Sunday 23 February 2014

BMW launches 'Ultimate Driver' competition on cinime mobile app

cinime is a new app which allows iPhone and Android users to interact with adverts before the film in a cinema. The app, which uses 'audio signatures' to recognise which advert is being played, allows the user to participate in quizzes and enter competitions.

This sounds like a very innovative platform, with a lot of potential. But right now, a particularly exciting competition is under way, in a collaboration between cinime and BMW - offering you the chance to become BMW's Ultimate Driver, test driving all new BMW models launched in 2014!

Here are the official details...

Download cinime, the new cinema companion mobile app that helps you get more from your cinema visits, and you could steer your way to become BMW’s Ultimate Driver. BMW is offering you the chance to pick the perfect line in an interactive big screen challenge. Have cinime ready on your mobile phone during the ads next time you visit an ODEON, Cineworld or Vue cinema to complete a virtual lap in a new BMW 2 Series Coupé. The fastest to choose the best driving line, breaking or acceleration points using the app will be invited to battle it out on a 2 Series track day. One person will be named BMW’s Ultimate Driver, winning the chance to test drive all new BMW models launched in 2014. And all participants will get a video of their own performance on the big screen lap, just for taking part. There are loads of other reasons to download cinime, with plenty of rewards and treats on offer including content, vouchers and prizes which can be won and unlocked every time you visit participating cinemas.
Download the cinime app from Google Play and iTunes now. 
You can also use cinime to play along with the big screen in our film quiz before the movie for a chance to scoop free cinema treats for your next visit. Or get bonus content and more from new films by scanning posters in the cinema foyer. 
Whenever you see the cinime logo, grab your phone and start looking out for rewards. Offers are available before and after the movie, so always keep your eyes open for cinime as there will be lots of benefits for downloading. 
Once you’ve found your seat, switch your phone to silent and leave your cinime app open. It’ll respond and interact with the screen while you sit back and enjoy the ads, delivering content, offers and discounts directly to your phone. 
The interactive cinime section ends when the movie starts, so please switch off and put your phone away when the film begins, then sit back and enjoy the cinema experience. Cinime is currently testing in selected ODEON, Cineworld and Vue cinemas. Offers are subject to availability and Terms & Conditions apply. 
The BMW Ultimate Driver challenge is open to cinime users aged 25 years and over holding a current driving licence for at least 12 months.
The BMW Ultimate Driver competition closes on 10 March 2014.

Friday 7 February 2014

BBC Worldwide DVD & Blu-ray releases - March 2014

BBC Worldwide has sent Telly Tech the details for its DVD and Blu-ray releases in March 2014. These are reproduced below, along with links to the titles on Amazon and BBC Shop. Please note that non-BBC programming is released under the 2ǀentertain label.


Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond [DVD]
Release Date: 3 March
RRP: £15.31
Amazon
BBC Shop

London, 1939: Ian Fleming, played by Dominic Cooper, is an irresponsible playboy living in the shadow of his dead war hero father, his successful author brother and his domineering mother. When the Second World War breaks out, Ian suddenly finds himself with a chance to shine – to prove his worth – with a job in Naval Intelligence. Packed with lust, romance, humour, jeopardy and explosive action – and set in Britain, France, Germany and Jamaica – this is the fascinating story of the man whose own life and adventures were the inspiration for one of the most iconic spies in modern literature – James Bond.

Death in Paradise Series Three [DVD]
Release Date: 10 March
RRP: £20.42
Amazon
BBC Shop

After the success of Series One and Two, Death in Paradise returns for a third run of murder and mystery on the fictional island of Saint-Marie, but with a shocking twist of events – DI Richard Poole, played by Ben Miller (Primeval, Armstrong & Miller) is murdered! DI Poole’s tragic death ushers in the arrival of new detective, DI Humphrey Goodman, played by Kris Marshall (My Family, Love Actually). Battling their grief and determined to catch the killer of their friend, Camille (Sara Martins), Fidel (Gary Carr) and Dwayne (Danny John-Jules) are joined by DI Humphrey Goodman to help them get to the bottom of Poole’s death. Unfortunately, Humphrey’s naturally bumbling and accident-prone ways mean he doesn’t make a great first impression...

Outnumbered Series Five [DVD]
Release Date: 17 March
RRP: £20.42
Amazon
BBC Shop

Starring Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, Outnumbered enters its fifth and final series! Those cute little kids from the hit family sitcom are now teenagers, causing even more havoc for their beleaguered parents Pete and Sue, who continue to battle through life both within and outside of their hectic household. Sue has a brand new office job and, predictably, struggles to maintain an aura of composure with her three growing offspring to contend with back home, while Pete is besieged by unreliable technologies. Their eldest son Jake is sporting a new tattoo – of sorts – and is getting behind the wheel to learn to drive. Tone-deaf Ben is set to take the lead in his school play – a musical version of Spartacus. While Karen, once the baby of the family starts secondary school and, unsurprisingly, soon finds herself arguing with just about everyone, including her new head teacher. The Outnumbered Series 1-5 DVD box set will also be released on 17 March, priced £51.05.

Series 1-5: Amazon
Series 1-5: BBC Shop

Call the Midwife (Series Three & Christmas Special) [DVD]
Release Date: 17 March
RRP: £20.42
Amazon
BBC Shop

Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife follows Nurse Jenny Lee and the midwives from Nonnatus House convent as they provide the best possible care to the expectant mothers of Poplar. Series Three sees Chummy, PC Noakes and baby Freddy back in the East End; Sister Bernadette – now known as Shelagh since leaving the convent – preparing for her wedding to Dr Turner; and Jenny facing some tough personal and professional challenges. At Christmas, when an unexploded World War II bomb is found under a warehouse close to Nonnatus House, the nuns and dozens of local families find themselves homeless. Later, Dr Turner finds himself in a race against time to immunise children against polio, and when a Royal visitor comes to the East End, Chummy persuades them to open the new Community Centre.

Series 1-3: Amazon
Series 1-3: BBC Shop

Inside No 9 [DVD]
Release Date: 17 March
RRP: £20.42
Amazon
BBC Shop

Following their BAFTA and British Comedy Award-winning horror comedy series Psychoville and the phenomenally successful League of Gentlemen, writer/creators/performers Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith return with Inside No 9, a sinister six-part anthology comedy series for BBC Two. Half a dozen truly spooky tales starring Reece and Steve themselves, but also featuring a great array of British comedy talent, such as Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and Tim Key (Mid Morning Matters, Alpha Papa). Each story is set in its own world with stories that will be as entertaining as they are scary.

David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities Series 1&2 Box Set [DVD]
Release Date: 24 March
RRP: £25.52

In David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities, Sir David Attenborough shares the stories of some of the most extraordinary creatures that have bewildered and continued to intrigue him – from the peculiar patterns of a zebra’s stripes to the evolutionary quirk of the egg-laying platypus. Each episode explores the stories behind two natural curiosities, linked together by a common theme. Sir David’s gift for storytelling combined with wonderful images of the animal subjects seen in a distinctive way creates a compelling natural history series with a difference.

The Musketeers [DVD/Blu-ray]
Release Date: 24 March
RRP: £25.52 DVD / £30.63 Blu-ray
DVD: Amazon
DVD: BBC Shop
Blu-ray: Amazon
Blu-ray: BBC Shop

BBC One’s swashbuckling new drama The Musketeers will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on 10 March 2014 and is a must-have for fans of the hit series or those who missed it. This ten-part adaptation of Dumas’ masterpiece tells the story of an elite group of soldiers who protect their Royal Masters at any cost. As they are propelled across seas and battlefields from masquerade balls to a remote convent, the Musketeers defend the honour of the Queen and the life of Constance Bonacieux, d'Artagnan's true love.

Da Vinci’s Demons Series One [DVD/Blu-ray]
Release Date: 31 March
RRP:  £25.52 DVD / £30.63 Blu-ray
DVD: Amazon
DVD: BBC Shop
Blu-ray: Amazon
Blu-ray: BBC Shop

The secret history of Leonardo da Vinci’s tantalising life is a portrait of a young man tortured by a gift of superhuman genius. He is a heretic intent on exposing the lies of religion. An insurgent seeking to subvert an elitist society. A bastard son who yearns for legitimacy with his father. He finds himself in the midst of a storm that has been brewing for centuries. A conflict between truth and lies, religion and reason, past and future. His aspirations are used against him by the opposing forces of the time – luring him into a game of seduction where those who despise his intellect need him most. Leonardo must take up the fight against foes who use history to suppress the truth. A hero armed only with genius, Da Vinci stands alone against the darkness within, and the darkness without. Facing an uncertain future, his quest for knowledge nearly becomes his undoing as he explores the fringes of his own sanity.

Moone Boy Series Two [DVD]
Release Date: 31 March
RRP: £20.42
Amazon
BBC Shop

Returning for a second series, critically acclaimed Moone Boy is written by and stars Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd, Bridesmaids, Friends with Kids) as Sean Murphy, the imaginary friend to hapless 12-year-old, Martin Moone. Moone Boy is a hilariously funny and warm comedy based on Chris O'Dowd's life growing up in 1980s Ireland, laced with contemporary music and beautiful animation. A Series 1&2 box set will also be released on 24 March, priced £30.63.

Series 1&2: Amazon
Series 1&2: BBC Shop

Stella Series Three [DVD]
Release Date: 31 March
RRP: £20.42
Amazon
BBC Shop

After her love life rollercoaster ride of Series Two, Stella (played by Ruth Jones) has renounced men and embarked on a new nursing career. With all her children and grandchildren plus a dog now living at home, Stella’s house is bursting at the seams – just as she likes it! But an encounter with a new neighbour rocks the already chaotic boat… in more ways than one. Stella Series 1-3 comes out on 31 March as well and will cost £38.80.

Series 1-3: Amazon
Series 1-3: BBC Shop

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics on the BBC

Today sees the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the BBC is gearing up to provide the most comprehensive digital coverage ever for the Winter Games.

As well as 200 hours of network TV coverage, the BBC will also be broadcasting over 650 hours of live sporting action through six high definition streams. All of Team GB's medal moments will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 live, with a wealth of content available online and on tablets, smartphones, connected TVs, the BBC Sport app and the Red Button.

For a detailed day-by-day breakdown of the schedule, visit the BBC Sport website.

The Opening Ceremony is live on BBC Two now! Watch live via the BBC iPlayer in the UK.

Tuesday 4 February 2014

DVD Preview: 'Not Another Happy Ending' clips and info

Ahead of its DVD release on Monday 10 February, four clips from Not Another Happy Ending are available to watch online via the Telly Tech YouTube channel.

The cast of the romantic comedy includes Karen Gillan, Stanley Weber and Iain De Caestecker. More information can be seen below.





Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy) stars in the Glasgow-set romantic comedy Not Another Happy Ending, set for release on DVD from Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment on 10 February 2014. It will come with a whole host of extras including interviews with producer Claire Mundell, co-producer Wendy Griffin and director John McKay (We'll Take Manhattan).
Written by David Solomons (Five Children and It), the film had its World Premiere at last year's Edinburgh International Film Festival before hitting the big screen in October.
Starring alongside Karen Gillan is Stanley Weber (Thérèse, Borgia), Iain de Caestecker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Filth), Freya Mavor (Sunshine on Leith, Skins), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones, Prometheus), Gary Lewis (Gangs of New York, Billy Elliot), Amy Manson (Being Human) and Henry Ian Cusick (Lost).
When struggling, maverick publisher Tom Duval (Weber) discovers his only successful author, Jane Lockhart (Gillan), has writer's block, he knows he has to unblock her or he's finished. But with her newfound success, she's become too damn happy to write. The only trouble is, the worse he tries to make her feel, the more he realises he is in love with her...
Certificate: 12
Running Time: 98 minutes approx.
RRP: £15.99
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Film News: 'The Sea' - release date changed

Independent Distribution has announced a change to the release date of The Sea, a film directed by Stephen Brown and written by John Banville, which will now be released in UK cinemas on 18 April.
A touching story of memory, love, loss and regret, The Sea, based on the Man Booker prize-winning novel by John Banville, is set for release on 18 April 2014 through Independent Distribution.
Grieving after the death of his wife, art historian Max Morden (Ciarán HindsMunich, Rome) returns to the sleepy seaside resort where he spent summers as a child. Max lodges at a boarding house he once frequented, where frosty proprietor Miss Vavasour (Charlotte RamplingThe Verdict, The Duchess), and eccentric resident Blunden (Karl JohnsonThe Illusionist, Rome) now reside. Before long – and despite protestations from his daughter Clare (Ruth BradleyGrabbers, Primeval) – Max revisits the ghosts of his past.
Max's mind returns to an idyllic summer in 1955 when, as a child, he encountered the Grace family. Carlo (Rufus SewellDark City, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and Connie (Natascha McElhoneThe Truman Show, Californication) were unlike any adults he had met before: nonchalant, bohemian and filled with worldly grace and candour.
Young Max (Matthew Dillon) befriends the young Grace twins, Chloe (Missy Keating) and Myles (Padhraig Parkinson), and his fascination for this unconventional clan transforms into intimacy and love. Meanwhile, the children's young nanny Rose (Bonnie Wright), an outsider like Max, regards the Grace's new surrogate with quiet suspicion.
While Max attempts to deal with the loss of his wife, and recalls moments with his departed partner Anna (Sinéad Cusack), he also confronts a distant trauma from the past.
The Sea was nominated for the Michael Powell Award at the 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival 2013.
Certificate: 12A
Running Time: 87 minutes approx.
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Monday 3 February 2014

Film News: 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' - green band trailer and Super Bowl spot featuring Ted

Following the release of the restricted red band trailer last Thursday, a family-friendly green band trailer has been made available for A Million Ways to Die in the West, a western comedy film from Seth MacFarlane which hits UK cinemas on 6 June:


Additionally, a special TV spot aired during the Super Bowl last night... featuring none other than Ted!


Read more about the film and view the character one-sheets here.


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Sunday 2 February 2014

DVD Review: Doctor Who – The Web of Fear

This story used to be five-sixths missing... but now it's five-sixths complete. The Yeti are back.




DOCTOR WHO
THE WEB OF FEAR
DVD
BBFC: PG
Released by: BBC Worldwide
Release date: 24 February 2014





"Prepare for a great darkness to cloud your mind..."


This time last year, could anyone have predicted this? “Doctor Who: The Web of Fear. To select audio navigation, press enter now.” What strange parallel universe have we slipped into? But this is not a parallel universe. Nor is it a dream. This is real. The Web of Fear is back.


It’s a tragic fact that a significant amount of the 253 episodes of Doctor Who that were broadcast in the 1960s, starring William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, no longer exist in the archives. Prior to October 2013, 106 of them were officially missing, thought to be lost forever. But miraculously, in October it was announced that Philip Morris (director of Television International Enterprises Archives) had located nine ‘missing’ episodes in a television relay station in the city of Jos, Nigeria. These comprised all five missing episodes of The Enemy of the World, and four of the five lost instalments of the story which immediately followed it: The Web of Fear. (For a more detailed explanation of why so many episodes of Doctor Who are missing, read my review of the DVD of Enemy.)


So, this is a six-part story which we were previously only able to watch the first episode of – and now we can watch almost all of it, apart from the third episode, which remains missing. But what made this discovery so thrilling (and nerve-wracking) was its precedent. I’m not talking purely in terms of recovered episodes, but in terms of recovered episodes that fandom really wanted to see. I would argue that the most direct precedent for the recovery of this story is The Tomb of the Cybermen, which was returned to the BBC from Hong Kong in 1992. Popular fan lore tells us that prior to that discovery, Tomb was a holy grail for many, but proved to be something of a let-down once the episodes finally resurfaced. (For the record, I don’t subscribe to this opinion, although in any case, the recovery happened before I was born!) Coming back to The Web of Fear, and we have another ‘holy grail’ – but would the tide of opinion turn against it?


Not really, no. The Web of Fear, while flawed, is brilliant.

Though to be honest, we already had a good idea that this would be the case, solely on the basis of the long-existing first episode – an episode which exhibits qualities that shine throughout the rest of the serial. The Web of Fear is a dark, eerie, claustrophobic story, doing what Doctor Who does best – taking a familiar, ordinary setting and making it absolutely terrifying.


The Web of Fear stars Patrick Troughton along with Frazer Hines as Jamie and Deborah Watling as Victoria, and is a sequel to The Abominable Snowmen just three stories previously. That serial introduced the Great Intelligence and its robotic servants, the Yeti, but sadly it is in exactly the same situation as Web was not too long ago: of its six episodes, only one (the second) survives. In Web, the Intelligence is back – and via the Yeti, it has invaded London and overtaken the Underground. It’s little wonder that this story proved to be iconic for a generation, and the sets (designed by David Myerscough-Jones) were apparently so realistic that the London Underground authorities complained to the BBC, believing that they had filmed on their property without permission. The Web of Fear also left a very strong impression on a young Mark Gatiss, who used the story as a source of inspiration for his recent Sherlock episode, The Empty Hearse.


This is a threat which has grave implications indeed, and it all plays out from the London Underground. The thing is… the story itself is fundamentally quite basic – perhaps, dare I say it, even run-of-the-mill. But it is made so great by the performances, music and direction. Funnily enough, one of the standout sequences actually occurs in Episode 1, in which Professor Travers (Jack Watling) unsuccessfully attempts to retrieve a 'dormant' Yeti from the private collection of Julius Silverstein (Frederick Schrecker). It almost feels as though we are watching a horror film for a few minutes, with an unbearable amount of tension generated almost purely through the actors, lighting and music. Also, watch out for a clever moment which actually weaves the redesign of the Yeti from their previous appearance into the narrative.


The story gets its title from the mysterious ‘web’ substance which is working its way through the network of underground tube tunnels, and closing in on the army’s headquarters at Goodge Street station. Director Douglas Camfield makes excellent use of the web visually. This is where being able to properly watch The Web of Fear reveals so much. Whereas the story itself works reasonably well on audio, there’s a whole new psychological element to seeing the story. We can see the physical reactions of characters. We can see the web pulsating, as it is framed (slightly out-of-focus) in the foreground with characters in the background, the web oppressing them both figuratively and visually. It’s commendable how this story actually makes foam scary – the cliffhanger ending to Episode 2 is quite unnerving on first viewing, with the sound design undoubtedly contributing to the atmosphere.


But here’s what really makes this adventure so interesting to watch: the characters. Admittedly, the characters aren’t anywhere near as multi-layered as in the previous story, The Enemy of the World, but what works well here is that they all have suspicion cast upon them at some point or another, and they all react to the crisis in a distinct way. There’s one thing which will particularly intrigue first-time viewers – a traitor is amongst them. In a story which has such a tight-knit, co-operative team, it’s fascinating to watch the mystery of who is in league with the Intelligence unfold. I won’t spoil the surprise here, and I would urge you not to look up who it is if you have never seen the story. The revelation in Episode 6 is a superb piece of television.


Of course, there’s one man (besides our regular characters) who – although he might have been one of the prime suspects back in 1968 – we now know isn’t a bad guy. The Web of Fear is hugely notable for introducing the legendary character of Lethbridge-Stewart, played by Nicholas Courtney. Whereas we would later recognise him as the Brigadier, Lethbridge-Stewart is a colonel here, and somewhat regrettably he makes his first appearance in Episode 3 – the only episode which remains lost. This Lethbridge-Stewart is a distinctly different character to the man we would later become familiar with – in later years, he very much became a stiff-upper-lip authority figure, but here the Colonel is simply a soldier who, frankly, is scared out of his wits. In hindsight, you can tell that the story is actively trying to pin suspicion onto Lethbridge-Stewart as being the Great Intelligence’s puppet – he arrives in somewhat mysterious circumstances, and it’s clear that the other characters don’t entirely trust him. But from today’s perspective, it goes without saying that Lethbridge-Stewart is serving as a decoy for the audience – the real traitor is somebody else entirely…


A defining moment for the Colonel comes as he leads a group of men above ground into Covent Garden, in an attempt to regain the TARDIS (which is inaccessibly stuck under the Covent Garden tube station). This scene alone is a reason why, if an episode had to remain missing, I’m so glad it wasn’t Episode 4. The ensuing battle between the soldiers and the Yeti is something which I never thought I would ever see (save for one or two tiny snatches of footage which survived). It’s gloriously directed by Camfield, and it’s up there among Doctor Who’s most gritty and intense action sequences. All the soldiers involved lose their lives apart from the Colonel, and Lethbridge-Stewart has a breakdown of sorts in the wake of the fight, with a perfect performance by Courtney.


Professor Travers is notable for entirely different reasons. He is portrayed by Jack Watling, the real-life father of Deborah Watling. Reprising his role as Travers from The Abominable Snowmen (albeit as a significantly older version of the character), Watling lights up every scene he is in. A hugely likeable character, Travers is clearly a brilliant intellect despite being a bit forgetful. Along with his daughter Anne (Tina Packer), Travers plays an important role in the fight against the Intelligence and the Yeti. There’s an ever-so-slightly comedic streak in places, particularly in some of the Professor’s early exchanges with the loathsome journalist Harold Chorley (Jon Rollason).


Away from the story itself, you may be wondering how the missing Episode 3 is handled. As with all missing episodes of Doctor Who, an audio recording exists (recorded off-air by extraordinarily dedicated fans), so it’s a question of what to do about the missing video. Well, this DVD doesn’t follow the recent convention of using animation to fill the gap. Instead, a more traditional approach is used. Although the video is lost, numerous photos (known as ‘telesnaps’) were taken directly off-screen during the original transmission by John Cura, a man who made something of a career out of this, being officially engaged by the production team to take the photos as records of the episodes. So, this DVD uses the same ‘reconstruction’ that has been available on iTunes since October 2013 (produced by John Kelly with assistance from Paul Vanezis and Peter Crocker), marrying the soundtrack against not only these telesnaps, but also publicity photographs and screenshots from the five surviving episodes to tell the story. (It also ports a few seconds of moving footage across from the end of Episode 2, but not from the cliffhanger reprise at the start of Episode 4; perhaps because the footage didn’t directly correspond.)


While reconstructions of this nature have been produced unofficially by fans as far back as the 1980s, this is only the second time that an official release has used a full-length reconstruction of this kind, the other being the VHS release of The Tenth Planet in 2000 (although edited, cut-down photo reconstructions have occasionally featured on VHS and DVD). Is it disappointing that animation wasn’t used? To be honest, no. I am a fan of both animation and photographic reconstructions, and to me the presentation of Episode 3 is perfectly satisfactory in conveying the missing sixth of the story. Animation would have been great, but I’m not particularly bothered that it hasn't been used this time around. There are also some composited images, which take genuine photographic sources and modify them to suit the moment at hand – except for the shot of a Yeti carrying the Intelligence’s glass pyramid (which isn’t realised as well as it might have been), these are pretty well done, and sometimes barely even noticeable as being ‘fakes’. With zooms and pans to bring as much dynamic life to the still images as possible, this is a very enjoyable presentation of the missing episode (which, amazingly, only uses one text caption to describe visual action – testament to how well it tells the story) – and look out for a cheeky nod to director Douglas Camfield…

TRAILER: The Enemy of the World


This DVD has no extras, apart from an ‘Also Available’ trailer for the other recovered story, The Enemy of the World. This is a condensed version of the trailer that was released online in October 2013 to promote the iTunes release of the story. It’s a very nice trailer, although the cuts made to it mean that it doesn't work quite as well as the online version. Unfortunately, the technical quality of sections of the trailer is compromised, with video quality issues. This can be seen on the online version, but it is made more obvious here, as the shots in question are surrounded by pristine DVD-quality footage. I can only assume that a low-quality source was used for certain shots, for some reason…

A/V QUALITY

To put it concisely, the technical quality of these episodes (and the restoration work carried out on them) is superlative.

Although a copy of Episode 1 has been held in the archives for many years, Philip Morris found another film print of that episode alongside the four missing episodes in Nigeria. Upon examination, it turned out that although the Nigerian print was in far worse physical condition, the underlying quality of the recording was actually better than the archived copy, with slightly superior definition and black detail. So, following intensive physical and digital clean-up, the opening episode on this DVD is sourced from the newly discovered film, resulting in a quality upgrade compared to the version of Episode 1 on 2004’s Lost in Time DVD collection.

Watching the recovered Episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6, it’s almost hard to believe that these film cans had been sitting untouched in less-than-ideal conditions for the past four decades. Restoration has been undertaken by the usual team, and the results are hugely impressive. The studio scenes (especially following VidFIRE processing to restore the original interlaced ‘video look’ to the film recordings) are rock solid and look amazing, with great definition. They aren’t without their flaws – the contrast doesn't seem quite as strong in the later episodes as the earlier ones, and there are a couple of spots of aliasing, which is probably inherent in the source material – but this is an overwhelmingly strong presentation of the VT studio scenes. The film sequences are more of a mixed bag, but only because of the old problem of ‘out of phase’ inserts, unfixable with current technology and resulting in double-imaging in places.

Sometimes, distracting noise flickers at the very top-left of the frame (only noticeable if you are watching without overscan, ie with no picture cut off by your television), but this is only a very minor nuisance. In some respects, this DVD actually looks better than the original transmission must have done; in places, the film recording of at least one episode was afflicted with diffuse white lines flickering across the image. This was a burnt-in fault from the (long since wiped) videotape that the film recording was made from, and would have been seen on television originally. But now they're gone.

As with the video, the mono audio has been restored to a very high standard. Interestingly, for some of the later episodes, off-air audio recordings were used as the primary sound source rather than the optical soundtracks of the film recordings, because the former had advantages over the latter. To briefly mention the reconstructed Episode 3 – the audio is excellent quality, although the quality and resolution of the images varies significantly. The images sourced from high-resolution photographs tend to be more or less pin-sharp, and the screengrabs from other episodes are also high quality. Unfortunately, this does show up the lack of resolution in the authentic telesnaps, and it’s important to remember that these were originally photographed from a television screen (albeit with specially-adapted equipment) back in the sixties. This isn’t helped by the fact that digitally zooming and panning the telesnaps will inevitably diminish the resolution further. But the reconstruction is still very watchable – it is just necessary to make allowances for the varying image sources.

Of course, these episodes have previously been released on iTunes last autumn – but quality-wise, this DVD blows that previous online release out of the water. While the iTunes episodes are at a resolution of approximately 640x480, this DVD is at full PAL 720x576 resolution, with a bitrate several times higher than its iTunes counterpart. This results in the video being sharper, with far fewer blocky compression artefacts, and the DVD has been encoded from larger source files than the iTunes version. But the most significant difference between the iTunes and DVD release is that the latter has (as mentioned above) been VidFIREd, which doesn’t work on iTunes due to its incompatibility with interlaced video. As such, the iTunes version last year was mastered prior to VidFIRE being applied to the episodes, and so the DVD has a major advantage in this regard. I asked the Restoration Team’s Steve Roberts if any other work was done for the DVD (besides VidFIRE) that was absent from iTunes, and he informed me that a small amount of additional work may have been undertaken, but nothing that would make a major difference compared to iTunes. So overall, the DVD makes for a far better viewing experience than the iTunes downloads.

Presented below are a selection of comparison images between iTunes and the DVD (and, in the case of Episode 1, the 2004 Lost in Time DVD). These offer some idea of the superior resolution and compression that the DVD offers (notice that areas of film grain on the DVD were turned into nasty digital noise on iTunes, and the DVD has a little more picture area), but you can only fully appreciate the improvements after seeing the DVD in motion. The iTunes screenshots have been upscaled so that the vertical resolution matches that of the DVD, in order to provide an easier direct comparison between the two.

It is recommended that you open each image in its own tab and then flick between them to compare.

Lost in Time

iTunes

2014 DVD

Lost in Time

iTunes

2014 DVD

iTunes

DVD

iTunes

DVD

iTunes

DVD

iTunes

DVD

iTunes

DVD

SUMMARY

For my final thoughts on The Web of Fear, I’ll go back to what I was saying earlier about The Tomb of the Cybermen. That story was recovered before I was born, so while I’m fully aware of its context, and the fact that it used to be missing, for me it’s always been like any other existing story. Following Philip Morris’ fantastic Nigerian discovery, The Web of Fear (setting aside the missing Episode 3) and The Enemy of the World will be looked upon in exactly the same way by future generations. Let’s take a moment to think about how crazy that sounds: the Doctor Who fans of tomorrow will be able to pull these stories off the shelf without batting an eyelid. That shouldn’t even be possible, but it is. Hopefully, this isn't the last we’ve seen of missing Who being resurrected from the grave. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it’s a question of when, not if, another lost story will suddenly turn up on our shelves, thanks to the extraordinary determination of one man who has pretty much travelled the entire globe looking for these old film cans. It’s a shame that this DVD lacks any real bonus content (and this does have an effect on the score below), but let’s not forget that this is a DVD release of a story which we didn’t know existed this time last year.

It's nothing less than a miracle. The Web of Fear is back, ready to scare a whole new generation of commuters.

Main Feature – 7 out of 10
A/V Quality – 8 out of 10
Extras – 1 out of 10
Overall – 5 out of 10



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Thanks to BBC Worldwide
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