Complete Tom Baker "Dr. Who" Set In October? (1 Viewer)

[Craig S]

DVD File just posted the following:

BBC has also issued a sneaky peek at some other upcoming titles. In October comes ... a set that all Doctor Who fans have been clamoring for, Doctor Who: The Key to Time - The Complete Adventure, which features "All episodes from the Tom Baker years."

Anyone heard anything about this?? I've been holding off on the Doctor Who releases to date but this one I may have to pick up...

 

[Julie K]

It's the complete Key to Time series, not the complete Tom Baker. DVDfile needs to be more accurate.

But yes, this set has been listed at DVDempire for a while.

 

[Craig S]

Ahh, that makes more sense.

And yes, DVD File needs to do a bit more proofreading/fact-checking before posting stuff like this. They also said specs, pricing, etc, were forthcoming. Obviously if the set is already listed at e-tailers, this info should be available.

And before someone jumps on me, I did try to check this at BBC America Shop & DVD Planet before posting, but was unable to get to either site (internet access from work has been very spotty today).

If an admin wishes to delete this thread to stop false hopes/rumors, I wouldn't object. :b

 

[David Lambert]

When I first read the DVDFile blurb, I was about to get upset, too.
Then I thought about the wording. Indeed it *is* "All episodes from the Tom Baker years"...EVERY episode on this set is from the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who. The entire 16th season, to be exact (Baker was there the 12th through 18th seasons, appearing briefly in the last show of the 11th season after Pertwee regenerated into Baker).
So, yes, all the episodes in this set are of Tom Baker.
It never said in the blurb that this set CONTAINS "All OF THE episodes from the Tom Baker years". Although that is seemingly implied with the way we use modern language :wink: . Tricky, I know. But still not wrong the way they phrased it.
I suspect the relayer of those words didn't know much about DW, or would have clarified it. Life in the big city, I guess. I'll be glad to get this set, in any case!
Try this on for size for better info about the set.

 

[Michael Sliger]

Here are the current list of known features for this set from http://www.pressenter.com/~stevenma/Video_FAQ.html
October 1, 2002
The Key to Time Boxed Set DVD Edition - containing all of Season 16, starring Tom Baker (DVD)
At this time there are no plans to release Key in the UK as well. (According to Steve Roberts of the Restoration Team, the earliest it could be released in the UK is in 2004 as slots until then are already decided.) The episodes have received restorative treatment by some members of the BBC Restoration Team, who also arranged for DVD commentaries to be recorded.
The full box set is suggested to retail at $124.95, however it can be found for pre-order already at much-reduced prices online at websites listed above. Each story in the set will also be available seperately at $24.95 each, but by buying the whole box set you'll effectively be getting one disc free, plus the box.
The extra features will be as follows:
- On all 6 discs: Production notes/trivia sub-titles. Photo gallery. "Who's Who" actors biographies.
- On The Pirate Planet: Deleted scenes/behind-the-scenes footage from the location film recordings.
- All 6 discs will feature commentary tracks. The commentators are as follows:
The Ribos Operation: Tom Baker (the Doctor) and Mary Tamm (Romana)
The Pirate Planet: Bruce Purchase (the Captain) and Pennant Roberts (Director)
The Stones of Blood: Mary Tamm (Romana) and Darrol Blake (Director)
The Androids of Tara: Tom Baker (the Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), and Michael Hayes (Director)
The Power of Kroll: Tom Baker (the Doctor) and John Leeson (usually the Voice of K9 but in this story was on-camera as Dugeen)
The Armageddon Factor: Mary Tamm (Romana), John Woodvine (the Marshal), and Michael Hayes (Director)
The extra features are fewer on these discs than on the others we’ve had because of the huge volume of work that had to be done on the episodes themselves and the short time there was available to get it done in.

 

[Dana Fillhart]

This looks to be a *wonderful* set, which I am eagerly looking forward to picking up. TKtT was one of the best moments in the DW series, and I'm happy to see it's coming out in the first few. While I'd be happier with season box sets, at least they're releasing the episodes here on ONE disc per episode -- already edited into the whole episode rather than separated as they were originally aired. And the way they're numbering/labelling them makes them more ideal as collector's items.

 

[Randy_M]

Think I'll mosey on over and preorder this NOW!!!

By the way, I just finished the Ark in Space commentary track and found it absolutely delightful!

Thanks BBC!

 

[Richard Ruffner]

Here is the link to the individual covers:
Link Removed
Link Removed
Link Removed
Link Removed
Link Removed
Link Removed

 

[David Lambert]

Well, if you went to that TVShowsOnDVD link I provided, each of the episode titles are links to the release info about each separate DVD. Including the covers. But oh well.

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

at least they're releasing the episodes here on ONE disc per episode -- already edited into the whole episode rather than separated as they were originally aired

Sorry, but that's rubbish. Each of the six discs contains a seperate story made up of its original four episodes (or six in the case of the season finale 'The Armageddon Factor'). The stories may have been shown in an edited format in the States, but they were originally made and transmitted in the UK as individual episodes.
The only way to watch Doctor Who is one episode at a time (preferably on a Saturday evening), and then wait a week to find out the resolution to the previous week's cliffhanger!

 

[BrianB]

The only way to watch Doctor Who is one episode at a time (preferably on a Saturday evening), and then wait a week to find out the resolution to the previous week's cliffhanger!

Indeed, Jonathan. I've got a lot of fond memories of doing just that.

 

[StevenA]

I've been holding off buying the US Dr. Who discs as I wasn't sure if the episodes were edited together or not. I will not buy them if they are edited together because, as already pointed out, the cliffhangers were one of the best things about the show. So are the US releases edited together, or presented as originally aired in the UK?

 

[Dana Fillhart]

It's not rubbish if you actually understand what I said.



Correct. When I said "episode" I meant (and said in the hyphened comment) "whole episode", which is how they aired in the U.S.

I do feel that the UK probably should get their R2 versions as individual-episodes separated (but all on the DVD disc), but since they were almost exclusively aired in the US (on PBS stations mostly) as one compiled story-episode, they should be compiled on the DVD as such.

 

[Randy_M]

It would be cool if there were a choice on the disc (seamless branching?)

 

[BrianB]

I do feel that the UK probably should get their R2 versions as individual-episodes separated (but all on the DVD disc), but since they were almost exclusively aired in the US (on PBS stations mostly) as one compiled story-episode, they should be compiled on the DVD as such.

Why should the UK "probably" get them in the correct format? They were written & produced as individual weekly episodes - that's how they should be on DVD.

That US TV stations chose to edit them together is beside the point - they were designed to be weekly serials. I've watched the edited together episodes on PBS & a lot of them completely lose their tension, in my opinion.

 

[Kwang Suh]

When Doctor Who originally aired on the KSPS PBS station, they were shown as individual episodes. They weren't shown in the compiled format until much later.

 

[Julie K]

but since they were almost exclusively aired in the US (on PBS stations mostly) as one compiled story-episode, they should be compiled on the DVD as such.

I saw virtually every story shown as weekly episodes on PBS. The only other way to get a truer Doctor Who experience would have been for me to hide behind the couch, but I was a little too old for that.

Editing them together spoils the pace of the show. Leave them like they were originally designed.

 

[Craig S]

When I was watching them on PBS back in the 80s, they would show all 4 episodes of a particular story back-to-back, but they weren't edited together. For example, you got the opening/ending credits before/after each episode.
If they're edited together on the DVDs:

 

[Will_B]

but since they were almost exclusively aired in the US (on PBS stations mostly) as one compiled story-episode, they should be compiled on the DVD as such.

In Boston, they were never aired that way either. They were one half hour episode at a time. I've never ever seen a "compiled story episode" ever; this is the first I've ever heard of that - I'm skeptical if it is even true.

 

[Dana Fillhart]

Weird; ever since I've seen my first Dr. Who episode I've always seen the "episodettes" strung together, edited (sometimes obviously) with little or no break to form one "story" episode. It took probably far into season 3 or 4 before I realized they were originally aired as separate 20-minute (or so) episodettes -- the only clue that gave that away was the poor editing job sometimes done that left traces of the end/opening themes. This was the case on Maryland Public Television as well as a couple others I managed to see (I can't guarantee where else I've seen this but it was more than just MPT), but nowhere have I seen them broadcasted non-edited *as a rule*. That led me to my (apparently false) proclamation that it was rarer to see them in the original way (in the U.S.).
Brian, I think you took me too literally; I was just giving myself an out were my assumption incorrect about the U.K.'s original format as separately-aired "episodettes". If that's true, then change "probably" to "definitely." Since I don't know for sure, I used "probably." Hopefully that allievates your concern