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Doctor Who: The Key to Time (Limited Edition Numbered Complete 7 Disc Box set) [1978]


RRP: £69.99
Our Price: £155.00 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Uniting six complete stories across a full series of Doctor Who in one quest, the Key To Time saga is an ambitious, sometimes too ambitious, piece of television that nonetheless has plenty within it to recommend it.

Starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who he's given a quest by the White Guardian to track down the six constituent parts of the Key to Time. Thus, each of the six stories sees the Doctor and Mary Tamm's Romana hunting down one of the segments.

In many ways showing the highs and the lows of Doctor Who in the late 1970s, the Key To Time has some very distinct highlights. The Pirate Planet, for instance, is a cracking story in its own right (written by Douglas Adams), and we're also fans of The Androids Of Tara and the story that wraps the saga up, The Armageddon Factor. Ironically, it all gets off to a low start with the tepid The Ribos Operation, while The Power Of Kroll is just silly. Even by Doctor Who standards!

Nonetheless, this is a significant and very worthy entry in the Doctor Who canon, with both Tamm and Baker on top form. There's also some cracking episodes within the Key to Time, and a real feeling of risks being taken with a long-running property. --Jon Foster


The Highlight Of The Graham Williams Era
Review date: 2008-07-24 Rating: 8 out of 10

Creating a story arc as long as this in the 1970's was something which was fairly radical, and Williams should be applauded for being so brave in attempting this with the limited budget he had. Williams is often lambasted by fans, but this is often to scrape over the good times. Most of the terrible episodes were to come in the next series, and what makes this ambitious concept shine is the consistent good quality of the scripts, and the fact that Tom Baker is so obviously enjoying himself, but not to the detriment of his performance as would happen in the next series.

The only reason The Ribos Operation seems to be heavily criticised for me, is that it was written by Robert Holmes, who usually seemed to give so much more. This, for him, is a low key script, but what he manages to do convincingly is create the feeling that you really are in another world subject to another culture. Paul Seed, Ian Cuthbertson and Prentis Hancock all turn in fine performances and their characters are given real depth. Mary Tamm really introduces herself as Romana well.

The Pirate Planet is a very camp space opera, and sometimes features what were Douglas Adams preoccupations in Hitchhiker's Guide. Some of the incedental character's are a little flat, but then standing next to Baker and a scenery eating Bruce Purchase as the Captain most people would. The effects are a little clunky, but given the scope of the story, a lot of budgets would struggle to cope. What makes this story shine is shiningly intelligent and witty dialogue, which is worth sticking with the plot for through the four episodes.

The Stones Of Blood is a hark back to what came before in places, with the gothic horror element mixed in with the sci-fi. David Fisher's first script for the show is a cracker; genuinely chilling in places with some wonderfully moody direction and feeling in the performances.

Fisher follows this with the cracking Androids of Tara, a loose 'homage' to The Prisoner of Zenda, wonderfully shot in a shining summer, again with cracking costumes and concepts relating to the alien culture. This is Baker's second finest comic turn next to City of Death, and opposite a magnificent Peter Jefferies as count Grendel this is a tret to watch.

The Power of Kroll is, simply, terrible. Holmes was writing on autopilot for this. He didn't like the concept of the Key To Time, and having been asked, unwillingly, to set it up, he found himself having to write another. The marshes look good as the alien setting, but everything else just creaks, from the script to the costumes to the set. Not even the presence of John Abiberni or Phillip Madoc can save this. Truly terrible!

The Armageddon Factor suffers from being just too long. The ideas are ambitious from the pen of Baker and Martin, but they just don't quite stretch to fit the format. What makes it worth watching is the interesting use of K-9 as the leading clue, you are actually not quite whose side he is on. There is a wonderful villanous performance from John Woodvine as the mad Marshall, and this is Lalla Ward's impressive debut to the show.

Throw in a box load of extras and you have a great watch on your hands for a couple of hours.

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Reviews


These DVDs are to re-issued
Review date: 2008-05-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is a great set but for all you Doctor Who fans that did'nt have the chance to buy this numbered edition box set don't fret as the doctor who restoration team(great site check it out)and 2Entertain have said they will definately be re-releasing them at some point in the near future..Avoid paying silly money for the OOP edition.

What in God's name are you playing at?
Review date: 2008-04-12 Rating: 2 out of 10

Now, I have collected a lot of Doctor Who DVDs, and I haven't got this one yet, because of the price. And I don't care how "brilliant" people say these episodes are, I am not, under any circumstances, paying nearly 2 hundred pounds for a DVD! I can't comment on the episodes themselves, I'm sure they are great, but 200 pounds. PATHETIC!

don't pay silly prices for this
Review date: 2008-02-12 Rating: 8 out of 10

In the latest issue of DWM it is reported that it will be re issued - but not in a ltd edition numbered set.

Mmm Better Than I Remember
Review date: 2008-01-07 Rating: 6 out of 10

I remember being hugely disappointed by this season when it was first shown, even though it followed one of the worst stories ever - The Invasion of Time. Subsequent viewing of the video set did not change my opinion. So why was I looking forward to this DVD release so much? Strange! I decided to watch the DVDs with an open mind and I actually found the stories quite entertaining. There's no doubt in my mind that the golden age was over, but the season is much better than I remember. The standard of acting varies - there are some very good performances, such as that of Ian Cuthbertson. However, some of the acting in The Stones of Blood was strangely reminiscent of the yokels in Planet of the Spiders, i.e. bad. I also couldn't work out whether the Professor in Stones of Blood was supposed to be a bit gaga, or whether she was groping for her lines Hartnell-style. As for the Swampies in The Power of Kroll...

I'm sure everyone has a different opinion on the stories' relative merits. For me The Pirate Planet is the weakest story, being far too jokey, although symptomatic of many 6 parters, The Armageddon Factor sags in the middle and there's lots of tooing & froing. The Power of Kroll has been improved by the Restoration Team's tweaking of the Kroll effects and I like it more now than before (parts of it are very 'Fury from the Deep') although the tentacle scenes are inevitably funny. The strongest? - very difficult to say, but possibly Stones of Blood for atmosphere. I have to say that Mary Tamm looks increasingly gorgeous as the series progresses, and was settling into her role. It's a pity she decided not to continue. The extra features are quite good.

Overall I would say that this set is definitely worth getting.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Tom Baker
Mary Tamm

Creators:
Tom Baker (Primary Contributor)
Mary Tamm (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503233525
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 7
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2007-09-24
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 634 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1978
Language: English (Original Language)

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