Doctor Who - Frontios [DVD] [1984]

 

 

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A piece of science fiction drama from the BBC comes to dvd.

It's set somewhen in the future. And it sees the last vestiges of the human race clinging to survival in a primitive colony they've established on a far flung planet.

They face threats that are natural. Internal. And alien.

But the planet in question is called Frontios rather than Carpathia. Because this is an older effort than a certain recent series, this being a Doctor Who story from 1984.

It features Peter Davison as the Doctor, with Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson as his companions Tegan and Turlough. All four twenty five minute long episodes are complete on a single dvd.

Frontios is not a world that the time lords will allow any interference with, so when the TARDIS is pulled there by a strange force, the Doctor is anxious to get away as quickly as possible. But he swiftly finds that the TARDIS isn't going to be able to get him offworld any time soon.

Caught up in the usual fear and mistrust with only a few allies that he usually finds in this situation, the Doctor has to solve the mystery of the meteors that constantly hit the colony. The disappearance of the former colonial leader. Who seemingly knew more about the secrets of the planet than he ever let on.

Turlough has to face a frightening memory.

But the real threat doesn't come from where they suspect....

A totally studio bound story, but Frontios does manage to make a virtue of that via some well designed sets that do create the illusion of a ramshackle and tightly knit colony. It does need the occasional long shot with a matte backdrop, but these are also quite successful.

As ever the military are not initially on the Doctor's side, but the scientists are most trusting. All the supporting characters on both sides are rather well drawn and played.

The greatest strength of the story though is that because it comes from the writer who wrote the first fifth doctor story, it absolutely gets his character right. Remembering that he's an old being in a young body. It really is one of the strongest scripts for Peter Davison from the second half of his tenure, and he seizes that opportunity.

It also gives Mark Strickson more to do than some stories as Turlough has to deal with a scary memory, and Mark Strickson has some good moments as a result.

Janet Fielding does get some decent lines but you do feel that Tegan's time in the TARDIS is coming to an end by this point.

The monsters of the story are an interesting idea but there were problems in the practicality of the costumes that mean that they aren't quite as effective as they could have been. Although their first appearance could well catch you by surprise [beware of the main menu screen because the clips on it do give a bit too much away. Such as this particular moment].

But Frontios is a fairly solid piece of Doctor Who, and well above average as a whole.

The DVD is fairly light on extras.

It has the usual:

Languages: English.

Subtitles: English.

English audio captioned.

Production information subtitles.

Photo Gallery.

Isolated score.

Radio Times listings for the story as a PDF file.

A trailer for the next release in this DVD range.

There's also a commentary from Peter Davison plus two of the supporting cast, and the script editor and the sound designer.

There's a thirty three minute [approx] long making of documentary which is good and in depth and does touch upon a couple of major problems that the production faced.

And there are sixteen minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes. They are of unfinished work and thus the visual effects and backdrops aren't always there and there's a time clock over most of them. Most are of people walking around but some do show interesting moments that didn't make it into the finished version.

This solid story is probably C Hamilton Bidmead's best contribution to the original series, and it's a shame it wasn't made a little earlier in Davison's run since his take on the fifth Doctor is more substantial and developed than that of most other script writers of the time. There's a good guest cast here, led by Jeff Rawle making the most of having greatness thrust upon him, and a generally above-average level of darkness and detail to the execution of the script that almost overshadows the limitations of an all-studio production. You wouldn't think that if you only watched the documentary, though, which I found surprisingly critical and overly harsh, coming close to claiming that this was as flawed a production as the season's earlier Warriors of the Deep. To me, the seriousness and flashes of lyricism in Bidmead's script make the end result well worth revisiting.

Not that there aren't flaws. Mark Strickson is probably the wrong type of actor to give a subplot about a deep-seated race memory bursting forth to, since he even comes across as quite hammy when just being interviewed for the DVD (and I wish he'd get his hair cut!). Turlough was one of the better developed companions of the original series, but it didn't always happen organically. As usual the story wouldn't miss Tegan if she'd been cut out, and I for one would be happier to have a little less of Fielding's stagy performance. The tractators aren't that bad as monsters, but they are a creepier threat when unseen in the early episodes; their costume realisation, as is often the case, probably looked better on paper.

There's not really such a thing as a typical Davison story, but I'd say this is one of his better ones; more accessible and stand-alone than Castrovalva, the Mara tales or the Black Guardian trilogy, and better written than most of the rest. Give it a whirl, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

.....Peter Davison stories in my opinion. I am not a fan of this era but there were some good stories. Too many companions didnt leave enough room for the central character (The Doctor) to shine like he should have. However this story is quite dark, the earth eat the dead on Frontios it is said. The planet is at war with an unseen enemy. The story of Plantagenates "dead" father is horrific but topped by the truth! Wonderful if you can excuse a few dodgy effects and some poorly executed monsters. In fact you dont notice the faults because you become enthralled as the layers of this story unfold.One thing stops this getting 5 stars and that is Mark Stricksons poor acting "TRACTATORS......!!" blathering in saliva! Enjoy.

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5.0 out of 5 stars doctor who
arrived in time for christmas and was sealed. good conditon and was enjoyed by my son whos present it was for

Published 1 month ago by christmas fairy

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best :(
This is not one of the best doctor who stories but is rated quite high. The packaging is nice in and out and special features there are a few. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Jacck Woody

3.0 out of 5 stars Hammerman
Product good. Frotios not one of the 5th Docs best. But at least we did get to see Janet Feilding in Leather mini skirt - FAB.

Published 3 months ago by HAMMERSMAN

4.0 out of 5 stars Frontios
Excellent. Davison at his best. Intense and fast paced, one of the best of his era. Pity more scripts weren't like it.

Published 5 months ago by S. D. Marsh

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!
On of the Doctor Who's I've awaited eagerly for about 15years to see again.
This is one of those 'WOW!' stories. Read more

Published 7 months ago by The Academate

2.0 out of 5 stars ....ONE OF THE WORST
Im not sure what some of the other reviewers were watching when they reviewed Frontios,but it cant have been Frontios! Read more

Published 8 months ago by N. D. TIDIMAN

5.0 out of 5 stars Good to see it at last
Very good to see this again after so long. Story is still very good. Costumes and sets a bit dodgy, but ideas and story are among the best. Extras were interesting as well.

Published 8 months ago by APD

5.0 out of 5 stars FRONTIOS is very much a NEW SERIES 2011 story...
The DVD EXTRAS should be described as "value light material" as opposed to "value added material"; there isn't much but what there is shines, with insightful contributions from... Read more

Published 9 months ago by The EYE OF HORUS Editor

3.0 out of 5 stars "Going Underground"
This is a more accessible script than Christopher H Bidmead's previous 2 and more tradtional SF. The Tardis crew land on the planet Frontios where a small group of humans are... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Bob Marlowe

4.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and articulate script makes this release
Considered to be one of the strongest stories of the Peter Davison era, this comes towards the end of Davison's tenure, between The Awakening and Resurrection of the Daleks. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth

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