Outpost Gallifrey notes the passing of actor Jack Pitt, who appeared in guest roles in both "The Web Planet" and "The Chase", who passed away approximately four weeks ago at his home in Penzance from complications of bronchial pneumonia. A Myth Makers interview with Pitt is recently being re-released on DVD by Reeltime. (Thanks to Richard Unwin)

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)

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)

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)

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)