A mysterious force pulls the TARDIS off
course, stranding the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki on the
mysterious alien world of Vortis. A fierce battle is raging between
the moth-like Menoptra, and giant insects known as Zarbi. But what
is the dark secret that hides at the centre of the Zarbi's lair? -- from the DVD release, 2005 A true love-it-or-hate-it story, while the video was made available when fans were scrabbling for all they could get, would the DVD prove to be unpopular with the more discerning fans of the 21st century..? Episode timings on DVD: 23'52", 23'15", 22'53", 25'45", 26'04", 24'27" Episode timings on PasB: 23'57", 21'20", 22'58", 25'50", 26'04", 24'32" |
VHS releases
10/09/1990: UK - BBC Worldwide - BBCV4505 [two cases cellophaned together]
01/05/1991: Aus/NZ - PolyGram - BBC45052
23/08/1994: US - CBS/Fox - 8142 [renumbered E1265 in 2000 by Warner Home Video]
The end of the final episode was cut to remove the "Next episode" caption, and
credits from a syndicated version prepared in the 80s for sale to foreign TV
stations were used instead (below). In order to comply with BBFC guidelines, the videos opened with captions,
also shown below.
Cover art by Alistair Pearson, based on work he had completed that
year for the reissue of the Target novelisation.
DVD releases
DVD Bonus features
The Lair of Zarbi Supremo (56'44") William Russell reads the sequel story as published in the first Doctor Who Annual. Audio only. Information Text By Martin Wiggins Doctor Who Annual PDFs An electronic copy of the first Annual. Give-A-Show Slides A gallery of images from the 1965 Chad Valley toy. |
|
Tales
of Isop (37'51") A look behind the scenes, interviewing several of the original participants.
Thanks to Gareth A Roberts, Doctor Who Magazine, Jan Vincent-Rudzki, Colin
Young |
Restoration Notes
The recap from the end of The Romans was replaced, and tramlines over the film sequence of the TARDIS in the second episode were painted out. Several major offlocks and field sync errors later in the story were fixed using Shake and hand retouching. After much effort, marks from the camera's tube were left on, as they proved impossible to track for automated removal. Ayres performed his restoration on the magnetic track (although reverted to the optical occasionally), removing various clicks, pops, and the sounds of Zarbis walking into microphones. He also replaced the music in the fourth episode to counteract some speed variations.Classifications
01/10/1990 - Story passed as 'U' by the BBFC for the UK
11/02/1991 - Story passed a 'G' by the OFLC for Aus/NZ
29/07/2005 - Tales of Isop passed as 'U' by the BBFC for the UK
19/08/2005 - Menus passed as 'U' by the BBFC for the UK
20/09/2005 - First three episodes repassed as 'U' by the BBFC for the UK
12/09/2005 - Story (inc Isop) passed as 'G' by the OFLC for Aus/NZ