To make one of the best Doctor Who stories from the Jon Pertwee era; as proposed by Writers Robert Sloman and Barry Letts...

You will need:

• One global conspiracy threatening to pollute the world;
• A handful of over-zealous, hippy environmentalists, and;
• Thousands of giant, slimy, flesh-eating maggots!

Directions:

1. Mix within a six-episode story, and stuff it into a dark, cramped mineshaft.
2. Add generous amounts of slime and spread liberally with giant maggots.
3. Bake in a high-pressure situation for about 150 minutes, and glaze over with a clear environmental message.

The result is a complex plot with delectably sticky situations for the Doctor and his assistant Jo, with a few laughs and an incredibly satisfying story for us.

In Llanfairfach, a sleepy mining town in South Wales, a small band of environmentalists are trying to prevent the multinational Global Chemicals Company from executing an energy plan which will ultimately pollute the earth. Mr. Stevens, the Director of Global Chemicals is hell-bent on seeing the project through, but he seems to be taking his orders from someone else: The Boss.

The Doctor (Jon Pertwee), after being forcibly trapped on Earth for several years, is granted his freedom by the Timelord Council and immediately makes plans to continue his exploration of the universe in his TARDIS. His assistant Jo Grant (Katy Manning), however, has other ideas and decides to make her way to Llanfairfach with the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) and the military team from UNIT. Together they explore a series of mysterious deaths in a disused mineshaft, where the victims glow with green slime.

With 30 years of shelf-life, it’s wonderful to see this six-part Doctor Who story crawling its way onto DVD. In its original 4:3 mono format, The Green Death looks and sounds as good as it ever did – bad blue-screen and all!

The only shortcoming is some scan-line issues that are particularly noticeable in some of the high-contrast scenes – particularly mining-lamps in the tunnel scenes. Although observable throughout the story, it in no way detracts from thorough enjoyment.

Extremely well put together, this landmark Doctor Who story includes many additional features ideal for the dedicated Who-phile, including a wonderful and witty commentary with writer, Robert Sloman, script editor, Terrance Dicks, and actress Katy Manning; captions displaying technical facts and a wonderfully corny mockumentary in which the post-slimed town of Llanfairfach recalls the incidents of 30 years prior!

This is an exceptional Doctor Who story, with a wonderfully clean transfer. A detailed commentary and a slimy hoard of extras, far beyond what I expected from the budget-driven BBC, make this a perfect addition to every Doctor Who fan’s collection.