DVD: Doctor Who – Series One: Volume Two

Doctor Who continues its revival with humor and inventive plots, as aliens threaten the Earth in episodes four to six.

In the two-part story made up by Aliens of London and World War Three, a ship crashes into the Thames causing panic in London and around the world. Russell T. Davies uses an alien takeover of the British Government to make gags about politicians being full of hot air (or fart jokes as they’re usually called) and some pointed comments about weapons of mass distruction being launched in 45 seconds.

However, the story feels stretched at two episodes and the bad switch between CGI monsters and people in rubber suits lets the side down.

The jewel in the series so far is Dalek, the third episode on this disc. The classic Who enemy gets a more sympathetic take, as the Doctor encounters a lone Dalek in a museum of alien artifacts. The parallel between Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor and the creature-driven machine as the last remaining members of their kind is moving.

Buy Season One of the new Doctor Who at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

DVD reviews by Matt Chapman