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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3958 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-02-23
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 168 minutes

DVD Description
The TARDIS gains a new crew member then travels back in time to Nero’s Rome in these two classic adventures starring William Hartnell.

The Rescue
Arriving on the planet Dido in the late 25th Century, the time travellers come upon a crashed spaceship from Earth. Its two occupants are living in fear of a creature called Koquillion, but everything is not as it seems…

The Romans
The time travellers are enjoying a rare holiday, staying at a villa not far from Rome in the year 64 AD. The Doctor soon becomes restless and sets off to visit the city. Having been mistaken for the famous lyre player and asked to perform at the Emperor Nero's Court, the Doctor has to devise ever more elaborate schemes to avoid revealing that he cannot actually play the instrument.

DVD Special Features include:
• Commentaries with cast and crew
• The making of The Rescue and The Romans
• Radio Times Billings • Photo Gallery
• Coming Soon Trailer • Production Information Subtitles

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Customer Reviews

Hello Vicki Welcome To Rome.
Season 2.
Now then what have we here, well in my opinion we have two neglected little gems, that's what. Two stories from the always ignored (In fan polls.) Hartnell era.
These two stories are from Season two, a season which had the highest "overall" viewing figures in the shows history.
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The Rescue.(Two Episodes.)
A succinct and competently written two parter, who's sole purpose is to introduce the Granddaughter replacement Vicki.
And by doing so quickly rebalances the demographics of the group after the departure of Susan.
It's main plotline hinges on a murder mystery with Sci-fi overtones, which the Doctor solves, with the help of some prior knowledge of the indigenous civilisation he'd gained from a previous visit.
Originally planned as the first story of the second season it was put back into third place because of extra work required on, "The Dalek Invasion of Earth".
Ep.1~ The Powerful Enemy.(2/1/65)
Ep.2~ Desperate Measures.(9/1/65)
Overall opinion:~a pleasing little diversion from some of Season two's more facetious offerings.
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The Romans.(Four Episodes.)
Forgetting about the historical inaccuracies in some of the main characters. This story was unique for many years afterwards, as been deliberately done in a farcical fashion.(Input by the great Dennis Spooner.)
The Tardis crew via many convoluted reasons end up in Rome, but neither party (Vicky and the Doctor)(Barbara and Ian.) is aware of the others presence. The Doctor is mistaken for lyre player Maximus Pettulian, and finds himself embroiled in intrigue and murder in Nero's court.
Many of the situations are terribly contrived, but some are amusing.
- The Doctor using the, "Emperors New Clothes" syndrome to fool the snobs in Nero's court, whilst pretending to play the Lyre.
(He can't play a note.)
- The Doctor gives Nero an Idea to rebuild Rome.(Involving fire.)
On a religious note one of the characters turns out to be one of Rome's early Christians.
Anyone who's seen, "Spartacus", "Ben Hur" and "Carry on Cleo" will see at least one scene inspired from those classic films.
Ep.1~ The Slave Traders.(16/1/65)
Ep.2~ All Roads Lead to Rome.(23/1/65)
Ep.3~ Conspiracy.(30/1/65)
Ep.4~ Inferno.(6/2/65)
Overall opinion:~It was nice to actually see The Doctor meeting a historical figure for once, instead of just name dropping, like he does a lot during the Pertwee years.
This story shows Nero not fiddling while Rome burns, instead he "Lyred", much more believable.
(The fiddle hadn't been invented.)
The Romans is still even now an amusing treat, don't let the fact it's in Black and White put you off.
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Trivia~ According to research Nero died in his thirties. A lot younger then the middle aged Derek Francis, who plays him here.

Wonderful bit of Sixties television.
*The Rescue*

Quite a nice little tale. The sets and direction are outstanding - there are some snappy angles and many clever inlay shots - and the performances are fine. The Rescue is essentially a vehicle for Vicki's introduction though it manages to entertain in other ways, as the whole cast are on top notch form and the Didoan civilisation is intriguing. Maureen O'Brien is a breath of fresh air, her acting abilities light years ahead of Carole Ann Ford's irritating performance as Susan.

*The Romans*
Very amusing. Hartnell is well suited to light comedy and this is full of it. The script sparkles with wit and black humour, and counterpoints this with some quite heavy scenes particularly Ian's dramatic interlude aboard the slave ship. The whole cast are marvellous. One of the very best Hartnells.

Recommended.

More Billy Please
I won't go into detail with regard to story-lines as that has already been done.I have these two stories on VHS and while not the best Hartnell adventure's they are still entertaining and well worth a watch.My favorite being The Rescue which introduces new companion Vicky to replace the Doctor's granddaughter Susan.The second story is a Rome-com and is very tongue in cheek.

A lot of early Dr Who is overlooked probably because most people never saw them on transmission and also because they are in B/W. In my opinion they can be among some of the best stories.You just have to take into account of the time they were made and the technology available at the time. For example editing was done by physically cutting the video tape and as the tapes were so expensive and re-used they tried to do as much in one take as possible.This is also why when actors fluffed ( which Billy Hartnell often did )their lines they were left in - none of your 25 takes to get in right here

The quality of the picture and audio on the VHS release was quite poor and for the DVD release it has undergone full restoration,something I am looking forward to seeing.

It seems we are being spoilt for classic Dr Who DVD releases this year.The highlight for me being the release of Planet Of The Daleks with the re-colourisation of episode 3 using a new technique of getting colour information from the chroma-dots present on the B/W tele-recording.