Destiny of the Daleks

[Sega-boy]

Just arrived in stores on DVD.

It's about time (pun)!
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[keraptis]

Just arrived in stores on DVD.

It's about time (pun)!
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I was going to mention this episode in that other thread about "fembots of color" because there is a black robot girl who does a nice malfunction scene ... but that thread started getting ugly and I decided to stay away ...

The disappointing thing about the DVD, I'm told, is that there isn't enough behind the scenes material. I want to see Suzanne Danielle (who plays Agella, she's my avatar in fact) in the suit but without the hairpiece, just hanging out and being candid ... but I don't know if we will get that.

There were some shots of the actors in costume that I'd never seen before in a very recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine ... including a candid shot of Suzanne in a phone booth (not the TARDIS) -- but black and white and not big enough to scan.

If anyone gets this DVD, please let us know how good the bonus materials are!

[Sega-boy]

The disappointing thing about the DVD, I'm told, is that there isn't enough behind the scenes material. I want to see Suzanne Danielle (who plays Agella, she's my avatar in fact) in the suit but without the hairpiece, just hanging out and being candid ... but I don't know if we will get that.

There were some shots of the actors in costume that I'd never seen before in a very recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine ... including a candid shot of Suzanne in a phone booth (not the TARDIS) -- but black and white and not big enough to scan.

If anyone gets this DVD, please let us know how good the bonus materials are!

Commentary by Lalla Ward (Romana), David Gooderson (Davros) and director Ken Grieve. Terror Nation A documentary (27:45) about the writer Terry Nation, creator of the Dalek characters. Features interviews with Barry Letts, Philip Hinchcliffe, director Richard Martin and Nicholas Briggs. Directing Who (9:24) Director Ken Grieve recalls his time on the story. CGI Effects The option to watch the story with seventeen of the original video effects sequences replaced by CGI versions. Trailers and Continuities (3:45) BBC1 trails and continuity announcements from the story's transmission, including the specially shot trailer heralding the return of the Daleks. Prime Computer Adverts: Australian TV adverts for Prime Computers, starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. Production Notes Subtitle Option. Photo gallery (8:06) Radio Times Billings Easter Egg Digitally remastered picture and sound quality

That of course is the listing on the jacket.

No such luck in the photo gallery, although it is a nice one. There are just a couple of photos of Danielle by herself, including a really good close up, but I'm afraid, the hairpiece is always present. There are a fair number of shots of her accompanied by the others. That's about it.

In the commentary, it is mentioned that at the time it was filmed, Danielle had a very vigilant boyfriend on the set. Why am I not surprised?

There really are no behind the scenes features. The documentary is all about Nation and his Dalek characters.

The one track of commentary runs the entire length.

The following reviews are a couple I lifted from amazon:
Among the DVD extras, one that stands out is a series of four television commercials recorded by Baker & Ward, in character as the Doctor and Romana, for Prime Computers, running about a half minute each. One particular interesting one has the computer telling the Doctor to "marry the girl", which he gladly took its advice and did. Also, considering that today's computers can be as small as a watch battery, it certainly is culture shock to see how huge a computer was in the late 70s. As outdated as Prime Computers now are, the classic series of Doctor Who will never become outdated, no matter how long the new one runs.


A real highlight for this release though are the PRIME COMPUTER ads featuring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward (take time to mark the costumes used here - they range from DESTINY down to WARRIORS GATE and try to overlook the off model mock up of the TARDIS prop). Short, sweet, funny and almost DOCTOR WHO episodes themselves, these ads really show how close Baker and Ward were, so much so that despite the reputation for the new DOCTOR WHO introducing "love" into the TARDIS, the final ad here has the Doctor proposing to Romana and Romana accepting... amazing!

There is a new CGI option which enhances the weapons fire of the Daleks and the Movellans and sadly obscures the effort that went into the Movellan's ship in flight. The model in flight was one of the few well done effects in the original, so what they do here to it is a disappointment.

Text commentary is tight, fact filled and very, very fast. Have your remote ready and your trigger finger on pause as whole paragrpahs of information zip by in less than two seconds.

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[keraptis]

Thank you so much for all that info!

Too bad the Movellans are never coming back ...