Doctor Who: Volume 3 DVD Review (3/5)

This run of episodes makes the latest "Who" DVD release a little harder to justify than its predecessors given there will be a box-set in November, but hardcore fans already suffering from withdrawal symptoms now Season 5 is over may still want to pick this up at a cheap price of only £10-15. "Amy's Choice" (4/5) sees the Doctor, Amy and Rory switching between realities as they try to work out just why the 'Dream Lord' wants to suspend their disbelief and choose a life, and although this concept seems rather intriguing, the final outcome is a little dreary overall, with writer Simon Nye spending not much time on the 'Dream Lord's true identity and its central relevance to the show, and the director setting a rather dull tone in both realities (despite only Leadworth meaning to do so), while "The Hungry Earth" (4.5/5) manages to harken back to 1970s "Who" by reintroducing the barrier closing in a likeable cast of protagonists and a not-so-likeable group of Silurians (an old enemy from the '70s and '80s) and mysteries to be solved, along with a cliff-hanger that will intrigue rather than shock viewers, and some plot-holes/continuity errors that are too noticeable to forgive at times. "Cold Blood" (4/5) closes the set with a fairly political romp as Amy tries to negotiate a human-Silurian alliance in centuries to come, only to suffer losses on both sides of this so-called coalition, including the harrowing demise of Rory Williams (luckily, the brilliant Arthur Darvill returned in this year's finale, and should be with us for some time afterwards), which is paced just as dramatically as Adric's death in Cyberman story "Earthshock" two decades ago, and eventually sees Rory consumed by a crack, supposedly erased from time forever...My main gripe with this release is that despite the high-ish ratings I initially gave these stories, each one loses its oomph with repeated viewings, unlike the rest of this year's run, and so will eventually become quite boring to look at and review in the future, which means that my ratings would probably dropped if I examined each one seperately now. Add to this that the Silurian Monster Files feature likely won't be anything more than how the race were brought back to life rather than looking into their "Who" heritage, and you get a release which isn't justified as much as Volumes 1 & 2, and begs the question when you simply wait for the box-set.