The Seeds of Death
(DVD)

 

Starring Patrick Troughton
6 Episodes
1969
145 minutes (black and white)
Double Disc




 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Patrick Troughton

Jamie McCrimmon
Frazer Hines

Zoe Heriot
Wendy Padbury

Written by
Brian Hayles

Directed by
Michael Ferguson
Produced by
Peter Bryant

Original Airdate
Jan 25, 1969 - Mar 1, 1969

US DVD  Release Date
March 2004

Warner Home Video
#E1924

U.K. Cover



 

 

 
Cover Blurb
In the late 21st century the human race has become totally dependent on T-Mat, a revolutionary form of instant travel. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on Earth just as T-Mat is suffering a malfunction. Sinister Ice Warriors from Mars have seized the lunar T-Mat Station to launch an invasion of Earth. Their preliminary plan is to transport deadly seedpods that will unleash a fungus capable of absorbing the world's oxygen.

The Doctor must race against time to defeat the invaders - or the human race will be doomed to suffocation.



 

 

 

DVD Features
 

Disc One
All 6 episodes as they were originally transmitted in 1969.

 
  • Commentary:
 Commentary is provided by Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Michael Ferguson (director) and Terrance Dicks (script editor).  A fun commentary to listen to.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by Richard Molesworth of the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 

 
 

Disc Two
The remaining DVD bonus features.
 
  • New Zealand Censor Clips:
 Edits made to several 60's Doctor Who stories occurred when they were sold overseas to markets such as New Zealand.  Contained here are newly discovered censor clips from some lost stories such as "The Web of Fear" and "The Wheel in Space."
 

 

  • 40th Anniversary Celebration:

 A specially created "music video" celebrating the first 40 years of the show's history.  The video uses quite a few clips spanning the entire history of the series.  A variation of the signature theme song (as performed by the group Orbital) is used in the video.  It runs for approximately 3 minutes.
 

 

  • The Last Dalek:

 Originally included in a somewhat lower quality form in the VHS release of "The Missing Years" and then later again in a better quality copy for the DVD release of "Tomb of the Cybermen" this footage was taken during the filming of the model effects shots for "Evil of the Daleks."  This time around the footage is presented with a 10 minute 'mini-commentary' by the story's effects designers, Peter Day and Michealjohn Harris.
 

 
  • TARDIS-Cam #6:
 The last in a series of TARDIS-Cam extras.  Some time ago BBCi started an online feature called the TARDIS-Cam which would show people browsing the Internet different locations that the Doctor has traveled to.  Most are simply photos taken from stories already made.  A handful were specially created.  One of these is included as an extra.  
 

 

  • Sssowing the Ssseedsss:

 A 25 minute featurette about The Seeds of Death and the Ice Warriors in general.  Interviews include Alan Bennion (Slaar), Sonny Caldinez (Ice Warrior) and Sylvia James (Make-up Supervisor).  Additionally, an audio interview is included of the late Bernard Bresslaw (who played Varga in the first Ice Warriors story).  Unfortunately, this featurette seems to lag a bit and can come across as a bit dry or dull.  Some interesting moments, however.
 

 
  • Who's Who:
 A feature unique to the North American DVD releases.  It lists short biographical information on many of the actors involved in the story.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 Lots of rare and never before seen photos taken during the production of this story.  Very nice.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There is 1 egg included in this release.  Highlight the blank area below to find out more information about it.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.

 

#1. BEHIND THE SCENES COMMENTARY OF EPISODE 6

Go to the 'Special Features' menu on Disc Two.
Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'The Last Dalek'

 

 
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Additional Notes
  • "The Seeds of Death" marks the second of four appearances of the popular villain, the Ice Warriors, during the history of the series (the other stories being Patrick Troughton's story from the previous season, "The Ice Warriors" as well as Jon Pertwee's "The Curse of Peladon" and "The Monster of Peladon."

  • All 6 episodes have been VidFIREd.  VidFIRE is a process that returns the "video" look to the program as it was originally broadcast.  To learn more about this process you can read about it at the Doctor Who Restoration Team website.
     

  • "The Seeds of Death" was given the usual expert cleanup treatment by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.

  • Due to a communications glitch, this release was initially intended as a single disc but was instead produced with two discs.  By the time the error had been discovered, it was too late to make the correction.  The first disc contains all 6 episodes and commentary while the second one has all of the other special features.
  • This story was originally released over 10 years ago in an edited "movie" format where all 6 episodes were edited together into one long continuous program rather than the traditional cliffhanger style as transmitted.  This DVD release marks the first time that this story has been available in its original unedited format.