STORY PLOTLINE
The Doctor and Ace visit England in 1988, where three rival factions - the Cybermen, a group of Nazis and a 17th Century sorceress named Lady Peinforte - are attempting to gain control of a statue made of a living metal, validium, that was created by Rassilon as the ultimate defence for Gallifrey.
The statue has three components - a bow, an arrow and the figure itself - that must be brought together in order for it to be activated. They have been separated since 1638 when, in order to foil the first attempt by Peinforte to seize it, the Doctor launched the figure into orbit in a powered asteroid.
DVD EXTRAS
Once again BBC DVD has brought together a solid (read: respectful, knowledgeable and entertaining) team for this commentary. A balance of cast, crew and production office contributions that provide that insight that, say, a commentary team of "fan luminaries" could not (see DOCTOR WHO - MYTHS & LEGENDS DVD release), and neither could a "moderated" panel.
Surprisingly, the appreciation level of 1988's DOCTOR WHO - SILVER NEMESIS after listening to the personal viewpoints is heightened. It the three-part story (and that SEASON 25's finale, THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY) was troubled from the very start; page one, line one.
THE COMMENTARY TEAM
Sylvester McCoy - The Doctor
Sophie Aldred - Ace
Chris Clough - Director
Andrew Cartmell - Script Editor
On the setting of SILVER NEMESIS, Chris Clough: It was supposed to be South America but we could not afford to go to.
On the Elizabethan Mathematician casting of Leslie French, Chris Clough: We put him in as he was offered the role of "Doctor Who" for the first episode, and declined it.
Andrew Cartmell: Back in 1963.
Chris Clough: .and we thought it would be a good wheeze to have him back on the 25th. anniversary. I'm not too sure if he was pleased to have turned it down.
On the casting of Anton Diffring as De Flores, Chris Clough: He fled Nazi Germany in 1936, because he was gay & liberal, and then spent his career playing Nazis. It was quite tough for him but a charming fellow.
Sylvester McCoy: It was his last job.
On the introduction of the Doctor's "fob watch", Sylvester McCoy: I suggested we have high technology in ancient stuff.
Sophie Aldred: And they do that in the NEW SERIES, don't they.
On the difficult plotting for the drama, Chris Clough: I recall that it was difficult getting the three stories right. We had three time zones all going at once.
Sophie Aldred: I don't think that we quite got it right, did we Sylv? We missed great chunks of the read-through and rehearsals.
Andrew Cartmell: The original script didn't have the cybermen in it.
Sophie Aldred: Didn't it!
Andrew Cartmell: The hitchhiker scene is a bit of subplot gone too far. It was John's (Nathan Turner) idea. God bless him.
On the inspirational outside broadcast lighting, Chris Clough: The lighting guys were good on this. It was early days of good lighting on location. Andrew Cartmell: Beautifully moody.
Note: The Seventh Doctor wears a Fez hat that he found in the basement of Windsor Castle.
On filming on location for the Elizabethan house, Sophie Aldred: I don't enjoy this day on DOCTOR WHO. I remember bursting into tears at one point. There was a real atmosphere; all the pentagrams and stuff. And we had a bit of late night party the night before.
On introducing subtle threads throughout the Seventh Doctor's travels, Sylvester McCoy: And the Chess analogy. We tried to get that in more and more, didn't we Andrew.
Andrew Cartmell: Yes, the notion that the Doctor is Chess player.
On working with very technical special effects, Chris Clough: This "blummin" bow was a nightmare.
Sophie Aldred: Oh, yes!
Chris Clough: You hade to shine a light at it. It was made out of a special material to make it glow when a UV light was shone on it.
Note: Error: At the end of episode one, when the cybermen appear the Doctor's image was electronically reverse as his fob watch chain has moved from his left lapel to his right.
On the new tweaking of the cybermen costume, Sylvester McCoy: Ah, the cyber-crotch.
Andrew Cartmell: We'll save that for the next episode.
Note: As in 2007's THE SHAKESPEARE CODE, there is an arrow lodged into the TARDIS door.
On DOCTOR WHO fans discovering filming locations, Andrew Cartmell: There was a mole in the BBC PRINTING OFFICE. They found out from there.
On the cybermen voices, Andrew Cartmell: Those cyber-voices are bit dodgy.
Chris Clough: It's hard to make the dialogue distinguishable.
On the script, Sophie Aldred: I forgot how funny the script was.
On the NEW SERIES cybermen design, Andrew Cartmell: The modern cybermen have "flares" which I find a bit terrifying.
On the "guest-star" appearance at the end of episode two, Sylvester McCoy: Was that a "stunt" chameleon? Look, cliffhanger acting - with meaning.
On the performance of Sylvester McCoy, Chris Clough to Sylvester McCoy: I thought you were on prime form here.
As a cyberman falls from the high walkway of the warehouse, Sophie Aldred: That was just a suit.
All: Oh, don't spoil it.
On the over use of the Sonic Screwdriver, Andrew Cartmell: That's the problem with the NEW SERIES. I think one day they'll have to lose it.
On having watched the cleaned-up version of DOCTOR WHO - SILVER NEMESIS, Sylvester McCoy: It was great fun, and it was sunny.
Andrew Cartmell: I look forward to seeing you all for THE HAPPINESS PATROL.
Sylvester McCoy: That wasn't sunny. Weren't you going to film that in "black and white" at one stage?
Chris Clough: Yes. On the tilt. A "film noir".
Sylvester McCoy: That's now I advise people to it. On the tilt.
DVD EXTRAS: FEATURETTES
The INDUSTRIAL ACTION title has a (non-salacious, mind you) double entendre meaning as it refers in part of the pending "industrial employment issues" that was/would affect DOCTOR WHO and the environment that the story's climax was filmed in (i.e. a former gasworks site).
This "remembering" featurette focuses on the concepts and script delivered by author, Kevin Clarke, in addition to the pressures of filming a drama series on location.
Clarke recalls an early (and unprepared) meeting with John Nathan-Turner (Producer) at which the author's only idea (matured in the lift going up to the meeting) was that the Doctor "is God but he gets it wrong". Nathan-Turner liked the notion but warned, "You can do it but you cannot say it". Later, in the featurette, Sylvester McCoy admitted; "When I did DOCTOR WHO I always thought there was some religion about it."
Clarke and actor, Gerald Murphy discusses the inclusion of humour in DOCTOR WHO as a way of heightening elements of threat & darkness, whilst Cartmell recounts the tale of Delores Gray's "rocks" going missing ahead of filming.
Thankfully, whilst the featurette did repeat a number of the commentary team's stories it was not a tedious as previous DVD releases.
In a well-presented featurette, DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES is a fascinating glimpse of how the story could have been but never was.
Strangely, the deleted scenes filmed in the Elizabethan house with the Doctor and Ace were intriguing, adding a depth to their relationship and begs the question, "why were they deleted?" by the skilled Director.
Notable scenes: Sylvester McCoy pulls off a remarkable impression of saxophone player, Louis Armstrong; and "Doctor Dolittle" as he removes a duck from the TARDIS; and the use of "pez nez" (armless spectacles) as a hypnotic device; and the cybermen carrying the "meteor" in their spacecraft.
The TRAILS AND CONTINUITY includes a series of promotional items for BBC 2's THE FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO repeat season, and a clips-fest to entice viewers to abandon ITV's CORONATION STREET and to watch SEASON 25.
Oh, the COMING SOON... is TIME AND THE RANI. Oh.
Overall, DOCTOR WHO - SILVER NEMESIS DVD release is an oddity - enjoyable (especially the commentary track) but lack's a spark for it to be a "must watch" again (whether in two months time or two years time). It will be left on the shelf to say, "Well, I have it as part of my DVD collection, and I had to buy it for REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN DVD, anyway!", and there it will stay until, in some illogical misjudgement of loyalty, the 50th. anniversary of DOCTOR WHO.
However, with that said, I believe that if it is wholly understood that this era of the series (Seasons 24 - 26) was a traumatic time for the production (the programme is scheduled against the long-running ITV "soapbox drama", was not respected by BBC Executives, and was affected by sporadic industrial action) then it was remarkable that the programme was made in the first place. It was tough times, and in tough times you either (1) become more resilient or (2) panic. The latter, it seemed, was true.
So, give DOCTOR WHO - SILVER NEMESIS another try with an open mind, and it might, just might, be entertaining.
Oh, by the way, the preview discs supplied to eyeofhorus.org.uk seem to be a little fuzzy in places (i.e. end of episode two).
