BBC Warner | 2010 | 655 mins. | NR
2010 was a somewhat tense year for Doctor Who fans. Five years and two doctors after the series incredibly successful relaunch, the show experienced two key departures. Creator, Russell T Davies, handed over control to superfan Steven Moffat, while David Tennant ceded the blue box to an eleventh Doctor, Matthew Smith. Regeneration has often seemed rather painful, but the Tennant-Smith transition seemed to be among the most angst inducing transitions in the shows near fifty-year history. Fans and tabloids alike screamed that the then 27-year-old Smith was too young for the part, and didn’t have a proven track record. Worst of all, he was too pretty.
Of course, all of this speculation spread before Smith had even had a chance to utter his first word as the Doctor. The complete fifth series gives viewers a chance to see Smith grow into the character. Along the way, it becomes obvious that Smith’s arrival gave the producers the opportunity to develop the new Doctor into a truly complex character.
As the series begins, The Doctor encounters a young, orphaned Scottish girl and quickly forms a friendship with her like only the Doctor can. With the damaged Tardis still on the mend he disappears, abandoning the young girl. When the Doctor reappears seconds later, years have passed and the girl is now a young woman, named Amy Pond (Karen Gillan). After an argumentative reunion, a crack appears in the wall of Amy’s Bedroom. This is no ordinary crack. The crack is a tear in space and time and some rather malevolent beings are getting through. Amy eventually becomes the new Doctor’s faithful companion as they travel the universe dealing with various fantasmagoria. However the crack in Amy’s wall continues to reappear in the most unlikely places and it is getting bigger and threatens to swallow up existence.
It usually takes me a few episodes to warm up to a new Doctor. However, Matt Smith won me over in the first episode. He has the humor of Tom Baker, the seriousness of Christopher Eccleston, mixed with a style that’s all his own.
There was a lot of pressure on new head writer Steven Moffat to come up with the goods, and in my mind, he passed the test with flying colors. He was able to keep the bigger story going, while creating a series of smaller subplots that were very intriguing. There are some really interesting clues about the origin of the crack sprinkled through the season to keep viewers curious.
There are several stand-out stories in this season. The two-part return of the Silurians was well done and successfully adapted the classic villains to the 21st Century, and The Lodger was a fun look at The Doctor in a more domestic setting. The best single episode would have to be Vincent and The Doctor: the duo meets Vincent Van Gogh and finds the talented but tortured artist battling failure and depression while still having a wonderful connection to the universe.
This truly was a great season, and it should only male Doctor Who fans anxiously await the next set of adventures.
The series is presented in 16:9 enchanced widescreen. The picture quality here is excellent; colors are bright and distinguished and blacks are even. There are no digital anomalies to be found.
Audio and sound is presented in stereo with optional English subtitles. The sound mix was good but I would’ve preferred a 5.1 surround sound mix.
It includes the following DVD special features:
For the Commentary this time around they do it a little differently. It is presented with a picture-in-picture video of the participating crew members during the episodes. This is a bit of a different format for the commentary but it works fine and also frames the episodes quite well. Steven Moffat provides many anecdotes and explanations for fan-debates plot holes in the commentary which is great.
Meanwhile In The Tardis Additional Scenes are your basic deleted scenes for various episodes located throughout the disc. They are good scenes and underscore how Smith is totally in his element in this role.
Disc six is devoted to the supplementary making-of series, Doctor Who Confidential. 13 episodes are collected in full.
My favorite extra is most definitely The Monster Files which are separate profiles of the alien villains and menaces that plague the Doctor throughout the series.
There are also several Video Diaries spread out across several discs. These are video diaries recorded by the cast members while they were shooting the series many of them on their first day. We get to see footage of Smith shooting his first unedited takes on the set which is absolutely amazing. These give you a great fly-on-the-wall perspective on the production of the series.
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