Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7997 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-10-19
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1

DVD Description
The Doctor and his companions face the return of his deadliest enemy - the Daleks, a distillation of all that is evil in the Universe - in 7 thrilling, action-packed episodes :

Dalek
Bad Wolf
Parting of the Ways
Daleks in Manhatten
Evolution of the Daleks
The Stolen Earth
Journey's End

Starring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Catherine Tate & Elisabeth Sladen

Customer Reviews

Nice! Even those who dislike the new series have to admit the Daleks were done right.
As this set hasn't exactly come out, I will review solely the TV episodes within -- they're the most important part of any DVD set, anyway... oh, there are some spoilers in my commentary, but I suspect most people have seen all these stories already...

"Dalek" (Series 1, Eccleston). Rating: ***** : This story brings back the Daleks, albeit with only one Dalek, and this one Dalek is used to GREAT effect. It's nice to see them back, in a serious tome, without any camp hindering them (something late-80s WHO bestowed on the Daleks...). The Daleks are updated with a large array of innovative features (bullet-melting shielding, their mid-section with the gun-mount and sucker-manipulation arm swivel 360 degrees) as well as making better use of existing innovations (such as levitation, as first seen in "Revelation of the Daleks" (part two, 1985). Some of the story is a bit woolly (how can a Dalek take a person's DNA to "recharge" itself? I can fathom how it might take the DNA donor's emotional responses (which means Daleks don't want to go around touching people if their main task is to exterminate them!)... the Dalek can also retrieve scores of information by breaking a LCD computer monitor. Monitors are output-only devices. The problem here is, as with most NuWHO, making everything Earth-based. Those who understand Earth-technologies aren't going to be bought by this lame chicanery, I'm sorry. By and large, this is a GREAT episode.

"Bad Wolf" (Series 1, Eccleston). Rating: ****. Pompous as the whole thing is (about 199,001 years in the future, Earth is running a games station with reality shows and people are forced to be contestants. Those who lose die. Think "Vengeance on Varos" without the credibility), it's still HIGHLY entertaining. I'm not sure why because there's a ton of problems to be readily criticized:
* Jack's camped-up nudity (series 1 didn't often know when it should take itself seriously or when it should be a self-parodying farce)
* Jack's stereotype attitudes for chatting up people is NOT appreciated.
* The revelation the Daleks are back is wrongly timed (have the blue Controller person be exterminated first and save the "Rose is okay" shtick for later. That would have been far more effective.)
* Lynda knows where the light switches are on a space-station she's never once explored
* The "reality show" parallel and unsubtle topical commentary. This is NOT as creative as the show can get. Indeed, it's rather patronizing.

And to be fair, there's a lot to love:
* The cliffhanger
* The Doctor himself is far more proactive than usual. This was a real treat.
* Jack, when not camping it up in the scenes I mentioned above.
* The Doctor's berating humanity, addicted to their reality shows: "Brainless sheep". There's an extra irony to this line, which people did NOT figure out in 2005 and which most people still don't get now... :)

All in all, this story, despite its flaws and there are many, it manages to hold and maintain a viewer's interest. Probably due to casting (Anne Robinson, host of "The Weakest Link", playing her future droid self ("Anne Droid", ugh), and Roderick, played by the inestimable Paterson Joseph.

"The Parting of the Ways" (Series 1, Eccleston, Tennant) Rating: **** : Eccleston's swansong. Not surprising as the BBC merrily leaked out the information over two months prior to the airing of this. Okay, this concluding episode sheds any need to have remembered the "reality show" garbage of its preceding episode. The story just gets on with things and its done well. Nobody expects Lynda to die and it's genuinely sad when she's killed. What drags down the story is the ending: Rose decides to use her newfound superpowers (ingesting the TARDIS' vortex energy after using a tow truck to lift up the console, okey dokey) to save Jack. Just Jack. Nobody else. And keep in mind, Rose has ingested this energy for quite some time. Now comes the Doctor, mewling about how stupid she is, french-kisses her and this is how the energy moves from her into him. Once he's collected it all (5 seconds), he blows it back into the TARDIS. Let's pretend the energy knows where to go and that the console promptly seals itself back up. Now, knowing this, it's Rose who is TOTALLY UNSCATHED and it's the Doctor who has to regenerate. IF the producer and writer knew Eccleston was leaving, this is the most sloppy, hamfisted excuse of a regeneration, EVER. If Eccleston's desire to leave happened while filming, one can see why they had to do such a quick rewrite. I can forgive that... the story ends on a word, "Barcelona". (the planet - you know, one of many that we'll never see because it's not given the name "Earth"!)

Now, this set is not complete, because Daleks appear in the series 2 finale, "Doomsday" (Tennant, 2006, rating * ). Given how unashamedly campy and farcical it is, I'm thankful it's not included.

"Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks" (note the correct spelling compared to what's in the "DVD Description" above), *Tennant, 2007, overall rating ****): This two-parter has the Daleks in 1930s-New York, conducting experiments and trying to fathom why they keep losing to humans. (though they keep losing to the Doctor, they otherwise seem to beat the humans at every encounter the Doctor stumbles into!) The story is by no means an all-time classic, but it is NOT deserving of the reputation people give it. What it screws up in plot motivations and resolution ("EOTD" doesn't know if it's lightning or plasma that will save the day and frequently exchanges one as being the other) is made up for with a great cast and a great time period to exploit. This story really does engage. If anything, why Dalek Sec would want to become a hybrid (complete with B-movie incidental music to accompany) makes no sense. Going from an impenetrable shell to an organic body with an octopus head where one stray bullet is enough to do him in... then again, the rationale behind the Cult of Skaro, especially given the events they've endured, it is fair to rationalize their own intellectual devolution. As a result, this story DOES work.

"Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" (Tennant, 2008, rating: **): We have retconned Sarah, who now blubbers with tears when she hears a Dalek voice. The army dude saying "Ladies and gentlemen we are at war" is ripped directly from "The Parting of the Ways"! For no reason, Rose and her family escape the inescapable void closure-with-happy-ending that took 10 minutes to set up in "Doomsday" (maybe that's why that scribble of a story isn't included in the set?) just so they can have another 10 minute happy ending. Jackie is absolutely rotten in this story too. She had the equipment to get everyone out and all she does is shed a tear and do a mea culpa and lets a bunch of people die. She may as well have killed them herself with a Dalek gun. What happens to this Shadow Proclamation, which is given emphasis but then ignored?!! The TARDIS can pull Earth back to its place in space (without harming anyone) yet that 1-second temporal shift remains UNRESOLVED. (in 2008, most writers should be able to write something coherent and to put in proper closure AND to put in PROPER open-doors if they want to bring back past characters for whatever reasons!!!)

I will say this in the story's favor: Davros was great. We needed more of him and less of Rose and her needless family. Caan's breakdown was good. The concept of pushing planets to create a weapon I genuinely liked, and it adds credibility to "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (1964). A shame the story is such a rabid mixed bag. But there's enough to applaud the story for, despite being tired in so many ways - there's still just enough ingenuity to give it some kudos. And, lastly, trite or not, the story takes itself seriously. Remember, "Doomsday" was as camped up as possible and suffered dearly for it.

This is a good set to purchase, especially if you never cared for most of NuWHO. The Dalek stories are easily the better ones to collect.

Recommended.

Dalek Collection? No, Dalek Selection. Not all Dalek episodes.
This should more correctly be called the "Dalek Selection"

Excellent to have this in one pack for those that wont be buying the full series, or a good hook for those new to Who. But.....

4 stars, because it is missing some definitive Dalek episodes from the original series. But then 3 stars becuase it is missing some of the Dalek Episodes from the new series also! Where is Army of Ghosts/Doomsday?

Where is "Genesis of the Daleks" with its crucial moment where Tom Baker can destroy them completely by simply touching two wires, but stops and wonders upon the ethics of it?

Resurrection of the Daleks?

I could go on quoting others but you get the idea.

This set would be quite good for children for Christmas however....... they would be thrilled.

Good: If it gets more people watching Who.
Bad: Incomplete Collection.