Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (Original Edition)

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Product Details

Director : John Nathan-Turner, Peter Moffatt
Actor : Peter Davison, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, Richard Hurndall, Tom Baker
Format : Import, NTSC
Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 9786301801287
Product Group : Video
Release Date : 1994-08-24
UPC : 086162371738

ASIN : 6301801288

Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

Yes, "The Five Doctors" is the one that gathers together Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Baker, and Davison, dumps them on some moorland, and lets some of the Doctor's greatest enemies take potshots at them. Except, of course, William Hartnell had passed on by the time this series was made in 1983 (although his replacement Richard Hurndall does an excellent job), and Tom Baker was only featured as a patched-in cameo, apparently prevented from joining in by a temporal thingummy. However, this kind of creakiness comes with the territory and is soon forgotten. The assorted incarnations of the Doctor (together with a scattering of assistants) are drawn together through time and space to battle Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti--those weird androids that keep jumping into the air and disappearing--and many other old foes. They realize that they're on their home planet of Gallifrey and must eventually deal with the legacy of Rassilon, founder of the Time Lords. --Roger Thomas

Customer Reviews

A cosmic without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about (2004-03-17)

The original version of The Five Doctors was the first story I bought on sale video, and I saw it before the normal sequence of Peter Davison stories that were being shown on PBS. It gave me a good look at Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee (the Second and Third Doctors), as well as Liz Sladen (Sarah Jane), and Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier).

The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are resting at the Eye of Orion, a relaxing field with an effect like Earth after a rainstorm. An unseen black-gloved figure manipulating some controls and kidnaps the First Doctor, played with great William Hartnell-ness by Richard Hurndall. A miniature of the Doctor appears. Hmmm, who around here likes shrinking people? Familiar? This happens to the Second and Third Doctor, as well as other companions, but a glitch occurs with the Fourth Doctor and Romana II, who are trapped in a time vortex. With each attack, the Doctor suffers twinges of cosmic angst, and he must do something, lest he be pulled into the vortex and into oblivion. "Great chunks of me are being detached, like icebergs," he says. "I must become whole."

The High Council of Time Lords, still led by Borusa, summon the Master to rescue the Doctor from Gallifrey's Death Zone, "the black secret at the heart of your Time Lord paradise" which is "not the most hospitable of environments." He does so, but is rebuffed by two of the Doctors, understandable as he was full of tricks and traps before.

The Cybermen play a major role here, as three squads of them come out. However, they prove no match to the "most perfect killing machine ever devised," the sleek and featureless Raston Warrior Robot, who steals the show with its martial arts acrobatics and deadly lances and disks, and turns one squad into putty, impaling and decapitating away. Only one Dalek appears here, as does a creature from the Second Doctor's era.

There's plenty of fabulous dialogue here. The Master tells us why the Doctor is so endeared to fans: "A cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about." Something the Beeb should have remembered in 1989.

The Time Scoop is seen as a spinning black obelisk here, and the Fourth Doctor and Romana's faces are swirling when caught in the time eddy. These were changed in the revamped edition of the Five Doctors, sold together as a two-pack with The King's Demons.

My favorite Doctor, Jon Pertwee, comes off the best here, "ever so resourceful," as the Master says. He's still the charming, improvising guy with ideas; it's as if he never left the series, and he's a calm counterpart to the strung out Sarah Jane. She's more wimpy here, and that's a big contrast to her earlier era, when she was more headstrong and self-assured.

An interesting double-entendre is when the First Doctor sees traces of two other Doctors. "Well, well, well, so two of them made it. I wonder what happened to the other." This last sentence spoken in such an acidic tone, might be a reference to Tom Baker's last minute refusal to participate in the story.

And the Second Doctor's solo presence implies that he came here inbetween the verdict and sentencing at his trial--there is a hint of that when he encounters Jamie and Zoe, his last travelling companions.

I was right on one thing. In the revamped version, the First Doctor's approximation of pi is 3.14287. Here, it's more accurate--3.14159265. Clearly they used an alternate take on the revamped version. Another is the Cybermen led by the Master--how could they note fail to spot the Doctor and Tegan in the chessboard room upon entering?

A welcome reunion from some Who alumni, past and present, (they even included some William Hartnell in The Dalek Invasion Of Earth and Tom Baker footage from the untelevised Shada) with old pairings up (Doctor Two and the Brigadier, Doctor Three and Sarah) bringing back fond memories of the past, as well as new pairings (Turlough and Susan).

A GREAT ADVENTURE! (2002-08-11)

This is one of the greatest Doctor Who adventures ever, if not the best. All five incarnations of the Doctor pitted against the greatest foes in this universe! What's not to love! Grade: A+

Who's on first? (2002-07-07)

That would seem to be the best explanation of this. 4 of the doctors 5 regeneerations are dropped outside gallifreys main building called the tomb of rassilon to take part in a sadistic game. patrick troughton and nicholas courtney are hilarios as they trudge along, john pertwee and i believe eliozabeth sladen are ok...even if sara jane over acts.

The one i feel sorry for in this is the master. He honestly tries to help the doctor out and is basically told to get lost.

there were some things they changed in the dvd i didnt care for. One being the voice of rassilon at the end. he sounded fine in the verisons ive seen. the other was special effects tweeking. we loved the show because it didnt have good effects...It was cheesy.

good show no doubt and a must for troughton fans as he is in rare form.

Five legends on the same screen (2002-06-27)

This special episode of Doctor Who allows the viewer a capsule look at twenty years of Doctor Who history in the space of 90 minutes. The plot is typical Who, and the action flows from one scene to the other with astonishing quickness. The resolution is classic Who as well, and leaves the fan wanting more.

The best of the Davison era. (2002-03-26)

This Five Dr. special was the best of the Davison era(even though it did not include Tom Baker) Peter Davison, Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton were all in it! Richard Hurnell(I think that's how you spell it) was pretty good, though nothing like William Hartnel. Old compaignions made thier appearance as well, some cameo, some had major parts, though most of them seemed a little naive or silly. Others, like Tegan, were a bit wiser. Turlough did not have much of a part in Dr. Who as a whole. He very seldom showed up in this, except inside the TARDIS.This special edition included scenes cut out in the original broadcast(originally broadcast in America anyway) As for the special effects, they ruined them all! The original release, had sharper more futuristic images for the Time Scouper and looked much better. This "enhanced" version glossed it over with some kind of computer genorated blurry white thing and it is awful. The TARDIS sequence was replaced with the same, cheapening the effect. What were you thinking, BBC! However, the storyline is inhanced by the added scenes and adds to the continuity. The Master's role was a bit weak in this story. The Cybermen were [bad]! The Daleks made a small appearence.(and were [bad] as usual!)

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