A famous British man once penned the phrase "what's in a name," and while it may be entirely true that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, the readers of television recaps would be among the first to tell you that titling something poorly can create a stinker of an article. People do not like to have tales ruined for them before they even begin, and though perhaps it is odd to quibble about things being revealed in a recap (by very definition a recap should reveal what took place), in other cases the point is a good one. For instance, would The Empire Strikes Back have worked as well if it were titled Star Wars: Where Vader Reveals He's Luke's Dad?
As a part of the latest wave of Doctor Who DVD releases, it has been decided to put stories 67 ("Frontier in Space") and 68 ("Planet of the Daleks") together in a single boxed set entitled Doctor Who: Dalek War. Though the two stories are very loosely related, and certainly are sequential, to put them in a single, four-disc boxed set called Dalek War will ruin a reveal that takes place within the last 10 minutes of the two hour and 23-minute runtime of "Frontier in Space." From roughly the halfway point of the six-episode serial it is the Doctor's Time Lord enemy, the Master (Roger Delgado in his last appearance on the series), whom our hero is facing. There are a couple of oblique references to the fact that the Master is working for someone, and those unfamiliar with the complete story will not be able to guess who exactly that might be except for the fact that the title of the boxed set makes it clear. It is a good reveal rendered entirely inert by the title of the set.
It is entirely possible – perhaps likely – that the vast majority of those people who will be purchasing the set are not only Doctor Who fans but already familiar with both tales and therefore will not have anything ruined for them. However, it does seem as though ruining the reveal for those interested in the Doctor but unfamiliar with the tale is somewhat needless. It makes the idea of the Daleks hang over the entirety of "Frontier in Space," causing the audience to wait for their appearance and not pay attention to what is quite a good Doctor Who tale.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments