In 2010, following a wildly successful and incredibly popular run by David Tennant, Matt Smith stepped into the role of the Doctor on the BBC series Doctor Who. It was by all standards a tough act to follow, but Smith proved himself more than capable by the end of the first episode, “The Eleventh Hour” and quickly put his own stamp on the role. But 2010 was the year everything changed for the perennial series as Steven Moffat took over as head writer, Karen Gillen became the new companion and the TARDIS got a complete makeover. A new era of Doctor Who is definitely nothing new, but there seemed to be much more pomp and circumstance this time around. Thankfully, the new regime knocked it out of the park and gave us thirteen brilliant episodes.
Also knocking it out of the park are the BBC and 2|entertain with another fantastic season set. The sets for the new seasons of the show have been fantastic and very feature rich. This one is no exception. First we get all thirteen episodes in widescreen with stunning picture quality and Dolby Digital sound. I’m not sure these episodes looked and sounded this good when they were originally broadcast in HD on TV. The episodes are presented over five discs, with each disc giving one key episode an In-Vision Commentary. Those are commentaries by key participants presented in a picture-in-picture box within the episode itself. Kind of cool. Other special features include Monster Files on the Daleks, the Weeping Angels, the Silurians and the Alliance of the Doctor’s enemies seen in “The Pandorica Opens.” One feature I particularly enjoyed were the Video Diaries. Basically, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill were given camcorders with which they ran amok during filming of the season. Their footage was edited down to these Video Diaries which I highly recommend. Disc five also contains an Out-takes reel that is quite fun to watch as well.
The finale disc contains the Doctor Who Confidential series that ran after each episode, but these are edited down to fifteen minutes each. It’s a shame we can’t get a separate set with the unedited versions, but there may not be enough demand for that. Still, even at fifteen minutes you get a good look behind the scenes of each episode. There is also a comprehensive library of trailers for this season, including the original teasers, the “Next On” trailers for each episode and the US and Canadian trailers as well. Pretty extensive and a fascinating look at the marketing of the new era when you view them all in one sitting.
The icing on the cake is a neat 3D cover, two art cards and a forward/liner note from Steven Moffat. All in all, this is a great set and I recommend it to everyone from the most die-hard Whovian to the person wondering what all the fuss is about this strange British show. Pick it up now and absorb it all before the Christmas Special airing on Christmas Day. Buy it now by clicking the images below and you’ll also be helping to support Pop Culture Zoo!
