Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest - Complete Animated BBC Series [DVD]

This original Doctor Who adventure from the acclaimed animation house Cosgrove Hall (makers of the peerless Danger Mouse) is a great idea and will hopefully lead to further stories being made in the same way: The unfinished Shada or some of the missing TV stories from the 60s could be remade this way; a mouth watering prospect for Doctor Who fans. The animation is pretty impressive and the story showcases the potential of Doctor Who in animated form, rather than presenting a coherent story in the way that the TV programme does. Great fun for kids and adults, I reckon you could do a lot worse than add this to your DVD collection; Doctor Who fan or not.

I didn't watch this during the dozen 3 minute transmissions of the episodes on Totally Doctor Who I waited for the 'whole-in-one' showing of the complete story that followed and it comes in at roughly 43 minutes, the length of a tv episode.

I liked it, but I found the constant shifting of locations after every three minutes or so a bit distracting, I can understand why this needed to be done, as a serialized story it was necessary to provide a cliff-hanger to end every mini-episode and the location shifting was designed to keep the story on the move in order that the kid's interests were maintained.

The story is very good actually and it was interesting to see slightly different interpretations of the Doctor and Martha, the whole concept of animation enables the makers of the episode to do anything they want, they are not constrained by budget, there are so many effects in this episode that had it been a live action instalment it would have cost millions and millions, that is the advantage that animation and audio have over television and film, the imagination and the means to realise that vision has no limit.

The acting by the regulars is first rate and it is obvious that David and Freema are taking the material as seriously as a television episode and do not drop their performances for a moment. Anthony Head returns to Doctor Who again to once more play the villain and he is as good as ever.

The animation is by the same company that reconstructed the missing episodes of The Invasion and pull out all the stops to ensure that it looks good, David Tennant actually looks like David Tennant unlike some animation of the past.

The Infinite Quest has been given the status of being a legitimate or proper Doctor Who adventure and is considered part of season 3 but I wonder where it actually fits, I reckon after the episode '42', I am also surprised that it is not being featured in the series 3 boxset but is being given a standalone release, lets hope there is extras and a commentary.

The Infinite Quest has shown that it is possible to do Doctor Who via animation and to make it worthy of the TV show, all we need now is for the BBC to release the other Doctor Who animated adventure 'The Scream of the Shalka', what a pity they didn't release it with The Infinite Quest it would have made a nice little boxset of animated Doctor Who.

If "The Infinite Quest" could be summed up in one word, I would choose `delightful'. Set during Series 3, it features the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones embarking on a cracking little animated adventure, with striking visuals, terrific voice-acting and a very decent plot.

The Infinite Quest was a series of three-minute-long animated shorts, broadcast back in 2007 over thirteen weeks on Totally Doctor Who. The premise is that the Doctor and Martha find themselves embarking on a quest to locate the Infinite, a mythical spaceship that contains a power so great, it can give life to the heart's desire. And it's vital they get to it first, because the enigmatic despot Baltazar is after it, meaning destroyed Earth, conquered galaxy, all those things despots usually crave.

First thing that must be talked about in this review...is obviously the animation. Firestep are the chaps responsible, and they've produced something that's both radical and effective. It's mostly a two-dimensional portrayal with cel-shaded characters and backgrounds. 3D computer graphics come into play for more large-scale figures and backdrops, blending together with the 2D stuff rather nicely. It's all very striking indeed and is presented with such grace.

Now, because of the original format, The Infinite Quest mini-episodes had to be very eventful in order to keep the viewer interested for thirteen weeks. With them all collected together here to form one feature film, you'll realise that the entire adventure is action-packed from start to finish. But what's quality about The Infinite Quest is that the pacing is very controlled. The story takes the Doctor and Martha across different worlds, featuring different sub-plots and focusing on colourful characters, with various elements all coming together to form a very strong and coherent plot. It's nothing short of enjoyable overall, and flows through seamlessly, thanks to Alan Barnes.

Barnes has not only written a fine tale, he's also managed to stay away from making The Infinite Quest over-convoluted as well as remain faithful to the actual series. There are all manner of deliciously ghastly creatures present with startling secrets, heartbreaking character losses and enough time to put the spotlight on the Doctor and Martha in some well done scenes.

The voice acting goes without question, naturally because of (the one-and-only) David Tennant and Freema Agyeman once again performing their roles with typical flourish. But my personal favourite was Anthony Head, who does a wonderful job as Baltazar, giving the character delicious malevolence and dry wit. The character itself is a fine antagonist; cold, manipulative and utterly ruthless, with a pinch of mystique thrown in for good measure.

As for special features, this disc has many for fans to sink their teeth into. Cast interviews, animation tests, behind-the-scenes features, a photo gallery, trailers, character profiles and deleted scenes...there's quite a hefty deal of content supplied on this disc. Oh, and there's a grand set of postcards included as well, featuring stills from the animation itself.

I couldn't really find anything NOT to like about this. Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest is a feature that honours the show in pretty much every way. It's great viewing pleasure for kids certainly, and I think the more older fans will get satisfaction out of it as well.

As I said at the start. One word...`delightful'.