The Classic Doctor Who DVD CompendiumBookmark and Share

Monday, 14 July 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Full details of the forthcoming The Classic Doctor Who DVD Compendium are now available, with the book due to be published on the 4th August 2014:

The Classic Doctor Who DVD Compendium (Credit: Wonderful Books)THE CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO DVD COMPENDIUM
The complete guide to every DVD release of the original 'classic' series of Doctor Who

August 2014 sees the publication in print and ebook of THE CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO DVD COMPENDIUM, a guide to the entire range on DVD of the show's original run from 1963 to 1996.

When the range began in 2000 many Doctor Who adventures were still being issued on fuzzy old VHS. But the DVDs were on a whole new level unmatched in archive television releases before or since. Not only did they offer the superior picture quality and playback flexibility of the then-burgeoning medium; not only were the episodes digitally restored from the best surviving source materials to bring them back to (or even exceed) their original broadcast quality; but they also included an increasingly sophisticated range of additional features that examined the programme's production and legacy.

THE CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO DVD COMPENDIUM chronicles every detail of the range. It's part buying guide for those new to or still collecting the discs, helping them compare releases and select which one they want to get next, and part catalogue for long-time buyers whose collection is complete, enabling them to quickly find any item to watch again. The book provides summaries of the stories, without giving away spoilers for those yet to see the episodes; connections to other adventures to help viewers decide what to buy or watch next; outlines of the restoration techniques used for each release; and more comprehensive descriptions of every extra than can be found elsewhere.

There are also five appendices covering supplementary releases of Classic Who episodes and related programmes; a full list of items hidden on the discs as easter eggs and how to find them; details of the DVDs' releases in other countries; and more. Plus to help collectors find specific contents, there are multiple indexes cataloguing the more frequent extras, key participants in the audio commentaries, recurring features, and a full index of contributors to the special features.

Whether you're only just discovering the long history of Doctor Who's original incarnation or have been a fan and collector for years, THE CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO DVD COMPENDIUM is the ultimate companion to the complete DVD range, celebrating the most comprehensive and detailed release of a television series there has ever been.

Paul Smith is the author and designer of last year's "Time and Space Visualiser: The Story and History of Doctor Who as Data Visualisations", which presents a wealth of information about the show in a unique way using eye-catching graphs and charts. He also produced "The Wonderful Book of Dr Who 1965", a tongue-in-cheek look at the early days of the series in a modern style.

THE CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO DVD COMPENDIUM by Paul Smith is due to be published on 4 August 2014. Available print-on-demand from Amazon (436 pages, 6x9in), or as an ebook.








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