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Blu-ray Review: DOCTOR WHO season 18 (Tom Baker Season 7)
Blu-ray Review: HARDWARE
PHOTOGRAPHY
DOCTOR WHO Season 18 (TOM BAKER Season 7)
Blu-ray review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 672 minutes approx, audio commentaries, making-of documentaries, Bend the sofa commentary, audio commentaries, text commentaries, featurettes, optional CGI special effects, studio footage and deleted scenes, Blue Peter clips, photo galleries, trailers, tom Baker commercials, trailers, PDF material

VIDEO: 1.33:1 1080p High Definition (episodes/ some extras), 1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen) - some extras in HD

AUDIO: English 2.0 DTS-HD MA, English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (LEISURE HIVE/ WARRIOR'S GATE)
Subtitles: English SDH

STUDIO: BBC/ BBC America
RELEASE DATE: 3-19-2019

DISC 1- THE LEISURE HIVE (4 episodes)
DISC 2- MEGLOS (4 episodes)
DISC 3- FULL CIRCLE (4 episodes)
DISC 4- STATE OF DECAY (4 episodes)
DISC 5- WARRIOR'S GATE (4 episodes)
DISC 6- KEEPER OF TRAKEN (4 episodes)
DISC 7- LOGOPOLIS (4 episodes)
DISC 8- K-9 AND COMPANY special
DOCTOR WHO saw a few changes in season 18 as John Nathan Turner took over as producer of the show. Season 18 had a new tittle sequence and theme tune, a new outfit for Tom Baker's Doctor, new companions being introduced during the season, and a couple of companions leaving during the final Fourth Doctor season (including robot dog K-9 which John Nathan Turner and script editor Christopher Bidmead hated as they found ways to get K-9 out of the story when possible). It is fun to revisit this old classic season which I haven't mostly seen for more than 20 years. I saw KEEPER OF TRAKEN and LOGOPOLIS last during the 50th anniversary of DOCTOR WHO when BBC AMERICA aired them in 2013. It is a season with some great stories and the production team doing the best they can on production design, costume design, and special effects on a small budget.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
All discs feature audio commentaries, isolated music track, and text commentaries for each story in addition to BBC Continuity Announcements, PDF materials accessible via a computer blu-ray drive, the BEHIND THE SOFA video commentary from the actors (Tom Baker, John Lesson, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Wendy Pradbury, and costume designer June) in HD along with photo galleries in HD.

DISC 1-
A NEW BEGINNING- making-of documentary on THE LEISURE HIVE which was the beginning of a new direction for the show
FROM AVALON TO ARGOLIS- all about the writing of THE LEISURE HIVE
SYNTHESIZING STARFIELDS that focuses on how the new title sequence and theme tune were created
LEISURE WEAR- costume design of THE LEISURE HIVE
Clean opening and closing credits, studio footage, Blue extract, a coming soon trailer for MEGLOS, and a new audio commentary with Tom Baker and Matthew Sweet

DISC 2-
MEGLOS MEN- all about writing MEGLOS
THE SCENE SYNC STORY which is about a new special effects technique where they could film actors against blue screen and overlap it with a model shot as the cameras were programmed to be in sync
JACQUELINE HILL: A LIFE IN PICTURES
BBC News Report

DISC 3-
ALL ABOUT THE STARLINER- Making-of documentary about FULL CIRCLE

Studio Footage, K-9 IN E-SPACE, BBC News report announcing a new Doctor, Peter Davison Nationwide interview, Science featurette on FULL CIRCLE
A WEEKEND WITH WATERHOUSE (HD)- Toby Haydoke spends the weekend with Matthew Waterhouse and Matthew's husband as Matthew talks about his acting and writing career while giving Toby a tour of Matthew's flat and the seaside British town that he now lives in

DISC 4-
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS- Making-of documentary on STATE OF DECAY which originally was supposed to star The Doctor and Leela (but shelved because the BBC didn't want it to compete with their DRACULA adaptation at the time) to what happened when it was resurrected for season 18
LEAVES OF BLOOD
THE BLOOD SHOW (the Frayling Reading as an expert gives his analysis of the vampires in STATE OF DECAY verses vampire lore)
Film Trims of model sequences, BBC News Report on Tom Baker and Lalla Ward's wedding, PICKWICK AUDIOBOOK,

DISC 5-
THE DREAMING- Making-of Documentary on WARRIOR'S GATE which focuses on the origins of the story to director Paul Joyce trying to film it more like a film instead dof the usual TV style which lead to delays
Extended and deleted scenes
LALLA'S WARDROBE-a focus on the various different outfits for Romana for each story as Lalla Ward and the costume designer talk about them (in addition to people off the street weighing their own opinion on Lalla's outfits)
THE AXE MAN on a prop master swinging an axe in one scene, SWAP SHOP segment, the fantastic Prime Computer Ads with Tom Baker and Lalla Ward in character as the Doctor and Romana

DISC 6-
BEING NICE TO EACH OTHER- Making-of Documentary on KEEPER OF TRAKEN which talks about the costume and production design, the casting, and the decision to have the master return in this story
THE RETURN OF THE MASTER featurette
Sarah Sutton on Swap Shop, extra audio commentary bit since the audio commentary for the story overran by a couple of minutes

DISC 7-
HANGING ON A THREAD- New Making-of Documentary on Tom Baker's final story as the Doctor with new and archival interviews as this nearly one hour documentary talks about the making of LOGOPOLIS to Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton revisiting the locations in the serial
New optional CG effects for LOGOPOLIS
A NEW BODY AT LAST- a 50 minute documentary about the Doctor regenerating from Tom Baker into Peter Davison on the show and all the behind-the-scenes stuff that went into the casting and changing of the Doctors
Studio footage from the Doctor's regeneration scene
AUDIO RESTORATION featurette
THE FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO trailer

TOMORROW'S TIMES featurette
STRIPPED FOR ACTION- which focuses on the DOCTOR WHO comic strip in TV COMIC and DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE
DOCTOR WHO STORIES- Tom Baker interview
Science featurette on LOGOPOLIS

DISC 8-
BRENDAN AND COMPANY featurette- Ian Sears interview
THE K-9 FILES
A DOG'S TALE
PEBBLE MILL AT ONE
THE WRITER'S ROOM (HD)- a new featurette as the writers form Season 18 reunite at a pub to talk about writing that final Tom Baker season
THE FOURTH DOCTOR REVISITED
50th ANNIVERSARY ARCHIVE that has a 2013 interview with Matthew Waterhouse
THE PANOPTICON ARCHIVE- 1993 interview with Tom Baker
1997 commercials from New Zealand starring Tom Baker as the doctor selling a 401K investment plan
Studio clocks
GALACTIVE GLITTERS blu-ray trailer for season 18

FINAL ANALYSIS: If you're a fan of the show, this final season of Tom Baker's Doctor is a must own. It has a wealth of extras making it one of the best TV on blu-ray sets for this year. I know some fans may have problems collecting these sets because the seasons are being released out of order and others don't want to upgrade from DVDs they own to this blu-ray set which has new extras and improved transfers. I say you should buy them to ensure the other seasons do get released even though it is irritating the production team on the blu-ray sets is releasing the season sets on their own whim instead of releasing them in order. I understand this since I know I would have loved to see the second season of the Fourth Doctor released before his last season and more in order instead of the here and there release strategy. I do hear of tumors that season 17, season 10, and season 26 are being worked on for release for blu-ray and it remains to be seen which season they announce for release next.

This review is (c)4-10-2019 David Blackwell and cannot be repeated without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com and look for additional content/ news at http://enterlinemedia.tumblr.com