Eye of Horus | Doctor Who | The Classic Series 1963-96

STORY PLOTLINE

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in the middle of a meteorite shower and the Doctor is found by UNIT troops and taken to a nearby hospital. The Brigadier is faced with having to cope not only with the mysterious meteorites but also with Ransome, an ex-employee of a local factory, who claims he has seen a walking mannequin.

The meteorites turn out to be hollow globes containing the Nestene agent, Channing, has infiltrated the plastics factory and is using energy from the globes to animate Autons - mannequin-like figures and realistic replicas of senior establishment figures - with the aim of colonising the Earth.

Aided by newly recruited UNIT scientist Dr Elizabeth Shaw, the Doctor sets out to thwart this scheme.

BLU-RAY SEPCIAL EDITION (15 July 2013) EXTRAS

A DANDY AND A CLOWN - The life of Jon Pertwee
CARRY ON: The life of Caroline John
RESTORATION COMPARISON
TITLE SEQEUNCE RAW MATERIAL
COMING SOON TRAILER - DOCTOR WHO : THE GREEN DEATH S.E.

Blu-ray COMMENT

Simply, this BBC DVD release, rummaging through the DOCTOR WHO episode archive all the way back to 1970, sets a new definitive benchmark for all future releases.

Or should I be more cautious? Our, fandom's, first - and, perhaps, only - CLASSIC SERIES story, DOCTOR WHO - SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE, re-mastered to a High Definition standard and formatted & released as a Blu-ray, has been issued twice before but, unlike even a smattering of Matt Smith/11 th Doctor's stories, you can never tire of being drawn into Robert Holmes' penned four-parter as it heralds the beginning of a new era for the drama series.

With a blaze of gyrating colour, Holmes', supported by the Production Team and the resources available at the BBC, jettisons the dull greyness of the sixties, in addition to capturing the Third Doctor's premiere adventure on wholly celluloid (16mm film camera) ditching videotape. Primarily, this is one reason why SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE has been so adept in accepting a diligent restoration process, and compared to its two previous releases (1999 and 2010) this issue could be considered a quantum leap in seeing it with new clarity, depth and ebullience.

More so, it is the writer's skill in constructing a linear (NEW SERIES take note!), confidently acted (Caroline John's performance is calmly precise and often underrated by critics. Watch the indignity of her character as she confronts the Brigadier after having been ".even searched." It's not what she says but it's all in John's subtle eye movement) and magically produced that ensures that SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE remains as watchable now (2013) as it did when it was originally broadcast.

As you would expect, the restoration is clinically astute and, almost , flawless.

However, there are only two scenes - episode two and four - where there is a 'hair-in-the-gate' at the top of the frame. I can only assume that this errant shadow could not have been removed as the camera constantly scans the actors and set?

However, throughout, the attention to detail in improving picture clarity, stabilisation and colour balancing is expertly observed.

So sharp is the image that you empathise with Sam Seeley is bathed in unrelenting sweat as he unearths the super-heated Nestene Energy Unit, or winching at the extent of his dental tartar staining, or the simply beauty of his vivid red scarf.

So sharp is the image that I am sure that the Brigadier's iconic moustache has a live of its own, and that I am sure that I spotted Susan Boyle in Ashbridge Cottage Hospital's waiting room reading a magazine.

So sharp is the image that you can see the nap of the Third Doctor's purloined velvet jacket, or that the ethnicity of a UNIT soldier can be classified as 'Indian'.

So sharp is the image that you can see that the Auton 'warehouse men' are wearing the silver Doc Marten's boots that were previously owned by INVASION-styled Cybermen, or the delicate embroidery across the Time Lord's crisp, white cotton shirt.

So sharp is the image that the make-up of the "humanised" Autons, such as the 'Hospital Porters', is as alien as you could possibly imagine; chillingly creative.

Again, it's a remarkable restoration and unequivocally matches the quality of Holmes' four-parter and one that truly deserves to be the first of its kind to be 'blu-rayed'.

Equal in quality to the main feature's restoration are the all-new documentary features ('the Extras' or 'Value Added Material'). Both, A DANDY AND CLOWN and CARRY ON: THE LIFE OF CAROLINE JOHN, are highly informative, thoroughly enchanting and gloriously filmed that will have you wide-eyed in astonishment, heart-broken on the edge of tear and breathless.

In A DANDY AND A CLOWN, the life of Jon Pertwee is chronicled with precision, honesty and depth that delivers a new perspective on the actor's work, rebellious life and untimely death whilst attending an American DOCTOR WHO Convention. I don't want to give too many spoilers but the documentary combines interviews with the actor, his friends and colleagues (including former WORZEL GUMMIDGE's The Scarecrow Man, Geoffrey Bayldon) along with never-seen-before family photographs and 'cine-film' capturing summer holidays (including a candid glimpse of a vacationing Pertwee stuffing an unseen object into his 'tidy-whitey' underpants. Definitely not a Sonic Screwdriver).

From his birth (7 July 1919) to swinging on school lavatory chains and his subsequent expulsion, and from his rise and rise as a BBC Radio "actor of a thousand voices" to playing the Doctor, from creating a head-swapping scarecrow to his legendary appearances at Convention, A DANDY AND A CLOWN is superb and, once again, sets a very high standard for future DVD (or BLU-RAY) releases.

Goosebumps. That's what I have running down my neck and arms as comment about CARRY ON: THE LIFE OF CAROLINE JOHN. It's a classy, sensitive and beautiful documentary that deserves your unwavering attention. Recalling the career of a much forgotten/ignored or, at the very least, underrated DOCTOR WHO companion, Caroline John's family and colleagues provide an insight into a person that perhaps DOCTOR WHO did not really know or get to know and, in moments of candour, the memories are very personal indicative of, and I speak from my own experience, untempered grief. If you are not emotionally touched by her husband's, Geoffrey Beevers (THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN), description of his life-long friend (".so gracefully.") is so heart-warming, but it's not all what he said but the distant gaze through time as he recalls Caroline in memory that only he retrieve and we, as viewers, can only wonder of when, of where that was created.

Daughter, Daisy Ashford, recalls that her mum was ".unconventional; she smoked a pipe." whilst Caroline's younger sister affirmed that ".Cary was never frightened of death." and Geoffrey confirmed that ".she worried more about me than she did about herself..." and at the end of her life (2012) ".was very calm."

At the time of her death, the ".unconventional." and Royalist Caroline even has the temerity to telephone the BBC to complain about the amateur, lamentable presentation commentary that accompanied the broadcast of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. But what would you expect from a Yorkshire-born woman!

An exquisite documentary by Pup Ltd.'s Chris Chapman and Dan Hall. Truly magical.

The TITLE SEQUENCE RAW MATERIAL is a 'filler' that is no more than a mild distraction to the main events. I suppose it had to be there but I am sure, considering that SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE was filmed entirely on location, a NOW AND THEN featurette could have been compiled.

The RESTORATION COMPARISON is demonstrates the lengths to which the digital clean-up has not only improved the original 'archive' print but of the 1999 and 2010 DVD releases. 'Chemical stains', dust sprinkles and scratches have been laboriously exorcised and the new HD 'master' colour balanced to a level of pulchritude.

The COMING SOON is heralded with a lament from a Welsh Male Voice Choir ahead of the snarling tones of giant maggots, discharging weapons from UNIT soldiers and the tears of seven million viewers as Jo Grant and the Doctor part company. The special edition of DOCTOR WHO - THE GREEN DEATH is released on 5 August 2013.

Overall, DOCTORWHO - SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE Blu-ray edition is categorically, unreservedly and undoubtedly the pinnacle of releases from BBC DVD since the 1999 release of DOCTOR WHO - THE FIVE DOCTORS.

Even if, like me, you'll need to purchase a Blu-ray machine to play it, then you will not be disappointed.

But the next question is: which CLASSIC SERIES story is being prepared for Blu-ray release?

Whatever it is, I can't wait.

ORIGINAL DVD EXTRAS

STUDIO COMMENTARY Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John
JOIN UNIT Original UNIT Recruitment film
Unused Third Doctor title sequence
Location Notes and Production Notes

2011 RE-RELEASE DVD EXTRAS

STUDIO COMMENTARY 1 Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John
STUDIO COMMENTARY 2 Terrance Dicks and Derrick Sherwin
DOWN TO EARTH - THE MAKING OF SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE
REGENERATION - FROM BLACK & WHITE TO COLOUR
JOIN UNIT Original UNIT Recruitment film
Location Notes and Production Notes

COMMENT

The special edition of DOCTOR WHO – SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE includes two commentaries from the cast and crew, and whilst the Nicholas Courtney & Caroline John version (as used on the original release) may be your first choice I would recommend the newly-recorded commentary with Script Editor (and always very good value), Terrance Dicks and the story’s Producer, Derrick Sherwin as it is surprisingly entertaining, highly informative and revealing.

On the “Earth-bound” format, Derrick Sherwin: We had reviewed QUATERMASS and got fed up with alien plants and “jelly” monsters. Terrance Dicks: My memory is that the programme had run its course and it was about time to take it off.
Derrick Sherwin: DOCTOR WHO at this time was becoming more and more expensive.

On seeking new writers for the series, Derrick Sherwin: I asked Nigel Neale (QUATERMASS) to write a DOCTOR WHO but he couldn’t. It’s not that easy to write.

On recoding SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE, Derrick Sherwin: 16mm film. A luxury and a large extent a blessing.
Terrance Dicks: Directors always say that there is a “mysterious” quality about film, which I have never really understood as a writer.

On deploying the Brigadier and his team, Terrance Dicks: I always liked the UNIT stories, except five stories a season.

On the departure of Patrick Troughton, Derrick Sherwin: …at the end of his schedule he was absolutely “frazzled”. When I was on the show we did 42 (episodes) a year. Hell of a turnaround and he really needed the rest; it was turning his temper.
Terrance Dicks: He was always grumpy. Shades of grumpy.

On the casting of Jon Pertwee, Terrance Dicks: Jon was desperately nervous under all that suavity, man-of-the-world confidence.

On the location filming, Derrick Sherwin: A splendid location; Wood Norton. We used it for the hospital and UNIT offices.

On Nicholas Courtney, Terrance Dicks: There’s Nick looking young, handsome and incredibly thin.

On Neil Wilson’s character (Sam Seeley), Terrance Dicks: This chap needs subtitles. I cannot understand whet he’s saying:

Derrick Sherwin: A Devonshire lad.

Terrance Dicks discusses the five-year story “arc” (sort of) between SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE and ROBOT as he reminds the audience that inconceivably the Doctor keeps a spare TARDIS key in his shoes.

Terrance Dicks recounts the story that whilst visiting the plastic doll manufacturer Jon Pertwee attempted to obtain a “freebie” toy for his niece only to be tersely ignored by the company. “Hon was always looking for a quick perk.”

On Caroline John’s character (Elizabeth Shaw), Derrick Sherwin: A woman with masculine tenderness. Strong and a good foil for Lethbridge Stewart. And Peter Bryant’s favourite.
Terrance Dicks: My God, that’s a short skirt!
Derrick Sherwin: Peter Bryant’s said, “Put her in a short skirt!”

On the plastic Autons, Terrance Dicks: A very good simple monster. Very scary.

On seeing the Doctor take a shower, Derrick Sherwin: One of few nude scenes in DOCTOR WHO.

On creating the Doctor’s Edwardian-styled roadster, Derrick Sherwin: I think I put in Bessie as a merchandising opportunity.

FACT: As Lis Shaw witnesses the Doctor attempting to dematerialise the TARDIS, you will see that the rear doors of the Police Box are open to permit the Special Effects Team to pump smoke into it.

On Douglas Camfield, Derrick Sherwin: A great loss to British television.

On the script’s final line, Terrance Dicks: That was my line, “Dr. John Smith”. I gave him that.

Derrick Sherwin: Goodbye, DOCTOR WHO and good luck. Jon, I will miss you.

The “value added material” for this re-release constitutes two major documentaries that chronicle the making of SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE and how the series, at the time, itself regenerated. It is interesting that that some 35 years later, BBC WALES would undergo the same “regeneration” in bringing the NEW SERIES to fruition (though with more substantial finances and technology).

In DOWN TO EARTH, the cast (including Jon Pertwee from the 1994 archive interview) and crew analyse the predicament that the series has found itself facing; a dispirited BBC wanting to cancel it as the audience had become disenchanted by it and rising production costs. As Terrance Dicks stated; “In 1969, DOCTOR WHO was dying”. Desperate measures needed calm heads and a firm hand or the series would have vanished from the screen, exiled to “cult” status.

Jon Pertwee recalls that he wanted to play the Doctor “straight” without comedy whilst the Third Doctor’s costume designer (Christine Rawlins) used the red satin-lined cape as the representation of “wings of the mother hen” for audience reassurance. Furthermore, Pertwee recounts the story – whether true of not, it is fantastic tale – that he successfully “nurgled” (read: stole) a piece of furniture during the filming of SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE.

A wonderful, joyous documentary that fondly remembers the 1969 production and how that it started to re-establish DOCTOR WHO’s credibility not only with the BBC Executive but, more importantly, with the audience. It was collaborative effort, but the series was safe for another decade.

In REGENERATION, the DOCTOR WHO production crew discuss the challenges that were encountered in bringing DOCTOR WHO from a world of monochromatic grey to a full colour television transmission

Terrance Dicks summed up the tenacity of the series’ production team; “Everyone came together and we took off from there.” Graphic Designer, Bernard Lodge recalls the difficulties of transferring the iconic DOCTOR WHO opening title sequence from the black & white to “ psychedelic ” colour, whilst Director, Timothy Coombe (DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS) asserts that he had “never enough time and never enough money” to realise a script’s potential (especially when using the temperamental Chroma key or CSO [Colour Separation Overlay]).

The five-minute UNIT RECRUITMENT film was included in the original DVD release and whilst it is entertaining I would have liked to have seen a 2011 version using clips from the NEW SERIES as an update.

One point of note is that the quality of the print has been thoroughly “cleaned” & restored and is, and I am not given to hyperbole as you know, beyond criticism. Superb.

Of course, MANNEQUIN MANIA boxset has coincided with the death of actor, Nicholas Courtney ( Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart) and, as such, the DVD release is fittingly poignant for fans. The character spanned 21 seasons of the CLASSIC SERIES (from THE WEB OF FEAR to BATTLEFIELD) and continued briefly in THE SARAH JANE ADVANTURES (ENEMY OF THE BANE) and will continue to entained & reassure those older viewers we remember him “the first time round” and new fans discovering the sometimes hapless but always resolute companion to the Doctor(s).

Simply, DOCTOR WHO – MANNEQUIN MANIA represents excellent value (and, please, don’t moan about having a copy of SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE already) and an invaluable insight to a time when the series was confronting difficult choices and indifference from the BBC Executive. Of course, they surmounted then and moved swiftly forward to, once again, cement it into British culture.

The best years were yet to come, but it all started with here.