Doctor Who: Ark in Space. Hoyts Polygram Video. 94 minutes. Rated G. Stars Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladon, Ian Marter. Director Rodney Bennett. Price $25.95.
BRING together a bunch of Dr Who fans and you will soon have an argument over which actor best portrayed the good doctor.
As a veteran fan — I saw the first episode, screened in Britain the day after President Kennedy was assassinated — will always plump for the original doctor, the late William Hartnell, but I am sure most would pick Tom Baker.
It was with Baker, the gentle, gangling neo-hippy of the puzzled look and razor-sharp intellect, that Dr Who developed from just another successful kid's space program into cult giant — too big even for she BBC to kill, though I suspect it would like to.
The latest Dr Who adventure on video, Ark in Space featuring Baker, is certain of a good reception. With Baker are Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), by far the most level-headed of Dr Who a travelling companions, and the bumbling, sung ho ship's surgeon. Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).
The Tardis lands in a space station inhabited by the deep-frozen remnants of the human race placed there to await reawakening when the devastated earth becomes habitable again.
The trio have to face the suspicions of the reviving crew while at the same time combatting the giant, wasp-like Wirrn which have invaded the station.
Like most Dr Who stories, the concept is as enormous as the budget is sparse. Star Wars it is not. But while the props and special effects are rudimentary, the ability to tickle the imagination, to send that delightful shiver down the spine, is never in doubt.
And that, after all, is what good science fiction is all about.
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