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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 3-Volume 3 (2007)

Doctor Who-Series 3-Volume 3 (2007)

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Released 5-Sep-2007

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Menu Animation & Audio
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2007
Running Time 182:00 (Case: 184)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Euros Lyn
Graeme Harper
James Strong
James Hawes
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring David Tennant
Freema Agyeman
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music 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

    

    This is the third disc of the new series of Doctor Who to be released. 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, consisting of fourteen episodes, including the Christmas Special which was on the first volume. A box set will be released later in the year. The presentation is very similar to last year, right down to menu design. One change which I like is a funky new design for the discs.

    This disc contains four episodes which continue The Doctor's relationship with his new companion, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), student doctor. Martha is developing quite nicely during these episodes, although her presence seems to be taking The Doctor himself to a darker and somewhat depressed place as he struggles with his memories of Rose. We also get to meet more of her family in these episodes which introduces a new mystery to follow...Who is Harold Saxon?

    The four episodes on this disc are:

  1. Daleks in Manhattan (46:57) - First half of a two-parter featuring The Doctor's old enemy, The Daleks. This time The Doctor finds himself in 1930 Manhattan during the height of the depression. He and Martha discover poor people living in Central Park and find out that some of them have been going missing. This leads him to investigate the construction of The Empire State Building which seems to involve pig creatures and The Daleks. The Daleks seem to be taking a new approach to ensure their survival.
  2. Evolution of the Daleks (46:29) - This episode completes the story started in Daleks in Manhattan. Although this double episode contains some good ideas, I felt it lacked somewhat in delivery, which is not helped by the dodgy acting and accents from some of the extras. David Tennant seems to be developing an annoying habit of always gritting his teeth during times of tension.
  3. The Lazarus Experiment (43:05) - Another good idea but this time executed better. The Doctor returns Martha to her home and discovers that an elderly scientist Dr Lazarus is launching a new technology which he says will 'change what it means to be human'. He uses a machine to make himself young again which has interesting side effects.
  4. 42 (45:29) - This is the best episode on the disc and of the season so far. The Tardis picks up a distress signal, so the Doctor lands on a space ship. They quickly discover that the ship has lost power and is 42 minutes from crashing into a sun! Cracker of an episode with lots of action, tension and adventure.

    Recommended.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is very good.

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

    The picture was surprisingly clear and sharp throughout, a significant improvement from previous discs. There is still some light colour bleeding to be seen but not as bad as previous discs. Shadow detail is also very good. There was no evidence of low level noise. There was just a little light grain in some scenes.

    The colour was fine from a vividness and richness perspective, however the aforementioned colour bleeding from light colours was a little annoying.

    There were no noticeable artefacts other than a little mild aliasing here and there.

    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.

    There are no layer changes in the episodes.
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good but a 5.1 mix would be nice.

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

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand, although some lines were a bit drowned by the music and effects. Audio sync was also fine.

    The original theme song by Ron Grainer has been modernised and the score is provided by Murray Gold. The music is of excellent quality and adds significantly to the production.

    The surround speakers added significant music and atmosphere.

    The subwoofer was used to add bass to the music and effects.

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

    The next four episodes of Series 3 of the new Doctor Who, one of which is a cracker.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    No extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Friday, September 21, 2007
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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