STORY PLOTLINE

The TARDIS is dragged down to the surface of the planet Frontios and apparently destroyed during a meteorite bombardment. The Doctor is forced to help the planet's human colonists - refugees from a doomed future Earth - and eventually discovers that their problems stem from an infestation of Tractators, burrowing insect-like creatures led by the intelligent Gravis.

The Tractators have been using gravitational force to cause regular meteorite bombardments in order to keep the colonists weak so that they can prey on their bodies.

DVD EXTRAS

• Studio commentary: Peter Davison (Doctor), Jeff Rawle (Plantagnent), John Gillett (Gravis), Dick Mills (Special Sound), Eric Saward (Script Editor).
• DRIVEM TO DISTRACTION - The making of...
• DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES
• ISLOATED MUSIC SCORE
• RADIO TIMES pdf material
• PHOTO GALLERY

The studio commentary without the dynamic tag-team of Davison versus Janet Fielding is a tad muted but nonetheless entertaining, though why Dick Mills was included is incomprehsnible (he disappears after two episodes) as his contribution is limited.

On the concept of a bodying being swallowed in the earth, Peter Davison: I think that they (NEW SERIES producers) nicked the idea.

On the non-so special special effects, Peter Davison: There’s Alex (Wheel) shaking the camera.

On the scarcity of people on Frontios, Eric Saward: A lack of “extras”. The masses are rebelling. Three people and the tea-lady.

On his use of spectacles, Peter Davison: I must be a Robert Hardy tribute! Lots of “glasses acting”.

On the script, Peter Davison: How far did you have to simplify Chris Bidmead’s script when it came in?
Eric Saward: You always had to take some of the crazier stuff out.

On the Ron Jones (Director), Peter Davison: A nervy director. (John) Cleese-like. I liked him immensely but didn’t have a grip of what was going on.

On the set design, Eric Saward: Someone has worked very hard on this.
Jeff Rawle: Look at the finishes.

On Tegan lifting a heavy chemical battery, Peter Davison: Janet – she’s such a girl.
Eric Saward: Chris’s idea of feminism getting the two girls to lift the acid battery.

FACT: John Nathan-Turner commissioned three version of the TARDIS hat stand; white, off-white and white-glittered.

FACT: Actor, William Lucas (played Mr. Range in FRONTIOS) was considered for two previous DOCTOR WHO characters, Dr. Fendelman (IMAGE OF THE FENDAHL) and Hedin (ARC OF INFINITY).

On the character of Brazen, Dick Mills: Did Peter Gilmore enjoy the role in WHO?
Peter Davison: H loved the no-nonsense role.
Jeff Rawle: We all did. It was quite a big thing in my life. I had watched the very first episode in 1963.

On seeing Plantagenet in the medical centre, Dick Mills relates the vision to a JAMES BOND villain: Scaramanga with three nipples.
Eric Saward: All that bare flesh.

On missing Janet Fielding, Peter Davison: I wish Janet was here, I’d give her a hell of a time.

At the end of episode two’s commentary one the contributors left, Peter Davison: Dick Mills, you’re fired.
Dick Mills: I’ll make a sound for that!

On Turlough’s stress at remembering the alien invasion of his home planet, John Gillet: A lot of foam (in his mouth).

On wearing the Gravis costume, Peter Davison to John Gillet: Is that you doing the mouth?
John Gillet: Yes.
Peter Davison: How sweaty were you in there?
John Gillet: Very. It smelt of rubber and glue. It was like a big body puppet.

On the Tractator’s mining machine, Peter Davison: The machine was driver by three bodies. Very scary.
John Gillet: The smooth tunnels are remarkably uneven.

On the poorly generated special effects, Peter Davison: Oh, for a hundred million pound budget.

On the ease of tricking the Gravis, Peter Davison: In the end, the Gravis is quite gullible.
John Gillet: It’s like inviting the beast to dinner.

(And then it all went quite for a while…)

Jeff Rawle: Sorry, we’re all sitting here spellbound.

The DVD EXTRAS should be described as “value light material” as opposed to “value added material”; there isn’t much but what there is shines, with insightful contributions from the cast and crew (including the frequently forgotten hero of “set designer”) and, with thanks to a long-term fan collector Ian Levine, over 15 minutes worth of deleted & extended scenes is presented.

Firstly, an appreciative acceptance for yet another enticing COMING SOON trailer that, across a minute or so, is far more exciting & thrilling that the original broadcasts. EARTHSTORY tenuously assigns Hartnell’s THE GUNFIGHTERS and Davison’s THE AWAKENING as a single boxset, and is released in May 2011.

The DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES package is fascinating, raw & time-coded footage that was either exorcised from the final edit due to lack of time or not used as it compromised the action. One of the key sequences is the inference made by the Doctor (to Gravis) that Tegan was an “Gallifreyan android” servant (as a mechanical entity she/it would not be installed into the Tractator’s mining machine, and the Doctor’s mislaid spectacles. Yes, you can see why it was removed from the final edit but I think, that other scenes could have been cut for it.

If there one item of VAM that should be included in every DVD release that it would be “time-coded” behind-the-scenes material, and if that means ditching or shortening an accompanying featurette then that should be actioned.

The making of featurette, DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION is succinct, informative and entertaining – everything that VAM should be. Perfect.

With contributions from Peter Davison, Mark “Donald Trump” Strickson, Jeff Rawle, John Gillett, Christopher H. Bidmead, Eric Saward and David Buckingham (the story’s set designer), the documentary not only details the filming of FRONTIOS but the trauma that affected the story in pre-production (two fatalities – one the murder of a cast member and the other a suicide of a crew member).

Script Editor, Eric Saward recounts that he contacted (former Script Editor) Bidmead as he was “reliable writer” and wanted to him to join Saward’s troupe of “reliables”, whilst “rookie” set designer, David Buckingham was seconded to the production following the death of Barry Dobbins, and saw FRONTIOS as a “fantastic opportunity…”

In discussing the story’s characters, Bidmead was pleased to have made the Fifth Doctor more “Professorial without losing the fun” and that in creating a back story for Turlough gave depth to the character that had not been provided by other writers, for which Strickson was “…eternally grateful.”

With the support of BBC NEWS archive newsreel, the death of Peter Arne, who was to play Mr. Range, was assessed as being “really shocking” (Davison) and “slightly sober production” (Rawle).

On entertaining form as ever, Mark Strickson recalls the moment when he spat into the camera leading to a re-record of a key scene, and, referring to the Tractator alien, “How could someone get the design of a costume so wrong?” Seconded.

The DVD VAM concludes with the usual suspects of “RADIO TIMES PDF material”, information text, photo gallery and an isolated music score (the equivalent of a that wafer-thin multi-coloured paper-hat from a Christmas cracker – obligatory but worthless).

This DVD release of the 1984 (season 21) story gives fans an opportunity to either relive a potential classic or to understand why they are watching DOCTOR WHO in 2011. An engaging Doctor, believable non-stereotypical companions, beautifully crafted design and an intelligent & challenging script that expects the viewer to sit up and take notice.

DOCTOR WHO – FRONTIOS is very much a NEW SERIES story as it witnesses one of Earth’s pioneering settlements at the farthest reaches of the universe struggling against an unseen force. If only the ideas within the story had been condensed into a fast-paced, action-packed two-parter then it would be stand as an unrivalled classic story. In its four-parter format, it is nearly there.

Nearly but not quite, but don’t dismiss it too quickly.