PREVIEW: Revisitations 3 - The Three Doctors

As there is so much material on the Revisitations 3 box set (featuring three stories over five discs), I've split the review into their respective parts - with each focusing on the separate tales. You can read full details about the box set HERE but, first up it's the 10th Anniversary story, The Three Doctors.

Likewise, I'm no Troughton aficionado either so a story featuring the pair of them never really appealed to me (having first watch it on a 1983 repeat). It is, however, a bit of a fun romp with the two Time Lords bouncing off with another very well with a massive dose of mythology thrown in for good measure. And Gel Guards. *shivers* Anyway, I'm sure you know all about it so I shan't bore you further with my thoughts and we'll forge into the extras.

I have to say that the original DVD release of The Three Doctors (some complete with a nifty toy car of Bessie) had a perfectly acceptable array of special features (and they are all included here except, for some reason, Jon Pertwee at Panopticon), so it's a bit odd that this particular story was chosen for the Revisitations treatment. Of course, the 1973 tale didn't receive the now traditional "making of" - so that's probably why the team felt the need to go back and revise.

And that making of, titled Happy Birthday To Who, is indeed a story worth telling and put together satisfactorily. William Hartnell's involvement in The Three Doctors, or lack of, is a deeply saddening tale and you'll certainly feel more than admiration for Billy and much respect for those who dealt with such a blow to the production so well. There's no real angle to the documentary, however, and it does have a slightly unfocused feel to it; the ending is most abrupt with no real engagement with the story post~broadcast.

Was Doctor Who Rubbish? is a little oddity (to put it mildly). As you can perhaps guess, this featurette examines that age~old question: was Doctor Who rubbish? (If you don't understand the query then perhaps this isn't the extra for you.) The interviewees aren't exactly an enigmatic bunch, coming off rather earnest and po~faced at times. It's nicely put together but it's completely ineffectual in addressing the topic with any credibility. A good idea that could have been executed far, far better.

Completing the new selection of VAM is Girls, Girls, Girls where we find the ladies of the 1970s: Katy Manning, Caroline John and Louise Jameson discussing their time in Doctor Who (and beyond). The gals are all in good form and, like their 80s counterparts (on the Paradise Towers DVD), make for a wonderfully amusing watch.

Sadly, there's only one commentary (from the original release) and I'm left wondering just how The Three Doctors (a four~parter) warrants two~discs. If you don't have the story already then this is a superb collection but if you do own it then I'm afraid the extras just don't justify a redux.