“Dreamland” is an animated adventure that is part of the new “Doctor Who” series, where it fits between its fifth and sixth season, aired in 2009. It’s written by Phil Ford and directed by Gary Russell.
On June 13, 1947, a spaceship is shot down and crashes near Roswell, New Mexico. About eleven years later, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) arrives in Dry Springs, Nevada, where he finds an alien object in a local diner. While the analyzes with his sonic screwdriver, two “men in black” arrive and demand to be given the artifact.
The Doctor escapes along with a diner’s waitress and a friend of her and go to investigate the sightings of a monster. They soon find out that the monster is real and luckily for them is shot down by a military helicopter. The soldiers who arrived capture the Doctor and his companions and take them to the legendary Area 51, also known as Dreamland.
After “The Infinite Quest“, the BBC produced another “Doctor Who” animated adventure but with a format a little different. “Dreamland” was initially transmitted split into mini-episodes but in this case they were only 6: the first 12 minutes long and the others 6 minutes long each. These mini-episodes were broadcast through the “Red Button” service, the official website dedicated to “Doctor Who” and iPlayer. Later, “Dreamland” was broadcast entirely on normal BBC TV channels, unlike what happened to “The Infinite Quest”, which was broadcast in a children TV show.
The animation of “Dreamland” was made in computer graphics. The budget wasn’t comparable to the many successful animated movies and you can see it. The movements of the human characters are in fact stiff and their facial expressions are indeed limited. Let’s say that from this point of view you must turn a blind eye, just like when you watch an adventure of the classic “Doctor Who” series with its special effects that sometimes were really rough. Of course, there’s the advantage that they can easily have non-humanoid aliens.
“Dreamland” is an adventure with a high pace typical of the new series that explores the urban legends born around the alleged crash of an alien spacecraft near Roswell and in general around the encounters with the alien “grays”. The scene in the Area 51 warehouse reminded me of the last Indiana Jones movie. The nest of the Queen Viperox reminded me of “Alien” instead.
The plot of “Dreamland” isn’t particularly sophisticated and that’s inevitable for a 42-minute episode but at least it’s comparable to a normal episode of the new series. Instead, “The Infinite Quest” was broken into several parts linked by a background plot that was very basic.
David Tennant is brilliant as always in his performance as the Doctor and is supported by good vocal performances by the rest of the cast. Lisa Bowerman is a veteran of the audio adventures of “Doctor Who” and the spinoff dedicated to Bernice Summerfield, David Warner starred in several “Doctor Who” audio adventures and played Steel in the audio series “Sapphire & Steel”. Georgia Moffett starred in a “Doctor Who” audio adventure in addition to being Jenny in the episode of the new series “The Doctor’s Daughter”.
The DVD includes no extras but there’s a bonus disc that includes three uncut episodes almost an hour each of “Doctor Who Greatest Moments”, three specials that are part of the “Doctor Who Confidential” series. The episodes, focused on the new “Doctor Who” series, are dedicated to the Doctor, the companions and the enemies. It’s a curious choice, also because the bonus disc contains far more material than the disc containing “Dreamland”.
Overall, “Dreamland” is in my opinion comparable to an average episode of the new “Doctor Who” series. Having been produced as a cartoon, it may be useful to introduce children to the show but it can be also enjoyable for adults. The mini-boxset however seems a product for fans of the series.
