Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
It’s time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’, as we take a look at the 20th anniversary special called ‘The Five Doctors’ by Terrance Dicks. ‘The Five Doctors’ stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, William Hartnell and Richard Hurndall as the First Doctor, Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, and Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. There’s also Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Carole Ann Ford as Susan, Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Lalla Ward as Romana and more. I highly recommend watching the 101-minute Special Edition version of ‘The Five Doctors’, as that has more scenes and CGI effects in it. You can check out the Special Edition version on Disc 2 of the 25th Anniversary 2-disc DVD edition of ‘The Five Doctors’. There’s also the original 90-minute TV version of the story, which can be checked out on DVD and Britbox.
Please feel free to check out, read and comment on my current review for ‘The Five Doctors’. I’ve also reviewed the Target novelization/audiobook ‘Doctor Who – The Five Doctors’ by Terrance Dicks, read by Jon Culshaw with the Dalek and Cybermen voices by Nicholas Briggs. I’ve also added my alternative scene of ‘The Five Doctors’, featuring the Eaglemoss figurines of the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric. 😀
Enjoy!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
Bradley's Basement 
Hello again Tim, 1983 was the year I became a fan of Doctor Who. I poured over the Radio Times 20th Anniversary Special, started buying, what was then Doctor Who Monthly, the one with Peter Davison and a grumpy looking Tractator on the cover and of course was glued to the anniversary special, The Five Doctors.
I think because it was such a visceral experience right from the start, with its introduction from Hartnell’s farewell to Susan, I will always prefer the story in its original 90 minutes version. Even with the triangular obelisk of doom, which reminded me of a similar effect in Superman II.
The story is an anniversary runabout with the Time Lords again proving to be a treacherous lot, a few familiar foes and some lovely team ups with Doctors and companions. Tegan and Richard Hurndall’s First Doctor, Sarah and Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor and Patrick Troughton has a whale of a time with the Brigadier.
Peter Davison is given a lot to do and acquits himself much more than ‘quite well’. It’s a great story for his Doctor. Peter Howell’s score is very atmospheric and his Derbyshire/Howell arrangement of the closing theme is a fitting end to the story.
The Five Doctors will always be a special story for me and it is such fun. If you’ve never seen it, do try, after all it’s as easy as pi… I’ll get my coat! Best wishes, Tony
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Hi Tony,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Five Doctor’ and celebrating the 20th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’. I’m pleased you have fond memories of the show when you first got into it.
Yeah, that’s fair enough. I enjoyed the original 1983 90-minute version of the story when I saw it on DVD. Like with the extended versions of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films, I prefer longer versions of the stories to get more out of the characters and plot. Also, the Special Edition version of ‘The Five Doctors’ is what I started on and I prefer the longer scenes and the updated effects compared to the original. It’s like with ‘Day of the Daleks’, which I saw recently on Blu-ray for the first time. I always go for the Special Edition version of that story compared to the original, since the CGI effects work better for me compared to the originals and the Dalek voices by Nicholas Briggs are way better than the Daleks that sounded in the original version. I know some people prefer the original over the updated versions of these stories, but sometimes the updated versions are my preference. It’s like how I prefer 2017 ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and 2019 ‘Aladdin’ over the originals, although I do prefer the original animated ‘Lion King’ over the 2019 version, since it was the version I grew up with and enjoyed more compared to the modern version.
Anyway, back to ‘Doctor Who’. 😆 I enjoy ‘The Five Doctors’ as an anniversary special more than other anniversary specials, as it matches to my criteria on how an anniversary special should be done with embracing everything that’s gone on in the show for the past number of years it’s had. Not something I can say about ‘The Day of the Doctor’, but that’s my opinion. One of the reasons I’ve written ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’ for my blog later this year is because I wanted to share what I think how a 60th anniversary special should be done, which probably isn’t going to match to how Russell T. Davies has done his 60th anniversary story. A lot of echoes from ‘The Five Doctors’ come into play for my ‘Thirteen+ Doctors’ story, but it goes to show how much of an impact it has for me as an anniversary special, thanks to Terrance Dicks’ writing.
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Five Doctors’ and the 20th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’. I look forward to updating my review on ‘The Five Doctors’ when it comes to a Blu-ray release for Season 20.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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Special edition versions have always been most interesting for classic Dr. Who, indeed with stories like Day Of The Daleks, Enlightenment and The Curse Of Fenric. The Five Doctors was the first that I can remember seeing (on VHS at the time). Today with all the chances that the Blu-Ray editions are taking, some fans including myself may have some mixed feelings about how much is too much regarding FX upgrades. But it’s still nice to know how it has benefited some of our favorite Dr. Who classics.
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Hi scifimike,
I don’t mind Special Edition versions of certain ‘Doctor Who’ stories, as long as they provide interesting new takes, whether it’d be in terms of brand-new CGI, new audio mixes and additional scenes not seen before in the transmitted versions. Whilst the ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Planet of Fire’ movie Special Editions have been fun to watch, I prefer the original four-part TV versions more, due to the movie versions of those stories being truncated with certain scenes edited out.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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Hello again Tim,
I think every fan has their own idea of what an anniversary special should be. A time to look back and celebrate the show’s past and an opportunity to showcase the current iteration of the show.
Both the Thirteenth+ Doctors story and the Sparkle of Doctors anthologies will give readers an enjoyable, thrilling and celebratory anniversary experience.
While the Big Finish Once and Future series and Russell T Davies’s trilogy of specials will enthrall listeners and viewers.
As fans, we are fortunate to have such an embarrassment of riches appearing throughout Doctor Who’s sixtieth anniversary year.
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Hi Tony,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about ‘Doctor Who’ anniversary specials and how they should be done. I’m looking forward to the ‘Once and Future’ audios by Big Finish when I get a chance to hear them. I received the dispatch e-mail for my CD copy of ‘Past Lives’ yesterday. I’m also looking forward to the trilogy of ‘Doctor Who’ 60th anniversary specials by RTD when they get shown on TV. I’m looking forward to Volume 2 of ‘A Sparkle of Doctors’ and I hope to get ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’ ready in time before November.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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Hello again folks,
I do feel special and extended editions are great for fans and those coming to the Classic series for the first time. Apart from The Five Doctors, my only experience of special editions is the Day of the Daleks one. That is superb, the original is so let down by those awful Dalek voices. The new effects and remounted scenes really give the story a much needed lift.
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Hi Tony,
Yes, I agree with you about the ‘Day of the Daleks’ Special Edition version being far superior than the original version, thanks to the improved Dalek voices, new effects and new scenes. I saw the ‘Behind the Sofa’ item on ‘Day of the Daleks’ in the Season 9 Blu-ray box set recently and was disappointed Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Wendy Padbury, Sophie Aldred, Katy Manning and director Michael E. Briant saw the original version instead of the Special Edition version. They should have been treated to the superior version of the story than the average one.
Thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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