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Dr. Who the Seeds of Doom
Having originally aired in six weekly
instalments from January to March 1976, The Seeds of Doom
revolves around the discovery of two giant, apparently alien seed pods
buried in the permafrosts of Antarctica. The Doctor (Tom Baker),
evidently something of an authority in these matters, confirms the pods
to be extraterrestrial in nature.
When eccentric (read: psychotic) plant
fancier Harrison Chase gets wind of the alien specimens, he decides he
simply has to have them at any cost. Then, unfortunately for botanist
Charles Winlett, the pods grow into rather unfriendly plants. They lash
out at Winlett, who with the aid of some typically unconvincing makeup
begins the slow, fairly unpleasant transformation into a Krynoid, a kind
of intergalactic weed with a worrysome penchant for destroying all plant
life.
The Seeds of Doom features all the
foppery, fake beards, shoddy special effetcs, ludicrous hairdos and
self-serving psuedosciece that fans of Dr Who have come to know and
love, and the serial is a firm favourite amongst longtime viewers.
Baker is at the height of his droopy, tweed-clad powers, such as they
were, but the real star of the show is Tony Beckley as the truly
menacing Chase, who at one point, dismissing the apprehensions of a
subordinate, mutters the memorable line ‘I don’t care. I must see what
happens when the Krynoid touces human flesh.’ The rest of the cast are
adequate, the storyline is compelling enough, and the two-disc set
features plenty of extras – fans of the series can’t ask for much more
than that.
Audio & Video
Picture quality is surprisingly good,
especially considering others Dr Who outings from the period often come
across a little soft. The image remains fairly sharp throughout, and
Seeds is probably the best-looking Dr Who serial of the decade. The
DD 2.0 English audio is nothing to get particularly excited about, but
the dialogue is clear and the two-channel soundtrack is up to par.
Special Features
Disc One contains the entire six-part
serial, an isolated score and an engaging audio commentary which
features Baker, actor Michael McStay, Jocks Camfield, the son of the
late director, the writer of the series, Robert Banks Stewart, and
others. Disc Two is solely bonus features, amongst them the featurette
‘Podshock,’ a fairly comprehensive Making Of featurette. |
