Viewing Clutter: DVD and Blu-ray Reviews Blog

Blu-ray Review — Sherlock: Complete Series One and Two

Noted Doctor Who scribes Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis have teamed up to create this updated version of the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective, Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is a thoroughly modern series, yet it is extremely faithful to Doyle’s characters and the essence of his stories — stylish, smart and utterly addictive, it leaves you desperate for more.

WINNERS — Doctor Who: The Daemons

Thank you to everyone who entered the DVD giveaway for three copies of Doctor Who: The Daemons. The guest judge, John Richards, has made his decision and so it’s time to announce the winners.

DVD Giveaway — Doctor Who: The Face of Evil

As one Doctor Who giveaway finishes, another begins. Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment we have three DVD copies of the classic Doctor Who story, “The Face of Evil”, to be won. So, do you want to win your very own copy? Here’s how…

DVD Review — Doctor Who: The Face of Evil

A new companion in a skimpy outfit, the Doctor’s past deeds catching up with him and a commentary on religion form the basis of the Doctor Who story, “The Face of Evil”. Despite a few problems, this is an entertaining and thought-provoking four-part story from the 14^th season of Doctor Who, first screened in 1977.

DVD Review — Sherlock Holmes in New York

Thanks to the recent Sherlock television series and the Robert Downey Jr feature films, there has been a renewed interest in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective. So it’s not surprising that earlier adaptations are being released on DVD (see my review of The Sherlock Holmes Collection). A little OTT and certainly rather melodramatic, Sherlock Holmes in New York is, nevertheless, a fun addition to the long list of Sherlock’s screen adventures.

DVD Review — Misfits: Series One, Two & Three

Five young people doing community service get caught in a freak storm that ends up giving them bizarre superpowers. That’s the premise of Misfits, a humorous British science fiction series. It’s odd. It’s rude. It’s crude. And it is one of the most original shows I’ve seen in a long time.

DVD Giveaway — Doctor Who: The Daemons

Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment we have another Doctor Who giveaway! We have three DVD copies of the classicDoctor Who story, “The Daemons”.

So, do you want to win your very own copy? Here’s how…

DVD Review — Doctor Who: The Daemons

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this classic Doctor Who story. It has been many years since I last watched “The Daemons”, and I’m very pleased to say that it definitely lives up to my memories of it. Mixing black magic and pseudo-science to create a wonderfully atmospheric five-part story, this is early-70s Doctor Who at its best.

DVD Review — The Adventures of Merlin: Series Four

The Adventures of Merlin — this hugely successful series about Merlin and Arthur in their younger days is back for a fourth season. Building on the progression of the myth from season three, this season heads further towards the legend we are familiar with, but also substantially deviates from it. Lots of interesting things happen, and yet I found this season disappointing compared to the previous.

DVD Review — Doctor Who: U.N.I.T. Files

U.N.I.T. Files is a box set with two stories featuring the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce — “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” and “The Android Invasion”. Both these stories, despite some flaws, are very watchable and are great examples of their respective eras.

DVD Review — The Adventures of Tintin

I’ve never read the famed Tintin comics by Hergé. And I’d never seen the series prior to getting this DVD set. Coming to it with very little prior knowledge, I found myself completely engrossed in The Adventures of Tintin. This series is a French/Canadian coproduction made in 1991/92, and its remastered released is well timed, given the cinematic release of the new blockbuster Tintin movie.

The Christmas Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered the DVD giveaway for two copies of “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe”. The guest judge, Lili Wilkinson, has made her decision and so it’s time to announce the winners.

DVD Review — Great Expectations

I get excited whenever the BBC announce a new costume drama — they are so damn good at that genre. Although some are better than others, I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed in one. A new adaptation of Great Expectations is their latest on DVD… and it is, as you would expect, BRILLIANT!

DVD Review — The Octonauts: Ready For Action

The Octonauts is an animated kids’ series based on a set of four picture books (see my review over at Literary Clutter). This DVD release, The Octonauts: Ready For Action, contains seven of the 52 episodes that were made in 2010/2011. The series has being quite a hit and seems to be popular with a large age-range of kids. Take a look in your local ABC store and you’ll see lots of merchandise quickly disappearing off the shelves.

DVD Review — Survivors: Series One and Two

A new strain of influenza sweeps across the world and wipes out the vast majority of human beings. This BBC series follows the adventures of a small group of survivors — hence the title: Survivors. There’s nothing new about this concept, but this series, despite some problematic details, handles it all rather well.

DVD Giveaway — Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment we have another Doctor Who giveaway! This time we have two DVD copies of the recent Christmas Special, “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” (check out my review).

So, do you want to win your very own copy? Here’s how…

The Sensorites WINNERS

Thank you to everyone who entered the DVD giveaway for three copies of Doctor Who: The Sensorites. The guest judge, Simon Haynes, has made his decision and so it’s time to announce the winners.

Blu-ray Review — Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

The companionless Doctor #11 (Matt Smith) has his second Christmas adventure with “The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe”, a fun tale vaguely reminiscent of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Watching this special episode at Christmas on the telly, I was rather disappointed with it. Watching it for a second time, now on crisp and clear and amazing hi-def Blu-ray, I’m pleased to say that I found myself enjoying it a lot more.

DVD Review — M.A.N.T.I.S.: The Complete Series

One of the things that I love about the DVD revolution is the fact that all sorts of weird, wonderful and obscure television shows are getting a new lease on life. I’m a fan of crappy old sci-fi shows… so I was pleased to find out that M.A.N.T.I.S., a series I missed during its initial run in the 1990s, was being released on DVD. I’ll be perfectly honest — it’s not brilliant television by any stretch of the imagination… but it is interesting, it tries really hard and it’s kinda fun.

DVD Giveaway — Doctor Who: The Sensorites

Thanks to the wonderful people at Roadshow Entertainment it is again time to WIN WIN WIN! Yes, that’s right… three times… WIN WIN WIN. We have three DVD copies of the classic Doctor Who story “The Sensorites”.

DVD Review — Zen

Based on a series of crime novels by Michael Dibdin, Zen is a BBC series of three tele-films about Italian police detective Aurelio Zen. The series is stylish, well-written and shot in Rome — what more could you want?

DVD Review — Project Manta

Project Manta chronicles the efforts of a group of marine biologists to track the migration routes of manta rays off the Australian coast. The movement patterns of manta rays are often unpredictable and very individual, making the scientists’ task far from easy. While the efforts of the scientists are interesting enough, it is the manta rays that are the stars of this doco. They are eerily elegant sea creatures — quite beautiful, really — and the footage of them swimming around, looking like prehistoric birds in slow motion flight, makes this documentary very worthwhile.

DVD Review — Doctor Who: The Sensorites

“The Sensorites” is a six-part story from the very first season of Doctor Who, way back in 1964. While it has an interesting concept, and some really good moments, it suffers from being rather long and boring.

And the Winner is…

The giveaway for a DVD copy of Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series is over. We had a total of 47 entries. So thank you to each and every one of you.

DVD Review — Torchwood: Miracle Day

“Miracle Day” is the fourth season of Torchwood, the BBC’s Doctor Who spinoff series for adults. It had quite a mixed reception when it aired, with many fans being rather disappointed. It’s quite different from the previous seasons, but is still an enthralling, dramatic, thought-provoking, heart-pounding, well-written, well-produced set of episodes. I really enjoyed “Miracle Day”!

Older Posts:

DVD Review — Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom

DVD giveaway — Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series

Blu-ray review — Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series

DVD review — Wide Open Road

DVD review — Troll Hunter

DVD review — The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Third Series (guest review)

DVD review — Space Battleship YAMATO

DVD review — Doctor Who: Frontios

DVD review — seaQuest 2032: Season Three

DVD review — The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Third Series

DVD review: Doctor Who: The Sun Makers

Blu-ray review — Trigun: Badlands Rumble

DVD review: Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks

My Doctor Who philosophy

DVD review – Doctor Who: Series 6 Part 2

DVD review – Charles Dickens Premier Collection

DVD love… but not in a kinky way

DVD review – Doctor Who: Earth Story

DVD review – Doctor Who: Mara Tales

DVD review – Outcasts: the complete series

Welcome to my DVD review blog

Comments are closed.