Extras: Language(s): English, Hard of Hearing Subtitles: English, Interactive Menu, Commentary: Tom Baker, Image Gallery, Interviews: Chris Thompson, Making of Documentary I’d give the episodes more stars individually than I would give the box set – but the box set I would give two stars.

Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks [DVD] [Region 1] [US Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks [DVD] [Region 1] [US

Drawing these elements together, Davies proves himself to be the best puzzle solver in the business. I can’t help thinking that if faced, as Robert Holmes was, with the challenge of writing The Five Doctors, Russell T Davies wouldn’t have blinked. This box set is a mixed bag of episodes that the target audience presumably already own or have seen four or five times on BBC Three. It has some corking moments, but, bizarrely, by leaving out Army Of Ghosts and Doomsday, it does not even contain a complete set of the Dalek episodes. It feels a little like a marketing department exercise in legacy building to me – a way of thematically bottling the last four seasons to create a defined Russell T Davies ‘era’ before the start of Steven Moffat’s run as producer. While I can’t blame them for attempting this, I would suggest that it could be done in a cheaper and, perhaps, a less cynical way. The Stolen Earth is spectacular. This doesn’t mean it’s great. I’d contend that the best episodes of the new series, Human Nature, Blink, Utopia, achieve greatness without spectacle.

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For me, despite the claims of the production team at the time, the world of Art Deco and Dalek design don’t gel easily. In all, the season three Dalek episodes have the appearance of a desire to include the Daleks regardless of story. There are currently N/A Classic Doctor Who DVDs that have been announced/released with N/A box sets.

Doctor Who DVD Special Edition - Resurrection Of The Daleks Doctor Who DVD Special Edition - Resurrection Of The Daleks

I can’t help wondering who would want to buy the Dalek Collection DVD box set. It could be either aimed at obsessive completists who need to own everything, or aimed at occasional viewers who can’t be bothered to get any other DVDs but absolutely love the Daleks. I’d suggest that whoever buys it is likely to be disappointed. Other than an interview with David Tennant, the box set contains no new material and with the strange omission of Army Of Ghosts/ Doomsday doesn’t even contain all the Dalek episodes in the new series. The penultimate episode of season four manages (just about successfully) to cram in all the tenth Doctor’s previous companions and to link the previously unlinkable worlds of the Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood without contradicting the ethos of either series. Please note: some cover images may be different to actual releases. Some single DVD releases listed above may only be available in box sets. The episode acts as a close reading of the Dalek design, relying on Christopher Eccleston’s superb emotive performance rather than bombastic spectacle to relay to the viewer the reason why the Dalek is such a durable icon. Introducing the individual Dalek on an emotional rather than spectacular level is at the same time a cautious and brave thing to do. Brave because it goes against audience expectation and delays the visual impact of a Dalek army, and cautious because it allows Davies, as nearly happened, to replace the Dalek at the last minute and introduce a replacement.

The very existence of this box set could be a comforting reassurance to fans that everything has a destiny, that the Doctor’s story is pre-ordained, particularly apt when considering the ultimate example of retcon/loose-end tying in The Stolen Earth/ Journey’s End. Dalek is an important episode, setting the parameters of the new series approach to the monster while, at the same time, providing a teaser for the climactic final episodes when… Compared with the previous Dalek episodes, these seem small and contained. In the context of the mythologizing arc claimed by this box set the story becomes a filler between the Emperor Dalek and Davros, almost a Dalek holiday. The concept of a human/Dalek hybrid is suitably creepy and well done, but I can’t help preferring the realisation of a similar idea in Revelation Of The Daleks.