Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror is an episode of the Good Doctor from 1964--when Doctor Who wasn't always a strict sci-fi futuristic place to be. In fact, The Reign of Terror takes the crew of the TARDIS back in time to the middle of the French Revolution. The bloodthirstiness of that era is well captured, as most of the crew is immediately imprisoned and sentenced to die by guillotine. Luckily, the Doctor (the level-headed William Hartnell) is free to sneak about the French countryside to try to arrange his mates' escape. The Reign of Terror was once thought to be one of the "lost" Doctor Who episodes, but as the extras on this disc show, there was an international effort to find and recover it. And it was well worth the effort. The acting is more classic than cheesy, and the tension is well directed. Not many arrested in the French Revolution escaped with their heads still attached to their bodies, after all. Several cast and crew members join in the commentary, including Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Neville Smith, and Jeffry Wickham. The making-of documentary shows what efforts went into finding the appropriate period costumes and sets. And the animated design gallery is rightly praised by fans as a lovely extra that gives another artistic slant on the creativity behind the series and this episode in particular. --A.T. Hurley
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