Season 7 Collection: Extras

 

The Collection season seven doesn’t have as many new extras as others only because the DVDs of individual stories were replete with additional features. Even the usual shelf space saving isn’t possible as the width of the box is more or less the same as that of the four individual dvds together but there should always be ample room for one of the cornerstone seasons of Doctor Who. It’s no exaggeration to say that season seven saved the series at a moment when its future was in doubt. Yet it’s also a unique quartet of stories as season 8 onwards boiled the show down to primary colours so remains an outlier in the series’ style. 

I reviewed these four stories in detail on this blog five years ago, to read those reviews go to January- May 2020 posts in the Archive.

Looking for Mac finds the perennially inquisitive Toby Hadoake delving into the little-known life of Malcolm Hulke, his investigations revealing a creative if sometimes lonely man whose work seemed a lot more together than his life. His communist affiliations are well known but less so is the time he spent living with a family he met through the party. One of the daughters speaks of him warmly as indeed does everyone that is asked including Terrance Dicks' widow, Mac’s nephew, and a co-writer on The Avengers. Mac’s illegitimacy forged a sense of outsiderism which often seeps into his work in which he airs opposing viewpoints without necessarily taking a side. He wanted to write since childhood- a letter he sent at seventeen despairs as to whether he will be able to.  I like the intimacy of these Looking For films which really do make it feel as if we have met the subjects. In this case, there is an added bonus in that we get to hear the subject courtesy of an audio recording of an interview conducted less than six months before Mac’s death in 1979 by fanzine editor Gary Hopkins. It’s a casual interview I’d like to have heard all of and a satisfying end to an absorbing portrait of the enigmatic – but really quite down to earth- Malcolm Hulke.

Of all the Doctor Who personalities I’ve met personally by far the most genial was Nicholas Courtney. I remember it well as it was during a convention, the same week that Labour had won a landslide General Election and the UK won Eurovision. Nick came and sat with a group of us without invitation and I ended up having a long chat with him about political and trade union matters. You’d think we’d known each other for years and I’ve heard many other fans express similar sentiments upon meeting him. Splendid Chap is a forensic tilling of his life and indeed his family background. Presented by Jon Culshaw, always ready for spot on impersonations (his Courtney and Terrance Dicks are indistinguishable from the real voices), the film takes us through the life and career of a man whose public self-assurance was not always replicated in private. He struggled with mental health issues and his first marriage ended in divorce after ten years. Yet any inner turmoil rarely manifested in the public eye. The film speaks to his son and daughter as well as other family and friends to reveal the background to his life. Particularly informative is a lengthy look at some of his theatre roles both before and after Doctor Who, which I knew little about. The film also explores his political affiliations including a lot of work with the actor’s union Equity as well as some affectionate remembrances from a wide range of people including Tom Baker with whom he became friends years after they’d worked together. If there is always an air of melancholy over these documentaries of familiar people no longer with us, this film reminds us of a life well lived.

Terror of the Suburbs brings Matthew Sweet to the Ealing location of `Spearhead from Space`s iconic Auton invasion to discuss how the early Seventies brought drama to everyday suburban life, not just in Doctor Who but a range of other series, notably sitcoms. It’s an interesting concept that benefits from viewing the locales as they are now mixed with some archive footage. Amusingly he finds a bicycle parked in the same spot where a cyclist was thrown off one by the plastic invaders back in 1970. The film does get somewhat weighted down with theories that I don’t imagine crossed the minds of the programme makers back in the day and the results drift towards dry academic social history. Probably not what fans of Channing and Stahlman are after. Nonetheless it’s a nostalgic run through familiar tv locales and for fans does include some detailed snippets about the making of the third Doctor’s debut.

Matthew Sweet is also back to engage another of the show’s main stars In Conversation. John Levene is an interviewer’s gift as he only needs slight prompting to tell tales about his varied life from his austere upbringing, early days in the industry, the Doctor Who years and his post acting assortment of jobs. Preferring to be known by his real name John Woods (the end credits give him that wish) he is often humble, prone to oversharing and sometimes emotional yet this feels more authentic than the guarded responses many give. Difficult childhoods and distant parents seem to be a theme with people from this era of the show- both Jon Pertwee and Nick Courney alluded to similar backgrounds- and perhaps this explains the unusually warm reminiscences about the UNIT family. The way he tells it a lot of luck and help supported his career, notably from Douglas Camfield and also Jon Pertwee. His memories of those years are vivid and rich as he makes the journey from sweaty Yeti to smart Sergeant complete with a proper salute.

His post Who career is also discussed including a variety of unexpected jobs from private investigator to cruise ship entertainer. The only thing with someone who is so candid is that it draws attention to what he leaves out; his wife and kids merit a couple of passing comments and Richard Franklin- surely as key part of the UNIT family as anyone- is not mentioned once. It’s an enlightening interview though, packed with anecdotes that, whether you’ve heard them before or not, seem naturally offered. The hour whizzes by and you’re left with the impression of a sincere man who did his best with whatever life threw at him and ended up deservedly winning time and again.

The set includes the now established Behind the Sofa in which various series celebs watch edited versions of the stories. This batch are enlivened by the unexpectedly fizzy duo of Katy Manning and Matthew Waterhouse whose differing perspectives on the early Seventies gel with entertainingly riotous results. The mood on the other couches simply cannot compete with that energy!