Doctor Who: The Space Museum / The Chase (Dr Who) (3 Discs)

I realise that both of these stories, especially THE CHASE, have a bit of a reputation for 'tattiness', but they still manage to draw me in with engaging & imaginative ideas, ernest performances and a sense of fun that is nowhere near as contrived as the one found in the new version of WHO.

THE SPACE MUSEUM has an excellent first episode which presents a chilling mystery for the TARDIS crew to solve (and avoid!) before parts two, three and four fall back on more traditional "free the repressed slaves" concepts - Still a lot of fun, and features a guest appearance by a Dalek!

THE CHASE is, well, frankly quite daft. The Daleks build their own time machine (the 'DARDIS'??) and chase the Doctor and friends through time and space - That's it. Look for the typical Terry Nation-named planets (the desert world is called 'Aridius'!!), a desperately unfunny interlude on top of the Empire State Building, an evil rodot duplicate of the Doctor and a cameo by The Beatles - No, I didn't… more »

I realise that both of these stories, especially THE CHASE, have a bit of a reputation for 'tattiness', but they still manage to draw me in with engaging & imaginative ideas, ernest performances and a sense of fun that is nowhere near as contrived as the one found in the new version of WHO.

THE SPACE MUSEUM has an excellent first episode which presents a chilling mystery for the TARDIS crew to solve (and avoid!) before parts two, three and four fall back on more traditional "free the repressed slaves" concepts - Still a lot of fun, and features a guest appearance by a Dalek!

THE CHASE is, well, frankly quite daft. The Daleks build their own time machine (the 'DARDIS'??) and chase the Doctor and friends through time and space - That's it. Look for the typical Terry Nation-named planets (the desert world is called 'Aridius'!!), a desperately unfunny interlude on top of the Empire State Building, an evil rodot duplicate of the Doctor and a cameo by The Beatles - No, I didn't make any of that up!

This story is also notable for the departure of Ian and Barbara from the TARDIS, meaning the original crew is no more. Very sad, especially as Hartnell seems genuinely aggrieved to see them leave.

Again, try to view these in context and you should enjoy them as much as me.

THE SPACE MUSEUM has the distinction of being the only classic series story I have never seen so I definitely have a sense of curiosity of finally crossing this off my to be watched list. I understand it has a poor reputation among fans which probably explains why on this DVD title writer Robert Shearman spends 9.5 mins Defending The Museum. Also I welcome Jessica Carney spending 10.5 mins talking about William Hartnells career in My Grandfather The Doctor and am intrigued by the 14 min A Holiday For The Doctor item which is a 60s recollection spoof comedy.
For me THE CHASE is definitely my favourite Hartnell era story and I have been eagerly waiting for its arrival on DVD. I love the shifting locations (desert planet Aridius + Empire State Building + Mary Celeste + spooky haunted house + the planet Mechanus) and atypically the brief duel character role (eccentric American tourist Morton Dill and space pilot Steven Taylor) for Peter Purves in separate episodes of the same story.… more »

THE SPACE MUSEUM has the distinction of being the only classic series story I have never seen so I definitely have a sense of curiosity of finally crossing this off my to be watched list. I understand it has a poor reputation among fans which probably explains why on this DVD title writer Robert Shearman spends 9.5 mins Defending The Museum. Also I welcome Jessica Carney spending 10.5 mins talking about William Hartnells career in My Grandfather The Doctor and am intrigued by the 14 min A Holiday For The Doctor item which is a 60s recollection spoof comedy.
For me THE CHASE is definitely my favourite Hartnell era story and I have been eagerly waiting for its arrival on DVD. I love the shifting locations (desert planet Aridius + Empire State Building + Mary Celeste + spooky haunted house + the planet Mechanus) and atypically the brief duel character role (eccentric American tourist Morton Dill and space pilot Steven Taylor) for Peter Purves in separate episodes of the same story. The TARDIS visualiser in the first episode is worthy of a mention but the aspect I like most about THE CHASE is the introduction and subsequent battle between the spooky Mechanoids and the invading Daleks. However the greatest drawback of the story has got to be the supposed robot duplicate of the Doctor that is created by the Daleks. Although having Hartnells voice dubbed on it just does not convince. THE CHASE is significant primarily as it features the last appearance of original companions Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton and I am pleased to see this covered in a 13 min Last Stop White City item talking about the school teachers. The Thrill Of The Chase is a marvellous title for a DVD item where director Richard Martin spends 10.5 mins enthusing about the story. Obviously around the original transmission the series greatest foe were at the height of their initial commercial powers and naturally this title explores this with Daleks Conquer And Destroy (22.5 mins exploring their lasting appeal) and Beyond The Screen (22 mins on Dalek merchandising). With Mechanoids moving about their city during the latter stages of THE CHASE this is an excellent opportunity to spend 17 mins looking at the series 60s props and models makers in Shawcraft The Original Monster Makers. This box set is of course further embellished by additional unique and standard bonus items all of which makes this a highly appealing DVD title example of mid 60s Doctor Who and for me the best 2010 classic series title so far.

It's fair enough to say that The Space Museum isn't favoured by many. The Chase has also been attacked in the past by a particular "new series" member who I won't get started on.
I didn't see The Chase until it was released on vhs in 1993, I adored it! Until then I'd only read brief summaries of the Marie Celeste, the haunted house, a stuttering Dalek and a robot double for the Doctor that was so identicle it looked nothing like him.
I'd previously purchased three Dalek photos from Forbidden Planet and was finally able to identify the round silver things as Mechanoids. There will never be any better Dalek voices than Peter Hawkins and David Graham. Fact.
The first time I saw The Space Museum was actually only a trailer on UKGold and it looked fantastic (the opening shot of the museum), they broadcast it a week later and probably felt the same as everyone else - episode one was great, not sure why the remaining episodes don't come close to it.

Commentary though,… more »

It's fair enough to say that The Space Museum isn't favoured by many. The Chase has also been attacked in the past by a particular "new series" member who I won't get started on.
I didn't see The Chase until it was released on vhs in 1993, I adored it! Until then I'd only read brief summaries of the Marie Celeste, the haunted house, a stuttering Dalek and a robot double for the Doctor that was so identicle it looked nothing like him.
I'd previously purchased three Dalek photos from Forbidden Planet and was finally able to identify the round silver things as Mechanoids. There will never be any better Dalek voices than Peter Hawkins and David Graham. Fact.
The first time I saw The Space Museum was actually only a trailer on UKGold and it looked fantastic (the opening shot of the museum), they broadcast it a week later and probably felt the same as everyone else - episode one was great, not sure why the remaining episodes don't come close to it.

Commentary though, instead of our usual fan moderators we have Peter Purves for both discs. I was dubious after the Daleks' Masterplan commentary of which he had few memories (even after narrating the 5 disc audio cd release) but I think this is a triumph. He's been well briefed, previously viewed the stories and made his own notes and interviews his co-stars very well even though he mistakenly had Maureen O'Brien down as one of the original cast. Occasionally it seems a little false when he can answer any question either asked (or sometimes not asked) whilst moderating, but overall - just great!
Interesting how the production subtitles state the Camber Sands footage of Vicki and Ian was not actually William Russell and Maureen O'Brien as they were filming The Romans, only to be contradicted by Maureen who (even though she can't remember much about her time on the programme) remembers running up the sand dunes.
Maureen was never happy in the role of Vicki. It's fantastic that she's finally on a commentary but also heartbreaking to hear that she just has no interest in the programme. The late Mervyn Pinfield gets a huge slating by Maureen.

Special features - it looks like BBC Worldwide are finally trying to bring elements of the new series into these dvd's to attract in some way a new audience. Ray Cusick looking at how his designs have been changed for the new series in the Cardiff studios is difficult viewing. Similar to a visit from someone in higher authority.
Although I haven't yet had time to check out the other features on The Chase there are still a number of mini documentaries and featurettes including Shawcraft Models who were responsible for realising some of Ray Cusick's designs.

The lack of special features on The Space Museum, a story that has been slated for years and hated by most will seal the fate of this dvd for most people to staying on a shelf or being put into storage (or being sold on second hand).
Jessica Carney makes a welcome return, but she's so softly spoken and not particulaly well recorded that without the subtitles you'd be forever adjusting the volume.
Robert Shearman spells out the good and bad things about The Space Museum. (Thanks for that.)
There's a spoof which starts out well until the second 'innit' when suddenly the joke has run thin.
With the exception of the PDF's and photo gallery, that's it. Not even any interview footage with William Russell, Maureen O'Brien, Glyn Jones, Jeremy Bulloch or Peter Craze which is a huge shame.

To be honest this should not have been released as a box set (just like the mind boggling upcoming "Myths and Legends" box set). I love both stories but The Chase should have had its own single release. Episode 1 of The Space Museum gets 4 stars!