Doctor Who - The Ark In Space (1975)

Must Have for Tom Baker Dr Who fans

Dr Who in all of his glory. Tom Baker was the best and these videos capture it in all of its granduer. January 8, 2008

Essential Doctor Who

This was the first Doctor Who series I watched as a young boy, and I love it now as much as I loved it then. The DVD contains some great extras including a directors/actors comment track and some updated graphics. Look out for the evil bubble wrap! July 19, 2007

"It may be irrational of me, but humans are quite my favourite species."

Well, it may be pretty irrational on my part to rate "The Ark in Space" five whole stars when there are noticeable imperfections in this storyline. For instance, the conclusion in episode four is a bit hard to follow as well as bordering on implausible (once you realize what's supposed to be happening), and some rather dodgy moments here and there in the dialogue don't help things. But the strengths tend to outweigh the weaknesses in the final analysis, and getting to see Tom Baker as the Doctor again after all these years trumps the matter as far as I'm concerned. Not that he's got the role down completely yet, this being only his second go at it after "Robot" beforehand, but all the basic elements of his almost archetypal eccentricity are here in the making. Simply fabulous.

The story as a whole is very inventive and imaginative, too, with a healthy dash of suspense and mystery that gradually develops into horror. The idea of the Doctor and his two companions stumbling onto an ancient space station in Earth's far future, triggering its various defense mechanisms and whatnot until finally discovering the crew in cryogenic stasis (so as to outlast a global catastrophe and then repopulate the earth) sets the stage nicely, and then it becomes a matter of finding out what has gone wrong, i.e. why the station malfunctioned and didn't awaken them at the appointed time, why certain crew members are missing altogether, and what has been leaving some rather gross organic residue around and about. Sure enough it's bug-eyed monsters (the Wirrn), who bear humankind some enmity and in any case find comatose humans a convenient source of nourishment.

Yep, that's where things get pretty horrific, but that and the station leader's torturous transmogrification into one of the insectoids is by way of harsh contrast part and parcel of the story's overarching theme, the worth and dignity of individual humanity. Pretty much everything comes together and points to this in fact, obvious things of course like the Doctor's multiple paeans to his favorite species and the space station itself preserving that species and all of its history, culture, and accomplishments (on microfilm) against adversity. The latter complicates the theme, for most of the humans on the station whom the Doctor and company awaken are rather coldly utilitarian eugenicists, and fighting for survival alongside the main characters gradually (and convincingly) humanizes them--it could plausibly be argued that this in fact is the primary plotline. And to top it off, the two people who really save the day at the end are a misfit cynical engineer and the station leader himself whose awful metamorphosis ironically gets him in touch with the last shred of his humanity.

In short, a fine story and theme well-realized by fine acting and pacing plus one of the earliest examples of Tom Baker's fantastic take on the Doctor all make this a fine "Doctor Who" DVD overall. March 16, 2007

Doctor Who - The Ark in Space

This is an episode worth getting by anyone that is a Doc. Who fan. This episode occers in a far distant futear on a space station where the reminats of human kind are in supended animation. But the space station has been infested by another race (in this case a race of insecrs). The rest of this episode is about trying to defeate this race. February 4, 2007

One of the best episodes ever!

If you like Tom Baker as Doctor Who, then this episode is a must have. The disc is loaded with extras including alternative special effect sequences and interviews. January 12, 2007

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