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Despite the BBC's insistence on packaging up some of their
best DVD releases in some of the worst-designed sleeve artwork
the Ark in Space disc is little short of a masterpiece
- a standard that we've all come to expect from Auntie's Doctor
Who DVDs. The image is pin sharp, the sound quality is
excellent - albeit mono - and the extras are first rate. Oh
yes, and the story's not half bad either.
But
probably the thing that will set the most tongues wagging
is the new CGI space station shots. You can either view the
episodes with the original wobbly CSO inserts or with some
lovely new computer-generated sequences. And if you want to
see why the original sequences are so bad there's a collection
of unused shots which show the model unit cooking up something
that appears to have been inspired by Buck Rogers.
Special effects but without being special, if you see what
I mean.
The
actual episodes themselves are well scripted and designed
although some of the acting leaves a little to be desired.
Often more ham than Hamlet. And the science behind
the plot works until someone explains it, at which point it
gets a little silly. But, and it's a big but, none of that
really matters - the story is robust enough to handle all
this without loosing its pace and tension.
So
go out and buy this disc. It's Tom Baker Doctor Who
at its finest and you don't get a better recommendation than
that.
Anthony
Clark
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£15.99
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