Doctor Who-Series 1-Volume 4 (2005) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio |
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Rating | |||
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 |
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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 |
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:
I thoroughly enjoyed this series - even the only average episodes were great television, and the best ones were excellent. Highly Recommended.
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.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
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.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
None.
The menu included an intro, music, and music. Nicely done.
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.
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 |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output |
Display | Sony 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 Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
Speakers | Bose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub) |