BBV (short for Bill Baggs Video) was an independent production company that in the 1990s and early 2000s produced a large number of low-on-budget but high-on-energy films based loosely around Doctor Who. Some of their projects featured characters that were pastiches of characters from the TV series, while other BBV productions actually obtained the rights to certain creatures and characters from the TV series (but never the Doctor himself).
It's this fact that lies behind the big joke of Do You Have a Licence to Save This Planet? To mark BBV's 10th anniversary, Bill Baggs himself produced and directed this tale of "The Foot Doctor" a "Chrono-Duke" who is called into service by Lord Rassilon when a certain LICENCED Time Lord is unavailable. His mission -- to stop an invasion of Cyberons (BBV's unlicensed version of the Cybermen) while also ducking out of the way of several Sontarans and Autons (actual Doctor Who series monsters licensed from their creators).
Sylvester McCoy, who played the Seventh Doctor on TV (and if you don't know what I mean by Seventh Doctor, then odds are this film will go over your head unless you take a Doctor Who primer) endearingly pokes fun at his TV persona as "The Foot Doctor", while bulky Mark Donovan plays his erstwhile companion.
The jokes are hit-and-miss -- often more miss -- but there's enough here to give some good giggles to fans "in the know". There's no pathos, no high drama, a minimum of "action" - just fun. And even if you find the going a bit tedious, be sure to stick around to near the end for a great joke directed at the other Doctor Who actors! Donovan gets some of the best lines though as he pokes fun at the Doctor Who companion stereotype.
As an earlier reviewer said, this is a must-see for Doctor Who fans. It's no classic, but it's got its charm, and like most of BBV's productions it provides an interesting look into the "dark days" before the return of the real Doctor Who to our TV screens.
It's this fact that lies behind the big joke of Do You Have a Licence to Save This Planet? To mark BBV's 10th anniversary, Bill Baggs himself produced and directed this tale of "The Foot Doctor" a "Chrono-Duke" who is called into service by Lord Rassilon when a certain LICENCED Time Lord is unavailable. His mission -- to stop an invasion of Cyberons (BBV's unlicensed version of the Cybermen) while also ducking out of the way of several Sontarans and Autons (actual Doctor Who series monsters licensed from their creators).
Sylvester McCoy, who played the Seventh Doctor on TV (and if you don't know what I mean by Seventh Doctor, then odds are this film will go over your head unless you take a Doctor Who primer) endearingly pokes fun at his TV persona as "The Foot Doctor", while bulky Mark Donovan plays his erstwhile companion.
The jokes are hit-and-miss -- often more miss -- but there's enough here to give some good giggles to fans "in the know". There's no pathos, no high drama, a minimum of "action" - just fun. And even if you find the going a bit tedious, be sure to stick around to near the end for a great joke directed at the other Doctor Who actors! Donovan gets some of the best lines though as he pokes fun at the Doctor Who companion stereotype.
As an earlier reviewer said, this is a must-see for Doctor Who fans. It's no classic, but it's got its charm, and like most of BBV's productions it provides an interesting look into the "dark days" before the return of the real Doctor Who to our TV screens.