Another
Christmas special arrives on Blu-ray with our favourite Doctor Who,
played by the delightful David Tennant to add to our collection. Doctor Who the Next Doctor
is set in Victorian England and one of the Doctor’s most nefarious
enemies has invaded this timeline… the Cybermen. This story also
features the “next” Doctor and I must admit that I was a little
excited when I first read about this premise because I was expecting
the Doctor to team up with another version of himself… unfortunately
I was wrong. The “other” Doctor (Morrissey) is actually a surgeon of
the era.
Unlike
the other Christmas specials, Doctor Who the Next Doctor is a little
bit of a hit and miss affair because the camp factor of the story.
Whether the writers were attempting to cram too much story in or if
it was just the mediocre plot, you would think that the Cybermen in
Victorian England would cause more fuss with the local denizens then
they did... especially with the "King".
There
was however, one standout character in this story and that was Miss
Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan) who plays one of the co-villains in this
story and is actually more menacing and villainous than the Cybermen
themselves. As a Doctor Who, it would have been more interesting and
for better plot development if she
was the real ringmaster behind this invasion to merry old England.
However, without spoiling the story and more, the Doctor and his colleagues who he has
once again dragged into this mess, must set things right in
Victorian England but just be warned… the ending is very much like
Ghost Busters.
The
video quality of Doctor Who the Next Doctor is right up there with
the best of them with glorious widescreen, vibrant colours and
larger than life sets. The sound track matches the impressive
quality of the video and BBC are definitely one of the better
companies for video and audio quality. Add in the two featurettes
that include Doctor Who at the Proms and Doctor Who Confidential and
although they are nothing special, the confidential episode gives
you nice little insight into the series. Not bad for one movie!
Even
though this story had the actors, the plot really didn’t mesh very
well with the era which is a crying shame to fans of the Doctor.
However if you can put these issues to the side, than Doctor Who
the Next Doctor can still be enjoyed but just remember… once
you have watched it, you’ll probably forget because it’s not that
memorable… or perhaps the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on you?
Special Features:
- Doctor Who at the
Proms
- Doctor Who
Confidential
