Remembrance of the Daleks
(DVD)

Starring Sylvester McCoy
4 Episodes
1988
98 minutes (color)
Single Disc




 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Sylvester McCoy

Ace
Sophie Aldred

Written by
Ben Aaronovitch

Directed by
Andrew Morgan
Produced by
John Nathan-Turner

Original Airdate
Oct 5, 1988 - Oct 26, 1988

US  Release Date
April 2002

Warner Home Video
#E1183

U.K. Cover


 

 

 

Cover Blurb

London 1963. The first Doctor is forced to leave Earth, after two teachers from his granddaughter’s school discover the TARDIS, disguised as a police box, sitting in a junkyard...

London 1963. The seventh Doctor returns - with new companion Ace in tow and with unfinished business.

Once again, unusual events are unfolding at Coal Hill School and Totters Lane junkyard. The Doctor discovers that his oldest foes, the Daleks, are on the trail of hidden Time Lord technology – technology that he himself left behind on Earth all those years ago. The Daleks are planning to perfect their own time-travel capability, in order to unleash their forces across all of time and space. Can the Doctor, even with the help of the local military, stop the Daleks from stealing Gallifreyan secrets? Or are things even more complicated? So it appears… as two opposing Dalek factions prepare for an explosive confrontation, and one group can even climb stairs!


 

 

 
DVD Features

  • Extended & Deleted Scenes:

 13 extended or deleted scenes are packed into this DVD.

1. Rachel and Allison discuss the Doctor's origins (35 seconds)
2. Cafe scene extension (50 seconds)
3. Dalek voice controlling the Headmaster (68 seconds)
4. Ace and Doctor argument resolution (20 seconds)
5. Mike's xenophobia (25 seconds)
6. Antidalek device fizzles (5 seconds)
7. The Doctor heals Ace's leg (16 seconds)
8. Extended shot of Dalek bridge (20 seconds)
9. Girl skips out of Ratcliffe's/Dalek shuttle (30 seconds)
10. The Doctor wires the camera (18 seconds)
11. The Doctor gets ready to transmit (15 seconds)
12. "I'm far more than just another Timelord..." (18 seconds)
13. The Doctor confronts the last Daleks (10 seconds)
 

 
  • BBC1 Trailers:
 Two trailers originally screened in 1988 for the new season of Doctor Who.  The first trailer is for episode 1 and the second trailer is for episode 2.
 

 
  • Outtakes Compilation:
 About 4 minutes worth of goof ups and fluffed lines have been edited together.  Lots of fun to watch.
 

 

  • Mulit-Angle:

 Two scenes are offered from more than one angle.  The first scene is during episode 2 when Ace attacks the Dalek in the chemistry lab.  The second scene is from episode 4 when the Special Weapons Dalek destroys Ratcliffe's gate.  The scene from episode 4 is also humorous in that the explosion sets off several alarms from nearby parked cars.
 

 
  • 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.
 

 
  • 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.
 

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

The first choice is a commentary track.  Commentary is provided by Sylvester McCoy (Doctor #7) and Sophie Aldred (Ace).  Excellent it is too.

The second audio option is the isolated soundtrack.  With this feature you will hear the music Keff McCulloch 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.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 None.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.

 

 

 

Additional Notes
  • "Remembrance of the Daleks" begins the 25th anniversary of Doctor Who. 
  • This is the last appearance of the Daleks in a Doctor Who story.  It is also arguably, one of the best Dalek stories.
  • This story also begins a successful trend in the McCoy era of Doctor Who, the re-mystifying of the Doctor.
  • "Remembrance of the Daleks" is set just a few days after the events of episode 1 of "An Unearthly Child," the very first Doctor Who adventure.
  • Watch for a classic cliffhanger at the end of episode 1 where the Doctor runs up a flight of stairs to escape a Dalek only to find that the Dalek can hover its way up behind him.  The last few seconds are from the Daleks perspective as it closes in on the Doctor.
  • John Leeson (voice of K9) lends his voice to the Daleks in this adventure.
  • Playing the Headmaster of Coal Hill School is none other than Michael Sheard.  Sheard's first role in Doctor Who was in the 1966 Hartnell story "The Ark" as Rhos.  5 years later Sheard would return as Dr. Summers in the Pertwee story "The Mind of Evil."  Sheard would again appear in Doctor Who, this time as Lawrence Scarman in the classic Tom Baker story "Pyramids of Mars."  Next up was the part of Lowe in "The Invisible Enemy."  He would return as Mergrave 4 years later in the Davison opener "Castrovalva."  "Remembrance" marks his final appearance in Doctor Who.
  • Also look for the alternate scene where the Doctor warns Davros that he is... "far more than just another Timelord."
  • There was one glitch with the U.K. release.  In an attempt to clean up a shot early in episode one, the Doctor Who Restoration Team used source material that (unbeknownst to them) had not yet had special effects work done on it.  What this created is a scene where a Dalek shoots a soldier, but the special effect shot is missing.  It is has been corrected for the U.S. version.