Doctor Who (3 Viewers)

[David Weicker]

As expected


Coming July 7th on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics

DALEKS' INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D. (1966)
• NEW Audio Commentary by Writer, Film Critic, Film Historian Kim Newman and Screenwriter, Writer, Film Historian Robert Shearman
• Dalekmania: 57-Minute Documentary
• Interview with Actor Bernard Cribbins
• Interview with Author Gareth Owen
• Restoring Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.
• Optional English Subtitles
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• Theatrical Trailer

 

[Lord Dalek]

As for the originals showing up on Blu, they are planned as part of The Collection which is presenting cleaned up upscales of the original video (or filmed backups). The sixties era will be coming later in the collection (probably four or more years from now) due to several stories being missing and no definite decision on how to represent them (animations or slideshows using the original audio).

Its highly unlikely that the 60s Doctor Who stories ever to come to blu considering the surviving copies only exist in kiniscopes of quality ranging from the actual master tape (several late episodes were screened from 35mm due to editing expenses) to smeary messes. And on top of that, the bulk of them were originally shot in the EMI-Marconi system which was technically inferior even to NTSC (377i50p!) so they looked lousy even on transmission.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The Doctor thanks all of the doctors engaged in the fight against COVID-19:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Continuing the Chibnall era's secular, politically correct trend this year's holiday special will again debut on New Years Day instead of Christmas:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Teaser trailer for the upcoming series:

 

[David Weicker]

Russell T Davies chosen as the new showrunner for 2023 (and beyond)

Russell T Davies to return as Doctor Who showrunner | Doctor Who

Russell T Davies will make an explosive return to screens to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who in 2023, and series beyond. BBC Studios are partnering with Bad Wolf to produce.

www.doctorwho.tv

 

[NeilO]

I definitely did not expect to see RTD return as showrunner.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Whelp time for the BBC to suddenly remember RTD wasn't a very good Doctor Who writer either.

 

[joshEH]

Interesting.

 

[NeilO]

He has done a lot of things since he did Doctor Who. I suspect he has grown as a writer.

 

[David Weicker]

Whelp time for the BBC to suddenly remember RTD wasn't a very good Doctor Who writer either.

I consider him a good Doctor Who writer.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I think this is a good move. I think it means the Beeb wants to right the ship instead of letting it sink. I think this might work, especially if people don't go into it expecting it to be 2009 again. Because things have gone wrong for the show.

I didn't hate Chibbers' first season.

But I didn't love it, either. In fact, it left me feeling very apathetic about the show, to the point that I've never watched season 12 yet. I own it, and the Chri... New Year's Special. But I've never felt the need to watch them yet.

That's the most damning thing you can say about a show. Hate isn't the worst thing. Hate means you still feel some passion towards the object of your ire. Apathy is the worst, when you just don't give a shit and can't be arsed to care. That's when they lose viewers, because the people who hate will keep watching just to have something to bitch about. But the apathetic... they're killers. Silent, uncaring show killers.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I lost interest in the show under Chibnall’s leadership. I think Whitaker is perfectly fine in the role. I think the writing has been mediocre at best, abysmal at worst, and that’s what’s turned the show from a “much watch as soon as possible” to “ill get around to it whenever I get around to it”.

The thing is, I didn’t love Davies’ stuff either. I find a lot of his era of the show to be this paradoxical combination of being too drawn out and underdeveloped. I am unashamedly a fan of Moffat’s work on the show. That was the high point for me. I think I also need to adjust my expectations and rethink whether I’m actually a Doctor Who fan, or merely someone who happened to have enjoyed a few seasons of Doctor Who.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Whelp time for the BBC to suddenly remember RTD wasn't a very good Doctor Who writer either.

He took a dead franchise mostly remembered for its cheap production values and turned it into a global phenomenon.

Mainly, though, I'm just glad that the lackluster Chibnall era is coming to an end. We still have around nine stories from him with Whitaker's Doctor left. The abbreviated Series 13 will apparently by a six-part serial, similar to the original show's storytelling model, followed by three specials in 2022. Assuming the third special is the Christmas/New Years special a year from December, we probably won't know who RTD's new Doctor is for quite a while.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I really hate Chibnall’s retcon of time lords and the first doctor not being the first doctor - that to me adds a particularly unseemly stench that I don’t know how they can undo but wish they could.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I really hate Chibnall’s retcon of time lords and the first doctor not being the first doctor - that to me adds a particularly unseemly stench that I don’t know how they can undo but wish they could.

I don't have a huge problem with it, but I also wasn't blown away by it. It's this big huge twist that doesn't really change much of anything; everything we knew from the First Doctor through the Thirteenth Doctor still happened, but a bunch of other stuff we'll never know about happened before the First Doctor. There are only two really lasting effects of this retcon:

1. The Doctor isn't bound by the regeneration limit imposed on the other Time Lords, because the Doctor isn't strictly speaking a Time Lord. Which really only saves the writers from having to come up with some technobabble solution every 13 regenerations.
2. Chibnall had the Master again kill off the rest of the Time Lords, basically undoing the major storytelling turn from the 50th anniversary special, which was the bigger sin in my book.

 

[TJPC]

We have generally enjoyed Jodie Whittaker and her stories. I don't consider myself stupid, (after all "I am a high school grad-uate"), but the ones involving Peter Capaldi were often incomprehensible to us. My wife and I would watch the entire thing and discuss what had gone on. Often we could not figure it out! I remember one in particular where one cast member was wandering around inside an ever changing castle tower, which seemed to go on for hours.

 

[David Weicker]

BBC Studios have announced that Season 17 will be the next installment in the DOCTOR WHO: THE COLLECTION Blu-ray range, now available to pre-order from Amazon UK:

Season 17, the penultimate season starring Tom Baker as the Doctor, will be the next to be released as part of the Doctor Who Collection series.

Doctor Who – The Collection: Season 17 was originally shown between September 1979 and January 1980 consists of the following stories

• DESTINY OF THE DALEKS
• CITY OF DEATH
• THE CREATURE FROM THE PIT
• NIGHTMARE OF EDEN
• THE HORNS OF NIMON
• SHADA

In 1979, Tom Baker’s Doctor was in full flight. With Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) as script editor, the series leaned into Baker’s penchant for humour and paired his Doctor with a regenerated Romana (Lalla Ward) as his travelling companion. Together, they would form one of the most popular Doctor/companion duos of all time.

Although Season 17 was halted behind-the-scenes by strike action (resulting in the season finale being abandoned part-way through production), it remains a beloved slice of Doctor Who history, featuring the return of Davros and the Daleks, and one of the all-time classic stories, Douglas Adams’ own City Of Death.

With all episodes newly remastered from the best available sources, this Blu-ray box set also includes extensive and exclusive Special Features including:

• BRAND NEW DOCUMENTARIES
• Including a Making-Of documentary for Destiny Of The Daleks, and new featurette for The Creature From The Pit.
• TOM TALKS
• A candid interview with Tom Baker as he gives us his unique take on life, the universe and everything.
• DOUGLAS ADAMS TRIBUTE
• Friends and colleagues remember the Doctor Who writer/script editor and creator of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.
• IN CONVERSATION
• Matthew Sweet chats to Bob Baker, writer of Nightmare Of Eden, co-creator of K9 and one of the creative forces behind Wallace & Gromit.
• BEHIND THE SOFA
• New episodes with actors Colin Baker, Katy Manning, Matthew Waterhouse, Nicola Bryant, June Hudson, Graeme Harper & Mat Irvine
• LALLA WARD INTERVIEW
• An extensive interview discussing her first year on the programme.
• UPDATED SPECIAL EFFECTS
• View Nightmare Of Eden with optional new effects
• SHADA
• An updated version of the ‘lost’ story, completed with enhanced animation and presented in six episodes for the very first time, alongside the original 1992 VHS and 2017 versions
• EXCLUSIVE NEW AUDIO COMMENTARIES
• With Tom Baker on episodes of Destiny Of The Daleks and City Of Death, and Lalla Ward & Catherine Schell on City Of Death
• EXTENDED EPISODE
• An early cut of The Creature From The Pit Part Three
• BLU-RAY TRAILER
• A familiar face returns in a brand new mini-episode of classic Doctor Who
• IMMERSIVE 5.1 SURROUND SOUND
• On Destiny Of The Daleks and Shada
• RARE GEMS FROM THE ARCHIVES
• BBC archive material covering the promotion of this season
• CONVENTION FOOTAGE
• A triumphant 1997 appearance from Tom Baker
• HD PHOTO GALLERIES
• Including many previously unseen images
• PRODUCTION SUBTITLES
• Behind-the-scenes information and trivia on every episode
• SCRIPTS, COSTUME DESIGNS, RARE BBC PRODUCTION FILES AND OTHER RARITIES FROM OUR PDF ARCHIVE

Davros Rises! | The Collection: Season 17 Announcement Trailer

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The six-episode serial comprising Series 13 is titled "Flux", and will air between the 31st of October and the 5th of December.

Another brief teaser:



After that, there will be three feature-lenth specials. One will air New Years Day, early 2022, and late 2022. At the end of the late 2022 special, Jodie Whittaker's Doctor will regenerate into the new RTD iteration of the Doctor.