Doctor Who: Vengeance On Varos (UK)

Vengeance on Varos is, according to the insert in the DVD box, `a subtle (and sometimes not-too-subtle) commentary on the phenomenon that is television`. Ah right then, I just thought it was a rather bleak run-around in which characters are irredeamable cruel to each other. Certainly in as far as it is a commentary on "cruelty" television ("video nasties" as they were called back then), it would be generous to refer to it as `subtle`.

There are some good elements here though to discover - Nabil Shaban is simply gloriously evil and serpentine as Sil. The character is described on the commentary as being Thatcherite and whilst he lacks complexity, he is brilliantly brought to life. It is easy to see why the producer thought to bring the character back the following season. Martin Jarvis makes his third appearance in Doctor Who as the Governor and is similarly successful in his performance, showing the complexities of the character who is torn between electability and what he wants to do. Colin Baker is excellent here as the Doctor, even if the characterisation of this Sixth incarnation is more erratic and less likeable than his predecessors.

The society created by writer Philip Martin is certainly interesting. The concept of punishing politicians for coming up with unpopular policies is an intriguing one but there are problems. Much of the dialogue is hackish, particularly emphasised in the scenes featuring Jondar, Rondel and Areta - all of whom are stiltedly portrayed by the actors. The story`s design is also poor - once again we`re treated to Nazi-ish uniform and the sets look just like the plywood backs they are. Again we get lots of repetitive corridors (easy to disguise as new corridors) and the high speed chase is made quite ridiculous by it taking place on golf carts (that barely go faster than a running soldier).

As a story it`s one of the least-essential for a fan to own unless this era is a favourite but there is a good package of extras here to sink your teeth into. There is a feature commentary by Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nichola Bryant (Peri) and Nabil Shaban (Sil). Whilst many actors-only commentaries in the range have been ultimately disappointing, light affairs, the controversial nature of the story (the violent nature of it led to complaints and ultimately led to the change in feel over the following three years) means that the actors find themselves defending the violent aspects of the story. Furthermore, actor Shaban obviously has a lot of love for the series and thus makes a most interesting commentator. All in all, one of the best of the early commentaries and hopefully Shaban will return for a future commentary on Mindwarp, his other story.

Sadly the text commentary fails part-way into the story (it just stops appearing) but the comments that don`t appear can be downloaded from the Restoration Team`s website (www.restoration-team.co.uk. There is an unpublicised production sound feature that is interesting, if unremarkable. This is the soundtrack recorded on the set without sound effects and incidental music.

There are two trailers which are interesting enough and nice to have, some deleted scenes which are not really missed but do add a little atmosphere and development (Peri admitting that she does not like the Doctor - which of course raises the question of why on Earth would she travel with him?). These deleted scenes last for a little over ten minutes between them so are really quite substantial.

There is some behind the scenes footage that shows the shooting of a scene and is illuminating as to the process of shooting and reshooting that takes place to create the take we see on the screen. Not essential but once again nice to have. As indeed are the two outtakes which are far from hilarious but do show what goes wrong during a shoot. The package is finished off by continuity announcements from the original screenings of the two episodes and a photo gallery from this story.

All-in-all it stands as a more-than-solid package for one of the poorer stories from the series` run. For the casual buyer, stay well clear - this is not Doctor Who at its best but the treatment given to it could justify the upgrade from VHS to DVD if you are a fan. The transfer itself is good in the brighter scenes but loses sharpness in some of the darker ones - a result of the filming on video tape and the treatment applied to scenes rather than the clean-up which is excellent. The soundtrack is mono but sounds really clean and clear continuing the excellent work of the Restoration Team. Just a shame it couldn`t have been applied to a stronger story.