Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19484 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-07-20
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 98 minutes

DVD Description
London, 1963, and the Doctor returns to Coal Hill School with his new companion Ace, where he has unfinished business. His oldest foes, the Daleks, are on the trail of Time Lord technology – an artefact the Doctor himself left behind on Earth. Enlisting the assistance of the local military, the Doctor must protect the Gallifrey an secret of time travel as two opposing Dalek factions meet in an explosive confrontation, with the fate of the entire Universe at stake!

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

• Commentary by Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor)and Sophie Aldred (Ace)
• Back to School - Cast and crew talk about the making of the story, accompanied by rare behind-the-scenes material. Featuring Simon Williams (Gilmore), Karen Gledhill (Alison),writer Ben Aaronovitch, script editor Andrew Cartmel and director Andrew Morgan
• Remembrances - Cast and crew discuss the influences and references to other Doctor Who adventures that are spread throughout the story
• Extended and Deleted Scenes - Unused scenes, introduced by Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred
• Outtakes - Bloopers and gaffes from the recording of the story
• Multi-Angle Sequences
• Digitally remastered picture and sound quality
• 5.1 Mix A new Dolby 5.1 surround mix, specially produced for this DVD
• Photo Gallery • Radio Times Billings(DVD-ROM PDFs - PC/Mac)
• Production Information Subtitles
• Trailers & Continuity & Isolated Music Track

Synopsis
In this 1988 installment of DOCTOR WHO, the seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) faces off against the ever-troublesome Daleks. However, things get even more complicated when opposing Dalek factions meet in an explosive battle.

Customer Reviews

A chunky reissue
So here it is, the third release of this story (while the other three stories of the 1988 season aren't even on the horizon...), which everyone else here is arguing about, possibly rightly.

This is a divisive story from a divisive period of Dr Who. Basically, you either love Sylvester McCoy or hate him; he started as a comedian who stuck ferrets down his trousers etc, and then, as the Doctor, was called upon to be dark and mysterious. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. This is his first story as the dark-and-mysterious Doctor, and it doesn't always sit comfortably. However there is plenty else going on; finally the series has abandoned the pantomime that blighted the previous series, and here we have a story of warring Dalek factions attempting to steal the uber-powerful "rrrremote stellar manipulator" from the Doctor - but why does he want them to have it? There is a good cast here (stunt casting of comedians is restricted to a minor character for once) and a complex plot which moves quickly enough to jump any plot holes. In one of Doctor Who's all-time cool moments, Ace beats up a Dalek with a baseball bat; another high point is the Doctor's philosophical musing about whether to have sugar in his tea. And lots of stuff gets blown up. I love it. Your mileage may vary.

Extras (2 hours)
Commentary track with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. ***
Production and trivia subtitles. ***
"Back To School" (36 min) documentary on the making of the serial. Informative and fun. ****
"Remembrances" (15 min) documentary on the many, many continuity references in the serial. Essential viewing for anyone new to Old Who, and good fun to watch. ****
"Davros Connections" (43 min) Interesting, if rather static, overview of Davros's life and portrayal, which draws on his appearances in the series up to Remembrance and also on the various audio plays about him (but not the novels). However, being a reissue from 2007, it drops the ball by failing to include any mention of Julian Bleach's portrayal from last year. ****
Photo gallery (8 min) (beefed up mightily from the original version) ***
Deleted scenes and outtakes (12 min and 4 min)(with linking narration) ***
Multi-angle sequences (2 min) (that actually work this time) ***
Trailers from the 1988 broadcast (5 min) (got me nostalgic for Joan Hickson's Miss Marple and anti-nostalgic for Colin's Sandwich)***
5.1 surround sound, a music-only option and a Radio Times article. ***

To sum up:
Definitely buy this if:
*You never had a copy before. It's a cracking story with over 90 minutes of interesting documentary material, including a very interesting 43-minute documentary on Davros which partly draws on the various audio releases.

Maybe buy this if:
*You have the original version of the disc but found it a let-down with all the general quality lapses and puny supporting extras. You're basically only paying for the extras.

Don't buy this if:
*You already have the Davros box set version. There's nothing new here.
*You can't stand Sylvester McCoy's Doctor. Obviously :)

I'll be keeping this and taking my old duff version to the charity shop.

'So much more than JUST another timelord'
There seems to be some confusion out there, and with such a classic story getting such low ratings, it seems time to sort everything out.

Remembrance of the Daleks is a superbly written, produced and performed parable of the pointlessness of racism - 'they can't stand the sight of each other's chromosomes', featuring a discussion on the effects of sugar(!). It pits rival Daleks against 1960s establishment, a 7th Doctor firing on all cylinders and a companion wielding not only a deadly baseball bat, but a loaded bazooka (Sarah Jane, eat your heart out)! The ending is a little odd, as the Doctor goes all Quatermass and talks the final baddie to death, but overall it works beautifully. Anyone who has yet to see it should go and watch it without further delay!

But why a re-release?
Well, anyone who goes to the restoration team's website and reads their article on the Davros boxset will see that as this was one of the first Who discs released, it lacked many of the technical advances the current discs benefit from. Add a boo-boo on the original re-build (missing effects in places) and a new version was obviously needed. The picture and sound have been cleaned up and are now far superior to the previous edition and there are a whole slew of new extras. Some of the team even worked for free to ensure fans got the release they deserved.

This solo release has come about in response to complaints from people who already owned most of the Davros Boxset singly, and were unhappy about buying them all over again just to get this disc. The discs appears to be identical (although could someone clarify why it's listing as a two-disc set, when it fitted fine on a single disc in the boxset?), it is simply 2|entertain's way of bringing this title into line with the others in the boxset.

So, if you have the Davros Boxset, this is simply a solo outing for what you have already and there's no reason to re-buy; however, if you only own the original Remembrance release, or don't own it AT ALL, buy it NOW and re-discover one of the only original series to give Genesis of the Daleks a run for its money!

UPDATE
The second disc is the original 'Davros Connections' disc from the Doctor Who : The Davros Collection (8 Disc BBC Box Set - 10,000 Numbered Limited Edition) [DVD], making the only difference between the boxset and individual releases the Big Finish audio collection. I suspect the documentary disc hasn't been updated to avoid upsetting boxset owners ;)

The memory cheats
I bought this shiny, all singing and dancing version recently and have not seen the story since transmission in 1988. 5* for the restoration, extras and 5.1 Surround soundtrack. As usual, the BBC's restoration team has done wonders with this DVD and their work cannot be faulted.

However, I was shocked with the story! I must confess I didn't have a good opinion of this story back in 1988, but was my opinion jaded by a cynical (then) teenager who thought Doctor Who was more than a bit naff and embarrassing? Well no, it isn't just that...

In terms of storyline, it goes for the heavy-handed morality of the Pertwee era but its own story logic is fundamentally flawed, as the Doctor himself commits genocide by setting up a trap to destroy Skaro.

The production values are awful and sometimes downright embarrassing. Film had been ditched for outdoor scenes back in 1986, and here the cheap video tape, combined with strong sunlight and poor direction really give this production the look and feel of a BBC Schools and Colleges programme. Then we have the shockingly bad incidental music from Keff McCulloch - completely inappropriate and detracts, rather than adds atmosphere. Whilst I'm not a fan of the synth sound for Doctor Who, in the hands of a better composer like Roger Limb (as for Revelation of the Daleks, Caves of Androzani) it adds suspense and tension to a scene. Here the music seems random, and completely unrelated to the emotions and tension of the scene in hand.

I find the two lead characters painful to watch. Neither Sylvester McCoy nor Sophie Aldred displays any acting ability at all. Sylvester McCoy comes across as very likeable and affable as a person, so I'm no "McCoy basher" but I do find his attempts at trying to convey anger on screen as downright embarrassing. Sophie too seems to struggle, especially with her "teenage angst". I find her doubly cringe worthy, as not only is she badly acted but the character ill-conceived. Who on earth did you know in the late 1980's that bore any resemblance to Ace? It was a patronising and woeful attempt at 1980's "street-wise" cred and fell well short of the mark.

The Daleks wobble around through this story as though they are drunk, and so their threat is diminished. They are also disabled far too easily (with a baseball bat!). They also revert to stereotype: shouting "exterminate" 100 times without actually doing it, allowing their prey to escape. In 1998 it also takes a Dalek over a minute to realise he can blast open a door closed in its face as well, apparently!

When Davros finally arrives, he looks ridiculous (his mask just looks a lump of latex that nobody could be bothered to treat) and he is no longer the menace he was: "Have pity on me" he squeals to the Doctor.

The story is supposed to be set in November but it looks as though it's high summer throughout. Worse still, the Doctor manages to destroy the last remaining Dalek through emotional blackmail (I thought Daleks had no emotions?)

The sad thing about this story is it had dated far more than earlier stories such as Genesis or Resurrection of the Daleks. If you are a 7th Doctor fan you will probably love it, but if I were new to classic Who I'd buy Genesis of the Daleks or Revelation of the Daleks and steer clear of this one.