I watched the episode wearing red/green 3D glasses that we had in the house (I believe The Sun was doing 3D Page 3 around this time) and I remember the floating 1s & 2nd heads effect being particularly effective.
I remember watching this at the time with the proper 3D glasses. They did work - it relies on one of the lenses being slightly more opaque than the other, so that light from the screen hits one eye slightly later than the other, which convinces the brain you're seeing 3D. Cinema 3D glasses use the same principle. It also relied on fast movement from one side to the other to sell the effect, which is why there are so many tracking and steadicam shots moving around the Doctor and his companions. The Hartnell & Troughton heads were models, btw.
I watched the original broadcast with the 3D specs and it looked quite good, Fifi from the Happiness Patrol especially stood out. Check the videos that include the Crinkley Bottom crap too; Noel's perplexed expression at the end of episode 1 says it all. According to legend he demanded episode 2 was cut down for his precious show... Nice vid, you've got a great presentation style, very funny, looking forward to seeing more!
Interesting video! Thanks for the memories, I went to a convention in Aylesbury a few months after Dimensions in Time was broadcast and one of the guests was said to have worked on Dimensions In Time and he brought along and showed those of us at the convention a different edit of the second episode, and gave us a live commentary. His claim at the time was that the story actually made a lot more sense when it was put together and they thought that the second episode would have similar runtime to the first. However the problem was the guys at Noel's House Party, who flatly refused to grant them adequate runtime for the story to make sense. He said they approached the House party producers with several edits and were basically forced into cutting the second episode until it was too short to work. It would be worth considering if that VHS tape he showed at the convention is still around! I think it made a bit more sense!
For me it was getting into Doctor Who watching the 7th Doctor. I still have a vague memory of watching "The Five Doctors" and the cliff hanger of "Warriors of the Deep". And then, later remember the 6th Doctor running through fantasy factory in the closing episodes of "Trial of a timelord". And YES, I remember the headlines like "The street exterminates Doctor Who". So, like yourself Chimp, "Dimensions in Time" was a big deal. And they had the special cover gimmick done by the Radio Times, which they still use now. "Dark Dimension" looks like a perfect anniversary special which would've appealed to non fan viewers. Both the 1989 cancellation and how the BBC treated Doctor in the years after, has left a lot of Doctor Who long term fans with a dislike of the BBC full stop. Although, ironically. NO Doctor Who from 19990 to 2004 saw more Doctor Who content through various media than it ever had when on the TV. The best thing to happen to Doctor Who? NO Doctor Who. It enabled the show to become something people missed. And most crucially, it gave the show the chance to be explored in audio, TV Movie and even animation. All these gave TV people a better idea of how to best update and deliver a modern version of Doctor Who both respectful to what had gone before, but also WAY ahead of modern TV. When Doctor Who returned in 2005, the 'has been show'. actually made the then modern TV look very boring and small minded. The Timelord was TOP RATE TV. RTD and others took what made the show work so well and added intelligence and depth which, by that point, TV had lost. "Dimensions in Time" was never meant to be "Genesis of the Daleks" but a fun for all the viewers and as it raised so much money it's value lies in doing what the Doctor always did: Saving people. David
ADDITONAL INPUT And now, Big Finish are borrowing the shifting through the Doctors idea for their 60th Anniversary celebration. IF DIMENSIONS IN TIME WAS DONE AS A PROPER TV OUTING It would be a 2 hour special. The idea would be very much the same, except they'd have a proper story line, each Doctor would have their respective TARDIS set and the script would would be a proper script giving all the characters equal billing. At the end, the Doctors all come together at the end to LINK their minds. And the monsters would be a REAL peril. All serving as the challenge each Doctor and companions have to over come to get to the 'end boss' ie the Rani. And the end would be the 7th Doctor saying the same line about not being able to get rid of him. It would remembered as a great story. Because it's me suggesting it all. David
You’re spot on! My brother and I were big DW fans and the lack of any new shows meant we devoured all the VHS and novel releases, as well as the repeats they did on BBC2. By the time the show returned, I had kids of my own and they absolutely loved it.
Thank you so much @@RichardCJohnson. It was the real life example of "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Every new VHS was exciting and new. I loved their 30th anniversary schedule. And the "Trial of a Time Lord" TARDIS tin? Essentially, how Star Trek grew a following after it was cancelled leading to the movie series. I adore seeing new young fans discovering the shows many eras because it's very rewarding. A great idea will connect with each new decade of viewers because it is a simple but flexible concept. David
I remember the hype for this…especially the amazing new 3D technique they banged on about which didn’t use colour separation, but relied on some kind of parallax effect, where the camera had to basically rotate around a centre point…and realistically, it rarely worked.
I've noticed that some shows still use the technique. Not just tracking shots, but that 360 degree thing around the characters. Do they think the viewers all have their tinted glasses on them all the time?
fun fact in the development stages this episode was called Endgame and had the Doctor taking on the Celestial Toymaker who stole the Doctors incarnations.
Just realised the notifications for this channel haven't been working, hence not seeing this video. Thanks for creating it and talking about Dimensions in Time. It's such an oddity in its existence, and despite my jokes about it and my adamant refusal to count it as existing, it's still a part of Doctor Who history that deserves some recognition.
I do remember seeing Dimensions In Time back then. I'd only just gotten into Doctor Who as it was wrapping up, I distinctly recall my first ever encounter with the Doctor being him fighting the Kandy Man in 'The Happiness Patrol'; one more season and it was gone. So I was excited by Dimensions In Time, and as a kid who just really really liked monsters I was perfectly happy for a random menagerie of them to just turn up, even if now I wouldn't think it was much cop as a plot. EastEnders' part in it wasn't a problem, there are lots of Doctor Who stories where he goes to a place and is surrounded by other people going about their lives in the thick of it, so it wasn't any worse off for those people appearing in one of my nan's soaps. Did the 3D work? Well, this is the second time I've watched a youtube retrospective on DIT and I had STILL forgotten it was meant to be in 3D, so let's say if it did then it didn't leave much of a mark on me. All in all I rate this five Doctors out of seven
Still got my SVHS off-air recordings and 3 sets of glasses! The BBC made the most of the tech whilst they had it and they had Studio show on the Saturday night that broadcast a few more 3D presentations, including the Pet Shop Boys, playing live with 3D CGI 'things' flying around them.
I liked it. There are limitations of what you can do with a 7 min + 5 min minisodes plus have all the companions, doctors, Rani, villians, and eastenders cast members. Couple of weak edits such as Lalla being dragged into Queen Vic and lots of plotholes/continuity errors. But it was for charity during a time when there was no Dr Who on tv. The Dark Dimension was killed as Segal was in talks with BBC for his own show. Given all the factors at play it was a good effort to try to give the fans something during the bleak years
8:24 The busts of Hartnell and Troughton are models. They're not CGI. 10:34 See also Big Finish's The Spectre of Lanyon Moor and Minuet In Hell). One thought that makes DiT actually canon is Shobu Kapoor. She played Gita in EE and she's the frightened woman in Journey's End who disintegrates during the test.
As a then 13 year old who vaguely remembered catching some of the last two season's stories I absolutely loved this. It may have been weak in conception & content but by God I think it delivered on conviction. Even to this day it puts a smile on my face. Also, can anyone else recall a proper 3D tv experience that early in time that actually worked? I think a lot people overlook this milestone.
I was 12 and I assumed it was part of the series (not having realised it had ended). I enjoyed it, but was disappointed not to see the Daleks. I didn't know who the old companions all were though
Nice video, I am watching all the important seventh doctor tv episodes and audios that I own in a time line order (tho I am going to buy love and war/afterlife
So basically the movie “The Flash” with cameos like the Nickn Cage of the Superman that never happened Christopher Reeves version with super girl played by Helen Slater that never came to be ect ect but I digress. The east Enders crossover is the same format as todays Flash to simply put it. To the content creator, thank you for the vid.
JNT sneaked DIT into Chicago's DW convention 1993. Complete with required glasses for everyone. He said to never tell anyone. Oops. The 3d worked quite well. I have this on VHS. The 3d still works by covering one eye only with a sunglass lens. Tom Baker has remarked that upon seeing the costume version he was to wear he said, "Oh, you've brought the sh***y one." Nice work on this vid!
I have a recording from that night at Visions Chicago plus the encore showing next night > ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rveXk4zchF0.html
I'm sure I must have seen this as I remember the non-anaglyph 3D glasses gimmick, but it couldn't have left much of an impact as seeing this video is probably the first time I've thought about it in ~30 years.
I have all the Target novels and 2/3rd of the other books (and keep buying them), and all the new series novels. These books were (are) my lifeline for when I couldn't get Doctor Who on TV. While it was a way to discover episodes I hadn't seen. It was too costly to buy VHS tapes (yes, VHS), but the books and Dr Who mag were a lifeline to the best show ever so all was well. So, when something came up like Dimensions or the 1996 movie it was like heaven had opened up. I was in disbelief when the show came back. Was it a great special? Meh. The Curse Of Fatal Death is better! But, it was great seeing everyone and I've watched it numerous times.
No, that wasn’t Harry Sullivan. Ian Marter died in 1986 at the age of 42 from a diabetic coma. It was probably an Eastenders character, I’ve no interest in which one.
Another annoying part of this: Kate O'Mara's part is clearly written for Anthony Ainley's Master, and had zero adaption for The Rani. The other characters call her "Rani", but O'Mara is forced to abandon any pretext of playing that character because nothing that happens is anything the Rani would do. She is clearly playing Anthony Ainley.
Am sure I video taped this at the time. Am currently listening to Audio Visuals Doctor Who recordings from the 1990's (from ancient cassettes), Nick Briggs is pretty much the doctor for all but one I think, and sometimes it's a bit odd. They reference the Starship Titanic crash, and in one episode the Dr shouts "Geronimo" jumping into the Thames. about 16 episodes in of the 27. Been ok, no cybermen yet though, though a few Dalek stories and def improving with time.
"Dimensions in Time" was one of the first if not the first video I ever downloaded from the internet, in the early 2000s. As a USian the _Eastenders_ portion was completely lost on me, and as a result I was pretty lost overall. It was also tiny and low-def even by early 2000s standards.
I remember thinking back then “did they ever film this with Big Ron too? & will they ever show it,? or was it always going to be Mandy? Questions Questions
You know I may be one of the few, but ey I really like Dimensions in Time. Yeah it makes no sense and for some reason has East Enders in it, but ey it was another adventure of a show that by that point the BBC already lost all faith in and in all honesty I think that mindset makes me at least cherish the fact that nowadays we get Dr Who on a (somewhat) yearly basis. Would I´ve liked to see Dark Dimensions over it? Yeah, but for what Dimensions in Time is, it´s alright. I mean I´ll give it this, technically it was the five doctors volume two if you think about it.
Here is the unaired Big Ron version which JNT brought to the Visions convention at Chicago and aired on the Friday prior to the UK broadcast ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rveXk4zchF0.html
@@Sedric-and-Charlie Just found it. I don't hate it so far, but the lack of ambient sound slows down the pacing. I think that the script could be better, but I like the concept.
Nah. the 3D didn't work for me either. Didn't it just have one lens? I honestly have never seen or heard of that 3D format since or before watching that diabolical episode.
Nobody now believes me when I say the BBC hated Doctor Who. On broadcast the second episode ended with this weird rookie sound sync up. But wow I remember this episode broadcast
I love Dimensions in Time in all its rubbish glory. If you look into the production history it was blighted by continuous new restrictions like a mad Dogme film. The 3D technique would only work if the camera was moving so there are no static shots (which actually makes it more cinematic), Edmonds wanted it shorter so it wasn't encroaching on his Crinkly Bottom, Tom still refused to play along. Yes the horribly disrespectful pickled heads were models, CGI for a BBC production then was nowhere near that.
While I doubt Tennant/ Tate 2 will be as bad as Dimensions, I'm really worried it's not going to get much past pandering to nostalgia. But... going to the diamond logo makes me think RTD has commentary about looking backward planned because it's just so blatant.
Oh god, I worked on this nonsense....lol Imo you'd have to be daft in the head to expect anything serious from this. It was a cheap charity bit of silliness and was never meant to be anything else.
