Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Blu-ray

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead

 (TV) (2009)

Sci-Fi



For more details about Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead on Blu-ray, see the Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Blu-ray Review

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


As the first Doctor Who episode to be filmed, broadcast, and released in high definition, Planet of the Dead will certainly be a treat for Whovians, but its VC-1 encoded, 1080i transfer—that’s right, interlaced—is far from perfect. While the show does shine with newfound levels of clarity, it’s HD video source material can look dull and dimensionless at times. Facial textures are certainly sharp, and the desert sands are crisply rendered, but the image as a whole has a kind of flat, video sheen. Black levels are sufficient, though, and the episode has a fairly vibrant palette of colors. The scenes in the desert look fantastic—a bit like a screensaver, admittedly —with deep blue skies over an orange expanse of sand. Skin tones too are neutral and realistic. On the downside, I did notice an instance of aliasing, and a few telltale stair steps of banding in some of the sky’s subtle color gradients, particularly around the one of the planet’s suns. Doctor Who is never going to look objectively great compared to Blu-ray’s best, but it is what it is, and with that in mind, this transfer is completely adequate.

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Planet of the Dead goes into steady orbit with a DTS-HD High Resolution Audio 5.1 track that, while never impressive, suits the material well. Dynamically, the mix seems a little thin to me, and the bass really only gets a chance to roar during one or two bits of incidental music. Listen to the gunshots that punctuate the end of the episode—instead of assault rifles they sound like Chinese firecrackers. Even the main theme sounds lean. Directionality proves somewhat better, as we get a fair amount of ambience in the rears—from the beating blades of helicopters to the rattling of the bus as it travels through the wormhole—and a few discrete effects, like the back-to-front swoosh of the swarm flying past. Dialogue is prioritized well, and sound effects, like computerized bleeps and bloops or the Tritavore’s language of articulated clicks, are clear and distinct. Overall, this track may lack heft, but it gets the job done.

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Doctor Who Specials Coming to Blu-ray in February - November 2, 2009


• Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Coming This July - June 1, 2009

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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