The upcoming Doctor Who DVD range! (1 Viewer)

Wow - the BBC and 2|Entertain really let the bomb drop on this one!
(And yes - I know that this only relates to R2 at the moment. But these will be released in the US too)
According to the official BBC page (here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/...18/44552.shtml ), The Time Warrior and the Key To Time season are to be released on DVD in the UK by 2Entertain later this year.
First up, on 3 September, is The Time Warrior. Starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, the story also marks the first appearances of the Sontarans and the timeless Sarah Jane Smith.
According to the BBFC classification site, extras are to likely to include a 30-minute documentary entitled Beginning The End - Making The Time Warrior, as well as a trailer, two Easter Eggs and a photo gallery.
Sixteen new CGI shots have also been created, spanning all four episodes.
Following that on 23 September (although that date is a Sunday) is the long-awaited Region 2 release of The Key To Time. The epic Fourth Doctor six-story box set has been available in America for several years, but only now will it come with the full extras it deserves.
The Key To Time season has already been available on DVD in the USA and Canada for a number of years, although its UK release will include "the full extras it deserves", according to the BBC website.
(And the word on the street is that the special edition Key to Time will also see these shores shortly thereafter that)
And then, the British Board of Film Classification yesterday cleared just over 60 minutes of extras for the DVD of Planet of Evil, although a release date is unknown. The extras, which have a PG rating, include three features entitled Hidden Hinchcliffe, A Darker Side and Planetary Performance - Acting In Doctor Who.
So the UK DVD Release Schedule looks like this:
May 28 2007 - Robot - Tom Baker
June 25 2007 - Series 3, Volume 2
July 9 2007 - Timelash - Colin Baker
July 23 2007 - Series 3, Volume 3
August 6 2007 - Time Flight/Arc of Infinity - Peter Davison
September 3 2007 - The Time Warrior - Jon Pertwee
September 23 2007 - Key to Time - Tom Baker
???? - Planet of Evil - Tom Baker
And while no official announcement yet, presumably the Complete Series hree boxed set will be coming sometime October/November. Talk about Who overload!

Which makes 16 classic stories for 2007. Something of an improvement on 6 a year, isn't it?
Sobering thought that even at 16 a year, which we won't get, it would still take more than five years to complete.

Re: Key to Time
According to who, if you don't mind my asking, or is this just idle speculation? Going back to the VHS days, I remember that when the US got a "world-first" exclusive (like "The Deadly Assassin", which came out in an edited movie-format), they did not get the superior UK re-release (the UK version was uncut and episodic).
Similarly, when the US re-released all the titles that had been edited movies (bar "Time Warrior") into uncut episodic releases, did we get them Stateside? No!
Keep in mind that Doctor Who isn't exactly a chart-topper here in the US. It has a decidedly limited audience. Imagine all the unsold inventory of the current version if a better re-release was on the cards. I have a hard time believing that they'll go to the trouble for the USA. We should probably wait for something "official" before getting our hopes up.

AndyMcKinney said:

According to who, if you don't mind my asking, or is this just idle speculation?

Click to expand...

Naw, fair question.
It was mentioned over on Outpost Gallifrey by the guy who maintains the R1 DVD release FAQ, who communicates with BBC Worldwide on a regular basis. I dont have the exact posting by him, but the plans are that the current DVD set will be withdrawn and replaced with the special edition.
While plans may change on BBCWW's end, I'll believe the source at least. he's been crediable before.

Of course, I only bought the r1 Key To Time set six motnhs ago - damn. Still, be nice to have a fully restored version with some good extras.

Tony J Case said:

Naw, fair question.
It was mentioned over on Outpost Gallifrey by the guy who maintains the R1 DVD release FAQ, who communicates with BBC Worldwide on a regular basis. I dont have the exact posting by him, but the plans are that the current DVD set will be withdrawn and replaced with the special edition.
While plans may change on BBCWW's end, I'll believe the source at least. he's been crediable before.

Click to expand...

Well, that'll be nice if it comes to pass! Certainly, unexpected given Worldwide's previous stance on reissues in the US.
Never bought the USA-only set. Partly because it was a USA-only release, meaning limited extras/restoration. Also, partly because I felt the Key season was a bit weak (though Mary Tamm is quite nice to look at).

The existing Key To Time set wasn't restored? It looks good to me, compared to other DVDs. Maybe they were already in good shape. Anyway, I'll be sorry if this wastes another release slot. I really only get excited about extras on the 60s stuff, and maybe the Pertwees but we hardly get any of those.

Four bloody episodes of Pertwee in 2007 leaves that era on about a 30 year schedule, which means most of them will never be released. Soon as we get a new format, we'll just see new releases of Inferno, Genesis, Talons, etc.

Mark Lx said:

Quote:

Click to expand...

With the increased release rate, we'll see some John soon enough. The problem is great swaths of his stuff is in pretty sad shape, and (I believe) that they're stalling in hopes that the cost of restoring them properly comes down. But don't take that as gospel - I only remember hearing that ages ago, and things may have changed since then.
Oh - and all the episodes will be released on the current DVD format. They may get rereleased on the higher definition discs in the future too, but the BBC has said that theyre committed to the whole range on the current format.

all said:

Quote:

Click to expand...

Well, the BBC did honour its commitement to put out all of the complete stories onto VHS, despite the format's waning popularity, so I'm sure they'll do the same with DVD.
Also, as Doctor Who was primarily a studio-bound videotaped show in the first place, there is no advantage (picture-quality wise) to re-releasing them onto the HD formats. The only advantage would be to, perhaps, make season-by-season collections on single (or double) HD discs in "Standard Definition" quality (i.e. giving us the same stuff again, but in a package that takes up a lot less room).
There was only ever one Doctor Who story shot entirely on film (Spearhead. I'm not counting the McGann movie) and if I recall, that was on 16mm anyway, so that one probably wouldn't benefit all that much from the HD format, either.
Add to that, even "new" Who is still shot on Standard Definition tape to save money, then later filtered to "look" like film, so again, no added picture quality benefits there.

From memory, the existing R1 Key To Time release was worked on by Ralph Montagu who is one of the Restoration Team members, and to quote the Restoration Team FAQ: "Because of the time frame involved to prepare the box-set only minimal clean-up was done on the episodes and a minimum number of extras supplied".
Spearhead from Space was indeed shot on 16mm film, and according to the Restoration Team would not benefit from an HD transfer.

This tidbit comes to us from the Royal Navy (via Outpost Gallifrey)

The Sea Devils is being prepared for release on DVD, the latest edition of the Royal Navy's official newspaper has revealed.

Navy News was contacted on behalf of the Restoration Team in the hope of tracking down naval personnel involved in or who witnessed the story's filming - in particular, the team hopes to find a rating believed to have shot some cine footage.

The June edition of the publication says that as part of the DVD, a documentary is being produced on the making of the Jon Pertwee six-parter. The adventure originally aired in 1972 and the location work was carried out in the Portsmouth area in October 1971.

A story about the location filming was done at the time by the local daily paper, The News, which photographed Pertwee chatting with three ratings at the Fraser gunnery range.

One of the ratings, an Able Seaman David King, pictured above right, who was then aged 26, appears to be capturing the moment for posterity on a cine camera.

In the Navy News piece, project team member Richard Bignell says: "If Mr King did take any cine film of the shoot, we would be very interested in talking to him!"

The documentary-makers also hope to track down people who took still pictures.

A release date for the DVD has yet to be confirmed.

The Sea Devils is being prepared for release on DVD, the latest edition of the Royal Navy's official newspaper has revealed.

Navy News was contacted on behalf of the Restoration Team in the hope of tracking down naval personnel involved in or who witnessed the story's filming - in particular, the team hopes to find a rating believed to have shot some cine footage.

The June edition of the publication says that as part of the DVD, a documentary is being produced on the making of the Jon Pertwee six-parter. The adventure originally aired in 1972 and the location work was carried out in the Portsmouth area in October 1971.

A story about the location filming was done at the time by the local daily paper, The News, which photographed Pertwee chatting with three ratings at the Fraser gunnery range.

One of the ratings, an Able Seaman David King, pictured above right, who was then aged 26, appears to be capturing the moment for posterity on a cine camera.

In the Navy News piece, project team member Richard Bignell says: "If Mr King did take any cine film of the shoot, we would be very interested in talking to him!"

The documentary-makers also hope to track down people who took still pictures.

A release date for the DVD has yet to be confirmed.

See! We are getting more Pertwee!

Well that's good news. Sea Devils is one I saw again a few years back, but never had a tape of.

Planet of Evil would be sweet. It could stand some SFX fixes as well, but otherwise had a unique look to it.
My number one request would have to be The Deadly Assassin. Love that one!

Our English Cousins will more than likely be the first to get episodes of "Doctor Who", except for the "Key to Time" season, after all, it is a British TV series. I have always enjoyed watching it, thanks to PBS almost 30 years ago. I have been quite happy with the DVD product so far, and I hope they

continue to maintain their quality. I prefer the older series than the new Doctor Who's, because they gave the story a chance to develop (4-6 or more episodes for the story). I am glad that they are releasing more each year, but I hope they will continue to maintain their quality of excellence.

Also, I am waiting for the "The Deadly Assassin" to make it debut on DVD.

Well, it's official - the new Doctor Who Monthly arrived at my comic store yesterday, and in it trheres a tidbit that says that Planet of Evil is scheduled as the next DVD after The Key to Time, for Monday October 15th.

Listed extras are Hidden Hinchcliffe, A Darker Side and Planetary Performance - Acting in Doctor Who (although that's probably not all of them - we'll probably get the production subtitles, commentaries, some PDFs and perhaps an easter egg or two).

Tony J Case said:

With the increased release rate, we'll see some John soon enough. The problem is great swaths of his stuff is in pretty sad shape, and (I believe) that they're stalling in hopes that the cost of restoring them properly comes down. But don't take that as gospel - I only remember hearing that ages ago, and things may have changed since then.

Click to expand...

Plus another problem with the Pertwee run is that a lot of the run exists in mixed quality. Since they recovered most of his run from Canada, there are a lot of PAL to NTSC to PAL conversions and the Restoration Team are still trying to either fix the damage to restore picture quality or finding more sources of the episodes. This causes yet another problem.

Aw, damnit - they announced the extras in the R2 DVD set of the Key to Time. Looks like it's a hundred buck double dip for me!
The Ribos Operation Extras include:
Commentary with Tom Baker and Mary Tamm.
A Matter of Time - the flagship documentary of this box set explores Graham Williams' three year tenure as Doctor Who's producer.
The Ribos File - cast and crew look back at the making of this story.
Continuities - off-air continuity links from the story's original BBC1 transmission.
Season 16 Trailer.
Photo Gallery.
Coming Soon.
Radio Times Listings.
Programme subtitles. Subtitle Production Notes.
The Pirate Planet Extras Include:
Commentary 1 - With Bruce Purchase and director Pennant Roberts.
Commentary 2 -With Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and script editor Anthony Read.
Parrot Fashion - cast and crew look back at the making of this story.
Film Inserts, Deleted Scenes and Outtakes - a collection of extra material from the story's production.
Weird Science - a spoof seventies schools science show looks at some the science seen in 'The Key to Time'.
Continuities - off-air continuity links from the story's original BBC1 transmission.
Photo Gallery.
Coming Soon.
Radio Times Listings.
Programme subtitles. Subtitle Production Notes.
The Stones of Blood Extras Include:
Commentary 1 - With Mary Tamm and director Darrol Blake.
Commentary 2 - With Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, Susan Engel and writer David Fisher.
Getting Blood from the Stones - cast and crew look back at the making of this story.
Hammer Horror - looks at the influences of horror films on Doctor Who stories down the years.
Stones Free - Mary Tamm visits the Rollright Stones location used in the story to meet local experts on this ancient stone circle.
Deleted Scenes - deleted scenes from episode two.
Continuities - off-air continuity links from the story's original BBC1 transmission.
Model World - an excerpt from The Model World of Robert Symes looks at the model work for this story, with designer Mat Irvine.
Blue Peter - the famous children's show looks back at the history of Doctor Who on the show's fifteen anniversary.
Nationwide - the BBC1 news magazine programme looks back on 15 years of Doctor Who.
Photo Gallery.
Coming Soon.
Radio Times Listings.
Programme subtitles.
Subtitle Production Notes.
The Androids of Tara Extras Include:
Commentary - With Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and director Michael Hayes.
The Humans of Tara - cast and crew look back at the making of this story.
Now and Then - The Androids of Tara - comparing and contrasting present day locations as they are now with how they appeared in the story.
Double Trouble - a brief history of 'doubles' in Doctor Who.
Photo Gallery.
Coming Soon.
Radio Times Listings.
Programme subtitles.
Subtitle Production Notes.
The Power of Kroll Extras Include:
Commentary - With Tom Baker and John Leeson.
In Studio - a fascinating glimpse inside the studio recording of the story, recovered from timecoded monochrome production recordings.
Variations - a BBC local news programme visits the story location during filming.
There's Something About Mary - Mary Tamm looks back at her single-season starring role as the Doctor's companion.
Philip Madoc - A Villain for All Seasons - a retrospective of actor Philip Madoc's numerous roles as a Doctor Who villain down the years.
Continuities - off-air continuity links from the story's original BBC1 transmission.
Photo Gallery - design, production and publicity stills for the story.
Coming Soon.
Radio Times Listings.
Programme subtitles. Subtitle Production Notes.
The Armageddon Factor Extras Include:
Disc 1
Commentary 1 -With Mary Tamm, John Woodvine and director Michael Hayes.
Commentary 2 - With Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and John Leeson.
Coming Soon.
1979 Doctor Who Annual.
Radio Times Listings.
Programme subtitles. Subtitle Production Notes.
Disc 2
Defining Shadows - cast and crew look back at the making of this story.
Alternative / Extended Scene - taken from a timecoded monochrome studio recording.
Directing Who - Michael Hayes looks back on his directing career on Doctor Who.
Rogue Time Lords - a potted history of errant Time Lords.
Pebble Mill at One - Tom Baker interviewed on the long-running lunchtime magazine show in 1978.
Radiophonic Feature - a Pebble Mill at One interview with Dick Mills and Brian Hodgson looking at Radiophonic music and effects in Doctor Who.
The New Sound of Music - sound effects supremo Dick Mills talks about creating a Doctor Who sound effects in this extract.
Merry Christmas, Doctor Who- a special Christmas sketch, recorded on the set of 'The Armageddon Factor' for the BBC Christmas Tape that year.
Continuities - off-air continuity links from the story's original BBC1 transmission.
Photo Gallery.
Late Night Story - Tom Baker reads five spine-chilling stories from this 1978 series - The Photograph, The Emissary, Nursery Tea, The End of the Party and Sredni Vashtar.
Easter Egg.
The Key To Time box set is released on 24 September 2007.
Sweet mother of god that's a ton of stuff.
Also mentioned on Outpost Gallifrey, the BBC America online shop says that Season 3 (um, season 29) is slated for release in America on November 6th - which seems too early. The US gets this 20 days ahead of the UK - that can't be right?
*EDIT*
Also, the Restoration team updated their page for the Time Warrior: http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonde...imeWarrior.htm
A good read as always.

Stones of Blood is the only Key to Time i really like. I wonder if they will sell them individually like they did the first set. I own that episode, but i would upgrade.

Tony J Case said:

Also mentioned on Outpost Gallifrey, the BBC America online shop says that Season 3 (um, season 29) is slated for release in America on November 6th - which seems too early. The US gets this 20 days ahead of the UK - that can't be right?

Click to expand...

Since the same authoring facility (located in the UK, BTW) dupes both the R1 and R2 discs, and the relatively short time frame difference in release dates, there's really no reason why that couldn't happen. Probably easier for them to run off the NTSC and PAL versions of the same release back-to-back that a few weeks later, so it's probably just up to the marketing people within the BBC as to whether they'd want this to street in the US first.
Perhaps it's timed to coincide with US broadcast dates (of either the re-runs of series 3 on BBC America, or the '07 Christmas Special, if we are indeed getting it this Christmas)?

Well, the word is that the November date for the 3rd season is correct. Still werid, us getting the series before the UK.
Also, I found this other tidbit of news:
TORCHWOOD COMES TO NORTH AMERICA DVD – JAN. 8, 2008
http://www.bbcamericashop.com/defaul...1&cc=21235&tt=
The BBC Shop has announced that they intend to release a box set of the entire first series of Torchwood on January 8, 2008. Pricing details are not yet available.
(Torchwood of course is the Doctor Who spinoff series starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness in charge of the Cardiff branch of Torchwood, the secret British government agency tasked with collecting and controlling alien activity. )
According to the DW DVD FAQ:
Although this series is shot in high-definition, this will be a standard-definition DVD release. BBC Worldwide Americas feel that neither of the competing high-definition disc formats (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) have enough market penetration yet to make a release of this series on either cost effective at this time.