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The
Caves of Androzani is generally regarded as a classic -
probably the last really great Dr Who adventure. And
this DVD does it justice and then some. The original recording
has been cleaned up and restored by Steve Roberts and his
BBC team to a very high standard and the overall effect is
nothing short of stunning...
Nearly
two hundred tape dropouts and scratches were repaired over
the four episodes. However, possibly the most contentious
aspect of this process is the "recreation" of some location
scenes.
Happily,
the story's director, Graeme Harper, supported the re-making
of some of the sequences on the planet's surface to remove
glaring matt problems. The top part of the planet background
was originally painted-in electronically, but unfortunately
the foreground film is so unstable that it ruins the effect.
However, a private collector loaned the BBC the original 16mm
film sequences and new stable versions of the offending scenes
were recreated.
But
if you want to see it like was originally broadcast the disc
provides both versions. Extras includes a BBC1 trail for episode
one and three news items. The first is from the One O'Clock
News, reporting the announcement that Peter Davison was
leaving the show. The second is a Kate Adie interview with
Peter Davison from the Nine O'Clock News on the same
day. Finally, there is an interview with John Nathan-Turner
and Peter Davison from the following day's South-East at
Six.
Other
goodies include a short feature about the late Christopher
Gable, the man behind the mask. Combining a fan interview
with studio footage, the disc sets out to show how he helped
create Sharaz Jek, one of Dr Who's best remembered
villains. But what of the story itself? Basically if you don't
already know that Androzani is a winner then you've
probably been living on another planet - Androzani Major perhaps?
Whatever's the case you cannot afford not to have this DVD.
Anthony
Clark
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