The long awaited final adventures of David Tennant as The Doctor have just arrived on Blu-ray in the Doctor Who Complete Specials Collection! These final adventures see The Doctor travel from Earth to the far off reaches of the known universe and back. During one of these adventures, he is warned that his tale will end soon and that when he hears someone knock four times, he will die. Can The Doctor escape his own fate? These final five stories are a perfect tribute to the talent of David Tennant and demonstrate time and time again why he will always be remembered as one of the best actors who has played the role of The Doctor.
The Next Doctor-
David Tennant continues his incredible tenure as The Doctor, this time venturing back to London in the year 1851. There he encounters some old friends, The Cybermen, and gets the opportunity to meet another version of himself (played by David Morrissey)! But wait… how can there be TWO Doctors? Now the two men must work together to stop the Cybermen from altering history and ruining Christmas (the Christmas part is more important).
We learn the tale of Jackson Lake, a human who tried to stop the Cybermen with a device called an info stamp, which contained information about the Doctor and the Cybermen. Lake's mind is overwhelmed with information and he comes to believe that he himself is The Doctor! With his mind in pieces, he sets out to stop these villains with the help of his companion, a young woman named Rosita. Using the Doctor's memories, he creates the T.A.R.D.I.S ("Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style"), and the two Doctors plan a way to stop the Cybermen from unleashing their newest creation, The CyberKing!
Planet of the Dead–
This stand alone special features the Doctor at his best. When a bus and its passengers are accidentally transported through a wormhole to an alien world, the Doctor must act quickly or everyone is doomed. Luckily for him, he has the lovely Lady Christina (played by Bionic Woman's Michelle Ryan) to help with this tricky situation. As the episode opens, the audience learns that Christina is a very good thief as she successfully robs a London Museum. As she attempts to make her escape, she encounters several police officers hot on her tracks and she makes quick decision to board a double-decker bus. Who else happens to get on that bus? The Doctor! Moments after the two board, the bus is spirited off to a desert planet. Christina takes charge of the passengers and rallies them together. While trying to figure out the situation, The Doctor enlists the aid of U.N.I.T. and is connected with Professor Malcom. With his help, the Doctor is able to determine a little more about the planet they are on. The Doctor and Christina then take a look around the desert world only to find that they are not alone. The two encounter the Tritovores, a fly-like alien race that crashed on the planet. Using the Tritovores's ship, the Doctor learns that there is a bigger danger awaiting them on the planet – a swarm of flying metal shark-like creatures are quickly approaching their location and if they don't act fast, the creatures will travel back to Earth! Planet of the Dead is a fun tale in the Who Universe and it was great to see Tennant have fun with the character since the remaining specials seem to be heading down a dark path…
Waters of Mars-
It is the year 2059 and humanity has established the first colony on Mars called Bowie Base One. The Doctor appears on Mars and is taken captive by the members of the human expedition and introduced to this legendary team of explorers. The team is led by the amazing Captain Adelaide Brooke, who was inspired to travel into space when she was a child. When the Daleks invaded Earth in the Season Four episode, "The Stolen Earth", she encountered a Dalek who spared her life. She decided to venture out into the stars after the creature to see what else lay out in the universe. While the team has their conversation with the Doctor, a viral water creature has begun to inhabit the bodies of several of the other humans on Mars. The Doctor soon realizes that he has arrived on the day that Bowie Base One was destroyed, along with all of its human crew. He decides that it is time to go, but before he can react, he is pulled into a new adventure and must decide whether he has the right to alter history or if this event must remain a fixed point in time. This story really showed The Doctor in a new light, as he has become more cautious than ever before.
The End of Time- (Parts 1 and 2)
The Master, The Doctor's greatest enemy, is back and has a new plan that will not only threaten the human race, but the rest of time itself! The Ood have summoned The Doctor to warn him about the emerging darkness that will threaten all existance. The Doctor travels across the universe back to Earth to stop the return of The Master, but he finds that he is too late. Upon reaching Earth, he once again encounters Donna's Grandfather Wilfred, who has been having terrible dreams and was determined to find the one man who could help him. The two men have a fantastic conversation about mortality and the Doctor acknowledges that he doesn't want to die. The Doctor is determined to find The Master and tracks him down. A battle between the Time Lords ensue, and during the fight, The Master is taken captive by human forces. A man named Joshua Naismith, who recovered a gateway device from the remains of Torchwood (following the events of Torchwood's Children of Earth series) has need of The Master and wants his help in fixing the damaged technology. The Master takes advantage of the situation and reprograms the device to rewrite all human DNA to match his own. Now The Doctor must face off an entire planet comprised of Masters!
However, as we have come to learn from this epic series by Russell T. Davies, things are not always what they seem. Events have been set into motion by unseen forces and we find that all of these events have been orchestrated by the long lost civilization known as the Time Lords! Their grand plan extends back to using The Master as a child and implanting the sound of drums in his head…leading to his insanity and the eventual take over of Earth. Using The Master as a fixed point, the Lord President of the Time Lords (played by Timothy Dalton) is determined to remove Gallifrey from the time-lock and bring about the end of time itself. Can The Doctor stop the end of time and escape from his impending fate? And if he is able to succeed…what will be the cost?
This episode features special appearances by Bernard Cribbins, Catherine Tate, Billie Piper, Noel Clarke, John Barrowman, Elizabeth Sladen, Freema Agyeman and more!
Special Features
-"Doctor Who at the Proms – Music of the Spheres" – This mini-episode of Doctor Who was created for the Doctor Who Prom event in July of 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall. The Doctor has been working on his own musical composition titled, "Ode to the Universe", which he then conducts with a live symphony orchestra.
-"Doctor Who Confidential – The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, Waters of Mars, The End of Time Parts 1 and 2" – These in-depth specials give fans a great insight into what it took to film each of these epic adventures. You would be amazed at how much effort it takes to get a double-decker bus to Dubai, which is where the majority of Planet of the Dead was filmed. This blu-ray set is the only place where you can get the Confidential episode for The Next Doctor.
-"Doctor Who at Comic-Con" – David Tennant, Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner made the trip across the pond to America for last year's Comic-Con International. This great featurette features an account of their travels and highlights some of the great moments during the screening of Planet of the Dead and Torchwood's Children of Earth.
-Deleted Scenes – Russell T. Davies introduces a series of deleted scenes and is kind enough to explain why each was cut. Don't miss out on what could have been!
-"David Tennant Video Diary – The Final Days" – This great feature is a must for fans of Tennant's run as the 10th Doctor. This is a nice recording where he talks about the process of filming these final adventures.
-Audio Commentary on The End of Time Parts One and Two by David Tennant, Catherine Tate, and Euros Lyn
-1080p Video
-5.1 DTS Audio
Overall
Fans of Doctor Who couldn't possibly ask for a better collection for these specials. The set also includes a special forward by David Tennant himself (in the episode guide) and is a great way to begin these final episodes. It is truly a testiment to the work that this creative team has done over the last few years to bring The Doctor back into mainstream popular culture.
Russell T. Davies has successfully revived the franchise with creative stories and amazing characters and will be missed. David Tennant is, in my opinion, one of the most fun and entertaining actors to watch on television. He has the charm and the wit that make you hold on to every word he says. We have known for some time now that he would be stepping down from his role as the 10th Doctor, but for many of us, he will always be OUR Doctor. His characterization of this timeless hero will not be forgotten. For those of you who have never watched Doctor Who, you could easily pick up this collection and be able to follow the story, but I highly recommend getting the prior seasons.
ComicsOnline gives the Doctor Who The Complete Specials Collection on Blu-ray 5 out of 5 chances to watch David Tennant. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would do so in a heart beat.
Buy Doctor Who- The Complete Specials on Blu-ray at Amazon.com.
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