Stephen Dartnell's mineralogist John, one of the crew aboard the space ship gives a solid performance as the more mentally damaged of the crewmembers. I would have liked it if they simply had the crew be just a one-person ship for the sake of keeping the script lean and concentrating on the danger at hand rather than making up excuses for characters to get kidnapped. Alas, that means of extending the story far behind it’s actual length is a staple that has stayed in Doctor Who even into the new series.
There are special features included in this DVD, two of which connect with the actual story and one that deals with what one particular crewmember does behind the scenes. “Looking For Peter” with Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf’s Toby Hadoke attempts to discover more about the writer Peter R. Neuman, whose only notable history in entertainment has been his sole contribution to Doctor Who. “Secret Voices Of The Sense-Sphere” explores the origin of the voices of The Sensorites while “Vision On” discusses what a vision mixer does.
I would have thought the story would have been more interesting with the audio commentary provided by Russell and Ford as well as other cast and crew members, but they seemed to struggle to remember the episode. Some of the earlier commentaries for Tom Baker’s episodes are entertaining in that respect because Tom knows how to laugh (especially when he struggles to remember the episode he was in) and keep others featured in the commentary (including Liz Sladen) entertained. That element would have help me listen to the commentary more and sadly makes it more of a chore.
“The Sensorites” really is a must for die-hard Whoivans; casual viewers and new series fans should stay far away from this story as possible. If you want a good example of how to make an episode go on work over a long period, try “The Mind Robber,” or as I’d like to call it “If Doctor Who was written on an acid trip.”
Consider the age of this episode, it is remarkable that the video and audio of the story come out so crisp and clear. Let us hope other stories from, some of which that have been declared as incomplete, get the same good treatment.
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