Doctor Who - Lost in Time [DVD] [1963]

It's difficult to know where to start in my review of 'Lost in Time' as there is so much to get through on this triple disc set, it is choc-a-block full of classic sixties Who, but navigating through it all is well worth the effort.
I'll avoid talking about each individual episode (they all have their own merits) and just briefly mention the real highlight of the DVD, which rather unsuprisingly is "Day of Armageddon". I have always been fond of "The Dalek Masterplan" but I never thought in my wildest dreams that anymore footage would turn up, so imgaine my exitement when an whole episode was returned to the BBC!. "Day" does not disappoint, we get to see alot more of Mavic Chen, (played with relish by the brilliant Kevin Stoney) and best of all those weird and wonderful alien deligates!, It's a pity that it all goes by so quickly, as by the end you are left drooling incessantly for more. And that's the worst thing about this set, you really get so into these episodes, but get no closure, instead having to move on to a completely different story. But even so it doesn't really matter.
Other highlights of the disc are mainly obvious ones. "The Web of Fear" part 1 is absolutley superb, and really catapults this story instantly into my most wanted list. "The Moonbase" also looks lovely in it's new VidFIRE'd state and remains an atmospheric and thoroughly enjoyable tale. I would like to give a special mention to "The Underwater Menace" as it has been unfairly maligned over the years, and is actually great fun.
Really, all of these episodes have something to enjoy and it's a good mix of stories to represent this classic era.

As for the features I am a little torn. I would have liked to have seen some new documentary featurettes on specific episodes or maybe the sixties era as a whole, and more commentaries but there isn't unlimited space available so what we get is mainly all the existing footage from lost stories. Alot of this I have already seen, but it's nice to watch again. "The Power of the Daleks" trailer was a bit of a dissapointment as it is incredibley brief and not what I expected at all, whereas the "Fury from the Deep" footage is the exact opposite, I never would have expected it to be so good. For me this was the best thing on the disc as you get to see alot more than I had anticipated and the Weed creature looks fantastic!. As for the commentaries, basically the Hartnell era ones are excellent with particular kudos to Julian Glover and Peter Purves for their sterling work, and the Troughton ones (with the exeption of "The Wheel in Space") are rather disposable. Finally the Missing years documentary remains excellent but I thought the 'update' could have been alot better, it's very short and "Day of Armageddon" isn't even mentioned.
All in all though this is a packed set of features and provides real value for money.

There is very little to complain about here, as this is meant to be a celebration of what we have lost, and this DVD fulfills that admirabley. As a representation of The Hartnell and Troughton era it is a perfect collection of episodes, backed up with a lot of great features. And my only complaints are purely personal.
This is an outstanding DVD, and worth getting for just for "Day of Armageddon", but thankfully there is alot more to enjoy here too, so do not be put off by the incomplete nature of the episodes, instead go and buy this as soon as you possibly can, as it is essential.

I disagree with what seems to be the general consensus from my fellow reviewers the this set is for fans only. Now I am a Doctor Who fanatic and have been for 40 years and such a release as this is of course tremendously exciting, although being a fan I have had the episodes presented on this disc for many years on VHS (Day of Armageddon excepting of course), the true joy for me was seeing the material in restored form and this gave the impression of almost seeing the episodes anew.

The statement that this is for fans only riled me, why should a good release like this be pidgeon-holed into a kind of cult status only fit for the supposed minority that are interested in such things, a potential buyer will be put off by comments stating that there is nothing for the casual viewer.
Casual veiwers are not stupid and this release can appeal to anyone, for instance those interested in archive material, people wanting a nostalgia trip, people that are interested in the various actors that appear in the episodes, members of the public that watch the new series and are interested in the different style of stories from the sixties, or just the fact that it can introduce new fans to fact that there were other Doctors before Eccleston and Tennant the list is endless. If the case for fans only is true then releases like The Andromeda Anthology, The Quatermass Collection and Adam Adamant Lives have no value in being released because the ammount of people buying them does not justify the expense of making the discs. The vast majority of people that buy this set will be fans but that does not mean that non fans cannot enjoy the material on offer.

The episodes themselves are a mixed batch as one would expect coming from a wide variety of stories, the picture and sound quality have been lovingly restored and make the viewing experience extremely pleasant.
The set was inspired by the discovery of Day of Armageddon, the second episode of The Daleks' Masterplan and fortunately is perhaps one of the best episodes in the set. The episodes on this set give the viewer the chance to see a glimpse of lesser known stories even amongst many fans, stories like The Faceless Ones were for many years as big a mystery to fans as to non fans and the flavour that these bits and pieces provide are very welcome indeed.

The release sees 18 episodes presented, 6 Hartnell, 12 Troughton and are spread over three discs and are a reminder to me of the dark days in the 70's and 80's when 90% of these instalments were lost and the subsequent joy at their rediscovery.
One of the episodes is entitled The Wheel of Fortune and is one of the greatest single episodes from the series. Period. This proves my point that prior knowledge of the previous episodes is not a requirement, The Wheel of Fortune is the third instalment of The Crusade and is so good that it can be viewed on it's own, the design and acting is world class for the time, the subject matter is more adult then anything seen in Doctor Who at that point and it is without a doubt William Hartnell's finest ever performance of the Doctor bar the very first episode, tell me now there is nothing to interest non fans. The rest of the episodes all range from OK to excellent, there is not a really bad instalment on the disc.

The extras on the other hand are for fans only, I cannot see a non fan sitting down and watching 8mm Film material of fragments of missing episodes of varying quality, but to a fan moments thought lost forever are pricelessly preserved in these little film clips. There is a documentary about the missing episodes that is actually of limited interest as it was seen on VHS and audio commentaries of selected episodes are included.
The episodes were selected carefully to give a good grounding for different types of story, The aforementioned The Wheel of Fortune and Day of Armageddon are wonderful commentaries featuring guest actor Julian Glover in the former who gives a lively and informative discussion moderated by Gary Russell, a first class commentary to a first class episode. Peter Purves, Kevin Stoney and Dalek designer Ray Cusick give another great debate on Day of Armageddon with Purves' presentation and interview skills evident throughout.
The Troughton episode commentaries are not so fortunate with the exception of The Wheel in Space part 6 by director Tristan de Vere Cole and producer Derrick Sherwin, now these two people are very rarely interviewed about Doctor Who and their points of view and comments are brand new and interesting with little known facts emerging that keeps the watcher interested, unfortunately the same cannot be said of The Evil of the Daleks 2, The Abominable Snowmen 2 and The Web of Fear 1 as they all feature a track by Deborah Watling who adds nothing of interest and just repeats stories and facts that she has been telling at conventions for years, even moderator Gary Russell struggles to prompt her memory or find something interesting to say and the saving grace for The Web of Fear part 1 is that Deborah Watling is joined by Derrick Sherwin who does have something interesting to reveal.

All in all this is a brilliant boxset of vintage Doctor Who that will appeal to anyone. Buy and enjoy.

Episodes

First Doctor
The Crusade 1 "The Lion" - 8/10 (Ian, Barbara and Vicki)
The Crusade 3 "The Wheel of Fortune" - 10/10
The Daleks' Master Plan 2 "Day of Armageddon" - 8/10 (Steven and Katarina)
The Daleks' Master Plan 5 "Counter Plot" - 8/10 (Steven and Sara)
The Daleks' Master Plan 10 "Escape Switch" - 7.5/10
The Celestial Toymaker 4 "The Final Test" - 7.5/10 (Steven and Dodo)

Second Doctor
The Underwater Menace 3 - 5/10 rubbish but entertaining (Ben, Polly and Jamie)
The Moonbase 2 - 7.25/10
The Moonbase 4 - 8.25/10
The Faceless Ones 1 - 7.5/10
The Faceless Ones 3 - 7.5/10 (Jamie)
The Evil of the Daleks 2 - 9/10 (Jamie and Victoria)
The Abominable Snowmen 2 - 8/10
The Enemy of the World 3 - 6/10
The Web of Fear 1 - 10/10
The Wheel in Space 3 - 7/10 (Jamie and Zoe)
The Wheel in Space 6 - 6/10
The Space Pirates 2 - 3/10

Audio versions of The Crusade episodes 2 and 4 and The Moonbase episodes 1 and 3 are included, but with no third party narration.

A good snapshot of Sixties Who - but not all the missing episodes were classics. However there is so much material available on this three disc set that there is bound to be much to enjoy for any fan interested in this period of the show. However people new to this era may not enjoy single episodes so much if they do not know the full story outlines - which are not included on this release.

The Crusade: Taken as a whole this is one of the best Hartnell stories although not in the same league as Marco Polo.
To view the William Russell missing episode links originally recorded for The Crusade / The Space Museum video release, you will need to select Play All.
Easter Egg disc 1: Place cursor on Play All, when the music changes from the Doctor Who theme click upwards so the Doctor Who logo is highlighted in green and press enter - you will get the clapperboard for The Wheel of Fortune.

The best Daleks' Master Plan episodes are probably episodes 4 and 12 (both not on this disc) but the surviving episodes are of a good standard.
Episode 2 is probably the most representive plot wise of the story, episode 5 is the best surviving episode in my opinion and includes a trip to a jungle on the planet Mira where the inhabitants are invisible (sound familiar? - Planet of the Daleks is set in the jungle on Spiridon, the inhabitants are invisible and the dead Thal leader was called Mira).
Episode 10 features the Meddling Monk and is a fun runaround. When the Meddling Monk escapes the Daleks in episode 10, note the squeaking sound as Mavic Chen is speaking (Peter Butterworth must have opened the door to the Tardis prop and was peeking out, waiting for the end of the scene).

Having heard the audio cd, the best Celestial Toymaker episode is probably the surviving part 4.

The Underwater Menace 3 is completely bonkers but fun and the most entertaining episode of the story.
Easter Egg disc 2 - place cursor on Play All, when the music changes from the Doctor Who theme click upwards so the Doctor Who logo is highlighted in green and press enter - you will get the Frazer Hines introduction for this story which was originally recorded for The Missing Years video.

The surviving Moonbase episodes are interesting and set the template for most of the following season five "base under siege" stories. See also the John Cura telesnaps on the BBC Doctor Who website.

The Faceless Ones bored me rigid on audio but by watching the surviving episodes, a lot of tension and atmosphere is added. This is a story that really needs to be watched not listened to.

The Evil of the Daleks 2 is one of the best episodes of the story along with the missing Evil of the Daleks 5 (not on this disc).

The Abominable Snowmen 2 is probably the best of the story as it is a developing episode. Watch out for the scene where Jamie and Victoria meet Travers on the mountain - Jamie's fringe changes halfway through the scene and then changes back again.

The Enemy of the World is one of the weakest stories of season five and the episode that survives is one of the worst of the story, though it does feature Griff the chef who provides light relief. Bill Kerr from the radio version of Hancock's Half Hour plays Giles Kent.

The Web of Fear episode 1 is an excellent opener for one of the best Troughton stories, the scenes in the underground being especially effective.

The Wheel in Space episodes 3 and 6 are representative of the last four episodes -the first two are rather dull and slow. The clip from The Evil of the Daleks at the end of the story is from the end of episode 1 not the beginning of episode 2.
Easter Egg disc 3 - at the end of the credits for The Wheel in Space 6 there is brief chatter from the commentary team.

The Space Pirates episode 2 is torture to watch - 25 minutes seem like 50 - the Tardis crew are barely in it. The rest of the story is even worse.

Apart from two short clips (one of them an extended version of the Dalek conveyor belt clip) from Power of the Daleks 4 on the Genesis of the Daleks dvd, every clip from a missing episode is present - see below:

Galaxy 4 - six minutes from episode 1 (at the end of the Missing Years documentary on disc 3 not with the other Hartnell clips on disc 1).

The original trailer for the Power of the Daleks (featuring a clip from episode 1) and surviving clips from episodes 4, 5 and 6.

The Web of Fear - one minute of clips from episodes 2,4 and 5.

Fury from the Deep - clips from episodes 1,2,4 and 5 including the chilling Oak and Quill clip from episode 2 and a reconstruction of a clip from episode 6 made up from discarded film trims.

The surviving clips from The Daleks' Master Plan 1,3,4, (a colourised verson of Kert Gantry played by Brian Cant being exterminated from Daleks' Master Plan episode 1 is on the Genesis of the Daleks dvd) The Smugglers 1,3,4, The Tenth Planet 4, The Highlanders 1, The Underwater Menace 1,2,4, The Macra Terror 2,3, The Abominable Snowmen 4 and The Wheel in Space 4,5.

All of the off-air Super 8 footage of the missing episodes are included - the most interesting being the regeneration and post regeneration scenes in The Tenth Planet 4 and The Power of the Daleks 1. Also features material from The Reign of Terror 4,5, Galaxy Four 1, The Myth Makers 1,2,4, The Savages 4, The Power of the Daleks 2, The Macra Terror 3 and The Faceless Ones 2.

There are colour cine-films showing the Doctor Who cast and production team on location from The Smugglers and The Abominable Snowmen.
A film of studio special effects from The Evil of the Daleks episode 7 (a cut down version is also available in the Missing Years documentary on disc 3 and on The Tomb of the Cybermen dvd).
Additionally there are film trims from Fury from the Deep episode 6 and The Space Pirates episode 1.

There is also the original Missing Years documentary from the Ice Warriors video release of 1998, narrated by Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling, plus a brief update regarding The Lion and Day of Armageddon finds.

There are commentaries for some episodes - the highlights being Peter Purves, Kevin Stoney and Ray Cusick on Day of Armageddon, Julian Glover on The Wheel of Fortune and Derrick Sherwin and Tristan De Ver Cole on The Wheel in Space 6.

Minor Gripes:

The Power of the Daleks clip "We are not ready yet to teach these humans the law of the Daleks" is from episode 5 not 4.

The Fury from the Deep clips for episode 4 are the wrong way round (the Doctor and Jamie have gone into the pipe to look for Van Lutyens).

The audio for two Power of the Daleks 5 clips on disc 2 is repeated - "Daleks conquer and destroy". The correct audio for the first clip is on the Missing Years documentary on disc 3.

The clips for Power of the Daleks 1 (Second Doctor, Ben and Polly in the Tardis) seem to be a few frames longer on the Missing Years documentary than on the Power clips from disc 2.

The first two clips from The Savages are from episode 3 not 4.

There are no on-screen production notes for any of the episodes.

But all in all an excellent effort has been made by the BBC restoration team in getting all this material together.