Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Delta and the Bannermen is definitely one of the most polarizing Doctor Who serials; either you love it or hate it. Its bad reputation probably comes from being sandwiched in the middle of Sylvester McCoy's first season in the lead role, which is universally written off as 14 episodes of childish, gaudy faffing about offset by hideous dialogue, cheap production values, and, of course, the rightly infamous "demo mode on Casio keyboard" music of Keff McCulloch used for all but one of the season's episodes.
Well, Delta is probably the best episode of the otherwise calamitous 24th season of the show. The first two serials of the McCoy era did not paint the character with a good quality brush; in Time and the Rani, the Doctor went way beyond his regular eccentricity and became just plain weird and often facetious; I submit the mixed metaphors he regularly spouts throughout that episode ("Time and tide melts the snowman," "Two wrongs don't make a left turn," et al.) as evidence. Paradise Towers was probably even more silly than the preceding serial, where the acting was at its absolute worst and Keff's music was channeling Speak and Spell-era Depeche Mode by way of Madonna.
Delta is different from those two. The Doctor doesn't act overly silly here (aside from the accidental sneeze that leads into part one's cliffhanger); McCoy's performance here is great, beginning to plan out the darker, moodier Seventh Doctor of the final two seasons. There's a great character moment for him towards the end, where he is seen cradling a Stratocaster and commenting, "Love has never been known for its rationality."
And the script? For a comedic episode, it's not bad. Doctor Who has always raised ire when trying to do comedy (see the late 70's disasterpiece of BBC Christmas pantomime, The Horns of Nimon, for more information), but the comedy is offset by a great deal of character scenes and some great production values for the period (this episode was almost entirely shot on location, which probably contributes to the polished look).
But the biggest subject of debate is the massive amount of 1950's rock music used throughout all three episodes, albeit in cover versions. I don't mind it so much as others; Keff's attempts at rock are better than the actual synthesized, non-diegetic music used for most of the episode, but not by much (on a side note, Keff himself makes an onscreen appearance in part one).
You've probably heard a lot of bad things about this one if you're a fan, but I suggest you give it a chance. As I said, you either love this episode or hate it; it's Doctor Who trying to be radically different, and whether it succeeds or not is entirely your perception. However, if you're someone who longs for the "good ol' days" of Jon Pertwee, complete with horrible CSO and rubber suit monsters, then go back to The Green Death and stay far, far away from this one.
As for the DVD, it includes an early edit of part one, with extended and rearranged scenes (and lacking music and sound effects), a documentary about Doctor Who comic strips, continuities from the original 1987 transmission, and the obligatory audio commentary, among other things; typical of the excellent DVD releases you've come to expect from the BBC.
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