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Doctor Who: The E Space Trilogy [DVD]

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Actors: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, Matthew Waterhouse, John Leeson
Studio: 2 Entertain
Category: DVD

List Price: ~~£34.99~~
Buy New: £13.88
as of 23/11/2009 06:51 GMT details
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New (16) Used (2) from £12.45

Seller: Amazon.co.uk
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

22 reviews
Sales Rank: 1498

Format: PAL
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 3
Running Time: 275 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.5 x 1.8

EAN: 5014503183523
ASIN: B001MWRTUY

Release Date: January 26, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours

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Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 1-5 of 22

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Tom Baker at his best.... December 31, 2008
andy (Cornwall, England UK)
35 out of 44 found this review helpful

Well, here it is. One of the best sections of Doctor Who that was made. br /There can be no denying that John Nathan Turner, much as people grew to loath him for what happened to the programme in its later years under his 'care', did great things in his first season as producer. br /This season does away with the rather silly humour that had crept in in the late 70's, (all the more poignant when JNT made the same mistake in the McCoy era and introduced too much humour) and replaced it with a more serious sci-fi air that had not really been seen since Pertwee's first season. br /A raft of good stories, and Tom Baker in atmospherically subdued form; some people say the tone of this season was funereal, and all the better for it. br /And so to the E-Space trilogy. What a brilliant concept. Doctor Who had done parallel worlds before, and Russel T Davies would do so again in the new series. But here we have a slightly different spin on the idea; that of a negative universe with negative co-ordinates. It made perfect sense to the 10 year old me, who was doing negative co-ordinates in Maths at school and i found the idea fascinating. I still do 28 years later. br /The stories are great; br /Full Circle, is in some ways a classic Who; people trapped in a confined space; a horrible monster lurking about, and Tom Baker and Lalla Ward on good form. br /But the story is intriguing, and i won't give it away. br /Its a shame that good use wasn't made of K9 here, as in many stories, the writers simply get him out of the way to avoid writing for him. But, there are some good moments nonetheless. br /This story is notable for introducing the character of Adric, a companion hated by many. br /I rather liked him as a viewer back then as he was a change to the tiresome screaming girls that had been around for seemingly ever, (i was ten!) and i thought it was great that there should be a boy companion. br /I think Adric was a really good idea, and was well realised by Matt Waterhouse, and was exactly as he should have been portrayed, so i have trouble seeing why people don't like the character. In the Davison era he would go on to contribute well to the Tardis 'family' which made the show more interesting and enjoyable then. Oh well, each to their own! br /State of Decay is a Terrance Dicks masterpiece, has vampires, a civilisation descended from the crew of an ancient space ship and sees technology lost and a people in decline. This is fantastic stuff and has some genuinely creepy moments. br /The last story Warriors Gate is perhaps the most confusing and needs to be watched a few times for it to make sense, but, without giving anything away, it sees a goodbye or two, another fascinating concept and higher than average production values. The model work is good and the incidental music evokes real atmosphere. br / br /I cannot think of any negatives here really. These three tales stand up well today. Obviosly the effetcs are of their time, but very good considering that, and there are some impressive shots in the last story particularly. br / br /This set of stories really is top notch. This is Doctor Who at its finest and should be added to anyones collection. br / br /

5 out of 5 stars

"A Trilogy of Toms" March 16, 2009
Bob Marlowe (UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

A very fine boxset br /Full Circle is a well crafted tale and it's a great shame Andrew Smith never wrote again for the show. Evolution as a force, a culture built around a crashed starliner and Oliver Twist outsiders-the Outlers. br /A good guest cast especially George Baker, Richard Willis and who rep actors Alan Rowe and James Bree. Well designed monsters in the Marshmen rugged enough for a dip in the water and a good mask. The clockwork spiders, well they looked better in the day. br /A good directorial debut for Peter Grimwade. br / br /State of Decay is Dr Who doing Hammer horror in a fun script from Terrance Dicks making the most of old cliches throwing in scared villagers, bats and a reaction to seeing blood from a cut. There are integral SF nuances too. The 3 who rule are made up in a traditional vampire way, pallid and are well played-especially Emrys James. br /Good costumes and design and another Peter directorial debut as Peter Moffat offers his best work 1st time out. Watch for the movement he gets into a static but important dialogue scene! br /The demerit is the Great vampire, a hand in a scaled down set. br / br /Hard to describe Warrior's Gate because like Ghostlight, the plot's hard to follow. It does create a sense of non-linear time and looks fantastic for the time-arthouse who! br /Again a good cast, watch for Marty Hopkirk as Kenneth Cope plays Packard and the ultimate TV Nazi(at least until Herr Flick) Kessler as Clifford Rose plays Rorvik. br /Another directorial debut, this time for Paul Joyce who brought a unique look influenced by French director Jean Cocteau. this extends to the lionlike Tharils, sympathetic but with a darker side. As long as you can accept it being a bit inaccessable, fun. br / br /Of the regulars Uncle Tom is on autopilot sometimes but always watchable and when he's good he's good! Lalla Ward is as good as ever. A very underplayed exit. br /Matthew waterhouse is promising in State of Decay but frequently makes little of the material and K9 is not well used. br / br /Stuffed with extras including a good documentary for each one. The Full Circle doc covers the story Adric's arrival and has god soundbites e.g George Baker thrilled to be in Who, Lalla Ward hinting she didn't like Matthew W best of all we hear from Andrew Smith. br /The State of Decay doc covers the genesis of the story from an unused script a few years prior and Terrance Dicks' battles with script editor Bidmead. As in the commentary made prior to Peter Moffat's death, so he makes valuable contributions. br /The Warrior's doc goes into intriguing detail on the story's troubled production also looks at Lalla Ward's departure and she jokes that a practical joke on Tom was marrying him. br /The commentaries for Full Circle State of Decay have Matthew Waterhouse and I quite warmed to him, pretentious sometimes but interesting on how difficult Tom and director Grimwade could be. Andrew Smith and Bidmead are a mutual admiration society but fun and Terrance Dicks is always good value. br /The Warrior's gate com has a lot of technical details from the director and some fun with Lalla who when asked if she enjoyed hiding under a blanket with Master Waterhouse refuses to answer to avoid "a stream of invective". Bidmead should stop saying that he wanted to be billed as Christopher "Hamilton" Bidmead, a dull anecdote he has shared before. br / br /There is an dull interview with Waterhouse about his time but Lalla Ward's time viewed through her costumes is great fun. I don't know why there are so many soundbites from Nev Fountain (Big Finish author)though. Do you care what he thinks about her schoolgirl outfit? br / br /A look at K9's role in the stories goes off on a tangent from the subject matter. br /Some fun unusual features include look at the possibility of other universes, vampire literature, eating blood and an there's an odd thing called The Christopher Frayling Reading (where the distinguished academic waffles). br /There are some mildly interesting deleted scenes. br /An excellent package and all praise to 2 entertain (even if there are no Tommentaries). br /Really more for big Uncle Tom fans or those who like good SF concepts in Who.

5 out of 5 stars

Classic Who February 12, 2009
Mr Robert John Newton-Howes
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This is an excellent investment. The story arc, or common thread allows some serious sci-fi concepts to sit neatly with the traditional well trodden gothic and rubber monster themes of the 1970's. br / br /Full Circle sees the introduction of Adric as a character. I am one of the people who thinks this character was well conceived but poorly realised. Supposedly an Artful Dodger type in his inception on paper, Adric is acted by Matthew Waterhouse, who seems much more suited to his debut character in "To Serve Them All My Days" and the result for me is more arrogant immature nerd than savvy street urchin. Nonetheless, the story has some interesting ideas around evolution and an enjoyable supporting cast in the Deciders. 4/5 br / br /State Of Decay is an atmospheric gothic vampire romp, reminiscent of some of the mid 1970's work such as Brain Of Morbius. The supporting cast again are excellent. A couple of the cliffhangers are a bit iffy, and better editing could have improved on these because there are scarier moments within seconds of these. However, again there is an interesting sci-fi twist embedded in the story. 5/5 br / br /The final story is almost totally sci-fi. Quantum physics and space/time relationships are all explored. Clifford Rose is absolutely superb as a thuggish space captain. To say much more on this story might give away the ending, so I will leave it there, suffice to say this is an intriguing story well realised. 5/5 br / br /On the whole box set, Romana's character is well utilised, Tom Baker is at his best, Adric is, well, Adric, K9 is kept out of much of the action until the final story, the stories move at a good pace and keep you entertained. br / br /This set is well worth the price. It is far superior to the recent Sontaran offering. If you need some classic Who for your collection, then you could do much much worse than buy this.

5 out of 5 stars

A trip to excellence space. February 12, 2009
Mr. R. A. Perry (walsall, England)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

These three stories are the undoubted highlight of Tom Bakers final season of Doctor Who. First story "Full Circle" is probably the best serial of the season, demonstrating an even balance between the shows older monster stories and Christopher Bidmeads hard science approach to the stories. It doesn't put a foot wrong, with each of the four episodes perfectly paced with incident and hints to the final twist. Second story "State Of Decay", by old hand Terrance Dicks, is the most traditional story. With it's Hammer Horror like depictions of vampires and terrified villagers (minus heaving bossoms of course) its a very old school Who story that wouldn't be out of place in any of the preceding seasons. Final story "warriors' Gate" is probably the best example of the Bidmead era in it's purest form. It's a complex story of time sensitive lion-men, collapsing universes and the rise and fall of empires built on the work of slaves. All in all three very different but equally good examples of the show.

5 out of 5 stars

Classic adventures in time space: the E-Space Trilogy February 27, 2009
Tony
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

It's been awhile since I've been treated to real, classic Doctor Who, and this box set remedies that very well: not one, but three brilliant stories from the final season starring Tom Baker, to many of us still the definitive Doctor. While the first of the three, Full Circle, is basically just a sci-fi runaround, it does at least have some genuinely clever ideas behind it, and by the time we get to the moody, gothic magnificence of State of Decay and the surrealist fantasy of Warriors Gate these stories are unmissable. The set is also packed with extras which put the new series box sets to shame. Highly recommended.

Showing reviews 1-5 of 22

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