Doctor Who: Battlefield (Story 156)
by Michael Kerrigan
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DVD details
Actor: Nicholas Courtney, Sophie Aldred, Sylvester McCoyDirector: Michael Kerrigan
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-05-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- The Doctor and Ace join forces with UNIT and his old friend the Brigadier against Morgaine (Jean Marsh) and Mordred, Arthurian villains who recognize the Doctor as Merlin.Running Time: 95 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 883929066070 UPC: 883929066070 Manufacturer No: 1000093206
DVD Reviews of Doctor Who: Battlefield (Story 156)
DVD Review: "I Just Do The Best I Can."
Summary: 4 Stars
I was rather intrigued when I first learned of Battlefield. Featuring my favorite Doctor Sylvester McCoy, the return of UNIT and tying into Arthurian legend (which I'm rather intrigued in) it was going to be an interesting story to view. While Battlefield turned out not to be a classic along the lines of say The Curse of Fenric or Ghost Light, Battlefield stills proves to be an exciting and ever watchable Doctor Who story.
At the heart of it all is Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred as the seventh Doctor and Ace. Both show off their remarkable chemistry that made them one of the most successful TARDIS crews of the original series. McCoy in particular gets some fine acting moments such as the "there will be no battle here!" section of part three and the nuclear weapons speech in part four. Aldred also gives a nice performance as Ace though the character does come across as being downright immature at times. That said there are plenty of good things to say about Aldred's performance especially in the special edition's scenes with Brigadie Lethbridge-Stewart. As always the delight for watching a story from the McCoy era lies in the splendid work of its leading cast.
The story also features another one of the great things of the McCoy era: a fine supporting cast. Nicholas Courtney makes a welcomed return as UNIT's former commander Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart even if there are moments where he is pushing credibility at one or two moments. That said Courtney gets the best lines of the story including part four's classic "I just do the best I can!" plus some fine moments with McCoy's Doctor. Also of special mention is Jean Marsh who gives a well-stated and even believable performance as the Arthurian villainess Morgaine, the result being one of the single best performances of the McCoy era. There's also a nice performance from Angela Bruce as the new Brigadier in charge of UNIT, Winnifred Bambera, which makes it a shame that the show didn't get to go on much past this story and we never got to see more of the character. There's also nice performances from James Ellis, Marcus Gilbert, Robert Jezek and Angela Davis amongst others. That said there are some rather mixed performances from Christopher Bowen as an over-the-top (and out of place) version of Mordred and Ling Tai as the immature Shou Young. All said though it is as good a supporting cast as any to be found in the McCoy era.
The story has some nice production values as well. The sets and costumes are nicely done considering the low-budget the show was forced to work within. Thi is especially true of the Knights armor which, while not the sort of futuristic thing originally envisioned, stands up well today because it isn't futuristic. There's also the Destoryer in parts three and four who in a short space of time leaves a huge impression. Te Detroyer is a brilliantly realized creation as not only a fantastic monster but as a personification of Oppenheimer's "destoryer of worlds" as he described nuclear weapons which gives the story a nice piece of symmetry as well. That said the production values aren't perfect.
Battlefield suffers from two very distinct problems in the forms of its special effects and music. While special effects in the original Doctor Who series have a;ways been a mixed affair anyway here they are sadly lacking at times such as he Knights guns that do little more then shoot sparks or the sad looking exterior effects related to the Destroyer towards the end of the story. There's also the mater of the score by Keff McCulloch which works for the most part but is at times seeming out of place at times then too loud and too brash at others, especially in the action sequences. thankfully there is an answer to some of those problems (more on that later).
One of the more successful elements of Battlefield is the script by Ben Aaronovitch. Doctor Who has time and again proved itself capable of adopting mythologies for its own purposes the Battlefield is no exception. The story makes fine use of the Arthurian legend with its use of its heroes and villains, giving the story an anchor in on the long lasting and best known mythologies of the Western world. Even more interesting from the Arthurian standpoint is that the Doctor is identified as being as Merlin which not only makes for a nice plot device but adds a nice bit of mystery back to the Doctor. There's also a nice return to some of the elements of the series own mythology including the return of UNIT and its original commander Lethbridge-Stewart, the Doctor's old car Bessie and the morality about war and diplomacy that ran throughout the original UNIT stories of the 1970's. The latter is particularly evident in the Doctor's speech on nuclear weapons (written in fact by script editor Andrew Cartmel) towards the story's conclusion. While the story has some structural issues (such as a slow moving first episode and the Lethbridge-Stewart taking half the story before really making an impact on events) the script is a good one and it stands up well.
The second disc of the DVD release contains a special edition movie length version of the story. First off it contains some deleted scenes which add not only some explanations but add onto the relationship between Ace and Lethbridge-Stewart. Yet the biggest improvement to the story is the incorporation of new CGI effects. The aforementioned knight's guns now have beams with the sparks which help to make them believable plus there are some nice improvements to effects all through the story. Of particular mention is the effect of Morgaine summoning the Destroyer's shadow from her crystal ball which even had my little brother saying "whoa!" The special edition also attempts to fix the issues with the music as well though this is only a partial success and it is a shame that Mark Ayers (who supervised the special edition and created the best scores of the McCoy era) didn't take the opportunity to redo the music entirely Even with the issues the special edition is a considerable success and something of an improvement over the original.
The DVDs special features are as good as any as those on any other Who DVD. On top of the above mentioned special edition version of the story there are a total of four documentaries : three on the making if the story (including one about the famous water tank incident that occurred) and one featuring actress Jean Marsh discussing her three appearances on the original series of Doctor Who. There's an audio commentary featuring actors Sophie Aldred, Angela Bruce and Nicholas Courtney plus writer Ben Aaronovitch and script editor Andrew Cartmel in which the group discuss the story, their remembrances of it and give it criticism (especially from Aaronovitch and Cartmel) some needed some unneeded. Add on the usual info subtitle option and photo gallery and the special features are up to par.
So where does Battlefield stand? Well while it has its issues (even with the new special edition version included here) it is still an enjoyable and ever watchable piece of Doctor Who. While it might not be a classic story along the lines of say Genesis of the Daleks or later McCoy stories like Ghost Light or The Curse of Fenric, as an adventure story is a fine one. What more can you really ask for?
Description of Doctor Who: Battlefield (Story 156)
DOCTOR WHO:BATTLEFIELD - DVD MovieThe Sylvester McCoy era of Doctor Who tends to get a rough ride from some, but Battlefield is proof that even in some of the darker days for the show, and with the budget seemingly vanishing into thin air, it could deliver a very good story. Penned by Ben Aaronovitch, who also scribed the underrated adventure Remembrance of the Daleks from the same era, Battlefield instantly wins favor by bringing back Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, played with his usual dignity and class by Nicholas Courtney. Along with companion Ace, they then find themselves caught up in an Arthurian adventure, with nods to Merlin, Excalibur, and the Lady in the Lake. It?s a good yarn, with an impressive monster waiting near the end. And while it does stretch the story a little thin, it?s one of the better adventures of the McCoy era. While Battlefield isn?t vintage Doctor Who, it is a whole lot better than the assorted naysayers would have you believe.
As usual, the DVD release is packed with many hours of extras to sort through. Battlefield benefits from a packed commentary track, and a host of behind-the-scenes extras (that recall, among other things, the moment when a water tank shattered with Sophie Aldred still inside it). And on disc 2 is an extended version of the feature. Well worth picking up. --Simon Brew
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