According to a report today on the Sci-Fi Channel website Sci-Fi Wire, "the BBC made the unusual decision to release the DVD in the United States before the show had found a broadcast outlet there. But he added that the show will find its way onto American TV, one way or another. 'It will be going on television,' Cromer said in an interview. 'There're lots of discussions going on, and I can't really talk about that. This is a unique situation, really, because there are so many fans of Doctor Who ... already out there, and we were just finding [that] people were getting ... second-hand copies or copies from the U.K. ... We really wanted fans to get the best, most complete version in the United States as [soon as] we possibly could. So we made the decision, and it is unique, to go ahead of the TV broadcast with the DVD and to release the gift set of the DVD basically within two and a half to three months [after] the U.K. [version].'"

The article goes on to note that "U.S. fans have been clamoring for a way to see the series legally stateside. There's no downside to a U.S. DVD release, even if the show has yet to be seen on American TV, Cromer added. 'The good news for us is that we already have that loyal fan base, but then when the show does broadcast in the U.S., we'll have a whole new fan base, because it's just a new Doctor Who: very exciting, but still the great stories and as great as the old Doctor Who,' he said."

It is important to note, however, that the article does not state that there has been any progress recently about getting the series on television in America, simply that the BBC still wishes to find a broadcaster here and that they have concluded that a DVD sale would not impact this. We'll keep you posted on further developments soon.

In a reversal from an earlier announcement that the Region 1 DVDs of series one of the new Doctor Who series would be available only in Canada, BBC Video announced today to the news service of the Sci-Fi Channel, Sci-Fi Wire, that on February 14, 2006, the series would also be made available in the US on DVD. This is in direct contrast to earlier reports that the series would only be available on DVD after a broadcaster had transmitted the series in America. Outpost Gallifrey has learned that, with the failure of the BBC to find a broadcaster in the US, this prior requirement was bypassed and the decision was made to release the series on DVD after all.

The North American release, in both Canada and the US, will be the exact same items as were on the UK discs, as BBC Video no longer allows the US/Canada releases to differ from their UK counterparts. As stated in the Sci-Fi Wire article, the DVD set will carry a suggested retail price of $99.98.

Also reported today at the official Doctor Who website as well as TV Shows on DVD as well as Now Playing,BroadcastNow, SyfyPortal.

Warner Home Video has announced The Beginning Boxed Set for North America for release on March 28, according to TV Shows on DVD. The DVD set contains the first three stories of the classic series -- "An Unearthly Child," "The Daleks" and "The Edge of Destruction" -- in two separate DVD cases (as opposed to the three in the UK set) along with an outer box packaging, containing the same extras as in the original release. The first will contain "An Unearthly Child", while the second is a double-disc set with "The Daleks" and "The Edge of Destruction". At the moment there are no plans to issue these DVDs separately; they'll only be available in the one box. At right is a thumbnail image of the cover from the website; we'll have a larger version of the cover soon.

In other news, the Restoration Team has posted an article about the release of "The Beginning" on their website, including details of the extras and the cleanup process.

The Doctor Who Series One Boxed Set is now in release... and there are a few reported issues with it including an authoring fault, as the episode "World War Three" is cut by several minutes while watching in the episodic mode. (A fix: it plays fine in "Play All" mode so you can skip forward to the episode start; it's only when it plays episodically that part of it is cut out.) Additionally, there are several music changes including 'classic' series music removed from one of the trailers, and the longer music cue in "Rose" (the Doctor and Rose walking back toward the TARDIS) on the 'vanilla' disc but not on the transmitted version.

UPDATE: There is word that the BBC will be replacing the faulty discs; details are forthcoming!

The official site has a brief story about the release. Meanwhile, Times Online reviews the boxed set. "Your £70 buys irresistibly cheesy Tardis packaging and five hours’ worth of extras, including cast-and-crew commentaries, the complete Dr Who Confidential, Davies’s wry video diary, featurettes on the special effects, and On Set with Billie (steady...). Travelling back a few months, the most revealing item is Eccleston’s interview for BBC Breakfast: watch his eyes as he squirms his way round the issue of long-term commitment, explaining that he’s done 13 episodes — '45 minutes, not half an hour' — and that’s really two series, and... Whatever, he’ll be missed. Four stars. Matthew Davis'. Another review inDVD Times says that 'Video-wise, the print appears to be identical to the previous bare-bones releases and it’s exceptionally clear at that... The sound quality - primarily presented in 5.1 Surround Sound - is also excellent, every nuance of Christopher Eccleston’s accent can be heard with crystal clarity... The one reason most fans will be buying this boxset is, of course, for the slew of extras. Spread over five discs, the extras comprise of the complete collection of trailers, storyboards, several video diaries and numerous 'making of' featurettes... Aside from this there is also an exclusive look at the special featurette containing behind the scenes footage of The Christmas Invasion which is sure to fascinate any fan counting down the days until David Tennant's first proper episode as the Tenth Doctor. ... Some of the video diaries are a little drawn out and repetitive in places." As previously reported, SFX Magazine has a feature on the DVD extras now on their website. Also, Restoration Team member Paul Vanezis interviewed by the online UK DVD Review podcast/magazine available here.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has issued details of the DVD extras for January's DVD boxset, The Beginning. In addition to the three Doctor Who stories "An Unearthly Child," "The Daleks" and "The Edge of Destruction," the following materials are included:

n/a DOCTOR WHO THE BEGINNING DVD EXTRAS TAPE1
00:02:35:01 DOCTOR WHO
00:03:49:00 THE WEB OF CAVES
00:03:40:14 THE PITCH OF FEAR
00:05:52:20 THE CORRIDOR SKETCH
00:00:17:11 DOCTOR WHO THE BEGINNING AN UNEARTHLY CHILD
00:00:17:17 DOCTOR WHO THE BEGINNING THE DALEKS
00:00:17:12 DOCTOR WHO THE BEGINNING THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION
00:29:21:07 OVER THE EDGE THE STORY OF THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION
00:53:48:11 DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS
00:17:09:24 CREATION OF THE DALEKS

n/a DOCTOR WHO THE BEGINNING DVD EXTRAS TAPE 2
00:06:01:13 AN UNEARTHLY CHILD PHOTO GALLERY
00:05:30:21 THE DALEKS PHOTO GALLERY
00:05:05:11 THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION PHOTO GALLERY
00:10:13:04 INSIDE THE SPACESHIP THE STORY OF TARDIS
00:31:22:24 DOCTOR WHO MARCO POLO
00:12:19:15 MASTERS OF SOUND

The BBC Shop is now listing volumes one, three and four of the Series One releases in UMD (for Playstation) format on Monday 12 December. Volume 1 and Volume 4 both have a recommended retail price of £17.99, while Volume 3, which features four episodes, retails at £19.99.

Correcting a previous DVD news item, Nicholas Courtney did notrecently record a commentary for "Inferno" (despite a misstatement by the actor) but has participated in interviews for a potential DVD release.