Doctor Who: The Awakening (Story 132)

One of the best of Davison
This is one of the best Davison stories from his mostly great final season (except for the stinker Warriors of the Deep).
This is a nifty little story (only 2 episodes) in which a small English village, under the guise of an historical reenactment and the psychic influence of a malevolent alien, is forced to recreate the violence of the 17th century English Civil War. Good performances all around and a pretty creepy alien. It's nice to see a lot of scenes in darkness and more subdued lighting unlike a lot of the blindingly overlit sets of the time. Highly recommended.

Not a classic, but fun
This isn't a perfect story by any means -- it combines some of the flaws of the new series (overly hurried plot) and old (laughable special effects). Still, underneath those surface flaws there's a crackling good story. The Doctor and his companions return to 20th century Britain so that Tegan can visit a relative. There they find that a local bigwig is turning a harmless village festival, a reenactment of an English Civil War battle, into something altogether more sinister. The Doctor and his companions have to figure out why, and put a stop to it, but to do so they must defeat the very people they're trying to save. Plenty of room for drama there.

In many ways this story foreshadows what Doctor Who would become in the 21st century. The short duration of the story, modern setting, and family links would all become hallmarks of the new series. (Admittedly the contemporary settings, while not part of the show's original concept, had been a feature of Doctor Who since...

Extras for Doctor Who: The Awakening DVD
- Commentary with actor Michael Owen Morris and script editor Eric Saward, moderated by Toby Hadoke.
- Return To Little Hodcombe - Director Michael Owen, actors Janet Fielding and Keith Jayne and script editor Eric Saward return to the three villages that played host to the locations for `The Awakening', and along with locals they reminisce about a memorable shoot...
- Making The Malus - visual effects designer Tony Harding and modelmaker Richard Gregory are reunited with the Malus prop they built for the story. Current owner Paul Burrows is on hand to describe the reality of living with a giant stone monster on the lounge wall...
- Now & Then - the latest in the ongoing series visits the villages of Martin, Shapwick and Tarrant Monkton to compare the locations used in the story with how they appear today.
- From The Cutting Room Floor - extended and deleted scenes from a timecoded VHS of the original edit and unedited film sequences, plus location action from the...

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