Doctor Who - Silver Nemesis (The Extended Version) [1988] [VHS] [1963]

Why moan about plot, poor scripts, etc. Silver Nemesis is pure comic book adventure. The Doctor and Ace are a great double act, neither of them worried about getting dirty or wet when diving for cover during the battle scenes. OK, the battle scenes in Silver Nemesis may not be on the scale of a Hollywood blockbuster, but remember, it was only a three episode BBC TV programme with a limited budget. Besides, who wants to see blood and guts all over the screen, AND it was also pre-watershed family viewing.
The Cybermen may not have been as menacing as in Earthshock, but if you recall, one of the Cybermen was killed by using Adric's gold star, so why shouldn't Ace be able to kill them with gold coins and a catapult!
I grew up watching Dr Who, I still remember watching the very first episode as a boy, and Silver Nemesis is good old-fashioned Dr Who fair at its best.
Did one reviewer get mixed up? The episode where the Doctor and Ace pay £5 for drinks was Battlefield.
When you watch Silver Nemesis listen out during the scene in the crypt where the German soldier knocks a Cyberman to the ground. I'm sure I heard the Cyberman say 'OW' as he hit the floor!

It's a shame that Amazon's image for this is so poor - the box cover is green and silver and looks really cool.
I totally agree with BlindBadger on this one; it's an anniversary story and therefore should have as much packed in as possible - plot's not overly important in Doctor Who folks so it's no good us fans getting our knickers in a twist about it! What's important is colourful scintillating entertainment - and this VHS provides that in bucketfuls. With guest stars of the calibre of the (apparently very difficult to work with) Anton Diffring, as a Nazi war criminal, and Gerard Murphy as a man literally out of time, this is a top-notch adventure. Ok, I know the series was supposed to be fun AND educational, but surely we can forgive the production team here; at least it's fun!

Great making-of too; but Gary Downie really ought to have been censored for that terrible shirt!

I first saw Silver Nemesis at the age of seven. The story didn't make much sense then, but at that age, all my playground cronies and I wanted from Doctor Who was action, stunts and explosions, which luckily Silver Nemesis did provide.
I bought the VHS tape about Eleven years ago for nostalgia, and after casting a critical media student eye over it, I have to agree with the umpteen reviews I have read about this episode. It certainly is the weakest of the 25th anniversary season, and one of the overall weakest of Sylvester McCoy's run as the Doctor. The story is garbled and incoherent, there are plotholes and inconsistencies aplenty, and the endscene is a virtual rip off of that of Remembrance of the Daleks, the far superior season 25 opener.
The overall production of Silver Nemesis was lacklusture. By this time Doctor Who's popularity was at virtual rock bottom and, other than us die hard fans, was simply not engaging the younger audience. It suffered from a low production budget and very poor writing. By his own admission, producer John Nathan Turner had at this point had enough of DW (you can see his blatantly defeated outlook on the Special Edition interviews).
JNT did stick it out for the final season the following year, but despite the sudden upturn through the brilliant writing and conceptual design involved in the episodes Ghost Light and The Curse of Fenric, Doctor Who had had its day (for a while anyway!).
On the positive side, we do get a glimpse into Gallifreyan lore, coupled with more thematic references to the mysterious side of this very dark Doctor. Is the Doctor far older than we know? What is his relationship with Omega, Rassilon and the 'dark times'? What are his secrets? These themes were referenced beautifully in the novelisations of the final two series, as well as the Virgin 'New Adventures' book series.
In several scenes we follow the Doctor duelling with an unseen chess opponent in his visits to Lady Peinforte's 17th century home. This opponent is revealed in the following season to be Fenric,the malevolent intelligence whom the Doctor trapped in the shadow dimensions after stumping him with a chess puzzle, which is eventually resolved in the climax of the Curse of Fenric. Although this could be described as the progenitor of the modern series' use of episodic continuity buildup and climax, it is very crudely executed; after a gap of twelve months, could any young fan remember the Doctor playing a game of chess in a study? Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred do their best given the poor direction and script, something which even the inclusion of veteran actor Anton Diffring as the Nazi leader De Flores could not help to alleviate.
Enjoy this one as part of the 25 year celebration series (the cybermen and the Validium statue fronting this silver anniversary as something of a gimmick), but be prepared for a bit of a cringe-worthy performance overall.