DOCTOR WHO: THE INFINITE QUEST
April 7th 2009 02:10
Category: Videos
Director: Gary Russell
Written by: Alan Barnes
Producers: James Goss & Ros Attille
Starring: David Tennant (The Doctor), Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), Anthony Head (Balthazar), Toby Longworth (Caw/Squawk), Liza Tarbuck (Kaliko), Paul Clayton (Ulysses Mergrass), Steve Grief (Gurney) & Lizzie Hopely (Mantasphid Queen)
Produced by: BBC
Released by: ABC DVD/Roadshow Entertainment
Running Time: 82 minutes Rating: G
Having been a fan of the good Doctor since the halcyon days of my misspent youth when I came across this DVD at the recent Cosplay event at my local library it was one amongst a swag of goodies that I quickly snapped up. Naturally there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity to watch something new involving the Doctor, not in a month full of Mondays. Now for those of you not in the know the Doctor is an seemingly immortal member of a species known as the Time Lords, he is apparently the last of his kind roaming the universe righting wrongs and battling various recalcitrants and malevolent entities. How did he become the last of his species, well it seems that the Time Lord became involved in a massive conflict with their age old enemies the Daleks, a war that literally raged the length and breadth of both time and space, at the end the Time Lords defeated their enemies but at great cost to themselves – only the Doctor remained, the last of their kind.
So who the heck are the Time Lords, well they’re a humanoid species in appearances looking very much like your average human but the resemblance is superficial, they are know to have two hearts and also seem to be capable of living for a tremendous span of time. That and the fact that they can travel both time and space in vessels known as TARDIS’s, which is short for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space as well as being able to manipulate the flow of time itself. The Doctor has been one of the longest running sci fi shows if not the longest running show in the history of television, and I have always felt that the longevity has been due in most part to good acting and good stories, although that’s my personal opinion. In fact Doctor Who epitomises the concept that a show can have terrible special effects and costumes but be a smash hit because of a great yarn and good acting.
This time though the BBC or Beeb as it is often called, has decided to run into a totally different arena in which to portray Doctor Who. In fact perhaps this might be a taste of things to come? So what is it that I am talking about here? Well this particular feature is a completely animated feature, no live actors were harmed in the making of this production nor were any animals for those concerned with such things. By going with an animated format you cut down on having to build large sets, make costumes, worry about make up and lighting – in the physical sense. Certainly lighting still plays an important role even within an animated feature, but it’s all the main physical facets that animation does away with. This doesn’t mean there is any less staff though; take a look at the credits for any major Japanese anime feature and the production crew would be as big if not bigger than those used in any live action film.
As far as quality of animation goes to use a phrase from the Prince of Tennis, the BBC still has a ways to go in regards to their animation. It’s certainly colourful if a bit jerky in its movements, there is none of the flow that you can find in features such as Akira or even Bleach, which is a shame. Still as I’ve said if you can cover this with a compelling story then its not all bad and fortunately the BBC have got a great yarn in spades. The story opens with the scourge of the galaxy, Balthazar, a space pirate who allegedly hails from Triton and has a grudge against Earth, currently this insidious individual, ably voiced by Anthony Head (he of Buffy the Vampire fame), is piloting his spaceship on an attack vector towards Earth. Suddenly he and his avian henchmen Caw are surprised by the sudden appearance of a blue police box from which emerges…the Doctor and his companion Martha Jones.
The way the Doctor paints the scene for Martha and introduces the malevolent Balthazar almost sounds something out of a Lonely Planet guidebook or travel show. Of course being who he is and having saved the Earth from various scoundrels and villains numerous times in the past, ‘present’ and future he isn’t precisely interested in exchanging simple pleasantries. One space ship destruction later and the Doctor and Martha are back in the Tardis heading to places and periods unknown leaving Balthazar to be apprehended by the long hand of the law. The one time scourge of the galaxy ends up being incarcerated on Volag Noc, a frigid hell hole of a planet that the authorities of the period use as a maximum security prison.
Now you’d think that Balthazar would have a hard time getting out of this jam, such is not the case. His time in the slammer is spent plotting an intricate revenge, although not just any old ordinary revenge. You have to admire the guy’s gumption; he holds onto his hatred of Earth, the Doctor and his prison and lays down the foundations for how he can bring an end to all three. Definitely not someone who believes in taking halfway measures by any stretch of the imagination, after hearing the tales of several of his fellow inmates he conceives a convoluted plan that will enable him to bring about his ‘heart’s desire’. This is the Infinite Quest, a quest to find an ancient starship, the Infinite, a vessel that is the artefact of a civilization so old and powerful that they were once feared throughout a young and relatively fresh universe. Even the Great Vampires who prowled the abyssal deeps of the still youthful cosmos were frightened of the makers of the Infinite…that’s how powerful they were.
With the Infinite in his hands Balthazar believes that he can achieve his ‘heart’s desire’ which involves destroying Earth, the Doctor, Volag Noc and anyone else with the temerity to get in his way. Naturally he isn’t exactly going about and doing all the work himself, no like any sensible villain he’s manipulated the Doctor into doing all the hard yards for him…smart move that. Unfortunately he hasn’t quite grasped the notion that perhaps the Doctor is just a tad bit cannier than he is and might very well be onto his game. After all someone who has lived as long as the Doctor and survived what he has is not going to be a mere pushover.
Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest is well worth taking the time out to track down and watch, it features the voice talents of David Tennant, the current actor portraying the Doctor in the live action series and Freema Agyeman who starred as his companion Martha Jones in the third and fourth series of the show both of which I believe are also available on DVD from the BBC for those interested.
Written by: Alan Barnes
Producers: James Goss & Ros Attille
Starring: David Tennant (The Doctor), Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), Anthony Head (Balthazar), Toby Longworth (Caw/Squawk), Liza Tarbuck (Kaliko), Paul Clayton (Ulysses Mergrass), Steve Grief (Gurney) & Lizzie Hopely (Mantasphid Queen)
Produced by: BBC
Released by: ABC DVD/Roadshow Entertainment
Running Time: 82 minutes Rating: G
Having been a fan of the good Doctor since the halcyon days of my misspent youth when I came across this DVD at the recent Cosplay event at my local library it was one amongst a swag of goodies that I quickly snapped up. Naturally there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity to watch something new involving the Doctor, not in a month full of Mondays. Now for those of you not in the know the Doctor is an seemingly immortal member of a species known as the Time Lords, he is apparently the last of his kind roaming the universe righting wrongs and battling various recalcitrants and malevolent entities. How did he become the last of his species, well it seems that the Time Lord became involved in a massive conflict with their age old enemies the Daleks, a war that literally raged the length and breadth of both time and space, at the end the Time Lords defeated their enemies but at great cost to themselves – only the Doctor remained, the last of their kind.
As far as quality of animation goes to use a phrase from the Prince of Tennis, the BBC still has a ways to go in regards to their animation. It’s certainly colourful if a bit jerky in its movements, there is none of the flow that you can find in features such as Akira or even Bleach, which is a shame. Still as I’ve said if you can cover this with a compelling story then its not all bad and fortunately the BBC have got a great yarn in spades. The story opens with the scourge of the galaxy, Balthazar, a space pirate who allegedly hails from Triton and has a grudge against Earth, currently this insidious individual, ably voiced by Anthony Head (he of Buffy the Vampire fame), is piloting his spaceship on an attack vector towards Earth. Suddenly he and his avian henchmen Caw are surprised by the sudden appearance of a blue police box from which emerges…the Doctor and his companion Martha Jones.
The way the Doctor paints the scene for Martha and introduces the malevolent Balthazar almost sounds something out of a Lonely Planet guidebook or travel show. Of course being who he is and having saved the Earth from various scoundrels and villains numerous times in the past, ‘present’ and future he isn’t precisely interested in exchanging simple pleasantries. One space ship destruction later and the Doctor and Martha are back in the Tardis heading to places and periods unknown leaving Balthazar to be apprehended by the long hand of the law. The one time scourge of the galaxy ends up being incarcerated on Volag Noc, a frigid hell hole of a planet that the authorities of the period use as a maximum security prison.
Now you’d think that Balthazar would have a hard time getting out of this jam, such is not the case. His time in the slammer is spent plotting an intricate revenge, although not just any old ordinary revenge. You have to admire the guy’s gumption; he holds onto his hatred of Earth, the Doctor and his prison and lays down the foundations for how he can bring an end to all three. Definitely not someone who believes in taking halfway measures by any stretch of the imagination, after hearing the tales of several of his fellow inmates he conceives a convoluted plan that will enable him to bring about his ‘heart’s desire’. This is the Infinite Quest, a quest to find an ancient starship, the Infinite, a vessel that is the artefact of a civilization so old and powerful that they were once feared throughout a young and relatively fresh universe. Even the Great Vampires who prowled the abyssal deeps of the still youthful cosmos were frightened of the makers of the Infinite…that’s how powerful they were.
With the Infinite in his hands Balthazar believes that he can achieve his ‘heart’s desire’ which involves destroying Earth, the Doctor, Volag Noc and anyone else with the temerity to get in his way. Naturally he isn’t exactly going about and doing all the work himself, no like any sensible villain he’s manipulated the Doctor into doing all the hard yards for him…smart move that. Unfortunately he hasn’t quite grasped the notion that perhaps the Doctor is just a tad bit cannier than he is and might very well be onto his game. After all someone who has lived as long as the Doctor and survived what he has is not going to be a mere pushover.
Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest is well worth taking the time out to track down and watch, it features the voice talents of David Tennant, the current actor portraying the Doctor in the live action series and Freema Agyeman who starred as his companion Martha Jones in the third and fourth series of the show both of which I believe are also available on DVD from the BBC for those interested.
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