Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5033 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-09-05
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 135 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It was always going to be a risk for the BBC to revamp Doctor Who--few television programmes inspire as much rabid and cultish adoration. With the 2005 series, however, the BBC have really outdone themselves. Their updated Doctor Who is a revelation: a cult science fiction series that has real mass appeal, and works for both children and their parents. Christopher Eccleston is an inspired and charismatic Doctor--he leaps around the sets with an unrestrained glee, like he’s a child running amok in a toy shop. His enthusiasm in downright infectious. His sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) adds a real human touch, particularly as she gradually and believably matures from in-over-her-head city kid to tough-minded interplanetary hero. Much of the credit must go to writer Russell Davies, who has a much-practiced knack for finding popular appeal without dumbing-down his ideas, and who appears to have let his imagination run riot. Even the special effects, whilst not of a big-budget cinematic quality, still manage to strike a balance between cheesiness and realism. Thrilling, funny and thoroughly entertaining, this Doctor Who is a hero for the new millennium. --Robert Burrow

DVD Description
Episodes comprise:

11. Boom Town: The TARDIS crew take a holiday, but the Doctor encounters an enemy he thought long since dead. A plan to build a nuclear power station in Cardiff City disguises an alien plot to rip the world apart. And when the Doctor dines with monsters, he discovers traps within traps.

12. Bad Wolf: The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack have to fight for their lives on board the Game Station. But a far more dangerous threat is lurking, just out of sight. The Doctor realises that the entire Human Race has been blinded to the threat on its doorstep, and Armageddon is fast approaching.

13. The Parting Of The Ways: Rose Tyler has seen danger and wonders alongside the Doctor, but now their friendship is put to the test as Earth plunges into an epic war.

Synopsis
Features three more episodes. In 'Boom Town' the Doctor discovers that Cardiff's plan to build a nuclear power plant is actually a mask to hide a devastating alien plot. Also features: 'Bad Wolf' and 'Parting Of The Ways'.

Customer Reviews

Should have been better
This is probably the weakest set of episodes of the new, revived show's first season. A pity given that they conclude the series.

Boom Town is the "time out" episode, before we rush headlong to the finale. Any reservations anyone may have about the Slitheen should be allayed by Annette Badlands's excellent performance as the alien in the skin suit. The centrepiece of the episode is essentially a set of two-handed scenes between Eccleston's Doctor and Badlands's Margaret and this kind of thing is what the license fee is for. It's a pity she has to be an evil alien monster intent on destroying the earth for profit - the restaurant scenes represent an acting masterclass from two of the industry's finest professionals.

Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways give us our finale... And it all unfortunately falls a bit flat here. It's not the whole reality TV side of things (Doctor Who always tried to reflect the mores of the time - The Beatles appeared in The Chase way back in '65). No, it's the spectacle over substance approach that hamstrings this two-parter. The threat of the Daleks, having been so carefully restated a few episodes ago, is diminished once again and we see them having yet another crack at invading the Earth, only to fall at the final hurdle. Again. It's just not unexpected and it feels desperately disappointing. The resolution of both the Dalek invasion and the Bad Wolf thread comes across as the dictionary definition of deus ex machina.

The Doctor's regeneration is also dealt with a little bit too quickly. It would have been nice to see this wonderful incarnation bow out in a more heroic way, but then, giving up his own life to save Rose is much in keeping with his character.

So. Five stars for the cast, particularly Doctor Chris and Slitheen Annette, but only three for the episodes.

dr who volume 4
I think the parting of the ways and bad wolf is fantastic and boom town is good not good its brillant from no.1 doctor who fan jack buttrum

An excellent finsh
The three episodes on this dvd are called Boom Town, Bad Wolf and The Parting Of The Ways. Two of the episodes are great and one of them is alright.

Boom Town is the worst episode on this dvd and probably one of the worst episodes in the series. It isn't too bad but it has nothing great or really memorable in it. The episode is about the doctor capturing the last living member of the Slitheen family and he intends to send her back to Raxacoracovalapatorious where she will be executed, but does she have a plan.... This episode does have some good action moments but it still isn't great.

Bad Wolf is a great episode. It is about the Doctor, Rose and Jack ending up on television shows on sattelite five in the year 200'100. The Doctor is on Big Brother and the evicted housemates get killed. Rose is on Weakest Link and the contestants get killed if they are voted off. Jack is on What Not To Wear and the robots try to kill him. When Rose loses in Weakest Link she gets captured by the mysterious force behind the game station( the Daleks ).

The Parting Of The Ways is the final episode in the series and it is brilliant. When the Doctor rescues Rose he has to defeat hundreds of thousands of Daleks and their emperor. At the end of the episode the Doctor regenerates and I was very excited for the next episode that Christmas.

I reccomend this dvd because of the final two episodes, although Boom Town is still worth watching if your a fan of the show.