Commentary Highlights:

Pretty much all of it- Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and Graeme "Twinkle" Harper gel as a commentary team pretty much from the word go- in fact, from the moment when Bryant’s rear end bounces back into view when Peri falls into the spectrox nest, to be greeted by copious guffaws. In a similar vein, the notorious regeneration scene where by accident or design, Bryant’s chest almost literally overshadows the Fifth Doctor’s last moments results in much amusement. It’s a shame that this particular combination only applies to one story, as Davison’s gentle mockery of the series’ inadequacies blends well with Bryant’s recollections of the various indignities of the companion’s lot, and Harper’s honest criticism of his own work. By the same token, however, the light-hearted approach of the people who starred in and directed the episodes lends a new tone to what’s often considered a dark and gritty story. Even better, the commentary is carried over to a short featurette concentrating on the regeneration footage and an extended scene.

I Didn’t Know That Until I Listened to the Commentary:

Maurice Roeves apparently (according to Peter Davison) filmed a pilot with Amanda Redman for a series to replace The X-Files; the pilot presumably sank without trace.

Extras:

Another isolated music track, although this time around Roger Limb’s score has rather more to commend it in terms of adding to the atmosphere, rounds off the basic package along with some behind-the-scenes regeneration footage and an extended version of the location scene where Stotz makes Krelper take the suicide pill (which, as Graeme Harper points out, includes a line where Stotz tells his men that their ship won’t take off without an access code which only he knows). There’s also an audio-only interview which Christopher Gable gave about realising the character of Sharaz Jek and a photo gallery which doesn’t reveal that much we didn’t already know, apart from a wide-angle view of Morgus’s office. There’s also a trio of BBC news reports from July 1983 covering the announcement of Peter Davison’s departure, including a local news interview from BBC South East with Davison, JNT and an interviewer who is seemingly obsessed with lady Doctors, using the words "crotchety" and "bad-tempered" and describing fans as "freaks". I bet nobody invites her to signings.

For a number of reasons, ‘Caves’ isn’t one of my favourite stories- I tend not to enjoy Doctor Who from the Camfield/Harper stable of grit, action and gunplay, and for my 1984 self it was just slightly too traumatic for Peter Davison’s Doctor to bow out in something quite so dark and bloodthirsty. Having said that, any apprehension I had about rewatching the story was pretty much wiped out by the enjoyment of a particularly good commentary which points out the qualities of the script and the good performances by supporting actors, but doesn’t hesitate to giggle at some of the inadequacies of the production (without, it has to be said, poking fun at anybody’s performance or direction). It’s always been something of a slight paradox that Davison’s most highly-regarded story should also be his last, rather than a more conventional monster story like ‘Earthshock’ or ‘The Visitation’, but the consistently high placing of ‘Caves’ in poll after poll over the last twenty or so years again made it a front runner for the first Fifth Doctor release. It might have seemed like a tall order to match the standards set by ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’, but ‘Caves’ does it, largely due to the enthusiasm of the commentary team and the availability of behind-the-scenes footage covering a key moment in Doctor Who- unless somebody corrects me, the last time to date that a regeneration was recorded with both actors together in the studio at the same time. From the point of view of 2008, it’s again clear (as with ‘Spearhead from Space’) that a such an important story would today have an even better all-round package with interviews and more supporting material, but for 2001 such a treatment of a mid-1980s story was pretty much as good as it could get and to be honest, it doesn’t particularly feel as if much is wanting.