Doctor Who-Twice Upon a Time-2017 Christmas Special (Blu-ray) (2017) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Two Interviews-Cast & Crew-ComicCon Panel |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2017 | ||
Running Time | 59:54 (Case: 58) | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Rachel Talalay |
Studio
Distributor |
Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Peter Capaldi Pearl Mackie Matt Lucas David Bradbury Mark Gatiss |
Case | Amaray-Opaque | ||
RPI | $64.95 | Music | Murray Gold |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 1080i | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
It is hard to believe that any television show could run for 50 years, let alone what started as a little sci-fi series designed for kids on the BBC. This series has enthralled, excited and inspired generations of children and adults alike. There have been spin-off series, movies and more over the years. Season Eleven of the new series is due to begin later this year, 2018, with a female Doctor for the first time (although not the first female time lord).
To round out the time with the show of Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill and Stephen Moffat as the show runner, this fantastic Christmas special for 2017 was produced, also featuring David Bradley, standing in for William Hartnell, as the first Doctor. The special is entitled Twice Upon a Time and kicks off with footage of the first doctor from "709 episodes ago", where the William Hartnell doctor does not want to regenerate. The old footage is from a serial from the fourth season of the original Doctor Who, the last one to star William Hartnell, called The Tenth Planet (1966). He is at the south pole, fighting the Cybermen, when due to a time glitch he meets the Peter Capaldi doctor, who is also fighting regeneration after the events of the finale of Season 10. He is trying to decide whether Doctor Who should continue by regenerating or whether his time is up and he should allow himself to die. Stuck in a moment in time, they meet, compare Tardis's and are then joined by a World War I Captain (Mark Gatiss) who has been plucked from the battlefield by a previously unknown alien race, "Testimony". The doctors and the captain are soon taken in the Tardis by the aliens who have an offer to make involving Bill. How will either of the Doctors react to this challenge?
This is a wonderful Christmas special, to my mind one of the very best, if not the best that has been made during the new series of Doctor Who. It starts with an excellent story, includes great nods to the history of the show, revives seemingly dead characters, has excitement, thrills, sadness, pathos and loads of fun. After the slight misfire of last year's Christmas special this is a superb return to form. It is a very fitting end for the time of Stephen Moffat as the show runner and head writer, he conceived and wrote this final episode and what a great one it is. It is also is a great finish to Peter Capaldi's time as The Doctor, paving the way for Jodie Whittaker to take over.
This show is a must see and really the only decision is whether to buy it on this standalone release or wait for the Season 11 box set which is pretty likely to include it. Highly Recommended.
The video quality is very good, at a similar quality to Season Ten.
The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080i rather than full 1080p.
The picture was reasonably sharp and clear throughout, without ever looking spectacular. Shadow detail was very good.
The colour is excellent, really showing off the sets and locations for this special.
There was some minor motion blur during fast movement and some little bits of aliasing.
There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read but included some mistakes.
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The audio quality is very good without being at feature film quality.
This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1, plus an Audio Descriptive track in DTS HD-MA 2.0.
Dialogue was quite clear throughout.
The music by Murray Gold is excellent as usual adding significantly to the show.
The surround speakers were well used for lots of directional effects such as during action scenes plus significant atmosphere and music and the subwoofer supported the TARDIS sounds, music and action scenes.
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Overall |
A good collection of extras are included. They are 1080i and DTS HD-MA 2.0.
The menu features scenes and music from the show. Audio Navigation is available as an option.
An extended making of covering the casting of David Bradley, including Bill, The Captain, Rusty the Dalek, recreating the old Tardis control room and setting up the location for the World War I scenes. Interesting and well worth watching.
A retrospective of the Twelfth Doctor's time in the Tardis and of Stephen Moffat's time with the show. Includes footage of the final read through before filming, loads of episode highlights and interviews with Capaldi and Moffat about their time on the show. Very worthwhile.
Full panel discussion at ComicCon just after the wrap of shooting on the Christmas special. They show a clip from the show and then introduce Peter Capaldi, Stephen Moffat, Pearl Mackie, Matt Lucas, Michelle Gomez and Mark Gatiss. Worth watching but many of the crowd questions are pretty obvious and clichéd, like what is your favourite scene or who is your favourite Doctor?
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This special is available globally seemingly in the same format.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is very good.
The extras are a good selection of mostly worthwhile content.Video | |
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Panasonic DMR-PWT500, using HDMI output |
Display | Sharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | Built into amplifier. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | Marantz SR5005 |
Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer |