Marking the final adventure of Peter Davison's Doctor, The Caves of Androzani saw the BBC pull out all stops to give him an unforgettable farewell. Deep within the titular caves the disfigured, masked antihero Sharez Jek (Christopher Gable) and his regiment of androids are locked in conflict with an army unit and a group of smugglers. At stake is control of the life-extending Spectrox, with plenty of subplots involving espionage, betrayal and revenge as well as big-business corruption, political assassination and silly looking reptilian monsters. When the Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) enter this labyrinth they immediately become victims of deadly Spectrox poisoning. The first episode has one of the best cliffhangers ever: our heroes are executed by a firing squad armed with submachine guns. Freely borrowing from The Phantom of the Opera and Dune (David Lynch's film adaptation was made the same year) Robert Holmes' script shares concerns with his more satirical Doctor Who story, "The Sun Makers". This time everything is concentrated on delivering a breathlessly paced action thriller, the relentless death and destruction unfolding more like a PG-rated Sam Peckinpah film than BBC family drama, making Davison's heroic pacifism all the more effective.
On the DVD: The disc is packed with features, from an eight-minute look at the creation of Sharez Jek narrated by Christopher Gable, to seven minutes of raw camera footage from Peter Davison's Doctor's transformation into Colin Baker's timelord. There are three BBC TV news reports on Davison's decision to leave the programme, and a BBC trailer for the first episode. In addition to a photo gallery, the entire first episode is included twice, as originally transmitted, and in a version with improved special effects. There are subtitles offering behind-the-scenes information and two additional audio options. The isolated musical score by Roger Limb may only interest the most hardcore fans, but the three-way commentary track with Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and director Graeme Harper provides plenty of nostalgic reminiscences. Limited by the fact that the programme was shot on (professional) video, the DVD has picture quality no better than a good VHS tape, while the audio is clear, undistorted mono.--Gary S Dalkin
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