Doctor Who - City Of Death (DVD)

A star-studded supporting cast enhances the enjoyment of the four-episode Doctor Who adventure City of Death. On holiday in modern-day Paris, the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward) experience what turns out to be a "crack in time." Before long, they have joined forces with a private eye named Duggan (Tom Chadbon) in thwarting the villain of the piece: Count Scarlioni (Julian Glover), who plans to steal the Mona Lisa - but for reasons that go far beyond financial gain

This is a very special Doctor Who story for two reasons. Firstly, it's the Doctor Who story with the highest viewing figures, the final episode having been watched by over 16 million people (though the strike by ITV had nothing to do with that of course) and secondly it was actually written by the legendary Douglas Adams. Those of you familiar with the Key to Time series may remember Pirate Planet being Adams' most famous Dr Who submission but don't be put off City of Death because of that! City of Death bears about as much resemblance to Pirate Planet as Holy Blood, Holy Grail does to the De Vinci Code. It deals with a classic time travel premise, is intelligently written and is packed full of humour, as you'd expect from anything penned by the terrific Douglas Adams. All the performances are brilliant (watch for a couple of totally unexpected cameos in the final episode) and is filmed on location in Paris, giving it a expensive, professional feel that is usually absent for the simple reason that the usual outdoor locations tended to be quarries. I can not recommend this highly enough.