Doctor Who: The Visitation (Special Edition)

This is one of my favorites of the Peter Davidson era a really good story a whole lot of fun to watch. But on top of that there's some wonderful special features, one of the things I love but that about the Peter Davidson DVDs particularly with Janet, Sarah and Matthew along with Peter is the audio commentary can be just as entertaining as the show itself. There's some other wonderful special features including them going back to the locations where they shot some of the show which is a lot of fun to watch I highly recommend this DVD. By the way look out for an Easter egg on disk 1

This is one of the better Davison stories and thus a fit selection for the special edition treatment. I like these SEs; I have no regret over getting The Aztecs and The Ark in Space as they both look incredible. They seem to have extra-care taken with the presentation; updated information and documentaries are always welcome, especially now that almost all the telly serials have been released. The covers look great, too! A whiny reviewer accused 2Entertain of trying to get as much money as they could from fans but in fact 2Entertain doesn't exist anymore. BBC keeps releasing these new editions because they know the fans want them!

Absolutely wonderful to have this gem in my collection. For those Whovians who are collecting the cardinal events of the Doctor Who continuum, this one is critical: The moment when the Doctor's sonic screwdriver is destroyed. The Doctor doesn't get a new one until the Movie, so from this point the 5th Doctor, as well as the 6th and 7th, don't have their magic wand. Good story as well. My wife looks down on these episodes because of low-budget costumes and theatrical acting, but that just makes it more fun for me.

During the tenure of Peter Davision, the Fifth Doctor, there were several one-hour storylines. This is similar to present-day Doctor Who, but different from the 4 to 6 half-hour episodes of most classic Who. The second storyline here, "Black Orchid", is notable for placing the Fifth Doctor in the Edwardian time frame for which he always appears to be dressed anyay. It's similar in tone and content to the recent Who episode featuring a fictionalized Agatha Christie in a similar setting. This feels like a natural setting for the Doctor, and especially this one. Enjoy the period costumes, and the bonus of having two complete storylines on one tape.

good fun and good actors as well.

With this double tape set, viewers are treated to two stories with similar themes. Both are historical in context and both deal with monsters, of a sort. In The Visitation, the Doctor must stop the evil Terrileptals from overrunning a 17th century earth with a massive plague that would wipe out the entire population. In Black Orchid, we are treated to the first purely historical story since te days of Patrick Troughton's Doctor. Here, the Doctor discovers murder in the home of the Cranleighs. What dark secret is Lady Cranleigh trying to hide and how does it relate to Nyssa? Both stories are well paced, well acted stories, worthy of being included in anyone's video collection.

The Visitation is one of my all time favorite doctor who shows. I really enjoy it because of the supporting character Richard Mace who really adds dramatic and comedic flare to the show in equal measures which is a rate talent in a period piece.

I consider this serial to be middling, neither awful or exceptional. The story is fun enough by Classic Who standards, especially if you like the genre in which the Doctor turns out to have been involved in a major historic event (which I do). Peter Davison is charming in it, the plot hangs together (although episode 3 drags a bit as Nyssa takes seemingly forever to construct what amounts to a big vibrator) and the guest character of the actor/highwayman is amusing. Unfortunately, it's directed by Peter Moffatt, whose work on Doctor Who is completely uninspired. There are better Who stories, but it's worth seeing for fans of Davison's Doctor. However, if you already have the 2004 DVD release you probably don't need to buy this one. The commentary is the same. The new material consists of a visit by the main cast (Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton, accompanied by Mark Strickson) to the location where the episode was filmed, and a field trip by the same group to BBC Television Centre, the building the BBC recently shut down. Unless you are a really big fan of this crew and 80 minutes of them walking around, telling jokes and doing their best to be charming is your idea of a great time, you don't need the extra disc. (I am a big enough fan that I'd probably watch Davison talk about anything for 80 minutes, but even I wouldn't have been happy with this if I already owned the 2004 version.) The final new item is a documentary on the Big Finish audio plays, which is informative if that's a topic of interest to you. Again, I wouldn't buy a second copy of The Visitation to see it.

England's green and pleasant land, spoiled only by rats, plague, the Grim Reaper and a giant alien fish lizard with attitude problems. Welcome to 1666! `Heathrow airport' never looked better. So what if the Doctor did arrive 300 years early, you can't please some people! Attractively filmed around leafy parkland and a manor house west of London, `The Visitation' is a good-looking `history meets the alien' outing for Peter Davison's Doctor in his second story (in filming order), he brought a welcome freshness and energy to the series. The interior sets and effects set a high standard and the animatronic `monster' design is unforgettable. Michael Melia performs a convincing alien even under several inches of latex. For once this is not a deliberate invasion; the three fugitive Terraleptils have crashed on Earth and have nowhere else to go. So, naturally, they decide to wipe out humanity and take the planet. No Terraleptil is going to win a galactic beauty contest but they do have a love of art (so the Doctor tells us), which must explain why their android looks like a glam-rock / disco art installation on legs! Like all the design work, it conveys high quality and adds to the very distinctive, glossy look of the story. `The Visitation' gives the Doctor more companions than you can waggle a gill-flap at (if you're a Terraleptil), no less than four. The fourth `companion' is the wonderful creation of Richard Mace, out of work 17th century "ac-tor" and part time highwayman, played with zest, flamboyance and a rich, rolling delivery by Michael Robbins. Mace has obviously spent so long treading the boards of Restoration England's temples of theatrical tradition (as he might say) that for him, "All the world's a stage" is literally true. Even when he's up a tree or faced with a bad-tempered extraterrestrial, the curtain never falls. ("You jest, Sir!") Brilliant, and an example of how comedy in `Doctor Who' can add to a story when it appears to come naturally from the character's own life. Three companions plus one does sometimes feel like too many roles with not enough action to go round, but the different characters play off each other well and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) has a good story with something properly scientific to do and gets the result. Attractive as the woods and country settings are, a longer section in plague-ridden London would have added to the story, the sets are excellent and deserved more time on screen. `The Visitation' is a very enjoyable history plus monsters story with a memorable final twist and well worth a visitation of your own, I'll visit four stars upon it, plus a bonus star for the quality of the special edition extras. The special edition picture quality is sharp and colourful, displaying the fine location filming and sets. Best of the many extra features on the two special edition DVDs: The commentary is very entertaining, full of cheerful memories and anecdotes and a good deal of fun at their own characters' expense. `Grim Tales' where Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton go for a light-hearted celebratory trip (pun alert) in the woods. Mark Strickson guides them round the locations and leads them to find the site of The Chemical Toilet (I'm not making this up) then it's off to the manor for tea. It's obvious that all concerned enjoyed the experience then and now and this sense of enjoyment comes across for us to share. `The Television Centre of the Universe - Part One' is a similarly jolly stroll through a day in the life of classic `Doctor Who' at the now deserted TV Centre. `The Apocalypse Element' - the story of `Doctor Who' on audio. NOTE: The DVD menu shows clips from the programme as background, so if you don't know the story already, press `Play' ASAP. And leave the PDF materials for later unless you want to know the whole plot!

Dans cet épisode de la période classique Peter Davison le "Docteur " essaye, encore une fois, de ramener Tegan à son époque ! Mais nos 3 héros: le Docteur, Tegan et Adric se retrouvent au 17 ème siècle dans un village où les étrangers ne sont les bienvenus. (réputés porteurs d'une terrible peste ) Bientôt poursuivis ,aidés par un habitant un peu particulier ,ils découvrent que des extraterrestres malveillants se cachent derrière tout ça. C'est un épisode correct (en particulier pour la période Davison qui ne compte pas parmi les bons crus de la série classique !)le scénario est intéressant ,le jeux des acteurs pas mauvais .Quelques scènes tournée en décors extérieurs apportent du charme à l'ensemble .Seule la fin ,artificielle et bâclée ,gâche un peu le sentiment de bonne histoire .

Absolutely amazing! Good price, and a fantastic story! Love the 5th doctor!

As hard as it may be to believe, at the time 'The Visitation' was the first proper historical Doctor Who story since the (outstanding) 1977 story 'Horror of Fang Rock' more than four years previously. It was a most welcome return and the story really makes the best of its 17th century setting. Eric Saward's script is simple but very effective; there are only a small number of proper characters but they are mostly well written. It's also pleasing that Saward's habit of sidelining the Doctor isn't in evidence here; the Doctor is a central character throughout. I was pleased that the sonic screwdriver was written out in this story as I was never keen on it. The trouble is Saward struggles to find things for all three companions to do. It doesn't help that Richard Mace almost becomes a companion for this story. Peter Davison gives his usual superb performance here; watching him it's easy to forget that this was only his second story to be filmed. Michael Robbins is magnificent as highwayman and actor Richard Mace. Michael Melia does a good job of playing the Tereleptil leader, it couldn't have been pleasant for him in that costume. John Savident, of Coronation Street fame, puts in an appearance in the first episode sans distinctive Lancashire accent. The story is very well executed by director Peter Moffatt; the large amount of location filming is splendid. The sequences of the android wandering through the forest disguised as the grim reaper are particularly effective. The Tereleptil costumes are very impressive, the mouth even moves. Paddy Kingsland's incidental music is very good indeed. The scenes towards the end, set in London are nicely done. The Tereleptil leader meets a suitably grim end, burning to death. The conclusion of the story, with it being revealed that the Doctor started the great fire of London, is genius. 'The Visitation' is not quite one of the series' all time classics but it is a very enjoyable adventure nonetheless. All of the special features from the original 2004 DVD release are also included on this special edition. These include 'Directing Who Peter Moffatt' A very nice 26 minute feature which looks at Moffatt's directorial contributions to Doctor Who. It's composed of footage from an interview with Moffatt interspersed with clips from the stories he directed. Moffatt comes across as very likeable. There is also 'Writing a final visitation' which is an interview with Eric Saward in which he talks about the writing process of 'The Visitation'. It's quite good and it lasts for approximately 12 minutes. The other extra from the original DVD release is 'Scoring the Visitation' in which incidental music composer Paddy Kingsland discusses with Mark Ayres the music he composed for the story. It's very detailed and it lasts for 16 minutes. While there were some pleasing extras on the original DVD, they have gone to town for this special edition. 'Grim tales' is a 45 minute 'making of' documentary. However it breaks the formula of the usual 'making of' documentaries; Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Mark Strickson explore the locations used for the story. They've clearly gone to some effort to make this documentary. 'Television Centre of the Universe part one' is a very engaging feature about (yes!) BBC television centre. It's presented by Yvette Fielding who is joined by Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson. Together they go on a tour of the centre and share their memories of working there. There are some very funny anecdotes and plenty of banter between the four. 'Doctor forever- the apocalypse experiment' is about Doctor Who on audio. It almost exclusively focuses on Big finish. This is likely to be a love it or hate it feature.

I am not a big fan of the Fifth doctor but this story is good. The mix of history and past horrors affecting the present always works good for Doctor Who