Doctor Who Season 8

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Peter Capaldi debuts as the Twelfth Doctor alongside Jenna Coleman as Clara in a series of twelve adventures beginning with a feature-length episode set in Victorian London. Also featuring four Doctor Who Exclusives where Steven Moffat, Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi give an insight to the world of making Doctor Who, as well as two guides to the world of Doctor Who hosted by Peter Davison.

This was a very brave season for the show, having perfected the young, lovable, funny Doctor, to abandon that format entirely and go for an older, crankier version. Peter Capaldi, almost destined to play the role, brings great gravitas to scenes and keeps the audience off-balance for the entire series. Episode highlights include the Capaldi debut episode, Mummy on the Orient Express,Listen, Flatline and the Caretaker. I’m a huge fan of Moffat and the show, hence the five stars, but I will admit there were misses in the run- Kill the Moon stretched suspended disbelief to a snapping point, the moments with the children of Coal Hill School were often annoying and the finale was (well, I was hoping for a different previous character to return). Still, only an actor as accomplished as Capaldi could make the tone change for the show work so well and Andy Pryor’s casting never seems to miss the mark. The show needed to be shaken out of its comfort zone and Steven Moffat remains the best showrunner in television today, on either side of the pond.

– dwall

I had added this to my wish list a year ago, always checking, waiting for the price to go down, and when last week it dropped a few dollars over half the price, I excitedly ordered it.

*5 STARS for the Series

I adore the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald quickly became one of my favorite companions after the Ponds, but series 7B left me semi underwhelmed and I was ready for something new. I didn’t expect to like Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor just the same; maybe even more so. I like that he took on more of a hardened classic Doctor personality, but that it wasn’t to a point of being off-putting. It certainly made, in my opinion, a deeper connection (than his last regeneration had) with Clara; that probably is also aided by the impossible girl arc being over.

The stories have a nice mix of different genres from stories that reach deep (such as Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, and Listen), the fun stuff (Robots of Sherwood, Time Heist, and The Caretaker), the ones that really make you think (Kill the Moon, Mummy on the Orient Express), the ones with mystery/suspense (Flatline, In the Forest of the Night, and Time Heist again), and the ones that really tap into human emotions and morals while in the midst of the end of the world (Dark Water, Death in Heaven).

The absolute best part was the new regeneration of The Master – Missy! Michelle Gomez is intriguingly crazy. I hope she gets to be around for some more seasons. I won’t get my hopes up, but maybe making a core character that has always been gendered as a man might open the door for The Doctor to be a woman after Peter Capaldi.

*2 STARS for the DVD box

It’s regular DVD. There is literally nothing to the box. It’s so basic its boring. It’s like the manufacturers just needed a place to store the discs. You have the sleeve cover and then the actual box. On both items there is a promo image of The Doctor and Clara on the front and multiple shots of other characters and creatures on the back with a listing of the episodes and special features. There is no booklet or episode guide on the inside. The discs have an okay design with characters setting in the middle of the clock from the opening credits. There are no other decorations. When I opened the case, the last disc in the set was loose and out of place… luckily its scratch free. For all that, it would be better off as a slimmer set. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the whole series being together instead of being split into parts, but it could still be smaller.

– Christina

DVD Wholesale Main Features :   

Actors: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman
Directors: Graeme Harper
Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. )
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 5
Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: December 9, 2014
Run Time: 540 minutes