Doctor Who - Planet of Giants [DVD] [1964]

Everything is quiet in the garden - which is hardly surprising since it has all been killed! Restored to an amazing standard, this is one of those 'makes you think' stories from Doctor Who's distant past. After the TARDIS doors open in flight, the crew are reduced to just one inch tall. The rest of the plot could really stand on its own without this extra element, but it does give the special effects department something to do. The edited episodes are cleverly restored, although I'm sure that some cat lovers will be dismayed at a couple of the animated scenes! All in all, a good package with some useful extras. If you have never seen early Doctor Who, this isn't one of the most immediately exciting stories, but it has a strangely claustrophobic atmosphere and as I wrote above, it does make you think!

I used to think this story was a bit daft, I was very reluctant to purchase it on DVD after seeing the story on UKGold so many years ago, but with the extras explaining about episodes 3 & 4 being edited to make one episode and now Episode 3 is re-edited with some nice animation and new sound track to recreate Episodes 3 & 4. This means we get to see a new episode of William Hartell that never existed, exiting stuff, the story can now be told how it should have been shown. Wow I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the hard work Ian Levine has put in to recreating this story, it now makes sense and is very enjoyable, listen to the story and enjoy the way they have put it all together and you too will enjoy Planet of Giants like never before

the best era of dr who - so new & fresh, original story line , the best of time.

Planet of Giants was the first commissioned serial of Doctor Who's second season and it was duly anticipated by viewers in 1964, according to the Radio Times at least. I have previously owned the VHS version of this serial, which was the first to receive the VIDFIRE process, and I always thought that it was an interesting story, though maybe a little too convoluted as a season opener. Upon discovering more information via this DVD I have learned a lot more concerning this particular serial, and I now have a newfound fondness for this three-part addition to the Who mythos. The plot of the story revolves around the malfunction of the Tardis door opening mid-flight, resulting in the miniaturising of the occupants inside to roughly one inch tall. Suffice to say, conspiracy unfolds concerning murder and agricultural ethics in the form of an indiscriminate fertiliser. Originally, this serial was meant to air with four parts, but it was necessary to edit them down to three due to thoughts that the pace of the story was far too lagging. This led to a loss of some crucial plot elements, I think, and it is only through the reconstruction of the original episodes three and four that, in my opinion, has renewed 'Planet of Giants' to its intended status as a worthy second season opener. The DVD itself contains the complete serial, at approximately 73 minutes in length, with digitally remastered picture and sound quality. This is particularly evident in comparison with the VHS release, and the team have done a brilliant job yet again at cleaning up the odd grain and dirt stain. The serial can be viewed with optional English subtitles and production notes, which provide significant insight into the making of and history behind the serial, along with information regarding the cast and crew. There is also an offering to view the story with an audio commentary with vision mixer Clive Doig, special sounds creator Brian Hodgson, make-up supervisor Sonia Markham and David Tilley, moderated by Mark Ayres. This provides an interesting account of the production of this particular serial and the show in general, and the people engage wholeheartedly in the programme to deliver an entertaining first-hand account. Also provided are two interviews, taken from 'The Story of Doctor Who' in 2003, with Verity Lambert and Carole Anne Ford, who played Susan, which provide an insight into characterisation and programme development. The real bonus, in my opinion, is the reconstruction of the original unaired episodes three and four, which were originally edited into one episode for reasons described above. The team have done an absolutely brilliant job in using stock footage and new material, alongside existing actors and impersonators to recreate these missing episodes, which provide an extension of the main story, with a lot more plot development and interactional dialogue. There is also a documentary detailing the making of the reconstructed episodes, alongside a photo gallery of on-set photographs and a PDF version of the Radio Times listings for this particular serial, with an integrated overview of the first season recounted by the article writer. All in all, it is definitely worth picking up this DVD, even if you aren't a dedicated Whovian, as there is so much history to be explored within this little serial, with plenty of extra features to keep you occupied. As previously stated, I have a newfound fondness for 'Planet of Giants' and I am glad that it has finally received the treatment it deserves.

Great dvd remastered picture. Some good extras including a recon of how the story would have looked with the extra episode. Shown in three episodes when first on tv. It was going to be a four episodes at the time but episodes 3 & 4 were edited together. Now for the first time we can watch how episodes 3 & 4 would have looked. Excellent always good to have the first tardis line up to watch.

Review now fully updated. The team had wanted to do miniaturised tardis crew from day one (*1) & when Louis Marks wrote the script that actually got produced he wisely added the miniaturisation plot to another story strand, in this case an environmental one. The tardis crew land on Earth ( in the 1st adventure set on contemporary Earth, if it's meant to be earlier then there's nothing that points this up) where an evil manufacturer of pesticides Forrester (wonderfully unlikeable performance from Alan Tilvern) is about to unleash one which is potentially lethal to people. The crew must expose him hampered by the fact some sort of dimensional wrong turn has left them bug size. Speaking of bugs there is a nicely designed but spectacularly immobile giant fly which makes the Green Death one look like Jurassic Park! This is using the Dr, Susan and companions almost like a Mission Impossible team and sees them problem solving e.g at their present size can they use phones to warn people? Extra tension is created by Barbara being poisoned by the pesticide and the clever solution to that can be viewed as too easy or scientifically plausible depending on your point of view. Now while many aspects of the production could be done better today, there's no dispute that the majority of giant sets/props are terrific. Take the giant sink where it looks especially real as they have taken the trouble to add scratches around the plughole to denote use instead of the usual squeaky clean look that giant stuff usually has in shrunken heroes type tales. The sets etc look as good as in Irwin Allens' Land of the Giants on a fraction of the budget and with the added advantage of not being Land of the Giants (sorry but it's the only 1 of the Allen big 4 which I don't like). 1 bit apart from the fly which doesn't work is the crew against a giant corpse which looks like they're standing in front of a blown up photo. That may well not be how it was achieved (in the commentary we learn how it was actually done)but however it was done, it doesn't work. The pace is rather gentle not unlike cuddly old cop show Dixon of Dock Green despite ep 3 being the directorial debut of Who great Douglas Camfield. 1-2 were directed by Mervyn Pinfield who (Also helming Space Museum) was the go to guy for dimensional whoops stories. The restoration has as always delivered a good quality picture. Originally it was a 4 part story but 3-4 (both directed by Camfield) were felt to be too slow & were edited down to 1 ep and this has given rise to an unusual extra. Episode 3 and 4 Reconstruction Originally shot as a four-part story, the final two episodes of Planet of Giants were edited into a single episode for transmission. Using the original scripts, newly recorded dialogue and animation. There is not a great deal of animation (the best bit involves a cat) but it is used together with adjusted & redubbed bits of the transmitted episode 3 to re-create the missing footage. Admittedly a lot of footage is reused many times e.g. endless closeups of Forrester's nose and eyes as he speaks missing dialogue and the new voices do not match up to the original ones. It's quite interesting to hear the changes in Carole Ann Ford and William Russell's voices over the years and while not a match for originals, the new voices for the Dr and Barbara etc. are still pretty good.Yes it's true that this does show that the original version would not have had enough going on for 2 episodes-although the loss of comic relief courtesy of Hilda and Berty Rowse was a bit more of a loss. What this does succeed in is showing us how the original pre-transmission version worked. It's supplemented nicely with "Rediscovering the Urge to Live" a brief look at how the recreation was done showing the voice recordings and discussing the animation. The commentary with vision mixer Clive Doig, special sounds creator Brian Hodgson, make-up supervisor Sonia Markham and floor assistant David Tilley, moderated by Mark Ayres, presumably Toby "The Moderator" Hadoke was busy (he actually plays Forrester in the recreated scenes & provided Ayres with the priceless revelation that Alan Tilvern later sold Cuckoo clocks!) is an informative rather than funny one. Clive Doig reveals he was Vision Mixer on all Hartnell stories. They recall the move to TV Centre being much better than the old Lime Grove facilities. Sonia Markham recalls Hartnell was very friendly to make up crew once he got to know them and would never have his wig on until the final run through. They also note that after being warned not to look in the giant cat's eyes, the characters do just that! Doctor Who Stories - Suddenly Susan Carole Ann Ford talks about her role as the Doctor's granddaughter and the first companion in the TARDIS in this interview originally recorded for 2003's The Story of Doctor Who. She recalls the disappointment in the role altering from a kooky hyper intelligent go-getter she was cast as, to a standard schoolchild but notes Verity lambert thought she managed to get plenty of strange in anyway. A charming interview * Verity Lambert Tapes - Doctor Who's original producer looks back on her time on the series in the this interview recorded for The Story of Doctor Who. She has warm, memories of her time as you'd expect and tells us who was the best of the classic Docs after Bill Hartnell! * Prop Design Plans (DVD-ROM only - to be viewed on PC/Mac). * Radio Times Listings (DVD-ROM). * Programme Subtitles. * Production Information Subtitles. * Photo Gallery. * Coming Soon Trailer. * Digitally remastered picture and sound quality. . An enjoyable but unexceptional story for big fans more than the casual ones. A good supporting package and I believe it shows that regardless of reconstruction/animation quality recreating lost material is a worthwhile pursuit. Following this Shada, for which the surviving cast (except for Tom) recorded the unfilmed dialogue and for which animation was filmed and then rejected by 2 Entertain should be re-thought, with a view to releasing the reconstructed version. *1 The 1st script written for a show called The Giants had a similar premise and later a script or storyline by Robert Gould entitled "The Miniscules" did too.

Before we had land of the giants from american television producers we have a doctor who classic Planet of the Giants where Ian and Barbara land back in 1963 but everything is not what it seems as they are now tiny people having to stay alive against giant ants etc. There is on 2 episodes of the original transmission seen on tv but once again thanks to Ian Chesterton and Carole Anne Ford with a couple of voice actors recreate the audio so that animators can translate what we see on screen.

Intended to be a four part serial way back for the second season of the original show, the Planet of Giants really stands out for the whole cast, crew and the design departments. Set amongst intrigue and spy drama, the Tardis crew have been miniaturised, thus must escape danger. Well performed by the regular cast and invited cast, pure drama was the driving force of most of the BBC's output during the sixties. A must buy for any Who fan, even a televisual drama fan.

This one is probably for Wholigans only. It's rendered in black-and-white and if you're not into the history of Doctor Who, this story will leave you scratching your head. The story stars William Hartnell, the first Doctor (yes, Tom Baker was number FOUR, which is likely who you saw in 1970s America although there were a few earlier Doctor Who re-runs.) Here we have a murder mystery. The Tardis crew shows up, thinking that the world has gotten BIGGER but the fact is, (one of them figures out), they have gotten *smaller*. A really nasty pesticide is about to be placed on the market and one of the participants of the project raises a fuss. Well he gets knocked off... as in snuffed with a pistol. Hartnell and company want to alert the authorities about both the poisonous substance and the murder but they have some close calls themselves, as you might suspect: giant cat, giant wasp, and so on. It's a fun time, well played and nicely directed. Yes the props are always a bit shaky in Classic Doctor Who but therein lies much of the attraction. If you are a fan, definitely grab this one. If you just want to check out some Classic Doctor Who and wish for a terrific episode then view "The Brain of Morbius" starring Tom Baker as The Doctor. If you do enjoy black-and-white nostalgia then "The War Games" starring Patrick Troughton is also superb (10 episodes!). Highly recommended for Classic Doctor Who crazy people like me.

Ich mag diese BbC Dvd Edition von die alte Dr Who, mit viele Extras! Für Fans !

Very nice quality of an early series of Doctor Who.

If you want to get into Willaim Hartnel this is a good place to start. The VHS tape you are looking at is a PAL 1 U.K. VHS tape. You will not be able to play it in North America. One of the best Willam Heartnell stories. And the price of the NTSC DVD has dropped from $300 to 27.

Planet of Giants is one of William Hartnell's best performances as the doctor. When the doors open in mid-flight the members of our group shrink to miniscule size. Then they land in 1966, where they want to be, but at the wrong size. Once they discover they are on earth, and everything around them is a danger, they find that they must cope with a murderer of gigantic proportions. They can't phone the police as their voices sound indistinct due to their size. Furthermore, they have a poison that is killing everything that is living around them. To make matters worse all you have to do is come in contact with the poison for it to kill, and Barbara has gotten some on her hands. With a murderer running around, and everything a threat they get separated and must get back together as well as get back to the Tardis before time runs out. This is a good story that could have been better had it been longer. I felt that a 4th chapter would have been perfect, the story felt rushed. I know from the other reviewers that they might disagree. Either way, go out buy it, you will be glad you did. Ralph J. Fitcher