Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time

This story starts like a regular episode with the Rani in her TARDIS following the Doctor's TARDIS and generally up to no good ( she is trying to collect all the Doctor's selves to complete her menagerie), with a young travelling companion. The Rani has trapped the disembodied heads of the first two Doctors in a Time Tunnel (this must have looked very wild in the original 3-D transmission!). We then join the Seventh Doctor and Ace exiting the TARDIS in front of the Cutty Sark. Things then move very fast and get very confusing. The Rani apparently wants to capture one specimen of every living thing which will then allow her to have the power to control evolution (I gleaned much of this information from The Seventh Doctor Handbook as it's not really clear in the two part skit). Why many of the companions are needed instead of just one human, for instance, is not explained. However, this is still a ton of fun. This came out the year (1993) that the Doctor Who movie "The Dark Dimension" was to have been released and as a bonus this would have been the cherry on the cake. In reality, though, "The Dark Dimension" was cancelled and this was the consolation prize thrown at fans--quite a letdown in that context! It should be remembered, however, that this production was made for Children In Need and all actors donated their time and services free of charge. One wishes there was more screen time for each Doctor and interaction between them but time is literally of the essence here and even with the brevity of time on screen each shines as if they have never left the role (except Hartnell and Troughton of course who are just floating heads!). Many companions appear as well and one can only think of what could have been with more time. I mean the Sixth Doctor with the Brig as well as Susan and the Third Doctor and Victoia are just three examples. All of the meetings of Doctors and companions are fun but oh so brief. Towards the end tons of old monsters appear (a Tractator, Tetrap, Sea Devil, Zog from the stage play "Ultimate Adventure" among many others). The final resolution to this mystery is very confusing but it's still fun to see the Seventh Doctor, Leela and K9 together! One will miss the 3-D effects that this was originally filmed in and may become a bit dizzy with the rotating camera work but this is harmless Who fun. If you can find someone with a copy of this give it a view, if not for any other reason, to see the final official screen adventure of Jon Pertwee as the Doctor!

Weird, fun, and a little embarrassing to watch at the same time. The first 3 minutes alone feature more scene-chewing than a normal Dr Who episode. In the first scene we see the evil Rani barking orders at her studly young assistant while clay heads of the late William Hartnell and the late Patrick Troughton spiral around her TARDIS console room. If that's not enough to make you think you have the DTs, we're then presented with a scene with Tom Baker's Doctor in Tetris-land kicking the OTT - meter up a notch.

I still enjoyed this story, though, even if it didn't make a lick of sense. It was cool seeing all those Doctors and companions stirred together in one big mix (Seeing the 3rd Doctor paired with Melanie and the 6th Doctor paired with Ace was bizarre). Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker in particular seemed the most enthusiastic to be involved in the project.

So, if you're a Doctor Who fan, try to find this story. It has an infamous reputation, but it's well worth at least one viewing.

For those who believe Sylvester McCoy didn't play the Seventh Doctor on screen in the years between his final TV outing, Survival and the 1996 TV Movie- Allow me to introduce Dimensions In Time, a charity special aired in 2 parts in November 1993. McCoy and Ace actress Sophie Aldred reprised their roles for this mini-reunion that reunited all the living actors to play Doctor Who alongside many of their old companions from the original series. Kate O'Mara (a recurring villain from the Sixth and Seventh Doctors eras) returned as the Rani in a new scheme to control the nature of evolution. While clearly not to be considered on the same scale as a normal production of Dr Who or even previous specials like The Five Doctors, this skit is still fun to watch as it is the last time we see Jon Pertwee as the flamboyant Third Doctor (he passed away three years later) and very likely the final time we will ever see McCoy, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and the much lamented Colin Baker play their interpretation of the character on screen. The new series, which began transmission last month, is not likely to utilise their talents as head writer Russell T Davies has stated he wishes to not focus on the past so much in his reinvention of the series. So taken for what it is- this is a good if all to brief celebration of the first 26 years of the legend that is Doctor Who.

Fortunately, I am one, but for anyone else, this program is horrid. The story is so contrived and confused, it's impossible to follow. Hence, Don't try. This was written for one of those charity fundraising specials, and is just a showcase to see all of the living Dr. Who stories one more time. The big plusses are:

1) final Jon Pertwee performance as the Dr.

2) First time Tom Baker agreed to reprise his role since he left after his 7 year stint (sorry, his 5 Doctor's appearance doesn't count - that was filmed during his stint as the Dr for the "lost" episode Shada).

As a reunion, it's nice. I don't think anyone else will get it.

... but it was made for charity, so I have a hard time being too critical of it. It's fun for fans, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. Even fans, though, may be alarmed at seeing all these characters crammed into one ten minute film. Some have aged to the point that it's just odd seeing them play the same characters. Tom Baker especially looks so different that it's a little off-putting. And Louise Jameson just looks silly in that Leela costume -- kind of like an aging hippie whose trying to sell you incense at a renaissance fair. Still, it's nostalgic fun. The only offensively awful thing about it is the terrible floating heads they use to represent Hartnell and Troughton caught in the time stream. Surely they could have used their actual images.