Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2142 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-08-07
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
This latest collection of episodes from the 'second' series of Doctor Who again features a couple of cracking instalments, although this time there's one that's attracted a heavy amount of criticism too.

So let's start with the good. Stretching a tight budget to its limits and in the process delivering a cracking piece of science fiction, the two-parter that kicks off with "The Impossible Planet" and concludes with "The Satan Pit" takes place in the far reaches of the Universe, on board a craft that's been sucked into a black hole. Only it isn't. It's mysteriously defying the pull of the black hole, and there are other sinister goings on too. There are no spoilers here, but rest assured that this is tense, gripping television, with a surprising number of behind-the-sofa moments. And if the second part doesn't quite match up to the strengths of the first, it still rounds off a satisfying, enjoying story.

As for "Love & Monsters", there's a hard core that believe it to be an innovative, interesting experiment for Doctor Who. This reviewer, however, sides with the majority. By leaving the Doctor and Rose pretty much entirely on the sidelines, and giving centre stage to primarily irritating and clumsy characters (epitomised by Peter Kay's desperately unconvincing baddie), it becomes easily the weakest episode since the Who revival, and leaves you hoping that it's an experiment not to be repeated.

Still, this disc is still very much worth it for two of the episodes, so buy it with those in mind, and treat the third very much as an anomaly, no matter what your thoughts on it. And brace yourself for the next disc too--it's a corker… --Simon Brew

Customer Reviews

Space Paradox
Buy this for the excellent 2 parter Impossible Planet & Satan Pit. At last we see the Doctor on another planet with a fantastic story line. Excellent choice of villain - similarity to Pyramids of Mars with the same actor doing the voice of Sutekh / the Beast(excellent Gabriel Woolf). This has elements of Resident Evil / Alien etc and is the best Tennant Adventure to date.
The paradox is 'Love & Monsters' which is awful. A good idea but it really doesn't work within DW. I watched 10 minutes of this before switching off. It's psuedo reality TV which is just as brain numbing and plain boring as the real thing
The best & the worst of the new series Doctor Who

Brilliant/Crappy
The first to episodes on this disc, "The Impossible Planet"+"The Satan Pit", are absolutely brilliant(buy this disc for that excellent two parter)but "Love And Monsters".Just so boring. It's just basically some man sitting infront of a Video Camera for 45 wasted minutes. But still, the first to a great. Coudn't get better!

From the sublime to the ridiculous
The good news - The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit is an all-time great of Doctor Who. A rare new series off-Earth jaunt for the TARDIS crew, and the results are superb. Alternately tragic and sinister, clautrophobic and agorophobic, it takes to viewer into the darkest depths of human fears to meet the ultimate evil. A strong cast, fast pace, tight plotting and just enough humour to stop it getting unrelentingly grim makes for a jewel in the crown of British science-fiction.

So what happened to the fifth star in the rating? Sunk without trace, along with 'Love and Monsters'. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. To say the parts are better than the whole is to put it mildly. The mostly excellent cast struggle valiently with the material but are ultimately overwhelmed by the tripe that is this episode. I am not a fan of Peter Kay, I must admit, but he is quite impressive in human form; sadly when he loses human shape, he appears to lose his acting ability, as well. The conclusion is trite and unbelievable. Knowing that the main villain was created by a nine year-old Blue Peter viewer in a competition might lead you to fear the worst, so it is ironic that the monster itself is a brilliant conception - it's a pity that the professionals couldn't come up with a quality story to match it.