Mara Tales: DVD release detailsBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 2 February 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The two tales featuring the Mara are to be released in the United Kingdom by 2|Entertain on the 7th March 2011 (see here for the North American release date). Details for the two stories in the Mara Tales boxed set, Kinda and Snakedance, are listed below.

2|Entertain released a trailer online last year to promote the set, featuring some of the new special effects that have been especially created for the two tales; this can be viewed in our earlier article about the DVD.
 
Kinda

Written by Christopher Bailey
Directed by Peter Grimwade
Broadcast: 1st-9th February 1982

 
On a beautiful, paradise planet, Deva Loka, its inhabitants, the Kinda, are a gentle and seemingly primitive people. On the surface, a perfect place to colonise. But if it is so perfect, why are the colonisation team disappearing one by one?

Unaware of this, the Doctor and his companions choose to rest on Deva Loka. Enchanted by the beautiful Chimes, "the place of dreams", Tegan sleeps and falls prey to the Mara, a malevolent force out to steal her mind. But just what are its ultimate evil intentions?

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Adric are captured by the surviving colonisation team's officers, Sanders and the unstable Hindle. When Sanders disappears, Hindle collapses into a world of paranoid delusions and suddenly the security of the entire base is at risk.

Can the Doctor rescue Tegan from the Mara and defeat it - before it pushes Hindle over the edge? And who is the mysterious blind woman who appears in visions? Will she help the Doctor or ultimately impede him...

Special Features
  • Commentary - stereo. With actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse and Nerys Hughes.
  • Dream Time (dur. 34’ 05”) – cast and crew look back at the making of the story. With actors Janet Fielding, Nerys Hughes, Simon Rouse and Adrian Mills, director Peter Grimwade, writer Christopher Bailey, script editors Christopher H. Bidmead, Eric Saward and Antony Root, designer Malcolm Thornton, new series writer Robert Shearman.
  • Peter Grimwade - Directing with Attitude (dur. 22’ 57”) – a look at the Doctor Who career of writer and director Peter Grimwade. With Peter Grimwade, actors Janet Fielding and Nerys Hughes, writer Christopher Bailey, script editor Eric Saward, production assistant Margot Hayhoe, designer Malcolm Thornton, production secretary Jane Judge, script consultant Ian Levine, and Target Books editor Nigel Robinson. Presented by Mark Strickson.
  • Deleted and Extended Scenes (dur. 14’ 36”) – a fascinating collection of deleted sequences taken from timecoded domestic videotape copies of the story’s early edits.
  • Optional CGI Effects Sequence – option to view episode four with the original giant puppet snake replaced by a CGI snake
  • CGI Effects Comparison (dur. 1’ 34”) – a side by side comparison of the original puppet and new CGI snake shots.
  • Trails & Continuity (dur. 4’ 13”) – BBC trails and continuity announcements from the story’s original transmission.
  • Photo Gallery (dur. 4’ 42”) - production, design and publicity photos from the story.
  • Isolated Music – option to watch the story with the isolated music score.

Snakedance

Written by Christopher Bailey
Directed by Fiona Cumming
Broadcast: 18th-26th January 1983

 
Surely Tegan must have made a mistake when she set the TARDIS' co-ordinates, because the Doctor certainly hadn't intended landing on Manussa? But upon learning that Manussa was once home of the Sumaran Empire, the Doctor knows that their arrival has been no accident but has been orchestrated by a hostile force - a force which is rapidly gaining control of Tegan's will.

By first infiltrating Tegan's subconscious mind, through strange and disturbing dreams dominated by the image of a huge snake's skull, this force - the Mara - is planning on as a vehicle for its return to power on the planet Manussa.

So just as Manussa prepares festivities to commemorate the destruction of the Sumaran Empire by the ruling Federation, it seems that the Legend of the Mara could be about to come true. According to this Legend, the Mara was never destroyed by the Federation but merely banished.

Furthermore, the Legend claims that the Mara will return in a dream - a precursor to its gaining control of all their minds... It is clear to the Doctor that the first steps in the Mara's return have already been taken...

Special Features
  • Commentary - stereo. With actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton.
  • Snake Charmer (dur. 24’ 37”) – cast and crew look back at the making of the story. With actors Peter Davison and Janet Fielding, director Fiona Cumming, writer Christopher Bailey, script editor Eric Saward, designer Jan Spoczynski, and new series writer Robert Shearman.
  • Deleted Scenes (dur. 3’ 05”) – scenes from the original ending of episode four, courtesy of a timecoded recording kept by producer John Nathan-Turner.
  • In Studio (dur. 6’ 12”) – a rare glimpse inside the studio during recording of effects sequences for the story, including the infamous ‘farting Mara’!
  • Saturday Superstore (dur. 14’ 16”) – Peter Davison guests on the Saturday morning children’s show, where he plays cricket with Mike Read and John Craven and takes questions from callers.
  • Photo Gallery (dur. 5’ 21”) - production, design and publicity photos from the story.
  • Isolated Music – option to watch the story with the isolated music score.
  • Radio Times Listings in Adobe PDF format.


(Mara Tales is available to pre-order from our Amazon Shop)




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD - Peter Davison