Doctor Who-Series 6 (Blu-ray) (2011) |
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Doctor Who-Series 6 (Blu-ray) (2011) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Science Fiction |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Making Of-Lots of them! Booklet Bonus Episode-Multiple Trailer-Lots of Trailers and Promos Audio Commentary-On 5 episodes |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2011 | ||
| Running Time | 593 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (6) |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Graeme Harper Euros Lyn James Strong James Hawes |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring | None Given |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Murray Gold |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD High Resolution Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080i | ||
| 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 has not graced our review pages for a couple of seasons, which is a great shame. Well, this review is for the standard Blu-ray set of Season 6 of the reincarnated Doctor Who. There is also a Limited Edition version available which includes some 3D art cards and a special raised slipcover featuring one of The Silence, one of this season's new monsters. The actual disc contents seem to be identical between the two versions.
To my mind, this is the best season of the new Doctor Who so far. It is extremely well written with interesting episode based storylines but also a whole season arc which starts in the first episode and is not resolved until the end of the last. Also, Matt Smith is really getting into his role and there is more depth being shown to the Doctor in these episodes. The teaming of Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) and River Song (Alex Kingston) as backing characters/companions is also really working, especially taking into account their intersecting story lines in this season. I don't want to tell you too much about the story arc as it will spoil the surprise of the first episode. As usual, the production values are excellent for television and the music by Murray Gold is of excellent quality.
There are one or two times where the complexity of the storyline can get the better of you if you are not following closely and watching the episodes close together will certainly help. The set includes the 2010 Christmas Special, A Christmas Carol plus the 13 episodes of the regular season spread over 6 discs, with the last disc being totally extras. The set is nicely packaged in a slip cover with one Blu-ray case inside housing all six discs.
Fans of the show will definitely want to get this season.
The video quality is very good but unfortunately only 1080i. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080i encoded using AVC.
The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout. The shadow detail was very good.
The colour was excellent, showing off the various locations including Utah.
There were no noticeable artefacts.
There are subtitles available in English for the hearing impaired which are clear and easy to read.
There are no obvious layer changes during playback.
| Sharpness |   |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
The audio quality is very good but not in the best possible high definition format. This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1. There are also Audio Descriptive and Commentary tracks in Dolby Digital 2.0. The High Resolution track is very good, however DTS-HD MA might have made it a bit better again.
Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to hear and understand, although as always with Doctor Who some dialogue was hard to catch and the subtitles proved useful. It is probably mostly a source related issue.
The music by Murray Gold sounds great.
The surround speakers were very well used, maybe even overused at times. The title sequence sounds fantastic in HD and throughout the show there are sound effects, music and the whooshing sound of the Tardis coming at you from the surrounds. The subwoofer was also very well used adding lots of bass to thuds, thumps, action scenes and the music.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
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| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
The menu was very cool and included music and motion.
A booklet is included which has episode synopses and photos.
A feature that I have only seen a few times is included here for the visually impaired, allowing menus to be navigated by spoken words.
An extended making-of/behind the scenes special for the Christmas Special including the cast switching on the Christmas Lights in Cardiff. Worthwhile.
Short Doctor Who story in two parts. In this one the Tardis rematerialises inside itself.
Short Doctor Who story in two parts. This one resolves the problem.
Interesting featurette about The Silence, how they got developed and the views of cast and crew.
Promo for the first episode which includes extra footage.
Promo for the episode which includes extra footage.
Quite an engaging commentary by Arthur Darvill (Rory) and two producers which covers trivia, locations, casting, special effects and more. Worthwhile.
Cast & Crew discuss The Gangers including the idea behind them, highlights, how the prosthetics were created and the process of applying the makeup.
Small episodes which are meant to be between episodes and reflect more 'normal' life on the Tardis. The first two feature Amy Pond and the next two River Song. OK but not overly exciting.
Commentary by writer Neil Gaiman which despite including some interesting information is quite monotonic and therefore not overly engaging.
Quite an engaging commentary by 2 actors from the episode and the episode director which covers trivia, locations, casting, special effects, costumes and more. Worthwhile.
Quite an engaging commentary by Arthur Darvill (Rory), Andie Mackintosh (Madame Vastra) and the effects supervisor which covers on set anecdotes, visual effects, the Cybermen and model making. Worthwhile.
Interesting featurette about the guards of the Tessalecta covering their design, rejected ideas and how they were built and made mobile.
Promo for the episode which includes extra footage.
Promo for the episode which includes extra footage.
An engaging commentary by writer Stephen Moffat , the director and one of the actresses in the episode. Covers the story, cast and the thinking behind the season arc.
Worthwhile short about resurrecting a classic Doctor Who monster. Covers the new design, different versions they made and the technology used.
Promo for the episode which includes extra footage.
Small episode featuring Craig, who appears in a couple of normal episodes and his baby.
Series Trailer.
Series Trailer.
Making of features for all 13 episodes totally over 2 and a half hours. Lots of interesting stuff but probably too much for the casual viewer. Fans will be keen.
Making of feature for the short episodes featured on other discs where they explain what they were trying to do with them.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This set is available in the same format in the UK.
The best series so far of the new Doctor Who.
The video quality is very good but only 1080i. The audio quality is very good.
A great set of extras.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
| Display | Sharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
| Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer |