Doctor Who: Frontios (Story 133)

One of the most underrated episodes of the old Doctor Who series. This one harks back to the old gothic themes and atmosphere of the Tom Baker days. There is still one chilling scene which clings to my childhood memories since the first time I've seen it. The scene concerns one of the ill-fated men being dragged into the dirt until he is entirely engulfed by the ground itself as if the earth has grown hungry. How his hand grasp the final remnants of life before he is pulled away. This sets the tone for the rest of the Frontios episode. The story itself is written by veteran Christopher H. Bidmead who was responsible for script editing very structured stories for Tom Baker's final season. Bidmead made one of the best contributions to the Doctor Who series: bringing the science back to science fiction for Doctor Who. And he does no less for the stand alone show Frontios. And he tells a chilling tale for the last vestiges of the human race who are attacked by something strange: the very planet itself. I liked how Bidmead wrote a tale of horror as well as science fiction here. How everything feels claustrophobic with the few remaining humans struggling to survive. The underground tunnels seem narrow and dangerous... making a perfect setting for the story. The mood is one of stark terror especially for the mind of a eleven year old who saw this episode for the first time. Writer Bidmead brings warmth and humor to Peter Davison's fifth Doctor who does seem to be caught with the tagline "the vet in space" considering his stint on All Creatures Great and Small. However, Davison does capture the idea of an older man being trapped in a younger body. The fifth Doctor wears spectacles in this episode and he seems to feel ragged some of the time... as if he is easily exhausted. And yet the fifth Doctor can have sudden bursts of creative ingenuity. This is one of Davison's best performances here. There are no real villains in the story. There are just misunderstood people on both sides of the aisle. Which makes for interesting storytelling because of several points of views. The thick headed Brazen comes to his senses in the last moments of his life. The Tractators are a race of creatures bent on their own greed. Some of the other highlights of the story includes Turlough's own mental breakdown and the TARDIS being "destroyed," leaving the Doctor at the mercy of using his wits to get out of this dire situation. The Doctor relying on his own smarts makes the story far more interesting. For the story, the Tractators seem to be very clunky, awkward looking creatures that some of today's viewers may make fun of. Perhaps all viewers might think when they see this is "Rubber monster!" Bt I disagree. In my mind, I think they're still one of the most facinating creatures created for the series. Simply because not all Tractators were bad guys. And they were in need of searching for a new home. I suppose anyone could relate to this sentiment. Frontios is the only story in which the Tractators appear in. Which is too bad because they're one of the best realized monsters in the Doctor Who series. It's well directed by Ron Jones with a movie quality pacing. Frontios remains one of the most underrated stories in the series. It is in my mind one of the best entries for the Peter Davison period.

I will watch all the episodes in order now.

POINT OF NOTE: This serial in particular was added to a list of serials the BBC have put on a list of Region 1 DVD's not having more being made. If you are a fan of the series and don't want to resort to buying region 2 DVD's and possible DVD player (though this is honestly a LOT cheaper than buying some of the DW DVD's region 1) then you need to pick this up while you have the opportunity. Especially for under $20 as I write this review of the product. This is during the final season of Peter Davison playing the Fifth Doctor. While his first two seasons are spotty, for the most part, his final season on the show is much better. He's given a better quality of script to work with compared to previous seasons. He takes on a darker tone for some of his personality and just seems to be in his groove. This story takes place on the planet of Frontios, where a group of the last humans (this tends to repeat all throughout classic Who) have survived for the past 30 odd years on the planet surface. Lately there has been a lot of meteor strikes and the people tend to believe the attack is coming from another world while they really should be looking at the ground below for their woes. I personally like this serial and, though the monsters are hokey in this story, I still didn't find it taking away from the overall enjoyment of the episodes as a whole. It was an interesting hivemind development and the ending of episode 3 was incredibly dark and creepy simply for that "look" (you'll know what I'm talking about when you watch). I have been going through all the Davison era episodes to figure out which to add to my collection and, personally speaking, I am happy to have Frontios in my collection. It's a Sci-Fi survival/pioneering type episode that I think does a good job of creating sufficient enough tension throughout its run.

This episode kept me on my toes with unexpected twists and turns. I recommend it highly. Good solid acting and overall good story with of course intrigue, suspense and the good doctors wry humor.

The fifth Doctor is all over the map with his stories for my taste. I like him well enough. I would put this one somewhere in the middle of story telling for his run.

What an interesting story...their is so much going on in this one....a must have!!!!

very underrated. drop the microphone. the fifth doctor's last season is very underrated.

An excellent Dr Who episode with four parts at 24 minutes each, good story line and well acted by Peter Davidson!

A good deal on this Doctor story which was missing from my collection. The price was fine & the delivery was fast. great service!

The DVD EXTRAS should be described as "value light material" as opposed to "value added material"; there isn't much but what there is shines, with insightful contributions from the cast and crew (including the frequently forgotten hero of "set designer") and, with thanks to a long-term fan collector Ian Levine, over 15 minutes worth of deleted & extended scenes is presented. Firstly, an appreciative acceptance for yet another enticing COMING SOON trailer that, across a minute or so, is far more exciting & thrilling that the original broadcasts. EARTHSTORY tenuously assigns Hartnell's THE GUNFIGHTERS and Davison's THE AWAKENING as a single boxset, and is released in May 2011. The DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES package is fascinating, raw & time-coded footage that was either exorcised from the final edit due to lack of time or not used as it compromised the action. One of the key sequences is the inference made by the Doctor (to Gravis) that Tegan was an "Gallifreyan android" servant (as a mechanical entity she/it would not be installed into the Tractator's mining machine, and the Doctor's mislaid spectacles. Yes, you can see why it was removed from the final edit but I think, that other scenes could have been cut for it. If there one item of VAM that should be included in every DVD release that it would be "time-coded" behind-the-scenes material, and if that means ditching or shortening an accompanying featurette then that should be actioned. The making of featurette, DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION is succinct, informative and entertaining - everything that VAM should be. Perfect. With contributions from Peter Davison, Mark "Donald Trump" Strickson, Jeff Rawle, John Gillett, Christopher H. Bidmead, Eric Saward and David Buckingham (the story's set designer), the documentary not only details the filming of FRONTIOS but the trauma that affected the story in pre-production (two fatalities - one the murder of a cast member and the other a suicide of a crew member). Script Editor, Eric Saward recounts that he contacted (former Script Editor) Bidmead as he was "reliable writer" and wanted to him to join Saward's troupe of "reliables", whilst "rookie" set designer, David Buckingham was seconded to the production following the death of Barry Dobbins, and saw FRONTIOS as a "fantastic opportunity..." In discussing the story's characters, Bidmead was pleased to have made the Fifth Doctor more "Professorial without losing the fun" and that in creating a back story for Turlough gave depth to the character that had not been provided by other writers, for which Strickson was "...eternally grateful." With the support of BBC NEWS archive newsreel, the death of Peter Arne, who was to play Mr. Range, was assessed as being "really shocking" (Davison) and "slightly sober production" (Rawle). On entertaining form as ever, Mark Strickson recalls the moment when he spat into the camera leading to a re-record of a key scene, and, referring to the Tractator alien, "How could someone get the design of a costume so wrong?" Seconded. The studio commentary without the dynamic tag-team of Davison versus Janet Fielding is a tad muted but nonetheless entertaining, though why Dick Mills was included is incomprehsnible (he disappears after two episodes) as his contribution is limited. The DVD VAM concludes with the usual suspects of "RADIO TIMES PDF material", information text, photo gallery and an isolated music score (the equivalent of a that wafer-thin multi-coloured paper-hat from a Christmas cracker - obligatory but worthless). This DVD release of the 1984 (season 21) story gives fans an opportunity to either relive a potential classic or to understand why they are watching DOCTOR WHO in 2011. An engaging Doctor, believable non-stereotypical companions, beautifully crafted design and an intelligent & challenging script that expects the viewer to sit up and take notice. DOCTOR WHO - FRONTIOS is very much a NEW SERIES story as it witnesses one of Earth's pioneering settlements at the farthest reaches of the universe struggling against an unseen force. If only the ideas within the story had been condensed into a fast-paced, action-packed two-parter then it would be stand as an unrivalled classic story. In its four-parter format, it is nearly there. Nearly but not quite, but don't dismiss it too quickly.

Es ist eine Episode die man in der Dr. Who reihe nicht fehlen darf. gibt mir mehr. A+ DVD Top

Anche in questa avventura il Dottore deve sbrogliare l'ennesima matassa di situazioni che mettono in pericolo lui e i suoi compagni di avventura

I feel that 'Frontios' is a very undervalued story from Peter Davison's final series on Doctor Who. There is an unfortunate tendency to dismiss the story purely because of the Tractators. Admittedly, the Tractator costumes aren't brilliant but they are certainly no worse than the Wirrn from 'The Ark in Space' for example. And those costumes are the only significant flaw in what is otherwise an outstanding Doctor Who story. Christopher H Bidmead's script is full of interesting and original ideas. The setting of the story in one of the last surviving human colonies in the far future is a nice change, and it was probably the inspiration behind 2007's episode 'Utopia'. The Tractators with their massive gravitational force are a great idea in principle at least. The end of episode one is arguably the ultimate Doctor Who cliffhanger, with the revelation that the TARDIS has been destroyed and Bidmead comes up with an inventive way of pulling the TARDIS back together at the end of the story. There is some imaginative set design, the sets are superbly lit and the story is very well directed. Amazingly for a futuristic story, there are no serious wardrobe malfunctions (aside from the Tractators). The script caters well for all the regulars and all three actors rise to the occasion. Peter Davison gives one of his best, most confident performances and that is saying something. We get to see the Doctor's delightful half moon spectacles. Mark Strickson is on fine form in intense scenes where Turlough has a race memory about the Tractators and Tegan gets to be proactive for once, investigating some unexplained disappearances. The guest cast, too, are very good. William Lucas gives a strong performance as Range, Lesley Dunlop is good as Norna and Jeff Rawle is superb as the young, out of his depth colony leader desperately trying to remain in control. All in all, 'Frontios' is imaginative, clever, original and well made. The extras include 'Driven to Distractation' the 'making of' documentary. The murder of Peter Arne, the actor originally selected to play Range, is covered. It is frustrating that the documentary places so much emphasis on the negatives of the story and so little on the many strengths. Annoyingly the narrator describes the excellent story 'Black Orchid' as being 'fairly undistinguished'. There are also approximately 15 minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes.