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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 2-Volume 5 (2005)

Doctor Who-Series 2-Volume 5 (2005)

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Released 1-Nov-2006

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2005
Running Time 133:49 (Case: 135)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (15:26) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring David Tennant
Billie Piper
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music Ron Grainer
Liana Del Giudice
Mike Jones


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 so, another excellent season of the new Doctor Who comes to an end, with this final disc of three episodes. Once again Roadshow are releasing each disc of the new series separately, one per month from July until November. This series will be spread over 5 discs instead of 4 like last year, consisting of fourteen episodes including the Christmas Special on Volume 1. A box set will be released in the near future. The presentation is very similar to last year right down to menu design.

    This disc is a very fitting end to the season. The big highlight here is the excellent season ending double episode which ties together many threads from this (and the previous series) including the return of both the Cybermen and The Daleks, amongst other popular characters. In addition many unexplained plot points from various episodes are also brought together in these final episodes, including a couple of cryptic references. The first episode is not up to the same standard but it's certainly not bad. The final episode sets us up well for another exciting and dramatic season next year. As it says at the end of the final episode 'Doctor Who will return at Christmas in The Runaway Bride'.

    The episodes included here are:

  1. Fear Her (43:56) - The Doctor and Rose arrive in London for the 2012 Olympics only to find that Children are disappearing as they play and that cars are stopping at a certain point in the street for no reason. A young girl's art works seem to somehow be related.
  2. Army of Ghosts (43:26) - Rose begins this episode by saying (in voiceover) 'Planet Earth : This is where I was born and this is where I died'. They have returned to London to visit her mother who says that her dead Grandfather is coming to visit. He appears as a ghost and The Doctor decides to investigate when he realises they are all over the world.
  3. Doomsday (46:27) - It is very hard to say anything about this episode without giving it away. I can say (considering they are pictured on the cover) that The Cybermen and Daleks are both involved, as is the shadowy Torchwood Institute.

    An excellent end to a great season of the show with David Tennant playing a wonderful version of The Doctor. Highly Recommended.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is quite good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout although you certainly could not refer to it as crisp. The sharpness was also affected by colour bleeding, especially from light colours. The colour bleeding issue was less noticeable in these episodes but certainly still present. There was no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was reasonable. There was a little light grain in some backgrounds.

    The colour was fine from a vividness and richness perspective, however the aforementioned colour bleeding from light colours was annoying, especially in outdoor scenes.

    The only noticeable artefact was minor 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 a little small in size.

    The layer change occurs at 15:26 in episode 2 and caused a minor pause in the middle of a line of dialogue.
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

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

    Dialogue was quite good in these episodes, probably the best of the series.

    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 some music and atmosphere.

     The subwoofer was not used noticeably.

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

Extras

    None.

Menu

    The menu included an intro, music, and motion. 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 as yet in Region 1.

Summary

    A great finale of this second series of the new Doctor Who.

    The video quality is quite good.

    The audio quality is good.

    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, December 21, 2006
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
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Yamaha YST SW90 subwoofer

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