DVD Commentaries

[NDCDN]

Not sure if this thread exists somewhere else (couldn't find it) but I was wonderring which Dr Who dvd commentaries you consider the best. I listened to a couple of Tom Baker ones and they just seemed to consist of "oh look it's John, wow, he made a lovely cup of tea", and also a few from the new series (fear her!!!! and the big bang) neither of which I would class as enlightening or even entertaining (had hoped the writter of Fear Her realised how rubbish it was, but no, he seemed to think he had written Citizen Kane) .

So which commentaries would be the most worthwhile to listen to???

[Badhead]

Anyone with Peter Davison. He ios very funny and honest. Earthshock and Resurrection of the Daleks are great. Though sometimes Janet Fielding moves away from poking fun at the show to just moaning about it, which can be a little bit annoying. But the 5th doctor ones are good. Survival is a good one to. Episode 3 has and comentary by 4 fans of the show, which is good.

[Dan]

Anything with Fraser "Jamie" Hines on it is usually worth a listen, as he's pretty funny and charming, but I find that otherwise anything pre-JNT tends to be kind of flat. 60s stories have a lot of falling into silence and "Oh, isn't this charming and delightful!" which gets old fast (although now that they've begun bringing in moderators, like Toby Hadoke and Clayton Hickman, that's gotten a lot better). Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts were always good for some interesting stories and behind the scenes stuff, although Uncle Tewwance does tend to repeat stories. As mentioned, Tom Baker either doesn't remember anything, is clearly drunk, or both, and frequently makes comments regarding his female costars that can be somewhat cringe-inducing.

Once the 80s roll around, though, things get markedly better. Peter Davison is almost always good for a laugh, especially when he has a companion or two to bounce off of. (He spent almost all of Kinda episode three ripping Matthew Waterhouse to shreds over the infamous "giving acting lessons to Richard Todd" incident.) I know I always pump up Colin Baker, but it's true; he's incredibly funny, very knowledgable, remembers everything, and always has good stories. I know Christopher Bidmead is a polarizing figure, but he's great on his commentaries as well, and completely unafraid to say what he thinks, even if the person on the other end of his criticism is in the room with him.

Basically, if a commentary has Fraser Hines, Peter Purves (genial, but also unafraid to say "I'm sorry, but this really isn't doing it for me"), Barry Letts, Terrence Dicks, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding (although be aware, there will be a lot of "Oh my God, look at my hair!"), Colin Baker, or Chris Bidmead, it's almost always worth a listen. (Which is not to say people like Sylvester McCoy or Sophie Aldred, for example, aren't worth listening to; they just don't grab me in the same way.)

[Badhead]

The podcast Radio free skaro do their own fan commentaries for both the old and new series, which can be very funny, like when they call Peladon a gay bath house. Another podcast called tachyon tv do funny fan commentaries. But some fans feel they step over the line when they mock the show and its actors. But there one for fear her is well worth downloading.

[NDCDN]

Started Ressurection of the Daleks and so far it has been great just as you said. Then i will give Warriors of the Deep a try and then Ghostlight.

Hmmm......after boston Dan's suggestions of anything with either Frazer Hines or Colin Baker I might even bump up the Two Doctors. Need a good reason to see it again.

Maybe I just got a bad first impression because I had thought that Tom Baker would have been the best or that the new ones might be insightful and interesting.

[Badhead]

The Ark in space is quite good, Toms on good form. It is worth it just for everyones reaction to the line "Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors."