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Doctor Who: The E Space Trilogy [DVD]

RRP: £34.99
Our Price: £11.25 (subject to change)

Doctor Who versus Entropy
Review date: 2010-03-18 Rating: 8 out of 10

The E-Space trilogy is one of the last consistent spurts of imagination in Dr Who's run before Tom Baker's departure and the troubled reign of controversial producer John Nathan Turner set the show on its long and lingering road to cancellation. While it has stronger plotlines than most of the stories that would follow, they're not always as successfully executed as the ideas - but they are generally ideas-led and one at least makes a serious attempt to break new ground in the was the show would look and feel.

Full Circle finds the Doctor and Romana tapped in the alternate universe of E-Space, and they're not the only ones looking for a way out. On the first planet they land on they discover the descendants of the survivors of a crash who have been spending generations in attempts to repair their craft without ever actually leaving the planet, and finding themselves at odds with an indigenous lifeform that periodically evolves - or possibly devolves - to threaten the survivors. State of Decay is a throwback to the classic gothic Dr Who stories that sees them on another planet where another spaceship has crashed - only this time its inhabitants have not only become medieval-style rulers of the local population, but vampires as well. Both are stronger stories than you might expect with some neat twists, but the standout - and a genuine oddity - remains the final story, which continues the ongoing theme of entropy in increasingly unexpected ways.

Warriors' Gate is perhaps the most troubled and certainly the most contentious Dr Who story of Tom Baker's era (or any other Doctor in all probability). Trapping the Doctor and his companions in an exponentially contracting limbo at the intersection of two incompatible universes with a spaceship full of slavers and their leonine time-sensitive cargo who aren't so morally innocent themselves, it's not one of the best, but it's certainly one of the most ambitious. Novelist Stephen Gallagher's treatment took inspiration from Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete and Orphee while director Paul Joyce took his from Kubrick (who he would later make several documentaries about) and Last Year at Marienbad, setting much of the drama in a white void or using half-plate black and white stills of a country house to stand in for time corridors. In many ways it was a deliberate attempt to make a feature film within the existing TV technology of 1981, trying to stretch the envelope technically with long takes, hand-held camera work and moments of moody fatalism that went violently against the BBC culture of the day, with philosophical undertones and alternating timeframes that marked a more adult shift from the previous season's more kiddie-friendly approach. Unfortunately Joyce was saddled with a famously unsympathetic producer who hadn't read all the scripts and couldn't understand the final cut, a worried BBC management, a difficult star who wouldn't even make eye contact with his leading lady (and ex-girlfriend and future wife) and an unsupportive crew who all seemed agreed he was incompetent, though his own ego may have played into a situation that eventually saw him fired and rehired when no-one else could work out how to put it all together (telling the executive producer "You're the past, I'm the future" wasn't the best way to kick things off).

It's a story that repays a second viewing even if, as Joyce admits, it veers more towards glorious failure than success, and the documentary on the DVD is typically frank: while it goes into details of the difficult production, at times it allows Ken Livingston soundalike Joyce to hang himself with his own words.

Reviews

3 Amazing Stories
Review date: 2009-12-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

I bought this box set in January, having not seen any of the stories before.
The first story, Full Circle, serves as a great introduction to the trilogy and the Doctor's new companion, Adric, and is a fairly "normal" (yet still good!) Doctor Who story of the time. ****
The second story, State of Decay, without exaggerating, is quite possibly the best "Gothic horror" Doctor Who serial in the show's history! *****
The third and final story, Warrior's Gate, is my personal favourite Doctor Who story. A very mysterious and complex storyline, the only bad point about this story is the fairly rubbish farewell the Doctor gives Romana and K9. *****
However, these stories also work great together as a trilogy - and unlike many Doctor Who story arcs, is not compromised by a weaker story. At £13.88, this is an absolute bargain and a must have for any Classic Doctor Who fan.

The zenith of Tom Baker's last year as the Doctor
Review date: 2009-10-03 Rating: 8 out of 10

Firstly, I'm not a great fan of Tom Baker's final season as the Doctor, so you may be surprised to find a 4* rating for these stories. The new producer, John Nathan-Turner (JNT) got a great deal wrong with Doctor Who: changes for change's sake, such as exorcising Tom's humour and ad-libs; badly miscasting the new companions (more on Adric later); and the ridiculous approach of creating a "uniform" for all the costumes, which the characters wore irrespective of circumstance or conditions; and introducing the silly "?" on the Doctor's costume, like a marketing brand. In the context of these stories, however, these changes become niggles rather than major flaws.

Full Circle is one of my all-time favourite Tom Baker stories. Most remember this story for the introduction of Adric, but to remember it solely for that is to do this excellent fan-written story a huge disservice. For a season that smugly sought to exercise the humour and exchange it for "sound science", here it actually works very well.. As the TARDIS falls into another universe, the Doctor is unable to work out why the co-ordinates clearly show those for Gallifrey, his home planet, yet the scanner shows an alien planet. The TARDIS has landed on Alzarius, which happens to have the same (negative) co-ordinates as Gallifrey. He meets a young Outler called Adric, who warns the Doctor of the approaching "Mistfall" - an event feared by the locals: as Marshmen rise from the swamp and attack the local populace, who take refuge in a crashed Starliner. The locals believe themselves to be descendants of the original crew of that doomed ship, when in fact the original crew were wiped out by the Marshmen themselves. The Starliner inhabitants are actually evolved species directly from the Marshmen and evolution on this planet occurs at a phenomenal rate. Of course, the Doctor is able to deduce this but the journey there is very enjoyable...

There's some utterly beautiful location filming, with an attention to detail rarely seen in the classic series: the flora and fauna of Black Park are subtly lit with unusual colours, giving the location a distinctly alien feel. There are scorch marks on the grass around the dematerialised TARDIS; and dry ice bubbling underneath the surface of the lake, which makes the shot of the Marshmen rising out of the mists positively cinematic. The large number of extras in their unusual constumes really gives the location filming a really epic quality. Both leads give wonderful performances, especially Tom in his shouting match with the Deciders. Matthew Waterhouse, ever the most popular companion with Who fandom (said with more than a hint of mischievous Tom Baker irony) actually isn't too bad in his debut story and it is made more agreeable by the fact that his brother, Varsh, is both a more likeable character and better acted

State of Decay would not look out of place in Tom's earlier stories, being a dark, Gothic tale about Vampires. Penned by Terrance Dicks, it was written much earlier for Season 15, under the title "The Witch Lords" but was shelved when the BBC bosses decided it might be seen as a send-up of their costume drama "Dracula", so the script re-surfaced in season 18 as "State of Decay". This story has all the elements I love in Doctor Who, with the added bonus that Tom is dark and brooding (whether deliberate genius or simply art imitating reality: he had an on-going spat with Lalla Ward during filming and hated also working with Matthew Waterhouse). In addition, it is around this time the couple became engaged, and their lines "you're wonderful really" and "yes I am, I suppose I've never given it much thought" is a wonderful mirror of what was happening in their private lives. Whilst the story is enjoyable, here you start to see the deficiencies which had crept into the production under JNT: the appallingly bright lighting in the studio - unsuitable for a dark Gothic piece; the horrendous electronic incidental music, which is completely inappropriate for the setting, and the dreadful acting of Matthew Waterhouse, for which both Tom and Lalla fail to conceal their contempt, even on screen. For these reasons, this is the least enjoyable story of the trilogy, as the production is nowhere near the levels attained of the other two.

Warriors' Gate is the most esoteric story that Doctor Who ever did in its classic 26 year run. It's like David Lynch does Doctor Who! After multiple viewings, you're still not sure you've quite got it, and don't expect the answers purely from the dialogue. The TARDIS lands in a mysterious white void with zero co-ordinates. Also trapped there is a large ship called the Privateer, led by a vicious mercenary called Rorvik, containing a feline-like race of Time-sensitives slaves called Tharils. The Tharils once used to rule E-Space themselves, but have now become the slaves. The whole story is a visual feast, with some stunning black and white photography filmed in Powis Castle, Wales, as well as a strong message too: "the weak enslave themselves" and the slaves become rulers and the rulers slaves. There is so much going on in this story (and so little explained) that it really does take multiple viewings to fully admire it.

The story is also historic too, as it's the farewell to both Romana and K9. If ever there was an appropriate send-off for a companion that perfectly fitted their character, here it is: played in a subtle, understated way. .I think there has been too much emphasis with emotional farewells in the new series. Here Romana leaves the Doctor with a witty farewell from him "you were the noblest Romana of them all!" - no tears, no fuss. Romana becomes the female version of the Doctor in the opposite, negative Universe - E-space, alongside K9, to help the Tharils free themselves. Has there ever been a more fitting departure?

A highly recommended trilogy.

The E-Space Trilogy. Hmmm...
Review date: 2009-07-30 Rating: 6 out of 10

The E-space trilogy was a series of three seperate adventures linked together into a 12 episode story arc, and came in the middle of Tom Baker's final series as the Doctor.

The three stories contain therein are a mixed bunch. Full circle would have been a decent tale, with some interesting ideas, good supporting cast and an above average script. Trouble is, it introduces Adric, the companion we all love to hate. On the rare occassion I can see through the red mist that descends whenever he's on the screen it's not a bad series.

The second story - state of decay - is good, but is unfortunately vastly overshadowed by the big gothic tales, such as 'Talons of Weng-Chiang', 'Terror of Fang Rock' and 'The Brain of Morbius'. This seems a pale shodow when compared to those earlier triumphs. It's not bad though, and the central premise is one that I've always quite liked.

The final story - Warriors Gate - is one of those wierd stories, where you have to watch it about 15 times to figure out what the script writers had in mind. And even then you're still not sure you've got it. It marks the departure of Lalla Ward, and my favourite companion K-9, in slightly rushed scenes at the end. The confusing plot aside, this story does stand out for one reason - the special effects and set design. The whole thing is very imaginatively done, one of the best in the whole series for that sort of thing.

The central premise lonking all three stories is also a bit confusing at first. I'm still not convinced I understand it. It doesn't matter much in the forst two stories, but is important in the third, where things get so confusing I usually give up on what passes for the plot and just enjoy the photography.

So, three stories, all with good and bad points, so a pretty average 3*. All of them watchable, but no stand out classics here. The DVD's come with the usual excellent range of commentaries and extras, but even after these I'm still not entirely sure what the script writers were on about....

classic doctor who
Review date: 2009-07-28 Rating: 8 out of 10

the three stories in this boxset comes at the end of the tom baker period. it also introduces male companion adric, and says goodbye to romana and k9. i can't understand for the life of me, now that the current series with david tennant is such a success, why the bbc doesn't repeat any of the original series of doctor who as it will surely be of interest to today's kids who might never have seen them. surely if they can repeat countless dad's army or only fools and horses episodes they can do this!
the 3 stories on offer here, full circle, state of decay and warrior's gate are 3 classics, with the last, warrior's gate possibly the weirdest doctor who story ever. tom baker is as excellent as ever, my favourite doctor, though david tennant it has to be said is a very close second! while it's true that the effects are poor and laughable compared to today's episodes, the stories are imaginative, and that's what makes doctor who stand out as the greatest british show ever made.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
John Leeson
Matthew Waterhouse
Tom Baker
Lalla Ward

Creators:
Tom Baker (Primary Contributor)
Lalla Ward (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: 2 Entertain
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain
EAN: 5014503183523
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 3
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2009-01-26
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 275 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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Doctor Who: The E Space Trilogy [DVD]

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