The Frequently Asked Questions Lists for Doctor Who
Home Videos and DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs in the

United States and Canada

LATEST NEWS

Last updated November 11, 2009.   Recently updated sections are in red. 

Compiled by Steve Manfred,  smanfred at comcast.net   (change at to @ and remove the spaces to email me)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE MAIN DVD FAQ LIST.  or  CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE VHS HOME VIDEO FAQ LIST.

 

FINALE FOR THE TENTH DOCTOR ON DISC IN FEBRUARY

BBC Worldwide Americas have announced a disc-release schedule for the final stories starring David Tennant

as the Doctor that are soon to air on the BBC in the UK and on BBC America. It goes like this:

 

On February 2, 2010, all of the following become available on both standard DVD and high-definition Blu-Ray:

 

Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars starring David Tennant (1 60-min. episode, 1 disc, $14.98 DVD or $19.98 Blu-Ray)

 

Doctor Who: The End of Time 2-part special starring David Tennant (1 60-min. episode and 1 75-min. episode, 2 discs,

$24.98 DVD or $29.99 Blu-Ray.  The End of Time is the title for the 2nd part; the title for the 1st part hasn’t

yet been revealed)

 

Doctor Who: Specials Collection

5-disc release of all five of the standalone David Tennant specials.  $49.98 DVD or $59.99 Blu-Ray.

The five specials are The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, and the two-part

The End of Time  finale.  (The first two of these are already available by themselves.)

            (Note: The Next Doctor was shot at PAL standard-definition.  It’s not yet known how this will be handled

            in this Blu-Ray disc set.  Watch this space for further updates, hopefully soon.)

 

NOVEMBER’s NEW TITLES

Two new Doctor Who titles and one of its Sarah Jane Adventures spinoff were released in North America

in November. 

 

The Doctor Who titles are from the classic series, and came out on Tuesday, November 3.  They are:

 

Doctor Who: The War Games starring Patrick Troughton (10 25-minute episodes, 3 discs, $49.98) and

 

Doctor Who: The Black Guardian Trilogy starring Peter Davison (12 25-minute episodes plus a special edition,

            4 discs, $59.98)

 

And on Tuesday, November 10, they released:

The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Second Season starring Elisabeth Sladen (3 discs, $39.98)

 

Doctor Who: The War Games is the landmark classic story that ended the era of the Second Doctor, saw the departure of

companions Jamie and Zoe, and introduced by name and en masse the Doctor’s own people, the Time Lords.  (It was also

the last story made in the 1960s and in black-and-white.)   In this 10-episode epic, the TARDIS crew arrive in a First

World War battlefield, or so they think at first.  They have in fact stumbled on a vast war game engineered by aliens

with technology provided by a criminal from the Doctor’s own people, and it will take his own people to finally sort it out.

But what will that mean for the Doctor’s own freedom? 

 

Doctor Who: The Black Guardian Trilogy is a box set of three 4-episode stories from the middle of the series’ 20th

season (which was the middle year of the Fifth Doctor’s tenure).  They tell a story arc of the Doctor’s old enemy,

the Black Guardian, and his attempts to destroy the Doctor using his new “companion” Turlough (played by Mark

Strickson) as his agent.  All three stories also star Janet Fielding as Tegan, and the first two also star Sarah Sutton

as Nyssa. The second story is Nyssa’s departure story.

In the first story, Mawdryn Undead, Turlough is guided by the Black Guardian to a transmat capsule that leads in turn

to an alien ship passengered by undead mutants who crave the Doctor’s life force to end their own torment.

This story also features the return of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

In the second story, Terminus, Turlough’s sabotage to the TARDIS causes it to dock with a spacecraft full of lepers

en route to a supposed cure at Terminus, a space station at the very center of the universe with the power to destroy it. 

In the third story, Enlightenment,  the White Guardian brings the Doctor to a contest between Eternal creatures:

a race through space on ships modeled after Earth sailing vessels, where the prize is Enlightenment: “the wisdom which

knows all things.” 

This set will contain a 4th disc with a new edit of Enlightenment, where the entire story has been treated with a more modern

editing eye, including changing it to a 16:9 aspect ratio, tightening of scenes, and new CGI.  The idea is basically to try

and take a classic series story and post-produce it in the style of the new series.

The stories in this set will NOT be sold separately. 

 

The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Second Season is, as the title says, the whole of the second season of this

spinoff series from Doctor Who that aired on the BBC in the autumn of 2008.  It has not yet been shown on any cable or

other network channel in the U.S., so this is its debut for the U.S.  It contains 6 2-part stories, each part lasting 30 minutes.

It stars Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Tommy Knight as Luke, Daniel Anthony as Clyde, Anji Mohindra as

Rani, Alexander Armstrong as the voice of Mr. Smith, and guest appearances by Yasmin Paige as Maria and

Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and John Leeson as the voice of K9.

 

Further details of these releases can be found below.

 

UPCOMING RELEASE CALENDAR                     

 

January 5, 2010          Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus starring William Hartnell (6 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98) and

                                   

                                    Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma starring Colin Baker (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98)

 

February 2, 2010        Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars starring David Tennant (1 60-min. episode, 1 disc, $14.98 DVD or

$19.98 Blu-Ray)

 

Doctor Who: The End of Time 2-part special starring David Tennant (1 60-min. episode and 1 75-min.

episode, 2 discs, $24.98 DVD or $29.99 Blu-Ray.  The End of Time is the title for the 2nd part;

the title for the 1st part hasn’t yet been revealed) 

 

Doctor Who: Specials Collection

5-disc release of all five of the standalone David Tennant specials.  $49.98 DVD or $59.99 Blu-Ray.

The five specials are The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, and the two-part

The End of Time  finale. 

                                    (Note: The Next Doctor was shot at PAL standard-definition.  It’s not yet known how this will be handled

                                    in this Blu-Ray disc set.  Watch this space for further updates, hopefully soon.)

 

March 2, 2010            Doctor Who: Dalek War starring Jon Pertwee (12 25-minute episodes, 4 discs, $59.98)

                                    Contains the consecutive 6-part stories Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks.

 

                                    Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks Special Edition starring Sylvester McCoy

                                                (4 25-minute episodes, 2 discs, $24.98)

 

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus is a 6-part story from 1964, in the middle of the series’ very first season.  The

original TARDIS crew find an enormous building on an island surrounded by acid, and its sole proprietor tasks them

against their will to scour various locations on his planet for the missing microkeys to a justice machine that will save

his civilization from the machinations of Yartek, criminal mastermind and leader of the alien Voord.  It stars William

Hartnell as the Doctor, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, and Carole Ann Ford

as Susan Foreman.

 

Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma is the debut 4-part adventure for Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, which came at

the close of the series’ 21st season in 1984.  The Doctor’s regeneration leaves him mentally unstable, and in a fit of

rage he attempts to kill Peri.  Seeking atonement, he decides to become a hermit and retreats to a barren wasteland

called Titan 3.  There he unwittingly crosses paths with a plot to kidnap two mathematical geniuses whose skill is

required for a scheme of vast consequence.  With this release, all of the stories starring Colin Baker as the Sixth

Doctor will have been released.   

 

The February titles are the “special” Doctor Who episodes that will see out David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

The last three of these have yet to air anywhere, but will be doing so in the coming months.

 

Doctor Who: Dalek War is a box set of two linked stories from 1973 in the middle of the series’ tenth season.

In the first, Frontier in Space, the Doctor and Jo are caught up in a cold war between the galactic empires of Earth

and Draconia, who are being driven to war by attacks fomented by the Doctor’s archenemy, the Master, who himself

is in the employ of… the Daleks!   And in the second story, Planet of the Daleks, the Doctor and Jo pursue the

Daleks to their base of operations where the greatest army of Daleks that has ever been is being assembled. 

Planet of the Daleks used to suffer from having one episode, its third, exist in the BBC archives only in black and

White even though it was originally made in color.  A remarkable new restoration technique (which is detailed in the

extra features) has enabled this episode to be restored to full color for the first time since the 1970s, and is presented

here on this DVD.

 

Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks Special Edition is a 2-disc set of the opening story of the series’ 25th season.

In this, the Doctor returns to the site of the very first episode of the series to retrieve a powerful artifact that he left

behind, and finds that two rival factions of Daleks are seeking it too…

This edition has been remastered from scratch and will include a 5.1 sound mix and a copious amount of new extra

features that were not in the first edition of this story from 2002, as well as all the extras that were in the original version.

This was originally released in the UK as part of a box set of all the stories with Davros in them, but has since been

released on its own there, and this is the North American edition of the single release.

 

 

OTHER RECENT RELEASES

 

November 10              The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Second Season starring Elisabeth Sladen (12 30-minute

                                                episodes, 3 discs, $39.98)

 

November 3                Doctor Who: The War Games starring Patrick Troughton (10 25-minute episodes, 3 discs, $49.98) and

 

                                    Doctor Who: The Black Guardian Trilogy starring Peter Davison (12 25-minute episodes plus a special

                                    edition, 4 discs, $59.98)

 

September 15, 2009   Doctor Who: The Next Doctor starring David Tennant (1 60-minute episode, 1 disc, $14.98)

 

September 1, 2009     Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin starring Tom Baker (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98)

 

                                    Doctor Who: Image of the Fendahl starring Tom Baker (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98)

           

                                    Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen starring Sylvester McCoy (3 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98)

 

July 28, 2009              Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead starring David Tennant and Michelle Ryan (1 60-minute episode,

                                    1 disc, high-definition BLU-RAY for $19.89 or standard-definition DVD for $14.98 for DVD)

                                    Also includes a 60-minute Doctor Who Confidential

 

Torchwood: The Complete Second Season (13 50-minute episodes, 4 BLU-RAY discs, high-def, $79.98)

 

                                    Torchwood: Children of Earth starring John Barrowman and Eve Myles (5 50-minute episodes,

                                    2 discs, high-definition BLU-RAY for $34.99 or standard-definition DVD for $29.98 for DVD)

                                    Also includes Torchwood Declassified

 

July 7, 2009                Doctor Who: The Rescue / The Romans starring William Hartnell (2 stories in one 2-disc set:

                                    2 25-minute episodes in The Rescue on one disc and 4 25-minute episodes in The Romans

on the other, $34.98).  These stories will not be sold separately (but they’re consecutive

stories in the chronological order in any case).

 

                                    Doctor Who: Attack of the Cybermen starring Colin Baker (2 45-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98)

 

May 5, 2009               Doctor Who – The E-Space Trilogy starring Tom Baker (3 stories, each is 4 25-minute episodes,

3 discs, $49.98) and

Doctor Who – Battlefield starring Sylvester McCoy (4 25-min. episodes and a 95-min.

Special Edition, 2 discs, $34.98)

 

March 3, 2009            Doctor Who: The Key to Time Special Edition starring Tom Baker (26 25-min. eps, 7 discs, $99.98)

                                    Contains all six stories of the 1978-79 season, also available separately:

                                    Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation Special Edition (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98),

                                    Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet Special Edition (4 25-minute episodes., 1 disc, $24.98),

                                    Doctor Who: The Stones of Blood Special Edition (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98),

                                    Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara Special Edition (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98),

                                    Doctor Who: The Power of Kroll Special Edition (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98), and

                                    Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor Special Edition (6 25-minute episodes, 2 discs, $34.98)

 

January 6, 2009          Doctor Who: The War Machines starring William Hartnell  (4 25-min eps, 1 disc, $24.98) and

                                    Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday starring Peter Davison (4 25-minute episodes, 1 disc, $24.98).    

 

 

NOVEMBER RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The War Games starring Patrick Troughton as Dr. Who, Frazer Hines as Jamie, and Wendy Padbury as Zoe.

3-disc set.   The episodes are split across the first two discs, the first five on Disc 1 and the remaining five on Disc 2.

            On Discs 1 and 2, you will find:

            - The episodes of the story with full restoration treatment.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track with actors Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Philip Madoc (the War Lord),

Jane Sherwin (Lady Jennifer), and Graham Weston (Russell), co-writer Terrance Dicks,

and producer Derrick Sherwin.  Commentary is on all 10 episodes, but the participants rotate in

and out as it goes. 

- Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

            - 1 Easter Egg on Disc 1.  Highlight the area of blank text below to see how to find it and what it is.

                        From the main menu, go the Subtitles selection and press the down arrow.  The Doctor Who

                        logo on the top of the screen will be highlighted.  Click this and you will hear 20 minutes of “wild

                        track” sound that was recorded during the original 1969 location filming.

On Disc 3, the extras:

-         “War Zone”  A 36-minute behind-the-scenes documentary on the recording of the story, featuring

interviews with director David Maloney, producer Derrick Sherwin, co-writer Terrance Dicks,

designer Roger Cheveley, actors Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Bernard Horsfall

(1st Time Lord), and Jane Sherwin (Lady Jennifer), and further discussion with recent Doctor Who

canon writers Paul Cornell, James Moran, and Joseph Lidster, and Doctor Who Magazine editor

Tom Spilsbury.

-         “Shades of Grey  A 22-minute featurette about the era of black-and-white television at the BBC.

Discussing this are most of the “War Zone” interviewees, plus director Timothy Combe,

graphic designer Bernard Lodge, and BBC Radiophonic Workshop maestros Delia Derbyshire and

Brian Hodgson.

-         “Now and Then”  A 10-minute featurette looking at the locations used for the filming and showing what

they look like at the time of the DVD’s making.

-         “The Doctor’s Composer”  (Part One)  An 18-minute interview with stalwart Doctor Who incidental

musician Dudley Simpson, here covering his contributions to 1960s Doctor Who.  (Further parts

of this interview covering the rest of his Who career will appear on later DVDs from those eras.)

-         “Sylvia James – In Conversation”  An 8-minute interview with 1960s Doctor Who Make-Up Artist

Sylvia James.

-         “Talking About Regeneration”  A 24-minute featurette that covers all of the Doctor’s regenerations

as seen throughout Doctor Who up to and including the change from the Ninth Doctor to the Tenth.

Featuring actors Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor) and Kate O’Mara (the Rani), and new series

canon writers Rob Shearman, Joseph Lidster, and Gareth Roberts.

-         “Time Zones”  A 15-minute featurette where historians educate us a bit on the main wars featured

in The War Games, namely World War One, the Roman Empire invasions, and the American Civil War.

-         “Stripped for Action – The Second Doctor”  A 14-minute featurette about the TV Comic comic strips

that covered the era of the Second Doctor.  Featuring Doctor Who comics writers and experts

Alan Barnes, Jeremy Bentham, Gary Russell, and John Ainsworth.

-         “On Target – Malcolm Hulke  A 20-minute featurette about the Doctor Who novelizations written

by Malcolm Hulke (co-writer of The War Games).  Features Terrance Dicks, Alan Barnes, Gary

Russell, guide author David Howe, illustrator Chris Achilleos, and readings by actors Katy Manning

(Jo Grant in the Third Doctor’s era) and Peter Miles (Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks amongst others).

-         “Devious”  A 12-minute Doctor Who production homemade by fans in 1995 which was supposed to be set

immediately after the events of The War Games, but unlike most fan videos, this one landed none other

than Jon Pertwee himself in the title part.  Also features an optional commentary by the producers.

-         Photo Gallery.  A 6-minute gallery of still photographs taken throughout the production, some in color.

-         PDF Files.  Place this disc into the DVD-ROM drive of your home computer and you can view the following

Files:  the original 1969 Radio Times billings, a BBC Enterprises sales document for the story, and

production designs of the SIDRATs.

            -     1 Easter Egg.  Highlight the area of blank text below to see how to find it and what it is.

                        From the main menu, go the Subtitles selection and press the down arrow.  The Doctor Who

                        logo on the top of the screen will be highlighted.  Click this and you will see the animated effect

                        that was used to represent the force fields we see in the story, but all by itself with no other picture

                        underneath it. 

 

Doctor Who: The Black Guardian Trilogy  

            A 3-disc box set of three consecutive, linked stories from the middle of the 1983 season (the twentieth).

            Each story comes in its own Amaray clamshell box, with all three surrounded by an outer box.

Story 1:  Doctor Who – Mawdryn Undead starring Peter Davison as the Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa,

                        Janet Fielding as Tegan, introducing Mark Strickson as Turlough, and guest starring

                        Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier and Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian.

- All four episodes of the story with full restoration treatment.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track with actors Peter Davison, Nicholas Courtney, and Mark Strickson,

            and script editor Eric Saward.

- Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

            - Isolated Music option.  Plays the entire story with only the incidental music soundtrack playing.

            - “Who Wants to Live Forever?”  A 25-minute behind-the-scenes documentary featuring interviews

                        with actors Peter Davison, Mark Strickson, David Collings (Mawdryn) and Lucy Benjamin

(Young Nyssa), script editor Eric Saward, director Peter Moffatt, and a plastic surgeon.

- “Liberty Hall  A 7-minute featurette where a journalist “interviews” Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

about his career. 

- Deleted and Extended Scenes.  5 minutes worth of 13 different deleted or extended scenes.

- Film Trims.  4 minutes of silent film footage from the tops and tails of location recorded scenes.

- Outtakes.  6 minutes worth of bloopers.

- CGI Effects Option.  Plays the story with some of the special effects replaced by new CGI ones.

- Continuity.  1-minute featurette that plays the original BBC intro and outros for the episodes.

- Photo Gallery.  7 minutes of production stills taken throughout the production.

- Set Photo Gallery.  Another 1 minute of stills taken of the sets by themselves.

- PDF Materials.  Place this disc into the DVD-ROM drive of your home computer and you can

view the following files:  the original 1983 Radio Times billings, CGI storyboards, and studio

floor plans.

- Coming Soon trailer advertising the forthcoming release of The Twin Dilemma.

- 2 Easter Eggs.  Highlight the area of blank text below to see how to find them and what they are.

- Egg 1.  Highlight the Deleted and Extended Scenes option and press the left arrow.  A Doctor Who

            logo will appear.  Click on this and you’ll see the TARDIS Information System come online

            and give you a few more bits of production trivia and continuity points for about one minute.

- Egg 2.  Highlight the Set Photo Gallery option and press the left arrow.  A Doctor Who logo will

            appear.  Click on this and you’ll see a 30 second video showing off the studio floor plans.

 

Story 2: Doctor Who – Terminus starring Peter Davison as the Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Janet Fielding

            as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, and guest starring Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian.

- All four episodes of the story with full restoration treatment.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track with actors Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, and Mark Strickson,

            and writer Stephen Gallagher.

- Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

            - Isolated Music option.  Plays the entire story with only the incidental music soundtrack playing.

            - “Breaking Point  A 23-minute behind-the-scenes featurette about the particularly troubled production

                        of this story, featuring actors Peter Davison, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, and Martin

                        Potter (Eirak), camera supervisor Alec Wheal, sound man Scott Talbott, designer Dick Coles,

                        and director Fiona Cumming.

- “Origins of the Universe  A 6-minute featurette featuring real astronomers Sir Patrick Moore and

John Mason discussing current cosmological thinking about the real Big Bang.

- Unused Model Shots.  3 minutes of model footage that didn’t make it into the finished story.

- CGI Effects Option.  Plays the story with some of the special effects replaced by new CGI ones.

- Continuity. 2 minutes of the original BBC intro and outtro announcements from 1983.

- Photo Gallery.  8 minutes of stills taken throughout the production.

- PDF Materials.  Place this disc into the DVD-ROM drive of your home computer and you can

view the following files:  the original 1983 Radio Times billings, and CGI storyboards.

- Coming Soon trailer advertising the forthcoming release of The Twin Dilemma.

- 2 Easter Eggs. Highlight the area of blank text below to see how to find them and what they are.

            - Egg 1. Go into the first page of Special Features, highlight Audio Options, then press the up arrow.

            A Doctor Who logo will appear.  Click on this and you will see all four of the studio countdown

            clocks from the master tapes of all four episodes.

- Egg 2. Go into the second page of Special Features and highlight the Menu button.  Press the

Down arrow.  A Doctor Who logo will appear.  Click on this and you will see another 1-minute

round of trivia from the TARDIS Information System.

 

 

Story 3: Doctor Who – Enlightenment starring Peter Davison as the Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan,

            Mark Strickson as Turlough, and guest starring Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian and Cyril

            Luckham as the White Guardian.

On Disc 1:

- All four episodes of the story with full restoration treatment.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track with actors Peter Davison, and Mark Strickson, director Fiona Cumming

            and writer Barbara Clegg.

- Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

            - Isolated Music option.  Plays the entire story with only the incidental music soundtrack playing.

            - “Winner Takes All  A 24-minute behind-the-scenes documentary featuring interviews with

                        actors Peter Davison, Mark Strickson, Janet Fielding, Keith Barron (Striker),

Christopher Brown (Marriner), and Leee John (Mansell), camera supervisor Alec Wheal,

costume designer Dinah Collin, and director Fiona Cumming.

- “Casting Off!”  An 11-minute featurette about the casting of this story, featuring actors Mark Strickson,

Janet Fielding, Keith Barron, Christopher Brown, and Leee John, and director Fiona Cumming.

- “Single Write Female” A 5-minute featurette interviewing writer Barbara Clegg.

- “The Story of the Guardians  A 12-minute featurette about the two Guardians’ appearances in this

            trilogy and in the previous Key to Time season.  Featuring Robert Luckham (son of Cyril Luckham),

            Sarah Leppard (daughter of Valentine Dyall), editor Tom Spilsbury of Doctor Who Magazine,

and editor Moray Laing of Doctor Who Adventures.

- Storyboards.  A 6-minute featurette of the storyboards used for the spaceship shots.

- Photo Gallery.  7 minutes of stills taken throughout the production.

- PDF Materials.  Place this disc into the DVD-ROM drive of your home computer and you can

view the following files:  the original 1983 Radio Times billings, and CGI storyboards.

- Coming Soon trailer advertising the forthcoming release of The Twin Dilemma.

- 2 Easter Eggs.  Highlight the area of blank text below to see how to find them and what they are.

            - Egg 1.  Go to the Single Write Female selection and then press the left arrow.  A Doctor Who

            logo will appear.  Click on this and the TARDIS Information System will come online and tell

            you a few more fun facts about the story.

-         Egg 2.  Go to the Coming Soon selection and then press the left arrow.  A Doctor Who

Log will appear.  Click on this and you’ll see Peter Davison and Janet Fielding recount a

well-known tale they’ve told for years on the convention circuit about what happened one

day when Janet was wearing her “boob tube” and Peter asked her to put her arms up in the air…

 

On Disc 2: 

- Doctor Who: Enlightenment – The Special Edition. 

            A new, tighter, 74-minute version of the story, supervised by original director Fiona Cumming, and

            now presented with Dolby 5.1 sound (or 2.0 if you so choose), with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and new

            CGI effects replacing the original video and model effects. 

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- “Reenlightenment  14 minutes of highlights of a production meeting about the making of the special edition.

- Original Edit Comparison.  A 3-minute comparison of an early edit of the story versus what actually

            transmitted (not the special edition).

- Film Trims.  6 minutes from the tops and tails of filmed takes.

- Finding Mark Strickson.  An 8-minute interview with Mark Strickson about his life before, during, and after

            Doctor Who.

- Finding Sarah Sutton.  An 8-minute interview with Sarah Sutton doing the same.

- “Russell Harry Christmas Party  A 4-minute segment from a Christmas 1982 BBC program featuring

            Peter Davison and then-wife Sandra Dickinson doing a pantomime musical number.  Have aspirin handy.

- Continuity.  2 minutes of the original BBC intro and outtros for this story.

- PDF Materials.  Place this disc into the DVD-ROM drive of your home computer and you can

view the following files:  the original 1983 Radio Times billings, and a Production Bible.

- Coming Soon trailer advertising the forthcoming release of The Twin Dilemma.

- 1 Easter Egg.  Highlight the area of blank text below to see how to find it and what it is.

            - Highlight the Finding Mark Strickson selection and press the left arrow.  A  Doctor Who logo will

            appear.  Click on this and you’ll see 2 minutes of stills taking during production of the extras

            from throughout this box set.

 

The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Second Season starring Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith,

            Tommy Knight as Luke Smith, Daniel Anthony as Clyde Lander, Anji Mohindra as Rani Chandra,

            Alexander Armstrong as the voice of Mr. Smith, and guest starring Yasmin Paige as Maria Jackson,

            Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and John Leeson as the voice of K9.

A 3-disc box set of all 12 episodes (6 two-part stories) of the second season of this series. 

On all three discs, you will find:

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Sarah’s PC.   A menu leading to three sections of text files:

o       Character Profiles (bios of all the regular characters seen so far on the disc in question)

o       Investigating Tools (descriptions of alien artifacts and gear seen so far)

o       Alien Profiles (descriptions of the alien creatures seen so far)

-         Mr. Smith.  Sarah  Jane’s super-computer opens up to play the extra videos for you. See below.

On Disc 1:

-         Episode 1: The Last Sontaran  and Episode 2: Day of the Clown

-         The Sofa Area.  We visit a virtual book near Sarah Jane’s sofa and read a synopsis of the

episodes from the first season.

-         Mr. Smith Videos: “Blue Peter Footage”  5 minutes of chat on BBC magazine show Blue Peter

with Tommy Knight, Daniel Anthony, and Anji Mohindra.

-         Audio Adventures:  A five-minute extract from a Sarah Jane Adventures audio book called

“The Time Capsule,” read by Elisabeth Sladen.

On Disc 2:

-         Episode 3:  Secrets of the Stars  and Episode 4: The Mark of the Berserker

-         Mr. Smith Videos:  “Me and My Movie Monday”  Three different segments from a CBBC

magazine series.  Two are 1:30 behind-the-scenes interviews with Tommy Knight, and one

is a 2-minute visit with Sound Engineer Julian Howarth.

On Disc 3:

-         Episode 5:  The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith  and Episode 6: Enemy of the Bane

-         The Sofa Area.  We visit a virtual book near Sarah Jane’s sofa and read a synopsis of the

episodes of the second season.

-         Telescope.  Plays two videos:  Season 2 Cinema Advertisement (1:30) and “The Ten Doctors”

(1:00), a montage of clips from throughout Doctor Who, both classic and new series.

-         Mr. Smith Videos:  Series Scenes (a 1-minute photo gallery from the episodes) and

Behind the Scenes (a 1-minute photo gallery from behind-the-scenes)

-         Quiz Area.  You are presented with five multiple choice questions about the episodes on these

discs, and if you get all five correct, you will see an extra video.   (Get it wrong and you have

to start over with a different set of questions.) 

The video is a 5-minute special mini-episode called From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love

that ran as part of the BBC’s “Comic Relief” charity telethon in March 2009.

 

 

SEPTEMBER RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who and Peter Pratt as the Master.

- All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track with actors Tom Baker and Bernard Horsfall (Chancellor Goth),

and producer Philip Hinchcliffe. 

- Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

            - “The Matrix Revisited  A 29-minute featurette about the making of the story, featuring interviews

                        with Tom Baker, Bernard Horsfall, Philip Hinchcliffe, the late director David Maloney,

                        production designer Roger Murray-Leach, anti-violence activist Mary Whitehouse, and

                        longtime fan Jan Vincent-Rudzki.

- “The Gallifreyan Candidate  An 11-minute featurette where media studies experts compare

      this Doctor Who story to the film The Manchurian Candidate and find numerous parallels.

- “The Frighten Factor” A 17-minute featurette examining the nature of fear and how Doctor Who

            stories have exploited basic fears through its history. Includes interviews with former producer

            Barry Letts and former script editor Terrance Dicks.

- Photo Gallery. 6 minutes of still photos taken throughout the production of the story.

- PDF Materials.  Readable by your computer, a pdf file containing the original Radio Times billings

            for this story.

- 1 Easter Egg.  Highlight the blank area of text below to see what it is and how to find it.

            Go into the Special Features menu and highlight the Photo Gallery selection.  Press the left

            arrow and a Doctor Who logo will appear. Click on this and a 30-second featurette will play

            showing the continuity announcement that advertised this story at the conclusion of the

            preceding one.

 

Doctor Who: Image of the Fendahl starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who and Louise Jameson as Leela.

- All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track with actors Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Edward Arthur (Adam),

and Wanda Ventham (Thea). 

- Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

            - “After Image  A 26-minute featurette about the making of the story, featuring interviews with

                        Louise Jameson, Edward Arthur, Wanda Ventham, visual effects designer Colin Mapson,

                        and script editor Anthony Read.

- Deleted and Extended Scenes.  An 11-minute featurette compiling fourteen extended or outright

deleted scenes from the location filming that has survived on a low-quality black and white

videotape.

            - Trailer.  A 20-second trailer that promoted the story on BBC1 in 1977.

- Photo Gallery. 6 minutes of still photos taken throughout the production of the story.

- PDF Materials.  Readable by your computer, a pdf file containing the original Radio Times billings

            for this story.

- 1 Easter Egg. Highlight the blank area of text below to see what it is and how to find it.

            Go into the Special Features menu and highlight the Trailer option. Press the left arrow and

            a Doctor Who logo will appear.  Click on this and you’ll see an additional 40 seconds of

            interview material with Louise Jameson discussing the Leela doll that was released to toy

            stores in 1977.

 

Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Melanie.

- All three 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track with actors Sylvester McCoy and Sara Griffiths (Ray), script editor

            Andrew Cartmel, and director Chris Clough.

- Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

            - Episode One First Edit.  This is the first edit of the first episode compiled during the post-production

process before all sound effects and any of the music had been added.  It’s also six minutes

longer than the final version, including several scenes that had to be trimmed before broadcast.

- “But First This  A 6-minute segment from a 1987 BBC magazine show that visited the production

of this story and interviewed Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, and Ken Dodd (the Tollmaster).

- Wales Today.  A 2-minute segment from a 1987 Welsh news program that also visited the production

and talked to Sylvester McCoy, producer John Nathan-Turner, and Stubby Kaye (Weismuller).

- Interview Rushes.  17 minutes of film footage that covers all of the interview footage that the “But

First This” crew shot and only took highlights of for their final item.

- “Hugh and Us  A 7-minute interview with the late actor Hugh Lloyd (Goronwy) shortly before his

death in 1988.

- Clown Court.  A 6-minute sketch comedy segment starring Noel Edmonds and Sylvester McCoy

where McCoy is put on a mock trial for impersonating a Time Lord, and then plays a lot of

blooper footage from his acting as evidence, most of it from this story.

- Stripped for Action.  A 22-minute featurette about the comic strip adventures of the Seventh Doctor in

Doctor Who Magazine featuring interviews with most of the important writers, editors, and

artists of the period.

- Trails and Continuity.  A 3-minute compilation of the broadcast intros for this story from 1987 on BBC1.

- Photo Gallery.  An 8-minute featurette of still photos taken throughout the story.

- Coming Soon Trailer.  A 1:38 trailer for the forthcoming DVD release of The War Games starring

            Patrick Troughton.

 

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor starring David Tennant as the Doctor and David Morrissey as … the next Doctor?

- The 60-minute episode in stereo sound.

- Doctor Who at the Proms – Music From the Series composed by Murray Gold.  59 minutes of footage

            from a live orchestral concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in London in the summer of 2008,

            where musical highlights from the series from 2005-2008 were played to a packed audience.

            Hosted by Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones).  Features appearances by Catherine Tate (Donna

            Noble), Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), and numerous monsters

            including Julian Bleach in character as Davros.

            The highlight is a mini-episode that was played into the concert hall about halfway through the program

called Music of the Spheres starring David Tennant as the Doctor trying to compose music of his own

when the TARDIS is invaded by a Graske (Jimmy Vee).  It’s six minutes in length. 

 

JULY RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead starring David Tennant as the Doctor and Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina.

            Available in both standard-definition (480i) DVD and high-definition (1080i) Blu-Ray formats.

            Contains the 60-minute episode, graphical menus, scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

            Also contains a full 60-minute Doctor Who Confidential behind-the-scenes documentary about the

            particularly arduous making of this episode.   There are no other extra features.

            16:9 aspect ratio and DTS HD sound (2-channel stereo).

 

Torchwood: Children of Earth starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen,

            Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto, and Kai Owen as Rhys.

            Available in both standard definition (480i) DVD and high-definition (1080i) Blu-Ray formats.

            2 discs.   Disc 1 contains the episodes “Day One,” “Day Two,” and “Day Three,” and no other extra features.

            Disc 2 contains the episodes “Day Four” and “Day Five,” and a 31-minute Torchwood Declassified

            behind-the-scenes documentary, but no other extra features beyond this.

            Both discs have graphical menus, scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

            The Blu-Ray edition also has a “high definition set-up guide” feature to help you fine tune your system.

            16:9 aspect ratio and DTS HD 5.1 sound. 

            The edition available exclusively at Best Buy stores comes with a bonus CD on which is the 44-minute

            Torchwood radio episode called “Lost Souls” that broadcast on the BBC in 2008 to coincide with the

            switch-on of the CERN cyclotron in Switzerland, about which this story is about.  It stars the series’

            regulars that survived season two, and guest stars Freema Agyeman as Dr. Martha Jones.

            The back of the cover notes that “music in episode 5 differs from broadcast version.”  Based on reports

            I have read and my own comparison of the broadcast and on-disc versions, it seems that a complete

            score for this episode was finished and supplied to the disc manufacturers at a time just barely sufficient

            to meet their deadline.  Sometime after that, the producers or director decided they wanted a few changes

            in four particular sequences, and these were made to the version as-broadcast, but it was too late to change

            the discs as well.  In the first two instances, music was simply removed so that the scenes on the broadcast

            version played out without any music at all.  The first bit was a 30-second section that starts at about the 3:25

            mark, but the second is a longer section where music was removed on transmission from the second half of

            the scene where Frobisher has his final meeting with the Prime Minister.   The other two sequences are

            outright changes in the score during the climactic, dramatic scenes that start at about the 44:15 mark.

            The transmission version changes to a haunting female voice on the soundtrack, while the on-disc music stays

            more in the intense, rhythmic style of the rest of the episode.   I also think I spotted a change in a sound

            effect, which I’m going to hide in invisible text as it’s a very big spoiler.  Highlight the blank area next to see

            what is is:  in the scene where we hear the four gunshots of Frobisher killing his own family and then himself,

            the timing of the fourth gunshot has been moved to a fraction of a second later on the broadcast version versus

            the on-disc version.

 

Doctor Who: The Rescue / The Romans starring William Hartnell as Doctor Who, William Russell as Ian Chesterton,

            Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, and introducing Maureen O’Brien as Vicki.

            Contains two consecutive stories from the middle of the 1964-1965 (2nd) season.  Each is on its own disc,

            sold together in one 2-disc Amaray case.  The stories are NOT sold separately.

            Contained on each disc:

            Disc 1: The Rescue

-          Both 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-          Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-          Optional commentary track with actor William Russell, designer Raymond Cusick, and

director Christopher Barry.  Moderated by Doctor Who expert Toby Hadoke.

                        -     Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-          “Mounting the Rescue”  A 22-minute making-of documentary featuring interviews with

actors William Russell, Maureen O’Brien and Ray Barrett (Bennett), designer Raymond

Cusick, director Christopher Barry, and avid viewer Ian McLachlan.

-          Photo Gallery.  An 8-minute montage of still photographs from the production.

-          PDF Materials.  Two pdf files that your home computer can read from the disc if you put it

into your computer’s DVD-ROM drive.  One is the Radio Times TV listings for this story

from 1965 (with a feature article about Maureen O’Brien), and the other is a set of Design

Drawings from the time made by RaymondCusick for the sets and a model of the TARDIS.

-          The disc boots up with trailers for the Complete Fourth Series DVD set, and one for the BBC

America cable channel, but these are skipable with your remote.

            Disc 2: The Romans

-          All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-          Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-          Optional commentary track with actors William Russell, Barry Jackson (Ascaris), and Nick Evans

(Didius), designer Raymond Cusick, and director Christopher Barry.

-          Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-          “What Has ‘The Romans’ Ever Done For Us?”  A 34-minute featurette about the making

of this story, and also about depictions of Caesar Nero in other BBC productions, and

the true history of Rome at the time of the Great Fire.  Features interviews with actors

William Russell, Barry Jackson, Kay Patrick (Poppea), Anthony Andrews (Nero in A.D.

Anno Domini), Christopher Biggins (Nero in I, Claudius), historian Dr. Mark Bradley,

avid viewer Ian McLachlan, designer Raymond Cusick, new series Doctor Who writer

James Moran, and Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury.

-          Roma Pava.   3-minute featurette where director Christopher Barry shows off the designer’s

original set design model from the 1964/65 production that he’s kept all these years.

                        -     Blue Peter.  7-minute featurette from a 1970s segment of children’s magazine show Blue Peter

                                    where the hosts enjoy a Roman banquet.

                        -     Dennis Spooner – Wanna Write a Television Series?   18-minute featurette about the career

                                    of Dennis Spooner, writer of The Romans (amongst others) and the series’ second Story Editor.

                                    Features interviews with actors William Russell and Peter Purves (Steven Taylor),

                                    Story Editor Donald Tosh, friends and colleagues Brian and Janet Clemens, and new

                                    Doctor Who series writer Robert Shearman.

-          Girls! Girls! Girls!  The 1960s.   An 18-minute featurette looking at all of the Doctor’s female

companions from the 1960s.  Features interviews with Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Jean Marsh

(Sara Kingdom), Anneke Wills (Polly), Deborah Watling (Victoria), Honor Blackman

(Cathy Gale from The Avengers), William Russell (Ian), Peter Purves (Steven), Frazer

Hines (Jamie), Story Editor Donald Tosh, and director Christopher Barry.

-          Photo Gallery.  A 6-minute montage of still photos taken during the production.

-          PDF Materials.  One pdf files that your home computer can read from the disc if you put it

into your computer’s DVD-ROM drive.  It is the Radio Times TV listings for this story

from 1965.

-          The disc boots up with trailers for the Complete Fourth Series DVD set, and one for the BBC

America cable channel, but these are skipable with your remote.

 

Doctor Who: Attack of the Cybermen starring Colin Baker as the Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri.

-          Both 45-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-          Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-          Optional commentary track with actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy (Russell),

and Sarah Berger (Rost)

-          Optional isolated music track, that plays the episodes with only the music soundtrack playing.

-          Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-          “The Cold War”  27-minute making-of documentary featuring interviews with actors

Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy, and Sarah Berger, Script Editor and

surreptitious writer Eric Saward, fan consultant Ian Levine, Film Cameraman Godfrey

Johnson, and Director Matthew Robinson. 

-          “The Cyber Story”  23-minute featurette about all of the Cybermen’s appearances

throughout all of Doctor Who through 2007.  Features interviews with their original

Costume Designer Sandra Reid, original voice actor Roy Skelton, Director Morris Barry,

Writer/Script Editor Eric Saward, Earthshock Costume Designer Dinah Collin,

Cyber-actor Mark Hardy, and Kevin Warwick, a scientist attempting to become the world’s

first real cyborg.

-          “Human Cyborg  8-minute featurette about scientist Kevin Warwick’s efforts to become the

world’s first real cyborg.

-          Photo Gallery.  8-minute photo montage of stills taken throughout the production.

-          The Cyber-Generations.  A second 8-minute photo montage of the Cybermen as they appeared

in every classic series story.

-          Trails and Continuity.  3-minute featurette of the advertising and introduction materials from

the original 1985 broadcasts.

-          Coming Soon trailer.  A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming DVD of Image of the Fendahl

starring Tom Baker.

-          PDF Materials.  Three pdf files that your home computer can read from the disc if you put it

into your computer’s DVD-ROM drive.  One is the Radio Times TV listings for this story

from 1985, including feature articles.  The other two are files that were originally intended

to appear in the DVD of the Patrick Troughton Cybermen story The Invasion but were left

out by error (an error common to every edition in every region around the world).  The

first of these are the Radio Times TV listings and features for the 1968 Invasion broadcast.

The second is a feature article for a magazine called The Listener about the future of

robotics written by Dr. Kit Pedler, the co-creator of the Cybermen.

-          The disc boots up with trailers for the Complete Fourth Series DVD set, and one for the BBC

America cable channel, but these are skipable with your remote.

-          1 Easter Egg.  Highlight the blank area below to reveal the invisible text and see what this is and

how to find it.

Go into the second page of the Special Features menu, then highlight the Cyber-Generations

Option and press the left arrow.  A Doctor Who logo will appear.  Click on this and you’ll

see a 1-minute featurette about an autonomous Dalek that Kevin Warwick has built in his lab.

 

MAY RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Lalla Ward as Romana, John Leeson

            as the Voice of K9, and introducing Matthew Waterhouse as Adric.

            Contains three consecutive stories from the middle of the 1980-81 (18th) season.  Each is in its own

            Amaray case, and all three are sold together inside an outer slipcase.  They are NOT sold separately.

            Contained on each:

            Disc 1:  Full Circle  

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Optional commentary track with actor Matthew Waterhouse, writer Andrew Smith, and

Script Editor Christopher H. Bidmead.

-         Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-         Isolated Music option.  Plays the story with only the music soundtrack playing by itself.

-         “All Aboard the Starliner  24-minute featurette about the making of the story, featuring

interviews with actors Lalla Ward, John Leeson, George Baker (Login),

Bernard Padden (Tylos), writer Andrew Smith, script editor Christopher H. Bidmead,

film cameraman Max Samett, and an archival interview with director Peter Grimwade.

-         “K9 in E-Space”  A 5-minute featurette about K9’s final three stories of the classic series,

featuring interviews with Christopher H. Bidmead, Lalla Ward, Andrew Smith, John Leeson,

and writer Terrance Dicks.

-         “Swap Shop”  An 8-minute segment from a 1980 edition of Multi-Coloured Swap Shop where

Matthew Waterhouse was interviewed shortly after getting the part of Adric.

-         “E-Space: Fact or Fiction?”  A 15-minute featurette narrated by Sophie Aldred speculating

on the real-life possibilities of there being other universes.  Features interviews with

Doctor Who cast and crew, other science fiction authors, and real scientists, including

Sir Patrick Moore. 

-         Continuity.  3 minutes of the BBC’s introductions and trailers for the episodes on their original

1980 broadcasts.

                        -     Photo Gallery with Info Text option.  6 minutes of still photographs from the production, now with

                                    the option to display descriptive captions as subtitles.

-         Radio Times Listings.  PDF files for your computer containing the original Radio Times TV

listings for this story, as well as some contemporaneous articles about it they ran.

            Disc 2:  State of Decay

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Optional commentary track with actor Matthew Waterhouse, Writer Terrance Dicks, and

Director Peter Moffatt.

-         Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-         Isolated Music option.  Plays the story with only the music soundtrack playing by itself.

-         “The Vampire Lovers  20-minute featurette about the making of the story.  Features interviews

with actors Lalla Ward, John Leeson, and Clinton Greyn (Ivo), Writer Terrance Dicks,

Script Editor Christopher H. Bidmead, Designer Christine Ruscoe, and Director Peter Moffatt.

-         Film Trims.  5 minutes of silent film from the modelwork sessions of the Tower and the Great Vampire.

-         “Leaves of Blood”  17-minute featurette about the historical depiction of vampires in literature

including interviews with historians and published authors such as Kim Newman.

-         “The Blood Show  10-minute featurette about blood itself and its uses in our diets.  Has nothing

t     o do with Doctor Who.

-         “The Frayling Reading”  5-minute featurette where Sir Christopher Frayling analyzes where

State of Decay fits into the more general mythology of vampires.

-         Continuity.  4 minutes of the BBC’s introductions and trailers for the episodes on their original

1980 broadcasts.

                        -     Photo Gallery with Info Text option.  6 minutes of still photographs from the production, now with

                                    the option to display descriptive captions as subtitles.

-         Radio Times Listings.  PDF files for your computer containing the original Radio Times TV

listings for this story, as well as some contemporaneous articles about it they ran.

            Disc 3:  Warriors’ Gate

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Optional commentary track with actors Lalla Ward and John Leeson, Visual Effects Designer

Mat Irvine, Script Editor Christopher H. Bidmead, and Director Paul Joyce.

-         Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-         Isolated Music option.  Plays the story with only the music soundtrack playing by itself.

-         “The Dreaming  27-minute featurette about the making of the story.  Features interviews with

Actors Lalla Ward, John Leeson, David Weston (Biroc), and Clifford Rose (Rorvik),

Writer Steve Gallagher, Script Editor Christopher H. Bidmead, Visual Effects Designer

Mat Irvine, and Director Paul Joyce.

-         “The Boy With the Golden Star”  20-minute interview with Matthew Waterhouse covering all

of Adric’s stories in the series.

-         Lalla’s Wardrobe”  A 19-minute featurette about the various outfits worn by Lalla Ward as

Romana throughout the series, with interviews with Ward herself, classic series costume

designer June Hudson, new series costume designer Louise Page, writers Nev Fountain and

Jonathan Morris, and some ordinary girls in the street.

-         Extended and Deleted Scenes.  4 minute assembly of eight different scenes that were trimmed

or removed altogether from the finished story.

-         Continuity.  2 minutes of the BBC’s introductions and trailers for the episodes on their original

1981 broadcasts.

                        -     Photo Gallery with Info Text option.  6 minutes of still photographs from the production, now with

                                    the option to display descriptive captions as subtitles.

-         Radio Times Listings.  PDF files for your computer containing the original Radio Times TV

listings for this story, as well as some contemporaneous articles about it they ran.

 

Doctor Who: Battlefield starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace, and guest starring

            Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.   2 discs. 

            On Disc 1:

-         All four 25-minute episodes (the original 1989 versions) with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Optional commentary track with actors Sophie Aldred, Nicholas Courtney, and Angela Bruce

(Brigadier Winifred Bambera), Writer Ben Aaronovitch, and Script Editor Andrew Cartmel.

-         Information Text subtitles option.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-         Isolated Music option.  Plays the story with only the music soundtrack playing by itself.

-         “Storm Over Avallion  23-minute featurette about the making of the story, featuring interviews

with Actors Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Angela Bruce, Nicholas Courtney, and

Jean Marsh (Morgaine), Writer Ben Aaronovitch, Script Editor Andrew Cartmel, and

Director Michael Kerrigan.

-         “Past and Future King”  12-minute featurette about the writing of this story, featuring

interviews with Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred,

Angela Bruce, and Michael Kerrigan.

-         Watertank  7-minute featurette that goes into detail about the near-fatal accident that

occurred during the scene of Ace trapped in the flooding spacecraft airlock when the

glass in the tank she was in cracked open.

-         Studio Recording.  19 minutes of raw footage from the studio floor during the original studio

recording session for this story.

-         “From Kingdom to Queen”  8-minute interview with Jean Marsh charting her 1965, 1966,

and 1989 appearances in Doctor Who.

-     Radio Times Listings.  PDF files for your computer containing the original Radio Times TV

listings for this story, as well as some contemporaneous articles about it they ran.

            On Disc 2:

-         Battlefield Special Edition. 

A 95-minute movie-format version of the story, with numerous deleted scenes edited

back into the action, other reediting of the action and the music, boosted CGI effects,

and a Dolby 5.1 sound mix.   Comes with graphical menus, scene selection menu,

and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Season 26 Trailer

A 1:30 trailer for the entire 26th season that was shown to the press in 1989.                            

 

THE WHATs and WHYs of THE KEY TO TIME – SPECIAL EDITION

A very Frequently Asked Question I’ve been getting lately is “Why are they re-releasing The Key to Time (especially

when half the rest of the series isn’t out yet?)” 

 

The answer has to do with how and why we got the 2002 edition of this set.  In their first DVD releases in North America

in 2001 and early 2002, BBC Worldwide Americas included a questionnaire that pointed to a website poll

where their customers could choose from amongst a list of titles which Doctor Who title they would most like to see

released next.  On that list was The Key to Time, and it won the poll.  They went back to their partners in the UK and

requested that it be released.  They met with some resistance as the UK BBC people didn’t feel the time was right

for their market for a box set of this many episodes to be released, however the BBC WA people emphasized how

important box sets had already become in the North American market and how having one was in fact now essential

to get stores to stock Doctor Who titles at all.  They’d had a wave of some individual titles in 2002 that many chains

chose not to stock because all they were was individual stories.  A box set was now seen as a requirement to save the

range’s future in North America.  And so an agreement was reached whereby The Key to Time could be released in

late 2002 in North America without there having been a UK release first.  This is the only time that this has happened,

and it probably will never happen again.  Due to there being no UK release, the volume of episodes in the set, and the

quick turnaround time needed, the titles in the 2002 set came out with only minimal extras.  Although they did all

have commentaries and production notes, they had no featurettes, only a few deleted scenes, and the restoration work

was very minimal. 

 

Nowadays, with the revival of the series’ fortunes that began with the coming of the new series, the market for classic

Doctor Who in the UK has become much healthier, and box sets have become much more attractive, and you’ll have

noticed there have been more of them in recent years, and that when they come out they get the same full treatment

extras-wise that the individual titles get.  And so in 2007, they decided to bring The Key to Time to the UK, with that

full press of extras.  The release pattern in North America is for them to bring out the UK’s recent titles in largely the

same order that they come out in the UK, but they decided to hold off for a while on this particular title as they already

had the old edition on the market, and also they’d fallen behind the increased pace of releases coming from the UK and

wanted to catch us up on the titles we had never seen before first.  Now in 2009, that catching-up has been largely

completed, and they feel they can spend a release slot on bringing us the UK’s edition of The Key to Time, and will

begin selling it in North America on March 3 with the “Special Edition” moniker attached to all the titles to distinguish

it from the original edition.  

 

Descriptions of the contents of each title in the set follow below. 

Extras and features that appeared on the 2002 editions are listed in italics.

 

Doctor Who: The Key to Time Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Mary Tamm as Romana, and

            John Leeson as the Voice of K9. 

-         Available as a single digistack box set containing 7 discs for the suggested retail price of $99.98.

-         The individual stories are also available separately in single Amaray cases for $24.98 each, except

The Armageddon Factor which contains 2 discs and is priced at $34.98.  Descriptions of the individual

titles follow, but remember that everything in the individual titles is also on the discs in the box set.

The only thing you miss out on in the box set is the individual title covers.

-         The box set contains an 8-page booklet that contains the text details on one page each that are on the

back covers of the separate Amaray box releases, so you don’t miss out on any of that if you buy the box.

 

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Mary Tamm as Romana, and

            John Leeson as the Voice of K9.  Guest starring Cyril Luckham as the White Guardian.

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Commentary with actors Tom Baker and Mary Tamm

-         Production Notes subtitles.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-     “A Matter of Time” 60-minute documentary about the whole of Graham Williams' producer-ship.

Features interviews with actors Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, John Leeson, Louise Jameson (Leela),

Lalla Ward (the second Romana), Paul Seed (Graff Vynda-K), writers Bob Baker, Dave Martin,

Gareth Roberts, David Fisher, Douglas Adams, script editor Anthony Read, visual effects designers

Colin Mapson and Mat Irvine, Doctor Who Appreciation Society Founder Jeremy Bentham,

Production designers Richard McManon-Smith and Dick Coles, directors Pennant Roberts,

Darrol Blake, Michael Hayes, Ken Grieve, and Christopher Barry, and Graham Williams’ widow

Jackie Williams.  Narrated by Toby Longworth.
-     “The Ribos File” 20-minute featurette about the making of The Ribos Operation.  Features interviews

with actors Mary Tamm, Paul Seed, Nigel Plaskitt (Unstoffe), and Prentis Hancock (Captain of the

Shrieves), stuntman Stuart Fell, and Doctor Who Magazine editor Clayton Hickman.
-      Continuities. 2 minutes of the intro and outros from the BBC broadcasts.
-      Season 16 Trailer. 40 seconds.
-      Photo Gallery. 6 minutes of stills. (Not the same ones as on the old set. This is true for all the discs.)

-      Radio Times Listings.  A pdf file on the disc of the TV listings for this story, readable by a computer. 

 

Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Mary Tamm as Romana, and

            John Leeson as the Voice of K9.

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-     Commentary 1 with director Pennant Roberts and actor Bruce Purchase (the Captain)
-     Commentary 2 with actors Tom Baker and Mary Tamm, and script editor Anthony Read.

-         Production Notes subtitles.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-         “Parrot Fashion” 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary.  Features interviews with writer Douglas Adams

(archival footage), Douglas’ brother James Thrift, Douglas Adams biographer Nick Webb, actors Mary

Tamm, Bruce Purchase, Primi Townsend (Mula), Rosalind Lloyd (Nurse/Xanxia), and John Leeson,

script editor Anthony Read, Visual Effects Designer Colin Mapson, Film Cameraman Elmer Cassey,

and Director Pennant Roberts.

-     Film Inserts, Deleted Scenes, and Outtakes. 13 minutes.  Over twenty deleted scenes, alternative

takes, or outtakes.  (Most of the ones from film inserts also appeared on the 2002 edition.)

-     “Weird Science” 17-minute spoof science show that takes the mickey out of the science in 70s s.f. shows.

Starring David Graham, Matthew Irvine, and STEVII the super-computer.
-     Continuities. 4 minutes.  (These are the BBC introductions and trailers for the episodes.)
-     Photo Gallery. 7 minutes.

-     Radio Times Listings.  A pdf file on the disc of the TV listings for this story, readable by a computer. 

 

Doctor Who: The Stones of Blood Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Mary Tamm as Romana, and

            John Leeson as the Voice of K9.

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-     Commentary 1 with actor Mary Tamm and director Darrol Blake
-     Commentary 2 with actors Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, and Susan Engel (Vivien Fey), and writer David Fisher.

-         Production Notes subtitles.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-         “Getting Blood From the Stones” 27-minute making-of documentary.  Features interviews with actors Mary

Tamm, John Leeson, and Susan Engel, writer David Fisher, script editor Anthony Read, Doctor Who Magazine

Editor Clayton Hickman, SFX Magazine’s Steve O’Brien, and director Darrol Blake.

-         “Hammer Horror” 13-minute documentary looking at links between Hammer horror movies and Doctor Who.

Features interviews with actor Tom Baker, writers Terrance Dicks and Anthony Read, Shivers’ magazine’s

David Miller, and English Gothic magazine’s Jonathan Rigby.

-         “Stones Free” 9-minute documentary about the real life stone circle in the story, hosted by Mary Tamm,

where she talks to local historians about the site.

-      Deleted Scenes.  Two scenes taken out of Part Two.  2 minutes’ duration.
-      Continuities. 2-1/2 minutes.  (These are the BBC introductions and trailers for the episodes.)
-      Model World.  2-1/2 minute excerpt from a contemporaneous show that looked at the model work in this story.
-      Blue Peter. 6-minute segment from 1978 that spotlighted Doctor Who's 15th anniversary.
-      Nationwide. 9-minute segment from 1978, again about the anniversary. Interviews Tom Baker, Mary Tamm,

and Carole Ann Ford.
-      Photo Gallery. 8 minutes.

-      Radio Times Listings.  A pdf file on the disc of the TV listings for this story, readable by a computer. 

 

Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Mary Tamm as Romana, and

            John Leeson as the Voice of K9.

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Commentary with actors Tom Baker and  Mary Tamm, and director Michael Hayes.

-         Production Notes subtitles.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-    “The Humans of Tara” 20-minute behind-the-scenes documentary.  Features interviews with actors Mary Tamm,

Paul Lavers (Farrah), and Neville Jason (Prince Reynart), writer David Fisher, script editor Anthony Read,

and director Michael Hayes.
-    “Now and Then: The Androids of Tara” 10-minute featurette on Leeds Castle in Kent, the primary location used

in the making of this story, spotlighting how it looked in 1978 compared to the present.
-    “Double Trouble” 11-minute featurette on the history of doubles in Doctor Who.  With interviews with Tom

Spilsbury of Doctor Who Magazine, and Paul Lang and Moray Laing from Doctor Who Adventures.
-    Photo Gallery. 8 minutes.

-    Radio Times Listings.  A pdf file on the disc of the TV listings for this story, readable by a computer. 

 

Doctor Who: The Power of Kroll Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who and Mary Tamm as Romana.

-         All four 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Commentary with actors Tom Baker and John Leeson

-         Production Notes subtitles.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-    “In Studio” 11 minutes of the raw studio recording taken from a surviving black and white videotape of the

session, featuring the making of two scenes from late in the story in the refinery control room.
-     Variations. 6-minute segment from a local news program that visited the location filming.
-    “There's Something About Mary” 10 minute featurette spotlighting Mary Tamm's year on the show, featuring

interviews with her.
-    “Philip Madoc: A Villain for All Seasons” 10-minute featurette about Philip Madoc's four roles in the series

and his one in the second Peter Cushing Dr. Who film, featuring interviews with Madoc himself.
-     Continuities. 3 minutes. (These are the BBC introductions and trailers for the episodes.)
-     Photo Gallery. 5 minutes.

-     Radio Times Listings.  A pdf file on the disc of the TV listings for this story, readable by a computer. 

 

Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Mary Tamm as Romana,

            John Leeson as the Voice of K9, and guest starring Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian.

            2 discs.  

On Disc 1:

-         All six 25-minute episodes with full restoration treatment.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-     Commentary 1 with actors Mary Tamm and John Woodvine (the Marshal) and director Michael Hayes.
-     Commentary 2 with actors Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, and John Leeson.

-         Production Notes subtitles.  Displays pop-up production trivia throughout the story.

-         PDF Files.  Two pdf files on the disc: one of the Radio Times TV listings for this story, and the 1979

Doctor Who Annual.  The files are readable by a computer. 

 

            On Disc 2:

-         “Defining Shadows" 16-minute making-of featurette, featuring interviews with writers Bob Baker and

Dave Martin, actors Lalla Ward (Princess Astra), Barry Jackson (Drax), Davyd Harries (Shapp),

designer Richard McManan-Smith, and director Michael Hayes.
-   Alternative/Extended Scene. 3 minutes from a black and white videotape of a scene that was truncated

a bit in the final edit in Part Three of the Doctor meeting up with Shapp on Zeos.
-   Directing Who. 8-minute featurette about Michael Hayes' three stories as the director (those were

The Androids of Tara, The Armageddon Factor, and City of Death), featuring an interview with Hayes

himself.

-   “Rogue Time Lords” 13-minute featurette about all the renegade Time Lords we've met down the years.
-   Pebble Mill at One. 8-minute interview with Tom Baker from 1979 tying in to the series hitting its 500th

episode as of Part One of this story.
-   Radiophonic Feature. 4-minute segment from Pebble Mill in 1979 that visited the BBC Radiophonic

Workshop.  Features interviews with Dick Mills and Brian Hodgson of the Workshop.
-   The New Sound of Music. 1-minute bit from the cutting room floor of that same BBC RW feature.
-   Merry Christmas, Doctor Who. Special 1-minute sketch recorded from the Armageddon Factor set where

K9 asks the Doctor what he most desires at Christmas... and then he has a look at Romana....
-   Continuities. 3 minutes.  (These are the BBC introductions and trailers for the episodes.)
-   Photo Gallery. 5 minutes.
-   Late Night Stories. Five children’s short story readings by Tom Baker for a short TV series.

Each is about 15 minutes. The titles are The Photograph, The Emissary, Nursery Tea, The End

of the Party, and Sredni Vashtar.
-   Easter Egg.  Highlight the blank area below to reveal the invisible text and find out what this is and where…

Highlight the “Continuities” selection on page 2 of the Special Features, then press the right arrow.

A Doctor Who logo will appear up in the top right corner.  Select this and you will see a reconstruction

of a technical fault that occurred during the original 1979 broadcast that interrupted the program for

a minute as the video playback machine jammed and they put up some music to cover the dead air.

 

The only things that were on the 2002 edition that are not in the Special Edition are the original photo galleries

(which were very minimal and have been replaced by much better ones on the special edition) and the Who’s Who

text file biographies of the principal cast members, which were discontinued from all releases some time ago.

 

JANUARY CLASSIC SERIES DVDs IN DETAIL

Here’s what you’ll find in the two January classic series Doctor Who releases:

 

Doctor Who: The War Machines starring William Hartnell as Dr. Who, Jackie Lane as Dodo, and

introducing Anneke Wills as Polly, and Michael Craze as Ben.

-         All four 25-minute episodes.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Commentary track by actor Anneke Wills (Polly) and Director Michael Ferguson.

-         “Now and Then”  A 7-minute featurette looking at the locations used for the filming in 1966 and how they

look in the present-day.

            -    Blue Peter.  A 16-minute featurette presenting three different segments from then-contemporary episodes of

                        the children’s magazine show Blue Peter.  The first is a segment on the completion of the Post Office Tower.

                        The second is a segment where a War Machine invaded their studio.  The third is a segment where they

present a school class that built its own Dalek

            -    “One Foot in the Past  An 8-minute featurette hosted by Britain’s former Postmaster General Tony Benn, where he

                        shows us around the Post Office Tower in the present day and tells us what it was used for in the past and

                        what it’s still used for now.

            -    “WOTAN Assembly  A 9-minute featurette about the extensive restoration given to these episodes film prints.

      -    Information Text.  Selecting this displays pop-up production notes trivia as the story plays.

            -    Photo Gallery with Info Text Option.  Displays 4 minutes worth of production stills.  New to this DVD is an option

                        to turn on descriptive captions as the stills play out.          

            -    PDF Materials.   Place this DVD into the DVD-ROM drive of a computer and you can look at two different PDF

                        files.  One is the original Radio Times TV listings for this story.  The other is a production design drawing

                        giving specifications to the independent contractor on how to build the War Machine for the story.

            -    1 Easter Egg.  Highlight the area of blank space below to see what it is and how to find it.

                        Go into the Episode Selection menu.  Highlight the selection for Episode 2, and then press the right arrow

                        on your remote.  A Doctor Who logo will appear.  Click on this and you will see a 1 minute 35 mm film reel

                        that was shot on location of the War Machine attacking the army.

-     The disc boots up with an ads for the Complete Fourth Series Box Set and for BBC America, both of which are

skippable with your remote.

 

Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday starring Peter Davison as the Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan,

            Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Matthew Waterhouse as Adric.

-         All four 25-minute episodes.

-         Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for the hearing impaired.

-         Commentary track by actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, and Matthew Waterhouse, and

         Director John Black. 

-         “Studio Recording”  A 27-minute featurette of footage from Peter Davison’s first day in the studio playing

  the Doctor, showing highlights of what went on between takes on the studio floor.

            -     “Saturday Night at the Mill”   A 14-minute TV interview recorded with Peter Davison in 1980 just after his

                    casting as the Doctor.

-         Theme Music Video.  A 3-1/2 minute featurette presenting a mix of the “starfield” title sequences used for

  Tom Baker’s final season and all of Peter Davison’s era to the accompaniment of a new Dolby 5.1 extended

  remix of the theme music from this era.  This featurette has been previously seen in the “New Beginnings”

  box set.

-         Photo Gallery.  A 7-minute featurette showing production stills taken during the making of the story.

-         Information Text.  Selecting this displays pop-up production notes trivia as the story plays.

-         Radio Times PDF Files.  If you place this DVD into the DVD-ROM drive of a computer, you can find and view

  a PDF file containing the original Radio Times TV schedule listings for this story.

            -     The disc boots up with an ads for the Complete Fourth Series Box Set and for BBC America, both of which are

        skippable with your remote.

 

UK DVD RELEASES

Though we can’t play the UK’s Region 2 DVDs on our ordinary North American DVD players and TV sets, it’s still

worth our while to keep an eye on what they’re getting over there, as the titles we get are usually what’s first been

released over there, and usually with the same sets of bonus features, and usually (but not always) in the same order

they got it.

 

The titles they’ve got that we haven’t yet are as follows:

Remembrance of the Daleks: Special Edition starring Sylvester McCoy (UK in July 2009. Was originally part of the

Davros Box Set.  North America in March 2010.)

The Twin Dilemma starring Colin Baker (UK in September 2009. North America in January 2010.)

The Keys of Marinus starring William Hartnell (UK in September 2009. North America in January 2010.)

Dalek War Box Set starring Jon Pertwee (UK  in October 2009.  Contains 2 stories:

            Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks.  The third episode of Planet of the Daleks has been restored

            to full color for the first time in 30 years for this DVD release.  North America in March 2010.)

 

Upcoming…

Peladon starring Jon Pertwee (2-story set of both stories set on the planet Peladon and featuring the Ice Warriors. 

These are The Curse of Peladon and The Monster of Peladon. UK in January 2010.)

The Masque of Mandragora starring Tom Baker  (UK in February 2010.)

The Space Museum / The Chase starring William Hartnell (2-story set of consecutive stories. UK in early March 2010.)

Myths and Other Legends  Box set of three (non-consecutive) stories based on classical myths. 

            These are The Time Monster starring Jon Pertwee and Underworld and The Horns of Nimon,

            both starring Tom Baker.  (UK in late March 2010.)

Time and the Rani starring Sylvester McCoy  (UK sometime in 2010.)

The King’s Demons / Planet of Fire  starring Peter Davison.  2-story set of the stories featuring the

            shapeshifting robot Kamelion.  (UK sometime in 2010.)

The Dominators starring Patrick Troughton  (UK sometime in 2010.)

 

There are two titles the UK has got that will probably never be released in North America.  They are:

Doctor Who (the TV Movie) starring Paul McGann  (UK release in August 2001)

This may never be released in North America due to the complicated rights issues surrounding

this production.

Davros Box Set (UK in November 2007 – all 5 classic series Davros stories in one box set. )

 

 

 

Doctor Who is the copyright of the BBC, BBC Worldwide, BBC Video, and is distributed on VHS and DVD in North America by Warner Home Video under license. 

 It was previously released on home video by CBS/Fox. No infringement upon this copyright is intended in any way by this site.  This site is a purely volunteer effort

 to inform consumers as to where they can find Doctor Who videos, and it details what is on each video.   All images used by this site are also the copyright of the

BBC and/or CBS/Fox Video and/or Warner Home Video and are taken from Steve Hill's Doctor Who Image Archive at http://www.shillpages.com/dw/dwia.htm

(so sue him first).  J 

 

I hope this all helps!
Compiled by Steve Manfred,  smanfred at comcast.net   (change at to @ and remove the spaces to email me)