The Season 25 Collection- The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

 

This is a curious story with two facets. On the one hand, it is a very clever sort of story of the type that increasingly became the norm during the original series’ closing couple of seasons. Elliptical happenings, unorthodox visuals, symbolism aplenty  and a sense that we’re a long way from standard invasion of Earth stories.  Yet there appears to be something darker here as well, about entertainment, fandom and most of all depression. The events may present in bright colours and vivid locations but, rather like a circus, it’s just face paint.

 

The Season 25 Collection- Silver Nemesis

 

I’ve never rated this story very highly, so though this is the second time I’ve owned it that is only because it was packaged with other content. Last time it came out with `Revenge of the Cybermen` , now with the Collection you get the entire season whether you like it all or not! The fact that there seem to be more different editions of this story than any other suggests the original needed more work. I wondered if time would be kind to this peculiar adventure and I have to say its not quite as bad as I recall. The latest Special Edition is an improvement simply in that it makes the narrative more coherent though nothing can hide the fact that this is quite similar to the plot of `Remembrance of the Daleks` and that many of the developments seem unnecessary.

 

The Season 25 Collection- The Happiness Patrol

 

Its curious how time can alter one’s opinion of things. For example, if you’d asked me twenty years ago to compare the opening two stories of season 25 I would have placed `The Happiness Patrol` above `Remembrance of the Daleks`. Now, I would reverse that ranking after recent watches. `Remembrance` has not only stood the test of time but seems stronger now. On the other hand, there’s something odd about `Happiness Patrol`, something suggesting that not everyone is on the same page.  In isolation each element of the story is interesting; the stage flats providing an atmospheric backdrop, the idea of not being happy a crime, a creature made of confection yet subject to mood swings, people living in the pipework underground, the idea of the blues as a salve for life’s problems and a revolution taking place over night. Yet put all these together and they don’t quite gel. That’s not to say this isn’t a good story, it is very good, it’s just that the visuals sometimes get in the way of what the story is trying to say. 

The Season 25 Collection - Remembrance of the Daleks

 

The popular conception of Doctor Who in the second half of the Eighties is of a series in terminal decline yet the material in this latest Collection set contradicts that notion in quite a significant way. In fact, the last three seasons of what has become known as Classic Doctor Who show a new creative energy invigorating the series and it was outside problems rather than artistic ones that would lead to the cancellation. Had Doctor Who enjoyed more support from BBC management and been scheduled properly this story could be looked back on nowadays as the starting point of a successful comeback. This box set offers different versions of each story so I thought I’d look at the newest version of each plus also some highlights from the extras.