Review of Doctor Who: The Caves of Androzani

Introduction

The Caves of Androzani was a turning point in the history of Doctor Who for many reasons. Firstly, it marked the end of the Peter Davison era. He had played the Doctor for three years, and decided it was time for a change, recalling some advice from Patrick Troughton - "stay for three years". This season of the show also saw a shake-up in the companions, with Tegan (who joined the Doctor in Tom Baker`s final story Logopolis) leaving two stories previously, and Turlough leaving in the previous story. It also marked the solo debut of new companion Peri, who joined in the previous story Planet of Fire.

Many fans would argue that it also signalled the beginning of the end for the show, and it`s certainly fair to say that no story that followed ever bettered The Caves of Androzani, one of Robert Holmes` best pieces of Doctor Who writing. This story appears in the "top ten" lists of most fans, often in one of the top three positions.

Video

This story is getting on for being 20 years old, so you might be forgiven for thinking that it will look like a 20 year old television programme. And, as with the other Doctor Who DVDs, it some ways it does - mostly due to some of the costumes, props (a clunky 1983 TV remote control doubling as advanced technology), aliens (the highly unconvincing magma beast) and a few of the special effects.

The video quality itself though is stunning given the age of the story, and is yet another fine piece of work by the Doctor Who Restoration Team. As with the other Doctor Who DVDs, it probably looks better now than it did when first broadcast.

There has been a lot of discussion about one of the early scenes of the first episode. Director Graeme Harper was unhappy with the way a matte effect looked (it was rather wobbly) and asked the Restoration team to fix this effect. It was duly fixed, and looks much better, and I consider this to be a good thing. Many people were up in arms about this, accusing the team of "tampering with history". I disagree, and think that the decision to fix it was correct. If you`re that bothered you can watch the original version included in the extras section of the DVD. Some of you might be able to select it using the angle button on your DVD player.

Audio

A DD2.0 track is presented here, though it is just a mono track played through both channels. Like the picture, the soundtrack has been cleaned up and sounds as good as can be expected.

Once again there`s an isolated music score which allows you to listen purely for the incidental and other music. Roger Limb`s score definitely adds something to this story, and whilst it sounds a bit 1980s, it`s not aged too badly.

Features

Another quality release, positively overflowing with extras.

I`ll start with my favourite first, and that`s definitely the audio commentary. Featuring Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant (Peri) and director Graeme Harper (who went on to direct various other shows including The New Statesman), this is by far the best Doctor Who commentary track yet. It`s insightful and full of background information and stories from the production. But most of all, it`s funny. Very funny. They sit and point out things that you missed on screen, laugh at themselves and at some of the effects, and Graeme Harper starts pointing out all of the shots that he`d like to do differently. They even start talking about John Woo, Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg. Definitely one of the most enjoyable commentary tracks that I`ve had the pleasure of listening to. The commentary track is subtitled too.

As with previous releases, there`s another commentary track which is the subtitle commentary option, which brings up production notes at various points in each episode. Plenty of useful information is contained here, with some repetition from the audio commentary track. Lots of interesting insights, like other actors considered for various roles (Mick Jagger and David Bowie!), story differences in earlier drafts and other bits of trivia.

And there`s plenty more to come. A featurette on the regeneration sequence, featuring unseen footage from the final studio session. This also features a director`s commentary. A second featurette entitled `Creating Sharaz Jek` features more unseen footage and an audio interview with the late Christopher Gable, who played Jek. Short but excellent.

We`re not finished yet. You can watch the original version of episode one, complete with wobbly effects shot. You can watch clips from the One O`Clock News and the Nine O`Clock News, as they broke the news of Davison`s departure. Back in the good old days, Doctor Who was headline news! Watch out for some nice newsreader fashion and particularly Michael "this is a harrowing story of a man and falling tree branch" Buerk`s tie.

And there`s more news footage from "South East At Six", which older readers from that region may remember. Look for producer John Nathan-Turner resembling a badly dressed Rory McGrath, some very unprobing questions, and also a young Sue Cook.

Have we finished yet? No, still more extras, including the rather poor BBC 1 trailer for the story, a deleted scene and a reasonable photo gallery.

Conclusion

An excellent Doctor Who story on an exemplary DVD. Picture and sound are as good as can be hoped for, and the quality and quantity of extras for a 20 year old story is outstanding. This is by far the best Doctor Who DVD released so far, being one of the best Doctor Who stories ever written, and having the best extras.

Fans will be snapping this one up as soon as possible, and more casual viewers can rest assured that this is a very good story backed up by some brilliant extras.

Very highly recommended. I don`t give out 10s very often, but it`s definitely justified this time.