Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16304 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-05
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's hardly surprising that the Beeb take so long releasing DVDs in the Doctor Who series when they're as highly polished and as carefully selected as The Leisure Hive. Particularly significant in terms of the series' history, this sequence marked an end to Who's descent into vaudeville, and heralded the entrance of hotshot, new-broom Series Producer, John Nathan-Turner.

The opening long, slow pan across a wintry beach, on which an autumnal Doctor sits slumped, immediately declares the show's serious intentions. The narrative itself is an erudite discussion on fascism and racism taking in regeneration, megalomania, cloning and a series of Agatha Christie-esque murders. It's the style, rather than the story, however, that's foregrounded in The Leisure Hive: along with his new sober approach, Nathan-Turner brought a new theme tune, a new logo, a new striking red costume and a new title sequence--one that, tellingly, moved away from the enclosed time tunnel to show the vastness of space opening up. Productions values are similarly high: the Quantel effects are impressive even now, and the performances are quite stunning, particularly Baker's as the prematurely aged, infirm Doctor.

By dispensing with the clowning and with what he termed "Douglas Adams' undergrad humour", Nathan-Turner reinvigorated a show that was becoming stale. The diegetic rebirth brought about by the Regeneration Drive at the show's denouement is an apposite motif, emblematic of the rebirth of the show itself--The Leisure Hive truly represented a new beginning for Who.

On the DVD: the images, colours and new 5.1 sound are all impressive, as are the abundance of extras. "A New Beginning" features a rare interview with Baker himself, and "From Avalon to Argolis" indulges in some very satisfying back-biting. There's also a nostalgia-inducing contemporaneous clip of an impossibly young Blue Peter presenter looking genuinely frightened by the exhibits of the then-great Longleat Doctor Who Exhibition. --Paul Eisinger

DVD Description
The Doctor and Romana visit the Leisure Hive on the planet Argolis, the surface of which is uninhabitable following a twenty minute nuclear war between the Argolins and their enemies, the Foamsi. The Argolins themselves are now sterile. Pangol, the youngest, was created by the Tachyon Recreation Generator, a machine that runs games in the Hive. He now secretly plans to use the Generator, modified by an Earth scientist named Hardin, to recreate himself many times over, forming an army of duplicates to destroy the Foamsi. Pangol's mother Mena, the controller of the Hive, is meanwhile coming under pressure from a supposedly human finanacier, Brock, to sell it to the Foamasi …

Starring Tom Baker as the Doctor.

Special Features

• Isolated music
  
• Commentary with actress Lalla Ward, director Lovett Bickford and script editor Christopher H. Bidmead
  
• A New Beginning
  
• From Avalon to Argolis
  
• Leisure Wear
  
• Synthesizing Starfields
  
• Blue Peter
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• Easter Egg
  
• Production Notes

DVD Technical Information:

• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix
  
• Region Code: 2, 4

Customer Reviews

Three Stars- Now that's just not Fair!
I will admit at once that The Leisure Hive comes from an era of Doctor Who with some decline and that, yes, it was JNT's first day. However, things need to be put right because I have a confession:
THE LEISURE HIVE IS EXCELLENT!

When I first watched this serial, I will confess to being dissapointed. I thought that in comparison to other serials, The Leisure Hive was mediocre at best, even bordering bad.
But that was the past and now, after many more watches, I say The Leisure Hive is brilliant. You appreciate this serial more with extra viewing, to fully appreciate the bigger picture of the plot and the interesting concepts. Don't be drawn in by first opinions. I understand if you are. But please, I have to say that The Lesiure Hive is a serial of good acting, good monsters, good twists (cliffhanger on part two is brilliant) and a good quality of dialogue.
Tom Baker is, at this stage, a dark and serious Doctor (far from the Douglas Adams days of slight silliness.) This is a Doctor who knows his time will be up soon... and it's very good. The bad point being the STUPID question marks on the costume which slightly ruin the mysterious effect.
Also, the extras covering the making of the new theme and opening titles are very informative and enjoyable.

If I still haven't convinced you, you get Lalla Ward's Romanna. (Yum-yum.)

Don't Waste Your Money. Really.
This is tripe. I thought so then and I think so now. It was this story (I think) that led my adolescent self to stop watching DW on a weekly basis and start to dip into it now and again. Why? There had been bad Who before, but this one seemed to be deliberately lousy rather than simply rushed, cheap and inept. The story is twaddle, the effects are Seventies feeble, the dialogue is average to dire, and the sets are the usual plastic and cardboard alien corridors. Tom Baker is quite silly, some good supporting actors do their best, and the costume designer was clearly working (in her imagination) on a much better show. Don't even try to make sense of the science, because it's not - science, that is. So, no science and bad fiction. This one can't even be excused on the 'so bad it's good' principle. It falls under the much broader heading of 'so bad it's not worth watching'.

Tom at thge Top?
This is a superb story as far as the quality of the sets and costumes are concerned, particularly the way wrecked planet of Argolis is presented - very atmospheric. The scene where Pangol was producing his duplicates was aided by the fantastic marching theme too.

Tom Baker plays the Doctor and is probably at his best in the job. This is no doubt due to the fact that this is John Nathan-Turner's first story on Dr Who and the start of a new series allowing everyone to give fresh performances, though I did feel that Lala Ward's performance was a touch forced.

The only poor thing about this was the nature of the enemy - the Foamasi. not very well designed in my opinion. Also, the lack of suspicion that the Argolians had of Brock when he turned up on the heels of his message saying he was not interested in further investments in the Hive was almost laughable...