Planet 14 - Doctor Who

The Sixth Doctor's era is widely regarded as one of the weakest in the show's history (although personally I rate seasons 24-26 even lower) but the BBC's apparent desire to get one story from each Doctor out as early as possible means that we're getting VENGEANCE ON VAROS before stories which are a lot more deserving.

That said, VENGEANCE is one of Colin Baker's stronger stories, but re-watching it shows up many of the flaws of the mid-1980s. The TARDIS scenes are little more than an opportunity for some bickering between the Doctor and Peri, while the two leads' costumes are terrible. The criticisms about the story's violence are misplaced, but there are still some lapses in the Doctor's character - his acceptance of the TARDIS' break down, turning the laser on the guards after he's rescued Jondar and his "joke" after the two guards fall into the acid bath.

On the positive side, there's plenty to enjoy here. Philip Martin's first scripts for the series are good and there are some excellent performances - Nabil Shaban plays Sil with a delicious relish while Martin Jarvis' Governor is both disgusted at what's going on around him and resigned to his fate. The "Greek chorus" of Arak and Etta are also good and bring some much needed humour to the story.

The extras are a bit of a mixed bunch. The commentary is certainly better than in ROBOTS OF DEATH, although sadly Nicola Bryant does tend to get sidelined by Colin Baker and Nabil Shaban. There are also on-screen production notes, although these disappear midway through part two, never to return.

As before there are a couple of extras for presentation buffs, in the form of the trailers used to promote the episodes by BBC1 and the continuity announcements used before each episode. In an era when a particular channel's trailers are more and more standardised, its interesting to note the lack of continuity between the two (the fonts used are different for a start!)

There's also a photo gallery (which is okay) as well as deleted scenes and outtakes, both of which are disappointing, and are probably only included because they were available and there was space on the disc. It's unlikely that many viewers will bother with them again.

But it's the episodes themselves that are the reason that most fans will buy the disc, and they stand up well as an example - albeit flawed - of mid-eighties WHO. BACK TO THE TOP

VENGEANCE ON VAROS

Written by PHILIP MARTIN

Directed by RON JONES

Produced by JOHN NATHAN-TURNER

Starring COLIN BAKER

BBC DVD
(Regions 2 + 4 PAL only)

STORY RATING: 7/10

EXTRAS RATING: 3/5

OVERALL: 7/10

NEXT STORY:
THE MARK OF THE RANI

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ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN