What to buy, what to buy?

[Garth Rockett]

For my birthday last month, my mother gave me a bit of cash and a friend gave me an Amazon gift card, and I've been planning to use them to buy Doctor Who Series Two on DVD. Having recently caught up with the DVDs I've already gotten, I was going to buy it this week. However, by a happy coincidence I noticed Amazon has dropped the prices on several Doctor Who DVDs, so I've decided to take the $18-$20 extra I was anticipating paying for Series Two and getting some more DVDs. I just can't decide which ones, so I'd like to poll the forum for opinions. Because such matters often come down to personal preferences, I'm including my personal pros and cons on each for your consideration.

I'm considering buying:

Lost In Time boxset - Pros: It's currently about 50% off at Amazon, so it's probably about as good of a deal as I'll find on this set. It would also be a nice sampling of the Troughton era, as I've only seen Tomb of the Cybermen and The Mind Robber so far. Plus, I'd like to get all the Dalek stories, so this would catch me up on all the 1960's stories that have been released on DVD so far. Cons: No complete stories in the set, excepting The Crusade and The Moonbase which are only complete due to the audio included on the missing episodes.

Or two out of the following three:

Carnival of Monsters - Pros: Pertwee is my favorite of the classic Doctors, and this is one of the three Pertwee releases I haven't gotten yet. Cons: I've bought three other Pertwee stories in the last four months, so maybe I should spread the rest out a bit.

The Ark In Space - Pros: Aside from Pyramids of Mars and The Talons of Weng-Chiang, I don't have any pre-season 18 Tom Baker. It might be nice to fill that gap a bit. Cons: Of the stories I'm considering buying, this is the only one I've seen before. I liked it but I wasn't madly in love with it, so I feel like I could put this one off a while if there are some other options that are better.

Resurrection of the Daleks - Pros: As mentioned above, I'd like to collect all the Dalek stories, and this would complete the 1980's for me. Also, I like Peter Davison and Janet Fielding quite a bit. Cons: Polls I've seen give this one a middling rating. Also, within the last two months I've gotten Earthshock and Revelation of the Daleks so I don't know if I want another Eric Saward story this soon.

So, anyone with any opinions on these stories?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd buy The War Games.

 

[Garth Rockett]

There are a few problems with that:

It's not part of the sale.

I'm planning on making my order within the next day or two.

It's not released in the US for another four months.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

There are a few problems with that:

It's not part of the sale.

I'm planning on making my order within the next day or two.

It's not released in the US for another four months.

Ah yes. I see how that would be problematic.

Well then, I'd buy The Ark in Space. Out of all the ones you listed, it's the best value for money. Resurrection is terrible, Carnival is so-so, and the Lost in Time set is wonderful but terribly frustrating to watch.

 

[OmahaStar]

Well, I've got them all ... I'd agree about Resurrection and Carnival being so-so ... Ark in Space is a pretty fun episode.

Now, about Lost in Time ... This is one for the hard-core fan. If you're just a casual fan only wanting a handful of stories, it's best to avoid this one. As mentioned, it can be terribly frustrating, because you don't get to see any complete story. In some cases, you get a few seconds of footage that was left on the cutting room floor (Macra Terror, I believe?). The most you'll get is two complete episodes, with the remaining two episodes in audio form only.

Now, if you happen to have read the Target novelizations and know the stories, that's another thing, it's loaded with quick, fun episodes. Just not complete ones. And that's a shame.

 

[Garth Rockett]

Thanks for the input, The Mirrorball Man and OmahaStar. I've just placed my order, and I decided to get The Ark In Space and Resurrection of the Daleks (even if it's not that great, it's got the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Davros so I doubt I'll find it to be unwatchable) to go along with the Complete Series Two set.

Lost In Time was severly tempting just because of the price, but based on what you guys have said I think I'll continue to hold off until I've at least got all the complete Hartnell and Troughtons that have been released. I do plan on getting it at some point, though.