Doctor Who - Season 3 - DVD

Content: The Doctor has office hours again! Probably the most famous character in British TV history is now returning to German living rooms. After Polyband has already released in 2012 the fifth season of the current remake of the cult series starring Matt Smith, the label now follows up with the third season, which has not yet been released in this country. Here David Tennant still plays the now tenth in his TARDIS traveling through space and time Doctor, who after the departure of Billie Piper as Rose at the end of season 2 a new companion to the side. While that role was briefly taken over in the opening episode, the traditional Christmas special, by British comedian Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, who will go on to play a significant role in Season 4, Freema Agyman joins the Doctor's side from Episode 2 as young doctor Martha Jones.

Together, in the season's 13 episodes in total, the two encounter the young William Shakespeare, fight the Daleks in 1930s New York, race directly towards the sun in a spaceship, or meet Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) in a distant future. Giant alien crabs and a flying visit to the colony of New Earth offer Martha equally perilous adventures, as does a trip to 1913 in which the Doctor must transform into a human as he flees his pursuers. For as such, he loses his memories of his past as a time traveller, and is unable to help Martha when she falls into grave danger. But the greatest adventure comes at the end, of course, when the Doctor encounters his old nemesis, the Master, who lures him into a deadly trap...

The third season of the Doctor Who remake has some real high points to offer. One of the best episodes ever is The Blink, starring the Oscar-nominated Carey Mulligan in a leading role. This extremely suspenseful and creepy episode brings the first appearance of the Weeping Angels, who quickly became so popular with fans that they were allowed to reappear in seasons 5 and 7. But their first appearance in this third season remains unmatched for tension and intensity. And the reunion with arguably the Doctor's most beloved adversaries, the Daleks, also makes all fan hearts beat faster.

While there are, as in every season, episodes that don't quite work as well. But overall, these episodes once again provide extremely good entertainment, blending elements of fantasy, science fiction, comedy, thriller, and - in the case of the two-parter The Nature of Man and Blood Ties - a bit of romance into a very special whole. It's great that the third season has finally made it to Germany after a long wait. So that very soon also the fourth and of course the latest seasons follow, remains for this beautifully designed and excellently equipped box only one possible rating: absolutely recommendable!!!

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation of the series is on good to very TV level. The picture is clean, the image sharpness is absolutely satisfactory and the colors are sometimes mixed very strong. Also in the dark moments there are only minor weaknesses to discover, which is why in the end a really good overall impression remains.

The sound has, in addition to the rather centrally mixed dialogue, still numerous good sound effects to offer, which, as well as the soundtrack and smaller ambient noises, provide pleasant dynamics in the surround area. Good!

Extras: Here there is a very big praise to the German provider, but all the extras of the British box were taken over. Almost six hours of video extras get the fans here in addition to quite a few audio commentaries offered. The only downer is that the commentaries are not subtitled. The rest of the bonus material is. It starts on the first disc with the special Music and Monsters (approx. 58 min.), which takes a look at a benefit concert and its preparation. For Children in Need, the best themes from the series were performed live by a large orchestra, and some of the popular stars, from David Tennant to the Daleks, also did the honors.

In addition to this fine special, the first DVD features a video diary (approx. 9 min.), 18 minutes of deleted scenes, outtakes (approx. 5 min.), trailers and an entertaining studio tour with Freema Agyeman (approx. 18 min.), which introduces the people behind the scenes who make sure that the production of the series goes smoothly.

DVD 2 has three episodes of the behind-the-scenes series Doctor Who Confidential (approx. 37 min.) in the abridged DVD version. Plus there are more video diaries (approx 29 mins) and trailers. Also on DVD 3 there are three more Doctor Who Confidentials (approx. 35 min.) and trailers. Disc 4 also offers three Confidentials (approx. 36 min.), video diaries (approx. 40 min.) and trailers. And DVD 5 adds three new Confidentials (approx. 37 min.) and trailers.

Finally, DVD 6 offers the season finale in a longer version (approx. 51 min., English only with opt. UT) with optional audio commentary, a final Confidential (approx. 7 min.) and concluding video diaries (approx. 27 min.). Certainly it would have been nice to get all Confidential episodes in their original length (approx. 45 min.). But since these were already included in the British box only in this short version and there are also otherwise still plenty of great extras, remains in the end for fans actually only the joy about this rich bonus package. Very good!

Conclusion: The third season of Doctor Who is now finally available in Germany. After the exit of Billie Piper now Freema Agyeman travels as Martha Jones at the side of the Doctor through space and time. Some great episodes, the first appearance of the Weping Angels and a reunion with Captain Jack from Torchwood make this season an extremely entertaining and worth watching piece of fantasy television. In addition to the thirteen episodes and the Christmas special, the third season box set offers nearly six hours of bonus material. There is only one possible conclusion for fans of the Doctor: definitely grab it and hope for more season releases in Germany!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp