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Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy scribe Douglas Adams made his scriptwriting debut for Doctor Who with this 16th-season episode, the second in the "Key to Time" story arc, and a delight for fans of the series and Adams's work. Tom Baker's Doctor and companion Romana (Mary Tamm), in pursuit of the second segment of the Key to Time, accidentally land on the planet Zanak, which has been cored out and converted into a ship with which to plunder the mineral resources of other neighboring planets. The Doctor and Romana must outwit the Captain, the planet's half-human, half-metal ruler, in order to retrieve the segment, which is concealed in the shriveled husk of a conquered planet. Adams's wry humor (well delivered by Baker and Tamm) and imaginative flourishes help buoy this episode, though Who aficionados that dislike the series' humorous efforts may not appreciate the serial's overall light tone. Fans of the Hitchhiker series will note several references to elements from that series (Adams was writing a radio adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide at the same time he wrote this episode) woven throughout the script. --Paul Gaita ... Read more

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The Ribos Operation is the first part in the ambitious "Key to Time" story arc that composed the 16th season of Dr. Who, and series fans were treated to not only a feisty and comely new assistant for Tom Baker's Doctor, but a cracking good story by Robert Holmes that relied more on character and plot than on special effects or monsters. The Doctor is dispatched by the White Guardian to recover the six segments of the Key of Time, a device that allows its user to make time stand still. With the help of elegant Time Lady Romana (Mary Tamm), the Doctor begins his search on the wintry planet of Ribos, where a con man (Ian Cuthbert) is attempting to rook a deposed despot into buying the planet via a phony mineral scam. Unbeknownst to all but the Doctor and Romana, the con man's mineral sample is in fact the first segment to the Key. Holmes's script gives some charming wordplay to Baker and Tamm and Cuthbert, along with the prerequisite dashes of cliffhanger suspense. --Paul Gaita ... Read more

Description

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. ... Read more

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The sad fact faced by all fans of the BBC's long-running science fiction series Doctor Who is that nearly half of the 200+ episodes are considered lost or incomplete due to improper storage. However, episodes and tantalizing glimpses of "orphaned" stories from the reign of the first Doctor, William Hartnell (1963-66) have been culled together from 16 and 35mm prints and restored on this disc. The most noteworthy treasure is "Day of Armageddon," the second episode in the epic 12-part story from season 3, "The Daleks' Master Plan," which has been unseen by the public since its initial airing in 1965. Also among the recently recovered is "The Lion," the first episode of season's 2's "The Crusade." The only other surviving episodes from these stories--episodes 5 and 10 from "The Daleks' Master Plan," and episode 3 from "The Crusade" (audio tracks and narrative links for the second and fourth episodes of this story are also included), as well as the sole remaining episode (#4, "The Final Test") from "The Celestial Toymaker" (featuring veteran actor Michael Gough) round out the disc.

The DVD extras include fragments from the lost episodes of "The Daleks' Master Plan" and season 4's "The Smugglers" and "The Tenth Planet," all rescued from a variety of far-flung places; also included is commentary by actor Julian Glover for episode 3 of "The Crusade" and actors Peter Purves and Kevin Stoney, along with designer Raymond Cusick for "Day of Armaggedon," and some 8mm off-screen footage from the Hartnell era. Viewers can also access introductions to and an afterword for "The Crusade" (taken from the original VHS release) by accessing the "Play All" option on the main menu. The William Hartnell Years is available in the U.S. as a single disc and in a three-disc box with a double disc of rare episodes from the Patrick Troughton era; however, the Hartnell disc is only available to U.K. buyers in the boxed set. Either way, it's a must-have for Doctor Who completists. --Paul Gaita ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Highly Original Sci-Fi, before its time
Blake's 7 was a new and different sci-fi series when it aired between 1978-1981. It used "Dr.Who" like special effects but was dominated by a superb cast and amazing writers. In a nutshell, Blake's 7 is about a group of renegades taking on an evil empire. Blake's 7 used intelligent ships, AI's, transporters, telepathy, robots, virtual reality and other concepts that would dominate sci-fi series that followed it. This includes everything from ST:NG to Babylon 5, Firefly, Farscape, Stargate and Battlestar Galactica.

Blake's 7 also introduced a concept that was not seen again until Babylon 5. After the first season you do not see Blake until the 4th season. This is a stunning storyline. The original Blake's 7 crew is:

Blake (Garreth Thomas) - The idealistic leader
Avon (Paul Darrow) - The logical, and cunning 2nd in command.
Cally (Jan Chappell) - The telepath
Jenna (Sally Knyvette) - The damsel in distress
Villa (Michael Keating) - The thief
Zen (Peter Tuddenham) - The ship

The arch-villian of the series is Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce) who hunts the heroes at every turn. Some of the best acting in the series revolves around Avon and Servalan. If they weren't trying to kill each other, they would be lovers.

Blake's 7 is often underrated as a sci-fi series by those too entranced with newer special effects. Blake's 7 should be approached like Babylon 5 or Andromeda. It is a series that had time enough for the characters to mature and change.

Unpolished Gem
Blakes 7 was another little unpolished gem in their sci-fi crown. A perfect dark, complex mix of mild sci-fi, black comedy, and soap opera. ... Read more