Cheap Doctor Who - The Five Doctors (DVD) (Peter Moffatt, Pennant Roberts, John Nathan-Turner) Price

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Customer Reviews of Doctor Who - The Five Doctors

I must find my other selves...
A classic celebration story involving the first five actors to play the legendary Doctor but this DVD is indeed a "Special Edition" and not the version originally televised. For example, the special effect of the mysterious Black Triangle that abducts the timelords from their respective time streams has been updated with a new CGI morphing effect. Also, when Tom Baker is returned at the end the scene has been changed. Instead of the Doctor and Romana seen happily rushing back to the Tardis in the broadcast version, we now see a recycled shot of the Doctor once again punting the yact as the new ghostly whirlwind effect flies off. This is perhaps the most disappointing change, as I would rather have seen the aforementioned cut shot from the unaired "Shada" episode which fitted in perfectly with the story. Also at the end, instead of the 3 Tardis' splitting up in different directions, the new whirlwind effect is used to show the Doctors dematerializing from the Tardis. While I love the new 5.1 Dolby sound mix and the inclusion of the isolated music soundtrack, I am ambivalent to the new alterations. Being a purist, I would rather have the original broadcast version intact. Granted the visual effects at the time were of poor quality but part of the production cheeziness is what Doctor Who is all about. The Peter Davison, Terrance Dicks commentary track makes reference to these changes specifically for the DVD version.

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A classic episode even without Tom Baker!
I grew up watching Doctor Who on PBS as a kid in the 80's. The special effects weren't too special even back then but somehow it makes you love the show that much more. The writing on this series is so creative and strong that it more than compensates. This is one of my favorite episodes (the Raston Warrior Robot alone is super-cool). Too bad Tom Baker couldn't see his way clear to join the cast, but the episode is still stellar even without him. Many of your old favorite assistants and villains are incorporated as well. How do Daleks negotiate the rocky terrain of the Death Zone? Who cares! Richard Hurndall is terrific in William Hartnell's stead as the first Doctor. Anthony Ainley's portrayal of the Master is excellent as well. I'm a Roger Delgado man myself, but that's nit-picking. A great plot and (most of) your favorite Doctors, Friends, Enemies, and some of the best music of the series. The biggest regret I have is no Tom Baker. I'd have loved to see how his Doctor interacted with himselves. If you're a fan of the series, you can't go wrong with this one. I'll be pre-ordering this for my DVD collection, thank you very much.

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BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL VERSION!
"The Five Doctors" was released on November 25, 1983 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of "Doctor Who." The acting is top-notch, and the storytelling is remarkable.

Where the 90 Minute program fails is that the editing is off. You could tell that some scenes were cut right in the middle of them, going quickly from one to the other.

However, this DVD presents the 102-Minute Special Edition version of "The Five Doctors." New scenes have been added, and older ones extended, to make the program run more smoothly. The new visual effects are better than the old effects, but they still have the "bad taste" feel that was a vital part of the program.

Overall, "The Five Doctors - Special Edition" is far better than the version that was originally aired. Fans of the program will not want to miss this in their collections. Program/DVD Grade: A+