Customer Reviews

Disc problem has been fixed - By: The man in the white coat, 29 Jul 2008
Purchased this item from Amazon 25/07/08, checked the disc & found no problem at the end of episode 3 of 'Invisible enemy' as reported by earlier users. It seems that the problem has been sorted & it is now safe to buy this series!

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every dog has his day - By: Paul Tapner, 11 Jul 2008
backin the 1970's doctor who gained a new companion. a robotic dog called K9. The combination of a good character design & an appealing voice made him a big hit, & the popularity of the character has never gone away.

This latest doctor who, which contains two dvdsin their own packaging, all togetherin a relatively sturdy cardboard box, contains two tales featuring him.

The first 'the invisible enemy' was his debut. madein 1977 it's set outin the far reaches of the solar system & involves the doctor coming into contact with the nucleus, a nasty creature lurking at the middle of a swamin space. the nucleus takes control of people, & wants to take over the universe.

Running for four twenty five minute long episodes this is a homage to the film fantastic voyage as miniaturised clone versions of the doctor & his companion leela are sent into the doctor to destroy the creature. a lot of the story is also setin space, & this is realised via some excellent model work.

unfortunately budget constraints, & constraints from the bbc to pull back on the levels of violence & horror the show had been doing for the past few years rather hurt this one, & the result is a very cheap & tacky & quite silly at times run around. but takenin the right mood, it can be quite fun.

the extras on this disc:

a commentary from actors louise jameson [leela] john leeson [voice of k9] bob baker [one of the writers] & mat irvine [visual effects designer]

dreams & fantasy. a twenty minute long documentary about the story. not a bad documentary but not the best they've ever done as it rather lacks focus. whilst it conducts the interesting experiment of showing us present day tv viewers see the story for the first time, & shows some of their reaction, it doesn't show us much more, so this idea doesn't entirely work.

studio sweepings. footage of the story being made. a lengthy extra & quite odd to watch as there's lots of visual trickeryin the recording, but an interesting look at the tv recording process

visual effects: visual effects designer mat irvine talks to model maker ian scoones about his work on the show. interesting stuff & the craftsmanship on display is to be admired, although ian scoones does have trouble getting a wordin edgeways at points

blue peter: a clip from the bbc children's show showing presenter of the time john noakes & his dog shep meeting K9. Quite funny for most of it, & very funny when Shep comes on & reacts to the robot.

Optional CGI effects: these allow you to make some of the effectsin the story replaced with CGI ones. some of these clear away big problems but some aren't really necessary, as the model sequences are good enough as they stand.

trailers: various trailers from the bbc of the time for the story. these are always quite interesting as a way of being reminded how the bbc did these things at the time

production information subtitles. these bring up information about the story whilst you watchin the form of subtitles, & are always quite itneresting.

english language subtitles.

a photo gallery of the story & it's making.

the radio times listings of the story as PDF files [accessible by looking at the disc on a computer]

a trailer for the impending dvd: doctor who the brain of morbius. these trailers are getting very good at giving epic feel to the stories.

and for an easter egg watch this on a PC, & on the first special features screen move the pointer around the left side of the screen till you light up a hidden doctor who logo. click on this to see a clip from the game show the generation game, with presenter larry grayson meeting K9. A nice little item. especially for dog lovers as there are some cute puppiesin it.

IMPORTANT NOTE RE THIS DISC: the release was initially faulty, & near the end of episode three the disc skips a scene. you can hear it make an audible skipping noise.should you have this problem [although corrected versions have now been issued so with any luck you shouldnt] send the disc [not the box just the disc on it's own] to:

DVD Support
2entertain
33 Foley St
London
W1W 7TL

with a covering letter explaining the problem & they will send out a replacement.

the other storyin the box is K9 & company. This is a one off fifty minute programme from 1981, featuring K9 & the doctor's former companion sarah jane smith. intended as a pilot episode for a possible series. which never came to pass.

the story involves sarah & K9 investigating a black magic cultin a small village, & it has it's moments but it never quite clicks. although it does manage one excellent surprise reveal near the end that you probably won't see coming. despite excellent work from elisabeth sladen as sarah jane this remains an interesting curio, nothing much more. be wary of the strange & quite cringeworthy title sequence, which tried to copy the style of the american detective show hart to hartin showing lots of clips of the leads doing glamorous things. it doesnt really work & is funny for the wrong reasons.

the disc contains:

a commentary from elisabeth sladen & john leeson, script editor eric saward & cast member linda polan.

the k9 files: a documentary about the story & the character. running about fifteen minutes this is rather cursory & doesnt go into nearly enough depth.

K9: A dog's tale: a spoof interview with K9. about half of the jokesin this are quite funny but the rest fall very flat.

pebble mill at one: a short clip from a bbc news show of the time with a presenter talking to K9 about the story. much like the interview above half of it is okay & half is not funny.

trailers: the bbc trailers for the story shown at the time

a photo gallery of it & it's production

english language subtitles & production information subtitles

the same trailer for the brain of morbius as is on the invisible enemy

and as PDF Files:

the radio times listing for the story

the adventures of K9: four short books for young children about the character

the 1983 K9 annual

the box for this does come with a reversible sleeve, so if you want it to look almost like the other doctor who dvds so they fit together nicely on your shelf flip it over & it will.

both of these stories have been digitally remastered & the sound & picture quality are very good indeed as a result.

so: two stories that are not essential purchases, &in packages that are very good rather than great, but they have their moments allin all

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Classic Who! - By: Mr. P. D. Davies, 07 Jul 2008
Forget all the negative comments, this is a great set! If you have a dodgy disc 2Entertain will swap it anyway. The Invisible Enemy really is good, the story zips along very quickly. Good plot & excellent introduction to K9. Underrated classic!

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A Classic introduction to K9 & a minor glitch thanks to 2 Entertain - By: Krishna Jaipersad, 04 Jul 2008
Well, it was fantastic seeing K9 for the first time again! Actually K9 Mark I, he remains with Leela at the end of The Invasion of Time. Are we keeping track? There will be a quizin time to come!!
Anyway, down to the fault on the disc. The episode should end with the Nucleus re-materialising to normal size. Unfortunately, the scenein which the Doctor & Leela banish him from the Doctor's mind appears immediately after the previously mentioned scene!
End of the world, I think not!! Live with it, though I have been sent a replacement, which I am yet to receive! God bless the postal service!!! & do hope that the scenes will appearin the correct order!! Fill youin later about that!! Buy when you can & enjoy. As for K9 & Company, K9 Mark III, that is, I am truly glad it was Sarah Jane, who after so damn long, got her own series. Rumour has it K9 will get his, stay tuned for updates. Highlights of this story, the unveiling of K9, Sarah Jane kicking butt & K9 singing!!! It is not a personal favourite of mine but it is a pleasant time killer. Thank Goodness there will never be a sequel!!! ***Update*** well, as you know I contacted Amazon about getting a replacement disc which they were very happy to do so. Thank you! but, it was yet another faulty disc. So the big question is "when will the corrected version be available?" I need to know please!

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ITS ONLY A SMALL FAULT! - By: J. mcloughlin, 29 Jun 2008
I wish everyone would just stop complaining about the small mix up of scenes at the end of episode 3 of The invisible enemy! Its a small fault! They may be the wrong way round but its about 40 seconds worth of mix-up which your mind can putin the right order! Also the K-9 & Company DVD is also OK! The story is good & would have been a good series if it continued. The box-set is well designed by Clayton Hickman & has some really good special features! JUST PLEASE STOP CALLING THE FAULT A MAJOR ISSUE!!!! If you do happen to get a faulty one, just send it off & get a better one! Easy...