Here we have the most anticipated Doctor Who this year, this particular story in particular has a special edition version which includes new effects, CGI and new specially shot material as well as the original version of the story so unlike what George Lucas has done with Star Wars, you do get your moneys worth, nothing significant has been altered although some may complain of a situation which may be similar to "Who shot first?" when the Orgrons attack Auderly House and the Doctor tries to follow the Resistance whilst being attacked by Orgrons, I won't spoil the part for those who have yet to see it but it's in the special edition version.
The story itself is a good one since it deals heavily with various aspects of time travel as the story switches from the 20th century to the Dalek occupied 22nd century, the Daleks themselves feel like a last minute decision by the producers which in reality they were since this story never had Daleks in the first place. The Resistance are a very well developed characters and the preformances are believable and their story of going back in time to kill one man because they believe he started WWIII but in fact the resistance themselves caused it by going back there in the first place, put simply they are caught in a time paradox which is a really good turning point in the story that is not an easy subject in the science fiction genre to make a story with, but it works, just like in James Cameron's "The Terminator" where Kyle Reece went back in time to save John Connor's mother which in turn Kyle turns out to be the father to John Connor.
The character of the Controller is also an interesting one as he is essentially a middle man as he obeys orders from the Daleks but deep down he also has a soft spot for the resistance despite what he and his family have done since he eventually believed that the Doctor and Jo Grant can go back and change history which shows a good change of character since the beginning of the story when he had no idea who the Doctor and Jo were. the story behind the 22nd century is also very interesting but grim with the Daleks turning Earth into a factory, extracting all the minerals and using the humans as slaves.
The extras in this release on the whole have been very good. There is a very good making of the special edition which goes into detail on what has changed in this version. There is a light hearted look at the locations used in the story in Now and Then. An unusual but interesting feature called Cheating the Memory which is about how a childs view of Doctor Who has changed when you are an adult. Then there is a feature that has divided opinion of fans which is the UNIT Dating Conundrum which focuses on how screwed up the timeline is on the adventures with UNIT. On the same subject on UNIT is the UNIT Family part II which is an affectionate look back on the UNIT adventures with the cast and crew involved. There are also clips from Nationwide and Blue Peter as well as a behind the scenes of the original version of the story and a look in the "Gallery" at the BBC TV Center with the producer of this story and the vision mixer.
Story (Original): 8/10
Story (Special): 6/10
Extras: 7/10
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