One thought on “Doctor Who: The Aztecs (Special Edition) [DVD]”
OMG – It’s Finally Coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not shout loudly enough when I heard this DVD was coming out with not only a BRAND NEW restoration of one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time but with the added super bonus of the 2011 recovered episode of Galaxy 4 with Reconstructions of the still-missing 3 episodes. This is most probably going to be the greatest DVD release the BBC has ever commissioned.Galaxy 4 is a story that really needs an episode to survive as it is so visual. The Chumblies were never going to work on audio alone so now hopefully fans with reevaluate this misunderstood classic and enjoy what we have left. It was a feeling that can only be described as winning the lottery when I woke up on Sunday 11th December 2011 and read the news report of Air Lock and Underwater Menace 2 being miraculously found and returned to the archives. It will remain one of the happiest days of my life for a while to come.Now I’ve got that out of my system, on to the reviews;The Aztecs“““““`The Aztecs is one of the first B&W episodes of Doctor Who I ever watched, this has become over the years and repeated viewings one of my favourite Hartnell stories, I would say it was the pinnacle of 1960’s Who if it were not for Pat Troughton’s The Tomb of the Cybermen. However, this for me is a true classic and I was very happy to find that it was already out on DVD. Now with the special edition of course, I’m over the moon with joy.Broadcast over 4 weeks in 1964, The Aztecs is as its title implies, a historical serial with educational elements, but unlike The Time Meddler or The Romans that succeeded this adventure, it is played very seriously and the tension is non-stop. This story is no shadow-of-a-doubt Barbara’s centerpiece though, her constant warring with the high priest of sacrifice Tlotoxl makes for intense viewing and great acting, I thoughly enjoyed this main aspect of the story. Ian, Susan and even the Doctor have minor storylines but the whole structure of events are tied to Barbara being hailed as the Aztec God Yetaxa returned. On a side note, the Doctor and Cameca’s love story was played very well here by Hartnell and Van Der Burgh, As was Ian’s constant rivalry with Ixta, the chosen warrior of the Aztec people. Altogether, the cast and crew create one of the greatest pieces of television history and I certainly think it deserves that mantle.Now then, on to the presentation of the 2002 DVD, the Doctor Who Restoration Team have surpassed themselves yet again in restoring The Aztecs, I love the little 5 minute documentary on the restoration of the story, it makes you think how lucky us fans are that the money is there to restore these episodes to their former glory. Also included is a lengthy documentary with the cast of The Aztecs, reflecting on times gone by. Many other small little tit-bits fill up the remaining space on the disc without crowding it or making the whole thing a mess. The bonus material on offer here is more than enough to satisfy the most fanatical follower or casual viewer.The new March 2013 DVD will boast an hour long documentary from 1969 about the Aztec civilisation and of course the new Galaxy 4 reconstruction and surviving episode. The Aztecs episodes themselves have been meticulously cleaned up from scratch by Pete from SVS and will no doubt look absolutely stunning on screen.All in all, one of the greatest pieces of Doctor Who ever produced, on par with Jon Pertwee’s The Daemons or Pat Troughton’s The Tomb of the Cybermen, this truly is something special. Be sure to grab the special edition when it is released as you are buying 2 stories for the price of 1 and I have no doubt you will not be disapointed.Galaxy 4““““`Galaxy 4 – I know this has it’s faults and even I am aware that it is slated by fans but since episode 3 was recovered in December 2011, I feel myself wanting to relive the story with a fresh heart. I saw this story in full a couple of years ago via Loose Cannon’s reconstruction of it and the visual’s really helped sell it to me, I can’t wait to see the newly found part 3 but that aside I have always been a supporter of Galaxy 4.The villain in this serial, Maaga, is chilling, she is gorgeous but so cold and evil. As with many of Doctor Who’s villains they are ugly and repulsive to the eye, the Rill’s are no exception to this but in this adventure are peculiarly the good guys, a bit machine like and cold I grant you but nevertheless good inside.I personally love this quaint story and am glad that episode 3 has reared its head so we can all finally judge Galaxy 4 from actually viewing it, I have no doubt whatsoever that this special edition DVD with reconstruction of the currently missing episodes 1,2 & 4 will be an absolute gem and represent the story in as good a light as it deserves.As you can probably tell, I am looking forward to this new…
OMG – It’s Finally Coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not shout loudly enough when I heard this DVD was coming out with not only a BRAND NEW restoration of one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time but with the added super bonus of the 2011 recovered episode of Galaxy 4 with Reconstructions of the still-missing 3 episodes. This is most probably going to be the greatest DVD release the BBC has ever commissioned.Galaxy 4 is a story that really needs an episode to survive as it is so visual. The Chumblies were never going to work on audio alone so now hopefully fans with reevaluate this misunderstood classic and enjoy what we have left. It was a feeling that can only be described as winning the lottery when I woke up on Sunday 11th December 2011 and read the news report of Air Lock and Underwater Menace 2 being miraculously found and returned to the archives. It will remain one of the happiest days of my life for a while to come.Now I’ve got that out of my system, on to the reviews;The Aztecs“““““`The Aztecs is one of the first B&W episodes of Doctor Who I ever watched, this has become over the years and repeated viewings one of my favourite Hartnell stories, I would say it was the pinnacle of 1960’s Who if it were not for Pat Troughton’s The Tomb of the Cybermen. However, this for me is a true classic and I was very happy to find that it was already out on DVD. Now with the special edition of course, I’m over the moon with joy.Broadcast over 4 weeks in 1964, The Aztecs is as its title implies, a historical serial with educational elements, but unlike The Time Meddler or The Romans that succeeded this adventure, it is played very seriously and the tension is non-stop. This story is no shadow-of-a-doubt Barbara’s centerpiece though, her constant warring with the high priest of sacrifice Tlotoxl makes for intense viewing and great acting, I thoughly enjoyed this main aspect of the story. Ian, Susan and even the Doctor have minor storylines but the whole structure of events are tied to Barbara being hailed as the Aztec God Yetaxa returned. On a side note, the Doctor and Cameca’s love story was played very well here by Hartnell and Van Der Burgh, As was Ian’s constant rivalry with Ixta, the chosen warrior of the Aztec people. Altogether, the cast and crew create one of the greatest pieces of television history and I certainly think it deserves that mantle.Now then, on to the presentation of the 2002 DVD, the Doctor Who Restoration Team have surpassed themselves yet again in restoring The Aztecs, I love the little 5 minute documentary on the restoration of the story, it makes you think how lucky us fans are that the money is there to restore these episodes to their former glory. Also included is a lengthy documentary with the cast of The Aztecs, reflecting on times gone by. Many other small little tit-bits fill up the remaining space on the disc without crowding it or making the whole thing a mess. The bonus material on offer here is more than enough to satisfy the most fanatical follower or casual viewer.The new March 2013 DVD will boast an hour long documentary from 1969 about the Aztec civilisation and of course the new Galaxy 4 reconstruction and surviving episode. The Aztecs episodes themselves have been meticulously cleaned up from scratch by Pete from SVS and will no doubt look absolutely stunning on screen.All in all, one of the greatest pieces of Doctor Who ever produced, on par with Jon Pertwee’s The Daemons or Pat Troughton’s The Tomb of the Cybermen, this truly is something special. Be sure to grab the special edition when it is released as you are buying 2 stories for the price of 1 and I have no doubt you will not be disapointed.Galaxy 4““““`Galaxy 4 – I know this has it’s faults and even I am aware that it is slated by fans but since episode 3 was recovered in December 2011, I feel myself wanting to relive the story with a fresh heart. I saw this story in full a couple of years ago via Loose Cannon’s reconstruction of it and the visual’s really helped sell it to me, I can’t wait to see the newly found part 3 but that aside I have always been a supporter of Galaxy 4.The villain in this serial, Maaga, is chilling, she is gorgeous but so cold and evil. As with many of Doctor Who’s villains they are ugly and repulsive to the eye, the Rill’s are no exception to this but in this adventure are peculiarly the good guys, a bit machine like and cold I grant you but nevertheless good inside.I personally love this quaint story and am glad that episode 3 has reared its head so we can all finally judge Galaxy 4 from actually viewing it, I have no doubt whatsoever that this special edition DVD with reconstruction of the currently missing episodes 1,2 & 4 will be an absolute gem and represent the story in as good a light as it deserves.As you can probably tell, I am looking forward to this new…