Two Doctors DVD

Friday, 27 June 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has posted details about extras on the forthcoming DVD release of The Two Doctors later this year in the UK. The listing is as follows:

Steve Roberts of the Doctor Who Restoration Team noted on the RT's Forum that this was not a complete list; that there was another group to be classified which contains "Behind the Sofa" and a photo gallery. Of course, this does give a picture of some of the extras to be released on that DVD -- including the celebrated "Jim'll Fix It" segment with Colin Baker, Janet Fielding and the Sontarans (and featuring the dreaded evil of Gareth Jenkins!) (Thanks to Steve Traylen, Steve Roberts)

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Australia Video/Audio Update

Wednesday, 25 June 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Australian fans (and, likely, New Zealanders as well), take note: Doctor Who at the BBC, the anniversary audio boxed set, will be out in November, according to a brochure included in the latest video release ("Meglos"), while the Power of the Daleks/Evil of the Daleks set is due in December. The Marco Polo CD is due in early 2004, as are three video releases: The Horns of Nimon, Invasion of the Dinosaurs and The Reign of Terror. Curiously, the brochure also lists two early 2004 audio releases that have yet to be announced by BBC Worldwide (for anywhere): The Wheel in Space and The Underwater Menace (though, to be fair, these are two of the final releases and were likely for 2004 anyway!) (Thanks to Matthew Jones)

FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Australia

Pyramids of Mars

Tuesday, 24 June 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Pyramids of Mars, the Tom Baker / Elisabeth Sladen serial from season 13, was the winner of Doctor Who Magazine's 2004 DVD poll contest, according to the newest issue of DWM released this week (now on shelves). As noted before, the story will be released at some point during 2004 on DVD from BBC Video. In order of the poll: the Fourth Doctor classic "City of Death" came in at #2, the already-released "Talons of Weng-Chiang" at #3, the first story "An Unearthly Child" at #4, the Tom Baker story "The Seeds of Doom" at #5, already-scheduled "The Curse of Fenric" at #6, the Dalek origins serial "Genesis of the Daleks" at #7, the Jon Pertwee story "Inferno" at #8, Tom Baker's final serial "Logopolis" at #9, and the just released "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" at #10. (Thanks to DWM)

FILTER: - Magazines - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

North America DVD and Video Update

Tuesday, 24 June 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Updated June 25: BBC America and Warner Home Video have revealed further details and cover illustrations for the forthcoming North American versions of The Talons of Weng-Chiang starring Tom Baker and The Dalek Invasion of Earth starring William Hartnell, both due out September 2, as well as a collectors' box cover and details for The End of the Universe Collection, the massive 11-story, 13 tape VHS release that will mark the end of Doctor Who on video, scheduled for October 7. Details and covers are below (click each thumbnail for a larger version). The tapes in the "End of the Universe" collection will be sold separately as well as in the box set, which retails for $149.98. Meanwhile, BBC America has also announced that, later this year, Warner Home Video will reprice all existing VHS tapes; single tapes will be $9.95, double tapes $14.95 and the triple tape "Trial of a Time Lord" $29.95, all while supplies last (but not including this year's new releases). Details are below. (Thanks to Warner Home Video and Laura Palmer/BBCA) Cover illustrations below are updated with better versions!

The Talons of Weng Chiang
The Doctor brings Leela to Victorian London to meet her ancestors (though Agincourt might have been more her style). The TARDIS materializes in the darkest heart of the city, where life - and death - is anything but dull. A hapless cabbie is slain by agents of a secret Chinese cult. Young women are disappearing at an alarming rate, and Li H'sen Chang, the Palace Theatre's celebrated magician, may know more about that than he admits. Li H'sen's ventriloquist dummy, Mr. Sin, appears to have a life of its own, and the rat problem in the sewers is bigger than anyone can imagine. With Tom Baker and Louise Jameson. WHV catalog #E1814.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Radiation nil, oxygen normal, pressure normal, yet London is deserted, with no sign of life and no sense of normality. Exploring the decaying city sometime after 2164AD, the Doctor and his companions soon learn that it is not as empty as it seems. The Daleks - far from having been destroyed on Skaro - have conquered the world. Nearly wiped out by storm and plague, the Earth's population has been commandeered by the Daleks into huge mining operations. Some humans have suffered the further indignity of being transformed into Robomen to serve the Daleks in their diabolical plans. Humanity's only hope for survival lies with a small band of resistance fighters who need all the help they can get. With William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, Jacqueline Hill and William Russell. WHV catalog #E1813.

The End of the Universe Collection
On November 23, 1963, the BBC launched the world's longest running science fiction television series when it aired the premiere episode of Doctor Who. To celebrate the Doctor's 40th Anniversary, BBC Video presents the largest Doctor Who video collection ever assembled. On home video for the first time, these eleven adventures span 16 of Doctor Who's 26 seasons. With four Doctors, 19 companions, 56 episodes and 46 cliffhangers, fans will agree that this cosmic collection is "bigger on the inside." WHV catalog #E1840. This set contains:

The Sensorites starring William Hartnell (#E1852)
Meglos starring Tom Baker (#E1862)
The Mutants starring Jon Pertwee (#E1857)
The Horns of Nimon starring Tom Baker (#E1861)
The Ambassadors of Death starring Jon Pertwee (#E1856), a double-tape set
The Gunfighters starring William Hartnell (#E1855)
The Invisible Enemy starring Tom Baker (#E1859)
The Time Meddler starring William Hartnell (#E1854)
Invasion of the Dinosaurs starring Jon Pertwee (#E1858)
The Creature from the Pit starring Tom Baker (#E1860)
The Reign of Terror Collectors Set starring William Hartnell (#E1853), a double-tape set that includes linking material and the standalone extant episodes "The Faceless Ones" parts 1 & 3 and "The Web of Fear" part 1, starring Patrick Troughton

FILTER: - USA - Blu-ray/DVD

Reign of Terror Extras

Thursday, 12 June 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The Doctor Who Restoration Team has updated their site with an article about the restoration of the four extant episodes, and the three individual episodes from missing stories ("The Web of Fear" episode 1 and "The Faceless Ones" episodes 1 and 3), being included in the VHS boxed set The Reign of Terror Collectors' Edition. The article includes technical details about the restoration of the episodes, including the clean-up and VidFIRE process. You can read the article at their website; click "VHS Releases" at left, then "Reign of Terror Box Set". (Thanks to the Restoration Team)

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

UK DVD Update

Wednesday, 28 May 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The Doctor Who Restoration Team has posted feature articles on the forthcoming DVD releases of Earthshock and The Curse of Fenric, as we reported from the BBC's press release late last week. Earthshock features commentary by the four regulars in the series -- Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse (pictured at right), as well as the extras noted in our May 23 article (the 30-minute documentary, by Ed Stradling, is entitled "Putting the Shock into Earthshock"). The article on "Earthshock" also features before-and-after video captures for some of the film clean-up work, as well as details about the work done on the film sequences, the music restoration and the new effects work on the freighter and gunfire effects. The feature onCurse of Fenric discusses the two versions being released -- the original four-part transmission and a special "brand-new, movie-format extended edit with a full Dolby Digital 5.1 sound remix... [that] had always been director Nick Mallett's vision for an extended version of the story." Twelve additional minutes have been added (five more than the 'extended' VHS release), and the movie version features a slightly new score by Mark Ayres, the original composer. "It's the same basic score," says Ayres, "with new bits added for the new scenes. It also means that I can properly assimilate the bits I wrote for the old video version so that it's not such a patchwork quilt. I'm updating the arrangement and orchestration as I go - tastes change in 24 years!" Extras have not been announced but there are slight modifications being done on effects work on several segments. Very little information about The Two Doctors, this year's other release, has been released, though work on remastering it is underway. You can visit the RT's website to read the full articles; click on the "DVD releases" menu item at left, then the individual title. (Thanks to the Restoration Team)

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Earthshock Details

Friday, 23 May 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The forthcoming BBC UK release of Earthshock, due out August 4, is featured in an article on the Restoration Team'swebsite, which includes information on the extras being planned for the disc. Like the release of "The Ark in Space," several special effects shots were updated with modern versions, including "the pink and magenta striped rays of the trooper guns and the demise of the freighter at the end of the story." They can be played as an alternative to the original version. Also featured on the disc are commentaries by the cast -- Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse -- as well as Did You See?, a 10-minute feature on Doctor Who monsters from 1981; a new 30-minute documentary featuring interviews with castmembers and fans and "examining the impact of the return of the Cybermen and the death of a companion..."; complete film sequences; an isolated music soundtrack; easter eggs; plus photo gallery and production subtitles. (Thanks to the Restoration Team)

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

BBC Video - 40th Anniversary

Friday, 23 May 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

BBC Worldwide's press release for the 40th anniversary has some information about this year's video & DVD releases. First is the story we previously reported of the release of The Horns of Nimon on June 2, as well as the November 24 date of the VHS release of The Reign of Terror Collectors Set, which features both the surviving episodes of the 1964 story The Reign of Terror (with, Outpost Gallifrey has learned, a linking segment for the missing episodes currently being put together by Ed Stradling) as well as the final unreleased individual episodes of the Patrick Troughton stories The Web of Fear (episode 1) and The Faceless Ones (episodes 1 and 3).

While it is not actually mentioned in the text, though, a cover illustration for the release of the only other Doctor Who story not yet put out on video, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, is listed as "Release date: to be confirmed," though it will hopefully be released either this year before the "Reign" tape or as the very last VHS release in early 2004.

BBC Worldwide has also confirmed the DVD's we've mentioned over the past several weeks and given them release dates, including The Dalek Invasion of Earth on June 16, Earthshock on August 4, The Two Doctors on September 8, The Curse of Fenric on October 6, and The Three Doctors on November 24. According to the press info, "The Three Doctors" will be packaged with a special Corgi model of the Doctor's car, Bessie (part of Corgi's anniversary release packages; see below).

The following are larger and much clearer versions of the draft cover illustrations of the forthcoming DVDs "Earthshock," "The Two Doctors" and "The Curse of Fenric" from the BBC press package, along with the video package for the eventual release of "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" -- an updated cover illustration with much more clarity than our original posting -- and the June release of "Horns of Nimon". (Special thanks to Julian Knott and the folks at Zeta Minor for initial press reports!)

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

earthshock dvd rumor

Sunday, 30 March 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The UK magazine "TV Zone" says that Earthshock, the Doctor Who story starring Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse, will be out in the UK on DVD on August 4. While "Earthshock" has been one of the DVDs touted for release this year, there has been nothing official to substantiate this. (Thanks to Carl Akers)

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Previous 10 Stories

Two Doctors DVD

Australia Video/Audio Update

More North America Video

Pyramids of Mars

North America DVD and Video Update

Reign of Terror Extras

UK DVD Update

Earthshock Details

BBC Video - 40th Anniversary

earthshock dvd rumor

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