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DVD Review


DVD cover

Doctor Who
The Doctors Villains!

 

Starring: Ian Collier, Bernard Archard, David Gooderson, Peter Miles and Julian Glover
Distributor: Koch Media
RRP: £14.99
Certificate: E
Release Date: 05 November 2018


The Doctors Villains! is the latest release from Koch Media which covers aspects of the show's original incarnation. Other releases have covered the original actors which played the Doctor, but for this release they have gone back to interview five actors who played major antagonists in the show.

Disc one opens with an introduction with Keith Barnfather, producer and Nicholas Briggs, presenter and voice of the Daleks (12 min, 30 sec) where they cover the creation of each of the segments. These were originally released under the title of Myth Makers on VHS and although the material has held up well there is a notable drop in overall quality compared to more modern methods of recording and storage.

In reality, only four were able to be covered with the original actor, as Roger Delgado had passed away in an accident. In place of this they have created a tribute to the actor containing many of the people who worked with him, including Nicholas Courtney, John Pertwee and Barry Letts amongst others. You can feel the respect and affection with which he was held by those who encountered him. Briggs narrates the whole thing from a circus, which celebrates Delgado’s entrance as the first Master.

Ian Collier, from 1969 to 1993 had success as a jobbing actor appearing in many of the popular shows of the day. In 1983 he appeared in The Arc of Infinity, playing the legendary Omega, one of the founders of time lord society, he had previously also appeared in The Time Monster (1972). This one is a little odd as it has Briggs in a studio asking questions, with Collier replying from his home, it feels as if Briggs wasn’t there and Collier is replying to a list of printed questions. He spends a great deal of time talking about his overall career, but there are some nice snippets about his time on Doctor Who.

Bernard Archard appeared in both Power of the Daleks and Pyramids of Mars, however he had already had a very successful career in both movies (Krull (1983)) and his small screen credits are too long to detail here. Anyone over a certain age would have seen him in anything from The Avengers to Emmerdale.

The presentation is taken from a small convention where, like the other participants, he talks at length about his career. The footage is partially from a Doctor Who convention and partially from his home. Once again we're back to flipping between Briggs in the studio and Bernard from his home. The transitions between Briggs and the actors is accompanied with a short piece of music which sounds like it’s been appropriated from Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Honestly, after a while it kind of gets on your nerves.

David Gooderson appeared as the second incarnation of Davros in 1979’s series Destiny of the Daleks. He, like many of the other live actors featured here, has an ongoing successful small screen career. The problem for Doctor Who fans is that you are unlikely to recognise him as he was buried under latex. The show is introduced by Robert Dick who presents a more traditional interview by being in the same room as the person he is talking to

The format remains the same, walking the actor through their formative years prior to being unrecognisable in Doctor Who. Once again there are some nice snippets about his connection with Who, but generally stays on a chronological account of his life. Just from the clarity of the picture I would hazard a guess that his is a contemporary interview.

Peter Miles appeared as Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). We’re back to the familiar format and the switch between Briggs in the studio and the actor at home, unfortunately not sans the strange transitional noise. Once more we get the actor's life story, most of these have been interesting.

The last actor is Julian Glover, probably the best-known actor on the list. He appeared in City of Death (1979) as Scaroth but had previously played Richard the Lionheart in The Crusade (1965). He has been in Bond, In Star Wars, Harry Potter and most recently in The Game of Thrones.

Like Archard, it’s a collection of convention footage, combined with Briggs in the studio and the actor talking at home. This is without doubt the most interesting interview, not least because Glover is a very outspoken actor who is happy to call bullshit on what he sees as amateurish or just bad.

The majority of the interviews hover around fifty minutes to an hour. One of the things which struck me was these are much more than about Doctor Who, without timing it, you’re probably getting only ten to fifteen percent Who material, but what you are getting is a fascinating look into the life of an actor.

6

Charles Packer

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