“Doctor Who: Series Six, Part One” is a fine collection of episodes that introduce new friends and enemies of The Doctor and the collection of seven episodes each present great stories and expands the mythos of the universe the writers have created. That said, whether you’re merely a casual viewer like myself or a rabid fan, I would recommend waiting for the sixth season to finish before picking up either the second part or the entire sixth series.
“Doctor Who” Series Six, Part One (2011)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Drama, Adventure, Comedy
BBC | Not Rated – 310 min. – $29.98 | July 19, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Various
Writer(s): Russell T. Davies, Various
Cast: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill
DISC INFO:
Features: Featurettes
Number of Discs: 2
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080i/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH
Codec: AVC
THE MOVIE – 4.25/5
Plot: The Doctor (MATT SMITH) returns, alongside newlyweds Amy (KAREN GILLAN) and Rory (ARTHUR DARVILL), to face monsters and mysteries and adventures across all time and space. Together they find themselves in Sixties America, battling the invasion the world forgot, then journey on the high seas of 1696 aboard a pirate ship, to solve the mystery of the Siren. In a bubble universe at the very edge of reality, the Doctor meets an old friend with a new face, and in a monastery on a remote island in the near future, an industrial accident takes on a terrible human shape. And waiting for them, at the end of all this, is the battle of Demon’s Run, and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Can even the truth about River Song save the Time Lord’s soul? Only two things are certain. Silence will fall. And a good man is going to die…
I should not that I’m more of a casual viewer of the “Doctor Who” series getting into it via the TV specials release starring David Tennant. Although I was a newcomer to the show, I enjoyed the hell out of the specials seeking out, online, the new “DW” that began in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston quickly moving through the early Tennant years before finally investing in the DVDs which are not cheap.
Like most, there is a wide support for Tennant and his run came to a perfect end before Matt Smith was introduced as the new Doctor. I missed his first foray into the role in the fifth season so for this Sixth Series, I’m kind of going in a bit behind, but even so, if you’ve ever watched and enjoyed any of the previous episodes throughout the years, it’s quite easy to jump right back in. In the first part of season six, we get to see The Doctor and his companions taking on new adversaries including the interesting Silence as well as Part One’s finale in the Battle of Demon’s Run which leads to a shocking revelation which I think is a bit farfetched, although I presume the writers have been setting this up from the beginning rather than shoehorned in.
In terms of the acting, as I said, this sixth series is my first viewing of Matt Smith as The Doctor and while I wasn’t too fond of him in his debut at the end of the fourth series, I have to say he has grown into the role quite well and work off of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. Smith portrays the Doctor with the right amount of heart, comedy, drama and cockiness (which gets the best of him in the finale) and looks like he has made the character his own.
In regards to this set, I don’t like, in fact I hate it, when studios release these split season sets. I understand why as it serves two purposes: 1. making money and 2. Advertising for the second part of the season, but that’s not to say it’s a poor practice especially if they release a set combining the two. I mention this because while I enjoyed the hell out of these six episodes, it’s only a part of the story and prefer watching a season in its entirety.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5
Because this set was released so quickly, all we get on this two-disc set, contained in a standard Blu-ray slim case, are two featurettes: Monster File: The Silence (10:58; HD) and Monster File: The Gangers (13:02; HD) in which the cast and crew talk about the characters/creatures featured and how they were created. These aren’t anything special and given the amount of features we’ve gotten in the past complete season set, it’s disappointing this is all we get.
VIDEO – 4.0/5
“Doctor Who: Sixth Season, Part One” is presented with a 1080i high definition, 1.78 aspect ratio transfer. It’s not a visually pleasing picture but still looks quite good. The detail levels are decent and the color array seems even without coming across blotchy or oversaturated. Not surprisingly, the transfer itself is clean and free of flaws like dust and scratches.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is similar in terms of quality to the video. I can’t quite say the lossless track is fantastic because there’s not a whole lot of depth to it yet it still gets the job done with clear dialogue and crisp audio during the various action sequences.
OVERALL – 4.0/5
Overall, “Doctor Who: Series Six, Part One” is a fine collection of episodes that introduce new friends and enemies of The Doctor and the collection of seven episodes each present great stories and expands the mythos of the universe the writers have created. That said, whether you’re merely a casual viewer like myself or a rabid fan, I would recommend waiting for the sixth season to finish before picking up either the second part or the entire sixth series.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 07/30/2011
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2.