Friday Poll: DVD Extras

[Rob McCow]

We get a pretty comprehensive range of extras with our DVDs these days, but which bits do you bother with? Which extras are your favourite? And what isn't worth laser-time in your DVD player?

[SiHart]

I watch them all, but I've never really bothered with the PDFs. I'm sure they're nice to have, but I rarely watch DVDs on the PC, so forget to look at them.

Si xx

[Antony Cox]

I usually watch most of the extras, but have never bothered with the PDFs.

I've also hardly ever watched with the productions subtitles on, or looked at the photo galleries.

[SiHart]

I like the photo galleries. No really! I love spotting the rare unseen photos in amongst all the familiar ones and it's nice to ahve some radiophonic rarities on the soundtrack or a nice suite from the incidental music where it's still around.

Si xx

[Dino]

The commentaries are always worth a listen but I also wanted to vote for the "Making of" documentaries as well. Voted for the cast and crew comments.

[Rob McCow]

Ah - you can vote for as many as you like in this poll! Forgot to mention that!

I'm really starting to go off the commentaries. Sometimes they can be good, but at worst they either repeat what they said in their interviews or spend ages groping around for something to say. Certain characters, the Doctors paticularly, are always entertaining.

[Philipnet]

The comedy skits are usually good - I remember Oh Mummy from the Pyramids of Mars

I didn't vote for the picture galleries as they normally don't interest me. However, the notable exceptions are the black and white episodes, where, and I remember the Aztecs in particular, the photos show off the stunning range of colours used in the costumes.

[Si Hunt]

I always view the Making Of's as the thing I most want to watch, but to be honest we've been spoiled. I remember years ago when a Doctor Who documentary came along once every ten years, and you literally savoured it. At the moment we're getting five a month (!) including Confidential and DVD's and that's just unbelievable. But, along with the general shape of telly at the moment, it does make you feel that every day life is another talking head reciting an anecdote.

I've always had a weird relationship with commentaries. Hardly ever watch them because I can't find the space in my life for watching Doctor Who with someone talking over it. Not the time, the space. To me, Doctor Who is the most enjoyable thing, and it's an experience in sound and vision. Each story has to be savoured and enjoyed, and I can't justify "wasting" a viewing with some actors jabbering over the top. Somehow it seems almost sacriligious. And yet (AND YET!) when I do catch a commentary I find it unbelivably addictive and enjoyable. So maybe I should watch more.

Si.

[SiHart]

Commentaries don't count as a watch in our house... although actually I suppose they do, because we rarely tend to watch the story itself when we get a DVD, probably because we know them all so well generally. We always watch with production notes and the commentary and then get round to watching the story sometime later. That's the way I've always done the DVDs.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

The extras I've enjoyed most have been the 'other' documentaries - the overviews, I guess, rather than the story-specific ones. The Trials & Tribulations piece on the TOATL set, and especially the main documentaries on the releases of both The Leisure Hive and The Beginning, have been superb.

I've listened to some of the commentaries, although usually LISTENED to while I'm doing something else, rather than avidly watching the screen - but by no means all of them. The (original) Remembrance, and the Fenric one, were rather dull & dry, although the Davison ones are generally fun. But TBH the prospect of sitting through ten episode of The War Games with people nattering about it does not really appeal!!

[Larry]

whatch all the extras or will at least start to watch them but will soon turn off if I find them boring or just plain awful the ones I enjoy most are the 'Making of' Documentary . Though I did find the mini biography features on Mark Stricson and Sarah Sutton, on the Black Guardion, release very interesting and I think 2-entertain, should of done more of these biography features.

the picture galleries I will ocasionaly have a look at the pdf, I don't bother with but the extra I tend to watch first is the "coming soon" one.

[Stuart Wallis]

I tend to watch/listen to most of what's there, just because it is there. It's not possible for me to access the PDFs, not having a PC at home, and I don't tend to bother with the production notes.

The commentaries are what gets hauled out first, then the making of documentaries, sometimes before the stories themselves, depending on familiarity with them. Having said that, enjoyment of a given commentary can depend on who's on it. For example: Peter Davison, Colin and Barry Letts are/were top value; Janet Fielding would be if she didn't keep going on about her hair; Sarah Sutton would be if they'd let her get a word in edgeways; Peter Moffat never had too much to say but he said it very well; Peter Purves is good VFM; and the less said about Tom the better... (Sacriledge!)

The features that get on my wick are the comedy ones. I'd prefer the factual ones anyway, and my sense of humour and that of the makers of, say, City Of Death's Eye On... Blatchford aren't in the same time period.

[Lissa]

Commentaries are easily my favourite of the extras though it depends who they've got. The very early stories need a moderator to get things moving - Purves is superb at this - but they're generally fine. The Troughton ones have Frazer Hines and he's always good value. Pertwee's time usually has - or, sadly now, had - Barry Letts and he's never less than lovely to listen to. Especially with Uncle Terrance at his side. The only Tom Baker ones I've enjoyed are the Key to Time ones with Mary Tamm and the later series with Lalla Ward. Neither Lis Sladen nor Louise Jameson seems to have the sense of fun that makes a good commentary. Peter Davison is great - affection mixed with honesty - and pretty much all of his have been great (though his best ever was on the Tomorrow People where he made his TV debut in a story so bad it must be seen to be believed). Colin Baker rarely has a bad word to say about anything but he's such a nice chap that I'll listen to him all day. Strangely, I can only remember listening to one McCoy commentary and it wasn't that good. How weird. Six stories on the shelf and I can't remember anything about any of them apart from Remembrance of the Daleks.

[Antony Cox]

I love the commentaries, though obviously some are better than others.

I usually watch/listen to them when I'm doing the ironing as it means I don't have to look at the screen all the time but can still enjoy the commentary itself.

There are also certain stories which I just can't get through watching normally (Battlefield is the best example of this), so I would normally not watch the story as normal and just watch it with the commentary as it provides some interest to keep me there until the end!

[Si Hunt]

For some reason I'm now imagining Ant in the kitchen, with his iron, wearing a pinny and with a batch of scones in the oven.

Si.

[Simon R]

We should get in the habbit of watching the story with commentary as soon as we've watched it without.

That's how I did The Aztecs many light earths ago.

[Si Hunt]

Creature From The Pit next then?

Si. :mobile

[Larry]

I love the commentaries, though obviously some are better than others.

!

have to say the commentries are saome thing that has never interested me I've only ever listend to the ones on The Visitation and Earthshock, but that's aall.

Some of the extras that have featured more technical stuff about how certain things are done Ive found a bit hard going as iI don't understand a lot of whats being explained but I still watch them.

[Dino]

Tom Baker on the Robot commentary is one of the funniest I've heard.
Although it seems as the end titles to episode 4 roll he suddenly gets really animated? Would have been nicer if you were like that at the beginning, Tom!