VHS : Doctor Who - The E-Space Trilogy (Warriors' Gate / Full Circle / State of Decay) [1963]

Rating: - a brill trilogy, better than any star wars rubbish...
The espace trilogy boasts three of the best ever Doctor Who stories, all very different in style and writing and feel. And each brilliant and imaginative.

First, there's Full Circle, with atmosphere and brilliant misty moments. Matthew Waterhouse makes his debut as Adric, and actually he isnt that bad an actor at all in my opinion. Tom Baker is serious and brilliant in this story, and Lalla is good as Romana. The atmosphere of the marsh scenes are really effective and believeable. And the marsh child is cute! A good start!!!

then theres State of Decay. A vampire story without so much blood and guts as in the trillions of Dracula movies, theres really no need for it. Doctor who hardly ever had much blood, and its the better for it. People can concerntrate on a good story more than just blood and guts. This is yet another atmospheric story, with the great vampire heart beat chilling my blood the first time i ever watched this brilliant story from Terrance Dicks. All the acting is good and the sets are also very impressive. brilliant stuff!

The trilogy ends on a real high with the special effects fest of Warriors Gate. I was surprised at how good a lot of the effects on this story are, imaginative and different. And the acting is good and there are genuinely funny moments woven into an overall quite complex and mind bending story. I dont think this story would have made much sense to any young children viewing it, but that doesnt stop me from liking it very much indeed. K9 going wonky and funny is brilliant and a good laugh, but there are some good shocking moments to offset the comedy. Overall, a thoroughly entertaining boxset that kicks star trek and star wars out of the window. doctor who is the best sci-fi show ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Rating: - beginning of the end
who would have thought that Full Circle would have been the start of perhaps some of the most technical/scientific stories that doctor who, past and present have ever produced. To me it was a good upward turn, rather than having the doctor making witty 'douglas adams' one liners, which, althoug adams was an extremely talented man, i do feel his time on the doctor who was wasted.
The trilogy is basically one of the first of two twelve parters, finalising in Castrovalva in season 19.
I just love the way the stories flow from one to another, and i adore underlying themes that run through them, fairly much like the new stories.
Adric joining the Tardis crew is a welcome adition, the first and last but one male companion of the original series. He isnt that bad either, and turned out to be my childhood hero, next to the doctor.
State of Decay is my favourite of the three, i like the mirage type camera work and the camera positioning on location scenes (low to the ground and distant from time to time) just adds to the general tension.

This box set/trilogy is a must for any fan, young or old

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Rating: - Marooned
This trilogy covers the Doctor's adventures in E-space, a smaller universe accessed by the TARDIS after it accidentally slipped through a CVE. In the first story "Full Circle", Romana has to be taken back to Gallifrey. But following the mishap with the CVE, they end up on Alzarius instead, just as the legendary Mistfall is setting in. This is where we first see the mathematical whiz Adric, who a lot of fans found annoying. I actually liked Adric.

My favourite story out of the trilogy is the middle one, "State of Decay". I found this story quite scary when I first saw it as an impressionable child back in the 1980s. "State of Decay" takes place after "Full Circle" but it was actually filmed before "Full Circle", so strictly speaking this is the first time Adric appears in the show. The setting is quasi-medieval, a backwater planet where peasants toil for the sinister Lords - "The Three Who Rule". For over a thousand years things have been the same. A primitive society where learning is forbidden. The vampire Lords rule from a rocket-shaped Tower which looms over the village. Young people are periodically selected from the village to "serve" the Lords. A band of rebels survives in the wastelands. If you look at this story too closely however, you will find plot holes. For example, Lord Aukon could detect the presence of strong alien minds (the Doctor, Romana and Adric), yet he failed to notice the rebellious streak in Ivo's mind. This is especially disturbing when Aukon said "We have bred dullness, conformity, obedience into those clods for twenty generations." Aukon couldn't locate the rebels' hideout either. Nevertheless, the Doctor is up against a formidable enemy in this adventure. Isn't he always?

The trilogy concludes with "Warriors Gate", where the TARDIS literally lands in the middle of nowhere. To be more precise, the gateway that leads back into N-space (our universe). Slavery is dealt with in this adventure, as the lion-like Tharils are cruelly exploited for their sensitivity to Time. Stephen Gallagher wrote this story. Apparently he was influenced by Joe Haldeman's novel "The Forever War". We see some sophisticated special effects (for 1980) as Biroc's mind forms an animated wireframe image of the TARDIS. Look at his "afterimage" as he runs through the white void.

The E-space trilogy is a strong set of stories. This is also where we say goodbye to Romana and K.9. as they decide to help Biroc and the other Tharils fight slavery. K.9.'s departure was a sad loss for fans, but a blessed relief for the technical crew, who sometimes found the robot dog hard to control. It may sound like a cliche, but after "Warriors Gate" things would never quite be the same.

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Rating: - A wonderful Box-Set of 3 videos with Adric, Romana and K9
In the first video "Full Circle" the Doctor and his companions Romana an K9 arrive on the planet Alzarius not there intended destination as the Tardis was knocked off course and is now in Exo-Space a completely different universe, there is plenty of intrigue in this appealing story which also marks the beginning of the companion Adric (Mathew Waterhouse).

In video 2 "State of Decay" the Doctor meets the Timelords greatest foe the vampires who were banished into exo-space by Rassilon himself. This story is one of my favourites as there is such a great dark secret laying underneath the tower ruled by the three.

In the last story "Warriors Gate" the Tardis is brought to a place by the Tharils who are a being hunted down and enslaved. Can the Doctor help? You'll just have to watch and see.
This story also marks the end of the much loved companions K9 who first appeared in "The Invisible Enemy" and the female timelord Romana who first appeared in the episode "The Ribos Operation" in the "Key To Time Season" it is a very momentus episode and so I would urge anyone to watch it, as well as the two episodes leading up to it.

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Rating: - Fantastic late Tom Baker shows
Please ignore the other review here - these stories are fantastic. They are part of Tom Baker's last year, which is renowned for its scientific background to the stories, high quality sound and visuals, and brilliant acting by the regulars of Tom and Lalla Ward. Warriors Gate is similar to a Sapphire and Steel story! Definitely buy, and BTW Adric is not so bad as he is made out to be.