• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SEENIT

TV, Film, Broadband, Pay-TV, Games, Computing and Tech | News, Comment & Reviews

  • NEWS
  • UPCOMING BLU-RAYS
  • ADVERTISE
  • Twitter

Doctor Who: The Invasion (DVD)

November 7, 2006 - Staff@seenituk

As most readers will be aware the first and fourth episodes of The Invasion no longer exist in the BBC archives and so here are presented as full length animations carefully produced to match the original soundtracks and surviving episodes.

Animators Cosgrove Hall – who also produced The Scream of the Shalka – have opted to blend stylised depictions of the characters with photographic backdrops gleaned from the surviving episodes. This is a brilliant concept which ensures locations are consistent throughout the episodes and reduces any ‘jarring’ effect as the story moves between animated and live action episodes.

Equally successful is the way in which the animators have captured the essence and personalities of the characters especially Patrick Troughton’s Doctor and Kevin Stoney’s Tobias Vaughan. The end result is so effective that long before the end of the first episode I’d completely forgotten that I was watching an animated version.

Clearly no animation is going to look lifelike but the animated episodes are superb and this is an unqualified success and left me hoping for more animations of other incomplete or lost stories.

Whilst deservedly praising the animation it would be unforgivable if the restoration of the live action episodes went unremarked; the clarity of the picture on internal scenes look as if they were shot yesterday and although some of the external shots are less good look they are miles ahead of the original VHS release.

The commentary accompanying the main feature includes contributions from James Goss of BBC.co.uk, sound restorer Mark Ayres and the animators of Cosgrove Hall on episode one with later episodes commentated by cast members Frazier Hines, Wendy Padbury and Nicholas Courtney plus Assistant Floor Manager Chris D’Oyly John.

In addition to the main feature this two-disc release is packed with extras. First up is Flash Frames in which Goss and Cosgrove Hall discuss the genesis of the project plus the challenges of producing animated episodes which must be able to sit alongside the live action ones and adhere to the existing soundtracks.

The second feature is Love Off-Air which pays well deserved tribute to fans who, before the days of home videos, recorded TV soundtracks for future enjoyment. It’s these recordings which have ensured that the soundtracks for the missing episodes of The Invasion exist in turn making this great DVD possible plus allowed fans to enjoy the BBC Audiobooks releases of otherwise missing or incomplete stories.

Rounding off the first disc are animated trailers for the story featuring the iconic scenes of the Cybermen emerging from sewers and descending the stairs in front of St Paul’s and Character Designs, a short feature which shows off the animated character drawings.

In a world of instant celebrity courtesy of the X Factor and Big Brother Disc Two’s Evolution of the Invasion has some interesting things to say about Patrick Troughton’s desire to separate character from actor. The feature takes an honest look at the background to the story including script issues with other serials and growing dissatisfaction on the part of Troughton with the general quality of storylines.

Doctor Who DVDs have long been a cut above most archive TV releases but The Invasion really highlights how spoilt we fans are both by the Restoration Team and 2|Entertain. Anyone doubting this need only watch the included linking clips from the 1993 VHS release which now look far from satisfactory.

One can only hope that The Invasion marks the beginning of a new direction for presenting missing Who on DVD.

The Invasion is available from BBCShop.com’s Doctor Who store
priced 12.49 GBP.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

RECENT ARTICLES

Nicolas Cage’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent comes to Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray in July

Classic British comedy The Galloping Major is coming to Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics Collection

EE expands Wembley 5G coverage ahead of Summer gig season

How to watch Paramount+ UK on an LG Smart TV

UPCOMING BLU-RAY RELEASES

Eureka is bringing Buster Keaton’s The Saphead to Blu-ray

The Lost City gets July Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray release date

Operation Mincemeat comes to Blu-ray and DVD next month

Eureka to bring Kirk Douglas’s Man Without a Star to Blu-ray

POPULAR

Paramount+ goes live in the UK with 8,000 hours of films and TV shows but no 4K UHD

Slow Horses – Apple TV+ orders third and fourth series

Streaming sticks and Smart TVs will be forced to prominently display UK catch-up apps under new rules

Virgin Media unveils its new streaming TV service

ADVERTISE ON SEENIT

We’re pleased to offer a number of advertising opportunities to high quality brands including sponsored content, competitions and advertising placements.

Please contact us for details.

 

TOPICS

Audio Blu-rays and DVD Cinema Gaming Guides Streaming Telecoms Television

Copyright © 2022 · All Rights Reserved · Contact Us · Copyright · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · StreamedTV.uk