Doctor Who Revisitations 3 (The Tomb of the Cybermen/The Three Doctors/The Robots of Death) [DVD]

Doctor Who - Revisitations box set volume 3 - the final collection of restored classics and by far the greatest line-up that could have been put together. This I must own, to hell with owning the originals, they are nearly as old as me so to have this brand new ultimate edition collection of restored classics is a must. Each of the three serials you get in this collection is a masterpiece, Doctor Who at its greatest, The Tomb of the Cybermen for me is the greatest 1960's Doctor Who serial ever made, I have reviewed this serial before {2002 edition} and I really must stress the greatness of this Pat Troughton Cyber Classic. The Three Doctor's, the second title of this collection is another Jon Pertwee great, come to think of it, I have not seen a Jon Pertwee serial I have not liked. This 10th anniversary special is indeed special, reuniting William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and new Doctor Jon Pertwee was a masterstoke from Barry Letts, the then producer. Finally, Tom Baker's The Robots of Death is yet another classic from the greatest 3 years of the show, classic-mania. The Philip Hinchcliffe era of the programme saw the most controversal and entertaining stories ever made and record viewing figures backed this up.

The Tomb of the Cybermen ~ The once feared Cybermen have disappeared from the universe without a trace. An expedition from Earth arrives on Telos - homeworld of the Cybermen - to try and discover exactly what has become of the silver giants. Soon after the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria join the archaeological party, the first mysterious death occurs. With the group now stranded on Telos because of the traitors in their midst, it becomes clear that the Cybermen may not be as dead as first thought. Beneath the planets surface, giant ice-tombs hold the last remains of the Cybermen in a frozen sleep. So who is working against the team to reawaken an old threat.

Brand New & Original Special Features On The New Revisitation Release;

* Morris Barry Introduction - The director's introduction from the 1993 VHS release.
* Title Sequence - Tests and build-up elements for the Patrick Troughton title sequence.
* Late Night Line-Up - behind the scenes at the BBC Visual Effects department to interview Jack Kine.
* The Final End - The Evil of the Daleks is mostly missing from the BBC archives. A taste of the climactic battle...
* Abominable Snowmen Audio Trailer
* Coming Soon Trailer
* Production Subtitles
* The Lost Giants - Cast and crew look back on the making of the story.
* The Curse of the Cybermen's Tomb - Sir Christopher Frayling & Dr Debbie Challis examine the Egyptian origins to the story.
* Cybermen - Extended Edition - A history of the Cybermen.
* The Magic of VidFIRE - A look at the technology behind the VidFIRE process.
* Sky Ray Advert - 1960's Doctor Who themed promo for Walls Sky Ray ice lolly.
* Photo Gallery
* Radio Times Listings

The Three Doctors ~ UNIT HQ comes under attack by an alien force, and the Doctor has no other option but to call on his own people, the Time Lords for help. Breaking their own rules and laws, the high council decide to send the 2 former incarnations of the Doctor to aid his future self. However, In a universe of anti-matter, an all-powerful figure from Time Lord history is waiting, and even all 3 incarnations of TV's favourite hero might not to able to thwart him.

Brand New & Original Special Features On The New Revisitation Release;

* Commentary
* Happy Birthday To Who - A brand-new look at the making of this anniversary story.
* Was Doctor Who Rubbish? - Raising a defence against criticism of the classic series.
* Girls, Girls, Girls - The 1970s Katy Manning, Caroline John & Louise Jameson on being a 1970s Doctor Who girl.
* Pebble Mill At One - Interview with the second Doctor Patrick Troughton and visual effects wizard Bernard Wilkie.
* Blue Peter Jon Pertwee introduces the Whomobile.
* BSB Highlights Cast and crew discuss The Three Doctors
* The Five Faces Of Doctor Who - The full trailer for the 1981 repeat season which included The Three Doctors.
* BBC1 Trailer
* 40th Anniversary Trailer
* Radio Times listings
* Production Subtitles
* Photo Gallery
* Coming Soon Trailer
* Digitally remastered picture and sound

The Robots of Death ~ On a distant, barren planet, storm mine 4 trawls across bleak life-less deserts and through fierce duststorms in search of rare and valuable materials. The crew are assisted by thier legion of robot servants who deal with all manor of tasks. They are so confident that thier robotic servants are completely fault-less that when a dead body is discovered, the blame soon finds its way to the newly arrived Doctor and Leela. As the death count rises, mistrust runs supreme until a final showdown between the last few survivors {the Doctor and Leela included of course} and the maniac behind the killings and the robots unviels.

Brand New & Original Special Features On The New Revisitation Release;

* Commentary 1 - Original release commentary.
* Commentary 2 - New commentary with Tom Baker, Louise Jameson and Pamela Salem and director Michael E Briant.
* The Sandmine Murders - Cast and crew look back at the making of the story.
* Robophobia - Toby Hadoke takes a humorous look at the history of robots.
* Studio Sound - Example of a studio scene before the robot voice effects were added.
* Model Shots Black and white time-coded recording of the original model insert film.
* Studio Floor Plan - Interactive view of the studio layout via the original floor plan drawings.
* Continuity - Off-air continuity for the first episode's original transmission plus mute continuity slide.
* Radio Times listings
* Programme subtitles
* Production information subtitles
* Photo gallery
* Coming soon trailer
* Digitally remastered picture and sound quality

Its hotting up to be a great year for Doctor Who on DVD, I will be grabbing this when it comes out and am really looking foward to watching these timeless classics again in super picture + sound resoration. I don't care what anyone says, these BBC revisit box sets are true value and are a welcome addition to the vast range of over 150 Doctor Who DVD's we currently have to enjoy.

Many thanks for your time in reading this sum-up, its very appreciated.

M.B.

As a life-long fan of the show (thats almost forty-two years of viewing pleasure) I am happily willing to put my hands up and say if it exists in the BBC archives, it's on my dvd shelf. However, I never ever miss an official BBC release and this one I was exceptionally eager to get my grubby little protuberances on.
This third revisitations boxset is arguably the very best, because let's face it the original releases of the three stories it contains were seriously woeful.
Lets take them in order.................

The Tomb of the Cybermen looks absolutely stunning now that it has been cleaned up even more than before. The picture is crisp, the sound sharp, and all the atmosphere that I imagine was there on its original broadcast is there for all to see in glorious monochrome. Tomb stands the test of time, Troughton easily stealing his show, but its the extras that shine for me. Not only are all the original extras here, including the embarrassing Morris Barry intros to the video version release, but a host of new bits and bobs that do not fail to grip and enthrall.

Thr Three Doctors is the same - great story, beautiful restoration, but get to the special features and wallow in the nostalgia. Especially poignant for me are the explanations of Billy Hartnell's short appearances. We all know how ill the man was, but now we have the full story and we can realise that we are immensely fortunate to have him in the story at all. I remember watching this one on transmission, and thinking "who are these other Doctors????", and its fantastic to be able to not only re-watch a classic tale from my youth, but also enjoy the background to the story as well.

Ah - The Robots of Death.
A four-part epic that truly deserves its status as one of the all-time greats. MY Doctor at his best.
The Louise Jameson interview - from 2003's Story of Doctor Who - is my favourite. She is a truly amazing actress ( come on people - go get a copy of Tenko ) and her thoughts and anecdotes are worth watching over and over again.
This single disc release is arguably the best of the lot, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I watched the entire disc twice on the day the boxset dropped on my mat.

If you are sitting there reading this, and you've got down to here, then take my advice - get your debit/credit card out, add this to your basket, then when it arrives just sit back with a bottle of your favourite tipple and immerse yourself in three of the best stories ever written, not only of Doctor Who but of drama as a whole. Watch the extras first, then enjoy twelve of the finest episodes of the greatest TV show in the world. You will NOT regret it.

Trust me, I'm a Doctor

Like the two previous sets, I still find one selection a bit of a strange one (Three Doctors). Anyway firstly all these stories are some of the best examples of Classic who and are all worthy of five stars. My only problem is I would rather have these sets as stand alone, leaving the fan to buy which one they want to up grade,and like most I like my Who DVD's in order so I do separate them out of the box. The price tag is high for DVD's especially when we all have them. However this is not going to stop me buying this set having sold the originals last year with anticipation of this set and made back twelve pounds so now this set can be a bargain!.
First off is Tomb of the Cybermen, now this is the only remaining complete story from season four a disgrace I know. Tomb was the first Troughton story, and was issued before the vid-fire process(returning the picture to its original video look)had been invented, so the picture quality is much improved, even though a lot of work had gone into the original issue, the extra on this one are Morris Barry introduction The director's introduction from the 1993 VHS release. Title Sequence Tests and build-up elements for the Patrick Troughton title sequence.Late Night Line-Up behind the scenes at the BBC Visual Effects department to interview Jack Kine. The Final End The Evil of the Daleks is mostly missing from the BBC archives. A small taste of the climactic battle. Abominable Snowmen Audio Trailer,Coming Soon Trailer.(these were all on the original issue now the new extras are, The Lost Giants Cast and crew look back on the making of the story.The Curse of the Cybermen's Tomb Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr Debbie Challis examine the ancient Egyptian origins to the story. Cybermen Extended Edition A history of the Cybermen. The Magic of VidFIRE A look at the technology behind the VidFIRE process.Sky Ray Advert 1960's Doctor Who themed promo for Walls Sky Ray ice lolly.
Next the anniversary Three Doctors, not the best story, but it is just a delight to see all three Doctor's together. Considering there are only six complete Troughton story' in the archives its just wonderful too see anything with him in. I was surprised at this one only because it had quite a few extras, but the new ones have much improved this issue and are pretty good they include Happy Birthday To Who,the making of this anniversary story. Was Doctor Who Rubbish?, Raising a defence against criticism of the classic series.Girls, Girls, Girls The 1970s Katy Manning, Caroline John (Liz Shaw) and Louise Jameson (Leela) on being a 1970s Doctor Who girl. Pebble Mill At One - Archival interview with the second Doctor Patrick Troughton and visual effects wizard Bernard Wilkie. Blue Peter Jon Pertwee introduces the Whomobile. BSB Highlights Cast and crew discuss The Three Doctors The Five Faces Of Doctor Who The full trailer for the 1981 repeat season which included The Three Doctors. BBC1 Trailer 40th Anniversary Trailer.
Finally we get one of my favourite stories and the first Tom Baker story issued on DVD, The Robot of the Death, this is one of those story's that you would recommend to anyone who had never seen the classic series, it just works so well and even after just two story's Leela has settled in so well. This story was on at the height of the programmes popularity and with Philip Hintchliffe and Robert Holmes in control. Although only a single disc set the specials are a lot better than the original issue due to the advances in restoration, the extras are great considering there were almost none on the original, New commentary with actors Tom Baker (the Doctor), Louise Jameson (Leela) and Pamela Salem (Toos), and director Michael E Briant.The Sandmine Murders Cast and crew look back at the making of the story. Robophobia Toby Hadoke takes a humorous look at the history of robots.Studio Sound Example of a studio scene before the robot voice effects were added. Model Shots Black and white timecoded recording of the original model insert film.Studio Floor Plan Interactive view of the studio layout via the original floor plan drawings.Continuity Off-air continuity for the first episode's original transmission plus mute continuity slides.
If you can afford it and even better don't have these stories this is a must for anyone getting in to he classic show, if you do have them you are going to get three fantastic stories and a load of great extras.This is an excellent set and in hindsight most of these discs here are over 20 years old, and if you think how many times pop groups have there back catalogue re-issued and mastered this is not too bad and it is a good package,and if money is no object buy it for the extras as they are brilliant on there own. Coincidently after a campaign by fans, Vengence of Varos as I said in my review of the second set is being issued as a stand alone special edition strange it can be done with some stories but not all. Inferno is being re issued as is the Green Death, The Visitation,Ark in Space and Aztecs (including Galaxy 4 re-discovered episode) all as double sets with better improved picture quality like the claws of axons so who knows what the future holds but it appears 2013 will see a lot of re-issues.