hen a high-altitude cosmic ray experiment returns to Earth and starts acting strangely—swallowing up a game warden, for starters—it attracts the attention of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT). Soon enough, a mysterious blob of energy emerges from the device and begins devouring anything that gets between it and UNIT's scientific advisor, the Doctor (Pertwee).
The Doctor turns to the Time Lords, but they're in no position to help. Indeed, they're in as much trouble as he is. A black hole is draining away their energy, threatening to cripple them. In desperation, the Time Lords pluck the Doctor's two previous incarnations (Hartnell and Troughton) from their respective timestreams and throw all three together in the hope that three Doctors can achieve what one alone cannot.
The first Doctor is caught in a "time eddy" and can only advise. But the second and third, along with various bystanders, enter the black hole. There they find a barren world occupied by "Omega" (Stephen Thorne). Long ago, Omega created the energy source that made time travel possible. The Time Lords believed he died in the process, but Omega has actually been imprisoned inside the black hole ever since, surviving by sheer willpower.
Now Omega has a plan to escape and take bitter vengeance on the Time Lords for abandoning him. But to escape, he needs the Doctors to take his place, trapping them inside the black hole forever.
The Three Doctors was produced to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Doctor Who in 1973. It comes on one disc, with four episodes. All episodes have audio commentary by producer Barry Letts and cast members Nicholas Courtney (UNIT commander and ever-reliable pompous straight man Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart)—and Katy Manning (the Doctor's plucky companion, Jo Grant).
All episodes also have optional text notes, basically another commentary track that appears as subtitles. In addition, the disc offers trailers, production stills (with accompanying background sound effects), actor biographies and a wide array of documentary features. These include BBC talk show segments done at the time to promote the show's anniversary season, retrospectives that accompanied later reruns, and even a 1993 convention panel featuring reminiscences by Pertwee, Grant and Courtney.
Enough extras for a Doctor doctorate
With its nonsensical plots and cheesy effects, Doctor Who is one of those things you either get or you don't. And this is classic Doctor Who. The Three Doctors won't change non-fans' minds; it will just remind them why they don't like the show. For fans, though, this package is a treat. If nothing else, the story is the only place to see the first three Doctors together.
That said, William Hartnell's performance (his last before his death in 1975) is sadly limited. Hartnell proved too ill for the meatier role initially written for him, and appears only on the Tardis viewscreen in pre-filmed segments. But he still manages to recreate the original Doctor's testiness, dismissing his successors as "a dandy and a clown." Pertwee and Troughton have a great time as well, ruffling each others' feathers before settling down to cooperate. Stephen Thorne's tragic villain, Omega, is another strong performance.
Other elements aren't as successful. As Letts admits in the commentary, Omega's "gel guard" minions are among the show's silliest monsters ever. And the interior of the black hole, like so many places in the universe, looks suspiciously like an abandoned stone quarry. But that sort of thing has always been part of the show's charm, and The Three Doctors has charm to spare.
It has extras to spare, too. The disc is packed with so much material that it eventually can't help repeating itself. The high points are the segments from vintage BBC talk shows, showing off the same haphazard production values that make Doctor Who itself so endearing.
The commentary and text tracks are also good, though neither is perfect. The text notes often delve into mind-numbing minutiae, such as what time of day rehearsals began on a given scene. As for the commentary track, along toward episode three, one starts to wish Katy Manning would comment just a bit less.
Overall, The Three Doctors is a key piece of Doctor Who history, and the BBC have given it a DVD treatment that approaches the obsessive. For fans, particularly those American viewers for whom Doctor Who begins with Tom Baker, The Three Doctors presents an indispensable look at the show's roots.
