Ghost Light
(DVD)

 

Starring Sylvester McCoy
3 Episodes
1989
71 minutes (color)
Single Disc



 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Sylvester McCoy

Ace
Sophie Aldred

Written by
Marc Platt

Directed by
Alan Wareing
Produced by
John Nathan-Turner

Original Airdate
Oct 4, 1989 - Oct 18, 1989

US  Release Date
June 2005

Warner Home Video
#E2218

U.K. Cover


 

 

 

Cover Blurb
London, 1983.  An old house mysteriously burns to the ground.  One hundred years earlier, the Doctor and Ace arrive at a sinister mansion in the rural hamlet of Perivale.  Horrors old and new await the Doctor amongst the peculiar residents of Gabriel Chase, but it is Ace who must confront her own worst nightmares when she discovers that her past and the house's future are inextricably linked.

 


 

 

 
DVD Features

  • Extended and Deleted Scenes:

 Nearly as long as an episode in it's own right (20 minutes in this case), several deleted and/or extended scenes are included in this compilation.  Presented in a very unique and entertaining way.
 

 

  • Light in Dark Places:

 A 38 minute long featurette containing newly recorded interviews with Sylvester McCoy (Doctor #7), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Sharon Duce (Control), Ian Hogg (Josiah Smith), Michael Cochrane (Redvers Fenn-Cooper), Katharine Schlesinger (Gwendoline), Andrew Cartmel (script editor) and Mark Ayres (composer).
 

 

  • Shooting Ghosts:

 Behind the scenes footage of the studio recording of this story (in fact, the last story to be recorded for the series) lasting nearly 20 minutes long.  An interesting glimpse into the creative as well as practical aspects of producing television.
 

 

  • Writer's Question Time:

 This is footage from a convention in the U.K. during 1990.  The convention in question is Panopticon, and the footage is of a question and answer session with writer Marc Platt.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 An incredible amount 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.
 

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

The first option would be the original mono soundtrack (as originally broadcast).

A second option is to view the story in 5.1 Dolby Digital sound.  One of the very few discs that are able to offer this feature!
The third option is a commentary track including Sophie Aldred (Ace), Marc Platt (writer), Andrew Cartmel (script editor) and Mark Ayres (composer).  An informative commentary that helps to shed light (no pun intended) on one of the most complex stories ever told in Doctor Who's twenty six year history.

The final audio option is the isolated soundtrack.  With this feature you will hear the music Mark Ayres composed 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.

 

 
  • 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:
 Two are included.  Highlight the hidden text below for more details.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.
 

#1. THAT'S THE WAY TO THE ZOO
Go to the main menu screen.
Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'Episode Selection'

 

#2. CONTINUITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Original Broadcast)
 Go to the 'Special Features' menu.
Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'Information Text'

 
 

 

 

 

 

Additional Notes
  • "Ghost Light" is the second transmitted story of the final season of Doctor Who.
     
  • Technically, however, this is the final Doctor Who adventure ever filmed.
     
  • On the surface "Ghost Light" seems like a conventional Doctor Who adventure, but it has many layers of complexity to it that requires multiple viewings to really digest.
     
  • Ian Hogg creates a memorable villain as Josiah Samuel Smith as does John Hallman as Light.
     
  • "Ghost Light" marks the beginning of a series of stories with Ace centered themes to them.  This trilogy arc would continue with "The Curse of Fenric" and then conclude with "Survival."
     
  • Several earlier titles for this story were "The Bestiary" and "Life Cycle."
     
  • The author (Marc Platt) spent years (over 10) trying to pitch different story ideas to the Doctor Who production office before he was ultimately successful.  Just goes to show how persistence and hard work finally pays off.
     
  • Several failed script ideas by Platt were later written as novels by the author including "Cats Cradle: Time's Crucible" and the infamous "Lungbarrow."
     
  • A Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix will be available on this DVD release.
     
  • An extended version of this story was considered (in a similar fashion as "The Curse of Fenric").  However, the extra footage was timecoded VHS (i.e. it has a black bar on the bottom of the screen with a running time).  This made it impossible to included the deleted scenes in with the main program.  Luckily, nearly an extra episode's worth of footage has been included as a separate option on this DVD.
     
  • As with all of the U.K. DVD releases to date, the Doctor Who Restoration Team did extensive work on this story.