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Reviews for The Rescue & The Romans

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The Rescue... of the DVD schedule!

By:Huw Davies, Taunton, United Kingdom
Date:Tuesday 24 February 2009
Rating:   10

This story marks the second in brilliant run of DVDs for 2009. Things are looking goos for later too, with The War Games being the one I'm most looking forward to.
But back to the DVD - The first story, "The Rescue" is possibly my favourite Hartnell, and definitely goes in my all-time Dr Who top 10. This is due to a great David Whitaker story plus fab Chris Barry direction. The extras are a good documentary and an interesting photo gallery, 10/10
"The Romans" is a 4-parter that brought comedy to Who. It is full of historical inaccuracies but is good drama and brill comedy. The extras are better - a fascinating documentary, a feature on Dennis Spooner and a also one on the Doctor's 60s female companions, 10/10



Rescue successful

By:Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Date:Sunday 22 March 2009
Rating:   10

Two excellent story's beautifully restored, especially The Rescue (check out the shot of Barbra & Ian looking at the crashed spaceship which on VHS wobbled but on this DVD no longer does)with very good extras.



"Burn City Burn!"

By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Thursday 12 May 2011
Rating:   10

The Rescue is one of the finest examples of the Doctor Who two part serial. It introduces the new companion, here played to perfection by the great Maureen O Brien, and has some brilliant design work. The Koquillion mask is an excelllent piece of work. What I like is the fact that the dialogue is so crisp and good in this tale. William Hartnell too here really seems far more softened in character tone than in his first season as the First Incarnation of the errant Doctor. I love the first scene with Barbara and Ian lamenting the Doctor falling asleep in a landing and becoming uneasy. I also like the little nod to the fact that the Doc calls out Susan's name, so as yet hasnt really gotten over his loss of his granddaughter, its such a lovely little touch. As soon as they all exit the ship Ian and Barbara are met by that wierd looking masked idiot Bennett, who is a real psycho and played very well indeed by the actor. I thought the scene where he pushes Barbara down the cliff was a total surprise and rather shocking. But Im glad she caught that tree branch on the way down and only severely strained her arm. Sandy is also a well realised creation, and his death cries are frankly very unnerving and very well produced by the sound boys. Its obvious the Doctor sees a new friend in the young Vicki. All elements of this story are very strong indeed and its a real pleasure to watch.

The Romans is one of the comedic masterpieces in all of television and not just in Doctor Who. All the characters here are in their own way witty and engaging. And yet Nero still has a deep shade of evil cutting right through all along. His poisoning of Digilinus for a start shows us a really unfeeling, heartless creation. The comedy though for me is the most great thing about this story. Its a real relief from the harder toned historicals around it. William Hartnell again is more relaxed and calm and he's gelling with his new companion Vicki very well. William and Maureen work so very well together indeed. Jacqueline Hill is the top one here though. Her scenes with Nero are side splitting and funny. William Russell too gets a decent amount to do. They all add dimensions to the whimsical script by Dennis Spooner. So these two stories frankly are two of the finest in the shows history. Not a bad word to say about either of these two. Classy television!



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