A very different story to the rest of Season Five. Not as good as some of the others but I think it works as an interlude from the monsters for a few weeks and I love the James Bond Theme to it.

I also think out of all the stories where the actor playing The Doctor gets to play a dual role, this is by far the best. Troughton is superb as Salamander and is a very convincing villain and is about as different from his Doctor as he could be. The other villainous character I love in this story is Benik, played creepily and very sinister by Milton Johns.

With The Doctor having a reduced role for obvious reasons, Jamie and Victoria both have strong roles. I cite this as another story where Victoria is far from weak, mainly I think due to the lack of monsters within it.

Can I just say this before CHJ gets the chance. I too love the character of Griffin the Chef, whose ironic sense of humour is just superb. So there's only one way to end this post.....

'Peel those spuds!'

Goes on a bit, this one. (Though it's a long time since I have heard it). Nice twist, with people living underground kept ignorant of live above ground.

I love this story because Troughton is great in the dual role and it's such an exciting break from the bases under siege. We also get to see Jamie being quite clever when he infiltrates Salamander's inner circle.

Victoria is a bit silly in the kitchen scenes but Griff's a genius!

I love this one. It's something different.

I always thought that not bringing Slamander back was a big opportunity missed.

Imagine this story in the Pertwee era:

UNIT head out to investigate some disturbance. They find the Doctor already on the case - the Second Doctor! Of course, this naturally leads the Brigadeer to begin to distrust the current Doctor (Jon Pertwee) who had managed to convince him he was the same man he met in the Cybermen and Yeti cases.

Of course, the 'old' Doctor would actually be Salamander who, after being jettisoned from the TARDIS, had somehow been plucked out of the void by some powerful entity (perhaps the Great intelligence?), sent to 20th century Earth and used in a revenge bid against the Doctor. Slamander would first be used to sow distrust in the real Doctor, and then, when he was out fo the way, pave the way for invasion by the Great intelligence. After all, we already saw in 'Enemy of the World' how skilled Salamander was at manioulating people.

How cool would that have been? Patrick Troughton returning as a villain! It would have made a much better 10th anniversary story than 'The Three Doctors', that's for sure.

I don't think Troughton would have come back to play Salamander, especially so soon after leaving the Series. The Three Doctors he only did I suspect because it was an anniversary. It would have overshadowed Pertwee anyway if he had done it, I think.

He came back for the anniversary, as you say. So obviously he wasn't against the idea of being in Doctor Who again on a one-off basis. They could have done such a story instead of the Three Doctors. I think Troughton would have enjoyed it. After all, the character was created in the first place because he wanted a change from playing the Doctor. Troughton was a jobbing actor (a very good one) and not as precious about the role of the Doctor as others might have been. I believe that's why he came back so often: it was a nice, fun job. Why would he possibly not do it? He just didn't want to do it on a regular basis anymore. He had no animosity towards the show.

And how could he overshadow Jon Pertwee more than he did by reprising his role as the Doctor? Surely bringing back the old Doctor Who to play alongside Pertwee is the ultimate way to 'overshadow' him? Having Troughton play a different charcater is hardly worse than that. And to clarify, my suggestion isn't that he'd be a regular returning villain like the Master. My 'idea' (if you can call something that never happened an 'idea') is that it would have been just for a one-off story.

I think it would have been an amazing story.

I'm not disagreeing with the idea, it is a good one,( I know Troughton had said he'd like to have returned as a villain, in disguise I think it was, but it'd probably leak out he was doing it!)

No, my issue was with the timing. He was finding it heavy going towards the end of his time so it's unlikely he would have come back immediately in Season 7 where he definitely would have overshadowed Pertwee as a New Doctor. Probably not Season 8 either as it still would have been too soon. Season 9 would have been too close to an anniversary story and the idea of him returning as someone else aside The Doctor in the 10th anniversary story itself wouldn't have gone down too well with viewers, I think. Letts has stated he got letters every week asking when they were going to do a story featuring all three Doctors and the 10th anniversary gave him the opportunity to do just that.

So with him in the 10th anniversary it would probably be another two years at the earliest before he could appear again as Salamander, which takes you into Tom Baker's first Season and that wouldn't have been right either as it wouldn't have right to overshadow him on his first Season!

So I reckon him playing the role opposite Tom Baker would have been brilliant in later Seasons. Never ever seen those two together apart from one photo at a Panopticon event somewhere so it would have been ideal!

it's a pitty that the only surviving episode is probably the poorest of the 6 .

Isn't it great now things have changed?

I liked the idea that the doctor finds himself between two factions, and he's not initially sure who good or bad.....

And I think the beach chase was pretty good too.

Really looking forward to watching this story and I'm very surprised CHJ hasn't come on and said this(unless he's done it in another thread!)

People have posted that it was a pity that Salamander never appeared again. .

I got the DVD yesterday and watched the first half last night. It's rather good. So far I would stick by my comment from 18 months ago, that it goes on a bit, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

The actions equences in pt.1 are great. Victoria is still a bit shrill but seems to be getting stuff to do. It's a bit mad how easily people are able to get in and out of Salamander's compound. Mary Peach is excellent as Astrid. Griff the Chef is a star, immediately. Not only is it unusual to see a black character given a prominent role, but Carmen Munroe gives such a strong performance as Fariah. Of course, Troughton does wonders with his dual role. Bill Lyons as the flirty guard gives a nice little performance.

It does seem very, very studio bound. It's great to see Barry Letts using back projection .. I can almost imagine him straining at the leash, desperate for someone to invest CSO!

All going well so far. 3 more eps to go!

Finished it! Isn't it fun?

Carmen Munroe is excellent, and her death is very brutal and genuine. The "underground people" story gives a new impetus to the plot in its second half. I love that a woman pushes a pram through assembled guards in ep.4. The air conditioning vent in ep.4 is unexpectedly large.

I had totally forgotten that I put it in spoiler tags as I can't be the only one to be surprised by that!

Troughton is excellent, but Mary Peach steals every scene. No wonder Jamie and Victoria get so little to do, when there's such a strong guest-lead for the story.

I've ordered it & still awaiting its arrival. Can anyone who has got it/ seen it confirm: there's no extras whatsoever but the intro to the disk is still the same as all the others?

Ta

The only extra is a revised version of the iTunes trailer for Web of Fear. And the menu layouts and intros are exactly the same as for all the other stories.

Hope your copy turns up soon, it's a great little story!

You'll have it arrive and be really really annoyed as the case artwork is totally different to the rest

Before you get too sad though, and not many people seem to know this, the covers are reversable. Literally take out the paper cover, reverse it, and you'll have the "old" style cover so your shelves all match.

Yeah, thanks. I heard that about the case. Although some of us might think it looks quite good, it is out of sync with the rest so I can't imagine many classic series DVD collectors leaving it as bought. I'll be reversing it too (by the time I finally take it out of its wrapper).

You see this might sound like true geek material, but when I get it I won't be watching it straight away. I've just purchased "The Beginning" so I've got that, "The Sensorites" & "The Gun Fighters" to watch first. Also the other thing is I watch two episodes a weekend so it will be a wee while before I get round to watching it. Plus by the time that happens hopefully "The Underwater Menace" & "The Moonbase" (& then WoF to top it all off) are released so I can kind of watch them in order (bar the ones I've already watched or are missing).

Have you seen "The Beginning" before? I'd love to know your thoughts if this is your first viewing.

I blummin love The Gunfighters!

Sounds normal to me!

Back in the 90's I just bought whatever VHS took my fancy and/or was cheapest. Now I'm seriously starting to ponder getting the DVD's after swearing I wouldn't. This time I'd be starting with The Beginning and going forward, skipping the missing ones.

Like you I rarely have time to watch much TV. I adore Red Dwarf and have had the DVD's for over 2 years and am still only halfway through series 8 (I watch the extras as I'm sad).

Just finished watching the DVD release and realy enjoyed it. Brought back childhood memories of something I thought was long lost.

Hi Mr Chuff. Well the beginning of "The Beginning" -yes. I've seen the Unearthly Child before. That's screened here twice in NZ since the start of '00's. I really like the opening episode of this (should have been longer), don't really care for the cavemen saga that follows. I'm pretty sure "The Dead Planet (The Daleks)" hasn't screened here since the late 60's, or it may have at the start of the 00's. So I'll really look forward to seeing that (and "The Edge of Destruction") Will let you know

The Gunfighters, hmm, yes, seen that before when it screened at the start of the 00's. I'll reserve judgement & view it again. I know people say it has been unfairly criticised & you should look past the singing (& bad American accents), which I'll attempt to do..

i sat down too watch a couple epesodes (i tend to watch the black n whites a couple epesodes at a time.) Lol ended up watching the whole thing in one go loved it. Its a slightly bizzare addition but really enjoyed and so uch better in moving pictures lol

Big thank you to whoever pointed out the reservable cover. Lol i was looking at it thinking it looked a bit odd. lol Now happily reversed

Heh heh - once upon a time, not so very long ago, the most atypical episode of the most atypical story from the 'monster season' was almost the only surviving episode from the entire year!