Doctor Who Season 5.1 - DVD

Film: Since 1963, the Time Lord, known everywhere only as the Doctor, has traveled through space and time in his TARDIS to save various worlds and their inhabitants from the myriad dangers of the universe. To date, eleven actors have portrayed the popular Doctor Who. From 1963 to 1989, nearly 700 episodes in 26 seasons ran on British television, where the Doctor has become a staple of entertainment culture. Despite his temporary end, the time-traveller has never lost his cult status, which may explain the enormous success of his revival in 2005. To date, six seasons and several specials of the revival have run, and there are also two no less successful spin-offs (Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures). An end of the cult around the Doctor is thus far not foreseeable.

In Germany, however, the Time Lord was never granted the great success. Only a few episodes of the original series have made it to German television and also the new edition could find so far only a few fans. So only the first two new seasons were broadcasted in Germany, seasons 3 and 4 with the wonderful David Tennant as the Doctor are only available as import DVDs from England. Now Doctor Who is trying again to conquer the hearts of German viewers. Since with season 5 with Matt Smith also a new Doctor took the helm and the series with Steven Moffat also got a new showrunner, this season represents a good break to dare a fresh start.

After the Doctor has regenerated once again, he must first learn to find his way in his new body (Matt Smith). In the process, he meets little girl Emilie Pond, who is so intrigued by the stranger who has landed in the middle of her front yard with a strange police call box that she decides to go with him. But despite the stranger's promise to return in a few minutes, it is many years before Emilie, who has now grown into a young woman and calls herself Amy (Karen Gillan), meets the Doctor again. All these years, friends, relatives and psychologists have tried to make her realise that she has only imagined the mysterious man. But when he finally appears before her again, Amy is torn between anger, joy and fascination. But there's not much time to discuss why the Doctor didn't pick her up back then. Because Amy's house has been hiding a shapeshifter escaped from a faraway prison ever since that night all those years ago, and to eliminate him, his pursuers wouldn't even stop at destroying Earth. And this, of course, the Doctor must prevent.

After successfully completing their first adventure, Amy joins the Doctor as a companion. Together they travel to a spaceship where, in the future, the survivors of the British population have banded together; they meet Winston Churchill, who wants to win World War II with the help of the Daleks, of all people, the Doctor's greatest enemies; and they must fight the dangerous Weeping Angels in a crashed spaceship, with the assistance of Dr River Song (Alex Kingston), an old acquaintance of the Doctor. Against the murderous statues, the vampires that the Doctor, Amy and her fiancé Rory (Arthur Darvill) encounter in Venice seem downright harmless. But just how deceptive appearances can be is something they must learn not only in Venice, but also in their next adventure, in which the three are caught between two realities, not knowing which is the safe reality, and which is the doom-bringing mirage...

Naturally, there are quite a few allusions to older Doctor Who episodes in the seven episodes of this DVD box set. Newcomers are unlikely to be aware of the real threat posed by the Daleks. Even those unfamiliar with the great first appearance of the Weeping Angels from season three (the now Oscar-nominated movie star Carey Mulligan starred in that episode) will initially wonder a little about the strange aliens. And details about the TARDIS, the various regenerations the Doctor has undergone, or his various companions who keep popping up or being mentioned would be beneficial in an episode or two. The booklet that comes with the DVD box is helpful, but Doctor Who newcomers still need some time to really immerse themselves in the Doctor's universe. But it is worth giving the series this time. Because after a few episodes, it becomes clear why this series has been an absolute cult for almost fifty years.

It's absolutely important to realize that Doctor Who thrives on a certain trash factor. As good as some of the effects and masks are, some things just have to look a bit cheap. This gives the series its very special charm, which was just not only the very special charm in the original version between 1963 and 1989, but could also be saved into the new edition over.

Who already knows the series, the new episodes will be even more pleased. Admittedly, Matt Smith is filling quite big shoes left by his wonderful predecessor David Tennant. It takes a little time to get used to the much younger actor. But Smith manages to conquer the hearts of the audience with his very own quirky, yet very charming manner in episode 3 at the latest. The same applies to the enchanting Karen Gillan, who as the lively Amy quickly makes all the other companions of the Doctor forgotten and who, especially in the interaction with Arthur Darvill as the lovable, but also slightly goofy nurse Rory delivers some quite wonderful moments.

Mal times exciting, sometimes bizarre, sometimes amusing, then again extremely dramatic, so presents itself Doctor Who in its 5th (or 31st) season. Small hints about the future fate of the Doctor are cleverly interspersed, by which the degree of tension is additionally increased. If you like straightforward, more traditional science fiction entertainment, you might have a hard time with Doctor Who's somewhat special style. But if you appreciate original, charming and extremely entertaining TV entertainment of the special kind, you should no longer close your eyes to this cult series. So, board the TARDIS and embark on exciting journeys through space and time - it's worth it!

Picture + Sound: The technical realization of the series is on a good to very good TV level. The picture is clean and free of any glitches. The colors are mixed very strong and also in terms of sharpness and tuning of contrasts, the individual episodes can leave a good impression. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio has some good surround effects. The dialogues are mixed well understandable, the music coherently integrated into the action. Good!

Extras: At the outset, mention should definitely be made of the good booklet, which not only provides a good overview of the episodes included in the set, but also gives some basic information about the series and its history, fandom in Germany, and some important characters and enemies such as the Daleks. So if you're still a virgin Doctor Who viewer, you can at least get a little basic knowledge here, which will make enjoying the episodes a little easier. It continues with a total of four amusing and interesting audio commentaries on the first two DVDs. All other extras are then on the bonus DVD.

This has then some additional scenes, two video diaries (each 10 min.), two monster files (each 10 min.), in which the enemies of the Doctor are once again presented in more detail. There is also a short documentary to accompany each episode. These always run on British television directly after the respective episodes and have a running time of just under 45 minutes in their television version. For the DVD release (not only in Germany) the documentaries have been shortened to just under 15 minutes each. That's a shame, but these Confidentials are well worth watching even in their abridged version. German subtitles are available for all these entertaining extras. Very good!

Conclusion: Doctor Who is cult. At least in the UK, where the Time Lord has been a fixture of entertainment culture since 1963. And also in the USA the series enjoys increasing popularity. In Germany, there is so far a rather small fan base, but this could finally grow with the release of the fifth season in this country. In addition to the first seven episodes with Matt Smith as the Doctor, which are presented on DVD in very good technical implementation, the box also has a bulging bonus disc and an informative booklet, which has some interesting information for beginners. For this there is a deserved: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp