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March 24th, 2015 161 comments

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What Next For Doctor Who Classic DVDs?

Now that the majority of known episodes have been released on DVD, what would you like to see happen to the range?

Season box sets, Doctor box sets?

Early B+W episodes colourised (which would no doubt be hugely expensive), or should they stay as they are?

Animated missing stories? or do we already have everything we need?

Below are some examples of what individuals have achieved


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161 comments

  • Keiran

    June 20th, 2018 - 1:12am

    Why is it that germany releases silver nemesis (extended cut) as part of a limited 1000 copies collectors addition and charge £150 roughly for the set, but the bbc cant be bloody bothered. They release enemy of the world twice and some others multiple times in several box sets but the silver nemesis extended vhs version just gets left behind. Hell they release newly found stories as special features in other stories dvds, but once again the silver nemesis extended vhs version, nope. Hell i would pay anything up to £900 for that extended story remastered and on dvd. Oh but the costs… well then just wack it on itunes for download atleast for the people who are used to the vhs version.

    Reply
    • Gordon

      June 20th, 2018 - 9:02am

      Wasn’t really that bbc couldn’t be bothered just there was no budget for a second disc. It’s not the only story that had stuff not included as a lot of the McCoy extras didn’t make it. Simple fact that most of the McCoy stories aren’t big enough sellers for them to budget a 2nd disc.The German company that released it spent a fortune unsuccessfully trying to find the original negs of the deleted scenes so they are well within their right to sell it in any way they pleased. I doubt it will be just kept to that set anyway. It will probably end up in the s25 blu ray set if it gets that far. The restoration team have said they will do omnibus versions of daemons sea devils and seeds of doom if the range continues so i imagine the se of silver nemesis will happen if it carries on

    • Anonymous

      December 31st, 2018 - 1:55pm

      An interview about the dvd range in dr who magazine said that they could never do the extended cut as JNT had to cut together a soundtrack over the cast track which faded in and out inbetween the original episodes. Sadly, they wont re release this with the extended version as they cannot fix the sound issues

  • IsItNeil

    February 13th, 2018 - 8:24pm

    The enemy of the world special edition is now confirmed for release in March.

    With this renewed interest in classic DVD releases and with the BBC having already produced and released in Germany a 1000 limited release that includes “the new restoration of the extended version of silver nemesis”. A uk release of this potential my including the 7th doctor revisited and new Andrew cartnell interview is a total no brainier now. The work has been done so a uk release would cost almost nothing for the BBC with the work already done. They could even release a 2 disc special edition to include the original DVD and extras without needing to do any more production on the DVD. Like it or not. Want it or not. With the discs already produced I feel this is an almost certainly in one form or another for release.

    While the momentum for new classic series DVDs is there I would also give my vote to releases of
    1. The crusade.
    2. The curse of fatal death
    With no previous DVD and this and a making of already in the can I feel this is also a easy one for BBC worldwide. I’ve heard the arguments about its charity status but this was made available for purchase not only on VHS but also digital download through iTunes and other routes so there are no clearance issues for DVD that aren’t as manageable as other DVDs released.

    I agree we as fans would really want a Web of Fear special edition but with ep 3 KNOWN to be out there this is not gonna happen any time soon. I’ve heard the cries for a special edition with animated or other ep 3 recreation but putting emotion, fandom and opinion aside – commercially BBC worldwide are not gonna go this route while we have a standard DVD and the missing ep3 known to be out there for definate.
    Likewise… As much as fans we know that the underwater menace DVD was a total mess… Commercially this isn’t gonna get a special edition release any time soon. Looking at it as a business would you really release a special edition of this before the crusade that’s had no complete dedicated release: no reconstruction and no extras or behind the scenes / making of features. ?? I don’t think so. Or even before releasing the silver nemesis special edition. For which they have already produced the assets. As I fan I don’t disagree with what’s ideal and what’s wanted but BBC have to be commercial as well.
    After the successes of power of the daleks and shada I think evil of the daleks with animation is more likely that web or underwater.

    Reply
  • Jamy

    December 17th, 2017 - 11:19pm

    Animate all missing episodes

    Rerelease some of the region 1 titles that have become rare…missing a handful and they’re trying to sell them for absurd prices on eBay and such

    Um, Blake 7!!!

    Reply
  • Daniel Potter

    October 24th, 2017 - 2:08pm

    I would be quite content if they made as many incomplete or totally missing stories into animation as possible. I have every DVD release from both classic and the new and would love to see these missing episodes to stories animated. It would be a waste of time and money re-releasing as specials or boxsets just because you can or indeed colouring the black and white versions.

    Reply
    • Jon Skaro

      January 8th, 2018 - 6:59pm

      I agree. I want to see Fury from the Deep and The Abominable Snowmen animated next. I already have Evil of the daleks & The Faceless Ones on DVD!

  • IsItNeil

    October 3rd, 2017 - 9:57pm

    If I had any influence I would want on DVD:-
    1. The Crusade
    2. The Curse of Fatal Death
    3. The Web of Fear S/E [+special
    features]
    4. Silver Nemesis S/E [2 Disc as per
    Battlefield and Fenric with extended
    version and US Documentary]
    5. Evil of the Daleks Animated

    All of the above I believe are viable and marketable and in keeping with the rest of the range. In my eyes these should be released on DVD as a must. I say Web for a s/e first as there would be no issues or discussions over recon episodes. Plus it is in The top 20 most popular stories so should get the s/e treatment and would sell well. Also there is no reason Nemesis shouldn’t get the same treatment as Fenric and battlefield. The reasons and backgrounds are the same and the end product in same manner and just as marketable and popular. I would animate Evil first as it roughly the same length as Power plus they already have the animation templates for the 2nd Doctor and the daleks giving them a head start and reason to keep costs down meaning more viable to produce.

    Of course then…in an ideal world I would want:….
    * Enemy of the world s/e
    * Underwater Menace s/e
    …..to bring the features up to the level of the rest of the range. Although I accept their viability is questionable.
    Pyramids of Mars
    Ghost Light
    Leisure Hive
    Earth shock
    …s/e RERELEASES would also be ideal but again I don’t think the BBC would consider them viable and I can see the limited potential.

    Reply
    • IsItNeil

      October 3rd, 2017 - 10:01pm

      It would also be nice to see a DVD of the Doctor Who Special Editions of Pointless Celebrities and Weakest Link. Also absent from DVD is the 2013 Culture show special “you, me, and Doctor Who” and the 11 Doctor specific “The Doctors Revisited”. All of which I feel would be popular DVDs or extras in a box set.

    • Jon

      January 8th, 2018 - 6:45pm

      I’ve got Evil of The Daleks animated already!

  • Nozza

    April 30th, 2017 - 1:19pm

    I would like to see a animated Evil of the Daleks DVD release. I want to see Doctor and Jaime meet Victoria for the first time. I know the story is available on Big Finish audio but… it’s just not the same. I bought the Power of the Daleks animated DVD release from Amazon when that came out and that worked really well, the atmosphere and suspense of the story transitioned really well in my opinion. I hope they can do the same again.

    Reply
    • Jon

      January 8th, 2018 - 6:48pm

      Got it already!

  • David

    April 30th, 2017 - 1:03am

    The Crusades needs its own stand alone release with animation for episodes 2 and 4.

    The Underwater Menace needs to be re-released with animation for episodes 1 and 4.

    The Evil Of The Daleks episodes 1, 3 to 7 need to be animated and released as a stand alone DVD release.

    Animate Mission to the Unknown and The Daleks Masterplan episodes 1, 3 to 4, 6 to 9 and 11 to 12 in a double DVD box set.

    Then do a Revisitation 4 box set with Dalek’s Invasion of Earth, Pyramids Of Mars and Earthshock.

    Revisitation 5 box set with The Two Doctors, The Leisure Hive and The Curse Of Fenric.

    There doesn’t have to be any new content but put the cover’s artwork on the discs. In other words replace all the silver discs.

    Reply
    • David

      April 30th, 2017 - 1:27am

      And Ghost Light too. They should just re-release all the early 2003 to 2005 releases with new artwork and standardised the covers so they all look the same with BBC DVD in the top left corner of the front of the cover, and replace all the silver discs with artwork from the cover on the discs.

    • David

      April 30th, 2017 - 1:30am

      Revisitation 6 with Horror Of Fang Rock and Ghost Light

    • David

      April 30th, 2017 - 1:33am

      Or maybes two more Revisitation box sets.

      Revisitation 5 with Dalek Invasion of Earth, Pyramids Of Mars, Earth Shock and Ghost Light

      Revisitation 6 with The Leisure Hive, Horror Of Fang Rock, The Two Doctors and The Curse Of Fenric.

    • David

      April 30th, 2017 - 2:07am

      And Enemy And Web Of Fear need special edition re-releases as the original releases are just bare bones, no extras or commentary.

  • David

    April 5th, 2017 - 11:00pm

    I would like to see an animated release of Marco Polo and The Crusades and The Space Pirates to complete seasons 1, 2 and 6.

    Reply
    • The Werewolf

      April 6th, 2017 - 2:11am

      I don’t think they’re allowed to do The Crusades.

    • Anonymous

      April 6th, 2017 - 3:31am

      BBC Worldwide wouldn’t foot the bill in case they get any bad publicty from it, if somebody else paid though that would be a different matter.

  • Andrew Gilbertson

    January 27th, 2017 - 1:55pm

    Animated reconstructions all the way. As long as there’s still one episode that can’t be eatched, there’s work to be done, and my interest in that trumps any repackage, set, colorization, or re-release that does exist. And definitely the one that would get my money every time.

    Reply
  • Digital_Archivist

    January 1st, 2017 - 5:06am

    After years of deliberation (mainly due to the rather high price), I’ve decided to invest into buying Classic Who (only when on special). At £5.99 at Amazon, most of the Classic Who DVDs are worth it. I have collected all of the Jon Pertwee era episodes. I will collect Tom Baker next. I’m not so keen on the Hartnell or Troughton eras (they had a different feel & I’m not really sure if I want to buy something I’m not keen on. I probably will stop at the Davison era. He wasn’t my favourite Doctor but there were some very good stories during his time as The Doctor.

    Do you think more Doctor Who will receive blu-ray releases from the Classic Series? I believe Spearhead from Space is the only Classic Who story to receive a HD release.

    Regards

    _Digital_Archivist

    Reply
    • Rob

      January 1st, 2017 - 9:42am

      If you are in the UK, I would check out CEX if you have one local as some stories can be picked up for as little as £3 on DVD. Amazon (used sellers) are a place I’ve picked up a few bargains too. eBay is another option for bargains or better priced DVDs too.

      The TV movie is a Blu Ray and of course Power of the Daleks is being released in February on Blu Ray too

    • TheClassicsAreAce

      January 1st, 2017 - 11:34am

      Have you bought the Revisitations box sets? They, especially Revisitations 1, may help you collect the ones you want. Also, Revenge of the Cybermen is in a box set with Silver Nemesis, they are both considered as poor Cyberman stories. Although you want to stop after Peter Davison’s era, I suggest you at least get Sylvester McCoy’s last 2 seasons as the stories from then have decent prices on DVD and the episodes were of better quality, especially Season 26.

    • David

      April 5th, 2017 - 10:14pm

      Spearhead got a Blu-ray release because I believe all four episodes exist as 35mm colour film so could easily be transferred into HD. Most DW serials though were done on video tape with 16mm film inserts, well up to 1986 they were.

    • The Outcast

      April 30th, 2017 - 2:38pm

      What about 7 though. Remembrance, Survival and Curse of Fenric are great stories.

  • Weeping Angel

    December 27th, 2016 - 12:52pm

    i would love season box sets so we didn’t have to keep buying single ones. plus they would be cheaper

    Reply
    • Digital_Archivist

      January 1st, 2017 - 5:10am

      In my collecting The Pertwee Years, I bought some in box sets (even if they contained stories from other Doctor Who actors), this way I am saving. I’ll just write a master list of what is in each boxset and when I’m following the correct run order of the show, I will know what boxset to pick up. Would prefer the Pertwee era in one of two giant boxsets (rather than single DVDs), less costly, too. In the end, I’m just happy to have these released.

      Will the DVD releases look okay on my 2012 65″Panasonic Vera HD TV set?

    • TheClassicsAreAce

      January 1st, 2017 - 11:19am

      @Digital_Archivist They probably would look good, however if your Blu-Ray player stretches 4:3 DVDs then you should change the aspect ratio on your TV when watching.

  • mark

    December 27th, 2016 - 10:38am

    Combine with Big Finish and film the audio adventures, some issues around actors ages, but I guess stand ins could be used

    Reply
    • The Outcast

      December 27th, 2016 - 11:17am

      I’d rather they make new stories rather than film preexisting ones.

  • Mark pratt

    October 8th, 2016 - 12:14am

    Animate the lost episodes

    Reply
  • James Gibson

    September 6th, 2016 - 10:58am

    DEFFINATLY not colourised episodes as part of the overall draw/charm of the older episodes is the fact that they are and always were black and white….but I really hope they decide to animate some of the missing stories especially the missing Patrick troughton dalek stories…

    Reply
  • Benjamin John

    September 5th, 2016 - 7:16pm

    Hi there What know to want is next classic DoctorWho
    The last DoctorWho dvd was the underwater menace starting second Patrick troughton

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      September 5th, 2016 - 7:58pm

      DVDs are done unless more episodes are recovered or the BBC orders animations for TV broadcast.

  • Mark pratt

    September 1st, 2016 - 12:28pm

    Ive just started to collect the classic dr who dvds im saddened that many harnell and troughton are missing probably lost forever because the bbc had a clear out the fools they should redeem themselves and animate them or find actors n actresses that look like the casts at that time and remake them in black and white of course

    Reply
    • booboo

      September 1st, 2016 - 12:36pm

      hindsight is wonderful thing, at the time there was no good reason to keep them.

      Re-doing them with different actors would be cost prohibitive and besides, people want to see / hear the originals not substitutes

      Animation / or recovery is the only way forward and we will have to wait and see if there is any future in that

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