The Claws of Axos DVD

Tuesday, 15 March 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
BBC Video has finally announced The Claws of Axos, which will be released about two weeks early, on April 25, 2005, in the UK, according to the listing at the BBC Shop which now features a press relaese and cover illustration, reprinted below. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.
THE CLAWS OF AXOS

An approaching Alien spaceship is detected on monitoring equipment at UNIT HQ, where the Brigadier is entertaining two visitors - Chinn, a civil servant making a security inspection, and Bill Filer, an American agent sent to discuss the threat of the Master. The Ship lands in England and the UNIT team, joined by Hardiman and Winser from the nearby Nuton power station, meet its occupants: beautiful golden-skinned humanoids called Axons.

The Axons claim that their ship, Axos, is damaged and that they need time in which to repair it. In return, they offer Axonite, a substance that can cause animals to grow to enormous sizes and thus end food shortages. The Doctor is suspicious, and rightly so: Axos, Axonite and the Axons - whose true appearance is hideous - are all part of a single parasitic entity brought to Earth by the Master to feed on the planet's energy. The Doctor manages to materialise his TARDIS, with the Master on board, at the centre of Axos. He offers to link the two ships together to make one giant time machine, on condition that Axos in return helps him to take revenge on the Time Lords for exiling him to earth. This is merely a trick, however, and Axos is locked in a time loop from which it can never escape. The Doctor returns to Earth in theTARDIS, where he reluctantly admits to the Brigadier that the Master may also have escaped.

DVD Extras:

* Commentary track
* Photo gallery
* Production subtitles
* Out takes/deleted scenes
* Now and Then' featurette about the Dungeoness location
* Interview with Michael Ferguson (director)
* Reverse Standards Conversion featurette




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Claws of Axos Extras

Sunday, 6 March 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The British Board of Film Classification has released details on the extras for the forthcoming UK DVD release of The Claws of Axos, due in May, as follows:

00:14:42:08 | DIRECTING WHO
00:10:08:08 | REVERSE STANDARDS CONVERSION
00:26:57:16 | STUDIO RECORDING
00:06:33:02 | NOW AND THEN
00:10:54:17 | PHOTO GALLERY




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

The Crusade

Friday, 4 March 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
DWM confirms the release of "The Crusade" on Monday 2 May from the BBC Radio Collection. It's narrated by William Russell, who is also interviewed as a 20-minute bonus feature on the second disc.




FILTER: - Audio - DWM - Classic Series

Peter Hamilton, Leonard Trolley

Friday, 4 March 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Peter Hamilton, a long-time film cameraman with the BBC who worked on a variety of Doctor Who serials, died on March 1, due to unspecified reasons. Hamilton worked on many stories including "The Reign of Terror," "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," "The Web Planet," "The Crusade," "The Myth Makers," "The Daleks' Master Plan," "The Moonbase," "The Macra Terror," "The Tomb of the Cybermen," "The Dominators," "The Time Monster" and "Carnival of Monsters." Funeral services are planned for March 9 in Brixham. Also, Leonard Trolley, who played Superintendent Reynolds in the Patrick Troughton story "The Faceless Ones," died at the end of February; he was 87. (Thanks to Kevin Lyons, Neil Marsh)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Complete Seventh Doctor

Wednesday, 16 February 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The official Doctor Who site today featured a preview (with cover) of The Complete Seventh Doctor, the final "Doctor Special" volume due out from DWM, which is released on February 17, as follows:
The Complete Seventh Doctor

The Seventh Doctor's era is walking, talking proof - if any were needed - that Doctor Who and its fan following constitute a remarkably broad church. Every period of Doctor Who has its champions and its detractors, but when it comes to these three seasons the division of opinion is more acute than most.

Some fans consider them an abberation in both style and substance, offering little more than the prolonged death-rattle of a once-loved show; others have found a renewed spirit, imagination and commitment in the Sylvester McCoy era that puts it among the most inspired and inspiring periods in the show's history...

In this special issue, Philip MacDonald puts the Sylvester McCoy stories under the microscope and examines in detail these three highly-inventive seasons of Doctor Who. Meanwhile, resident Archivist Andrew Pixley provides a full behind-the-scenes history of Doctor Who between 1987 and 1989, while some of DWM's finest authors - including TV writers Steven Moffat, Rob Shearman and Paul Cornell - give their own thoughts on stories from the era.

There's also a full guide to the Seventh Doctor's adventures in audio, book and comic strip form, and an Afterword from Ace actress Sophie Aldred.

Packed with dozens of never-before-published photographs, this 100-page special is out on Thursday 17 February.




FILTER: - DWM - Books - Classic Series

New North America DVD Covers

Wednesday, 16 February 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Warner Home Video and BBC Video have released the cover illustrations for the North American DVD releases of The Leisure Hive starring Tom Baker (WHV catalog #E2217) and Ghost Light starring Sylvester McCoy (WHV catalog #E2218), both due out on June 7. The extras on each DVD set match the ones on the original UK releases: For "The Leisure Hive," audio commentary by Lalla Ward, director Lovett Bickford and script editor Christopher H. Bidmead, "A New Beginning" featurette on John Nathan-Turner, music only track, interviews with writer David Fisher, script editor Christopher H. Bidmead, graphic designer Sid Sutton, composer Peter Howell and costume designer June Hudson, optional Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, photo gallery and production notes; and for "Ghost Light," audio commentary by Sophie Aldred, script editor Andrew Cartmel, writer Marc Platt and composer Mark Ayres, deleted scenes, extended takes, "Light in Dark Places" - Making-of featurette, "Shooting Ghosts" - Behind-the-scenes, 1990 convention Q&A with writer Marc Platt, music only track, optional Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, production notes. The standard North American 'Who's Who" feature is also expected on these discs. Click on each thumbnail below for a larger version.




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

Jack Kine Obituary

Friday, 11 February 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Further to our report on January 25 about the death of BBC effects legend Jack Kine, the Times Online today ran a detailed obituary. (Thanks to Chris Winwood, "ABT 2004")




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

The Claws of Axos Extras

Saturday, 5 February 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Full details of the extras from the forthcoming DVD release The Claws of Axos have been revealed in the latest DWM. They include commentaries by Katy Manning, Richard Franklin and producer Barry Letts; an interview with director Michael Ferguson; "Who Was Doctor Axon?", a feature on the restoration of the story produced by John Kelly; another of Richard Bignell's "Now and Then" location features, on Dungeness (Nuclear Power Station), narrated by Katy Manning; a 30-minute compilation of "Vampire from Space" studio material, including all the Roger Delgado footage and some extended and deleted scenes; production subtitles; and a photo gallery. While the release is noted as May 2, the BBC Shop currently lists it as being released on May 9.




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

North America DVD Update

Thursday, 27 January 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
As expected, the next confirmed releases for North American DVDs -- following the releases of "The Green Death" and "The Visitation" on March 1 -- will be The Leisure Hive starring Tom Baker and Ghost Light starring Sylvester McCoy, likely in early June, according to the BBC America Shop website. We expect to have cover illustrations as soon as they're released by Warner Home Video, the distributor. (Thanks to David Deddo)




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

Jack Kine

Tuesday, 25 January 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Jack Kine, who was instrumental in the creation of the BBC Visual Effects department during the 1950's, died yesterday at age 83 according to the Bucks Herald. He and his effects partner, the late Bernard Wilkie, only worked on one story together, "The Mind Robber," but both were involved behind the scenes in the many innovations which came before and led to the show's success. An interview with Kine from a 1967 edition of "Late Night Lineup" was included on the Tomb of the Cybermen DVD. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series