"Beware the Black Guardian!"
Before the 1978-79 season began, an effort was made to make the show lighter. The goal had been to bring the series more in line with its family-fare roots. The producers didn't want the show to lose direction during this change, so they decided to dedicate this, the 16th season, to a mission: The Quest For The Key To Time. This way, they could continue to have stories of the type they were used to, but thematically united. The assignment? Simply overcoming the obstacles that kept our Time Lords from finding the six pieces to the Key to Time. This mission was outlined in and concluded with a framing sequence during the first and last episodes of the season.
Did I say "Time Lords", as in plural? Yes, I certainly did. After losing Leela to romance at the end of season fifteen, a new companion was brought in: Time Lord (or is it Time Lady?) Romanadvoratrelundar, or Romana for short. Fresh from the academy, she was characterized as someone with a lot of book smarts, but none of the practical experience that characterized the Doctor's approach to problem solving. Actress Mary Tamm played Romana, but left the show after just one season (and, due to her very visible pregnancy at the time the next season started, she could not even appear briefly for a regeneration sequence!).
The Doctor, Romana, and a tooled-up K9 Mark II were sent forth by a new character - The White Guardian - on a quest to recover the six pieces of the Key To Time. Pieces that could look like anything, until the Tracer he entrusted to Romana was used on it. His advice along the way? "Beware the Black Guardian"...who also wanted the Key To Time, and would stoop to any level to get it!
The DVDs: "Key to Time: The Complete Adventure"
Like every other Doctor Who release, each serial in its entirety is put onto one DVD, and enclosed in its own keepcase. The 6 serials (containing 26 installments overall: 4 chapters each except for the final serial, which had 6 chapters) come in a cardboard slipcase when sold as a box set. All 6 serials are also available separately:
"The Ribos Operation": The Doctor and Romana trace the first segment of the Key To Time to the planet Ribos, where they first encounter two con artists who think big. 99 minutes.
"The Pirate Planet": Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) penned this episode in which the Doctor and Romana seek the second segment of the Key to Time on a parasitic planet. 102 minutes.
"The Stones of Blood": The search for the third segment of the Key leads the Doctor and Romana to the English countryside and an ancient stone circle called The Nine Travelers. 96 minutes.
"The Androids of Tara": Romana quickly locates the Fourth Segment of the Key to Time while the Doctor indulges in a little fishing, but they fail to leave the planet Tara before becoming embroiled in its complex political intrigues. 98 minutes.
"The Power of Kroll": The search for the fifth segment of the Key To Time mires the Doctor and Romana in conflicts on Delta 3 between the Swampies and colonists from Earth. 91 minutes.
"The Armageddon Factor": The search for the Sixth (and last) Segment of the Key to Time bring the Doctor, Romana and K9 to the planet Atrios, where they encounter a pesky interplanetary war and Princess Astra, who is linked to the sixth segment in some mysterious way. 148 minutes (note that the back of the box mistakenly says "91 minutes").
Video
This is the roughest part for me to write about. Just as soon as I started up "The Ribos Operation", I got a bad taste in my mouth, and it never quite really went away. I saw scratches and artifacts on the print during the title sequence, and that gave way to obvious grain - especially in the white areas (of which there are a LOT of in this serial). Further, the coloring wasn't as deep and as well saturated as it ought to be. Blacks weren't black. Red wasn't red. Green wasn't green.
As I discussed this with fellow Doctor Who fans that saw this set, they told me that I was holding my standards too high, and they reminded me that this box set release still exhibits better picture condition than anything ever broadcast in the USA. I can't say that I disagree with that. Yet, I still can't see my way clear to being happy about the video quality.
You see, I suppose I've been utterly spoiled by every previous R1 DVD release of Doctor Who, which have been near perfection every time. Each one has been meticulously gone over by the Doctor Who Restoration Team, as described at their website (http://www.restoration-team.co.uk). Yet there you will find no mention of any of the Key To Time stories. Why not? Well, I suppose it's because they weren't given a crack at them.
With the earliest Doctor Who disc releases in North America like "The Five Doctors", there was a poll at a now-defunct website (VoteDoctorWho.com, for the record). This asked fans to name the serials that they most wanted to see for DVD release in the near future. While I cannot get official word on this from anybody, it is my belief that the results of this poll showed such a high demand for "The Key To Time", that this box set was rushed to market without the benefit of spending any time with the Restoration Team. Which may explain the noticeable difference in picture quality here.
The picture quality is not consistently off in every scene in each of the 26 episodes. Sometimes it's better, other times it's worse. It's never completely unacceptable, not by a longshot. But it IS a letdown after the previous seven DVDs.
Audio
The soundtrack quality on this entire set is basically a standard mono affair, typical of BBC broadcasts of this era. While I do not think it has had any restoration done to it, neither does it exhibit excessive flaws. I was pleased that this dialogue-heavy show was able to come across as clear as it did, given it's 24-year span of age. However, I don't mean to describe it as better than it is. I compared it to the recent DVD release "The Ark In Space", a serial shot four years earlier than these were. The various "Key To Time" serials clearly did not have the life and vibrancy to it that the earlier effort did. A more average result is found here throughout, though still quite acceptable. When the Captain of The Pirate Planet rages at his people, and you can clearly see (or rather, hear) that this soundtrack can hold it's own (among recordings in its class, anyway...this isn't any "Band of Brothers", either).
All six DVDs in this collection are English subtitled for the hearing impaired.
Even a Doctor Who release with fewer-than-usual supplements still tends to beat the pants off of most TV-on-DVD releases. While not quite as splendid as what we're used to on other releases (and certainly this is another by-product of "rushing this to market"), there is a decent amount to enjoy:
Commentary Tracks
100% of The Key To Time is covered with commentary tracks. I did not have enough free hours to listen to all of these in time to write up this review. I can say that the ones which include Tom "The Doctor" Baker and/or Mary "Romana" Tamm seem to be the most enjoyable, as these two are full of humor and fun remembrances of their times in front of the camera. The line-up of commentaries is as follows:
"The Ribos Operation": Tom Baker & Mary Tamm
"The Pirate Planet": Bruce "The Captain" Purchase & director Pennant Roberts
"The Stones of Blood": Mary Tamm & director Darrol Blake
"The Androids of Tara": Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, & director Michael Hayes
"The Power of Kroll": Tom Baker & John "K9" Leeson
"The Armageddon Factor": Mary Tamm, John "The Marshall" Woodvine, & director Michael Hayes
Character Profiles
The usual "Who's Who" explanation of each story's characters is included on every disc.
Production Notes
Pop-up Production Notes are here once again, utilizing the subtitle track for splendid behind-the-scenes information about scenes, props, costumes, characters, filming locations and schedules, broadcast dates and ratings results, and much, much more! A very entertaining supplement, and not just for the die-hard fans!
Photo Gallery
A slideshow of pictures taken on the set during each serial's recording is provided. These galleries vary in size from disc to disc, but to give you an idea, the one on "Ribos" is 35 photos long. However, I didn't find any of the pictures in the entire box set especially engaging. They are mostly "smile for the camera" posed shots, the type that the photographer spontaneously thinks of doing, but gives too much warning for the end result to look spontaneous. You don't really see where they were caught doing anything they weren't supposed to, nor do you get any real insight into the production process. I frankly considered this a waste of time.
Summary
The 4th Doctor, played by Tom Baker, is widely accepted as the world's favorite incarnation of the character. The highly experimental "Quest For The Key To Time" series-within-a-series - where a whole season was dedicated to one overall goal - is considered by many to be the epitome of the Tom Baker years. After viewing these episodes in their original form, and seeing much of them for the very first time, I must agree that this is Doctor Who at the top of its form.
With that in mind, it's a pity that the Region 1 DVD release wasn't also at the top of its form. I would have cheerfully waited another year to be able to get this at a quality level similar to "Ark In Space", and the other previous releases. I suspect many Doctor Who fans would agree.
On the other hand, I doubt that an upgrade is even potentially in the offing. This is probably IT, for better or for worse. I suspect sales on these discs - both individually and in the set - won't be quite as brisk as BBCAmerica and Warner hopes they would be. Especially when word of mouth gets around; Doctor Who fans talk almost as much as Star Trek fans do.
On the third hand, fans are fans, and they really do want to own this storyline. And it's in decent shape, just not top-notch shape. The biggest obstacle I see is that the pricing on this set is similar to that of the higher-quality releases: $19.99 to $24.99 for the separate DVDs, and $99.99 to $124.99 for the gift set (which amounts to "buy five, get the sixth free"). If I had to make a buying decision for these discs based on what I know now, I'd be much more willing to pay around $12.99 to $14.99 for each of these, or $65-$75 for the set. On a price-and-performance basis, that would be more equitable, I think. After all, if you're going to rush these out to the fans on a more mass-market basis, a mass-market price should be a consideration.
This may be the route that the Doctor Who home video releases end up taking in the long run. After all, there are 160 total serials to get through, and that could take a lot of - ahem - time indeed!
