Doctor Who: Dalek War (Frontier in Space / Planet of the Daleks) [DVD] [1973]

2 fun filled Jon Pertwee stories. Frontier in Space is a classic, a good old bit of Space opera with some typical Malcolm Hulke (the author) messages e.g. even though Vera Fusek's earth President is clearly a sympathetic character, political troublemakers get sent to the moon. Draconia and Earth (the 1st great and bountiful Human Empire?) are on the brink of war as each apparently attacks the other's ships.The Draconians with their concepts of honour (long before the Klingons of Star Trek TNG) militaristic/art deco costumes and possibly the best mask of the decade are great and worth reviving.Also on the BBC Cymru how about it list are the Ogrons. Delightfully thick apemen working for the Master (odd we never questioned at the time their piloting abilities!). Roger Delgado makes a final appearance as the Master, the villain you'd love to have round to dinner even though the consequences could be fatal. He has tremedous fun reading a list of of bogus crimes committed by the Doctor and does a cockney accent that puts JP's "Perkney" accent in Invasion of the Dinosaurs" to shame. Sadly the character bows out in a fumbled longshot(1)Pertwee is great as usual, moral authority, anger at pomposity and he gets particularly good material as an inmate of the penal colony paying against Harold Goldblatt.Katy Manning as Jo gets to attempt jail breaking,defy the Master's hypnosis and is as good as ever. Only a few model shots, effects and a woeful sacred Ogron monster made from old sacks let the side down.The end leads us into the mistitled "Planet of the Daleks" which doesn't take place on Skaro. Still "One of the Many Planets Colonised by the Daleks" is not a great title. Wily Welsh author Terry Nation gives us a greatest hits package e.g escaping from a Dalek city as in their 1st story, invisible aliens as in Masterplan and yet still makes it seem fresh. His concepts for planet Spiridon e.g Ice volcanoes offer something new. No classic but a cracking adventure.Pertwee is good especially discussing war and philosphy with Time Preece's Thal. Other Thals are back and played by amongst other 2 Dr Who rep actors; Bernard Horsfall and Prentis Hancock. Watch for Jane How underplaying Rebec a bit too much.Jo gets a dry run for Green Death when offered a chance to leave the Doctor.The Daleks get plenty to do plus are used well. Watch for a Peter Cushing movie Dalek playing a role as the Dalek Supreme!Well made stuff although there is a toy Dalek army and an attack of torchlights pretending to be wild animals that looked quite bad even in the day.On story alone if you have enjoyed Jon Pertwee stories or are intrigued to see how the epic stories were done back in the day this is for you but if you've not been impressed by 70's Who this probably won't change your mind.There's a making of for each story Frontier's one's called Space War very enjoyable if a bit short, Katy tells us how much she loved her karate suit and mat Irvine explains how old models from UFO found their way into the show, Planet of the Daleks' one is "The Rumble in the Jungle", and that's less well focussed but fun anyway. Both have part of a feature called Perfect Scenario which is a drama documentary format where in the far future someone looks back at Dr Whoand cultural influences on the story are discussed, including sexism (via Janet Fielding's comments)Vietnam war influence, the writers'influences and so on. very enjoyable but the character looking back is not interesting enough for the sort of shock ending to work.On Frontier, there's the 3rd Doctor edition of Stripped for Action which covers the pertwee Doctor in comics with many considering this tie a high point with less juvenile stories & Stripped then kicks into high gear for a special Daleks edition on Planet considering the glossy Doctor free stories of the 60's high end comics and having Gerry Anderson himself explain his involvement. Shame there's only Uncle Tom's edition left (unless they do McGann et al on special releases?)There's also a welcome biography of Roger Delgado with many who knew him (including his widow) telling us a bit more about him, backed by some rare clips of him in various shows, even presenting a show at 1 point. This is the boxset's gem!Multi-colourisation is an explanation of the terrific recolourising of episode 3.A Blue Peter feature on a nicked Dalek which appeared on the Genesis disk is in more detail here.Both stories have a hugely fun Katy commentary with Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks joining Miss Manning on Frontier (very well moderated by Clayton Hickman) dicussing a Pertwee definition of conversation-he regaled you with stories while you listened, the original ending for the story and why the eventual one doesn't work. Prentis Hancock & Tim Preece join Katy, Barry and Terrance on Planet & Preece revealshis partner's grandchildren prefer Planet to current Who, Katy suggests JP disliked the Daleks because they upstage actors & at the end Barry wishes us to join him on further commentaries-quite poignant considering. The only bad bit is the number of times across many features we are told how they got to use the Daleks and came to an arrangement with Terry Nation.A terrfic packeg made with love and care.(1) for the novelisation Space War, Hulke rewrote the ending to have the Master pack up his star charts musing that there's always tomorrow.

This 4-disc set of two consecutive stories from 1973 is great. Frontier in Space, the first story (2 hrs 23 mins), is a complex tale of interplanetary intrigue and diplomacy, in which the Master is engineering a war between to powerful empires, Earth and the proud, honourable Draconians, who face each other distrustully across the eponymous boundary. If this sounds like Star Trek, it is - it was written a month after the first UK broadcast of the similarly-themed "Balance of Terror". You wouldn't get away with that nowadays! This story is probably best remembered for its aliens du jour, the Draconians, who are both well-written and well-realised, with even close-ups bearing close scrutiny. It's a high point of science fiction alien makeup. Another high point is Roger Delgado, in his final appearance as the Master. Here he is almost jovial as he schemes to destroy Earth's empire, apparently solely to humiliate the Doctor. It's a playful interpretation of the role we get from Delgado here, and he has a great rapport with both the principals. Sadly, after five and a half excellent episodes, the ending is a real botch job. It's hard to work out what's actually happening. The various extras explain what went wrong, and what should have happened. That aside, Frontier in Space was always one of my favourites, and this release confirms its place in my Who top ten.Planet of the Daleks (2 hrs 20 mins) is a different kettle of fish, despite segueing directly from the previous story. Written by Dalek creator Terry Nation, it's basically a rehash of two of his previous stories - "The Daleks" (1963-4) and "The Daleks' Master Plan" (1965-6). Longtime Who fans may experience deja vu while watching. However, there's still much worth seeing. Where Frontier in Space explores the broad sweep of interplanetary diplomacy, Planet of the Daleks emphasises the personal struggles of survival in a hostile environment and the search for courage and leadership, as a small group of people attempt to prevent the Daleks from learning the secret of invisibility. It's slightly let down by some cheap-looking production values, but the story mostly gets away with it due to the conviction of the cast (Jon Pertwee and Bernard Horsfall especially, and even Prentis Hancock is much better here than his lacklustre performance in Planet of Evil). While nowhere near as good as either Frontier in Space, or Nation's later Genesis of the Daleks, Planet of the Daleks is still a thoroughly entertaining adventure.Extras (3 hours)Frontier in Space:Commentary with Katy Manning, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks, moderated by Clayton Hickman. A Thoroughly entertaining and informative soundtrack. *****Perfect Scenario: Lost Frontier (30 mins) - This is an attempt to show how Frontier in Space drew on current affairs for inspiration. While there is much interesting material to illustrate the point, it's bizarrely framed in a pointless, distracting Matrix-themed science-fiction story where a future computer and student discuss the information. I'm going to sound like a Grumpy Old Woman here, but do we really need a documentary to be jazzed up with a back-of-envelope framing story and look-what-i-can-do effects? No more please. **The Space War (18 mins) - cast and crew recollect the making of the serial. Quite interesting. ****Roger Delgado: The Master (33 mins) - a biography of actor Roger Delgado. An excellent tribute to one of the show's best regular actors, with many clips from his appearances in everything from Quatermass to a documentary. There are also many fond reminiscences from his colleagues, and a moving description by his widow Kismet in which she describes hearing the news of his death in a car accident. A worthy tribute to a fine actor. *****Stripped for Action: The Third Doctor (16 mins) - The third Doctor's adventures in comics appear to have been an artistic high point, and this is well worth watching for the beautiful illustrations. *****Photo Gallery ****Production subtitles - all the production trivia, alternate scripts, trivia and asides you'll ever need. ****There's meant to be an easter egg, but I'm blowed if I can find it.Planet of the Daleks:Commentary wth actors Katy Manning, Prentis Hancock and Tim Preece, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks. A good-natured and lively commentary track. ****Perfect Scenario: The End of Dreams (30mins) - the second part of this effort loses its way, as Planet of the Daleks had less current-events context to make this feasible. This idea hasn't worked and I hope all involved are sent to bed without supper. *The Rumble in the Jungle (17 mins) - cast and crew look back at the making of the story. Quite good but nothing amazing. ***Multi-colourisation (11 mins) - How episode 3 had its colour restored. The highlight for me was that some of the software for this highly technical and complex process was written in BBC BASIC! Fascinating exploration of the restoration, which incidentally is now indistinguishable from the other episodes, it's a first-class job. ****Stripped for Action: The Daleks (14 mins) - a reasonable exploration of the Daleks' appearances in comics, concentrating on the early seventies. ***Blue Peter (13 mins) - two items from the childrens' magazine programme, featuring an appeal for any information on the theft of two Daleks from the BBC, and their subsequent return. OK but a bit too long, especially as some of this was on the Genesis of the Daleks DVD. ***Photo gallery ****Production subtitles ****TL;DR - Frontier in Space is a classic of TV sci-fi, Planet of the Daleks is good entertainment, the extras are variable but plentiful. Buy it.

because I am a Dr who fan I like this products and enjoy the quality.

This is an awesome DVD set, that arrived one time and in excellent condition. Delivery was prompt and customer service in above par. Thanks folks!!

Bellissimo cofanetto con l'ultima apparizione del compianto Delgado nelle vesti del Master, consigliatissimo!

Great presentation cover & DVD, Superior picture quality over the old VHS, a must have for old series Dr Who Fans !

Great DVD

Well written (but a bit confusing) plot includes the Daleks.