George Lucas would be proud. This DVD, one of the first three Doctor Who titles released in the U.S.,
does not feature the original version of the show's 20th anniversary special
as seen in 1983, but a new "special edition" promising extra
footage and more modern effects.
I've always had reservations about revisionist filmmaking - and those
reservations come into sharp focus when we're talking about something
I've probably seen a hundred times, like The Five Doctors. The
Time Scoop, in its original incarnation, was obviously an ADO-generated
effect which was switched from a blank signal to another video source
when the Scoop snared its prey. Here, it's a sort of conical twisty
thing which looks rather like a benign giant transparent gumdrop (if,
indeed, any giant transparent gumdrop could be said to be benign). The
angularity and simplicity of the original lent it a kind of menace that
the new version lacks.
As for the "new footage," there's not a lot of it; the
story opens with menacing shots of corridors which writer Terrance Dicks,
in his audio commentary with Peter Davison, says that even he
thinks was a mistake in the revamped version. A few extra shots in and
around the TARDIS at the Eye of Orion pad things out, but both of these
elements combine to throw off the lyrical music cue that originally
opened the episode.
There are a few places where the added effects help; the Dalek attack
is a little more menacing when its gunfire is brought up to the standards
of Sylvester McCoy's era.
And the added footage in the Cybermen/Raston Robot fight scenes actually
go a long way toward selling the Raston Robot as the lightning-reflexed
killing machine that it really didn't seem to be in the original.
Some of the tweaks I'm torn on. The voice of Rassilon is lowered
electronically to a menacingly thunderous voice, and while it's certainly
appropriate for the character, there was something about the original
voice that I liked as well, something which played against Rassilon being
the kind of ruthless tyrant who would install such customs as the Death
Zone games. Why try to telegraph the character's dark side when dialogue
elsewhere in the episode spells it out much more clearly? By the time we
see/hear Rassilon, there's little doubt that he was no benevolent ruler
of the Time Lords.
This is the first of several Doctor Who titles to feature isolated
selections from the music score, though that in itself presents some
problems. Apparently, the disc accesses the music from these music
tracks while playing the episode itself, and that results in the music
being more prominent than the sound effects or - in some unfortunate
cases - even the dialogue in some scenes. As much of a fan as I
am of soundtracks and DVD isolated scores, if it comes down to making
the sound mix as good as possible or having an isolated soundtrack, I
will give up the latter. My other complaint is that, again due to the
modified opening scenes, the music is not the way I remember it. (The
music has also appeared on CD.) On the other hand, this is
as crisp as I've ever heard most of the score from this episode, so I am
grateful it's there. A better example of an isolated Doctor Who score
would be the BBC's region 2 Doctor Who: The Movie DVD.
The menu on The Five Doctors is a bit clunky compared to later titles
in the same series. It's an admirable attempt to do a CGI-animated trip around
the hexagonal TARDIS console, and it's very colorful, but ultimately it
comes across looking a little amateurish and messy. The menu interface
used in every Doctor Who DVD since then is much classier and more
functional.
Overall, I can't give The Five Doctors the highest score possible, but it does have much to recommend it, including a very amusing and frank audio commentary from Terrance Dicks and Peter Davison, who played the fifth Doctor himself, and useful "Who's Who" section offering character sketches for those who don't have the longtime-fan knowledge of the Doctor Who mythos that it might take for an episode which is so inherently full of in-jokes and references.
Reviewed by Earl
Green
theLogBook.com editor/webmaster
