Doctor Who - Series 3 Vol. 1 Reviews

Three Is The Magic Number

Well, wow. Doctor Who has really done it this time. The generally excellent revival by Russell T Davies has so far given us an excellent but stylistically unsteady first series, a more uniform but pick-and-mix quality second series, and a couple of distinctly ropey Christmas specials which don't stand up past the initial euphoria of Quality Street and cheap champagne. It seems that, judging by this DVD volume at least, for the third series they've really gone full-on with producing a definitive mature vision for a mainstream present-day Doctor Who series.

The opener, 'Smith And Jones', manages to not only introduce a new companion, five other new recurring characters, a new monster race and a new villain, but to find time too for some sublime set pieces, some electric dialogue and completely succeeding in building anticipation for the following twelve instalments. The special effects, now enhanced by the poaching of several Hollywood CGI artists to the team, have come on leaps and bounds too - simply put this show has the best SFX I've ever seen in a television programme.

Episode two 'The Shakespeare Code', Gareth Roberts's first script for the programme, is a sci-fi historical in which the Doctor meets Shakespeare and discovers the power of words. Written as an unashamed comedy and with more jokes than possibly any Doctor Who script to date, the additional decision for the story to be executed as a pastiche of a typical Shakespeare play adds wonderful levels to it. Quoting liberally out of everything from Macbeth to Harry Potter, this unashamed celebration of the written word is an absolute triumph. Also look out for perhaps the nastiest death scene ever to appear on primetime BBC1...

The third episode 'Gridlock' is yet another complete change of pace, being even more dialogue-driven than the last. Taking its cue from pulp SF comics such as Judge Dredd, more or less the entire episode is set aboard various vehicles stuck on an intergalactic motorway, with dozens of vivid characters making appearances as the Doctor tries to save an entire civilisation. This is probably the most emotional episode of Doctor Who since the beginning, with three or four incredibly moving set-pieces providing welcome dignity and gravitas to the series. All this and the return of giant crab monsters the Macra (last seen in Doctor Who forty years ago)!

As the New Doctor Who DVDs reach this eleventh volume, the sheer quality of the work contained here leaves you with no reason to doubt that the other seven adventures in this run will be just as captivating, and that as the series continues to run into the next decade it will always be the best programme on telly.

Besides, it would be silly to stop now. After all, who is Mr Saxon...?

Customer Review

As other reviewers have said before, there are some poor episodes and some great episodes in this season. David Tennant is still brilliant as the doctor, but is notably subdued throughout this whole season. Martha is ok as his companion, but lacks the fun, quick witted attributes of Rose. The episode '42' just seems like a badly rehashed version of 'The Impossible Planet.' David Tennant's unhappy silence at the end of the episode, where he seems to be remembering the adventures he had with Rose on the impossible planet seem to confirm that there is something lacking. The whole season is less sharp, less funny and the storylines are generally not as good but overall still entertaining. Worth watching for episodes such as 'Blink.' Four stars for David Tennant, but only three stars for the writing in the first half of the season and for his new companion!

What else is there to expect...

... but a another representation of the quirky and entertaining universe of Dr. Who. Been meaning to catch up to the series and find out how the series three companion was introduced and developed. Enjoyed the episodes on this first disc... and now awaiting the next. Tennants expressional talents are often put to great effect as the Doctor.

Series 3 keeps up the good work

I started watching Dr Who round about the end of John Pertwee's reign. Tom Baker was THE man for me. The first two recent series were like a breath of fresh air and left me wondering if no. three could continue to build upon their success. The 3 episodes on this disc (Smith & Jones, The Shakespeare Code & Gridlock) are all pretty good and offer a steady start to the series. A good platform to build on. Very watchable.

Mind blowing

Absolutely brilliant. I hired this originally for my son and I ended up getting hooked. Keep them coming doctor.

Fantastic Doctor Who

Doctor Who just gets better and better and this dvd proves it. Great actors, great scripts Great everything.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Fantastic!

I love this show and I think David Tennant is definitely one of the better Doctors. This whole series is good. There are a couple of odd episodes that seemed to be fillers but overall the entire series is worth watching. Martha Jones made an excellent companion although I don't really like the fact that the last couple of companions fall 'in love' with the doctor - for me that just doesn't work but there's plenty of action and adventures to make up for it. If you're a Doctor Who fan, you won't want to miss this series.

Wow!

Three excellent episodes that I'd definitely want to see again. The Russell Davies episodes are as good as any he's done before, David Tennant doesn't over-act at all, and there are some genuinely moving scenes. Recommended!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Blink and you'll miss it...

Brilliant series with some cracking episodes, notably the opener, the two parter that spans 8 and 9 - dealing with divergent futures and the cracking Blink! (which for my money is the finest Dr Who episode of all time). Some duds complete the set but this is well worth 10 hours of your time!