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 June 8, 2013.   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.

JUNE IS BUSTING OUT IN COLOR

On Tuesday June 11, 2013, BBC Worldwide Americas release two classic

Doctor Who titles. One is a special edition re-release, but the other is a new release

long-awaited on DVD. That one is…

The Mind of Evil starring Jon Pertwee

(6 25-minute episodes, RESTORED TO COLOR, 2 DVD discs, $34.98)

The Mind of Evil is the 2^nd story from the 1971 season.

The Doctor and Jo visit Stangmoor Prison to witness a new technique in the treatment of

criminals where a machine drains the offender’s mind of all its evil. It then takes on a life of its

own and starts killing people. Meanwhile, the Master is attempting to hijack a missile full of

nerve gas from UNIT and aim it at a peace conference in London.

Since the late 1970s, the BBC have only had black-and-white film copies of this story

though it was originally made in color. Painstaking restoration has been carried out to restore

it to color in its entirety for this DVD release.

With this release, the entire Third Doctor era has now been made available on DVD.

The re-release is:

Inferno Special Edition starring Jon Pertwee

(7 25-minute episodes, 2 DVD discs, $34.98)

This was the season finale of 1970. The restoration has been redone from scratch using a

Different technique, and the results are a considerable improvement over the original DVD

release.

A drilling project to reach the Earth’s core strikes a super-hot green substance that changes

people into primitive brutes, while the drilling itself becomes increasingly dangerous to the world.

With his warning unheeded, the Doctor uses the TARDIS console to try to leave, and finds

himself in the same place at the same time with the same danger, but in a parallel world.

Full details of these releases are now available below.

SOME BACKSTOCK TITLES GOING OUT-OF-PRINT

Some readers of this website have been asking me why certain of the older backstock

of classic series titles seem to be becoming hard to find and sometimes very high-priced.

Upon checking with BBC Worldwide Americas, I have been told that 19* titles are now

being allowed to go out-of-print and will not be restocked this year. (They did not rule

out the possibility of them becoming available again in some fashion in the long-term

future, however.)

Here is the list of what’s gone or is going out-of-print:

Starring WILLIAM HARTNELL

The Rescue / The Romans The Web Planet The Time Meddler The Gunfighters

Starring PATRICK TROUGHTON

The Invasion The War Games

Starring JON PERTWEE

Terror of the Autons The Time Monster Planet of the Spiders

Starring TOM BAKER

None.

Starring PETER DAVISON

Black Orchid Earthshock* Time-Flight The Awakening

Frontos Planet of Fire

Starring COLIN BAKER

The Mark of the Rani The Two Doctors

Starring SYLVESTER McCOY

Battlefield Ghost Light The Curse of Fenric

Additionally, there are 2 Jon Pertwee titles that have gone out-of-print but which

have been or are being replaced by Special Edition releases later this year.

These are Inferno and The Green Death.

*Earthshock has been added to the list, which would make it 20, however, it will be

made available again in a bare-bones form later this year as the example story for

the Fifth Doctor’s era in the forthcoming release of The Doctors Revisited: 5-8.

The exact release date is not yet known, but would be in September at the very

earliest. (October seems most likely.)

BEGINNING REPRINTING ERROR

Recently, BBC Worldwide Americas reprinted The Beginning box set of the series’

first three stories. They took the opportunity to change the packaging from the

original larger Amaray cases to a thinner tray-type case. In the reprinting process,

a mistake was made where the labels on discs 2 and 3 were exchanged with each

other. The on-disc contents are OK, it’s just disc 2 says it’s disc 3 and vice versa.

This issue has been flagged and future repressings should see it corrected, but for

now these versions may be all that’s available.

Complete Stories Countdown:

There is now only one story that is complete in the BBC's archives that has yet to

have a DVD release. It is Terror of the Zygons starring Tom Baker.

UPCOMING RELEASE CALENDAR

July 16, 2013

The Doctors Revisited: 1-4

(4 DVD discs, $39.98)

The Doctors Revisited: 1-4 is a box set of the first four of the “Doctors Revisited” series of specials

that BBC America is running monthly during this 50^th anniversary year. These are looks at each

Doctor’s era in cross-section, with relevant interview subjects focusing on that Doctor himself,

his companions, and his star villains. Each is approximately 25 minutes long. Each is then

followed (both on the BBC America broadcasts and on these DVDs) by an “example” story for

that Doctor. These will be presented on these DVDs in “movie form,” with the episodic breaks

and cliffhangers removed, and stretched to 16:9 widescreen as seen on the BBC America broadcasts.

They will likely be using the restored versions from their original DVD releases (unlike some of the

BBC America broadcasts). The original 4:3 versions in 4-part episode form will now also be included.

There will be no other extras. The example stories are, for the First Doctor, The Aztecs, for the

Second Doctor, The Tomb of the Cybermen, for the Third Doctor, Spearhead from Space, and for

the Fourth Doctor, Pyramids of Mars. This set is intended as a primer for viewers new to the

classic series.

This was originally scheduled for June but has been put back to July, which didn’t have a title

at all after Terror of the Zygons, which had originally been scheduled for here, was delayed until

September in the UK (and thus likely until October in North America).

At about this same time, the UK will be seeing compilation re-releases of older titles in

special new packaging, minus the special features they had in their original releases.

It is unlikely these will be released in North America.

(One is a collection of all the regeneration stories called, Regeneration, and the others are

collections based around the top popular monsters.)

August 13, 2013

Spearhead from Space Blu-Ray Edition starring Jon Pertwee

(4 25-minute episodes, 1 Blu-Ray disc, $29.98)

Uniquely in the series history, this story was recorded entirely on film.

This makes a high-definition Blu-Ray release feasible, and that’s what

will be happening here. THIS IS THE ONLY CLASSIC SERIES

TITLE THAT WILL BE HAVING A TRUE HIGH-DEFINITION

RELEASE because it was the only one shot entirely on film. All the

other stories were shot predominantly on videotape using the

standard definition of the time and no increase in native resolution is

therefore possible.

The Green Death Special Edition starring Jon Pertwee

(6 25-minute episodes, 2 DVD discs, $34.98)

Later in 2013…

The following releases have been announced with release dates for the UK market

in 2013. It is possible, therefore, to deduce when they will be released in North America

as well, usually on the 2^nd Tuesday of each month. The dates below come from those

deductions and should be considered unofficial.

September 10, 2013

The Ice Warriors starring Patrick Troughton (6 25-minute episodes. Episodes 2 & 3

currently missing from the BBC archives, to be covered with animations.)

Sometime from September onwards, expect to see a further Doctors Revisited

4-disc compilation, this one covering Doctors 5-8. The Fifth Doctor story that will

be in that is known now to be Earthshock, the Sixth Doctor story will be

Vengeance on Varos, and for the Eighth Doctor, the only choice is his TV Movie.

The title chosen for the 7^th Doctor is not yet announced.

There should also be a final compilation near the end of the year or possibly into

2014 for Doctors 9-11.

October 8, 2013

Terror of the Zygons starring Tom Baker (4 25-minute episodes)

This is the only Fourth Doctor story not yet to have a DVD release.

This will complete his era, and is also the last complete story of the entire

classic series to have a DVD release. (some incompletes still remain, see below)

Scream of the Shalka starring Richard E. Grant, Sophie Okonedo, and Derek Jacobi

- Animated webcast that ran on the BBC’s Doctor Who website in 2003 as a pilot for a

“Ninth Doctor” series with Richard E. Grant in the title role. The series wasn’t taken

up as the new TV series was announced and got underway.

November 12, 2013

The Moonbase starring Patrick Troughton (4 25-minute episodes. Episodes 1 and 3

are currently missing from the BBC archives and will be completed with animations

to the surviving original soundtracks.)

December 2013

The Tenth Planet starring William Hartnell (4 25-minute episodes. Episode 4 is

currently missing from the BBC archives and will be completed with animation to

the surviving original soundtrack.)

The Fiftieth Anniversary Special starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, and John Hurt

as the Doctor, Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara, Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, and

who knows who else. (Title and length not yet known. Most likely 60 minutes.)

* This release will include An Adventure in Space and Time, a 90-minute docudrama

about the behind-the-scenes origins of the series, focusing on William Hartnell’s

journey into the part and his subsequent tenure. Starring David Bradley as

William Hartnell, Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert, Brian Cox as Sydney Newman,

and Sacha Dhawan as Waris Hussein.

Sometime in 2014

There are two more stories that have missing episodes, and which have half of their

episodes intact, and thus are candidates to be completed with animated episodes.

These stories not yet mentioned above are:

The Crusade starring William Hartnell (4 episodes, #s 2 and 4 missing) and

The Underwater Menace starring Patrick Troughton (4 episodes, #s 1 and 4 missing)

All the other stories with missing episodes have what's left of them already in release

in the Lost in Time DVD sets, and are thus unlikely animation candidates, unless the

costs of doing animations somehow plummet.

The Special Edition (or Revisitation) program of re-releases will continue intermittently

beyond the natural end of the DVD range once all the complete stories have been released.

Frequently Asked Questions: Why are we getting these re-released Special

Editions? What are the Revisitations? Are they delaying the release of "fresh" titles?

Answers:

Over the last three years there has been an ongoing series in the UK where many of the

titles that were released very early on in the DVD range have been seeing re-releases

in 3-story box sets called Revisitations. These re-releases include restoration that has

been redone from scratch (using techniques available now that weren’t 10 years ago when

they first came out) and including the sorts of making-of featurettes that have become

standard in the rest of the range but which weren’t in common use at the start of it.

Three of these sets have come out in the UK. Similar treatment was also given to

Jon Pertwee’s debut story Spearhead from Space and released as part of a 2-story “Auton”

box set alongside new-to-DVD story Terror of the Autons. A special edition of

Vengeance on Varos also came out in September, and now also The Claws

of Axos has a special edition on the docket for October in the UK and November in

North America.

These re-releases had been slow to come out in North America as we were behind the UK

in getting "fresh" titles out. As of August 2012, North America has caught up with all

the re-releases the UK has had to date, and should remain in near-sync with them in the

future.

The name Revisitations is not being used in North America, and they are not available in

box sets. Instead they came out as individual titles with the moniker “Special Edition”

attached to them.

As they prepare to release a Special Edition, they are stopping “reprints” of the original

editions of those titles, which is why some of those older titles are now becoming very hard

to order as supplies run out.

Q. The two “Dr. Who”/Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing have just been re-released in

high-definition on Blu-Ray in the UK. Will they be released like this in North America

too? If not, can we import them?

The rights to these two films are not controlled by the BBC or BBC Worldwide Americas.

My usual contacts therefore have no knowledge of what any international release plans

may be, and I’ve yet to hear any news on this from other sources. As far as I know, they

are not scheduled for North American release. I do know that the UK releases have been

encoded for Region B and thus will not play in ordinary North American Blu-Ray players.

So, importing them probably will not work for you, unless you have a region-free Blu-Ray

player.

OTHER RECENT RELEASES

May 28, 2013

The Snowmen starring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman

(1 60-minute episode, $14.98 for DVD of $19.98 for High-Def BluRay. 1 disc.)

and

Series 7, Part 2 starring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman

(8 45-minute episodes, $24.98 for DVD or $29.98 for High-Def BluRay. 2 discs.)

May 14, 2013

The Visitation Special Edition starring Peter Davison (4 25-minute episodes, 2 discs, $34.95)

This is a re-restored re-release of the Fifth Doctor’s fourth story from season 19 in 1982.

A spaceship carrying alien convicts crash-lands in the woods outside a 17^th-century English

manor. A month later, the TARDIS crew arrive and are accused of being plague carriers

by the locals, who act against them in either fear or strange trances.

The Doctor would like to help the aliens to leave, but they have terrible plans of their own.

April had no new release.

March 12, 2013

Doctor Who: The Aztecs Special Edition starring William Hartnell

Includes Episode 3 of Galaxy 4 (Air Lock), the formerly-lost episode recovered

in 2011, and a reconstruction of the other 3 episodes.

(5 25-minute episodes, 2 discs, $33.98)

Doctor Who: The Ark in Space Special Edition starring Tom Baker

(4 25-minute episodes, 2 discs, $33.98)

February 12, 2013

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror starring William Hartnell (6 25-minute episodes,

1 disc, $23.98)

January 14 , 2013

Doctor Who: Shada (starring Tom Baker) with More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS

(Shada is 1 hour, 50 minutes, and More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS is 90 minutes.

A 3-DVD disc set, $39.98)

November 20, 2012

Doctor Who: Limited Edition Gift Set starring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant,

and Matt Smith

(87 episodes, 45 minutes or more each, 41 DVD discs, $249.99)

Contains all of the discs from the Series 1 through Series 6 box sets.

November 13, 2012

Doctor Who: Series 7 Part 1 staring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill

(5 45-minute episodes, 2 DVDs for $23.98 or 2 high-definition Blu-Rays for

$28.98)

and

Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos Special Edition starring Jon Pertwee

(4 25-minute episodes, 2 DVDs for $33.98)

October 13, 2012

Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death starring Jon Pertwee

(7 25-minute episodes, 2 discs, $33.95)

September 11, 2012

Doctor Who: Planet of Giants starring William Hartnell

(3 25-minute episodes, 1 DVD disc, $23.98)

Doctor Who: Vengeance on Varos Special Edition starring Colin Baker

(2 45-minute episodes, 2 DVD discs, $33.98)

August 14, 2012

Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space Special Edition starring Jon Pertwee

(4 25-minute episodes, 1 DVD disc, $23.98) and

Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy starring Sylvester McCoy

(4 25-minute episodes, 1 DVD disc, $23.98)

July 14, 2012

Doctor Who: The Krotons starring Patrick Troughton

(4 25-minute episodes, 1 DVD disc, $23.98) and

Doctor Who: Death to the Daleks starring Jon Pertwee

(4 25-minute episodes, 1 DVD disc, $23.98)

June 12, 2012

The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Fifth Season

(6 30-minute episodes comprising 3 stories, 1 DVD disc, $18.98)

Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death Special Edition starring Patrick Troughton

(6 25-minute episodes, 2 DVD discs, $33.98) and

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks Special Edition starring Peter Davison

(2 50-minute episodes, 2 DVD discs, $33.98)

JUNE RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Mind of Evil starring Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who, Roger Delgado

as the Master, Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Katy Manning

as Jo Grant, Richard Franklin as Captain Yates, and John Levene as Sergeant Benton.

A 2-disc set.

On Disc 1:

- All 6 25-minute episodes of The Mind of Evil. The story has been restored to full

color throughout for the first time since the late 1970s. The color recovery

technique was applied to episodes 2 to 6 and had its most successful results to

date. Episode 1, however, had to be manually recolored, and this was done

painstakingly over 18 months by Stuart Humphreys (@babelcolour on Twitter)

and Peter Crocker, and if anything is the best looking episode of the set.

- Graphical menus, episode selection features, and scene selection features.

- Commentary track moderated by Toby Hadoke. The participants are actors

Katy Manning, Pik-Sen Lim (Chin Lee), and Fernanda Marlowe (Corporal Bell),

Director Timothy Combe, Producer Barry Letts, Script Editor Terrance Dicks,

and Stunt Arranger Derek Ware.

- Production Notes subtitles option. Displays pop-up production information as the story

plays.

On Disc 2:

- The Military Mind. A 23-minute making-of-the-story featurette featuring actors

Nicholas Courtney, Fernanda Marlowe, and Pik-Sen Lim, script editor Terrance

Dicks, producer Barry Letts, and director Timothy Combe.

- Now and Then. A 7-minute featurette comparing and contrasting the locations as

they appeared when the story was made in 1970 with how they look in the present.

- Behind-the-Scenes: Television Centre. A documentary made in 1970 about a typical

24 hours at the BBC TV Centre. 24 minutes.

- Photo Gallery. A 5-minute compilation of still photos taken during the production of

the story.

- PDF Files. Place this disc into a computer and you can access PDF files of the

priginal Radio Times billings for the story, and a 1971 Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks

Doctor Who promotion.

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming release of Spearhead from Space

on Blu-Ray.

Doctor Who: Inferno Special Edition starring Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who, Caroline John

as Liz Shaw, Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and John Levene

as Segeant Benton.

This story was originally released on DVD in 2006. It was felt the picture quality of the

episodes on that release was not up to par with the others in the range, and this edition

remedies that. The restoration was redone using a different technique to before, and the

result is a considerable improvement.

Other features that are new to this edition and were not present on the 2006 edition are

listed in italics below.

A 2-disc set.

On Disc 1:

- All 7 episodes of this serial. The episodes are 25 minutes each.

- Episode selection and scene selection menus, and optional subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Commentary track with actors Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier) and John Levene

(Sergeant Benton), producer/director Barry Letts, and script editor Terrance Dicks.

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

These notes have been re-researched and rewritten for this release.

- 1 Easter Egg. Highlight the blank area that follows to learn what it is and how to reach it:

- From the Episode Selection menu, go to Episode 7 and press play. As the episode begins to

run, press rewind. The program will rewind 30 seconds further back than the opening titles.

When it’s done rewinding, either let your player go forward by itself again, or you may

need to press play once it’s at the start. (This depends on how your player was programmed

by its manufacturer.) Anyway, this 30-second extra bit is the opening countdown

chalkboard slate from the leader on the master tape of Episode 7.

On Disc 2:

- “Can You Hear the Earth Scream?” A new 35-minute making-of-Inferno documentary

featuring interviews with actors Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier), Caroline John

(Liz Shaw), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), producer/director Barry Letts,

script editor Terrance Dicks, and stuntmen Ian Fairbairn, Derek Ware, and

Alan Chuntz (the latter in an archival segment).

- Hadoke Versus HAVOC. A 28-minute featurette where Toby Hadoke reunites four surviving

members of the original HAVOC stunt team (Derek Ware, Roy Scammell, Derek Martin,

and Stuart Fell) and gives them one last mission: to teach him how to do a high fall.

- Doctor Forever! Lost in the Dark Dimension. A 27-minute featurette where the interview

subjects recount the various attempts (real and imagined) at the series’ return during

the void period between 1990 and 2003. Features Doctor Who Magazine editors

Tom Spilsbury, John Freeman, and Gary Russell, actor David Burton who at one time

was claiming he was the new Doctor, writer Adrian Rigelsford and director Graeme

Harper who both worked on a prospective 30^th anniversary special called “Lost in the

Dark Dimension,” Stephen Cole of BBC Worldwide, and new series Executive Producer

Russell T. Davies.

- “The UNIT Family –Part One” A new 36-minute featurette about the family of characters

that surrounded the Doctor during his exile to Earth by the Time Lords.

This is “Part One” and spotlights the late Second Doctor and early

Third Doctor eras. (Future parts of this appeared on other DVD releases.)

Features interviews with actors Nicholas Courtney, Caroline John, and John Levene,

stuntman Derek Ware, script editor Terrance Dicks, producer Barry Letts, and

script editor/producer Derrick Sherwin.

- Visual Effects Promo Film. A 6-minute film made in 1970 by the BBC Visual Effects

Department to tout their capabilities to the industry at-large. It includes many shots

made for the 1970 season of Doctor Who including for Inferno.

- Deleted Scene. This presents a scene from episode 5 of the story where the Doctor,

the Brigade Leader, and Section Leader Shaw listen to a radio news report of earth

tremors all over England. This was removed from the program before its original BBC

broadcast because the news reader’s voice was so obviously Jon Pertwee’s own voice.

The scene survived intact in the North American tapes that were sold for overseas

broadcast, and it is presented here. (This scene was left in the body of the program

when this story was released on VHS. Here it’s been moved to a Deleted Scene option,

as it should be.)

- Pertwee Years Intro. This presents the first 3 minutes of the VHS tape The Pertwee Years

that came out in the early 90s and features Jon Pertwee introducing his era,

the tape in general, and episode 7 of Inferno.

- Photo Gallery. This plays a 7-minute reel of behind-the-scenes photo stills.

- Doctor Who Annual 1971. Pop this DVD into a PC or laptop, and you can have a look at

the entire 76-page 1971 Doctor Who Annual using Acrobat Reader. (Annuals are

short story and artwork collections that were sold in the year listed on the cover.)

- Radio Times Billings. Similarly, the TV listings billings from the Radio Times magazine

are presented here as a pdf file for Acrobat Reader.

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the DVD of The Mind of Evil.

- Subtitles option for the hearing impaired.

- Another Easter Egg. Highlight the blank area here to see what it is and how to reach it:

- On the main menu, page 1, arrow down to the “Next” button, then press your

left arrow. A green “Doctor Who” logo will appear on the left-hand side of the screen.

Click this and you will see the complete opening titles for this story, including the

special molten lava footage, clean of captions.

MAY RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Snowmen starring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman.

- Contains the 2012 Christmas special. 60 minutes’ duration. 5.1 surround sound.

- Available in either standard definition DVD or 1080i Blu-Ray.

- Graphical menus, episode selection features, and scene selection features.

- “Clara’s White Christmas” A 3-1/2 minute featurette that shows a little of

the making of the story.

- “Vastra Investigates” A 2-1/2 minute “prequel” scene to the story that

shows Madam Vastra, Jenny, and Strax wrapping up a criminal case

for Scotland Yard.

- “The Great Detective” A 3-minute “prequel” scene to the story that was part

of the BBC’s Children in Need telethon for 2012, where Vastra, Jenny,

and Strax attempt to coax the Doctor back into action with promises of

strange goings-on in London.

Doctor Who: Series Seven Part Two starring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman.

A 2-disc set. On both discs:

- Graphical menus, episode selection features, and scene selection features.

- 5.1 surround sound.

On Disc 1:

- The first four episodes of this set: The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten,

Cold War, and Hide. 45 minutes each.

- “The Bells of Saint John – A Prequel” A “prequel” scene featuring the Doctor

meeting a young girl in a playground, discussing the friend he’s lost.

On Disc 2:

- The remaining four episodes: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS,

The Crimson Horror, Nightmare in Silver, and The Name of the Doctor.

That last one guest stars Alex Kingston as River Song and John Hurt as

the Doctor.

- “Clarence and the Whispermen” A “prequel” scene showing how Clarence the

serial killer from The Name of the Doctor came to know his message to

Vastra about the Doctor, courtesy of the Whispermen.

Doctor Who: The Visitation Special Edition starring Peter Davison as the Doctor,

Matthew Waterhouse as Adric, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Janet Fielding

as Tegan.

Features listed in italics are new to this Special Edition. Those listed in plain text were

present on the original edition.

A 2-disc set. On Disc 1:

- All 4 episodes of the story, digitally restored and remastered. Episodes are 25 minutes each.

The restoration has been redone from scratch for this edition, including new transfers of the

location film footage which was not done on the original version.

- Graphical menus, episode selection features, and scene selection features.

- Commentary track with actors Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton, and

Janet Fielding, and director Peter Moffatt.

- “Directing Who – Peter Moffatt” A 26-minute featurette that interviews director

Peter Moffatt and profiles the six stories he worked on on Doctor Who.

(which were this one, State of Decay, Mawdryn Undead, The Five Doctors,

The Twin Dilemma, and The Two Doctors.)

- “Scoring The Visitation” A 16-minute featurette where composer and restoration team

sound guru Mark Ayres interviews composer Paddy Kingsland about his music

for this story.

- Film Trims. 5:30 of alternate takes shot during the location filming of the story.

- Isolated Score option: plays the episodes with only the incidental music track playing.

- “Writing a Final Visitation” A 13-minute interview with writer Eric Saward.

- Photo Gallery. 5 minutes of behind-the-scenes production stills.

- Information Text. Displays pop-up production trivia subtitles as the episodes play.

These have been rewritten and revised for the Special Edition.

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

Go to the 2^nd page of the Special Features menu and highlight the Photo Gallery option, then

press the left arrow. A Doctor Who will appear. Click on this and you will see the BBC1

continuity announcements that topped and tailed some of the episodes of this story on their

original UK broadcast. (This Easter Egg was on the original release too, it’s just been

hidden in a different place on this special edition.)

On Disc 2:

- Grim Tales. A new 45-minute making-of documentary where Peter Davison, Janet Fielding,

and Sarah Sutton are interviewed by Mark Strickson (Turlough in the later Davison

stories) about the making of the story on the original locations. Also features actors

Michael Melia (the Terileptil) and Peter Van Dissel (the Android), production designer

Ken Starkey, make-up designer Carolyn Perry, costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux,

and the proud present-day owners of the manor house location.

- The Television Centre of the Universe: Part 1. A new 32-minute documentary hosted by

Yvette Fielding of Blue Peter spotlighting the recently-closed BBC Television Centre

and Doctor Who’s role within it. Features a tour of the facility with Peter Davison,

Janet Fielding, and Sarah Sutton, and interviews with regular Doctor Who crew

members. To be continued on future DVDs…

- Doctor Forever – The Apocalypse Element. A new 27-minute documentary, part of an

ongoing series of DVD featurettes looking at the spinoff merchandising that was

happening while the series was off-the-air. This one spotlights Big Finish Productions,

who have been making original Doctor Who audio dramas since the late 1990s.

Features interviews with Big Finish producers Nicholas Briggs, Gary Russell, and

Jason Haigh-Ellery, writers Paul Cornell, Rob Shearman, Mark Gatiss, Justin Richards,

and Joseph Lidster, actor-director Lisa Bowerman, Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker,

actor William Russell (Ian Chesterton), director David Richardson, and new series

showrunner and writer Russell T. Davies. Also looks at the BBC’s own audio

productions by talking with Michael Stevens from AudioGO.

Hosted by Ayesha Antoine.

- PDF Files: Place this disc into a computer and you can access two PDF files. One is

the original Radio Times billings for The Visitation, and the other is the BBC

Enterprises “sales sheet” advertising the story to potential buyers.

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming Inferno Special Edition.

The original edition contained a “Who’s Who” biography section that listed the further

credits of the main cast. This has been left off of this edition.

MARCH RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Aztecs Special Edition starring William Hartnell as Dr. Who,

William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright,

and Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman.

Also includes Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 (Episode 3: Air Lock) starring William

Hartnell as Dr. Who, Maureen O’Brien as Vicki, and Peter Purves as

Steven.

Features described below in italics are new to this edition and were not present on the

Original release of The Aztecs.

A 2-Disc Set.

On Disc 1:

- All 4 25-minute episodes of The Aztecs.

- Graphical menus, episode selection features, and scene selection features.

- Fresh restoration of all 4 25-minute episodes, including a better-refined version of the

VidFIRE video-look process. This story has been selected by BBC America to represent

the First Doctor era in their “The Doctors Revisited” series of repeats. The prints they

used were NOT restored. The prints on this DVD look eye-poppingly better than what

BBC America’s used.

- Commentary by actors William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan),

and Producer Verity Lambert.

- Production Notes subtitles option. Displays pop-up production information as the story

plays. These notes are newly-researched and rewritten from the original edition.

- “Remembering the Aztecs” - 28 minutes of new interviews with three of the guest

cast from the story: Ian Cullen (Ixta), Walter Randall (Tonila), and John Ringham

(Tlotoxl).

- “Cortez and Montezuma” – a 6 minute BBC educational feature from 1970 briefly

describing the real-life Aztec civilization.

- “Restoring the Aztecs” 8 minute compare-and-contrast featurette about the restoration

And clean-up given to these episodes, and the VidFIRE video-look process.

This feature has an optional production notes feature that displays if the general

Production Notes feature has been switched on. (highly recommended that you switch

them on before watching this one)

- TARDIS-Cam No. 3, from the BBC online website for Doctor Who.

- Intro sequences. There are six different introductions from the interviewed members

of the guest cast that randomly play at the beginning when you select the “Play All” feature

on the main menu.

- “Designing the Aztecs” 25 minute interview feature with Barry Newbery, the production

designer on the serial, featuring many photographs from his own collection.

- “Making Cocoa” – a South Park-style animated featurette starring Tlotoxl and Tonila from

the story, where they tell you how the Aztecs made cocoa.

- An Arabic-language alternate soundtrack on the fourth episode, salvaged from the 1960s

overseas syndication package, which also features different incidental music from the original.

- Photo Gallery.

- 1 Easter Egg. To know how to access it and what it is, highlight the following blank space:

- Go to the “Special Features” menu. Highlight “Intro Sequences” and press the left arrow.

- A Doctor Who logo will appear and be highlighted. Click on this and you will see the

- “Distributed by BBC TV Enterprises” closing trailer that was used on overseas syndicated

- film prints of BBC shows in the 1960s.1960s, like this

- one.

On Disc 2:

- Galaxy 4. A 65-minute presentation of this 4-episode story. This begins with a 28-minute

abdidged reconstruction of the first two episodes, using the surviving soundtracks, still

photos, CGI, and two surviving clips from the first episode (the second of which is 6 minutes

long). The recently-recovered third episode, Air Lock, is then shown in its entirety. That is

then followed by another 13-minute reconstruction of the concluding episode.

- Chronicle – The Realms of Gold. A 50-minute BBC documentary made in the early 1970s

about the conquest of the Aztec civilization by the Spanish conquistador Cortez.

- Doctor Forever! Celestial Toyroom. A new 23-minute featurette about the various toy ranges

of Doctor Who there have been through its history.

- It’s A Square World. A 7-minute BBC comedy sketch from the 1960s starring Clive Dunn

(of Dad’s Army fame) as a faux First Doctor, explaining how a British space rocket will work.

Also features David Frost and Patrick Moore.

- A Whole Scene Going. A 5-minute segment from an arts program that interviewed Gordon

Flemyng, the director of the Peter Cushing-starring film Daleks Invasion Earth 2150AD

that includes a visit to the set.

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming DVD of The Ice Warriors.

- PDF Files. Put this disc into a computer and you can access a PDF file of the original

Radio Times billings for The Aztecs.

There is one feature that was present on the original edition of this DVD that’s not present on

this one. This is the Who’s Who text files of actors’ biographies.

Doctor Who: The Ark in Space Special Edition starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who,

Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, and Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan.

Contents listed in italics are new to this Special Edition. Those in normal type were present

in the original release.

A 2-Disc release. On Disc 1:

- All 4 25-minute episodes of the serial, newly remastered and restored.

- Graphical menus, episode selection features, scene selection features, and optional

subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- Commentary track by actors Tom Baker (the Doctor), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah), and

Producer Philip Hinchcliffe.

- Production Notes Subtitles. Freshly-researched and rewritten for this edition.

- A New Frontier. A 30-minute featurette about the making of the story, featuring new

interviews with Philip Hinchcliffe, production designer Roger Murray-Leach, director

Rodney Bennett, and actors Kenton Moore (Noah) and Wendy Williams (Vira), and

actor Nicholas Briggs offers a fan perspective.

- Original 4:3 aspect ratio.

- New CGI Model Sequence - The exterior shots of the Ark and its transport ship can

be replaced as you view the episodes with computer-generated images. You can

choose to either watch all the new shots at once via a menu choice in the Special

Features menu, or let them appear during the episodes as you play them.

(The original unaltered episodes with the original model footage are the default

version on the disc.)

- Roger Murray-Leach interview from the original edition.

- Alternative Title Sequence. An earlier, unused version of Tom Baker’s opening title

sequence that started by using some of the previous Jon Pertwee sequence.

- Model Effects Roll - Selecting this plays some film reels of the original modelwork from

1974 of the Ark’s transport ship launching and of the Wirrn space-walking around the Ark.

- Trailer for Episode 1

- Photo Gallery

- 3D Technical Schematics - This selection displays a computer-generated schematic

animation of the structure of the Ark.

- TARDIS-Cam No. 1- This selection plays a 1-minute modern modelwork featurette

of the TARDIS having landed on a desolate planet which has the remains of a

Cyberman’s head on it. This was a sort of promo for the BBC’s own official

Doctor Who website at www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho for which other TARDIS-

Cam short subjects were made and shown. Those have been discontinued, but this

was present on the original edition so has been left here as well.

- 3 Easter Eggs. Use your mouse to highlight the blank-looking area below and you’ll see

how to find them and what they are.

- Egg 1: On the Main Menu, immediately press your left arrow and you will see the

Doctor Who logo appear out of nowhere. Click the logo, and you will see the 30-second

countdown clock and slate for Part Two of the story used at the start of its master video tape.

- Egg 2: Go into the 2^nd page of the Special Features menu. Highlight the Photo Gallery

Selection, then press the left arrow. A Doctor Who logo will appear. Click this and

the Doctor will appear for about 17 seconds, tell you “goodbye” and that he can’t stay

long because he’s going to Blackpool, and that you should brush your teeth.

A caption card for a Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool then displays.

(This was an advertisement for said exhibition.)

- Egg 3: At the conclusion of the final episode, after the credits have finished rolling,

the Doctor appears again in another short segment for that Blackpool exhibition that

would appear to have been used at the exhibit itself as people left because he asks you

to tell everybody about it, and to mind the steps.

On Disc 2:

- Graphical menus and optional subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- The Ark in Space: Movie Version. A one hour-ten-minute continuous edit of the story

that was used in by the BBC during a rerun season. This copy has not been

restored.

- Doctor Forever! Love and War. A new 28-minute featurette about how Doctor Who

continued in new fiction books from 1991 to 2005. Features interviews with

Virgin Books editor Peter Darvill-Evans, BBC books editors Steve Cole and Justin

Richards, actress Lisa Bowerman, David Richardson from TV Zone, audio and TV

authors Rob Shearman and Joseph Lidster, and book authors (and in many cases,

future writers or producers of new series episodes) Paul Cornell, Russell T. Davies,

Mark Gatiss and Gary Russell.

- Scene Around Six. 8 minutes of film footage of Tom Baker on a promotional tour

of Belfast, Northern Ireleand, being mobbed by huge crowds of kids everywhere he goes.

- Robot 8mm Location Film. 1 minute of 8mm home movie footage shot during the

making of Tom Baker’s debut story, Robot.

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the DVD of The Aztecs Special Edition.

- PDF Files. Place this disc into a computer and you can access four PDF files.

They are:

-- The original Radio Times billing for this story from 1974.

-- The complete Doctor Who Technical Manual, an oversize paperback published in 1983.

69 pages of technical schematics of the popular props, sets, and monsters seen up to

that point (and some unpopular ones).

-- Promotional materials for Crosse & Blackwell. Flyers that were included in cans of

baked beans.

-- Promotional materials for Nestle. Candy bar wrappers featuring Doctor Who

characters from this era of the show.

There are three features that were present in the original edition of this release that

are absent from this one. The first two were features unique to the North American

editions which were eliminated as a series when the range was unified to have the

same contents worldwide. These were the “Who’s Who” text files containing extra

biographies of the cast, and the 15-minute featurette that compiled all of the

Howard Da Silva narrations that were used in the initial 1978 syndication package

to U.S. TV stations to introduce the episodes to the uninitiated American audience.

The third feature was a BBC local news item that visited the location filming on

Revenge of the Cybermen in the Wookey Hole caves. This segment is now present

on the DVD of Revenge of the Cybermen and so was felt to be redundant here.

(the Cybermen DVD wasn’t out at the time of the original release and wasn’t until

many years later)

The original release also had a flaw on the main feature that is not present on this new

edition. This took the form of the picture dimming at various points in the last two

episodes if the subtitles were switched on.

FEBRUARY RELEASE IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror starring William Hartnell as Dr. Who,

William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright,

and Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman.

1 disc.

- Graphical menus and episode selection features.

- Subtitles for the hearing impaired.

- All 6 episodes of the serial, 25 minutes each, black-and-white.

Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 6 are the original TV versions, digitially remasted and

restored and with the VidFIRE video-look restoration process applied.

Episodes 4 and 5 are missing from the BBC archives and are here represented

with newly-created animations made to match copies of the original TV

soundtracks that have survived thanks to fans who made off-the-air audio

recordings.

- Optional Commentary tracks. The surviving episodes feature actor

Carole Ann Ford (Susan) and production assistant Timothy Combe, and

they are joined on the relevant episodes by guest actors Neville Smith

(D’Argenson), Jeffry Wickham (Webster), Caroline Hunt (Danielle), and

Patrick Marley (Soldier). Episode 4 has a full interview with actor

Ronald Pickup (Physician), and Episode 5 has interviews with missing episode

hunters Paul Vanezis and Philip Morris. All episodes moderated by Toby Hadoke.

- Don’t Lose Your Head. A new 25-minute making-of-the-show featurette

featuring interviews with Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, and Timothy Combe.

- Robespierre’s Domain Animated Backgrounds Tour. A 3-minute featurette

showing off the animation backgrounds used to help recreate episodes 4 & 5.

- Photo Gallery. A 4-minute slideshow of photo stills taken during the TV production.

- Animation Gallery. A 4-minute slideshow of some of the animation materials.

- Information Text option. This option displays pop-up production trivia

information as subtitles as the episodes play.

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

The Ark in Space Special Edition.

- PDF Files. Place this disc into the DVD-ROM drive of a computer and you can see

the original Radio Times listings from 1964.

JANUARY RELEASE IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: Shada with More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS

Shada starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Lalla Ward as Romana, and

David Brierley as the Voice of K9.

A 3-DVD disc set.

On all 3 discs:

- Graphical menus and episode selection features.

- Subtitles for the hearing impaired.

On Disc 1:

- Shada (VHS Version) This is nearly all of the completed footage of the story

assembled into story order, with the missing scenes bridged partially by

narration delivered by Tom Baker. This is nearly the same edition that came

out on VHS in 1992, with the same music score and special effects that were

used then, however, the picture elements have all been remastered and restored

as with any other Doctor Who classic series DVD. The complete program lasts

1 hour 50 minutes.

- BBCi / Big Finish Version for DVD-ROM. Place this disc into the optical drive

of a computer and you can play a complete, but different version of Shada that

was made by audio drama producers Big Finish for the BBC Online website in

2003, with the story slightly rewritten to star Paul McGann’s Doctor. Lalla

Ward returns as Romana, and John Leeson provides the voice of K9. A file

marked “Shada Viewer” is on the disc, and this will launch in your browser and

play the Flash animation of the entire story. 6 episodes, approx. 25 minutes each.

- Information Text option. This option displays pop-up production trivia

information as subtitles as the episodes play. This applies to the Tom Baker

television version only, not the Flash Paul McGann animated version.

- Coming Soon Trailer for the forthcoming DVD of The Reign of Terror. 1 minute.

On Disc 2:

- Taken Out of Time. A new 26-minute making-of-the-show documentary about

Shada and the reasons for its cancellation, featuring interviews with actors

Tom Baker and Daniel Hill (Chris Parsons), director’s assistant Olivia Bazelgette,

production assistant Ralph Wilton, assistant designer Les McCallum,

Cambridge choir member Angus Smith, and director Pennant Roberts.

- Now and Then. A 13-minute documentary comparing the locations of the story

as they looked in 1979 versus how they looked in 2012.

- Strike! Strike! Strike! A new 28-minute documentary about the history of BBC

strikes and how they affected the production of other stories in the series.

Features television experts, plus Doctor Who actors Nicola Bryant, Peter Purves,

and Paul Seed, producers Barry Letts and Derrick Sherwin, script editor

Gary Russell, and director Richard Martin.

- Being a Girl. A new 30-minute documentary narrated by Louise Jameson (Leela)

about all of the Doctor’s female companions throughout the entire series up to 2011.

- Photo Gallery. A 5-minute package of still photos taken during the production

of Shada.

On Disc 3:

- More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS. A 1 hour, 28-minute documentary about

the whole of the classic series made on the occasion of the 30^th anniversary in 1993,

which was released on VHS in 1994. Features clips and interviews with nearly

every actor and producer and many of the writers who had worked on the series,

as well as re-creations of classic scenes. Narrated by Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier).

- Remembering Nicholas Courtney. A new 26-minute featurette about the late

Nicholas Courtney made by his biographer, Michael McManus, utilizing a partial

interview Courtney gave in 2010 about his life, also featuring Tom Baker, as well

as earlier interviews and clips.

- Doctor Who Stories: Peter Purves. A 14-minute interview actor Peter Purves gave

in 2003 discussing his work on the series as Steven Taylor during the First Doctor era.

- The Lambert Tapes – Part One. An 11-minute interview with the late Verity Lambert

recorded in 2003 about her taking on of the production of Doctor Who and her being

the BBC’s first female Producer. To be continued on forthcoming DVDs.

- Those Deadly Divas. A 23-minute featurette where contributors look at and discuss

some of the best of Doctor Who’s female villains. The contributors are actors

Kate O’Mara (the Rani), Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), and Tracy Ann Oberman

(Yvonne Harper), and writers Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman. Also includes

some deleted scenes from The Idiot’s Lantern of Maureen Lipman as the Wire.

- Photo Gallery. A 6-minute presentation of still photos taken during the making of

More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS.

- PDF Files. Place this disc into the DVD-ROM drive of a computer and you can see

the original Radio Times listings for More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS.

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

Go to the Photo Gallery selection, then press the left arrow. A Doctor Who logo will

appear. Click on this and you will see a 2-minute interview with 1960s director

Richard Martin giving his memories of the late Verity Lambert.

NOVEMBER 2012 RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: Series 7 Part 1 starring Matt Smith as the Doctor, Karen Gillan as

Amy, and Arthur Darvill as Rory.

A 2-disc set, available either as standard-definition DVDs or high-definition Blu-Rays.

On both discs:

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features.

- Subtitles for the hearing impaired.

On Disc 1:

- Episodes 1 to 3: Asylum of the Daleks, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, and

A Town Called Mercy

On Disc 2:

- Episodes 4 and 5: The Power of Three and The Angels Take Manhattan

- “Pond Life” A 5-part series of short subjects showing Amy and Rory at home

between adventures with the Doctor that debuted on the BBC’s websites

the week before the season started. 6 minutes total.

- Asylum of the Daleks Prequel. A 2-1/2 minute scene featuring the Doctor that

takes place just before Asylum of the Daleks begins.

- The Making of the Gunslinger. A 2-minute scene showing how the cybernetic

engineers of Kahler Jex’s people came to build their Gunslingers.

(not a behind-the-scenes featurette… this is a piece of fiction)

- The Science of Doctor Who A 44-minute special that ran on BBC America in

August 2012 about the science and science fiction concepts the series

touches on and how possible they may really be.

- Comic Con Piece. An 11-minute featurette showing the stars of the show and

Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner visiting

San Diego Comic Con in July 2012.

Frequently Asked Question: Will these episodes also be part of a larger box set

of the whole of Series 7 in the future?

Answer: Yes, they will, however, that box set will not be released until a few

months after the final episode of the series airs, and that will not be until sometime

in the spring of 2013. Also, that box set will not include the Science of Doctor Who

special. (The other extras on this set will likely all be included.)

Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos Special Edition starring Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who,

Roger Delgado as the Master, Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier

Lethbridge-Stewart, Katy Manning as Jo Grant, Richard Franklin as Captain

Yates, and John Levene as Sergeant Benton.

This is a Special Edition re-release of a title that originally came out in 2005.

The restoration has been redone from scratch. The middle two episodes in particular

were given extra attention with newly enhanced techniques that have resulted in

better picture quality on these than in the 2005 release, particularly on Episode 3.

The original release was 1 disc. This one has been boosted to 2 discs, with new

extra features, detailed below. Features listed in italics are new to this Special Edition.

On Disc 1:

- All 4 episodes of the story, newly restored and remastered.

     - Graphical menus, episode selection feature, and scene selection features.

     - Commentary track with actors Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Richard Franklin

(Captain Yates), and producer Barry Letts.

      - “Deleted and Extended Scenes”    A 27-minute featurette assembled from a

rare surviving “studio reel” of videotape that was recording the entire

recording session on the first production night.  It thus includes many

behind-the-scenes moments, multiple takes of scenes, and some scenes

that were cut.  It also comes with an optional information text

            subtitle feature that commentates and informs you on what you’re being shown.

On Disc 2:

- Axon Stations! A new 27-minute featurette about the making of the story, with

Interviews with actors Katy Manning, Derek Ware (Pigbin Josh),

Paul Grist (Bill Filer), Bernard Holley (Axon Man), co-writer Bob Baker,

script editor Terrance Dicks, and director Michael Ferguson.

- “Now and Then”  A 6-1/2 minute featurette showing the outdoor locations from the film

shoots in the present day and contrasting them with how they appeared in the 1971

program.

- “Directing Who”  A 15-minute featurette that interviews director Michael Ferguson.

- Studio Recording. The entirety of the rare 72-minute “studio reel” of videotape

described above in the Deleted and Extended Scenes package.

- Living With Levene. Toby Hadoke spends a weekend with Sergeant Benton actor John

Levene in his home to try to better understand this eccentric personality.

35-minutes.

- “Photo Gallery”   11 minutes of production stills.

- PDF Files. Place this disc into a computer and you can access PDF files of the

story’s original Radio Times billings from 1971.

- Coming Soon Trailer for the forthcoming DVD release of Shada, including the

Documentary More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS. The title card on this

trailer reads “Legacy Box Set,” (the UK’s title) but in North America it will

be released simply as Shada with More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS.

OCTOBER 2012 RELEASE IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death starring Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who,

Caroline John as Liz Shaw, Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart,

and John Levene as Sergeant Benton.

A 2-disc set.

On Disc 1:

- All 7 episodes of the story, fully color-restored and digitally remastered.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features.

- Optional commentary track recorded in 2009 featuring actors Caroline John

(Liz Shaw), Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier), John’s husband Geoffrey Beevers

(Private Johnson), and Peter Halliday (Alien Voices), script editor Terrance Dicks,

director Michael Ferguson, stunt arranger Derek Ware, and stunt performers Roy

Scammell and Derek Martin. Moderated by Toby Hadoke.

- Information Text. This option displays pop-up production trivia information as

subtitles as the episodes play.

- Subtitles for the hearing impaired.

On Disc 2:

- “Mars Probe 7: Making the Ambassadors of Death” A new 26-minute featurette

about the making of the show, featuring interviews with the aforementioned Terrance

Dicks, Michael Ferguson, Derek Ware, and Roy Scammell, and also assistant floor

manager Margot Hayhoe.

- Trailer. A 1:30 trailer for the serial featuring specially recorded links from

Jon Pertwee.

- Tomorrow’s Times: The Third Doctor. A 13-minute look at how the Jon Pertwee era

of the show was reviewed in the press at the time, presented by Peter Purves.

- Photo Gallery. 4-minutes of stills taken during the production of the story.

- PDF Materials. Place this disc into the optical drive of your computer, and you can

access a .pdf file of the original Radio Times billings for this story from 1970.

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming DVD of The Claws of Axos

Special Edition.

- Subtitles for the hearing impaired.

FAQ: The Color Restoration. What’s been done, why was it needed,

and how good is it?

This story fell victim to the BBC Archive videotape purges of the 1970s. The original

color videotape of the first episode is the only one to survive to this day. Black-and-white

film copies of all 7 episodes were made, however, and those survived and were used for

syndication in North America from the 1980s onwards. Also in the archives is a color

domestic Betamax recording from off-air made by an American during a syndication

broadcast in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, the colors on this recording were intermittent

given the distance between his receiver and the UHF station he was recording from.

This recording was used to restore some of the color to this story when it was released on

VHS in the early 2000s, however, 45% of the serial remained in black-and-white only.

The BBC Restoration Team has successfully restored the color to all of the episodes for

this DVD release, using a mixture of the useable color from the 1970s Betamax tape and

color retrieved from high-resolution scans of the black-and-white film prints and put

through the Color Recovery process that analyzes the interference patterns left by the

original colors in the black-and-white film and uses them to reassign the original colors

of each pixel.

As for how good it all now looks, the answer is very good indeed when compared to the

original source materials or the earlier VHS release. It’s not, however, quite as good as

having the original tapes to watch, as you’ll be able to tell when you compare Episode 1

(which does come from the original surviving videotape) to the later episodes. Based on

my own subjective viewing experience, if we say that the color on Episode 1 is a 10 on a

scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the “worst” sections of Episodes 2 and 3 as a 6/10, and those

of the rest at 8/10. There are portions of all 6 of the restored episodes that look better

than that, all the way up to 9/10 to my eyes.

SEPTEMBER 2012 RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: Planet of Giants starring William Hartnell as Dr. Who, William Russell as

Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, and Carole Ann Ford as

Susan Foreman.

- All 3 episodes of the story, digitally remastered and restored and given the VidFIRE

video-look restoration treatment.

- Optional commentary track by BBC Radiophonic Workshop sound designer Brian

Hodgson, vision mixer Clive Doig, make-up artist Sonia Markham, and floor assistant

David Tilby. Moderated by Mark Ayres.

- Episodes 3 & 4 Reconstruction. This story was originally made and recorded as

4 25-minute episodes. Prior to its original broadcast in 1964, however, it was judged

to be running too slowly, and so the second half of the story was condensed down to

just 1 episode, making this only a 3-part story. This featurette is an attempt to present

the story as originally recorded using impressionists playing most of the characters to

read the dialog in from the missing scenes and present that alongside footage taken

from elsewhere in the story. Also, actors Carole Ann Ford and William Russell

reprise their roles as Susan and Ian, respectively, in this new recording. Produced

by Ian Levine. 52 minutes.

- Rediscovering The Urge to Live. An 8-minute featurette about the making of the

reconstruction, featuring all the cast and the producers.

- Suddenly Susan. A 15-minute inteview with Carole Ann Ford from 2003 where she

discusses her time as Susan.

- The Lambert Tapes - The Doctor. A 14-minute interview with producer Verity Lambert

from 2003 where she discusses the character of the Doctor and the actors who'd played

him up until that point.

- Photo Gallery. A 3-minute package of production stills taken during the making of the story.

- Information Text. Option to display pop-up production trivia as subtitles as the story plays.

- Optional Arabic Soundtrack. Plays all 3 episodes with the Arabic soundtrack that was used

in some 1960s overseas sales.

- Coming Soon Trailer. A 1-minute trailer for the Vengeance on Varos Special Edition.

Doctor Who: Vengeance on Varos Special Edition starring Colin Baker as the Doctor

and Nicola Bryant as Peri.

Features listed in normal type were present in the original DVD release in 2002.

Features listed in italics are new to the Special Edition.

2 Discs. On Disc 1:

- The two episodes of the story, 45 minutes each, digitally remastered and restored.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features.

- Optional commentary by actors Colin Baker (the Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), and Nabil Shaban (Sil)

- Optional 5.1 channel soundtrack

- Optional Isolated Score: plays the story with only the music track playing. Also available in 5.1

- Optional Mono Production Audio. Plays the story with only the studio sound playing, no music or

post-production sound effects.

- Information Text. Displays pop-up trivia information about the production throughout the

story. This was an option on the original DVD as well, but the notes have been completely

rewritten here to include new information.

On Disc 2:

- Nice or Nasty. A new making-of documentary presented by Matthew Sweet. 30 minutes.

Features interviews with writer Philip Martin, script editor Eric Saward, incidental musician

Jonathan Gibbs, and actors Nabil Shaban (Sil) and Sheila Reed (Etta).

- The Idiot's Lantern. An 8-minute featurette that looks at how Doctor Who has used the

medium of television within its own narrative, in all its eras.

- Extended and Deleted Scenes. An 18-minute package of scenes cut from the finished show,

The original DVD had 10 of these scenes. An additional 8 have been added here, for a total

of 18.

- Acid Bath Scene with Alternative Music. An attempt to show the infamous acid bath

sequence in a better light with a different music track on it.

- Two BBC1 broadcast trailers. 1 minute.

- Behind-The-Scenes. A 5 minute featurette that shows “wild” footage of several of the cast making a few

different attempts at a scene as they try to improve the scene.

- Continuities. (The BBC’s announcer giving the time and a brief description of the upcoming show.)

- Photo gallery. 7 minutes of production stills taken throughout the story.

- Outtakes. The cast try to perform a few scenes and various things go wrong each time. 3 minutes.

- Tomorrow's Times - The Sixth Doctor. Sarah Sutton presents a 13-minute featurette looking at the

press reaction to the series at this time, to the cancellation crisis of 1985, and the death of Second

Doctor Patrick Troughton.

- News. A 1-minute news item about Colin Baker's casting in the role.

- Breakfast Time. A 6-minute interview with Colin Baker on the BBC's Breakfast Time morning show

immediately after he'd been cast in the part.

- Saturday Superstore. A 15-minute segment from an appearance by Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant

on this show in 1984. Also features the Master calling in on the phone to talk to them.

- French and Saunders. An 8-minute comedy sketch shot on the set of The Trial of a Time Lord

from the French and Saunders show of the time. (Unused on the show itself.)

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming DVD of The Ambassadors of Death.

- PDF Materials. Place this DVD into the optical drive of a computer and you can access the

Radio Times TV listings from the original broadcast in 1985 and the BBC Enterprises Sales Sheet

that advertised this story to potential overseas customers.

The Who's Who actors biographies texts present on the original DVD release are not present on

this edition.

AUGUST 2012 RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor

and Sophie Aldred as Ace.

1 DVD disc containing:

- All 4 episodes of the story, fully restored and digitally remastered.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features.

- Optional commentary track by actors Sophie Aldred, Christopher Guard (Bellboy),

and Jessica Martin (Mags), writer Stephen Wyatt, script editor Andrew Cartmel,

and music composer Mark Ayres. Moderated by Toby Hadoke.

- Choice of a new Dolby 5.1 soundtrack mix or the original 2.0 stereo mix.

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

- "The Show Must Go On" A 30-minute making-of featurette telling the particularly

fraught story of how this story was made, with interviews with Andrew Cartmel,

Sophie Aldred, visual effects designer Mike Tucker, director Alan Wareing,

production designer David Laskey, actor Ian Reddington (Chief Clown), and

parts of an archive interview with producer John Nathan-Turner.

- Deleted and Extended Scenes. An 11-minute package of 33 scenes that were trimmed

or removed entirely.

- Lost in the Darkness. A 2-minute featurette showing the outer space model shots that

were to have appeared at the start of the story but were dropped, with Mike

Tucker explaining why this was.

- The Psychic Circus. A 4-minute music video for a song that the cast created for possible

commercial release at the time of production, restored and remixed. The song was

not published at the time. The video portion is a new creation, made to look

as if it could've been a late 1980s music video. Available either with the original

2.0 stereo sound or a new 5.1 Dolby mix.

- Remembrance "Demo". Two scenes from the story Remembrance of the Daleks with

their music replaced with music aspiring composer Mark Ayres wrote to

demonstrate what he could do, which won him the job making the music for

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. Available in either 2.0 stereo or 5.1 Dolby.

4 minutes.

- Tomorrow's Times - The Seventh Doctor. A 14-minute featurette where Anneke Wills

presents the best and worst of the press reaction to the Seventh Doctor's stories

when they first aired.

- Victoria Wood Sketch. A 1-minute comedy sketch made around this time satirizing

Doctor Who starring Victoria Wood as a companion and Jim Broadbent as the Doctor.

- Photo Gallery. 7 minutes of still photos taken during production of the story.

- Coming Soon. A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming DVD of Planet of Giants.

- PDF Materials. Place this disc into a computer and you can have a look at the Radio

Times billing for this story from 1988-89, and also a file containing Mike Tucker's

design drawings for some of the visual effects props.

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

Go to the Special Features menu. Highlight Deleted and Extended Scenes, then press

the right arrow to make a Doctor Who logo appear. Click this and you'll see a strange

1-minute video montage of bits of many of the special features that was reported to

have been part of some sort of marketing campaign across the BBC's DVD range that

was cancelled after this disc had already been authored.

Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space Special Edition starring Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who,

Caroline John as Liz Shaw, and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Features listed in italics are new to the Special Edition. Those in normal type were also

in the original edition.

- Graphical menus, episode selection features, and scene selection features.

- The restoration has been redone from scratch, and for the first time, from using the

original film negatives. This was the only story in the classic series that was made

entirely on film (16mm).

- Commentary track 1 by actors Caroline John (Liz) and Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier).

- Commentary track 2 by script editor Terrance Dicks and producer Derrick Sherwin.

- "Down to Earth: Filming Spearhead from Space" A 23-minute featurette about the

making of the story with interviews with Terrance Dicks, Derrick Sherwin,

costume designer Christine Rawlins, assistant script editor Robin Squire, and archive

interviews with Jon Pertwee and producer Barry Letts.

- "Regenerations: From Black and White to Color" A 19-minute featurette about the BBC's

transition from black-and-white to color broadcasts, featuring interviews with Derrick

Sherwin, Terrance Dicks, actors Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury, designer Roger

Cheveley, directors Timothy Combe, Michael Ferguson, and Christopher Barry, and

title sequence designer Bernard Lodge, who also goes into detail as to how he created

the Jon Pertwee era title sequence that debuted with this story.

- Production Notes Subtitles, rewritten after new research.

- A 5-minute "UNIT Recruitment Film" that was made as a spoof for a run of repeats in 1993.

- A new photo gallery package of stills taken during production of the story. 4 minutes.

- Three BBC2 trails from the 1999 repeats of this story. 2 minutes.

- PDF Files. Place this DVD into the optical drive of a computer and you can see the original

1970 Radio Times billings and feature articles that accompanied this story.

- An Easter Egg (hidden feature – highlight here to see how to get to it):
This is accessible as follows:  from the main menu, highlight "Scene Selection" and double

click the left arrow. The Doctor Who logo at the top will become highlighted. Click on this

and you'll see an earlier, "first draft" of the title sequence never used on the finished shows.

- In all previous DVD and VHS releases of this story, a section of music that played over the

top of the establishing scenes in the plastics factory early in Episode 2 had to be removed

due to the rights clearances for this track being too expensive. It was the opening guitar riffs

of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well (Part One)," which were much cheaper for the BBC to use in

1970 when the band was still largely unknown than it later became. These rights issues have

at last been cleared up, and for the first time, that music is left intact and is here on this DVD

right where it should be.

- The original edition had a series of text-only biographies of the principal cast called "Who's Who"

which are not present in this edition.

JULY 2012 RELEASES IN DETAIL

Doctor Who: The Krotons starring Patrick Troughton as Dr. Who, Frazer Hines as Jamie,

and Wendy Padbury as Zoe.

1 DVD disc containing:

- All 4 episodes of the story, amazingly restored and given the VidFIRE video-look restoration

treatment.

- Graphical menus, episodes and scene selection features.

- Optional commentary track by actors Richard Ireson (Axus), Philip Madoc (Eelek),

and Gilbert Wynne (Thara), costume designer Bobi Bartlett, make-up designer Sylvia

James, and assistant floor manager David Tilley. Moderated by Toby Hadoke.

- Second Time Around - The Troughton Years. A 52-minute documentary about the

entirety of the Patrick Troughton era. Includes interviews with actors Anneke Wills

(Polly), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Deborah Watling (Victoria), Wendy Padbury (Zoe),

script editors/writers Terrance Dicks and Victor Pemberton, new series writer Rob Shearman,

new series script editor Gary Russell, script editor/writer/producer Derrick Sherwin,

director Christopher Barry, an archival interview with Patrick Troughton himself,

and archival text quotes from story editor/writer Gerry Davis and producer Innes Lloyd.

Also includes five clips from the recently-found yet-to-be-released episode 2 of

The Underwater Menace.

- Doctor Who Stories - Frazer Hines, part one. A 17-minute interview with Frazer Hines

(to be continued in a future DVD release)

- The Doctor's Strange Love. A 7-minute discussion of the story between Simon Guerrier

and Torchwood/Sarah Jane Adventures writer Joe Lidster.

- Photo Gallery. A presentation of still photos from the production lasting 5 minutes.

- PDF Materials. Place this disc into a computer and you can have a look at the Radio

Times billing for this story from 1969.

- Coming Soon Trailer. A 1-minute trailer for the forthcoming DVD of The Greatest Show

in the Galaxy.

- Information Text. Displays pop-up production notes throughout the story as subtiles.

Doctor Who: Death to the Daleks starring Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who and Elisabeth

Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.

1 DVD disc containing:

- All 4 episodes of the story, amazingly restored and given the VidFIRE video-look restoration

treatment.

- Graphical menus, episodes and scene selection features.

- Optional commentary track by actors Julian Fox (Peter Hamilton) and Cy Town (Dalek

Operator), Assistant Floor Manager Richard Leyland, Costume Designer L. Rowland Warne,

Special Sound Designer Dick Mills, and Director Michael E. Briant.

- Beneath the City of the Exxilons. A 27-minute making-of-the-show documentary presented

by new series Dalek Voice actor Nicholas Briggs, featuring interviews with most of the

commentary contributors, plus Arnold Yarrow (who played Bellal).

- Studio Recording. A 24-minute featurette of camera footage taken "wild" during the

studio recording, showing what went on just before and after takes.

- On the Set of Doctor Who and the Daleks. An 8-minute featurette about the making of

the first of the two Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing utilizing behind-the-scenes

black and white film footage that's recently come to light. Features interviews with

the director's son, actor Jason Flemyng, 1st Assistant Director Anthony Waye, and

Dalek Operator Bryan Hands.

- Doctor Who Stories - Dalek Men. A 13-minute featurette featuring interviews with

Dalek Operators John Scott Martin and Nicholas Evans.

- Photo Gallery. A presentation of still photos from the production lasting 5 minutes.

- PDF Materials. Place this disc into a computer and you can have a look at the Radio

Times billing for this story from 1974.

- Coming Soon Trailer. A 1-minute trailer for the DVD of The Krotons.

- Information Text. Displays pop-up production notes throughout the story as subtiles.

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

Go to the first page of the Special Features menu. Highlight the Photo Gallery selection,

then press the right arrow. A Doctor Who logo will appear on the left side of the screen.

Select this, and you will see the full opening and closing title sequences used on Jon

Pertwee's final season without any credits on them.

There used to be a section here on the releases the UK has already got

that North America doesn’t have yet. It’s been removed because it’s

become irrelevant, as North America is now caught up to the UK and

will be remaining so through 2013.

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)

I’m also on Twitter under the name: @DrWhoExpert

I also post intermittently on the Gallifrey Base forum under my real name, Steve Manfred.