BBC DVD/2Entertain has announced full details of the DVD of "Survival", which will be hitting the British retail shelves in a 2-disk, heavily specials-laden release on 3 April 2007. The final story of the original Doctor Who series, "Survival" (starring Sylvester McCoyas the Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace, and Anthony Ainley as the Master) is also the 40th Classic Doctor Who DVD release.


Special features include:

Disc 1

• Main commentary withith Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and script-editor Andrew Cartmel.
  
• Second commentary (episode three only). Fan commentary from the winners of a recent Doctor Who Magazine competition.
  
• Cat Flap - a two-part documentary covering the making of Survival. Part One covers set-up and pre-production, Part Two covers shooting and post-production. With Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Lisa Bowerman, Will Barton, Sakuntala Ramanee and Adele Silva, script editor Andrew Cartmel, director Alan Wareing, visual effects assistant Mike Tucker, composer Dominic Glynn and costume designer Ken Trew. Narrated by Paul Ewing.
  
• Deleted and Extended Scenes - material from the first edit of the story that didn't make the final cut, plus comparisons of some of the scenes before and after the video effects were added.
  
• Out-takes and comedy moments from the production of the story.
  
• Continuities and trailers from the original BBC1 transmission.
  
• Photo Gallery - production and behind-the-scenes stills from the making of the story.
  
• Isolated Score - option to view the story with synchronous isolated music.
  
• Radio Times listings in Adobe pdf format for viewing on PC or Mac.
  
• Programme subtitles and subtitle production notes.
  

Disc 2

• Endgame - Why was Doctor Who cancelled at the end of Season 26? What might have been in store for the Doctor and Ace if the series had continued into Season 27? With Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, script editor Andrew Cartmel, writers Ben Aaronovitch and Colin Brake, BBC Head of Drama Series Peter Cregeen, composer Mark Ayres and visual effects designer Mike Tucker. Narrated by Paul Ewing.
  
• Search Out Science - a schools programme featuring the Doctor and Ace, with Stephen Johnson and K9.
  
• Little Girl Lost - A retrospective look at the development of Sophie Aldred's character, Ace, from her first story, Dragonfire through to her last, Survival. With Sophie Aldred, creator Ian Briggs and script editor Andrew Cartmel.
  
• Destiny of the Doctors - Anthony Ainley's last appearance as The Master, in these links from the 1997 computer game.
  

For complete details on the release, please visit the Restoration Team's website.

2Entertain has announced that its New Beginnings DVD set will not be ready for its scheduled release. Originally due out on 22 January, the boxed set will now reach the shops on 29 January.

The much anticipated set contains "The Keeper of Traken", "Logopolis" and "Castrovalva" - adventures that saw both the return of the Master plus the transition from Tom Baker's Doctor to Peter Davison's.

This story refers to the United Kingdom release of this DVD set. Release dates for Canada/USA and New Zealand/Australia have not yet been announced.

The official Doctor Who site has announced that the 1989 adventure Survival, starring Sylvester McCoy, will be released on DVD in April 2007. Survival was the last Doctor Who serial of the original series to be broadcast; it was also the final Doctor Who appearance of Anthony Ainley as the Master. Ainley's first appearances in the series will be released on DVD in January, in the "New Beginnings" collection.

BBC Video and 2Entertain have released full details about the forthcoming New Beginnings DVD boxed set due out in January in the UK, featuring the classic Doctor Who serials The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis and Castrovalva starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Anthony Ainley as the Master.

Below are the full list of extras as posted on the official Doctor Who website recently about the three DVDs included.

Additionally, clickable below are each of the cover illustrations for the three discs.

Warner Home Video has announced the release of The Sontaran Experiment starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter, and The Invasion starring Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury, on DVD in North America, due out on March 6, 2007. The cover illustrations for both are below; click on each for a larger version.

As in the UK release, The Invasion will feature both episodes 1 and 4 - missing from the BBC archives - in a special fully-animated reconstruction by Cosgrove Hall, using the program's original soundtrack. Full details on each release, including lists of extras, are available at the website of the Doctor Who Restoration Team (articles for The Invasionand The Sontaran Experiment accessible).

At a recent fan event, Sophie Aldred revealed that she and Sylvester McCoy were scheduled to do the audio commentary for the as yet unannounced DVD of 1989 classic series adventure Survival. They had originally planned to make the the recording early in November, but had to postpone due to McCoy's busy schedule.

To coincide with the DVD release of The Invasion, The Guardian has a lengthy piece focusing on the VidFire process used on the story (whose year of transmission is erroneously given as 1969 instead of 1968).

TV Shows on DVD is reporting that November 7 will see the DVD release ofThe Hand of Fear starring Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen and Mark of the Rani starring Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Anthony Ainley and Kate O'Mara. Both DVD sets will be released in the UK slightly earlier in the year, with the North American releases duplicating their features (which are available on the site's Release Guide).

The TV Shows on DVD website reports that Warner Home Video, in addition to their July 4 DVD release of "The Complete First Season" in North America, will issue four individual releases of the first season (in four volumes) in the UMD format, designed for Playstation (PSP) systems. "The Complete First Season: Volume One" through "Volume Four" are also due out on July 4, the same day as the DVD release. (Thanks to David Lambert/TV Shows on DVD)

BBC Video, BBC Audiobooks and 2 Entertain have announced details of forthcoming Doctor Who DVD and audio releases in late 2006 and early 2007.

In September 2006, BBC Audiobooks will release Doctor Who at the BBC Volume Four: The Plays, a further installment of the audio documentaries released over the past several years. Says the blurb at Amazon.co.uk, "Over the years, Doctor Who has provided the inspiration for a number of original radio plays. Three of them are presented here in their entirety, and each focuses on the effect which Doctor Who has had on the lives of ordinary - and some extraordinary - people. 'Regenerations' by Daragh Carville is a powerful and moving play about a group of six friends who reunite for their annual Doctor Who convention. Set against a backdrop of the Belfast troubles, the play deals with themes of sexuality and love, and features appearances by Tom Baker and Sophie Aldred. 'Blue Veils and Golden Sands' by Martyn Wade tells the story of Delia Derbyshire, the delightful and unusual woman who created the unique sound of the original Doctor Who theme tune. Finally, 'Dalek, I Love You' by Colin Sharpe is a recent BBC7 production. It tells how one young lad's obsession with Doctor Who causes him to meet the girl of his dreams - named Romana..."

October will see the UK DVD release of The Sontaran Experiment, a single-disc release of the two-part Tom Baker serial from 1974. The disc will be an "off month" release which the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine quotes 2 Entertain as saying will be more common in 2007 (releases with fewer extras filling gaps in the schedule, creating more releases for the year.)

November features the Patrick Troughton serial The Invasion... with a twist. The eight-part serial is missing two episodes, parts one and four, and the BBC has partnered once again with Cosgrove Hall (animators of "Scream of the Shalka") to recreate the two episodes in animated form, aided by the original soundtrack. Says Sophie Walpole of BBC Interactive Drama and Entertainment, "In the year that the Cyberman have returned to Doctor Who, it seemed a good idea to complete one of their finest outings from the 1960s. We have found a unique and innovative way of presenting this classic adventure by lovingly restoring the soundtrack and setting it to new animation." Cosgrove Hall Lead Animator Steve Maher says he found it "a slightly surreal experience. [Patrick Troughton] has a wonderfully animatable face, so he was a gift. Baddies are invariably more fun to depict than the good guys so the sneering, unblinking Tobias Vaughn was a lot of fun, too." The story on the official Doctor Who website features a video trailer created for the episodes late last year.

Also in November, Amazon.co.uk has listed The Complete Series Two: Limited Edition Cyberman Head Box Set with Unique Lenticular Postcard. The Amazon website has a photograph (which is clearly marked "not final design") of this purported set which will be exclusive to the online retailer. The release joins the standard Complete Series Two DVD set which DWM says will feature a dual-sided lenticular cover: on the front, the TARDIS in flight through the vortex, with another image on back.

For next year, also reported in the new issue of DWM is the January 2007 release of the Return of the Master Boxed Set featuring three classic serials with the late Anthony Ainley (the Master) that form his debut trilogy: The Keeper of Traken starring Tom Baker, Logopolis featuring Baker and introducing Peter Davison, and Castrovalvawith Davison in his first full adventure.

DWM also notes that actress Katy Manning has provided the linking narration for at least part the forthcoming audio release of Monsters on Earth, a Doctor Who CD tin featuring the audio soundtracks of classic Doctor Who serials "The Sea Devils," "The Silurians" and "Warriors of the Deep" as broadcast on BBC television.