Bonus Extras
I was very excited about this release as I expected not only for the films to look greater than ever before, but also it would be bursting to the seams with extras and added content to a standard even the main Doctor Who DVD range would envy. Given the remastering isnt something to write home about, a lot is riding on these extras. My opinion in short is a resounding meh. These Blu Rays really recycle a lot of material that has been seen before on previous releases. Included with Dr. Who and the Daleks is the documentary Dalekmania a direct to video documentary produced around 1995 looking at the hype around the Daleks in the sixties, especially around the Dalek films, with little to no reference made to the exploits in the TV series. Its a cheap looking documentary with limited scope and by now just looks tired. It just about makes the HD look impressive by comparison and is that Michael Wisher as the demented Cinema Usher? Its inclusion seems to be present as an excuse not to bother producing the definitive behind the scenes making of documentary, just to say, theres something that kind of covers that area. A quality production could have made these films worth buying again, even if it was in two parts, but just comes across as cheap. Also included is the original theatrical trailer narrated by Peter Cushing and is about as exciting as a prostate exam. Recycled audio commentary with Roberta Tovey and Jennie Linden and a photo gallery. I dont really see the point of photo galleries; not least re released ones as we have a remarkable tool called Google images. Plus who sits through these photo galleries and can say they had a thoroughly good time. Its not how photos are made to be presented. So whats new? Well there is a feature Restoring Dr. Who and the Daleks which could have been fascinating, but is only about 10 or 15 minutes long and features the sound restoration fellow who clearly went on holiday half way through. As for the sound on this feature as a whole, the levels are all over the place. The most curious thing about this feature is that is seems to make what appears to be an apology. It goes into great detail as to how this was shot on Techniscope or as they call it, the poor mans widescreen which basically cuts each frame in half, enabling twice as much footage to be captured on a roll of film. Result being, the frames are smaller. Is this a way of trying to say, reason you cant see much of a noticeable difference in the high definition, is because the quality wasnt there to start with. There is your usual waffle about cleaning up the picture and painting out scratches, which was done for the DVD release years ago, so that is old news really. The final extra is the Interview with Gareth Owen. Who? I hear you ask, well the captions answer that immediately, hes the author of The Shepperton Story and is a walking wikipedia. Its almost as if someone thought about making a documentary for this release, shot this interview and then thought they wouldnt bother. Again, the sound quality is dire. Its horrendously quiet. Then thats it. I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Now before I move on to the extras on Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD I want to point out something about the presentation of these releases. The cover goes in the opposite direction to what the studios tried to establish at the time, draining the garish colour in favour of a tinted violet monochrome and is actually quite impressive to look at, but as soon as you put the DVD in you are greeted by a plain looking menu featuring two Daleks in the foreground, not from the films, but the Supreme Dalek from Planet of the Daleks in 1973 which features several quite obvious design differences copied and pasted twice, with a waving plunger. That is just poor and considering they have photo albums on the very disc, its baffling how this erroneous Dalek got here. Technically that image is licensed to the BBC alone. But Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD goes one better. Again, great cover, but the menu features the same Dalek again parked in front of David Tennants TARDIS prop, which again has several notable differences in both shape, size and colour. If theyd used Matt Smiths TARDIS wed at least be a bit closer. It looks like a shoddy knock off to be quite honest, not something crafted with care and attention that collectors of DVDs are used to, which makes me think that BBC DVD and 2 Entertain should be allowed to have a stab at this. What else does Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD have to offer? Again not much. There is no commentary at all, there is a theatrical trailer and photo gallery but there are three new features. I say new. Restoring Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD rather than being a continuation of the previous feature, is half recycled, again spouting the details about the Techniscope being a cheap format, even going so far as to show us the physical reel itself just to completely prove that point and revisiting the sound mixer who shows us how he did the same as last time on a clip from this movie and basically as before but replace Dr. Who and the Daleks with Daleks Invasion Earth. The most laughable thing is at the end, the blu ray release is dubbed the best quality or closest representation of quality since the films original release. This is peculiar seeing as the last 15 minutes have been saying what a cheap medium it was shot on. The next original piece is another interview with our talking book Gareth Owen, who in matter of fact terms slates the films based on critical reception at the time. Nice to see a positive outlook and that our money has been well spent. Finally we have a painfully short interview with Bernard Cribbins, who although always a delight, only speaks for less than 5 minutes and again, the sound is awful as Bernard isnt even miced up, everything he says echoes around the room. So sadly I can not recommend this release based on the special features either, which are very half baked to say the least. Much of the material is recycled and suggests that the only justification for this release, rather than bringing anything new to the table is a shiny new cover, the popularity of Blu Ray, Doctor Whos 50th Anniversary and Peter Cushings Centenary. None of which the releases individually or combined do much justice and is basically isnt even trying to jump on the bandwagon, more like hitch hike and flag down any passing drivers. I am disappointed as I would have thought a little more pride and effort would be taken with this release, but sadly what we have is an underwhelming collection that has done little to improve upon what came before it. Unless you have never owned these films before or are a die hard fan you arent missing much, or if you cant decide which one to go for, go for Daleks - Invasion Earth. Are you a fan of these films? Are you going to buy the Blu-Ray release? Do you already have it? Tell us what you think in the comments.