Strange, I thought stories were not going to be brought out on DVD until at least six years after the video release. City of Death was last released on VHS in 2001. And according to the Doctor Who Restoration Team Forum the announcement is as much of a surprise to them as it is to anyone else! As it says on the BBC site, 'the above information is still provisional and subject to final confirmation or change at short notice' - so I'll believe it when I see it.
Tom Baker doing something for the DVD in Paris dosen't sound that convincing either to be honest. However if It does happen, fantastic! Can't wait.
City of Death is my favourite classic Who story. It's brilliant! Didn't it get something like 20 million viewers on it's original broadcast?
When City Of Death went out ITV was on strike for
THIRTEEN WEEKS
so most things on BBC1 during that period got massive viewers. It was a great time for the Beeb to launch shows so that they could try and become popular, two shows that launched during this period were Shoestring and To The Manor Born which became massive hits!!
I read somewhere that City of Death got 16 million but other sources say it was closer to 19 million; because the BBC and ITV measured their ratings differently, I doubt we'll ever know for certain what the ratings were pre-BARB.
It's amazing to think that, the series this story featured in got the highest ratings in the programmes history, yet one year later Doctor Who was being watched by less than half of those viewers.
Well that was thanks to the disaster that was John Nathan Turner
Let's not forget Christopher H Bidmead and his technobabble nonsense!! Oh and ITV finally showing the same thing, at the same time in all the regions. And the shiny Buck Rogers in the 25th Century tv series. Buck Rogers had spiffy (for the time) special effects and Doctor Who looked naff in comparison, anybody that says dodgy effects gave Doctor Who its charm might want to remember that fact.
Absolutely. Crap sets and naff effects look just that. If there's a belting story and fantastic acting around it then yes, the embarassment can be reduced. For example it's not the awful green spray-painted bubble-wrap costumes I remember from the Ark In Space. But take a weak story and add crap effects to it and you've just got 25 minutes of disaster.
However City Of Death just has it all. Ok, the ancient Earth set is a bit naff but everything else is well polished. Good story, excellent dialogue, and good acting from both main and supporting casts.
