Germany: Pandastorm Pictures changes DVD release schedule

Monday, 24 August 2015 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
Pandastorm Pictures (Credit: Pandastorm Pictures)German DVD distributor Pandastorm Pictures sent out a newsletter today announcing changes to the DVD format and to the release schedule.

Instead of the previously reported two volumes of Sixth Doctor adventures (containing Season 22 plus The Twin Dilemma and Season 23), Pandastorm is going to release three sets now, splitting Season 22 in two parts.

Here is the complete newsletter, translated from German:

Dear Doctor Who fans,
while many of you are still waiting in excitement for the release of The Five Doctors this week, we are currently working on the releases of the sixth Doctor. The first volume will be out on 27th November 2015.

We originally planned to release the dubbed episodes of the sixth Doctor in two volumes. At the time we didn't know that the included bonus features of Volume 1 would make it 10 DVD's instead of the planned 7 DVD's. Because of very expensive authoring, post-production and production of this set, we would have to increase the price - which would lead to lower sales in the retail stores.

That is why we decided to produce a 5-disc-set for Volume 1, making it three volumes instead of two. We hope you understand.

This is the new release schedule:


Release
Discs
Content
Release date
Sechster Doktor  – Volume 1
5 DVD's
Zweimal Einstein (The Twin Dilemma)
Angriff der Kybermänner (Attack of the Cybermen)
Revolte auf Varos (Vengeance on Varos)
Die Rache des Meisters (The Mark of the Rani)
27th Nov 2015
Sechster Doktor  – Volume 2
5 DVD's
Androiden in Sevilla (The Two Doctors)
Das Amulett (Timelash)
Planet der Toten (Revelation of the Daleks)
26th Feb 2016
Sechster Doktor  – Volume 3
tba

27th May 2016
Pandastorm's current release Fünf Doktoren (The Five Doctors) will be out this week on 28th August 2015 and can be pre-ordered via Amazon Germany.




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Germany - Pandastorm - Sixth Doctor

Germany News Roundup

Monday, 20 July 2015 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
Peter Capaldi in Berlin (Credit: FOX International Channels Germany)
The last week has seen the cast of Doctor Who visiting Berlin, in a country where the show has grown in popularity for the last few years. Here is a news update on current and upcoming developments in Germany:

  • FOX announced that Series 9 will premiere in December, almost three months after the UK. This is a departure from the near simulcast broadcasts from recent years. Last year, problems with the BBC's delivery of the material needed to dub Series 8 in time, resulted in near simulcast airings of the episodes in English with German subtitles.
  • Books publisher Cross Cult announced the release of a monthly e-books series called Zeitreisen (Time Trips). Book 1 Die Todesgrube ("The Death Pit") by A.L. Kennedy will be released on 26th October 2015. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon Germany.
    More upcoming printed titles include the eighth Doctor novels Silhouette by Justin Richard on 24th August 2015 and Der Kriechende Terror ("The Crawling Terror") by Mike Tucker on 8th February 2016. November will see the release of the novelisation of City of Death, written by James Goss, with the German title Die Stadt des Todes.
    • German online audio books platform Audible has announced the release of Gareth Robert's Shada novelisation. It will be unabridged and read by Michael Schwarzmaier, who dubbed Tom Baker in the German versions of The Five Doctors and in Day of the Doctor. The audio book can be pre-ordered on Amazon Germany.
    • The first German convention for fans of Doctor Who, the TimeLash Event, has now sold out. Guests include Paul McGann, Nicholas Briggs, Catrin Stewart, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy, Toby Hadoke, Nev Fountain, Terrance Dicks, Andrew Cartmel and many more. It takes place in Kassel on the 24th to 25th October 2015.
    • DVD distributer Pandastorm Pictures has released a trailer for the upcoming German DVD boxed set of Die Fünf Doktoren (20th anniversary special The Five Doctors). The 3-disc-set will contain the 90 minute TV-version, the three-parter that was shown in Germany in 1995 and the 100 minute special edition. The set will be released on 28th August 2015. The trailer can be viewed below.






    FILTER: - Audio - Books - Cross Cult - Fifth Doctor - FOX - Germany - International Broadcasting

    Meet the Cast-Event: Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman in Berlin

    Sunday, 19 July 2015 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
    Apple Event (Credit: Melanie Jäggle)Last Friday, Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi visited Berlin for a Q&A in the Apple Store. Fans could reserve a seat for free via the Apple Store App or the Apple Store website. Around 250 fans were lucky to get access to the event, as reservations were quickly gone.

    Those who were there cheered and clapped excitedly when the two actors entered the stage. Hosted by US-born German TV presenter Steven Gätjen, the two stars of Doctor Who revealed that they are a bit jetlagged, as they just have been at Comic Con, then L.A. and now Berlin. This did not stop them from making jokes about Peter always looking for food, getting wet from disinfection liquid while filming at a power plant or more jokes about food.

    It was also revealed that one of the upcoming stories in Series 9 will be "very much like a horror movie" with many "scares and thrills" and an "extraordinary direction". Peter praised the director, saying that it takes very special skills to film a horror movie.

    When being asked about a possible return of Caecillius, the character Peter Capaldi portrayed in the Series 4 episode The Fires of Pompeii, he carefully told the audience that this might actually happen in Series 9. "Or not", Jenna added.

    The complete Q&A will be available on iTunes for free at a later point.

    Earlier that day, Doctor Who News had the chance to interview Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman. Read the complete interview here.

    UPDATE: The Q&A is now up on iTunes. Download it here.





    FILTER: - Germany - Jenna Coleman - Peter Capaldi - Special Events

    Capaldi and Coleman to visit German fan event

    Friday, 12 June 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward
    Credit: BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide have announced that Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman will visit Germany this summer for a special fan event in Berlin on Friday 17th July. The event will offer German fans the opportunity to see the actors for the first time in Germany. Last year's World Tour did not include Berlin or any other European cities outside of the UK on the list of destinations.

    Peter Capaldi said:
    So many German fans have already reached out to me about the show and I'm delighted to be travelling to their country to find out first hand why they love Doctor Who.

    Isabelle Helle, Director, German Speaking Europe, BBC Worldwide says:
    Doctor Who is continuing to rise in popularity in Germany so we were especially keen to bring the stars of the series, Peter and Jenna over. We’re thrilled to offer this unique opportunity for fans to see, for the first time, the leading cast members of the series and have a truly memorable experience.

    Details of the event will be posted on facebook.com/doctorwho.

    Series 9 will premiere on Fox Channel Germany later this year.




    FILTER: - Germany - Series 9/35 - Special Events

    German DVD release of The Five Doctors delayed

    Friday, 15 May 2015 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
    Pandastorm Pictures (Credit: Pandastorm Pictures) In a statement to fans on their Facebook page as well as in a newsletter, German DVD distributer Pandastorm Pictures announced that their release of The Five Doctors, originally planned for 26th June 2015, will now be released two months later, on 28th August 2015.

    The reasons for the delay are, according to the Facebook message, "problems with the material". The newsletter adds that Pandastorm believed the german dub to exist but realised too late that it had been deleted. Thankfully a fan helped out with his recording of the german dub.

    Here is the original newsletter announcement, translated from German:


    Dear Doctor Who-fans,
    we received a lot of positive feedback from you for the last few months. There were photos with you and the boxed sets, a self-made action figure of the Candyman and even Sophie Aldred (Ace) who can be seen on a picture, posing with our second 7th Doctor boxed set. WOW! We would like to send you all a big THANK YOU. Without you the making of these boxed sets would not have been possible.

    Some of you might already know that we will also release "The Five Doctors" in Germany. We planned to release it on 26th June 2015 but we sadly have to delay the release to 28th August 2015. After some misunderstandings we now know for sure that the German TV-version had been destroyed. The good news is that our appeal to fans last summer payed off after all and a Doctor Who-fan made his recording available to us. All this took us a lot of time, so that the DVD's won't be ready in time, if we want to deliver a high quality product.

    Pandastorm then continued listing all the versions of the 20th Anniversary Special that will be on the 2-Disc-Set:

    • TV version in English
    •  TV version in German (including German subtitles for the scenes edited out in Germany)
    •  Three-part TV version in German (heavily edited, some scenes arranged in a different order)
    •  Special Edition in English
    •  Special Edition in German (including German subtitles for the scenes that were not shown in Germany)
    So far Pandastorm Pictures released all three seasons of the seventh Doctor in season boxed sets in Germany. After The Five Doctors they are going to release two boxed sets for the complete sixth Doctor run and a 2-disc DVD release of The TV Movie.





    FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Fifth Doctor - Germany - Pandastorm - Second Doctor - Third Doctor

    Crowdfunding campaign of the first Doctor Who convention in Germany launched

    Monday, 12 January 2015 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
    TimeLash Event 2015 A crowdfunding campain on indiegogo launched yesterday to fund the first ever Doctor Who convention held in Germany. At the same time the website to the event went online. The organisers previously only communicated via Facebook to the fans.

    The event will take place in Kassel, on 24th to 25th October 2015. Guests announced so far are:
    • Catrin Stewart ("Jenny Flint")
    • Nicola Bryant ("Peri Brown")
    • Terry Molloy ("Davros")
    • Toby Hadoke (Actor, Comedian, Podcaster for Big Finish)
    • Jason Haigh-Ellery (Co-executive producer of Big Finish)
    • Terrance Dicks (Writer, Script-editor)
    • Andrew Cartmel (Writer, Script-editor)
    Other guests include german dubbing-actors and -producers. According to the organisers of TimeLash, there are still more guests to be added to the line-up in the coming weeks.

    Tickets are available on indiegogo. Since the launch of the campaign yesterday, the convention already achieved 40% of its goal and sold 112 weekend-tickets out of 500 available. The campaign on indiegogo runs for 60 days.






    FILTER: - Big Finish - Conventions - Germany

    DVD cover for German Season 25 boxed set revealed

    Friday, 5 December 2014 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
    German DVD distributer Pandastorm Pictures released a picture of the cover of the Season 25 boxed set, titled Siebter Doctor Volume 2, as well as a promotional picture on their Facebook page.

    The 5 discs set will contain all the content of the UK releases, including the extras, and will include the German dub and the original English version. It will be released in Germany on 27th February 2015.

    Volume 1, containing all episodes of Season 24, was just released a week ago. It can be ordered from  Amazon Germany. More season sets of the Classic Series are planned to come out in 2015.


    Season 25 DVD Boxed Set Germany (Credit: wvg) DVD backcover (Credit: Pandastorm)





    FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Classic Series - Germany - Seventh Doctor

    Series 8 to be released with additional content in Germany

    Tuesday, 11 November 2014 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
    German DVD distributer Polyband announced on their Facebook page that they are postponing the release of the Series 8 boxed set from November 2014 to late February 2015.

    Polyband originally planned to include the Christmas Special The Time of the Doctor on the Series 8 set. Due to unforeseen problems with the German dub of Series 8, they are now going to release the Special on its own in December.

    The German Series 8 set will include all the UK special features. Additionally, the cinema prequel to Deep Breath and the yet-to-be-broadcast Christmas Special of 2014 will also be included, according to a statement by Polyband on Facebook.

    Doctor Who: Die Zeit des Doktors (Time of the Doctor) will be released on 22nd December 2014 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon Germany on DVD and Blu-Ray.





    FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Germany - Series 8/34

    First ever convention for Doctor Who fans in Germany planned

    Sunday, 2 November 2014 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
    Timelash eventIt has been announced that the first ever unofficial german Doctor Who event will take place in Kassel on 24th - 25th October 2015.

    According to the newly started Facebook page and Twitter account, the event is called TimeLash and will feature guests from the classic and new series.
    The organisers plan to finance parts of the event via crowdfunding, which will start in the coming months. Details will follow shortly.

    So far no further news are known, although the Whocast, Germany's only Doctor Who podcast, will discuss the event with one of the organisers, in an episode, which can be downloaded in the next few days.




    FILTER: - Conventions - Germany

    Time of the Doctor on DVD and Blu-Ray in Germany

    Monday, 27 October 2014 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann
    Die Zeit des Doktors (Credit: wvg.com)German DVD distributer Polyband is going to release Die Zeit des Doktors (Time of the Doctor) on DVD and Blu-Ray on 22nd December 2014. Additionally to the Christmas Special from last year, the disc will include over 100 minutes of special features.

    Polyband orginally held back from releasing the Special after its german broadcast on FOX last year. They repeatedly stated on their Facebook page that they were planning to include it on the upcoming Series 8 boxed set. However, due to unforeseen problems with the German dub of Series 8, they had to pull back the release date of the boxed set and change their schedule accordingly.

    Doctor Who - Die Zeit des Doktors can be pre-ordered from Amazon Germany on DVD and Blu-Ray.





    FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Eleventh Doctor - Germany - Matt Smith