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DVD: Dr. Who - The Caves of Androzani
BBC - 1983, 99 minutes plus many extras.
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
In Peter Davison's final adventure as the Doctor, most of the action takes place underground in a war-torn world where it's hard to tell the bad guys from the good guys. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that somebody deep down in the shafts below the surface is quite adept at making androids that have no trouble passing for the kidnapped humanoids they've replaced. Good spies, too, those pesky androids. You must be careful to whom you're spouting your battle plans.
The Doctor and his lovely traveling companion, Peri (Nicola Bryant), arrive on what appears to be a vast mud flat and follow some tracks to the entrance of a cave and an adventure, immediately running into a biological heath issue they never bargained which adds a sense of urgency to the proceedings. Below, they meet a diverse cast of characters ranging from soldiers of questionable intelligence to killer androids to despicable mercenaries to one of the most fascinating and well-drawn characters of them all, the tragic Sharez Jek (played with sensitivity and depth by the late Christopher Gable). As disgusting as the mercenaries are, there's one character who makes them seem like choir boys by comparison. To name him would be to give away a central secret of the story. Suffice to say you'll be tempted to throw tomatoes at your screen by the time you're on to this evil bastard. (Tomatoes sold included.) This series of four episodes wraps up with The Doctor's regeneration. For those who are new to this, when an actor leaves the roll of The Doctor behind, a "regeneration" will be written into the script, and a transformation takes place with the new actor emerging where the previous actor had just been. In this case, Davison "becomes" Colin Baker and the most popular sci-fi series in BBC history continues.
It almost goes without saying anymore, but I'll continue to report the good news: the DVD is a treasure chest of extras. The wonderful Who's Who feature gives you information on all the primary actors from this particular series, including what shows they've done since and where they are now. For anyone who hasn't already gained a strong respect for The Dr. Who Restoration Team, the original, un-retouched version of the opening scene is included, jittery scenery and all. Several Dr. Who DVDs have short "Behind The Scenes" featurettes, but this is the most interesting I've seen, thus far. It has no narration; it's simply what one camera captured during filming of the regeneration scene. While this may bore some people, those of you who are interested in seeing how these things are done will be fascinated watching Davison, Bryant and Baker crawl around the TARDIS floor, going in and out of character at a moment's notice, and watching the director jump into the middle of the scene to show them how he wants various things done. A photo gallery is included, as we've come to expect, and commentary from Davison, Bryant, and others is, as always, entertaining and enlightening. The option for text popups filled with trivia can be a lot of fun, though I highly recommend watching the show without commentary or popups first, as you cannot follow the plot with either. Another wonderful featurette included here is about the creation of Sharez Jek, both the character and the unforgettable costume. Narrated by Gable himself, it's a brief but illuminating study of this episodes most interesting and compelling character. To wrap things up, BBC includes three newscasts about Davison's departure and an interview with Davison on a talk show on which the host tried to get him to admit he'd been miscast and that he was too young to play the roll. Nice try, but Bruce wasn't going to bite.
Once again, we've got a DVD packed with features and a story that is worth preserving, and one that is also an historical event in the Dr. Who chronology due to Davison's departure and Baker's arrival. That's a lot of stuff for one disc, and a lot of disc for the money. Gotta love that.
© 2003 - DJ Johnson