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| THE SEEDS OF DEATH :: DVD REVIEW
by Stephen Mills
Added Thursday,
April 24 2003
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After some rushed editing on the story by script editor Terrance Dicks, we can enjoy The Seeds of Death for the first time in it’s unedited form since the original broadcast in 1969, having been edited for the 1985 video release. |
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» THE PLOT ... |
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| It is the late 21st
century, and mankind is totally dependent on T-Mat, a revolutionary
form of instant travel. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive to find that the sinister Ice Warriors plan to invade Earth, using T-Mat to transport deadly seed pods full of a fungus that will absorb the planet’s oxygen. The Doctor must race against time to defeat the Martian invaders - or condemn the human race to suffocation. . |
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| » THE MENU'S ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This disc is unique as it offers us our first two-disc release and the menu’s on the two discs are very different. The first disc, which has the actual episodes (complete with commentary and production subtitles), is layed out like the previous DVD releases and as with all the black and white releases, the menu has a monochrome feel. The second disc looks like the extra menus on the previous discs. Both come with clips from the story rolling in the background. |
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| » THE PICTURE / SOUND ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It’s incredible just looking back at the original 1985 VHS release. The quality of that is blurry, the sound is hissy (excuse the appalling pun) and you struggle to strain your eyes so you can see some of it clearly. With the new, restoration team enhanced version, not only is the picture quality wonderful but the sound is beautifully audible. Like the last black and white release, The Aztecs, The Seeds of Death has been given the VidFIRE treatment. The restored episodes look superb, with episode 5 in particular. I remember remarking in my review of The Aztecs about the sound clean up being so good that you could hear the lovely touches of John Lucarotti’s dialogue, but here, you can see little things about set design which make the story seem so much better. Kudos to the RT. |
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| » WHAT ABOUT THOSE EXTRA'S ONLY DVD CAN PROVIDE? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The
one problem that I have with this release is the extras. While there
are plenty to be able to justify a one-disc release, there really
doesn’t seem enough to justify a two-disc release. Mind you,
the decision was made late in the day, so very little could be done.
The highlight without a shadow of doubt is the commentary track. It’s the first time that we’ve had different commentators on different episodes. It’s set up with Wendy Padbury, Frazer Hines and Michael Ferguson on the first two episodes. For episode three, Terrance Dicks replaces Ferguson. Ferguson and Dicks then team up for episode four, while all four of them contribute to episode five and six. All of the participants are excellent with some amusing anecdotes (particularly about the location footage involving the sole Ice Warrior) and memories of making the program making this one of the best Doctor Who commentary tracks. I’m particularly fond of Terrance Dicks and Frazer Hines, who manage to provide some funny moments, and it’s nice to hear Wendy Padbury and Michael Ferguson’s thoughts on the series. Other extras include:
There is also one easter egg on this disc. All I shall say (apart from how to find it) is that it’s an absolute delight. Highlight the text as usual [Easter Egg] >> On the second disc, press left for a small piece of video footage showing the participants recording the commentary in episode six. << [End of Easter Egg] |
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| » THE STORY ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Poor
Michael Ferguson! When I reviewed The Ambassadors of Death
(also directed by Ferguson) a while ago, I mentioned that the script
was poor. This got me thinking that almost all the scripts that Ferguson
has had as a director are poor. Sadly, The Seeds of Death
doesn’t buck the trend, and indeed it is Ferguson’s direction
that keeps the story going.
It starts with a 1960s view of the future. A future where everyone and everything is efficient (supposedly) and that everyone goes to work in pyjamas that a old age pensioner would wear. This is complete with the fact that there is hardly any ethnic or gender diversity within the main cast, seemingly the future is made up of middle class females. This clichéd view of the future is complete with a smug, irritating computer that Douglas Adams would make jokes about and the supposedly infallible T-Mat system. It seems odd that something would be called infallible, because thanks to sci-fi clichés, I doubt I would trust something that’s sold on the basis of infallible. In fact, Seeds does adorn to rather a lot of stereotypes about science fiction. Not only is their a moonbase, several big green monster threatening to take over Earth and lots of pretty guys and girls running round in skin-tight costumes. Sadly, the old adage of most of the acting in science fiction not at it’s best is also true here. The worst is Harry Towb’s Osgood whose ability is so awful that when his smirking earns him an instant death from the Ice Warriors. Terry Scully’s Fewsham is the one stand out amongst the adequate guest cast; he’s a wonderful character, where his lack of bravery comes across superbly. It’s his reactions to the Ice Warriors and the panic he goes through that is far more terrifying than the sibilant Warriors. Not that Scully’s Fewsham is the only good thing, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are played well by Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury and given a reasonable amount to do in Brian Hayles’ script. It takes some time for them to get going, as they only get involved after they agree to going into the rocket, which happens during Part 2. Arguably the only things that do break away from the stereotypes mentioned early are the Ice Warriors. They are characterized superbly, mainly thanks to some excellent performances from Alan Bennion and Sonny Caldinez. It’s especially impressive when you think of the impact that Bernard Bresslaw’s Varga in The Ice Warriors in Season 5. But the one area that really makes Seeds excellent is Ferguson’s direction. You can see Ferguson as one of those types of people who really does care about every shot and how it should look and there are numerous examples throughout the story that actually enhances scenes. First of all, the Ice Warriors are portrayed in an excellent fashion (apart from the chase scene), as Ferguson varies the camera angles to shoot them from up high and down on the ground, giving us a true appreciation of the creatures size, thus furthering our fear of them. Ferguson also copies a technique employed by Derek Martinus who worked on The Ice Warriors, by not only casting tall actors as the warriors, but for the human scientific crew, small actors are employed giving the viewer an increased feeling of claustrophobia. The death scenes are also excellent. The warriors dispatch of the humans is very effective and the screen folding in on it’s self after the gun has been shot makes the audience feel very disorientated and that, combined with Dudley Simpson’s unsettling music mimics what the person must be feeling like when they have been shot, again increasing the fear factor of the Ice Warriors. The death scenes of the warriors are also worthy of praise. Ferguson this time comes up with a different way of making the viewer feel disorientated. This time, the screen goes into negative and the angle is changed every second, thus giving us a feel of what it must be like to be an Ice Warrior at that precise moment. I have to say that before I watched this story again, I rather liked it, but I’ve actually grown increasingly disfond of it. The story is probably only deserving of it’s reputation because of a lack of other decent Troughton stories available on video, the superb acting of the regular’s, the Ice Warriors and of course, Michael Ferguson. |
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| » SUMMARY ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall
Score : 8/10
Another good Doctor Who release. The fact that we have The Seeds of Death available episodically for the first time is a major contributor to make this a DVD release that is unlikely to disappoint. You can order The Seeds of Death from Blackstar by clicking here. You can also order the next Doctor Who DVD release, The Talons of Weng-Chiang by clicking here. |
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| » TECHNICAL DETAILS ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All screen grabs and images appearing
in the above review are Copyright (C) BBC Worldwide Ltd 2003. |
» All reviews are © to their respective authors and may not be reproduced elsewhere without prior permission