Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS]

Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS]

Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, William Hartnell
Producer: Peter Bryant
Writer: Sydney Newman
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 144 minutes
Release Date: 1996-09-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox

VHS Movie Reviews of Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS]

Movie Review: A great space epic for "Doctor Who"!
Summary: 5 Stars

There are a lot of good things to say about this one. The special effects are pretty damn good (for the original "Doctor Who" that is), it talks a lot about war and how it can and should be avoided, it's action-packed, there are a lot of epic space battles in this one, and there are three archenemies for the Doctor to face - the Ogrons, the Master, and the Daleks. Plus you also have a great new alien race being introduced, the honorable Draconians - who not only look great for a low-budget BBC show, but are a lot like the Klingons in "Star Trek". The only thing that disappoints is the ending. Apart from the ending being badly edited, it has a cliffhanger ending that follows on into the next story "Planet of the Daleks". But "Planet of the Daleks" was also good, and this story itself is a great one that no "Doctor Who" collection should go without. Highly recommended!

Movie Review: Good WHO story with Jon Pertwee
Summary: 4 Stars

This episode won't make much sense unless you've seen other episodes like "Day of the Daleks" as the episode features a couple of Who Monsters that aren't talked about much today, the Ogrons (very strong mercenary type of aliens).

"Frontier in Space" to me is more a political adventure story so those seeking outer space stories with a lot of action might be disappointed although the storyline does have a couple of memorable scenes here.

First when Jo and The Doctor arrive (more like crash land) on board an earth vessel a mysterious sound devices makes the pilot see them as Draconians. The Draconians are in conflict with Earth. We actually see that the Ogrons are involved in this deception but as The Doctor points out such advance technology seems above their intelligence. Later on in about episode three we see who is helping the Ogrons.

Episode one then is decent at establishing the conflict with Ogrons and earthlings. Like I said it's a political adventure oriented story because it shows how two races from two government can be easily motivated to start a war with each other based on lies (Iraq anybody, Vietnam?). Above that it has decent acting from everyone involved. You get the feeling that with more complex story the actors really understood the material so they didn't quite have to resort to usual Who formula at throwing monsters in our faces.

Anyways, I liked it, it's a tad different from a couple of the Who stories and has a couple of nice cliffhangers.

Movie Review: The Master's final harrah
Summary: 4 Stars

This is the last adventure featuring Roger Delgado as The Master before his death in a car accident in Turkey. He doesn't appear until episode 4. And knowing that he was involved, I found myself waiting for his eventual appearance and as a result the story seemed to drag until he turned up.
This was in part because I have always been disappointed with 6 episode stories. They usually seem to be 4 episode stories with two extra episodes tacked on at some point or another. This story could probably have been made with one less episode, especially since the Doctor and Jo spend most of the story being captured and escaping and then being re-incarcerated again.
While being a complete story in itself, Frontier in Space is actually part one of a two-story arc (the second part being the story "The Planet of the Daleks") and it feels it too, especially since the ending is a cliff-hanger which is resolved in Planet of the Daleks. So if you don't have Planet of the Daleks already, you should get it from Amazon to see how the cliff-hanger is resolved and how the events in Frontier lead into the next part of the saga.
I recommend this story. It is well written in spite of its length. It is suspenseful as it is not clear who is behind the events that the Doctor and Jo find themselves embroiled in, and this keeps the story going. Jo is pleasantly resorceful and less of a screamer than in others of her stories. The Master is his usual cunning self and his belated appearance in the second half of the story is used to good effect - thickening the plot and causing the viewer to wonder what is actually going on.
Frontier in Space would be an excellent addition to the video collection of any fan of the classic series of Doctor Who, but especially for those fans of the Pertwee era Doctor.

Movie Review: The worst of Dr. Who
Summary: 2 Stars

I am a huge Dr. Who fan, but Frontiers in Space tests even my patience. This terribly written set runs six 25 min TV episodes, and has no conclusion. It simply runs into the next series, Planet of the Daleks. Even the lack of a conclusion to Frontiers in Space pales in my dissappointment compared to the terrible writing. For > 2.5 h the Doctor and Jo simply wander from one jail cell to another, with meaningless dialogues and zero action.

Not sure why I'm giving this one 2 stars, except I'm such a big Dr. Who fan, I can't get myself to rate it 1 star. Unless you're a huge Dr. Who fan, stay away from this one.

Movie Review: Frontier in Space - a Big Budget Epic
Summary: 5 Stars

The first thing you realize when you watch Doctor Who is that its budget was often limited. In "Frontier In Space" this did not seem to be the case.

First of all there are two alien races which require elaborate costumes. When this happens, you usually see two or three aliens, as costumes of this nature are expensive and time-consuming to create. In this serial, the Draconians and Ogrons are well represented. I counted at least six or more of each on-screen at once in various parts of this serial.

Next, there are at least five different jail cells, each of which were well-designed and executed sets. On the cargo ship, on Earth, on the moon, in the Police Cruiser, and finally on the planet of the Ogrons.

Then there were several different ship sets, each unique.

There were space walks, space battles involving at least three or four different space ships, and all put together with a really good storyline.

I began my Doctor Who experience with "Robot", the first of Tom Baker's shows, and only knew Jon Pertwee from "The Five Doctors." I now realize how much I have missed. Epic stories, good writing, excellent sets and costumes, and good actors.

The costumes for the President of the Earth were very well executed and color coordinated. The teal blue number with matching hair ribbons was gorgeous.

And of course if you've seen the cover of the VHS release, the bonus villain in the last episode won't be too much of a surprise, but I'll leave that for you to guess.

The only problem I had with the entire serial was the rather abrupt ending leaving the resolution to happen off-camera and at a later time. But even that is refreshing. Why should the Doctor have to be the one who lays it all out and explains things? It's his job to fix things, not to tie up the loose ends.

I have made it my mission to find as many Jon Pertwee episodes as I can and watch them, because I believe I've missed a lot.

I also recommend "Colony In Space" if you like a well-paced episode that is well written and follows the themes of Doctor Who.

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Summary of Doctor Who - Frontier in Space [VHS]

Opening with the Doctor, John Pertwee, materializing the Tardis in a starship to avoid collision, "Frontier in Space" is the first half of a space opera that ends on a cliffhanger leading into "The Planet of the Daleks" (1973). It is the 26th century and the Ogrons, previously seen in "Day of the Daleks" (1972), are raiding spaceships from both the Earth and Draconian empires, intent on provoking interstellar war. Ranging from deep space to Earth and Draconia, from a lunar penal colony to the Ogron home world, the Doctor discovers that the Master (Roger Delgado in his final performance in the role) is set to plunge the galaxy into chaos. Fans expecting Dalek action should be aware that the psychotic pepperpots only appear at the end, although Katy Manning proves heroine Jo Grant's resilience, and thanks to especially strong make-up and costuming, the Draconians are an impressive addition to the show's gallery of aliens. The inevitable cheap special effects and some flaky continuity aside, this is Doctor Who near its ambitious best, even if splitting six episodes onto two tapes does seem highly unnecessary. Sci-fi aficionados will not need much convincing that this story provided inspiration for Babylon 5's Earth-Minbari war. --Gary S. Dalkin

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