broadcast, and the CGI version replaces only a precious few effects shots, most notably in the fourth part. The new scenes use the same designs and the animators even tried their hardest to position the stars and planet and space station in exactly the same arrangement as the original scenes - it’s really rather impressive. For those who prefer the original model sequences, there’s a BBC Visual Effects archive of all of the model footage shot for Ark, including some versions of shots that weren’t ready for prime time - complete with vintage 50s-style sparkler-powered miniature rocket. The CGI version also makes possible another feature, a CGI walkthrough station schematic.
There are also unused main title sequence elements, plus the complete title sequence with music but without any episode titles or writer credits; another amusing bit of vintage BBC goodness is available in the form of a promo trailer which, while it may seem cheesy now, was no doubt at least partially responsible for the story’s high ratings back in the day. And once again, for those of us who grew up with the commercial TV broadcasts of the Tom Baker episodes in the United States, T.J. Lubinsky has unearthed the Howard daSilva-narrated intros and teasers. (T.J. e-mailed me after reading theLogBook.com’s review of the Robots Of Death DVD to let me know that he’s been producing the daSilva features for the region 1 Doctor Who DVDs, so I wanted to name-check him this time and thank him - and everyone else credited in that section - for restoring a little chunk of my childhood.)
The strangest feature of all is one of BBC Online’s TARDIScam sequences, originally premiered on the Beeb’s official Doctor Who web site; in this case, it’s a lovely widescreen filmed scene of the TARDIS arriving in a war-torn wasteland populated only by the wreckage of defeated Cybermen. It’s an odd thing to throw in on this volume…but perhaps more significant, it’s a sad reminder that the BBC could be producing feature-quality Doctor Who now - they just choose not to. The Ark In Space serves as a reminder of what Doctor Who did when it was firing on all pistons - and that’s why the show should come back. Until then, we keep getting these great DVDs, and this one’s a keeper.