best cybermen erahttp://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/the-moonbase-dvd-contents-and-cover-announcedContentsFully remastered Episodes 2 and 4.Newly animated Episodes 1 and 3, using original off-screen soundtrack recordings.Commentary on Episodes 2 and 4: a traditional commentary with actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Edward Phillips and Special Sounds creator Brian Hodgson.Commentary on Episodes 1 and 3: a series of interviews featuring writer Kit Pedler’s daughters Lucy Pedler and Carol Topolski, archive interviews with producer Innes Lloyd, AFM Lovett Bickford, and Cyberman actors Barry Noble, Derek Chaffer and Reg Whitehead. Moderated and linked by Toby Hadoke.Lunar Landing – cast and crew look back on the making of the story. With actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Reg Whitehead, production assistant Desmond McCarthy.Photo Gallery – production, design and publicity photos from the story.Coming Soon – a trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.Radio Times listings.Programme subtitles.Subtitle Production Notes.
Moon Boots and Cyber Suits The first Doctor Who release of 2014 is a 1967 part episode/part animated release. The Moonbase is from the first Season of Patrick Troughton’s era as the Doctor and features the second appearance of the Cybermen in the series. Only 2 episodes currently survive in the BBC archive and were available with many other ‘orphaned’ episodes on the ‘Lost in Time’ release. Unlike ‘Web of Fear’ and ‘Enemy of the World’, the Moonbase is still without any more of its ‘family’ and is being completed with episodes 1 and 3 being animated.Personally I’m not a fan of the animation used to recreate the classic stories, though I appreciate this is just my opinion and I’m sure others enjoy being able to watch a complete ‘moving story’. I’d be quite happy with telesnaps and soundtracks when they’re available.The Moonbase is certainly one of the better Troughton stories from his first year, helped by the return of the Cybermen only a few stories after their debut in ‘The Tenth Planet’. The Cybermen are definitely the ‘Troughton Era’ monster of choice and certainly in the 60s they are at their most creepy and menacing. The 60s cybermen look more like men wearing suits which I feel makes them seem more scary. The 80s cybermen are certainly convincing too but the cybermen today seem much more robot like and have lost that creepy edge they once had. One of the scarier scenes from the story is in the missing episode 3 when a man is being pursued across the surface of the moon by a cyberman.The sets for Moonbase are brilliantly designed, the moons surface where we see the Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie floating around at the beginning is, although limited, also realistic in regard to the story. The story sees the Doctor arrive at the only building on the moon (a weather station controlling the Earth’s weather) where the crew are being struck down by a virus. The Doctor realises that it’s the work of the cybermen who plan on taking over the Moonbase to help them destroy all life on Earth.It’s not the best Troughton story and it’s not even the best ‘cyberman/Troughton’ story, but, as mentioned it does have some great imagery when the moons surface is used as the set. Troughton has got into the swing of the role and does a great job as the Doctor, there are some classic lines to look out for and the cliffhangers for all 3 episodes would always bring you back to watch the next part the following week. It is very similar story wise to Tenth Planet and is also a favourite of the Troughton era – a base under siege – but why change a winning formula?The Target novel for this release was just called ‘The Cybermen’ but was one of the most iconic covers of the Target range (if not the greatest to read sadly).The dvd release contains the usual commentary, making of and photo gallery. The regret for the release is that it’s not a 4 part release but with the events of 2013 still fresh in my mind maybe, just maybe, this may get a re-release one day with 4 full episodes.
Eh!? Why more expensive than Enemy of the World!!!? This is not intended to be a review, but more a warning to others…Until the BBC finally decides to confirm which missing episodes have now been found, I would urge caution when buying this DVD, unless of course you are happy to pay twice. In fairness, the extras seem decent enough and I have never minded the actual story, although it’s nothing too original.I can only assume that it is the extras for which one has to pay more than the price of the 6 full episodes of The Enemy of the World.Personally, I’m going to play the waiting game.The one star is for the uncertainty about missing episode returns. If they know that episodes 1 and 3 have not been found, then a categorical statement would have been appreciated rather than the woolly wording “currently missing from the archives”. Marco Polo is still technically still missing from the archives, but most people now believe that it is known to exist.
best cybermen era http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/the-moonbase-dvd-contents-and-cover-announcedContentsFully remastered Episodes 2 and 4.Newly animated Episodes 1 and 3, using original off-screen soundtrack recordings.Commentary on Episodes 2 and 4: a traditional commentary with actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Edward Phillips and Special Sounds creator Brian Hodgson.Commentary on Episodes 1 and 3: a series of interviews featuring writer Kit Pedler’s daughters Lucy Pedler and Carol Topolski, archive interviews with producer Innes Lloyd, AFM Lovett Bickford, and Cyberman actors Barry Noble, Derek Chaffer and Reg Whitehead. Moderated and linked by Toby Hadoke.Lunar Landing – cast and crew look back on the making of the story. With actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Reg Whitehead, production assistant Desmond McCarthy.Photo Gallery – production, design and publicity photos from the story.Coming Soon – a trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.Radio Times listings.Programme subtitles.Subtitle Production Notes.
Moon Boots and Cyber Suits The first Doctor Who release of 2014 is a 1967 part episode/part animated release. The Moonbase is from the first Season of Patrick Troughton’s era as the Doctor and features the second appearance of the Cybermen in the series. Only 2 episodes currently survive in the BBC archive and were available with many other ‘orphaned’ episodes on the ‘Lost in Time’ release. Unlike ‘Web of Fear’ and ‘Enemy of the World’, the Moonbase is still without any more of its ‘family’ and is being completed with episodes 1 and 3 being animated.Personally I’m not a fan of the animation used to recreate the classic stories, though I appreciate this is just my opinion and I’m sure others enjoy being able to watch a complete ‘moving story’. I’d be quite happy with telesnaps and soundtracks when they’re available.The Moonbase is certainly one of the better Troughton stories from his first year, helped by the return of the Cybermen only a few stories after their debut in ‘The Tenth Planet’. The Cybermen are definitely the ‘Troughton Era’ monster of choice and certainly in the 60s they are at their most creepy and menacing. The 60s cybermen look more like men wearing suits which I feel makes them seem more scary. The 80s cybermen are certainly convincing too but the cybermen today seem much more robot like and have lost that creepy edge they once had. One of the scarier scenes from the story is in the missing episode 3 when a man is being pursued across the surface of the moon by a cyberman.The sets for Moonbase are brilliantly designed, the moons surface where we see the Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie floating around at the beginning is, although limited, also realistic in regard to the story. The story sees the Doctor arrive at the only building on the moon (a weather station controlling the Earth’s weather) where the crew are being struck down by a virus. The Doctor realises that it’s the work of the cybermen who plan on taking over the Moonbase to help them destroy all life on Earth.It’s not the best Troughton story and it’s not even the best ‘cyberman/Troughton’ story, but, as mentioned it does have some great imagery when the moons surface is used as the set. Troughton has got into the swing of the role and does a great job as the Doctor, there are some classic lines to look out for and the cliffhangers for all 3 episodes would always bring you back to watch the next part the following week. It is very similar story wise to Tenth Planet and is also a favourite of the Troughton era – a base under siege – but why change a winning formula?The Target novel for this release was just called ‘The Cybermen’ but was one of the most iconic covers of the Target range (if not the greatest to read sadly).The dvd release contains the usual commentary, making of and photo gallery. The regret for the release is that it’s not a 4 part release but with the events of 2013 still fresh in my mind maybe, just maybe, this may get a re-release one day with 4 full episodes.
Eh!? Why more expensive than Enemy of the World!!!? This is not intended to be a review, but more a warning to others…Until the BBC finally decides to confirm which missing episodes have now been found, I would urge caution when buying this DVD, unless of course you are happy to pay twice. In fairness, the extras seem decent enough and I have never minded the actual story, although it’s nothing too original.I can only assume that it is the extras for which one has to pay more than the price of the 6 full episodes of The Enemy of the World.Personally, I’m going to play the waiting game.The one star is for the uncertainty about missing episode returns. If they know that episodes 1 and 3 have not been found, then a categorical statement would have been appreciated rather than the woolly wording “currently missing from the archives”. Marco Polo is still technically still missing from the archives, but most people now believe that it is known to exist.