Doctor Who - Survival [DVD] [1989] [1963]

The release of "Survival" on DVD is a chance for old fans to remind themselves, and new fans to learn, of both the best and the worst of the Seventh Doctor.

'The best' about this serial and this period is the story-telling. "The Cartmel masterplan" (as it's referred to in a bonus documentary), which involved making the Doctor's history and character more mysterious and adding a strong companion with an important story arc, really does have more in common with Russell T Davies' quite adult approach of 2005 than it does with the disparate and mostly nonsense stories of the Colin Baker era. When he's not clowning around McCoy's brooding paternal Doctor is one of the best. This serious approach is a chance for the Master to return to his menacing, scheming best.

'The worst' is the production values. Some of the cats look awful, and some of the supporting cast can't really act. As the bonus documentary "Endgame" explains in detail, the production was under serious threat and it appears as though some members of the production team have already given up. Watching the out-takes, none of them are especially funny- McCoy and Aldred are having a laugh and putting a brave face on what seems like a case of going-through-the-motions, as if they are waiting for cancellation.

Unfortunately "Survival" overall is not quite as good as the two preceding stories "Ghost Light" and "Curse Of Fenric", so if you're new to the McCoy era you should check those other two out first.

This is a two-disc set but with a bit more judicious editing of the bonus features, it could have fit onto one disc. Personally I find that the bonus features being added to most of these Who DVDs are a bit too slow, and involve various members of the production crew repeating the same statements too often. For example the bonus documentary "Endgame" is 45 minutes long, but it could easily be trimmed to less than half an hour without losing anything important.

Survival, for those who don't know, was the last transmitted new episode of Doctor Who for seven years, ending a Twenty-Six year run. Well... at least 'Who had ended on a good note.
McCoy's opening season was, truely, the worst season in the history of 'Who. The seconf McCoy season (though a HUGE improvement on the first) was still not perfect. By the time of the third season, Doctor Who was finally back on track with good quality stories, and a Doctor and companion that had finally understood their potential.
Survival represents why the last season was so good. It was a mix of a good Doctor, original companion and just good, solid stories. The concept of 'survival of the fittest' is very strong int this story and that just plays to the viewers good points.
After the 75 min story, we then have 190-odd minutes of extras. This is a two-disk release after all. The Cat-Flap feature is a good insite into the production and last days of 'Who. Then the documentaries of Endgame (which is BRILLIANT) and the Ace Documentary make this release all the beter.

This serial may only be three-parts, but it's still a bargain at the sheer amount of special features.

"Survival" just arrived in Saturday's mail and got a chance to watch quite a lot of it.

Knowing the novelization from Rona Munro is the definitive edition, and how the TV version had to be produced without the gory elements, the fact this story was palatable back then and still manages to retain much of what works for it is stellar enough. Then add another great 5.1 audio remix...

Now add in the extras and documentaries, and this becomes an absolute must-buy. The best documentary of the bunch, "Endgame", has a lot of input from various production, cast, and senior BBC officials as to why the show was canceled and what the future would have been. And if you thought "Eastenders" was a soap opera, you ain't seen nothin' yet. This stuff is great.

As is the piece on Ace's development throughout the 7th Doctor's tenure.

While future releases ('Robot' and 'Timelash'?!) seem a little bit bizarre, 'Survival' was a terrific choice for release, extras and all.