Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - U.N.I.T Files (Invasion of the Dinosaurs and the Android Invasion) [DVD]

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although a box set, as others have said, it is best to think of it as 2 different, but excellent stories (Terror of The Zygons would have made a much more satisfying second story if these were truly UNIT files).

Never mind though - for me Invasion of the Dinosaurs was a revelation, and is EVERYTHING that is best about Who - The Archetypal Doctor, heroic, cerebral, but very much a man of action. UNIT representing a 'higher good' that was above petty nationalism, a solid science-fiction plot, false flag terror and a shadow government whose plan is slowly uncovered by a fearless Sarah Jane. Was not expecting this to be so good after some negative reviews, but it blew my mind and is now quite possibly my favourite Dr Who story.

The Android Invasion is a different affair, but has some very effective moments that are genuinely unnerving in The Prisoner/Avengers mold. For a variety of reasons. I'd set aside any UNIT connection, but some great performances set against 'a quaint English Village' (Daemons, anyone?) tick the box for me.

Highly recommend!

Another box set containing two old Doctor Who stories on DVD with a somewhat tenuous linking connection.

Invasion of the Dinsoaurs runs for six parts and was the second story in Jon Pertwee's final season as the Doctor.

The Android Invasion runs for four parts and was the fourth story in Tom Baker's second year in the role.

Both feature appearances from U.N.I.T. Although they don't play much of a part in the Android Invasion.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs sees the Doctor and Sarah return from a trip to the past to present day [as it was then London] only to find the place evacuated of civilians and under marshal law as the military act to stop looters. The reason for the evacuation comes in the first cliffhanger. London has been invaded by Dinosaurs. The Doctor's investigations uncover radical science and fanatical humans, who are convinced they can save the human race. Whether people want it or not.

Best remembered for the very poor visual effects used for the Dinosaurs. But also quite a popular story because there's a lot of meat to it. Various social and political issues of the time are discussed in a thought provoking manner. And unlike many six parters, it never really drags.

The first episode only survived for many years in black and white, but now it has been colourised. This hasn't succeeded quite as well as with other recent colourisations, thus you can choose whether you want to watch it in black and white or colour. The latter isn't perfect but it's still perfectly watchable.

The Android Invasion sees the Fourth Doctor and Sarah find themselves in a seemingly deserted village. Where sinister figures in white spacesuits with deadly fingers lurk in the trees. When they meet the locals they find they're acting strangely. And alien eyes are watching....

Written by Dalek creator Terry Nation, but only his second story for the show not to feature his most famous creation, the story features excellent location work and creates a strange village setting in a manner not unlike an episode of the Avengers. There are good surprise moments on the way. But the aliens of the piece aren't quite as well realised as they could be. And it doesn't use U.N.I.T. as well as it could. This was the final appearance of Mister Benton and Harry Sullivan, but neither get a proper exit. And Nicholas Courtney wasn't available to return as the Brigadier thus he's replaced by a totally new character.

One key plot point remains unexplained, which may leave you wondering about something at the end.

It comes from a time in the show's run when the production team and all involved were at the top of their game though, and thus it's a very good story in a great era. It doesn't quite measure up to what surrounded it, but it's still very good nonetheless.

Both dvds have the following language and subtitle options:

Languages: English.

Subtitles: English.

And both are English audio captioned.

They have the usual:

Radio times listings as PDF files.

Production information subtitles [the Invasion of the Dinosaurs one giving one fact about about the show that you will not previouly have been aware of....]

A trailer for the next release in this dvd range.

And photo galleries of the production of both stories and stills from them.

Both have easter eggs. Which can be found by watching the discs on a computer and moving the pointer over the screen till a hidden logo lights up. On Invasion of the Dinosaurs this can be found on the main screen of disc two. It's a one minute long shot of a clapperboard. Several of the easter eggs in this range have been like this, but do watch this one and listen carefully to the sound for an interesting vocal exchange.

On Android Invasion it's on the special features screen, and is eight minutes of sound rushes from the location filming. Worth listening to if you want to hear Elisabeth Sladen say 'so the androids have taken over' several times in relatively quick succession.

Both stories have a commentary from various members of cast and crew. Dinosaurs also has an extra ten minutes of solo commentary on one part from John Levene, who played Sgt. Benton.

Other extras:

Dinosaurs has a thirty minute long [approx] making of feature, which considers the issues that the story raises, and is a very absorbing watch.

Doctor Who stories part one: Is thirteen minutes worth of an interview with Elisabeth Sladen [originally recorded for a 2003 documentary] about her time on the show. As with these usually it covers her stories and time with a short bit about each. And it's very good.

Billy Smart's circus: one minute worth of footage of Jon Pertwee appearing at the circus in car and character back in 1974.

Deleted scenes: six minutes of so of scenes cut from the story. Including the original opening to part one.

Now and then: thirteen minutes showing some of the London locations for the story as they were then and as they are now. Some have changed a fair bit.

The Android Invasion has:

A thirty minute long making of feature. Another very good and watchable one.

Life after Who; The show's producer of the time, Philip Hinchcliffe, interviewed about his work after he left the show. An excellent interviewee and an excellent interviewer produce a fascinating thirty minute journey through lots of tv that you may have forgotten but which should bring back many memories and demands for dvd releases. This is an excellent watch.

A one minute long 1977 advert for Weetabix, which was giving away Doctor Who material at the time.

Said material is on the dvd as a PDF file.

These are not the greatest stories ever, but they're both very good, and that makes for a very good box set.

"A variety of prehistoric reptiles began to appear in the general London area. There was, as you can imagine, considerable panic and some loss of life."

Best known to many as the one with the shonky dinosaurs, Invasion of the Dinosaurs is one of the most anarchically anti-establishment Doctor Who stories of them all, the dinosaurs that mysteriously appear and disappear in the streets of an evacuated London merely a smokescreen for an elaborate conspiracy involving time travel, genocide and a rather overzealous approach to ecological issues. The conspiracy may have the usual suspects - politicians, scientists and the army - but they appear to be a curious mixture of extreme left-wingers and right-wingers who want to save the planet from the human race by wiping them out and starting all over in a golden age.

At the time of the show's production in 1973, green matters were still an issue led more from the extreme right than the left, but despite being written by a former communist the show also takes plenty of swipes at the dogmatic nature of the far left, with their `reminder room' and determination to kill anyone they can't successfully re-educate. Indeed, even its deceived `idealists' whose `guidance' will prevent the New Earth from making the same mistakes as the old are a narrow minded lot who are ultimately more angry at being tricked than at the prospect of human history and the entire human race - with a few politically correct exceptions - being `painlessly' erased. Even more intriguingly, one regular and very sympathetic character in the series at the time is in on the plot and is so devoted to the cause that he'll happily be erased himself if it helps usher in the new golden age. It's all the more surprising considering how many of the Jon Pertwee stories were driven by ecological issues to see the show offer villains with a similar agenda and technology, albeit much more ruthless methods, to the Doctor himself. Few long-running shows have ever challenged their hero's assumptions in quite the same way even if the point is played down.

None of which makes the dinosaur puppets any more convincing even if they are the work of veteran 007 special effects man Cliff Culley, though thankfully they're used fairly sparingly, as is the Whomobile, Pertwee's short-lived space-age replacement for the much-loved vintage car Bessie that was introduced in this story. But the strengths outweigh the problems, from the decent performances (including a very amiable Noel Johnson, once a huge star himself as Dick Barton on radio) to its willingness to slyly subvert the show's own formula. There's a good extras package too: the obligatory group audio commentary, five deleted scenes, an extended 2003 interview with Elisabeth Sladen about her time o the show, a location comparison, a brief extract from Billy Smart's Circus featuring Pertwee and the Whomobile and a very good half hour documentary on the making of the show and its subversive undertones. There's also the option to see the opening episode in black and white or in a highly inconsistently colorized version (the other five episodes are all colour, but the first only survives in a poor black and white copy).

The Terry Nation-scripted The Android Invasion is a more conventional affair and, despite being packaged as part of a UNIT collection, has only the most superficial UNIT presence (the last brief appearances of Ian Levine's Sergeant Benton and Ian Marter's Harry Sullivan) as Tom Baker's Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith arrive in a mysteriously deserted English village near a space defence centre. Not that it's deserted for long, but there's definitely something wrong about the inhabitants and the place itself, with the few familiar faces they encounter ready to kill them without a second thought, though it's not the androids who are regimenting their behaviour who turn out to be the ones with invasion plans. It's a decent enough story even if it is one of the ones that doesn't do much more than fill a four week part of the schedule between more memorable stories (in this case sandwiched between the excellent Pyramids of Mars and the enjoyable gothic Brain of Morbius) in the show's strong thirteenth season.

UNIT is completely absent from the extras, too: the usual audio commentary, a half hour making of that focuses on Terry Nation's return to the series with a nod to the similarities between this story and his work on The Avengers (the show even features `Mother' himself, Patrick Newell), a half hour overview of producer Philip Hinchcliffe's prestigious non-Doctor Who television work, an Easter Egg of some location sound rushes and a tie-in Weetabix commercial.

These two stories don't really have much in common apart from perhaps they both take place in deserted settings and of course UNIT.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs seems to suffer from a lot of complaints about the dubious Dinosaurs and that's a great shame because this is a great story. It's very contemporary with the rise of concern about the environment and the images of a deserted London are wonderfully atmospheric. Yes the dinosaurs are lame (especially the T Rex who presumably was a reject from a Godzilla film) but it's hard to imagine how with its limited budget the show could have done better.

The Android Invasion as is pointed out elsewhere sits unloved between the classics Pyramids of Mars and Brain of Morbius and whilst it's a good adventure it's never going to compete with the two classics. It still has many strong points though not least of course Tom in his early years on the show not misbehaving and the great Liz Sladen at her ankle twisting and lame cliff falling best. Also of course its probably the last real UNIT adventure (do we class Seeds of Doom as a true UNIT story)

No true Who fan is going to be disappointed with these.

The first release of 2012 is the long-awaited UNIT Files boxed set, and whilst it would have been nice to have the ropey 70's Dino effects CGI'ed like the Day of the Daleks release late last year, it still manages to impress. First off, my main reason behind being so eager to get my hands on this box set is the recoloured episode one on the Invasion of the Dinosaurs serial. And whilst the restoration team in co-operation with the Colour Recovery Working Group have done an amazing job in trying to restore this classic episode, it does not feature the level of colour detail that the team has boasted in the past. Still, you can't take anything away from their efforts, the episode is still very much watchable, I just think that this story was rush released and should have been delayed in it's release so that more effort and time could be applied to obtaining a more satisfactory result on recolouring the print.

Now that I have got that off my chest, I would like to concentrate on the main attractions. The stories themselves. 1974's Invasion of the Dinosaurs is a very Pertwee styled serial. The effects might not be up to the standard of modern Who or Jurassic Park but hey, for 1974, they don't look too bad. I think the only reason that fans stress so much about the Dino's is because they feature so largely in the whole story, whereas the Loch Ness monster from "Terror of the Zygons" is equally appalling, but features for no more than 2 minutes on screen. This is common in Doctor Who, other examples of this are featured in the serials "The Silurians", "Colony in Space", "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" and "The Caves of Androzani". In my opinion though, I am not too bothered by Doctor Who's humorous visual effects and take them as part of the charm and overall appeal of the show.

Malcolm Hulke's script of Invasion of the Dinosaurs is definitely one of his strongest, in terms of political and ecological meddling. So strong is this under-lying theme that it nearly envelops the story and ruins it. The plot concerning some scientists that create a device that can transport ships filled with "chosen" human beings back millions of years to the age of the dinosaurs is ludicrous. What the hell were the humans going to do when they lived in a world that was dominated by 30-foot tall mouths on legs? Furthermore, the concept that General's, politicians and celebrities can be indoctrinated into fleeing the earth and traveling to a new planet far from our own is preposterous. I love Mac's writing and don't deny his imaginative ability but come on, this is the Jon Pertwee era, not the Tom Baker era, we are still in a mainly earth based storytelling format here.

Well, having viewed the story several times in the past and now in full colour, I can tell you that this story does succeed in entertaining the viewer and keeping things simple. The overall plot is nice and easy to follow, unlike the latest Moffat series that is and the acting is as ever sublime from Jon Pertwee and the regulars, with additional greatness coming from some of Doctor Who's past familiar faces. The story is well presented and is most definitely a success in terms of sheer entertainment. Highly recommended.

Terry Nation, at this point had his feet well and truly under the table when he submitted his script for Doctor Who's 13th season. 1975's The Android Invasion is a story that has never featured highly in fans opinions and for the life of me, I can't see why. The first time I grabbed hold of this tale was via the now defunct BBC Video and I can tell you that I fell in love with it straight away, for a number of reasons. Firstly, nearly the whole story is set in the village, and what a charming and heartwarming village it is. The story is almost entirely filmed, and as noted in previous reviews, Doctor Who should have been made on film from the start, film adds dramatic tension and a lot of moody atmosphere. You end up losing all this when you go into the studio. Furthermore, we would then be able to have all the classic series serials on 1080p Blu-Ray.

The whole story has a brilliantly simple but entertaining plot. And one which has been expertly written by Nation. For me, this is probably my second favourite serial from the 13th year. It truly boasts some of the best scenes Doctor Who ever shot and is one of the best stories for Tom Baker's Doctor and Liz Sladen's Sarah. The Kraals are well realised for the time, I know Philip Hinchcliffe was none-too-happy about their appearance but hey, they look quite remarkable for the time. Other positive aspects about this story are its cast, Milton John's as Guy Crayford is a fascinating character and one that I was slightly disappointed to find out dies. Ian Marter's Harry Sullivan puts in his last Doctor Who appearance as an android and as Harry. On top of this we have John Levene returning as the ever reliable SGT Benton. Everybody else throw in some great performances and enjoy the experience of working on the program.

The BBC DVD release boasts these two classic serials restored and remastered better than they ever looked before. The Doctor Who Restoration Team were on hand yet again cleaning up these stories for DVD. They could not look better. The bonus features on hand are interesting and informative, the making of features that accompany the stories are both enlightening, but more importantly, entertaining. Other features are less important but pivotal in completing the range of Doctor Who material available from BBC DVD. Highly recommended stuff. 10/10.

Many thanks for your time in reading this review, it's greatly appreciated.

M.B.

Unlike most of the other boxed sets - 'Beneath the Surface', 'Peladon Tales' etc - the link between these two DVDs is more tenuous. Yes, both stories feature U.N.I.T, but whilst they play a central role in the Jon Pertwee story, their contribution seems marginal, almost superfluous in 'The Android Invasion' (this is a pity, as the latter story effectively marked the end of the U.N.I.T years and it would've been nice to see them go with a bang rather than a whimper).

The one thing that both stories have in common is that they have been unjustly underrated.

'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' has been berated for its ropey special effects and whilst it's no 'Jurassic Park', I've seen worse. It's a shame that this issue has been allowed to obscure the merits of what is, in many ways, a very effective story.

The story begins with the Doctor and his new assistant Sarah Jane Smith returning to present day Britain after their first encounter with the Sontarans, only to find that London is deserted. It transpires that the city has been plagued by dinosaurs and that the Government have evacuated the city, declaring martial law. The majority of Londoners have willingly left, but some looters remain and the army have the authority to shoot anyone on sight.

This is a very dark, dystopian tale with echoes of 'Inferno'. Like many stories from the Pertwee era, the Doctor finds himself up against corrupt politicians and mad scientists, but the atmosphere here is far more paranoid and even U.N.I.T no longer seems a completely safe haven. When the Doctor discovers that one of his most trusted associates has betrayed him, it comes as a real shock.

The dinosaurs are almost incidental. The real threat comes from human beings, whether they're trigger-happy soldiers, desperate looters or psychopathic scientists. Watching the story today, it's easy to see how the grim political and economic conditions in Britain during 1973 inspired this tale.

Like many six-parters, 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' flags a little in the middle, with too many captures, escapes and recaptures, but overall it is a very watchable story, crammed full of ideas, that gives a fascinating glimpse of British society during the Heath era.

'The Android Invasion', written by Terry Nation, is ultimately a disappointing story that never lives up to the promise of its exciting, fast-paced first episode, but it is still very enjoyable. The story begins with the fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane arriving at what appears to be an idyllic English village. Of course it isn't, and the counterpoint between this traditional setting and the growing sense of unease is reminiscent of 'The Avengers'.

Unlike many Doctor Who stories, where the illusion of rural tranquility would be gradually undermined during the course of the first episode, the action begins almost immediately. The result is gripping, but it is hard to sustain that level of tension for four whole episodes and the story loses its momentum at times. Also, as Philip Hinchcliffe acknowledges in the special features documentary, the Kraals fail to impress.

Like 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs', the atmosphere becomes increasingly paranoid and the Doctor finds himself more and more isolated, unsure of who he can trust. Unlike the Pertwee story, the narrative hits a peak too early and the remaining episodes fail to fulfill the promise of the beginning.

I was also disappointed that a story which is effectively U.N.I.T's swansong (for many years, at least) doesn't really seem to know what to do with them. There are no goodbyes and after 'The Android Invasion', U.N.I.T just seem to vanish into thin air (two months later, when the Doctor is fighting to stop the Krynoids taking over 1970s Britain, he is assisted by the regular army and there is no mention of U.N.I.T).

However, for all its faults, 'The Android Invasion' is still highly enjoyable. The chemistry between Tom Baker's Doctor and Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane works really well and I also enjoyed the novelty (for those days, at least) of seeing a story shot during the summer, in the beautiful village of East Hagbourne.

In the past, 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' has been derided whilst 'The Android Invasion' has been largely ignored. Neither story deserves derision or neglect and I welcome the opportunity to watch them again.

The special features are up to their usual high standard. Disc 2 of the 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' includes a first-rate documentary which reassesses the merits of this story and addresses the problem of the "dodgy dinosaurs". However, my favourite was the first of a two-part interview with Elisabeth Sladen, in which she candidly discusses her working relationship with Jon Pertwee and his reluctant departure from the show. She also mentions a moment when she and Tom Baker sneaked off to spy on a rehearsal for 'The Brothers'. Watching the actors, Baker turned to her and said "Look. All they can do is lift a glass of whisky and put it down. We get to save the universe!"

The special features of 'The Android Invasion' include another excellent documentary, filmed in original locations, plus a very touching interview with Philip Hinchcliffe by his daughter Celina, which looks at his career after Doctor Who. Although Hinchcliffe diplomatically describes Doctor Who as the highlight of his career, this interview reminds us that his CV also includes Shoestring, The Charmer, Private Schultz and many other television highlights of the 80s and 90s.

PS - Thanks to the person who corrected me. The Seeds of Doom actually DOES feature U.N.I.T, but none of the regulars are like the Brigadier and Benton are present.

I don't know what's happening with Amazon prices on this item. When I bought it it was £17.99, now it's back up to £22.49. Anyway, what you get for your money is two stories, one; 'The Android Invasion' is in my opinion, a classic. True, the plot maybe doesn't stand up to close scrutiny, but it's got some good monsters in the Kraals, and Tom Baker is on top form. The androids themselves are also pretty cool, and the effects haven't dated badly at all.

The second story in the pack is Invasion of the Dinosaurs. I'd like to say that the special effects have dated badly in this story, but to be honest, I think they were of a pretty shoddy standard when it was made. The irony is that the actual plot isn't bad in it's own right, and has some interesting ideas (colonising spaceship) and the dinosaurs are not really required. They are really just the 'eye-candy' to give some visual impact to the story. And what a visual impact they make! Only not in a good way. Actually, they are so badly realised that they transfirm the whole story to something of a comedy. This isn't necessarily bad, my wife reckons this is one of the best stories ever, as it's great waiting to see what bad effect is going to crop up next.

The extras also refer to the bad dinosaurs quite a bit, and give some background to what happened.

All in all, this makes this release an important addition to any collection, demonstrating both the best and the worst of Dr Who, but for quite different reasons. Much better than some of the other recent box sets.

I'll start by stating that Tom Baker is my favourite Doctor and Invasion of the Dinosaurs one of my favourite Pertwee stories. Aside from the (tenuous) UNIT link, these stories also share an invasion of earth theme, but also are two very under-rated stories from the classic series.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs has been hung out to dry for years to display as exhibit A in the case to the general public that Doctor Who's special effects were actually not so special. Yes, this one does actually have wobbly sets, and the dinosaurs are as convincing as Rod Hull's emu, and as scary as Paw-Paw from multi-coloured swap shop. What is never dwelt on too much is that the dinosaurs only actually appear for fleeting moments in this story. The main elements which often go upraised are the excellent script; the atmospheric direction (particularly episode 1 depicting a deserted London) and superb acting. Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen and John Levene in particular really shine.

A group of fanatics wish to take the earth back to a "purer" age - free of industry and pollution. In order to do so, their plan involves taking the whole of planet earth back in time to around the age of the Dinosaurs. Groups of people are brainwashed and told they will travel in space to "new earth" - when in fact they will just be travelling back in time, not across space. In order to create a diversion, dinosaurs are sent forward in time to modern day London to cause an evacuation of government to Harrogate. The story is, as the extras reveal, as much of a satire on the smug, self-righteous preaching types sometimes found on the extreme Left, as it is on the dangers of over-industrialisation - the latter being a common theme throughout much of the Pertwee era. I can certainly see parallels with the current "global warming" debate. "You mustn't think like that" one colonist leader tells Sarah Jane. It is as relevant today as it was back in 1973.

The colour restoration for episode 1 is very good, considering the blurry B & W film available for episode one and the fact that the blue signal information (in the form of chromo dots) was missing for this restoration. The blue signal had to be guessed manually, so you will see in those shots where there is a blue reference object, such as the Police box, or Jon's blue velvet jacket- the picture suddenly improves. On those shots where there is no such blue reference material, the results are less impressive, best described as resembling earlier colour restorations of the 1990s where the colour looks "washed out" against a clearly underlying B & W picture. Not a criticism of the restoration, just pointing out they had very poor material to work with. You will enjoy it but don't expect to see colourisation reference material. I'm glad it's included though, and it will be my default viewing experience from now on (the option exists on the DVD to watch episode 1 in B & W or in colour).

The Android Invasion too is extremely atmospheric. Here we see under Philip Hinchcliffe the production has definitely moved up a gear since the Jon Pertwee story - 2 seasons earlier. The incidental music, direction, photography and acting from Tom and Liz are all first rate in this production. The only slight gaffe is the costume for the Kraals, which is not as effective as it could have been. Philip Hinchcliffe explains why in the making of feature. I've always liked this story for its setting - a replica village created in space - reminiscent of the 1979 TV-series The Martian Chronicles. The picturesque village of East Hagbourne (Devesham in the story), which as in the other story, seems deserted, forms the backdrop to this story. Other creepy elements which give the game away are all the coins the Doctor discovers being freshly minted and dated the same year, and the calendar in the pub only having the date of 6th July on its calendar. The 'locals' all behave strangely, once they appear (literally by the truckload!) and this makes the premise for a particularly eerie story. The only complaint is that as far as UNIT is concerned, the Brigadier is missing (in Geneva in the story) and Sergeant Benton doesn't end the series with a bang- more a whimper.

The extras are superb for this set, with excellent "making of" features for both stories. For Invasion of the Dinosaurs we do get to hear (via archive footage) from Jon Pertwee himself - about the Whomobile - a car he had commissioned himself for the series, only to appear in two stories (this and Planet of the Spiders). For the Android Invasion, Nick Briggs (currently the voice of the Daleks in the new series) takes us back to the village of East Hagbourne and visits the pub - complete with -real!- locals, who were present as children, when this story was filmed back in 1975. It is very nostalgic, and reminds us how popular and iconic this series was back in its 1970s heyday.

Full extras:

- People, Power and Puppetry - cast and crew look back on making of Invasion of the Dinosaurs
- Doctor Who Stories: Elisabeth Sladen Part 1 - interviewed in 2003
- Billy Smart's Circus - Jon Pertwee arrives at a circus in the Whomobile!
- Now & Then - featuring the extensive London locations from 1973 and how they appear today
- alternate colourised episode 1
- Commentary with Richard Franklin (Yates), Peter Miles (Whitaker), Terence Wilton (Mark), Richard Morris (Designer), Terrance Dicks (Script Editor) and Paddy Russell (Director)

- The Village That Came to Life- cast and crew and local residents look back on The Android Invasion, presented by Nicholas Briggs
- Life After Who - Philip Hinchcliffe. His daughter examines Philip's career post Doctor Who.
-Weetabix ad
- Commentary with Milton Johns (Crayford), Martin Friend (Styggron), Marion McDougal (Production Assistant) and Philip Hinchcliffe (Producer), moderated by Toby Hadoke

Two very atmospheric stories, tragically under-rated. Reconsider and enjoy some of Who's forgotten treasures.

Purchased for 'Invasion of the dinosaurs', the only Jon Pertwee story I'd never seen until now. Although its reputation preceded it, the story was much better than I expected - only let down by poorly realised dinosaurs, the tyranosaurus rex being the worst (and most used, unfortunately!) But even so, I really enjoyed it anyway.
At six episodes I thought the story might have dragged a bit but seeing the Doctor working with UNIT, led by the brigadier, played by Nicholas Courtney, was surprisingly entertaining - a must buy for fans of Jon Pertwee, the third Doctor.

(I haven't watched The android invasion yet!)

Have just finished watching both DVD's. Received last Friday. Really enjoyed them both! I am a Dr Who Fan of the first 7 Doctors anyway, so this added to my collection! Subtitles were a bonus! At the moment, I am trying to replace my Dr Who collection from VHS to DVD!

Thanks!