Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #466 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-08-10
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 295 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Three interlinked stories from the Peter Davison era of Doctor Who, the Black Guardian Trilogy brings together Mawdryn Undead, Terminus and Enlightenment, as the Doctor finds himself under threat from an old foe.

The enemy in question, of course, is the Black Guardian of the title, who first appeared at the end of the Tom Baker Key To Time season. Across the three stories of the Black Guardian Trilogy, he’s a constant background figure, instead introducing and recruiting Turlough to kill the Doctor on his behalf. The three stories introduce Turlough as a companion eventually, but also marks a farewell for Nysaa.

Each of the three stories has its merits, although Mawdryn Undead is hard to beat. It helps that it marks the return, after some time, of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart to Doctor Who, although by now we discover that he’s a maths teacher. Not for long, though, as he’s soon back into action, in a story that’s one the Peter Davison era’s finest.

Terminus and Enlightenment are less successful, but both are still interesting in their own right. The former sees the Tardis landing on a seemingly deserted and out-of-action space station, while the latter, intriguingly, is set against the backdrop of a big race through space.

The Black Guardian never really steps to the forefront across the three adventures, it should be noted, and at times his involvement does feel a little forced. But this is, nonetheless, a fine collection of stories, with one major standout among them. --Jon Foster

DVD Description
The third, fourth and fifth stories of the twentieth season were conceived by John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward as a trilogy reintroducing the Black Guardian.

Mawdryn Undead
The Black Guardian recruits a young man named Turlough to assassinate the Doctor. Although outwardly an ordinary pupil at a boys' private boarding school, Turlough is in fact an alien who believes that the Guardian will return him home if he succeeds.

Terminus
The TARDIS attaches itself to a space liner after Turlough, still under the Black Guardian's influence, damages its controls. The Doctor and Nyssa meet two space pirates, Kari and Olvir, who have come on board the liner in search of plunder, while Tegan and Turlough get lost in the infrastructure.

Enlightenment
The White Guardian warns of impending danger and directs the TARDIS to what appears to be an Edwardian sailing yacht, the SS Shadow, but is actually one of a number of spaceships taking part in a race through the solar system, the prize being Enlightenment.

Extras:
Commentary with cast and crew
Who Wants to Live Forever? - cast and crew look back at the making of the story.
Deleted and Extended Scenes
Out-takes
CGI Effects
Photo Gallery
Isolated Score - option to watch the story with the isolated music score.
Coming Soon trail for a forthcoming DVD release.
Easter Eggs
Programme Subtitles

Synopsis
Classic collection of 12 episodes, featuring Peter Davidson as the Doctor, that form the 'Black Guardian' trilogy. Includes 'Mawdryn Undead', 'Terminus' and 'Enlightenment. Plot involves the Black Guardian plotting to assassinate the Doctor by using a stranded alien posing as a pupil at a pubic school.

Customer Reviews

The Black Guardian Trilogy - The 5th Doctor's greatest hits!
This trilogy falls in the middle of Peter Davison's penultimate season as the Doctor. By now he has fully settled into the role and puts in a corker of a performance here.

The three stories here are a loose story arc linked by the involvement of the Black Guardian, portrayed by Valentine Dyall in villainous form, and his attempts to get the Doctor killed. As well as the welcome return of Dyall, these stories are notable for the return of the Brigadier and the introduction of Vislor Turlough, one of my favourite companions.

Davison's era was poorly served by his companions, I always found Adric and Tegan to be really annoying, and while Nyssa was a watchable and likeable character, the scriptwriters made her so bland she never really made an impression. Turlough, the wily, untrustworthy sneak, was just right. Character flaws aplenty so he made an impression, but still likeable. And never better than here, struggleing with some rather large moral problems.

Mawdryn Undead is a decent bit of hard-core Sci Fi. There are several story strands which come together nicely into one complete whole. First there's the Black Guardian's scheme to coerce seeming schoolboy Turlough into killing the Doctor. There's the reintroduction of the Brigadier from two time periods (the older and younger Brig both played to perfection by the ever dependable Nicholas Courtney) running around and who must never meet. Then there's the story of the attempts of Mawdryn (played by David Collings, another star turn as one of Who's more sympathetic aliens) to finally find release, which may well cost the Doctor all his lives. There's a lot going on here, but some excellent script writing, attention to detail (time paradox plots are often full of holes, but not here!) and the very welcome return of the Brigadier makes this Who of the highest quality.

Terminus is a slightly patchier affair. The Black Guardian persuades Turlough to sabotage the Tardis, just before she breaks up she docks with a seemingly deserted ship. The Tardis crew get split up and we follow their various adventures as the ship docks at Terminus, the centre of the known universe, where the leprous like Lazars who have been concealed on the ship have come to find a cure. There are some good ideas on show here, especially the Vanir, who resemble Vikings, and the explanation for the origin of the Big Bang. However, the scripts aren't quite strong enough, and some of the special effects (the Garm must surely be the silliest Who monster of all time) let it down a little. This series will forever be remembered as the one where Nyssa starts taking her clothes off for no good reason, and where she leaves the Tardis crew. 4 stars for this story.

Enlightenment is a return to form. After a warning from the White Guardian, The Tardis crew land on what appears to be an Edwardian racing yacht. Not all is as it seems however... It's really a space yacht, involved in a race, the first prize of which is enlightenment. In this series Turlough really comes into his own. AS Nyssa has left he manages to get a fair chunk of screen time. He and the Doctor really work well together for the first time, especially in the scenes where Turlough is turning coats. There are some excellent guest actors here - as well as Valentine Dyall there is Lynda Baron as a wonderful Buccaneer captain, a part she attacks with some relish. Keith Barron, as the Edwardian captain, has some particularly good scenes. Lots of twists and turns here, leading to a satisfying conclusion where Turlough and the Doctor face the Black Guardian, and Turlough has to make a decision.

The DVD's are the usual excellent quality from 2Entertain. The picture is a decent quality, nicely restored. There is a wealth of extras on all the discs, and Enlightenment is a 2 disc special edition, with a 75 minute edit of the series with new CGI's and 5.1 surround sound on the second disc.

A great package, the best of the Davison years, with some great scenes from one of the best ever companions. Definitely one to get.

What to expect
Featuring the stories that saw the 1983 return of The nefarious Black Guardian to Doctor Who; this box set sees The Fifth Doctor, as played by Peter Davison, take on board a new companion; and one who is hiding something from the Time Lord.

Something of a celebration for the 20th anniversary season of the time travelling series; the set kicks off with `Mawdryn Undead', a story which introduces laconic alien schoolboy Turlough, played by Mark Strickson - who is clearly in his twenties even at this point but never mind - and also sees the welcome return of The Doctor's old UNIT friend Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge Stewart, now retired from the army and working as a Maths teacher at a private boys' school. Nick Courtney is as superb as ever as the gruff old soldier with a heart of gold. Valentine Dyall is well cast as the eponymous `super villain'; one half of a cosmic pairing that keep order and balance and who were last seen in 1978's Key to Time season, where the Black Guardian was thwarted by Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. Dyall's sonorous tones and brooding presence are somewhat undermined by what appears to be a dead crow as a headpiece, but he still makes a menacing and potent threat for The Doctor and his travelling companions Nyssa and Tegan. Sarah Sutton's Nyssa, by this point nearing the end of her tenure on the show, seems to be getting more like a stereotypical female Doctor Who companion - all short skirts, thigh-length boots and a tendency to scream when danger rears its head. Tegan is her usual stroppy self, and by this point is also becoming pretty tiresome and less involved in the storylines.
It's easy to carp about this story and wonder why on Earth the Black Guardian pops up to attack The Doctor at this point in time; although the show's continuity could no doubt explain it away. That minor quibble aside, this story's show, like 1989's `Battlefield', is resoundingly stolen by Nick Courtney's Brigadier; in fact he's twice the value as the rather convoluted plot features two versions of the old soldier, who must on no account ever meet!

DVD extras for this story are: `Who wants to live forever?', `Liberty Hall', a series of Deleted and extended scenes, continuity announcements, Out-takes, Film trims, the obligatory Photo gallery, and 2 Easter eggs.

Second up is Terminus; in this story The sabotaged TARDIS has to make an emergency landing on a ship that docks with a derelict space station at the centre of the known universe. However, it turns out that the station is not as derelict as it appears. It is Terminus, the last stop and receiving point of the ship's cargo of lepers. And as the saying goes, nobody returns from Terminus...

Under the Black Guardian's control, new TARDIS companion Turlough has sabotaged the ship and the crew find themselves about to become victims of the second `big bang'. The frankly bizarre `Garm', a dog-like biped who is a slave of The Vanir; an ancient warrior caste who control events on the space station. Mute, hairy, and with glowing red eyes; the Garm is unfortunately up there with The Myrka and The Taran Wood Beast as the worst realized aliens in the programme's long history; the fact that he turns out to be benign almost makes things more laughable! Apart from that, this is another solid if unspectacular story; although for me it's the least watchable in the Black Guardian trilogy.

This serial is also memorable for showing Nyssa in her underwear; it's no wonder that she decides to stay on and help The Garm instead of continuing on in the TARDIS; how could she ever look Tegan in the eye again?
With The furious Black Guardian giving a cowering Turlough a final ultimatum - kill The Doctor or be destroyed - the scene is set for a the overgrown schoolboy to choke down his admiration and respect for the Time Lord and finally do the dirty deed.

DVD extras for `Terminus' are as follows: `Origins of the Universe', `Terminus - unused model shots', `Breaking Point', and 2 Easter eggs.

To round things off we have Enlightenment; a tale of a space race between the enigmatic Eternals, using Earthmen to steer their retro ships. We finally meet the Black Guardian's polar opposite, when the White Guardian appears in the TARDIS and warns the Doctor of great danger; the TARDIS crew find themselves on an Edwardian sailing ship in deep space participating in a race around the planets. The weasely Turlough finally has to decide whose side he is on; as the bored Eternals race to win the ultimate prize - Enlightenment. This last story is my favourite out of the three in this set; good fun, great costumes, Gladys Emmanuel as a feisty flame-haired pirate, and no issues with continuity or attempts to be self-referential; what more could you ask for?

DVD extras for `Enlightenment' are also the most impressive of the three and include a behind the scenes making-of, `Winner Takes All', `Casting Off', `Single Write Female', `The Story of the Guardians', storyboards, photo gallery, and 2 Easter eggs.

"In the name of all that is evil...!"
There is only one good reason to buy this set of 3 Davison stories from 1983 (unless you're a completist and have to have everything whether good, bad or indifferent) and that is the beautiful ENLIGHTENMENT special edition. I'd like to give a 5 star review on the strength of that alone, but since MAWDRYN UNDEAD is so muddled and TERMINUS so dreary I would have awarded a mere 2 stars otherwise. Therefore I'm compromising and giving 3 stars.

To be fair, Peter Davison and Janet Fielding give excellent performances and indeed there are a few actors worthy of praise throughout the 3 serials especially Nicholas Courtney, David Collings, Tony Caunter, Christopher Brown and Keith Barron. Davison shines given half a chance and there are some outstanding moments in ENLIGHTENMENT especially when he challenges Captainh Striker. Newcomer Mark Strickson is variable - most of the time he's a believably understated mix of deviousness and insecurity; however when allowed to play hysteria his performance can sometimes come uncomfortably close to silliness. Nevertheless on paper it must have looked like a great idea to have a companion aboard the TARDIS who has entered into a Faustian pact with the Black Guardian and is actively seeking to kill the Doctor. It's a shame the execution of this potentially dramatic situation is mostly so underwhelming although there is admittedly a slight frisson when Valentine Dyall appears at first. But by the time he's said "kill the Doctor or you die" 6 or 7 times and fails to make good on his word, any hint of menace is gone.

MAWDRYN UNDEAD is full of potentially good ideas but they are simply not thought through. The spaceship based on the legend of the Flying Dutchman is a great spooky concept. However Paddy Kingsland's incidental music is often inappropriate and silly, the sets are over-lit and unconvincing, the crew of the ship are po-faced mutants with absurd costumes and despite David Collings' best efforts to inject some tragedy into the character of Mawdryn the potentially creepy atmosphere is as glaringly absent as the Brigadier's memories of the Doctor. Speaking of whom it's always a pleasure to have the Brigadier in any story and Nicholas Courtney gives one of the best performances of his DOCTOR WHO career - even if the extras show an actor struggling to understand (or appreciate) the script. You can't really blame him as the plot is riddled with holes. For instance: we see the Brigadier regain his memory when the Doctor reminds him of his old UNIT colleagues. Would the Brigadier really not have had any contact with, or reminders of the likes of Sarah Jane for 6 years? It's also blatantly absurd to ask the audience to swallow that Tegan and Nyssa would believe that the burnt Mawdryn is the Doctor when they find him in the capsule. Did writer Peter Grimwade really believe that the under-budgeted resources of the BBC makeup department were enough to make David Collings that unrecognisable?

TERMINUS is a dull, monotonous affair. The first episode isn't bad with Turlough sabotaging the TARDIS and the crew separated and lost aboard an apparently deserted spacecraft. The early scenes are ominous and atmospheric. This soon evaporates when Liza Goddard turns up in a costume and hair-do as ludicrous as only the 1980's could manage. The spacecraft then docks at Terminus run by the faceless and heartless Terminus Inc. It's a space station at the centre of the known universe which offers the possibility of treating Lazar's disease. Turlough and Tegan then proceed to crawl around the ducting for what feels like 14 episodes whilst Nyssa contracts the disease and for no better reason than it's her last story her clothes start dropping off! Meanwhile the Doctor nearly causes the end of the universe and a bunch of men in impractical looking radiation armour argue a lot and fight a bit. If this sounds even remotely exciting or interesting then I've failed to convey to you just how tedious is the experience of sitting through TERMINUS. Directed without due care and attention, the dialogue flat and clichéd, even the unconvincing appearance of the story's token monster (the Garm) which might usually at least be the cause of a cheap laugh fails to raise interest levels. Nyssa's goodbye scene is tearful and well acted, but since her decision to stay on TERMINUS seems so random it's hard to feel very sad especially as the character had been so under-used.

The original uncut ENLIGHTENMENT is easily the best of the trilogy. The concept of ancient sailing ships flying through space in a race between amoral and immortal beings bored of their endless existences is deliciously surreal and one of the best of the Davison period. The first 3 episodes are really engrossing, mostly well-acted and containing some rather beautiful incidental music by Malcolm Clarke. Lynda Baron's villainous Captain Wrack is camp and theatrical, but even if her performance is stagey it is at least good fun. Would that the same could be said of her lieutenant: Mansell, played by pop performer Leee John. The extras tell us that this was his first and only foray into the world of TV acting. This is something most right-minded people would consider fortuitous since one tends to cringe with embarrassment every time he delivers another line in the style of a man who looks like he fancies himself just that little bit too much. Valentine Dyall too seems to have given up any pretence at serious acting. It's as if he's suddenly realised that he's a man wearing a bird on his head and his "sinister" laughing ("N-yah-ha-ha!") is an attempt to show us that he's aware of how silly he looks. The last episode fails to deliver on the promise of the earlier parts and ends wholly unconvincingly with a scene that tries too hard to be mythic and enigmatic.

The re-cut Special Edition of this story is a completely different entity. Re-edited to add pace with all cliffhangers removed plus about 20-25 minutes of the original snipped off the story really zips along. Add to that the fact that many of the worst moments involving Leee John have been discarded, the soundtrack has been enhanced and some rather beautiful CGI effects replace the dated model work and you have a story that is twice as good as the original even if that ending still fails to convince.

The extras are pretty good. I love the production subtitles on ENLIGHTENMENT. They include a mini-education in nautical terms and history. I also enjoyed the extra on the TERMINUS disc where astronomer Patrick Moore discusses the origins of the Universe. Please notice that all the scientists who appear here seem to have a pathological fear of saying the word "God"! A specially made drama LIBERTY HALL sees Nicholas Courtney playing the Brigadier and discussing his career with Simon Ockenden and is a nice touch for fans. The "Making Of..." documentaries are, as usual, interesting, well constructed and are cheerfully narrated by no less a figure from my childhood than Floella Benjamin O.B.E. Whilst I welcome her contribution, the following question still stands: "and her connection with DR WHO is...?"