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The Ambassadors of Death (TV story): Difference between revisions
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Story notes: added a little more info; Home video and audio releases: added a little more info for VHS
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* Apart from Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who retained his regular uniform, all UNIT ranks wore new futuristic-looking uniforms which only ever featured in this story. The usual velcro-fastened jacket, shirt and tie were replaced on this occasion with a zip-up jacket without lapels worn over a polo-neck sweater. | * Apart from Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who retained his regular uniform, all UNIT ranks wore new futuristic-looking uniforms which only ever featured in this story. The usual velcro-fastened jacket, shirt and tie were replaced on this occasion with a zip-up jacket without lapels worn over a polo-neck sweater. | ||
* The production text on ''The Ambassadors of Death'' DVD revealed that Reegan and his gang were originally Irish, and suggests it was changed after the Troubles started: "All in all, it might not have been the best moment to show Irish hoodlums planning to deploy a powerful new weapon." | * The production text on ''The Ambassadors of Death'' DVD revealed that Reegan and his gang were originally Irish, and suggests it was changed after the Troubles started: "All in all, it might not have been the best moment to show Irish hoodlums planning to deploy a powerful new weapon." | ||
* The story was made entirely on colour videotape. However, up until 2011, the | * The story was made entirely on 625 line PAL colour videotape. However, up until 2011, the videotapes of all bar episode one were lost (having either been erased for reuse or junked), and the story was only available as 16mm black and white film telerecordings. The only existing colour tapes of episodes two to seven were non-broadcast standard 525 line NTSC off-air video recordings recovered from Canada in the 1980s, with episodes two to four and six and seven having an intermittent fault with the colour signal — resulting in rainbow-like patterning being superimposed across the picture. Although episode five was successfully restored to colour, countless restoration attempts on the remaining episodes failed until the Restoration Team re-colourised the story using the technique they used on episode three of ''[[Planet of the Daleks]]''. | ||
* The [[TARDIS console]] prop is shown for the first time outside of [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] itself. Since the TARDIS had been temporarily "shelved" as a plot device, so had the elements of the console room set, which were placed in storage. The console was pulled out for studio recording in February 1970. Now seven years in use, it had suffered a degree of wear and tear, requiring the addition of replacement knobs and buttons for those that had fallen off. It would make its last appearance in the following serial, [[TV]]: ''[[Inferno (TV story)|Inferno]]'' before the prop's damage was diagnosed as extensive enough to warrant a redesign. | * The [[TARDIS console]] prop is shown for the first time outside of [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] itself. Since the TARDIS had been temporarily "shelved" as a plot device, so had the elements of the console room set, which were placed in storage. The console was pulled out for studio recording in February 1970. Now seven years in use, it had suffered a degree of wear and tear, requiring the addition of replacement knobs and buttons for those that had fallen off. It would make its last appearance in the following serial, [[TV]]: ''[[Inferno (TV story)|Inferno]]'' before the prop's damage was diagnosed as extensive enough to warrant a redesign. | ||
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{{discontinuity}} | {{discontinuity}} | ||
* In episode one, when the video screen retracts, the CSO image stays still for several seconds, exposing it as an overlay effect. | * In episode one, when the video screen retracts, the CSO image stays still for several seconds, exposing it as an overlay effect. | ||
* At the climax at the end of episode one, the Doctor is confronted by Taltalian, who is wearing glasses and must pull his gun out of the waistband of his trousers. At the beginning of episode | * At the climax at the end of episode one, the Doctor is confronted by Taltalian, who is wearing glasses and must pull his gun out of the waistband of his trousers. At the beginning of episode two, these glasses are gone and the gun is in Taltalian's hand from the start, revealing a mistake in the reprise following the end of filming for the previous episode. | ||
* In episode three in the scene where the Brigader, the Doctor and Liz first meet General Carrington, as he gets up from his chair and says "I'm sorry?" to the Doctor, a brief glimpse of a boom can be seen above his head. | * In episode three in the scene where the Brigader, the Doctor and Liz first meet General Carrington, as he gets up from his chair and says "I'm sorry?" to the Doctor, a brief glimpse of a boom can be seen above his head. | ||
* In episode five, the word | * In episode five, the word 'variant' — as in ''M3 variant'' — is spelt "varient" on location props. There is a close-up on one of the typos, where we see it rendered "M.3. Varient" — which begs the question: why is the number ''3'' written as an initial? | ||
* In episode four the Doctor has a stick-able plaster from the explosion blast, but in episode five after the recap, his plaster is gone with no explanation given for where it went. | * In episode four the Doctor has a stick-able plaster from the explosion blast, but in episode five after the recap, his plaster is gone with no explanation given for where it went. | ||
* The radioactive trefoil symbol is upside-down on all of the isotope canisters. The symbol should properly look like a black capital Y on a yellow background, not the other way round. | * The radioactive trefoil symbol is upside-down on all of the isotope canisters. The symbol should properly look like a black capital Y on a yellow background, not the other way round. | ||
* Taltalian's accent is French in the studio and British on location. | * Taltalian's accent is French in the studio and British on location. | ||
* '' | * ''Recovery 7'''s nose changes colour between prop and model shots, with it being red on the model and grey on the prop. | ||
* Quinlan's office safe slips about as the alien tries to open the door. This is caused by the indelicate movements of a person tasked with special effects, who is hidden behind the safe, rigging the explosive effects for the moment the alien blows open the safe. | * Quinlan's office safe slips about as the alien tries to open the door. This is caused by the indelicate movements of a person tasked with special effects, who is hidden behind the safe, rigging the explosive effects for the moment the alien blows open the safe. | ||
* When the capsule is landing, it is moving across the map of the Atlantic far faster than the announcements indicate. | * When the capsule is landing, it is moving across the map of the Atlantic far faster than the announcements indicate. | ||
* Liz Shaw's tights change colour from week to week despite the fact she's a prisoner. | * Liz Shaw's tights change colour from week to week despite the fact she's a prisoner. | ||
* The telephones on the desk where the Doctor sits to make the list of components he needs change position between episodes | * The telephones on the desk where the Doctor sits to make the list of components he needs change position between episodes six and seven. | ||
* [[Max Faulkner]]'s [[UNIT soldier (The Ambassadors of Death)|UNIT Soldier]] dies — and is actually ''scripted'' as dying — in episode four, but then mysteriously reappears at the end of episode six. He's not credited in the later episode, despite briefly speaking. Given that [[INFO]]: ''The Ambassadors of Death'' reveals that episode | * [[Max Faulkner]]'s [[UNIT soldier (The Ambassadors of Death)|UNIT Soldier]] dies — and is actually ''scripted'' as dying — in episode four, but then mysteriously reappears at the end of episode six. He's not credited in the later episode, despite briefly speaking. Given that [[INFO]]: ''The Ambassadors of Death'' reveals that episode six was edited in extreme haste, it's almost certainly a production error that Faulkner made it into the later episode. | ||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
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This story was released on VHS in 2002 as a single selection, and in 2003 in the United States as part of the ''End of the Universe'' collection. | This story was released on VHS in 2002 as a single selection, and in 2003 in the United States as part of the ''End of the Universe'' collection. | ||
Editing for VHS release was completed by [[Doctor Who Restoration Team]] and also contains a black and white trailer before | The story was released with over 90 minutes of the story in colour, and the remaining material in black and white — with subtle mixes between the colour and monochrome sections. | ||
Episode one was taken from the original 625 line PAL colour videotape, episode four was black and white throughout, and episode five was a version with electronically restored colour. The remaining episodes were both colour and black and white. | |||
Editing for the VHS release was completed by [[Doctor Who Restoration Team]] and also contains a black and white version of the trailer for the story before episode one and ''The Stages of the Restoration'', a mini-documentary about the restoration techniques, after the last episode. | |||
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | <gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | ||
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=== DVD === | === DVD === | ||
Originally planned for DVD release in 2011 alongside ''[[The Sun Makers]]'', ''Ambassadors'' was delayed due to ongoing re-colourisation issues.<ref>http://twitter.com/classicdw/statuses/30239597128589313</ref> These issues were resolved to the best of the [[Doctor Who Restoration Team|Restoration Team]]'s abilities in November 2011. The serial was released on [[1 October (releases)|1 October]] [[2012 (releases)|2012]]. <ref>http://colourrecovery.wikispaces.com/Processed+programmes</ref> The release is wholly in colour, with no option to see the parts that were monochromatic in the original [[VHS]] release. | Originally planned for DVD release in 2011 alongside ''[[The Sun Makers]]'', ''The Ambassadors of Death'' was delayed due to ongoing re-colourisation issues.<ref>http://twitter.com/classicdw/statuses/30239597128589313</ref> These issues were resolved to the best of the [[Doctor Who Restoration Team|Restoration Team]]'s abilities in November 2011. The serial was released on [[1 October (releases)|1 October]] [[2012 (releases)|2012]]. <ref>http://colourrecovery.wikispaces.com/Processed+programmes</ref> The release is wholly in colour, with no option to see the parts that were monochromatic in the original [[VHS]] release. | ||
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | <gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | ||
File:TheAmbassadorsOfDeathDVDRegion2.jpg|Region 2 DVD cover | File:TheAmbassadorsOfDeathDVDRegion2.jpg|Region 2 DVD cover | ||
