DVD Review: Delta and the Bannermen

This is not one of the best Doctor Whos. But it is fascinating as a template for New-Who.

A cold open on an alien planet! A celebrity comedian cameo! A feisty female companion! Wales!

On paper, Delta contains all the ingredients for a great serial. What if all the weird people at your holiday camp are weird because they're aliens?!!? Is that bus really a spaceship? What if your best friend's older sister is on the run from space bandits? Explosions! Motorcycle chases! Rock and roll music!

But the execution lets it down. There's a brilliant special effect of a baby alien hatching from an egg. It is gruesome, gooey, and horrific. And then it is replaced by a baby in a green onesie with her face painted green… The Doctor has a barnstorming speech about truth, justice, and fairness. And then just… walks away? Motorcycles race through the countryside - but no-one is chasing them. The B-Plot with American agents chasing after Sputnik is an irrelevant MacGuffin. There's endless exposition about irrelevant matters - but we never quite find out why any of this is happening.

The whole thing looks cheap. I don't mean the apocryphal "wobbly sets" - but none of the props have any heft, the set dressing is shabby, and the space-ships look like cardboard models inexpertly overlayed on the video. This story aired shortly after the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation - and it simply can't compete. The plot is absent, the direction is lacklustre, and it never really takes advantage of its 1950s setting.

The show only lasted a couple more years before hiatus. And, sadly, it isn't hard to see why.

The DVD is - as per most Doctor Who DVDs - a brilliant package. A pristine video transfer, gorgeous audio, a great trivia track, and packed with lots of fun video extras.

What's more fun is looking at all the ways the 21st Century Who calls back to this episode. Strangers chatting on a bus later becomes the Tennant-era "Midnight". Heading off to a suspiciously run-down pleasure planet morphs into Neil Gaiman's "Nightmare in Silver". Some bloke falling inexplicably in love with an alien and running off to join her is now a frequent trope. As is The Doctor dancing.

My wife reckons that the Welsh greaser-girl goes on to become Gwen-from-Torchwood's mum. And who am I to disagree?

One of those DVDs which you show to people bashing new episodes so they can see how much better things have become.

If you've enjoyed this review, please leave a comment or buy me another Dr Who DVD to review 😊