Doctor Who - The Three Doctors (1975)

Great video!!

I got this for my husband who is a long time Dr Who fan. He loved it!!! This is for the really devoted fan!! August 24, 2007

"A hero? I should have been a god! "

"The Three Doctors" is something of an ambivalent classic. On the one hand, to be honest, it is riddled with faults, and it kind of feels like the whole crew is coasting a bit in celebration of the show's ten year run (which is certainly worth celebrating, of course). The weeble-wobbly monsters look kind of like congealed jelly or rotten pinecones and amble about bumping into things at a snail's pace--more comical than threatening. The scientific background is ambitious but incredibly shaky, and the idea of a gust of steam being a singularity is unintentionally humorous (not to mention bizarre); the faulty conflation of black holes and antimatter also comes across as goofy (or constantly annoying, in my wife's case), though perhaps this was all so esoteric as to be effective technobabble in the early 1970's. The supporting cast at times seem to be walking through the script without really getting into it, while way too much pointless walking through corridors slows down the plot. And so on and so on, gripe gripe gripe.

On the other hand, to be honest, it's replete with the stuff of greatness, and it rather feels like the crew went all out on this one. The idea of teaming up the current Doctor with his prior incarnations is an incredibly inventive inspiration (inspired from fan letters, we learn in the extras, but anyway), and works perfectly. It could've turned out so cheesy too, but the rivalry and bickering between the three of them gives it just the right chemistry (and is awfully amusing in the bargain). Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee both give this performance their all, and the way their Doctors' personalities clash and yet complement each other more than makes up for any gripey nitpicks. It's really too bad William Hartnell couldn't participate more due to his health, but the old boy is doing his level best and hats off to him--since from the start he believed in the show's long-lasting potential when everyone else gave it a season or two at best, there's a certain poetic justice in his being there for the 10th anniversary. To the naysayers, Ha!

Three Doctors against one villain? Ordinarily this would be overkill, but Omega is as formidable and threatening as his jello minions are not. Here's one of those great villains whose anger and resentment seem justified or at least understandable even if their resulting actions must be prevented. A Time Lord from Gallifrey like the Doctor, Omega developed the technology of time travel and in the process was trapped (abandoned, from his point of view) in an antimatter limbo. Now he has the power of a god and the emotional instability of a madman; there is something grand and awesome/aweful about his character, like Satan out of Milton's "Paradise Lost" or Darth Vader from the original "Star Wars" (whose mask and outfit his resembles, retroactively speaking)--and yet the scene when he breaks down in a heartrending wail at the knowledge that he's wasted away to nothing but raw willpower, trapped in a world of his own making for eternity, is, well, heartrending. The actor who plays Omega nails this performance, too--his dialogue is full of the kinds of lines that, depending on the delivery, are either unbelievably hokey or unbelievably dramatic, and he keeps it firmly in the latter register 100% of the way. The ability to convincingly portray such a character and to fully get his range of emotions across while encumbered with a bulky mask and a caped outfit probably deserves some kind of serious award, too.

So, while giving the nitpicks their just due, in the final accounting, 3 Doctors + 1 Unbalanced Demiurge = A Timelord Classic. February 27, 2007

Tenth anniversary adventure

The Three Doctors was a special four-part story which commemorated the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who. It was also the opener for the show's tenth season (Jon Pertwee's fourth as the Doctor). William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton return as the first and second Doctors as an oozing blob from an anti-matter universe poses a threat to our universe. When the Doctor (Pertwee) is unable to defeat the blob on his own and the Time Lords are powerless to stop the creature, they reunite the Doctor with his two former selves. Due to his failing health, Hartnell was unable to participate in any of the action, so his Doctor is shown on a video monitor with the explanation that he is trapped in a time eddy. The Laurel and Hardy-like exchanges between Troughton and Pertwee are priceless, with Hartnell taking both to task like a schoolteacher scolding a couple of young students. The central villain in this story is Omega, a Gallifreyan long-presumed dead, who helped his people develop the means to travel in time and was believed to have been killed in the process. Omega has survived for centuries in this anti-matter universe, and now wants to return home, which would be catastrophic to our universe. The Three Doctors is a great celebration of Doctor Who's tenth anniversary, and one of my favorite DW adventures from the Jon Pertwee era. September 22, 2005

"Don't you see? I'm just a temporal anamoly..."

If one get past the antimatter blunder in the plot and the limit the budget had on Omaga's gell creatures, then one should highly enjoy this 10th anniversary tale. The regulars look like they're having loads of fun. Troughton and Pertwee's dialogue and performances are amusing to watch again and again. Their selfish arguments are the highlight of the serial. And it's great to see them finally make up at the end. The oringal masters, video & audio, have been wonderful remastered. The studio video shots have never looked crisper. Even the location footage looks great, even though the Doctor Who Restoration Team didn't have the original elements. The Blue Peter extra is really hilarious. I love it when Pertwee drives the new Whomoblie into the studio.
Despite Baker & Martin not totally understanding antimatter, there is some great dialogue throughout the adventure. One is from episode 3 when Omega realises he cannot leave his domain: "You exists because your will insists that you exist. That your will is all that is left of you..." And also a great Brigadier line near the end: "As far as I'm concerned, Doctor, one of you is enough. MORE than enough..." August 25, 2005

Must have for all Whomanoids

For any real doctor who fan this is one of the great stories. The 3 doctors was typical of its time but made a great anniversary story for the series. Where the DVD really shines are the extras, 1 45 minute clip of John Pertwee and Katy Manning (looking much better than she did when the eppisode was made in my opinion) from a 93 Who convention is very entertaining and makes the eppisode worth buying for that alone. When combined with the commentary option the back and forth joking between Katy and Nicholas Courtney (the brig) is just terrific. I highly recommend this one October 7, 2004

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