Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead Blu-ray offers solid video and audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS. Along with a series of companions, he faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help people and right wrongs.
Whovians rejoice! The good Doctor makes his first interstellar leap into high definition with
Planet of the Dead, the first of four one-hour specials that will bring to a close David
Tennant's term as the Doctor's 10th iteration. Re-boot producer Russell T. Davies has claimed that
this episode is the last lighthearted, standalone story of Tennant's reign, and that the remaining,
darker specials will culminate with the Doctor's inevitable regeneration. The figurative torch will
then be passed to actor Matt Smith, who will lead the series when it returns to a regular schedule in
2010. Tennant has largely endeared himself to Doctor Who's fan base, and the countdown
to his regeneration means every second on screen carries additional weight. In a sense then,
Planet of the Dead comes as a bit of a disappointment, featuring a ho-hum, hole-riddled
plot that gives our time traveling hero very little to do.
No, this isn't Tattoine.
The episode opens with Lady Christina de Souza (Michelle Ryan) busting into a museum
Mission Impossible-style, wearing Catherine Zeta Jones' sexy little get-up from
Entrapment, and absconding with an ancient gold chalice. The grail—no, not
that grail—only figures into the plot in the most banal way, and the whole heist
sequence exists simply to show that Christina is a cheeky thrill-seeker. When she flees the scene
via double-decker bus, who should show up to sit beside her but our humble Doctor, who hands
her some Easter chocolate, as if to say to the audience, "Enjoy this little treat, before things get
too serious." With the police hot on Christina's trail, a wormhole conveniently opens up and sends
the bus and its occupants to a distant, sand-covered planet. UNIT is summoned to guard the
portal, and the stranded passengers must figure out a way to get the now-junked bus back to
London. Complicating matters, a world-devouring species of manta ray-like creatures plan to use
the wormhole to get to Earth—their next food source. The Doctor and his temporary companion
Christina must rendezvous with a race of anthropomorphic flies called Tritavores, figure out how
to get everyone home safely, and prevent the destruction of Earth.
While this may sound like a solid, action-packed episode, it really isn't, and this is lightweight fare
that might disappoint even—or especially—diehard Whovians. It has the makings of a fun little
adventure, but almost nothing of interest happens. The running time is nearly all build-up. We
learn about these manta-ray baddies, these destroyers of worlds, but they never pose any real
threat because, for one, we know as a standalone episode that the conflict will be
summarily resolved, and two, we're led to think of them almost like great white sharks—big
dumb eaters who are just doing what they've been biologically programmed to do. The Tritavores
are similarly dull, and they're swiftly killed off once they've served their plot function. If the
episode has any redeeming value it's in the quirky chemistry between the Doctor and Christina.
In typical Who fashion, the Doctor demurely declines the possibility of romance, but the
two work rather well together as a team, even if she occasionally comes off as too spunky for her
own good. The rest of the bus passengers, however, get somewhat lost in the sandy shuffle. A
few of the characters have narrative potential—a mildly psychic woman and her doting husband
come to mind—but they basically become hero fodder, just another bunch of civilians for the
Doctor to save.
While the story may lack scope, the locale certainly doesn't. Eschewing the quarries and
beachheads of old, this episode of Doctor Who was shot in the desert dunes outside of
Dubai. Russell T. Davies explains in the included behind-the-scenes episode of "Doctor Who:
Confidential" that the goal for Planet of the Dead was to provide a truly alien landscape,
not something clearly recognizable as, well, Britain. And they've certainly succeeded. This episode
does have a look and feel of its own, but I'm not sure the desert scenery justifies the expenses
they must have racked up trying to film 3,000 miles from home. Still, the shifting dunes are
beautiful, and I only wish they could've served as a backdrop to a more riveting tale. Here's
hoping that David Tennant's remaining episodes pack a little bit more narrative punch.
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.
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 Confidential (1080i, 57:02)
Who fans are readily familiar with the "Confidential" series of behind-the-scenes Dr.
Who discussion, and this episode is no different, providing a fairly exhaustive look at
Planet
of the Dead's often-belabored shoot, and featuring interviews with writer/producer Russell T.
Davies, director James Strong, and various members of the cast and crew. It really says
something
when the "making-of" featurette is more engaging than the actual episode, and Planet of the
Dead's production team ran into far more trouble on this outing than the good Doctor
himself.
After deciding to film in Dubai, the crew had to deal with sandstorms, blazing Middle East heat,
and
the logistical nightmare of trying to get a double-decker bus out into the middle of the desert.
When the top of the bus was nearly destroyed by a careless crane operator on the cargo ship,
Davies even had to do some quick thinking and write the damage into the script. This is a
fascinating behind-the-scenes feature, and I'm sure many Who fans will find this look
into
the production cycle more interesting than the episode it documents. Definitely worth a watch.
Doctor Who has finally come to Blu-ray, so there is cause to celebrate, but I'm afraid this
episode wasn't the best choice for the series' high def debut. Still, the show looks better
than ever, even if there are a few PQ kinks to iron out, and the prospect of more Who on
Blu-ray is sure to set the hearts of sci-fi geeks everywhere aflutter. Completists will certainly want
to pick up this release, but for more casual Doctor Who fans I'd recommend a rental first.
BBC Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring a number of Doctor
Who specials to Blu-ray on February 2nd, day-and-date with the DVD release.
These include the next Doctor Who special 'Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars' and
the 'Doctor Who: Two-Part ...
BBC Home Entertainment in conjunction with Warner Home Video have announced that they will bring 'Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead' to Blu-ray on July 28th, day-and-date with the DVD release. Video will be presented on a BD-50 in 1080p VC-1 accompanied by a 2.0 Dolby ...
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