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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Doctor Who-Series 1-Volume 4 (2005)

Doctor Who-Series 1-Volume 4 (2005)

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Released 6-Oct-2005

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Audio & Animation
Menu Audio
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2005
Running Time 131:43 (Case: 135)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (22:00) 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 ?
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 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    And now we come to the last disc of the new series of Doctor Who. This, of course, is the new series starring Christopher Eccelston as The Doctor. He ends his stint as The Doctor on this disc and his replacement is revealed in the final episode. Considering the quality of this series I am looking forward with some interest to the new series to be seen next year.

    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 his 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.

    Once again this disc contains some excellent episodes, although the first one is probably not up to the standard of the previous three on Disc 3 or the last two on this disc.

    The episodes included here are:

  1. Boom Town (43:19) - This episode is set 6 months after the story in episodes 4 & 5 on Disc 2 and features the return of the same aliens. The location has changed from London to Cardiff where a Nuclear Power plant is planned for the centre of the city. The plan is sponsored by the Lord Mayor, who is the female slitheen from the previous episodes, having escaped. This causes a rift in time which Rose, The Doctor and their new friend Captain Jack have to close.
  2. Bad Wolf (42:51) - This episode pulls together all the references to Bad Wolf which have appeared in previous episodes of the series and its meaning is revealed. It is the first part of a two part episode with the final one. They are back on Satellite 5 which appeared in the first episode of Disc 3, 100 years after the previous episode. The Doctor wakes up and finds that he has become an enforced housemate on a futuristic Big Brother. Similarly, Rose winds up in The Weakest Link and Captain Jack in What Not To Wear. The big difference is that these games are deadly for the losers. At the end of this episode an old enemy of The Doctor's returns and the episode ends in a cliffhanger. Great episode.
  3. The Parting of the Ways (45:33) - I can't tell you much about this episode without spoiling it, however, I can tell you that the actor playing The Doctor (David Tennant) in the next series appears at the end. Great stuff.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this series - even the only average episodes were great television, and the best ones were excellent. Highly Recommended.

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Transfer Quality

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.

    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 strangely occurs at 22:00 in Episode 1.
    

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.

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

    Dialogue was fine except when there was music or sound effects playing when it sometimes 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 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 a 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

Extras

    None.

Menu

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

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

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

Summary

    The best disc of this series which includes 3 episodes including an excellent concluding double episode.

    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.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output
DisplaySony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersBose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub)

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