The latest edition of DWM clarifies the UK DVD release schedule for the first quarter of 2010.

Following the release of the Peladon Boxset on 4th January and the fourth Doctor story The Masque of Mandragora on 8th February, March will see no fewer than five stories released.

On 1st March the two First Doctor stories The Space Museum and The Chase will be released. A promo for this story was cleared by the BBFC last month. Just four weeks later the Myths and Legends boxset will hit the shops. This is now confirmed as including the Third Doctor story The Time Monster, and the Fourth Doctor stories Underworld and The Horns of Nimon.

The Kameleon Boxset and Time and the Rani, both of which are listed for sale on several DVD sites, have been pushed back to later in the year.

A full release schedule can be see in the sidebar on the right.

The British Board of Film Classification has today passed the extras for the second Peladon story, The Monster of Peladon, set for release in the UK in January.

• The Peladon Saga: Part Two: The Monsters and the Monarchs
• Where are they now?
• BBC News: Jon Pertwee races Lord Montagu
• Easter Egg No2
• ON Target - Terrance Dicks
• Deleted Scene
• Photo Gallery

Extras for the first Peladon story were cleared last week.

The Guardian newspaper in the UK has published an obituary for actor Timothy Bateson, who died in September at the age of 83. Bateson enjoyed an acting career stretching from the 1940s to the present decade, and in 1955 appeared in the first London production of the play "Waiting for Godot". He appeared in Doctor Who only once, in the 1978 serial The Ribos Operation, where he portrayed Binro the Heretic. In this role he took part in the scene where Binro explains that be believes there are other planets and other stars; this is frequently regarded as one of the most memorable scenes from Doctor Who, most recently acclaimed as such in Doctor Who Magazine's "200 Golden Moments" special edition. The serial, along with the others in the 1978 "Key to Time" series, is due to be re-released on DVD next week, following its previous limited edition issue.



Image courtesy of the Doctor Who Image Archive

Speaking at the Missing in Action convention, the actor Nicholas Courtney reported that he has just recorded a commentary for the seventh season story The Ambassadors of Death, alongside other members of cast and crew including Terrance Dicks, Peter Halliday and Derek Ware.

It should be remembered that commentaries are often recorded way in advance of DVD release (years in some cases!), so this is no indication that the story is currently scheduled to appear in the shops soon!

Restoration Team member Steve Roberts recently discussed the colour recovery process at a talk for the Doctor Who Information Network, during which he reported that recovery work hadn't been undertaken on the story at that point.

The actor and stuntman Alan Chuntz has died at the age of 81. Chuntz appeared in at least 15 stories from the classic series. He was a member of HAVOC, the team that provided much of the stunt work for the programme. He played Omega's champion in The Three Doctors and had a rare speaking role as the Chauffeur in The Seeds of Doom.

As well as his work on Doctor Who, Chuntz was a regular face on British Television in the seventies appearing in series such as Z Cars, Some Mothers Do Ave Em, The Avengers, The Persuaders, The Onedin Line, Hazel and Minder.

• The Invasion - Stuntman
• The Seeds Of Death -Technician
• The Ambassadors Of Death - Soldier
• Inferno - Soldier
• Terror Of The Autons - Stuntman
• The Mind Of Evil - Prisoner
• The Sea Devils - Stuntman
• The Three Doctors - Omega's Champion
• The Green Death - Security Guard
• Planet Of The Spiders - Stuntman
• Genesis Of The Daleks - Kaled Guard
• Revenge Of The Cybermen - Stuntman
• The Seeds Of Doom - Chauffeur
• The Face Of Evil - Stuntman
• The Talons Of Weng-Chiang - Stuntman
• State Of Decay - Guard
• The Visitation - Stuntman

March 2nd sees the Dalek War box set come to North America with the release of the two third Doctor stories Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks.

Starring Jon Pertwee as The Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant, the set includes the recently restored episode three of Planet of the Daleks, now in colour for the first time in 30 years.

Frontier in Space features a commentary with Katy Manning, as well as producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks.

Extras Include:

• Perfect Scenario: Lost Frontier
• The Space War, the making of the story
• Roger Delgado: The Master, a biography of actor Roger Delgado
• Stripped for Action: The Third Doctor's comic book adventures

Planet of the Daleks also features a commentary with Manning, Letts and Dicks and also includes Prentis Hancock who played Vaber and Tim Preece who played Codal.

Extras Include:

• Perfect Scenario: The End of Dreams
• The Rumble in the Jungle, the making of the story.
• Multi-colourisation, a look at the colour restoration of episode three.
• Stripped for Action: focuses on the Daleks
• Blue Peter.

Also released on this day is the special edition of the seventh Doctor story, Remembrance of the Daleks.

First shown in 1988 the story stars Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor  and Sophie Aldred as Ace.

The story was first released on DVD in 2002. This special edition has a audio commentary by actors Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred as well as a number of documentaries about the programme.

• Back to School: "Making Of" documentary (32 mins)
• Remembrances: Influences and references to earlier Doctor Who adventures (15 mins)
• Davros Connections: In-depth look at the history of the Daleks' creator (43 mins)
• Extended and Deleted Scenes (12 mins)
• Outtakes (4 mins)
• Multi-Angle Sequences (2 mins)
• Isolated Music Option
• Trailers and Continuities (5 mins)
• Photo Gallery (8 mins)
• Easter egg
• DVD-ROM material: Radio Times listings
• Production Notes Subtitle Option

BBC Worldwide has done a deal with MSN Video to supply classic episodes of Doctor Who online. The stories are available free on the MSN website. The series is starting with the 1965 William Hartnell story, The Web Planet.

New episodes will be added on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10th November.

Video may not be available outside the United Kingdom.

The British Board of Film Classification has passed the extras for two upcoming DVD releases.

The Curse of Peladon. Confirmed UK release 4th January 2010

• The Peladon Saga:Part One:The Market and the Miners
• Jon and Katy
• Photo Gallery
• Storyboard Comparison
• Warriors of Mars

The Masque of Mandragora. Expected UK release 8th February 2010

• Bigger on the inside
The story was the first to use the wood-panelled secondary control room.
• The Secret of the Labyrinth
• Photo Gallery
• Beneath the Masque of "The Masque of Mandragora"
• Now and Then - The Locations
The Story was filmed at Portmeirion in Gwynedd, Wales.
• Trails and Continuity

With attention on the outgoing Doctor with the press launch of The Waters of Mars, incoming Executive producer Steven Moffat has been talking about the new series currently being filmed with new Doctor Matt Smith. Interviewed by Ben Cooke, at the Screenwriters' Festival in Cheltenham, Moffat described Smith as simply "the best". "He's all the things you'd expect, including ancient," and described the new Doctor as "someone you can't take your eyes off". Moffat confirmed he will be writing six episodes of the new series.
A full transcript can be found at Digital Spy


Meanwhile outgoing Doctor David Tennant will be a guest on next Monday's Graham Norton show on BBC One. Tennant has also been talking to PBS about his new role as host of Masterpiece Contemporary.

Steve Roberts of the DVD Restoration team has been giving details of the processes involved in returning colour to Doctor Who stories which currently only exist in black and white. Speaking at an event sponsored by the Doctor Who Information Network. Roberts talked about work being done on the Mind of Evil as well as discussing future plans for the classic range with all complete stories due for release by November 2013, the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. He confirmed there are no plans for any further animated restorations of lost episodes, nor any plans to issue any more partial stories.

John Barrowman has been sitting in for Elaine Paige on her Sunday afternoon BBC Radio 2 show. He read out an e-mail asking if he knew if Torchwood was coming back or not. He said that they were currently 'in negotiations' and that he hoped Torchwood would be back some time in the future. Barrowman has released his new memoirs I Am What I Am, which covers the last three years and includes behind the scenes secrets and gossip from the sets of Doctor Who and Torchwood, complete with behind the scenes photos of the cast.

Finally, obits for Barry Letts have now been posted in the Independent as well as on the BBC Doctor Who site. As reported below, it was confirmed at the press launch that The Waters of Mars will be dedicated to Letts.

The BBC is today celebrating the 75th Anniversary of its Maida Vale studios, best known to Doctor Who fans as the home of the Radiophonic Workshop. A series of programmes being broadcast across the entire BBC radio network will celebrate the role the studios have had in the cultural life of the country, many including music from the classic series of Doctor Who.

The Radiophone Workshop was involved with the series from the very start when, in 1963 the unit were given the task of realising composer Ron Grainer's theme tune for the upcoming television series. Working in Maida Vale, Delia Derbyshire created the sound which has become one of the most recognisable themes in British television.. The Workshop was responsible for most of the sound effects used in the series throughout it's entire run and it was in these studios that such iconic sounds as the TARDIS materialisation and the sound of the Sonic screwdriver were created. The workshop provided much incidental music for the programme including every score from 1980 to 1985.

The Maida Vale studios were also used to broadcast news across Europe during the Second World War and were the home of Radio 1's Peel Sessions from 1967 until 2004. They also hosted early radio performances from such acts as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie, drama recordings for Radio 3 and Radio 4 including Dr Zhivago and King Lear and Bing Crosby made his last recording session in the studios in 1977.