Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death [DVD] [1963]

"The Seeds of Death" is the second Doctor Who adventure to feature the popular Ice Warriors. Broadcast six months before the first manned moon landing, here the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and companions Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) beat Neil Armstrong and co in boarding a rocket to the moon, where they face the icy Martian invaders who have taken over Earth's T-Mat teleportation system in prelude to a full-scale invasion. The plot encompasses weather control, rising global disaster as food shortages sweep the world's cities, and--remarkably--a fungus which can remove oxygen from the atmosphere but which is destroyed by water.

Writer Brian Hayles might flunk Science 101 but he still tells an entertaining yarn filled with typical Whovian moments of danger and derring-do. The effects are prehistoric, but the Ice Warrior costumes prove a triumph of ingenuity over budget, and the central premise of a world-wide teleportation network is imaginative enough. Hayles brought the Ice Warriors back in surprisingly different circumstances in the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who classic "The Curse of Peladon" (1972).

On the DVD: Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death is presented as a two disc set. Disc 1 offers the six-episode serial complete, with reasonable mono sound and sharp, clear black-and-white images. That the programme was shot on film rather than video helps the picture quality enormously. Extras are on-screen trivia subtitles offering behind the scenes information, and a so-so commentary track with Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Michael Ferguson and regular series writer Terrance Dicks. Disc 2 has a new 23-minute documentary, focusing mainly on the Ice Warriors and the actors who played them. This is absorbing stuff for serious Who-fans, but may leave others cold. The Last Dalek is ten minutes of 8mm b/w footage on the making of the lost story "The Evil of the Daleks" (1967), and is again of interest to serious fans. Also included is a brief montage of material censored by New Zealand from now lost episodes, a photo gallery and Tardis Cam No.5, a very short new animation. There are optional English subtitles. --Gary S Dalkin

Commentary by actors Wendy Padbury, Frazer Hines, director Michael Ferguson, script-editor Terrance Dicks

Easter Egg

New Zealand Censor Clips

The Last Dalek TARDIS-Cam no.6

Sssowing the Ssseedsss documentary.

Starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

The TARDIS brings the time travellers to earth in the 21st Century, where they learn that human society is now reliant on T-Mat - a matter transmitting device that beams people and freight instantly to destinations all around the globe. The system, overseen by a Commander Radnor and his assistant Gia Kelly, is currently malfunctioning and the travellers agree to pilot an obsolete rocket, designed by an old-timer, Professor Daniel Eldred, to the Moon relay station to investigate. They find the place overrun by Ice Warriors, who are preparing for an invasion attempt. To weaken Earth's resistance, the Warriors are using the T-Mat to send Martian seed pods to selected points on the planet's surface. These emit a fungus that draws oxygen from the surrounding atmosphere, making it lethal to humans but ideal for the Martians themselves.