Jon Pertwee, the third actor to play Doctor Who, introduces an exclusive-to-video feature-length programme devoted to his role as the BBC’s most famous time traveller. The tape is dominated by three complete episodes, each the final part of a serial, such that a plot synopsis would have made matters more comprehensible. “Inferno” (1970) is a tale of environmental peril involving a project to drill into the Earth’s core; “Frontier in Space” (1973) showcases the last performance by the original Master, Roger Delgado; while “The Daemons” (1971) is chosen as the climax of Pertwee’s own favourite Doctor Who story. It should be noted this episode is in black and white, the BBC having wiped the colour original from the archive.
There are very few personal reminiscences of the kind found in this video’s companion volume The Colin Baker Years, though there are more diverse clips than in The Troughton Years. These include Pertwee’s first appearance as the Doctor in “Spearhead from Space” (1970), an unused test version of a new title sequence, footage shot at a 20th anniversary celebration at Longleat in 1983, and a very entertaining introduction to the “Whomobile”, as originally seen on Blue Peter in 1973.–Gary S. Dalkin
A video that doesn’t do Jon Pertwee justice 0