November 10th, 2020
1,806 comments
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Doctor Who The Collection Season 12
Available to order while stocks last from www.zoom.co.uk
The second edition of Doctor Who – The Collection: Season 12 will be released on 2nd March 2020.
Season 12 was first released as a limited edition on Blu-ray in February 2018, and is being re-released by BBC Studios to bring the total number of copies in line with other seasons in the classic collection.
Available to order while stocks last from www.amazon.co.uk (sold out)
Also available to order while stocks last from www.zoom.co.uk, and www.zavvi.com. (all sold out)
Please see below for a full summary – All content, extras and artwork will remain the same as the 1st edition.
Season 12 features five stories over 20 episodes, including The Ark in Space and Genesis of the Daleks. The Doctor is accompanied by Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) and was first broadcast on the BBC between December 1974 and May 1975.
BBC Studios have confirmed replacement discs will be included with this release.
Sold as Tom Baker Season One in the USA in std packaging and available to order from www.amazon.com #ad
Original Press Release:
BBC Worldwide has announced that Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 12 will be released on Blu-Ray on 2nd July 2018.
For fans of Doctor Who and collectors of Classic Who seasons, the Blu-Ray has limited edition packaging with artwork by Lee Binding and has been restored and up-scaled to HD by Peter Crocker and Mark Ayres. The new release also has a wealth of new bonus content.
Russell Minton, Executive Producer at BBC Worldwide says : “We are doing our very best at BBC Worldwide to restore and bring as many Classic Who titles out on Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, and this starts with being able to confirm one of my favourites, Tom Baker’s first season. We will also endeavour to include additional archive material and exciting newly-shot features where possible.”
Season 12, Tom Baker’s first as the Doctor, features five stories over 20 episodes, including The Ark in Space and Genesis of the Daleks. The Doctor is accompanied in this season by Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) and was first broadcast between December 1974 and May 1975.
The new Blu-Ray release includes existing bonus material from the original DVDs as well as the brand new features below:
TOM BAKER IN CONVERSATION
- A candid new one-hour interview with the Fourth Doctor.
BEHIND THE SOFA
- Classic clips from Season 12, viewed by Tom Baker, Philip Hinchcliffe,
- Louise Jameson, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Sadie Miller
NEW MAKING-OF DOCUMENTARIES
- For The Sontaran Experiment and Revenge Of The Cybermen
IMMERSIVE 5.1 SURROUND SOUND MIXES
- For The Ark In Space and Genesis Of The Daleks
OPTIONAL BRAND NEW UPDATED SPECIAL EFFECTS
- For Revenge Of The Cybermen
GENESIS OF THE DALEKS – OMNIBUS MOVIE VERSION
- Unseen since broadcast in 1975
THE TOM BAKER YEARS
- The 1991 VHS release, on disc for the first time
PRODUCTION ARCHIVE MATERIAL
- PDF files from the BBC Archives
Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 12 will be released on Blu-Ray from Monday 11th June 2018.
The American and Australian sets available from www.amazon.com #ad and www.amazon.com.au
You can see all DVD, Blu-ray and Steelbook releases in our Interactive collectors lists.
Click Here for The Classic Series List or Here for the New Series List.
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Phillip
March 17th, 2018 - 6:36pmThe U.S. and Canadian covers say season 1 instead of 12. I also hear rumor that Pertwee’s season 1 will be coming out as well. I kind of like the idea of each Doctor being numbered like this as It leaves collectors free to purchase only the Doctors they like without being stuck with odd random numbering on the spine…I plan to purchase all 26 seasons anyway but I like that they chose to compartmentalize:)
David
March 17th, 2018 - 6:29pmShame about the crappy packaging.
I absolutely detest digipacks and the like.
What’s wrong with a slimline 6 disc bluray case? Less likely to get damaged.
Mr DVD
March 13th, 2018 - 9:36pmGot Shada on both DVD (to go with DVD collection) and Blu-ray (steelbook) and it’s from that, that I would likely see only a minimal improvement of series 12 on Blu-ray. Not enough for me to purchase it again. The DVD’s are good enough and more than satisfactory. There just isn’t a vast improvement of Shada on Blu-ray. VHS to DVD feels like a bigger jump. DVD to Blu-ray looks and feels minimal. Which is why many are happy enough with DVD’s.
Gordon
March 14th, 2018 - 10:15amAll depends on which footage you looked at to compare. The outdoor film inserts are 16mm so that would definitely be better as it would be in hd. The studio stuff not so much however when I compared blu with the dvd on my 50” tv i found it’s less blurry more sharper brighter and the colours stand out a bit more on blu. The audio also seems clearer on my set up. There is enough of a difference there to say there is an improvement. Due to the technical advancements hd over sd it’s going to be closer to broadcast quality on blu than was possible on dvd even though dvd did get it close .Why settle for good when you can settle for the best? These are going to be the definitive versions of these releases. Not like they are able to get it in 4K so it will probably be the last time they can release these stories. There is plenty of people buying these. It wouldn’t have made number 1 on amazon best seller list otherwise.
Gordon
March 14th, 2018 - 11:15amAlso shada was restored in hd for the blu ray release and then downgraded to sd for its dvd release. The difference isn’t going to be that massive because of that. Robot sontaran genesis and revenge have never been restored in hd. Not so sure on ark as it was restored in 2012 and not sure if they were restoring in hd then downgrading to sd at that time period. I know web and enemy was but that was a year later
Mr DVD
March 14th, 2018 - 3:38pmThe bits done outside on film looked good. But as for the studio scenes in Shada, I couldn’t tell any difference. Therefore I think only ‘Robot’ and ‘The Sontaran Experiment’ (having a bulk of outside footage filmed), will look the best out of the five stories presented in this box set.
John Hoover
March 15th, 2018 - 8:30amThe Sontaran experiment was completely done on videotape strangely
If it was in film because the entire episode was filmed outside we would get a blu ray
I still don’t know the reason why it wasn’t done in film
Anonymous
March 13th, 2018 - 3:55pmHeard it’s six discs
Great
Everything on that episode on one disc and extras disc
Gordon
March 14th, 2018 - 10:33amThis is how I would do it
Disc 1: robot: Tom Baker conversation and original extras
Disc 2: ark in space: 5.1 mix, behind the sofa and original extras
Disc 3: the sontaran experiment: new making of and Tom Baker Years VHS plus original extras
Disc 4: genesis of the Daleks, 5.1 mix
Disc 5: genesis omnibus plus original extras
Disc 6: revenge of the Cybermen, 5.1 mix, optional cgi, new making of plus original extras
Type40
March 12th, 2018 - 12:56amI’m really looking forward to this – and, hopefully, the ones to follow.
Mr DVD
March 12th, 2018 - 8:38pmThey should have started these releases 3 or 4 years ago, as the DVD collection was winding to a close (of sorts). Blu-ray isn’t a new medium. The BBC should have begun preparing classic Doctor Who on Blu-ray 5 – 6 years ago. It’s a bit late starting now, especially if they want the majority of seasons out. What I mean by being a bit late, is that with the constant upgrade in technology and formats, Blu-ray probably won’t last as long as a popular medium such as DVD or even VHS.
Mr DVD
March 12th, 2018 - 8:43pmTypical BBC though. Too late joining the Blu-ray party, and too late to realise the future sales potential of classic TV, whilst they routinely destroyed it.
Gordon
March 13th, 2018 - 7:30amWhen dan hall left in 2013 there was nobody really in charge of the range to oversee it. That’s why when the animation fell through of underwater menace in 2014 it was essentially canceled till bbc worldwide figured out what to do with it. BBC worldwide also saw the future being the failure that was the bbc store. With the success of the Charles norton produced power and shada releases they appointed Russel Minton to oversee the classic releases. That’s why all of a sudden we are getting such things as the enemy se and s12 blu ray
Mr DVD
March 13th, 2018 - 9:18amThat shows that the BBC had no real plans once the DVD range was coming to a close, and seems a shame that Dan Hall wasn’t handing the baton over to someone else around 2013.
Gordon
March 14th, 2018 - 12:43amThere was nothing that they could have planned after underwater menace as every existing episode would be out there. there was no reason to appoint someone new at that point as the range was pretty much dead after underwater menace. Web and enemy was still rumoured and not even in the country when dan handed in his notice. They barely had the budget to do an hd spearhead at that point so a full season set of upscaled to hd footage would have been completely out of the question at that point in time. Crusade did fit the 2 ep animation limit but due to the severe number of characters needed to create the budget may have went over. Charles norton mentioned in an interview somewhere that doing 2 ep of crusade would be more difficult and time consuming that 6 of power due to the large animation count. There is no point appointing someone new to head a range when there was no new releases to be the head of at that time.
John Hoover
March 14th, 2018 - 9:12pmDidn’t know that
Mr DVD
March 11th, 2018 - 2:54pmWasn’t outdoor scenes from 1986 onwards done on videotape and not film? Wouldn’t this make the upgrade to Blu-ray hardly worth doing. As the results would be extremely minimal to DVD.
Gordon
March 11th, 2018 - 10:20pmNo compression on the blu ray format. Higher bit rate. an hd colour grade could brighten up darker shots ie some of ghost light to name 1 story. You would also get hd lossless audio. All make it worth doing for technical reasons. It’s not going to look massively better because a good chunk of McCoy was recorded with reused 1 inch tape and there is only so much you can do with that but it’s still worth doing for technical reasons.
THE ERGON
March 12th, 2018 - 12:23amGordon, I know this is slightly off topic and your obviously quite knowledgeable with regards to DVD and Blu-ray. I just would like to know if you have interest in any of the other collectible Merchandise or do you just prefer to comment on these releases? Just curious as to whether you collect for example any from the Harrop collection and the like.
Gordon
March 12th, 2018 - 6:51amI mainly collect dvd/blu rays but I also collect the complete collection book series but I’m so far behind on it I don’t pay that much attention to it. Used to collect big finish but I was spending nearly £100 a month some months I couldn’t keep up with it. I still buy the occasional thing when there is a sale or something takes my fancy. I also collect vinyl and the 2 record store releases do take my fancy but there are a few of my favourite bands also bringing out things I want so I have to prioritise with those
THE ERGON
March 12th, 2018 - 11:10amI just wondered as your avatar only popped up when there was a new release to DVD, blu-Ray or any news with regards to missing episodes. Harrop , Eaglemoss (Though quality is variable) and Big Finish occasionally, Mainly Tom Baker Releases and stuff assosciated with the new series. Also, Sad news Ken Dodd has died. Fare well Tollmaster, a thousand farewells.
Gordon
March 13th, 2018 - 7:13amI wouldn’t mind collecting some of the eaglemoss releases I just don’t have room for it.
Sad loss but at 90 he had a long life.
THE ERGON
March 13th, 2018 - 11:30amThose collections soon build up. I, m already halfway through my third cabinet. Its a shame you don,t have the space. The Harrop stuff are really good . Maybe time for a spring clean and clearout. I,m gonna have a purge myself soon. Prioritise and get shut of a few items,getting out of hand.
100,000 BC
March 10th, 2018 - 11:00pmNow only the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors don’t have their debuts on blu-ray.
100,000 BC
March 10th, 2018 - 11:07pmI tell a lie, An Unearthly Child was apparently on the American blu-ray of An Adventure in Space and Time. So just the three eighties Doctors.
the_4th_doc
March 11th, 2018 - 2:37amand tom baker actually made his blurry debut in Shada last year 🙂
the_4th_doc
March 11th, 2018 - 2:38am*blu-ray
Gordon
March 11th, 2018 - 8:30amHe’s referring to their debut story
the_4th_doc
March 11th, 2018 - 9:29amAh, I see. Interesting how almost purly by coincidence, it’s just the 80s Doctors left and 1-4 all got a blu-ray for wildly differing reasons. Unless it’s part of a season set, I can’t see many people rushing our to buy a Twin Dillema blu-ray!
100,000 BC
March 11th, 2018 - 1:11pmSorry, should have been clearer on that. And as you say, it’s *almost* by coincidence. Power was animated over other missing stories partly due to it being Troughton’s debut, the special-case nature of the movie which results in it being released on BR also links to the fact it’s a Doctor debut and AUC is clearly there because it’s the first ever story. This is also the first season box set because of its popularity, which is partly due to the newness of Tom Baker’s Doctor during season 12. It is interesting to note that all of the releases of broadcast stories from the classic era on blu-ray include Doctor debuts, *almost* by coincidence.
Phillip
March 11th, 2018 - 1:49pmThe seventh doctor complete collection is available on Blu-ray in germany… I believe it is region free.
Gordon
March 11th, 2018 - 1:55pmNo the seventh doctor German box set is just dvd. Shame the version of unearthly child on the adventures Blu ray presented in standard definition
Mr.Smith
March 10th, 2018 - 10:20pmI’d like to see, seasons 11, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 26 for blu-ray release.
J45ON96
March 10th, 2018 - 10:36pmWell, I wouldn’t say no to all of the above, and the rest!
Gordon
March 10th, 2018 - 10:40pmI would say 19 seeing as film inserts exist for:
Castrovalva
Visitation
Black Orchid
Earthshock
Timeflight
Phillip
March 10th, 2018 - 8:09pmSold!!!!, Totally purchasing this! Love the artwork, I want to hang it on a wall.
Gordon
March 10th, 2018 - 4:44pmHeard that it will be presented in 1080i50 pillarboxed. That is excellent news.
Gordon’s Alive!
March 10th, 2018 - 5:39pmYou really do have your hopes for this set don’t you. I sincerely hope you don’t expect too much.
J45ON96
March 10th, 2018 - 10:31pmNevermind hopes, the resolution scale/frame-rate has been confirmed by Peter Crocker on Twitter (of the Restoration Team) they recently did the work on Shada (which included videotape in its studio sequences, and that cleaned up rather nicely.
Where there’s life, there’s hope, and the Restoration Team have plenty of life!
Gordon
March 10th, 2018 - 11:47pmHe did a brilliant job on that. Was watching that this evening and had a look at both dvd and Blu ray to compare. Not a massive visual difference to the studio scenes but still enough to notice a difference. Looks sharper brighter less blurry and the colour stand out a bit more. The audio seems nicer on blu too
When The Doctor Was Me
March 9th, 2018 - 10:04pmI’m in 2 minds over this. I’m a fan of the show, but only since 2005. I have only seen a handful of classic episodes. Is this the right time to start? Or do i not bother?
Philip
March 9th, 2018 - 11:05pmThere are classic Who fans and New Who fans, fortunately I’m both, though my heart(s) will always be for the classic series. You can sample a few stories to see if you like older who, there are a few crap stories but many classics, and if you don’t bother I think as a ‘Who’ fan you will be doing yourself a disservice by not looking into the past…
Trevor Kirby
March 9th, 2018 - 11:27pmI think you should buy it,You’ll really enjoy them all. I can’t wait to watch “The Tom Baker Years” I have it on video,What a joy to watch.
T.A
March 10th, 2018 - 12:25amYes. This box set has one of the best doctor who stories ever in Genesis of the daleks.
K.B.O
March 10th, 2018 - 11:12amWhy not try a story from each doctor.
Ollie
March 10th, 2018 - 1:25pmApologies, but Doctor Who didn’t all of a sudden just begin in 2005!
As long as you can approach the stories with an open mind and embrace these stories from Tom Baker’s opening season for what they are, then trust me, you’ll love them! Tom Baker’s first three seasons as the Doctor are arguably the best of the entire ‘classic’ era. If you’re going to watch them with the words of the media in mind (e.g. “Oh, look at the wobbly sets!” “Oh, that’s clearly been put together with bacofoil and sellotape, hasn’t it?”) then save yourself 40quid and don’t bother!
But, at the end of the day, ‘Modern’ era stories such as ‘The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End’ and ‘The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar’ owe everything to Terry Nation’s scripting and characterisation of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks. It is a simply phenomenal Doctor Who story!
DoctorSong2016
March 10th, 2018 - 3:48pmUp until 2013 I was “just” a New Who fan. I had seen a handful of classic stories and enjoyed them, but I refused to actually go anywhere near anything outside of New Who unless it was physically there on the tv.
That changed around 2013, when I decided to take a leap of faith and try Classic Who for myself properly. I ordered Remembrance of the Daleks on dvd and then went through the rest of the Seventh Doctor era and beyond.
Fast forward to today, I now prefer Classic Who over New Who, my favourite Doctor is the Sixth Doctor, I’m a regular buyer of Big Finish Audios and I’ve just begun reading the Virgin New Adventures.
The point I’m trying to make here, is that it may seem daunting or it may see like because Classic Who is old, it won’t hold up the same to New Who, but you’ll never know unless you give it a chance. I would say that Classic Who is actually infinitely better, but only you can decide that for yourself. I’ve learnt over the past few years that there’s so much more to the Doctor Who universe than everything from 2005 onwards, it’s really just the tip of the ice berg and you’re quite possibly cheating yourself out of a lot by not trying it out to see if it’s to your taste.
Anonymous
March 11th, 2018 - 4:34pmTotally! Tom Baker is the best Doctor, and season 12 is a great place to start, as it is his first season.
100,000 BC
March 11th, 2018 - 6:37pmDespite having been born within this millennium, some of my fondest memories are of watching grainy VHS copies of classic Who stories on an ancient TV in my granny’s house. To echo everybody else’s comments, so long as you allow yourself to engage with the stories rather than being cynical about the production values you should love it! Many popular modern sitcoms are filmed in small studios with sets that wobble a bit from time to time, so don’t let that put you off!
I think a set like this is a perfect opportunity for new fans to jump on board with the classic era, particularly given how popular (and rightly so) this season is.
Omega
March 9th, 2018 - 8:14pmLooks like a good release, however the artwork needs to change, and cannot stay as it currently is (I know it says Not Final Artwork.) That awful new series PC-Who logo has no place on Classic-era Doctor Who. They should use the diamond logo which was used for the era, or simply keep the Classic logo which has been used on previous releases. Also, Clayton Hickman should be the one doing the artwork, not Lee Binding. Hickman’s cover art is a different class to Binding’s, and CH would do a much better job! Binding’s covers and images of the Doctors and/or companions always look too animated and cartoon-like in my opinion. And what is it now with Box Sets where they can’t print the actual text on covers (front and back) any more??? Why do we have these stupid bits of card wrapped around at the bottom and/or glued on pieces of paper on the back?!? Let’s also hope it is NOT a digibook, with the discs rammed in small card slits, as box sets packaged like this more often than not have scratched discs, and aren’t ideal for keeping discs mint.
John Hoover
March 10th, 2018 - 8:27amClayton is so much better than lee
The War Games is on of his bests
Lee’s artwork on The Unferwwter menace gives me head aches
Mr DVD
March 10th, 2018 - 12:48pmShould have had ‘Zaroff’ on the cover. ‘The Underwater Menace’ must rank as one of the worst Doctor Who stories ever, but it deserved a better cover, and ‘Zaroff’ although utterly mad and OTT, is one of the more watchable characters in the story.
J45ON96
March 10th, 2018 - 10:35pmI mean, do you guys want to do the covers instead? Lee and Clayton are marvellous at their work, and wonderful chaps, both of them.
Don’t browse Deviantart, whatever you do, you may explode from criticism overload.
Anonymous
March 11th, 2018 - 10:03amI honestly just prefer the artwork that Clayton made
Lee isn’t my style, I am sorry, I have my own opinion on the artwork
I am not lee binding or Clayton
Anonymous
March 9th, 2018 - 7:43amI hope they don’t use the new logo on any new DVDs as it will cause them to clash with the rest of the collection.
Gordon
March 9th, 2018 - 8:14amThey will keep the old logo as it is an existing range. They didn’t change the logo in 2005 or 2009 when the logo changed so they won’t now
Nuallain
March 9th, 2018 - 12:05pmThey’ve already changed the DVD range with the last few releases which get rid of the grey roundels. I’d imagine they may well do something similar to their solution to that. An outer sleeve with the 2018 logo on it, and an inner cover which is reversible so you can have the grey roundels/1996 logo matching with the others on your shelf.
Gordon
March 9th, 2018 - 2:53pmAnd that was reversible with the old roundel design
Doctor Mysterio
March 9th, 2018 - 5:16amThey are doing a similar thing with a restored and upgraded Red Dwarf series 1-8 on blu ray boxset.
Gordon
March 9th, 2018 - 7:34amI’ve already preordered. Doug naylor is involved. That’s a good sign. He originally cancelled blu ray sets because bbcworldwide didn’t have a higher enough budget for it the uprez wasn’t good enough and wasn’t going to have a colour grading which was a baffling decision but they then offered him a higher budget better uprezing and colour grading which Doug agreed. On twitter Doug naylor describes the up rezing as nice, the noise reduction as nice and colour grade as nice. Just plain nice period. He also said it would be 4:3 as that was how it was how it was shot.
The Caretaker
March 8th, 2018 - 8:21pmI will say something about what the announcement of this release has done…It’s making me want to re-watch my Season 12 DVD’s. It certainly is a good season. ‘Robot’ is okay, ‘The Ark in Space’ is classic, ‘The Sontaran Experiment’ is a little gem, ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ is one of the all time greats, and ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’ is underrated.
T.A
March 10th, 2018 - 12:28amI like all of those stories, Genesis being my favourite. my only nitpick is that the revenge of the cybermen voice sounds weird compared to before.
Andrew
March 8th, 2018 - 6:15pmThink the rumour is S10 & S19 to follow soon.
Would seem obvious choices….
Steve
March 8th, 2018 - 6:01pmWould be nice if this was released on DVD as well, not all have us have or want bluray.
GallifreyanKnight
March 9th, 2018 - 11:15pmBlu-ray players are fairly cheap these days.
Just saying…
DoctorFan
March 8th, 2018 - 2:52pmI will get this but I will keep robot as Tom signed it at 50th anniversary event!
The Caretaker
March 8th, 2018 - 3:16pmSo you’re getting rid of the rest? Right?
Jimmy
March 8th, 2018 - 1:00amI see they are using the horrible new logo.
GallifreyanKnight
March 8th, 2018 - 11:09amWhat’s wrong with it?
Colin
March 8th, 2018 - 11:32amI love the new logo 🙂
Doctor Stu
March 8th, 2018 - 12:51pmThe new logo in black actually works well across everything as opposed to the bright, chunkier logos that only worked well on each of their respective eras
Bicky
March 8th, 2018 - 1:02pmI think the new logo looks great on classic series episodes- it brings a certain modern sleekness to the old doctor stories which will hopefully introduce a brand new audience to Tom Baker’s Doctor. I think putting the old logo on things like this instantly dates something and makes it look like a complete re-release which this is not. The new logo is clean and modern- and i am an old school fan of 51.
Anonymous
March 8th, 2018 - 4:25pmAgreed, will really date the boxset when this logo becomes old.
Gordon
March 8th, 2018 - 12:29amCurrent dvd prices of s12 stories in amazon uk new:
Robot: £7
Ark in space se £7
Sontaran experiment £7
Genesis of the Daleks £5.99
Revenge of the Cybermen* £12.99
Total price £39.98
*in a twin pack with silver nemesis
http://www.zoom.co.uk
£33.29 after a further 10% off using the promo code SIGNUP10
The Caretaker
March 8th, 2018 - 2:54pmA lot though can be bought on Amazon or Ebay second hand and still in very good condition. Saves money and it’s how I bought many of mine.
Whovastron
March 8th, 2018 - 8:15pmWell this one is in a boxset and on blu ray so definitely a better deal
Gordon
March 9th, 2018 - 6:52am£33.29 for blu ray or £39.99 for dvd separately. I know which 1 I’d go for
The Caretaker
March 9th, 2018 - 12:17pmStandard Definition will not be greatly improved by being on Blu-Ray. So, if you can get the DVD’s second hand, you’re getting a better deal. I’m not continually going to be hood winked by BBC merchandising re-releasing the same stuff forever more on each next new format, and they think by adding a few new extra’s will tempt me, it’s not gonna happen. I’ve got the DVD’s, they will do for a considerable amount of time yet.
Gordon
March 9th, 2018 - 2:57pmBut most of those dvds are over 10 years old. Restoration techniques have improved. It will still look better on blu than the original dvds based on that alone
Mr DVD
March 9th, 2018 - 4:35pmThe jury’s still out on that one. Unless of course you’ve already seen it on Blu-Ray. If you’re expecting the same quality as ‘Spearhead from Space’ then you’re mistaken.
Mr DVD
March 9th, 2018 - 4:50pmPlus I refer to an earlier comment. I would understand if the DVD quality was poor, but it isn’t. I am yet to be convinced that there is anything more to be done to significantly improve original recordings. The main crux of this box set is to release season’s complete. It would be pointless doing a DVD box set, as they can be bought on DVD individually. So the BBC in their wisdom deem releasing a full season Box Set on Blu-Ray, a new way of re-releasing material, with new added extra’s and ultimately making more money out of it. The BBC are a business after all. I can’t help seeing Tom Baker looking back at me from the box, with a look of “are you seriously going to buy this…again!”
Gordon
March 9th, 2018 - 5:09pmI’m not. I know it’s not going to look as good as spearhead. But upscaling to hd can look good if done right it all depends on how much care and attention it gets. My copy’s of firefly and life on mars look great on blu obviously not as good as native hd but still better than the dvd. On the other hand upscaling can look like crap if handled badly. If you want a bad example the buffy hd remasters and the TV movie blu ray are an example of how not to upscale. The restoration team are involved in this release. That is a good sign that it will be handled well. They don’t do bad jobs. From their comments on the work they are doing for this release it’s extremely encouraging that it will look as good as technically possible
Anonymous
March 9th, 2018 - 8:17pm@The Caretaker, the BBC aren’t trying to hoodwink you, they’re just moving on with the times and releasing their content a much more modern format. Its also a much more accessible way of buying the show, in the whole season. I love how my dvd collection, but one say DVD’s are gonna be completely obsolete.
THE ERGON
March 9th, 2018 - 9:54pmyeah but until that day comes they serve just fine. they may not be upscaled to Blu-ray quality but were seeing the same images. Some VHS recordings of old ‘who’ worked better than DVD, (Yes Ghostlight i,m talking to you) but it didn,t stop the masses eventually warming to the DVD collection all the same. Blu-Ray isn,t exactly the format it once was anyway and soon enough will be obsolete as will 4K. This will appeal only for people who wish to upgrade to a now familiar format and a few extras.I hope its a success and apologise for the negativity but the packaging and overall content don,t appeal to me as it is.
SecretSecret
March 9th, 2018 - 10:32pmThere are a ton of unannounced extras still to come.
THE ERGON
March 10th, 2018 - 12:54amMight have also been a good idea to have included many of the best extras from the dvds including the optional (what few there were) special effects from ‘The ark in space’ amongst the new stuff if they could have fitted them in.
Gordon
March 10th, 2018 - 1:11amAlmost all of the original extras are included including the optional ark in space cgi. The only stuff that will be missing is stuff that doesn’t fit on a season 12 release. For example the doctor forever documentary on the ark se won’t be on it as it fits better on a potential season 26 release. The Northern Ireland footage on ark se would appear in a potential s15 release as that is when he visited there
Mr DVD
March 10th, 2018 - 12:57pmBlu-Ray has been around for ages now, it isn’t a new medium. Which is why I feel trying to create a collection of ‘classic’ Who on Blu-Ray is pointless. By the time all or most series are released the next format will be along, and Blu-Ray will be defunct. DVD has remained surprisingly strong alongside Blu-Ray, suggesting that many are happy enough with the quality they already get on the DVD.
scott
March 7th, 2018 - 11:44pmAs much as I love the DVD’s i’m glad there soing a collection set on blu-ray. I can make some more room on my shelfs
Kevin Bunker
March 7th, 2018 - 9:06pmNever thought the original series would get a major Blu ray release, nice to see but quite happy with having everything on DVD. 🙂
Kevin Bunker
March 8th, 2018 - 1:12pmActually I may change my mind having seen the extras on the Blu ray. lol 🙂
The Caretaker
March 8th, 2018 - 3:01pmI haven’t changed mine. Feels like I’d be wasting my money. I can’t buy everything with the Doctor Who logo. And overall, this feels like a small upgrade from DVD. Where as VHS to DVD was a huge upgrade and worth it.
platon29
March 8th, 2018 - 5:19pmYou wont see many major increase in quality like you did for Spearhead due to the way it was filmed. If we did see that improvement then I buy it immediately, honestly.
Gordon
March 8th, 2018 - 11:22pmI’d hardly call going from compressed dvd to uncompressed blu ray with much larger encoding a minor upgrade. I also wouldn’t call going from ac3 to hd lossless audio minor either. More to upscaling than just a visual improvement. Plus the restoration techniques have come leaps and bounds since the 8-13 years that the likes of genesis sontaran revenge and robot were originally restored. Even if it was just a slight difference between dvd and upscaled blu ray there would still be improvements over the original dvd due to the improvements in restoration techniques since the original releases
Mr DVD
March 9th, 2018 - 2:38pmIt’s still just minor improvement. The visuals, sound and extra’s are absolutely fine already on the DVDs. If they were poor in all areas then fair enough. But the episodes made in 1974/75 will still look like they were made back then. The leap from VHS to DVD was huge, DVD to Blu-Ray is a small leap in overall quality. If you only have a couple of these stories on DVD, then I understand buying this boxset. But I’m not going to continually spending hard earned money on buying the same stories on every next format possible. It becomes a bit of a joke.
Anonymous
March 9th, 2018 - 8:14pmThe jump from DVD to Blu Ray quality is actually bigger the the jump from VHS to DVD
Mr DVD
March 10th, 2018 - 5:46pmJudging the episodes themselves, there will be little improvement from DVD to Blu-Ray. I wasn’t impressed with the results from the series 1 blu-ray. The DVD version looked crisper. If the BBC can’t get that right, then there’s little chance of these classic episodes filmed on video looking amazing.
Gordon
March 10th, 2018 - 9:49pmSeries 1-4 blu rays are a botched mess at the wrong speed and should have been 50i.
Mr DVD
March 11th, 2018 - 9:42pmThat’s why there is little point buying the blu-ray steel books of series one onwards. I made that mistake, bought series one, watched half of ‘Rose’ and stopped watching as the quality was worse than the DVD! I subsequently gave my steel book to a friend.
Gordon
March 14th, 2018 - 10:39amThe situation with steelbooks as I understand is that people buy steelbooks mostly for the artwork and collectibility rather than the disc contents. Never been too bothered with them myself
Mr DVD
March 15th, 2018 - 12:34pmI wouldn’t want to buy a steelbook just for the case though. I would expect the Blu-ray’s inside to also be at the best possible upgrade.
Anonymous
March 7th, 2018 - 7:59pmDo you know if the DVDs wiLloyd remain in print?
Graham
March 7th, 2018 - 7:58pmI have pre-ordered this today and looking forward to getting this.
Hope this is the first of many releases in this format is know not for everyone but can’t wait.
Huffer1975
March 7th, 2018 - 7:20pmAre they doing every series like this or just a few? Does anyone know if they’ll do a standard edition?
bryan
March 7th, 2018 - 8:36pmHi Huffer1975. there is a BBC worldwide Statement on the Doctor who News Page (i wont link it seems rude) Maybe BooBoo can add it to the info up top.
This is the first of..well theres more it dose not say an amount, but they are trying very hard to upscale and do the very best, in this collectors range with new , Archive and Previous extras.
I am hoping some of the original Film inserts for 5th,6th,7th get a good scrub. with Silver Nemesis Extended version and that Difficult to clear Bonus feature. and Ghost Light, which might not be able to fix, but the better encodes will help a bit .
booboo
March 8th, 2018 - 7:46amI cant see any more on the Doctor Who news page than above?
Its the same press release
Gordon
March 8th, 2018 - 8:30amProbably this:
“We are doing our very best at BBC Worldwide to restore and bring as many Classic Who titles out on Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, and this starts with being able to confirm one of my favourites, Tom Baker’s first season. We will also endeavour to include additional archive material and exciting newly-shot features where possible.”
bryan
March 8th, 2018 - 2:04pmyes Gordon higlighted the paragraph. Sorry BooBoo, i must have skimmed it in the info above.
thanks for doing so gordon.
bryan
The Caretaker
March 8th, 2018 - 2:58pmI doubt every series will be done. Especially anything from the Hartnell or Troughton era’s. Plus with the Pertwee era being a mix of painstaking colour recovery, I very much doubt these episodes would lend themselves well to Blu-Ray.
Nuallain
March 9th, 2018 - 12:09pmThe plan is to do every series if they can, but it depends on sales as they go along so there’s no guarantee. They’ve said the second set isn’t yet commissioned but will happen if PRE-ORDERS on this one are good enough. The fact that they’re going by pre-orders rather than actual sales suggests they actually want to get on with these at a relatively brisk pace and don’t want to wait until June to decide if it’s worth continuing.
booboo
March 9th, 2018 - 12:17pmthey would probably even have an idea by now as the bulk of sales are placed within the first few days
my gut feeling is that this is done Ok
Mark Belsom
March 7th, 2018 - 7:14pmEven though I’ve got all the classic series on DVD I still pre-ordered this set today. Any idea what screen format the episode’s will be in ?
The Drums The Never Ending Drum Beat
March 7th, 2018 - 7:45pmProbably the normal one that these were broadcasted in
Gordon
March 7th, 2018 - 8:25pm4:3
G
March 7th, 2018 - 8:34pmI doubt the BBC would release these in 16:9.
Anonymous
March 7th, 2018 - 7:09pmWill get season 12 and if they release season 7 and 13 but wouldnt get them all
The Caretaker
March 7th, 2018 - 8:22pmI could only perhaps see Season 10 released on Blu-ray from the Pertwee era, as nearly all the episodes are in original PAL format. Most of the other seasons are a mis-match of contrasting colour recovery. I can’t see how these can be improved at all, than their current status.
Huffer1975
March 8th, 2018 - 1:17pmI hope that they can do something for each doctor.
Maxkenn
March 7th, 2018 - 7:08pmI think it looks really good. I just hope they doesn’t go sold out as fast.
John Hoover
March 7th, 2018 - 6:55pmThat logo shouldn’t be there
How on the steelbooks is it the classic logo but here no! (it is not final artwork) but that rarely changes
Also how long will these take to get released, I would prefer doctors sets
(2 for Baker), But I gotta buy
booboo
March 7th, 2018 - 6:58pmthats the new logo for all new ranges from now on, and this is a new range
John Hoover
March 7th, 2018 - 7:12pmWait so What about the new steelbooks after Three
booboo
March 7th, 2018 - 7:14pmthat’s an existing range i assume
Gordon
March 7th, 2018 - 7:40pmThe logo is on the removable cardboard is textless underneath I’m led to believe
The Drums The Never Ending Drum Beat
March 7th, 2018 - 7:46pmIt on the side that’s the Steelbook
the_4th_doc
March 7th, 2018 - 9:24pmYes, but what about the spine? The spine is probbly what most people will be displaying, and that also has the new logo
DoctorSong2016
March 7th, 2018 - 9:26pmThe logo is on the spine though. The removable card is pretty much like the one on the Steelbooks, with the Boxset being a mediabook that slips inside the card, but you can see the point where the card cuts off, so the spine definitely has the logo, however I agree that it’s probably textless on the front.
Nuallain
March 9th, 2018 - 12:12pmThe plan is to keep all ranges consistent. So releases of Steelbooks for S3-7 will keep the 1996 logo so that they’re all consistent on the shelf. And The Collection sets will all use the 2018 logo, and continue to do so even if a new logo is introduced on TV a few years down the line.
John Hoover
March 7th, 2018 - 6:49pmThis raises too many questions
How many are they they going to make
How long will it take
Why not do doctors box sets
Upscales, (like the TV movies which looks no different from the dvd)
Honestly, I would rather have doctors sets (2 for Baker) than this
But I gotta buy
Gordon
March 7th, 2018 - 7:48pmThey will make more as long as there is a demand.
No idea. Maybe 8-9 years
No doctors set as they have no idea how blu ray doctor who does. Doing a whole doctor would be too much of a risk.
The TV movie blu ray was not produced by the restoration team and therefore was cheaply done and was essentially crap. The restoration team have done brand new restorations and have done tons of work on it which should make it superior in every way to the tv movie