DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SERIES
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: BBC
MSRP: $89.99 but Amazon has the blu-ray set for $62.99.
Running Time: 585 minutes
What’s Going On?
The latest madman in the blue box finds his feet in the sixth series in this long running sci-fi series. This season finds the Doctor in America for the first time and finding a way to cheat his own death. We also learn more about the enigmatic River Song and her connection to the Doctor and his current companion Amy Pond.
Who’s In It:
Matt Smith stars as the Doctor, Alex Kingston stars as River Song, Amy Pond is played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill is Amy’s put upon fiance Rory. Monsters like The Silence, The Flesh, minotaurs and Cybermen are also a big part of the series.
If You Like…:
Previous incarnations of DOCTOR WHO, INSPECTOR SPACETIME on COMMUNITY, which is modeled on DOCTOR WHO, or are looking for the kind of sci-fi that the whole family can enjoy, check this out – but there is some mythology to learn, so you might want to start from the first season of the relaunched series or at least the fifth series, in which Matt Smith is introduced as the Doctor.
Special Features:
There’s tons and tons of stuff here, and all of it is pretty great.
Doctor Who Confidential are behind the scenes specials on each episode, totaling thirteen. There’s a separate Christmas Carol Confidential, focusing just on the Christmas special. What I liked about these, which are a fixture when the series airs in the UK, is that rather than one big behind the scenes piece which glosses over everything, you get more insight into the daily dealings of working on a television series. The episodes focus on stunt work, examinations of the visual effects and interviews with all of the major cast and crew throughout.
There are several audio commentaries on various episodes with Arthur Darvill, various producers and visual effects supervisors. The gems include Neil Gaimen, author and nerd god, discussing his process in writing his episode, “The Doctor’s Wife”, one of the standouts of the series. Head writer and executive producer Stephen Moffat only contributes one commentary on the season finale, “The Wedding of River Song”. The one big disappointment in these is that Matt Smith nor Karen Gillan are on commentaries for any of the episodes. However, Gaimen’s commentary is worth the price of admission.
Monster Files examines all the baddies, aliens, and other craziness of this season, including The Silence and The Gangers.
The Series Six Episode Prequels are teasers for “The Impossible Astronaut,” “The Curse of the Black Spot,” “A Good Man Goes to War,” “Let’s Kill Hitler” and “The Wedding of River Song”, and oddly, they actually make the episodes that more engaging, a testament to Moffat’s writing.
There are a handful of comedic sketches, inlcuding two from Comic Relief, “Time” and “Space”, and The Night and The Doctor shorts titled, “Bad Night,” “Good Night,” “First Night” and “Last Night.”. There’s also a separate Doctor Who Confidential on the Night’s series.
The Technical Gist
The series looks better than you might have remembered seeing it on TV, and the first few episodes, portions of which were shot in Monument Valley in Utah, look absolutely glorious on blu-ray. The rest of the show pales in comparison in to the opening episodes in terms of eye candy, but they all still look great.
The Verdict
This set is filled to the gills with special features and Moffat continues some of the most engaging and entertaining storytelling in television with this series. I’d say BUY IT. If you haven’t seen Doctor Who, I’d start with the relaunch of the series in 2005, and you can be to season six in a month. Each series is only thirteen episodes and they’re a blast.
