Doctor Who-Series 1-Volume 2 (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	133:25 (Case: 135)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (21:44)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Graeme Harper Euros Lyn Joe Ahearne Keith Boak
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Christopher Eccleston David Tennant Billie Piper Alan Ruscoe Camille Coduri Noel Clarke Paul Kasey John Barrowman
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Murray Gold Murray Gold Ron Grainer

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Doctor Who is an iconic science fiction television show which was very popular during its original run from 1963 to 1989. During that time quite a number of actors played the Doctor himself including Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker & Peter Davison. Now, in 2005, the BBC has released the first new episodes of the show since 1989 (although there was a telemovie in 1996), this time starring Christopher Eccelston as The Doctor. I cannot admit to being a huge fan of this show as a youth, however, I was very interested to see and review this new series, which I am greatly enjoying.

    The series, as I am sure you are aware, concerns the adventures of a mysterious person who refers to himself only as The Doctor. He is a Time Lord from a planet called Gallifrey, who has the ability to travel through time in a machine called a Tardis, which is shaped like a police call box. Whilst travelling through time and space he uses his skills to fight evil, usually with the help of a human assistant, this time Rose Tyler played by Billie Piper. This disc contains the next three episodes and the entire series is being issued on four separate discs. I also understand that they will be released as a box set sometime later in the year, possibly with some extras. I am enjoying Christopher Eccelston's work as The Doctor - his blank faced, tongue-in-cheek portrayal is lots of fun.

    The episodes on this disc are even better than those on the first disc, which I enjoyed very much. All three episodes here are top quality, especially the third one which brings back one of The Doctor's worst enemies, the Daleks.

    The episodes included here are:

1. Aliens of London (45:05) - They go back to Earth to visit Rose's mother but due to a miscalculation they arrive back 12 months later. Meanwhile, an alien spaceship crash lands in the Thames after damaging Big Ben. Also, the Prime Minister and most of the cabinet disappear and a lowly minister becomes the Prime Minister. But, why is there so much flatulence about? The Doctor and Rose investigate much to the horror of Rose's mother and boyfriend.
2. World War Three (42:58) - This episode continues the story started in the previous episode. The Doctor is forced to make a tough decision to try and stop World War Three.
3. Dalek (45:22) - The Doctor receives a call for help from a museum on Utah in 2012. The museum holds alien equipment and artefacts. Amongst the material is the last surviving live Dalek. The owner of the museum, Henry Van Statten, wants to get information from it and is torturing it accordingly. Because of Rose's lack of knowledge of the history between the Time Lords and The Daleks, she gets too closely involved with The Dalek and a battle ensues. By the end of the episode a new member has joined the Tardis' crew. This is an excellent and very dramatic episode which I found to be great viewing. The best of the series so far.

    Top quality science fiction television including drama, humour and adventure. Highly Recommended.

Video

    The video quality is disappointing for such a recent production.

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio or very close to it.

    The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout although you certainly could not refer to it as crisp. The sharpness was also affected by significant colour bleeding, especially from light colours. There was no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was not spectacular with some areas being a little murky.

    The colour was fine from a vividness and richness perspective, however the aforementioned colour bleeding from light colours was annoying and seemed to be related to a generally slightly overbright picture.

    The only noticeable artefact was aliasing which was occasionally present, such as on Venetian blinds.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read, however were quite summarised compared to the spoken word.

    The layer change occurs at 21:44 in episode 2 and caused a long pause.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is better than the first disc but still suffers from a difficult mix, especially in the third episode.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was fine except for when there was music or sound effects playing (i.e. most of the time) when it became overwhelmed by the other sounds. This made it difficult to catch some words and sentences. I ended watching the show with the subtitles on. The first two episodes on this disc were better from this perspective than Disc 1, however the third episode was back to the first disc's quality.

    The original theme song by Ron Grainer has been modernised and the other incidental music is provided by Murray Gold. The music is of good quality and adds to the production.

    The surround speakers added quite a few directional effects and significant atmosphere. For a 2.0 track it comes across very well and sounds great except for the dialogue issue.

     The subwoofer was used for adding bass to the music and effects, however this is function of my amp's bass management rather than the soundtrack itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    None.

Menu

    The menu included an intro, music, and music. Nicely done.

    This disc has been released in the same format in Region 2 and does not seem to have been released in Region 1.

    The video quality is disappointing for such a recent production.

    The audio quality is reasonable but has a difficult mix.

    The disc has no extras at all.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall