Francis Salvi

Unususally for a Doctor Who Boxset, no full stories are included in Lost in Time. Instead it is a confetti of various episodes from stories that don't fully exsist, all taken from the William Hartnell and Patrick Triughton eras. There are three stories that are not included however , for reasons that baffle met to no end, even though they have several episodes remaining: The Reign of Terror, The Tenth Planet and The Ice Warriors. The set is also full to bursting with extras. In an attempt to make the review easy to read, I'll take a look at each of the discs individually.

Disc 1:This disc contains six episodes from the William Hartnell era from the stories The Crusade, The Daleks' Masterplan and The Celestial Toymaker. The Crusade dragged often, with no dialogue for quite a while in Episode 1. The Daleks Masterplan was a good adventure, the Aliens were really imaginative and the Monk's return is an unexpected pleasure. The highlight of this disc for me is the survivin g episode of The Celestial Toymaker. Moving along at a cracking pace, it is filled with suspense and the resolution is interesting, also including a cliffhanger for the Gunfighters. Extras include a couple of commentaries. Intros for the 1st and 3rd episodes of The Crusade, Audio tracks for the 2nd and 3rd episode of the same story, surviving clips, 8mm off-air footage, film footage showing the making of the lost story The Smugglers, and an audio book trailer.Disc 2:The First disc of Patrick Troughton is filled with enjoyable moments . Episodes on this disc come from the stories The Underwater Menace, The Moonbase, The Faceless Ones and The Evil of the Daleks. The Underwater Menace is average, it does not drag and it does not speed along nicely either. The Moonbase should have its missing episodes animated, as it's one of the best stories I've seen. The Cybermen are well used, and the base under seige format is utilised superbly. The Faceless Ones starts off good, but some o f the atmoshere is lost in Episode 3. The Evil of the Daleks Episode 2 is a good episode , although you need to listen to the audio track for part one to know what's going one, which isn't included in this set. Extras include commentaries, surviving clips, 8mm off air footage, A trailer showing the making of The Evil of the Daleks, a trailer for Patrick Troughton's lost first story, The Power of the Daleks, soundtracks for Episodes 1 and 3 of the Moonbase, and a hidden intro to The Underwater Menace.Disc 3:The second Patrick Troughton disc contains episodes from the stories The Abonimable Snowmen, The Enemy of the World, The Web of Fear, The Wheel in Space and The Space Pirates. This disc wasn't as good as the other Second Doctor disc. The Abonimable snowmen dragged a bit. The Enemy of the World episode 3 is one of the worst episodes i have watched, which is disappointing, seeing as I enjoy most of Pat's stories. The Web of Fear on the other hand, is excellent, a cracking st ory in a familiar location really left me wanting more. The Wheel in Space episodes provided another excellent Cyberman tale, with the Cybermen themselves re designned, as well as introducing the Cyber-Planner. The Space Pirates was dull. Extras include commentaries, making of film footage, a documentary on the lost episodes, raw film trims and surviving clips.All in all a good set with a good selection of episodes and extras, which really gives a taste of what some lost stories are like.Episodes: 4/5 Extras: 5/5