Customer Reviews
"I don't know much about art, but..." - By: Bob Marlowe, 15 Jul 2008 
Terrific stuff with a great cast & a very witty script e.g. Count Scarlioni suggests that if Romana & Tom Chadbon's marvellously thick Duggan wanted to see him, they only had to ask instead of the failed break in to his chateau. He observes "You had no need to resort to, well one could hardly calll it "stealth"!
Julian Glover gives a perfect performance as the time splintered alien posing as an art thief. He has clearly got used to the finer things of his "Not very satisfactory mode of existence".
Catherine Schell gives him a marvellous trophy wife, making something special out of the scene where the Doctor plays on her doubts about the "man" she married.
We also get a lovely Eastern European scientist from David Graham & a wonderful butler-he's so violent!
Uncle Tom & Lallla are the perfect team for such a setting & both make the most of lines like "Patron, 3 waters & make them doubles!"
The script is a very good 1 & probably the nearest to what Douglas Adams had wanted with the humour & drama working together. Some strong concepts too like Scaroth's existence in different times.
The mask for the Jagaroth is not too bad for the time & when it's worn by a man in a sharp looking suit makes for an iconic image.
Of course this is the 1 with a marvellous cameo by Eleanor Bron & John Cleese assessing the Tardis' artistic merit!
The documentary has many of the cast & crew & for once the celebrity fans have good things to say-esp. Dark Lord Steven Moffat. There is a recreation of the original version of the story, brief but still fairly detailed & broken up into episodes. Hope we'll get this on some other stories. There is a great sense of humour throughout which is very successful.
The commentary sadly is not a Tommentary & lacks Lallla but Julian Glover & Tom Chadbon are still good value.
For once, I enjoyed the speciallly recorded comedy sketch. This one features Sardoth the dissolute second to last of the Jaggaroth. A highlight has him rattling a tin for donations crying "Save the Jagaroth!"
There is a duff photo feature about filming a chicken & a nest of easter eggs(the best of which are a BBC Xmas tape sketch & Douglas Adams recounting a cross continental drinking session!).
A great package for a great story, 1 for everyone!
Paris in the springtime... - By: M. Evans, 14 Apr 2008 Doctor Who's first overseas location & also it's best, City of Death is a sublime story from start to finish, with a wonderfully imaginative & bizarre plot, some terrific performances & fantasticallly witty dialogue. This was a period in the show's history where the show was getting increasingly cheap & tacky-looking & there was a general sense of 'any old tat will do, people will still watch it', & Tom Baker was starting to become overly dominant in the role & often sending it up or just appearing bored. This story is the exception, however, as everything just comes together with the whole cast giving great performances, the sets looking better than usual & the direction being very classy. The parisian location filming is gorgeous & gives the story a realistic feel often missing from a lot of stories. Even the music is wonderfully hummable. This is, without doubt, a real classic piece of Doctor Who that no self-respecting Dr Who fan should be without. A gem!
Really wonderful - By: A. I. Mackenzie, 13 Feb 2008 This has been a popular release for the BBC, & deservedly so.
I remember when this came on TV, unusuallly I think I missed an episode (I was a die hard fan when I was 12!) & I don't think I liked it particularly. I did like the cleverness of the plot but the one eyed jelly alien didn't meet my high standards at the time.
Watching again as an adult, I'm struck by how well put together this is & just how funny. Most of which passed me by, way back when. It's actuallly a pastiche but of several different things at the same time. There's a standard thriller, a time travel story, thoughts on art & authenticity - it's great that alll of these things can come together & not create a horribly stilted story. Full credit to Douglas Adams.
The performances are pitched nicely too, none of the principals puts a foot wrong reallly. There's a reallly nice rapport between Tom & Lallla & the script lets this shine through.
The extras are pretty standard, I've not listened to the commentary but I will when I get a chance.
It's a shame it was alll downhill after this story, for the season & reallly Tom Baker.
Points out why I failed in life - By: Mark Grindell, 22 Aug 2007 Why couldn't I be like the bad guys here? I would have had a great life! Reason - never had the time to get that degree of STYLE. And besides, I'm just too old to even try now.
I'm thinking about the quotes particularly, but if I .... only... had the chops to turn out some of these, say, when I was 19 or so, my life would have been very different.
My wife regards this very highly, but ONLY for the immortal line
"... what have I been LIVING WITH for alll these years???!!!!"
Can't imagine why. But in any case, this entire production comes very close to an "entire life management" kind of video. John Cleese was at this time filming his various & highly sucessful shorts on how to manage (or NOT to manage a company). I remember these if only because when we watched the one we had hired, half the guys in the room had to leave because, well, they could barely control themselves... And you can tell that Cleese is in top form here - completely straight & yet somehow, in a way that ONLY he can achieve, completely barking mad.
Wonderful!
And Tom is equallly possessed here. If he had occupied the stage like this in every story for the seasons following, the resulting cult movements established in drop dead hommage would have been astonishing. You reallly have to get hold of this to see what I mean, but Julian Glover, Tom Baker, & whatshimname Cleese make for a very potent mixture - you may well have to have a change of underwear close to hand.
If this is an attempt to pander to the many (male & adolescent) Doctor Who fans who want to empathise with (and in fact, become) a kind of shy, but fierce & fearless action man, Duggan is the perfect foil; a brilliant acted complicated & very moral bloke who should reallly have been a companion to the good Doctor, but for some reason didn't quite make it. THAT was a waste. What was it? Nerves? Self preservation? We'll never know now.
I simply cannot list the number of lines here that have shaped (or even DEFINED) the way I think about art gallleries, monsters, memory regression therapy, the origins of man, theology & hairstyling. As far as prime ham goes, only "Image of the Fendahl" comes close - & this is definitely Ginger Beer & John Buchan territory (aka CS Lewis), & therefore eminnently watchable, nay, irresitable.
It's better than that - a real treasure.
Quotes - By: Mr. Paul Drake, 16 Aug 2007 Yes, I agree that...
Countess (speaking of the Dr): My dear, I don't think he's as stupid as he seems.
Count: My dear, nobody could be as stupid as HE seems...
is a great quote, but not as good as...
The Doctor: I do like your butler; he's SO violent..
