Doctor Who: Resurrection Of The Daleks (UK)

Resurrection of the Daleks is one of the poorest Doctor Who stories released to date in Region 2. It`s clear what the makers were attempting to do. They wanted a Dalek story (understandable as the Daleks represented a huge ratings boost) and they wanted a story a bit like Earthshock in that the story should be a winding narrative full of surprises. To do this it was decided that the author of that previous story, script-editor Eric Saward, should write this one.

The story itself begins promisingly enough with a tense and atmospheric first episode, but soon things become confused and the lack of direction in the story becomes all too evident. There are recognisable faces everywhere (Lula Renska, Leslie Grantham are just two) but few of them turn in good performances. Furthermore, this story is guilty of the crime of being rather too violent. Lots of characters are killed and few we have any relationship with as viewers. This is redeemed to some extent by the tender final scene but ultimately the story feels seedy and directionless. There is little to admire here. Indeed, the Daleks themselves look poor, a bit battered about but most criminally of all they don`t move their heads at all, which whilst it`s a minor criticism has a huge impact on one scene where a companion is trying to hide.

But enough of the episode review - I can`t really be more specific with my criticisms without giving the game away to viewers who are new to this story. Instead, turning to the extras, we see a package that is really strong, far more so than the story itself deserves. As well as an excellent clean-up on the picture, the sound sounds particularly crisp and there is a wonderful 5.1 surround sound option. The way the theme tune bursts to life is stunning and really, really effective.

There is an audio commentary with the director, Matthew Robinson and stars Peter Davison (The Doctor) and Janet Fielding (Tegan). Robinson verges between charm and arrogance in his achievements but the whole thing has a certain good humour to it as they pick apart some of the weaker aspects of the story. Janet Fielding imparticular seems to be having a good time ripping into the story`s costuming. However the star of the commentary, as always, is Peter Davison who clearly had rewatched the story with a view to appearing on the track. As such he offers the most insight as well as providing some interesting and humourous anecdotes.

The highlight of the package was, for me, On Location - a discussion of the story by producer John Nathan-Turner (who sadly passed away shortly after recording this), Eric Saward (writer and script editor) and Matthew Robinson (director). Nathan-Turner`s interview was recorded separately and Saward and Robinson have their own interviews and then walk around the locations from the first episode together, reminiscing. This has charm and is really very well put-together with Saward confessing there are bits of the script that he would change now.

The coverage from BBC Breakfast Time is very light and focuses on the departure of a companion and the recording of incidental music. It is watchable but at the same time it feels very artificial. There is a trailer for the first episode (which actually was the first two episodes edited together, as they needed to make room in the schedule for coverage of the Winter Olympics), some extended and deleted scenes (with timeclocks), a TARDIS-Cam (put together for BBCi to show what could be achieved with today`s technology - these are model work and CGI and bound to be of little interest to the casual viewer) and the ever-excellent production note subtitles. There are also three easter eggs hidden here.

All in all, there are better releases out there and this really is for fans of the story or extras-junkies only. Remembrance of the Daleks is a better Dalek story than this although served with less-interesting extras and Dalek Invasion of Earth is a really stunning release. Unfortunately missable.