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).

Peter Barkworth, who played Clent in The Ice Warriors (1967), has died at the age of 77. Barkworth also played Stephen in the Get Off My Cloud episode of the BBC sci-fi anthology series Out Of The Unknown, which featured the Tardis and a Dalek and aired in 1969.

He was probably most famous for the role of banker Mark Telford in the 1979 BBC serial Telford's Change, which co-starred Hannah Gordon, who played Kirsty inThe Highlanders in 1966/67. Barkworth left RADA the same year as his Ice Warriorsco-star Peter Sallis, who played Penley.

The cause of death was given as bronchopneumonia following a stroke. He died on 21 October in London. The story is reported at BBC News; The Times and The Guardian have obituaries.

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).

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.

Peter Bryant, former Doctor Who producer and script editor who guided the series through much of the Patrick Troughton era of the series, died on Friday May 19, according to a post by fan Ian Levine on the Restoration Team forum. Bryant joined the series with the story "The Faceless Ones" as associate producer under Innes Lloyd, then produced the serial "Tomb of the Cybermen" before becoming script editor for three series during the show's fifth season. He became the series producer again with "The Web of Fear" and did so through Troughton's penultimate story, "The Space Pirates," when he left the position and was replaced by Derrick Sherwin. Once married to actress Shirley Cooklin ("The Tomb of the Cybermen"), he had remarried and is survived by one of two children, his daughter, and several grandchildren.

Update: The official Doctor Who website also just posted an announcement about this, stating, "Born in 1923, Peter began his career as an actor, appearing in roles as diverse as a 1953 adaptation of Wuthering Heights (as Edgar Linton) and as the cheerful elder son Jack in the BBC's first soap opera The Grove Family. He later became an announcer for BBC radio, also producing scripts for radio drama and eventually becoming the Head of the Drama Script Unit. ... After leaving Doctor Who, he moved on to produce several other TV programmes, including Paul Temple and Special Project Air, before becoming an Actors' and Writers' agent."

Tenth Planet have sent us the cover for the forthcoming UK DVD release of The Hand of Fearstarring Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, in her final installment as a series regular in the classic Doctor Who series. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version of the cover. The DVD is out in the UK on 31 July.

BBC Worldwide has confirmed the release of Mark of the Rani on DVD on September 4 in the UK. The story, from Season 22, stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Doctor and Peri, with special guest stars Anthony Ainley as the Master and Kate O'Mara as the Rani. The single-disc release will contain commentaries by Baker, Bryant and O'Mara (the Doctor Who Restoration Team notes that director Sarah Hellings agreed to do the commentary but sadly couldn't make it due to scheduling reasons); "Lords and Luddites," an interview documentary featuring comments by Baker, Bryant, O'Mara, actor Gary Cady, script editor Eric Saward, writers Pip and Jane Baker and others; "Now and Then," a special look at the Blists Hill Victorian Museum where the episode was filmed; a historical segment from "Blue Peter" on the Ironbridge Gorge; a clip of Baker and Bryant on "Saturday Superstore"; plus deleted and extended scenes, a photo gallery, isolated music score as well as alternate music score for part one, and PDF copies of the 1985 Doctor Who Annual as well as clips from Radio Times.

The official BBC Doctor Who website has confirmed the UK DVD release ofThe Hand of Fear starring Tom Baker as the Doctor and Elisabeth Sladen - in her last episode as a regular on Doctor Who - as Sarah Jane Smith. The DVD is currently due out on 31 July 2006. The release will feature commentary by Baker, Sladen, Judith Paris (Eldrad), Bob Baker (writer) and Philip Hinchcliffe (producer); "Changing Times," a 50-minute documentary charting the special relationship between the Doctor and his companion Sarah Jane Smith; "Swap Shop," a very rare clip of Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen's appearance on the first ever edition of Noel Edmonds' Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, shown in October 1976; plus PDFs of the 1977 Doctor Who Annual and the Radio Times listings for The Hand of Fear, a photo gallery, continuity announcements, information text subtitles and easter egg.