Doctor Who: Series 3 - Volume 2

David Tennant
Freema Agyeman

The latest DVD release from the third season of the revived Doctor Who is one many fans will have been eagerly awaiting, due in no small part to the return of the iconic Daleks.

A pity, then, that of the four episodes on this DVD, it's the Dalek double-header that's the weakest. So let's deal with those two episodes first. "Daleks In Manhattan" and "Evolution Of The Daleks" are set in 1930s New York, where the Daleks have hatched their most daring plan to date: to use the biology of a human to evolve their own, resulting in a hybrid human/Dalek creature.

Yet in spite of some neat moments across the two episodes, the double-header never really clicks, and the hybrid creation utterly fails to convince. It leaves a few good lines, some neat action sequences and the sheer status of the Daleks to drag the episodes through.

Things perk up though with the other two episodes on this Doctor Who DVD. "The Lazarus Experiment" is a fun romp, with The League Of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss experimenting, with predictably chaotic results, in age reversal. What marks this episode out though is the intriguing building of the story that's set to pay off later in the series.

Finally, the best episode on the disc, 42. While derivative, it's pacey, funny and has a real-time feel to the action that works extraordinarily well. Some smashing direction too, not least when the episode goes silent as the Doctor mouths "I'll save you" to a seemingly doomed Martha.

In all then, a mixed bag of Doctor Who, but still a terrific value DVD given the four episodes it contains. Even if the best of series three is yet to come... --Simon Brew