The Keys of Marinus

Over the years plenty of men have portrayed the Doctor and several writers have written stories for Doctor Who, but two men stand out William Hartnell and Terry Nation. William Hartnell gets the honor of being the first man to play the Doctor as many people know. Does this mean Hartnell is the best out of all the men who have played the Doctor? No it does not if you ask any person who their favorite Doctor is it will be different I would pick either Jon Pertwee or David Tennant depending on the day. However with that said I always say respect the past and in the case of Hartnell he was the first and in a lot of ways because of his portrayal of the Doctor the show still survives today. Without Hartnell there would be no Pertwee, Tennant, and for that matter any other actor playing the Doctor. However, credit should not go completely to Hartnell and for that matter anyone else. Doctor Who over the years is a team effort from writers, directors, actors, and producers who work together on a small budget to make good quality productions. Terry Nation while in my opinion not the best writer of the original series he gets the credit of creating the first alien/monster used in the show that caused a nation to hide behind their sofas. Of course I am talking about the Daleks. The Daleks remain to this day the Doctor's number one foe. Todays DVD I am looking at is The Keys of Marinus Region 2 DVD release of 2009. The Keys of Marinus was written by Terry Nation and one of only two times he wrote a story for Doctor Who that did not involve the Daleks. The Keys of Marinus features William Hartnell as the Doctor, Carol Anne Ford as Susan, William Russell as Ian, and Jaqueline Hill as Barbara. Watchout for an appearance from Francis De Wolff in the fourth episode called The Snows of Terror. Francis is probably best remembered today for his portrayal of Jedikiah the first villian used in the Tomorrow People a sci fi children's show that ran on ITV in the 70's for eight series. Marinus is the fifth serial of the enitre Doctor Who series and falls inbetween Marco Polo in which every episode is missing and The Aztecs. For more info on missing Doctor Who episodes go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_missing_episodes. This serial was directed by John Gorrie who seemed to have somewhat of a decent career in directing British TV, but as far as Doctor Who goes he only directed this serial and part 3 of the Reign of Terror. As far as Marinus it is a very unusual story because each adventure is its own mini-adventure in pursuit of a larger goal. In a lot of ways you can call this story the original Key to Time. Which was a Doctor Who saga that took six serials instead of six episodes to tell the whole saga. Quite honestly I am not sure completely Verity's intention of this serial, but it could of made a nice pilot for the series when you think about it. A lot of Hartnell's serials have the misfortune of being six or more episodes long and because of the time they were filmed a very stage play like feeling by the settings and the way the actors portrayed their characters. Marinus in a lot of ways tends to break the common problem I see in a lot of Hartnell's serials by the quick setting changes and mini stories. Verity and Terry seemed to be saying hey look what we can do and go all out with what they could afford. A very ballsy move by any producer back then not to mention a female whose neck was on the line with the production. Verity and Terry I got give them kudos where kudos are do.
From the backcover of the DVD brief description.
The Keys of Marinus by Terry Nation
On a remote island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid, there is a machine that can remove all from the minds of the entire population- The Conscience of Marinus. Fearful of its immense power falling into the hands the wrong hands, its sole guardian has scattered the machine's operating keys across the planet.
The Tardis crew arrive to find the island under attack by the evil Voord. Marinus' last line of defense- and its only hope- is the Conscience machine. The Doctor and his companions must undertake a deadly quest to recover the Keys of Marinus...
Story - A Out of all the Hartnell serials this one by far is my favorite. Nice sets, decent special effects, story itself, and by far a ballsy move on such a limited budget to be able to film this serial in six days is just a freak a nature. I can't say much more about it that I haven't already said here and in the above part of the post.
Video Quality - A The Restoration Team did an oustanding job here I see little to almost no compression and a picture that outrivals almost any other tv show or movie in fact. I don't even think the people of Criterion could of done a better job. My mouth was on the ground for this release. Not to mention the addition of 17 seconds found out to be missing from the original VHS release. For more info on the restoration team and the work they put into releases go to http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/
Special Features - C include • Commentary with actors William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, director John Gorrie and designer Raymond Cusick. Moderated by Clayton Hickman. • The Sets of Marinus (dur. 9' 25") - designer Raymond Cusick recalls his work on this story. • Photo Gallery (dur. 7' 25") - production and publicity photos from the story. • PDF Material - Radio Times listings plus the entire set of Cadet Sweets 'Doctor Who and the Daleks' sweet cigarette cards in Adobe pdf format for viewing on PC or Mac. Subtitle Production Notes and Coming Soon trailer. For a Doctor Who release the majority of this stuff is standard with the exception of a great documentary on how the sets were made for this production and the Doctor Who and the Daleks cards in which you have to use your computer to access which I am not a fan of. For a Doctor Who DVD to only really have one out of the normal special features these days is pathetic and I am sure it is due to the fact to save money and avoid having a second disc for this serial for extra special features.
Overall - B Despite the fact this release lacks a little on the special feature side the story and picture are simply amazing. If your looking for special features this Doctor Who release is not for you, but if your looking for a good way to spend your evening then sit back and let the First Doctor and his crew take you on amazing adventure this DVD is as good as it gets.