Doctor Who - Beneath the Surface (The Silurians / The Sea Devils [1972] / Warriors of the Deep [198 - Region 2 DVD

It’s perhaps logical to get past the weakest of the three adventures in this set first, and that honour falls to the Peter Davison story, Warriors of the Deep. It’s not too bad though, even if it does display some of the silliness and budget constraints that helped define 1980s Doctor Who. It’s still fun, however, and worth a spin.

The two Pertwee adventures are terrific, though, and the real highlights of the set. The Silurians finds Jon Pertwee relatively new to the role, and blessed with an adventure that boasts excitement, adventure and a very good script. But our favourite is nonetheless the second story, The Sea Devils, which also brings Roger Delgado’s take on The Master into the mix. It’s a tense, involving adventure, and one of the finest of the Jon Pertwee area. That’s not something to be said lightly, either.

As is the norm with Doctor Who special edition DVDs, the set is then backed up with some terrific archive extras, along with commentary tracks and documentaries that all but justify the asking price alone. That you get two strong adventures and one reasonable one into the mix as well makes this one of the best classic Doctor Who boxsets released to date. Highly recommended. --Simon Brew