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David Whitaker / Malcolm Hulke / Trevor Ray, Doctor Who - The ambassadors of death

Release details

TitleDoctor Who - The ambassadors of death
Artist(s):David Whitaker / Malcolm Hulke / Trevor Ray
Category:BBC - BBCDVD (Click on this button to view other releases of BBC - BBCDVD DVD's.)
Label and catalogue number:Picture of images/labels/BBC3.jpg labelBBC3 - BBCDVD 3484
Format:Disc DVD's
Country:UK UK flag
Released:1970
Genre:Dramas - Sci-fi View all other tracks listed as Dramas - Sci-fi.
Run-off codes:A0101999668-A912 02
A0101997054-A511 02
Item deleted?No
Distributed / printed byPicture of images/labels/2 entertain.jpg label2 entertain
Page views:13471 times since 20th May, 2017, global rank is 21, rank in dvds is 3.
My rating:*****
Guest rating:*****

My copies information

This section shows the information I have recorded for this release.
DetailValue
Cover conditionNear mint
Record conditionNear mint
BBC records label code-
Number have1
What type of seller was usedAmazon online shop
Where can I buy this release?You may be able to purchase this release from the following websites (others are available!)
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Tracks

Below is a list of tracks for this release.
Side & track noTrack and ArtistLength
A1Part 124.33
A2Part 224.39
A3Part 324.38
A4Part 424.37
A5Part 524.17
A6Part 624.31
A7Part 724.32
Mars probe 7
B1 Making the Ambassadors of death25.51
B2Trailer1.28
B3Tomorrow's times - The Third Doctor - Newspaper comments13.07
B4Photo gallery4.26
B5Radio Times billings [PDF]
B6Coming soon - The claws of Axos1.04
Total length of media 3:37:43.

All release pictures

Below is all the cover (front, back, middle and inserts if applicable) and label pictures I have for this release.
Front cover
Front cover of BBCDVD 3484
Back cover
Back cover of BBCDVD 3484
Inserts
Inserts from BBCDVD 3484 Inserts from BBCDVD 3484
Label
Label

Reviews

Below is my review for this release and the ratings.
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Ratings
My rating3
Guest ratingCurrent average value is 2.

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Extra notes on cover, middle (gatefold sleeve) and any inserts


Starring


Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor)
Caroline John (Liz Shaw)
Nicholas Courtney - Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
John Levene - Sergeant Benton
John Abineri - General Carrington
Ronald Allen - Ralph Cornish
Robert Cawdron - Bruno Taltalian
Cheryl Molineaux - Miss Rutherford
Robert Robertson - Collinson
Ray Armstrong - Grey
Dallas Cavell - Sir James Quinlan
Michael Wisher - John Wakefield
William Dysart - Reegan
Cyril Shaps - Lennox
Juan Moreno - Dobson
Gordon Sterne - Van Heldorf
John Lord - Masters
Tony Harwood - Flynn
Roy Scammell - Technician
Bernard Martin, Joanna Ross, Carl Conway - Control room assistants
Derek Ware - UNIT Sergeant
James Haswell - Corporal Champion
James Clayton - Private Parker
Geoffrey Beevers - Private Johnson
Max Faulkner - UNIT Soldier
Peter Halliday - Alien Voices
Peter Noel Cook - Alien Space Captain
Ric Felgate - Van Lyden/Ambassador
Steve Peters - Lefee/Ambassador
Neville Simons - Michaels/Ambassador

Written by


David Whitaker
Trevor Ray (episode 1, uncredited)
Malcolm Hulke (episodes 2-7, uncredited)
Terrance Dicks (episodes 2-7, uncredited)

Produced by


Barry Letts

Directed by


Michael Ferguson

Synopsis


Somthing has gone seriously wrong with Mars Probe 7. With no contact from the Astronauts since the rocket started its return journey from Matrs, Space Control is now extremely worried about the fate of the crew. A rescue mission recovers something - but whatever it is, it certainly isn't human. To find out what has happened to the astronauts, the Doctor must head into space without the TARDIS ...

Background


In Doctor Who, Earth in the 1970s is extremely unlucky when it comes to alien invaders. It is therefore fortuitous that Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor is exiled there during that period.

By The Ambassadors of Death, the third story of Season Seven, the new Doctor has already prevented a plastic Auton invasion and also helped stop reptilian Silurians reclaim our world. Now he comes up against a sci-fi favourite - invaders from Mars. There's a Doctor Who twist, of course, with aliens that probably aren't actually Martians, and with the real enemy a little bit closer to home ...

The story started life as discussions with writer David Whitaker and the Doctor Who production team in 1968. However, by the time it was being made, it was a very different series with a new set of rules and characters. The Third Doctor without a working TARDIS, Liz Shaw and UNIT were all added to the story, originally called The Invaders from Mars, and it took three writers to complete the seven-part serial.

The Ambassadors of Death is an exciting example of a new era of the series. The story makes good use of the new colour separation effect - CSO - a technique that producer Barry Letts was keen to experiment with. Scenes were written into thew production especially so that CSO could be used. And, with complex action sequences and effective stunts, that is Doctor Who meets James Bond meets classic sci-fi movie, and it sits perfectly in this first run of Earth-based stories for the Third Doctor.

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Further information

BBC Radio Enterprises Ltd and BBC Enterprises Ltd, predecessors of BBC Worldwide / BBC Worldwide Ltd., the BBC's commercial arm. Formed 1968 and 1979 respectively, they were a subsidiary wholly owned by the BBC and merged into BBC Worldwide in 1995. In that time, there were companies set up within or structured brands as part of the company to deal with separate parts of the business, e.g. BBC Records for recorded audio. Sometimes written as BBC Enterprise Ltd.

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Page views: 13471 times since 20th May, 2017, global rank is 21, rank in dvds 3.
This page was last updated on 22-03-2024 at 19:49:51 UK local time.

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This page was last updated on: 22-03-2024 at 19:49:51 UK local time.