Review of Doctor Who: The Ark in Space

Introduction

The second Tom Baker Dr Who DVD features the second story from the reasonably strong 12th season of Dr Who (the season that featured the all time classic Genesis of the Daleks). The Ark in Space follows on from perhaps the weakest story of that season, the regeneration romp Robot.

The TARDIS arrives on the space station Nerva, a kind of futuristic Noah`s Ark, but all is not well. It appears derelict and deserted, and the last survivors of the human race are being held in suspended animation. The computer hasn`t woken them up, and a nasty alien has paid them a visit. Will the human race survive? Can our heroes and the med-techs revive the inhabitants, or will that nasty alien win the day?

For you trivia fans, only the regular cast appear in episode 1, the first time this had happened since the very first season of the show.

Video

This story is approaching 30 years of age, so you might be forgiven for thinking that it will look like a 30 year old programme. And that`s true up to a point, but Roger Murray-Leach`s sets are excellent for a TV studio drama, and the whole thing looks reasonably convincing until we see the Wirrn itself, which is about as scary as green bubblewrap can be.

However, the video quality itself though is stunning given the age of the story, and the option of seeing new CGI effects that have been specially created is a thoughtful addition, as it replaces some rather naff shots. But if it`s naff you want, you can watch the original sequence instead.

This is another story that has been cleaned up by the Dr Who Restoration Team, and a fantastic job has been done as ever. It probably looks better now than it did when first broadcast. There are a couple of minor errors here and there, but you have to forgive this when you look at the quality overall. You probably won`t see it looking better.

Audio

A DD2.0 track is presented here, though it is just a mono track played through both channels. As with the picture, it`s good considering its age, and it has been cleaned up and tidied up.

We get some early examples of Tom Baker`s great dialogue delivery and timing too, with the following gem standing out. Asked if they are "med-techs", the Doctor replies "Well, my doctorate is purely honorary, and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors".

Features

Keeping up the great tradition set by previous discs, a nice bundle of extras are piled onto the disc.

First and foremost is the thing that all Tom Baker fans have been waiting for - his first commentary track, which also features Elisabeth Sladen and Philip Hinchcliffe (producer for the first time). It`s not quite everything that you might have hoped for, but it is entertaining, and it tells you plenty about the show. Baker manages to recall quite a lot eventually, but it takes a while for his mind to click into gear. Look forward to hearing the next one Tom!

As with previous releases, there`s another commentary track which is the subtitle commentary option, which brings up production notes throughout each episode. Plenty of useful information is contained here, and lots of good bits of trivia.

The other "meaty" extra is an interview with designer Robert Murray-Leach, where he talks about this and stories. Very interesting and nice to see given all the plaudits he got for his work on this particular episode.

We also get a photo gallery and map of the Ark, TardisCam, unused 16mm footage, an unused title sequence, a news report from the time and a trailer.

There are also 3 easy to find easter eggs which give you access to 2 adverts and a brief interview clip.

Conclusion

One of the best Dr Who stories made, and certainly one of the strongest released on DVD. Some excellent writing from Robert Holmes combined with Roger Murray-Leach`s sets and Philip Hinchcliffe as producer make this a great story, particularly given the limitations of being a largely studio bound TV drama.

The combination of these three people and the regular cast saw the show through its "boom" years. When this story is discussed, parallels are always drawn with Alien, but Dr Who beat Ridley Scott to it! You can`t really compare the two of course but this story holds up well in its own right.

This DVD is a chance to see a favourite programme looking and sounding better than ever, with some great bonus features and an enjoyable commentary track that will certainly appeal to fans of the show. Definitely recommended