The Visitation
(DVD)

 

Starring Peter Davison
4 Episodes
1982
95 minutes (color)
Single Disc



 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Peter Davison

Adric
Matthew Waterhouse

Tegan Jovanka
Janet Fielding

Nyssa
Sarah Sutton

Written by
Eric Saward
Directed by
Peter Moffatt

Produced by
John Nathan-Turner

Original Airdate
Feb 15, 1982 - Feb 23, 1982

US DVD Release Date
March 2005

Warner Home Video
#E2157

U.K. Cover




 

 

 

Cover Blurb
 

 

An attempt to return Tegan to Heathrow Airport fails, and the Doctor and his companions find themselves in 1666 England during the darkest days of the Great Plague.  As they venture into a land gripped by fear and mistrust, they soon discover that they are not the only new arrivals.  Strange lights have been seen in the sky, and the Grim Reaper stalks the local woods, and evidence of an advanced alien technology is all around.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

DVD Features

  • Directing Who - Peter Moffatt:

 Prolific "Who" director Peter Moffatt reminisces about his years directing the series.  Here he talks about directing this as well as other stories.  This featurette runs for 26 minutes.
 

 
  • Scoring The Visitation:
 Mark Ayres interviews composer Paddy Kingsland on his years in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. 
 

 
  • Film Trims:
 This nearly 6 minute long segment includes brief snippets of both deleted as well as extended scenes that were part of the original film shot on location but not used in the transmitted version.
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 Under this feature you have two choices.

The first choice is a commentary track.  Commentary is provided by Peter Davison (Doctor #5), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) and Peter Moffatt (director).  This commentary should prove to be highly entertaining.

The second audio option is the isolated soundtrack.  With this feature you will hear Paddy Kingsland's now classic musical score sequentially as it appears in the episode (rather than edited together as in the case of "The Five Doctors Special Edition" DVD).  This does mean that there are long gaps of silence in between music cues.
 

 
  • Writing a Final Visitation:
 A fascinating, original 13 minute interview with writer Eric Saward.  In this featurette, Saward mostly comments on his writing for "The Visitation."
 

 
  • 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
 

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

 
  • 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.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 1 Easter egg is included on this disc.  Highlight the area below to find out how to access the egg.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.

 

 

#1. CONTINUITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
(ORIGINAL BROADCAST)

From the main menu screen, press the left arrow button
to highlight the Doctor Who logo in the top left corner.  Now click on it.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Easter Egg
#1. CONTINUITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Original Broadcast)

 

From the main menu screen, press the left arrow button
to highlight the Doctor Who logo in the top left corner.  Now click on it.

 

 

 



Additional Notes

  • Early titles for this story were "The Invasion of the Plague Men" and "Plague Rats."
     
  • The great fire of London in 1666 is explained in this story.
     
  • Watch closely for the outstanding performance of Michael Robbins as Richard Mace. 
     
  • The character of Richard Mace had been conceived earlier by author Eric Saward and had been used in several radio plays in the mid 1970's.  The character was played then by the same actor, Michael Robbins.
     
  • The Doctor's sonic screwdriver (having made its first appearance in 1968's "Fury from the Deep") is destroyed in this story.  It was felt by then producer John Nathan-Turner that the prop had become little more than a plot device to get the Doctor out of difficult situations too easily.
     
  • This is the first story written by long time Who alumnist, Eric Saward.  Shortly after this story was commissioned, Saward was approached to become the script editor for the series.
  • As with all of the U.K. DVD releases to date, the Doctor Who Restoration Team did extensive work on this story to create the best possible transfer.