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Epicurus.com - Doctor Who - The Caves of Androzani (Episode 136)
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $15.99
Your Save: $ 3.99 ( 20% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: BBC Video
Starring: Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant
Directed By: Graham Harper
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780790766591
Format: Color
ISBN: 0790766590
Label: BBC Video
Manufacturer: BBC Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: BBC Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2002-04-02
Running Time: 99
Studio: BBC Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1975-09-29
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Editorial Reviews:
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"Curiosity's always been my downfall." Captured for arms-running on the mining planet of Androzani Minor, the Doctor and Perry are under sentence of death. Then a mysterious masked intruder comes to their aid. But is Sharaz Jek, master android creator, really their saviour? The rulers of the planet are certainly desperate for his head. But then, he does control Androzani's supply of spectrox and it's a substance men are prepared to die for. Originally transmitted 8-16 March 1984, this four part adventure marks the end of the Peter Davison era for Doctor Who and the timelord's sixth regeneration. DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:by actors Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant and director Graeme Harper
Biographies
Deleted Scenes
Documentaries:on creating Sharez Jek and regeneration sequence
Production Notes:Optional caption stream
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Doctor Five's Farewell Adventure
Comment: "The Caves of Androzani" is a strange beast. It is both great and goofy. It features Peter Davison's best performance as the Doctor and what I consider to be one of Nicola Bryant's worst displays as Peri. It has a very cool anti-hero, Sharaz Jek (wonderfully played by Christopher Gable), who draws sympathy from the viewer and then it has a monster in it that looks like overgrown Texas highway roadkill (In case you don't know what that is, it's an armadillo). There's a script full of deception, greed, and vengeance and then there's fade-happy direction. In all, this episode is the best and worst of both worlds.
The story is somewhat uneven. The serial opens with the Doctor and Peri on Androzani Minor, a fairly uninhabited sandy planet where a drug known as Spectrox is mined. Mistaken for gunrunners in Sharaz Jek's resistance group, the Doctor and Peri find themselves in front of a firing squad. With assistance from an unlikely source, they manage to escape and from there the story gets deeper. We learn the motives behind Jek's actions as well as the more sinister plans of Morgus (John Normington). Meanwhile, a band of soldiers are trying to find Jek and have to fight off his androids and the aforementioned armadillo of death. With all of this going on, Jek's gunrunners are in cahoots with the enemy. Finally, when the Doctor and Peri first entered the caves, they managed to stumble upon some pure spectrox and have three days to live. Whew, got all that?
It isn't quite as confusing as it seems, and the characters are drawn out very well despite all of the subplots. Davison pulls out all the stops with his performance, making the Doctor a protective father figure to Peri (perhaps due to the loss of another companion in another serial). As many have mentioned before, this is his final adventure as the Doctor, and we get to see his regeneration into the sixth Doctor, Colin Baker. Bryant's accent wavers, especially in Episode 1, and her performance overall is less than stellar. Still, she runs through a large range of emotions in this serial that makes some of her goofs forgiveable. Christopher Gable turns in a wonderful performance as the masked Jek, and is rivaled only by John Normington's sinisterly subdued Morgus. The rest of the cast is fairly solid as well.
The DVD is very good. There are only a few noticeable blemishes throughout the entire serial. As always, the special features are excellent. There are three newscast snippets focusing on Davison's farewell as well as a wonderful documentary on the development of Jek narrated by Gable. The process of filming the regeneration scene is given a somewhat boring treatment, but it's fun to watch a production happen. The standard extras are also here, including a photo gallery, a "Who's Who" on selected actors and an excellent audio commentary.
Is this the best fifth Doctor story? Some would argue that it is. I personally don't think so. It's weighed down by its direction, sometimes confusing script and a very bad monster. However, it does feature Davison's best performance, a wonderful villain, an even better anti-hero, and a nice introduction to the Colin Baker era. Recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Creativity of Doctor Who
Comment: Regretably there is so much garbage on television these days. There was a time in its history when there were good, decent, intelligent shows on the air. Dr. Who is amongst one of the few legendary programs of high quality and intelligence that is still on the air. This particular episode, featuring Peter Davison as the fifth doctor, captures the essence of humility and kindness which unfortunately is lacking from the intellects of our society. His character was willing to lay down his life for his travel mate. Scripture teaches that "no greater love has a man than this that he would lay down his life for his friends." Despite incredible intellectual prowess he is still a humble, caring character. The Christian influence may not have been intentional in the history of the series but it is still a dominant factor in a number of the episodes. Peter Davison has a natural charisma about him that gives this doctor a very personal, real ambiance. Regretably he didn't continue the role of the Doctor as this was his final role. If you want something truly thought-provoking that speaks to the human condition, I highly recommend this episode. Watch it with discernment, it may open your eyes to our history.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Don't mock me, Doctor. Beauty I must have, but you are dispensible."
Comment: "The Caves of Androzani" pivots between the past and the future. Obviously this is so, in that the fifth Doctor becomes mortally ill and newly regenerates into the sixth Doctor after first being haunted by the voices of former companions and enemies. More fundamentally though, this "Doctor Who" adventure is a riveting fusion of dystopian science fiction and revenge dramas straight out of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods--hence doubly dark and gruesome.
The dystopian sci-fi element is more readily apparent, of course, for the human colony on the twin planets of Androzani presents us with a bleak picture of the future--in actuality merely refracting the bleaker trends and tendencies of our present, of course. Exploitative corporations entangled with the government, strict hierarchies of status, an interplanetary drug trade at the heart of a brutal civil war, and cutthroat murderous mercenaries playing (or being played by) both sides--oh brave new world indeed! And an image of this complicatedly dysfunctional social system is painted deftly with a few strokes of dialogue in that inimitable "Doctor Who" way (reminding me most clearly of "The Robots of Death" or "The Ribos Operation" on that score). But closer to the heart of the story is manipulation, intrigue, assassination, insanity, revenge, and an ending where practically everybody (even the Doctor, sort of) dies--and this is good old-fashioned dysfunctionalism vintage 1600's. Morgus's asides to the camera (to the viewing audience, really) are stylistically indicative of this as well, but the secret murder (attempted in this case, of Sharaz Jek by Morgus), the long period of disguise and plotting during which the murderer and the avenger scheme against each other, and the gradually rising body count culminating in an explosion of violence at the conclusion in which the principle characters (including the murderer and the avenger) get killed off--"Androzani" follows this classic, stereotypically Jacobean dramatic structure almost to a tee.
And it still works. This is a compellingly well-told story with a good deal of suspense, psychodrama, twists & turns, not to mention edge-of-your-seat action in a show not always known for being action-packed per se. The characters are interesting, psychologically complex, and even the nicer of them are less than wholly admirable to say the least--and fine acting by the supporting cast really brings this out. This especially goes for Sharaz Jek, a man driven mad by his disfigurement, resentment, and quest for vengeance--He's cruel, he's creepy, and he's a bit off his rocker, but is he a villain? Well, yes, no, and maybe. Speaking of acting, this is hands down the best performance by Peter Davison as the Doctor that I've yet seen. In all honesty, he tends to be one of my least favorite Doctors and usually comes across (to me anyway) as bland and passive. Not here, though! You can pair him up against the Cybermen, the Daleks, or the Master, but it never quite really seems like the Doctor unless he has that classic irreverence, disdain for petty authority, and understated but rock-solid courage so characteristic of this character across his varying incarnations, and here at last we finally really get to see these qualities in the fifth Doctor. And then he's gone. Dang.
Still, "Androzani" does have a few glaring imperfections. Principally, amidst all these interesting characters and fine actors, we have the Doctor's companion, Peri, as played by Nicola Bryant. I'm not sure what happened here, but the character is unconvincing, annoying, and makes Jo Grant look like a Romana in comparison--and the actress can't, well, act. The female companions in "Doctor Who" have always been played by excellent actresses who knew their stuff, and the characters have exuded personality, intelligence (even ditzy Jo had her escapology), and some level of bravery and pluck as well as being extremely easy on the eyes. The latter's about all poor Peri has going for her, I'm afraid. She's trying her best, too, you can tell, so the fault clearly lies elsewhere, the producers and the writers I'm thinking. That aside, there's also a few plot implausibilities here and there and a superfluous monster who's rather poorly realized. But when all's said and done, these flaws detract only a little from a fine story and a smooth production--and a dramatic finale to the fifth Doctor's adventures.
Customer Rating:
Summary: mindless violence without a story
Comment: Not having watched the Peter Davison Doctor Who for 15 years, I decided to purchase Caves of Androzani since it was considered by many to be a good story. One of the best things about Doctor Who are the interesting characters and interactions. However, this story does not have much character development. Every character is totally hostile and uncaring. Most of the story is about the Doctor and Peri being captured, chased, and tied up. The main villian is uninteresting and the other characters nameless. Not only do they hate the doctor, they fight and betray each other to the point of being ridiculous. People die pointlessly in almost every scene. Skip this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Overrated melodrama
Comment: Behold the most colossally overrated Doctor Who story of all time. On Outpost Gallifrey's extensive fan poll The Caves of Androzani is only beat by The Talons of Weng Chiang by one hundredth of one point as the best Doctor Who story ever. Given this, I was very excited to see it. I was let down. What I found was a melodramatic, mediocre story based on The Phantom of the Opera, with a typically endlessly annoying Peri--the worst companion in Who history--being held against her will by Jek, one of the most overrated villains in Who history. Yes, Caves of Androzani is good by fifth Doctor standards. I fully admit that. In fact, by fifth Doctor standards (as well as John Nathan-Turner standards) it's VERY good. But by Robert Holmes standards, the writer, it's downright AWFUL. In fact the only thing Holmes ever did that's worse is probably The Two Doctors.
Some readers have commented that I am too harsh on the fifth Doctor. I must disagree. He was WAY too young and was in every way totally wrong for the part. Perhaps such people are forgetting that Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor himself, has publicly stated that in his own opinion his entire run as the Doctor was pure crap.
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