On previous occasions, when it's come to The Collection box sets, I've waited until I've watched all the stories plus the extras before posting one big review of the whole set. This meant me not reviewing until almost 2 weeks had passed, by the time I'd worked through everything.
This time, as most of the stories of Season 21 have been given updated VFX and there is a lot of additional material, I thought I'd do it differently and post individually on each disc.
We start with Warriors of the Deep, which not only gives you the option of watching new effects but has been quite radically reworked.
Usually, new VFX means replacing model shots with CGI versions, but in this case all of Mat Irvine's model work is preserved. They've simply overlaid new effects to make the models look as though they really are underwater. The only CGI added is an exterior shot of Sea Base 4 with the missile silos opening in Part 4, plus internal shots of the base seen on the control room screen, depicting the missiles in their bay and a small internal harbour in which a mini-submarine can be seen.
The biggest change to the broadcast episodes is the total replacement of the Myrka. The only time you see the original costume is when the beast is already dead, and Nilssen falls on top of it.
The Myrka does other things now as well. Its first victim is killed by it lashing out its tongue to electrocute him.
The notorious scene in which Ingrid Pitt's Dr Solow attempts to kung-fu it is now quite different. We see only her begin her moves, then the Myrka lurches forward and snatches her up in its jaws. This scene was followed by a shot of the command disc lying on the floor, with the dead Solow's outstretched arm. The arm is now seen to be detached from the rest of her!
If you've read the recent DWM Chronicles 1984, you'll know that additional Silurian and Sea Devil material was filmed and edited into the episodes. This comprises mostly close-ups, either of them speaking or of their weaponry in action. All the weapons now fire VFX shots.
One thing you'll notice right away on watching is that the Silurians' third eyes no longer light up when they speak, and the rather squeaky voices have been deepened to make them sound more menacing.
The only time a third eye lights up is when Icthar uses it to show some clips from their previous stories on the control room screen, when he tells the Doctor about their earlier disastrous encounters with humanity.
The episodes have also been reedited to tighten up the pace, so there are fewer scenes of the Sea Devils ambling rather slowly down corridors.
We no longer see any wardrobe malfunctions either, of which there were several on view back in 1984. CGI has also been used to add the occasional eyeball movement to the Sea Devils.
One thing this Special Edition might have benefited from was an omnibus version, if they really wanted to make it feel more fast paced.
Of course, no amount of CGI and reediting can fix all of the problems. The sets are still over-lit, the performances variable, and the continuity errors with those earlier stories persist. Actually, The War Between the Land and the Sea now fits chronologically between this and The Sea Devils - but as that didn't feature the Doctor, the Myrka or Silurian battle-cruisers then those problems remain.
Apart from trailers and other brief TV spots, the only new extra for this story is its Behind the Sofa. They're doing it differently this time by having a guest actor from each story on the sofa with Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton. For this story we have Tara Ward, who played Preston.
The two other sofa line-ups comprise Matthew Waterhouse, Sophie Aldred and Wendy Padbury forming a companions one, and Colin Baker with his two companions, Bonnie Langford and Nicola Bryant, making up the third.
Having just watched the Special Edition, it is a little jarring to watch them watching the original broadcast version. It would have been nice to see their reaction to the new Myrka, but of course these panels will have been recorded long before that work was completed.
Personally I found the Aldred / Waterhouse / Padbury one the most entertaining. When one of them observes "Look at them trying to look macho, in their camp outfits", Waterhouse replies that they've just summed up 1980's Doctor Who in a nutshell...
It's a long time since I watched Warriors of the Deep, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed watching it again, thanks to this new version. I know there are a lot of purists out there who are only interested in watching the original versions, but I really can't see myself ever revisiting the broadcast version.
Worth the price of the box set alone? Maybe not quite, but there are another 9 discs to come...
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