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June 7th, 2013 109 comments

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Doctor Who: Spearhead From Space Blu-ray

Doctor Who: Spearhead From Space Blu-ray

Exile! The Time Lords have banished the newly regenerated Doctor to Earth.

But The Doctor isn’t the only alien to have arrived, as a swarm of meteorites have crashed into the sleepy English countryside, bringing with them a terrible new threat to mankind.

As the Nestene plan takes shape, UNIT, the Doctor and his newly appointed scientific advisor, Liz Shaw, race against time to stop humanity from being replaced by a terrifying plastic facsimile race.

With an Auton army on the rise, and no TARDIS to help him, could The Doctor’s latest incarnation be over before it has truly begun…?

dvd-spearhead-bluray

Contents…

  • Full HD remaster of 4×25 minute episodes.
  • A Dandy and a Clown – exclusive documentary looking at the life and career of Jon Pertwee, with contributions from actors Katy Manning, Judy Cornwell, David Jacobs, Geoffrey Bayldon and Kenneth Earle, Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrence Dicks, and long-time friend Stuart Money.
  • Carry On: the life of Caroline John – a tribute to the actress who played the Third Doctor’s companion Liz Shaw.
  • Title sequence raw material – raw, mute test and build-up material produced during creation of the Jon Pertwee title sequence.
  • Restoration comparison – This release was mastered in 2K from the original 16mm camera negatives and interpos prints for the best possible quality. This short feature compares the results against previous versions and looks at some of the problems encountered during the remastering.
  • Programme subtitles.
  • Digitally remastered picture and sound quality.
  • Coming Soon trailer (in Standard Definition).
  • Reversible cover, with the artwork in the standard Doctor Who DVD template on the reverse.

Categorised under: Blu-ray, DVD

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109 comments

  • RORY DOCTOR RIVER POND

    September 4th, 2013 - 1:29pm

    rented this off lovefilm the other week. didn’t think it was as good as the other classics, but i liked the way they presented pertwee and i did like the character of liz

    Reply
  • Sammi Carter

    July 15th, 2013 - 12:59pm

    What’s the coming soon trailer on the Blu ray release?

    Reply
    • celestial toymaker

      July 15th, 2013 - 2:20pm

      the green death se

    • Sammi Carter

      July 16th, 2013 - 10:27am

      I been looking for the DVD trailer everywhere and it’s not showing up

  • seanwray1

    July 11th, 2013 - 10:41am

    Got an email today to say mines been dispatched so should be here tomorrow 🙂

    Reply
    • Some bloke

      July 12th, 2013 - 2:23pm

      same, but mine hasn’t arrived today. Fingers crossed for tomorrow 🙂

    • Some bloke

      July 13th, 2013 - 12:43pm

      UH! Bring on MONDAY!

  • KRYNOIDY

    June 10th, 2013 - 1:55pm

    Does it come with the bonus features originally on the special edition DVD?

    Reply
    • celestial toymaker

      June 10th, 2013 - 5:33pm

      No

    • KRYNOIDY

      June 13th, 2013 - 12:49pm

      That’s strange

    • celestial toymaker

      June 14th, 2013 - 7:03pm

      I know to put completely different ones on is strange

    • CelestialAgent

      June 21st, 2013 - 10:55am

      No, it’s capitalism.

    • 50th doctor who

      June 21st, 2013 - 1:31pm

      whats that mean?

    • drjakeyoung

      June 21st, 2013 - 1:34pm

      Everything needs to make a profit. basically everything is about making money.

  • Douglas Fir

    June 8th, 2013 - 12:54pm

    What’s the image in the thumbnail at the top of the story? Possible slipcase?

    Reply
    • booboo

      June 11th, 2013 - 9:38am

      no its just a holding image

  • videogamemad00

    June 7th, 2013 - 4:36pm

    Is the reversable the same cover art?

    Reply
    • MasterKasterborous

      June 7th, 2013 - 4:54pm

      I’m not sure if the cover is reversable as it is not part of the DVD range.

    • booboo

      June 7th, 2013 - 4:55pm

      yes its reversible

    • MasterKasterborous

      June 7th, 2013 - 7:20pm

      Oh, sorry I missed that part of the description.

  • Mister

    June 7th, 2013 - 4:16pm

    It looks good for the first ever Who episode in colour!

    Reply
  • Doctor Rules

    June 7th, 2013 - 4:04pm

    of all doctor who to pick, why ahs this one been chsoen to be on blu ray?

    Reply
    • videogamemad00

      June 7th, 2013 - 4:14pm

      It is the only classic that can be on blu-ray.

    • The Monitor

      June 7th, 2013 - 8:42pm

      Even if all were available to be released, it is still a very good choice. Spearhead was the 8th story to be released on video after:

      1) Revenge [twice]
      2) Brain
      3) Pyramids [twice]
      4) Seeds/Death [twice]
      5) Five
      6) Robots
      7) Day
      8) Death/Daleks

      More relevant to most of you it was 3rd to be released on DVD after

      1) Five
      2) Robots

      So the comment “of all Doctor Who to pick”, it could have been the first anyway. It is an extremely good Doctor Who story.

    • josh smith

      June 19th, 2013 - 5:27pm

      its my lest fav dr who episode of jon pertwee era

  • drjakeyoung

    June 7th, 2013 - 2:39pm

    I love everything about that cover! The only thing bugging me though is the fact that it doesn’t say “the Jon Pertwee years” on the front cover, like the Australian version.

    Reply
  • Some bloke

    June 7th, 2013 - 9:29am

    I LOVE THAT COVER! IT’S GORGEOUS!

    Reply
  • Vortexsurfer

    June 7th, 2013 - 9:19am

    To clear things up, this is one of only TWO classic stories that was shot entirely on film and so would benefit from blu-ray release. The other is the TV Movie, but that does not currently exist as a HD master so it would have to be reassembled from the original rushes (if they still exist) much the same way as Star Trek Next Generation. I doubt the BBC would take the trouble.

    Reply
    • bryan simcott

      June 7th, 2013 - 9:31am

      Just to add to the excellent explanation from VORTEXSURFER. THE BBC dont own or even have the Film material for the TV MOVIE. UNIVERSAL have them and bar the Doctor all the elements and characters from the TVM are owned by UNIVERSAL*. If you want a blu ray or an extended edit or a better quality version then direct your Letters and Emalis to UNIVERSAL TV AS its not up to the BBC on this one

      PS: thats whay Big Finish can not sue Chang les or Grace of the TVM version of the Master.

    • drjakeyoung

      June 7th, 2013 - 10:58am

      oh, i think there are 4 classic story’s that can have this done. You just named 2 and the other 2 are the 60s dalek movies.

    • Shane

      June 7th, 2013 - 2:35pm

      Re: drjakeyoung: Those movies have also been released on Bluray this year but are not part of Doctor Who Canon. they are based on the original Doctor Who but are Dr Who rather than Doctor Who and The character of The Doctor (Dr Who in the movies) is a human inventor not a timelord.

    • drjakeyoung

      June 7th, 2013 - 2:51pm

      although it’s not cannon, like scream of the shalka i still consider it part of classic Dr who.

    • celestial toymaker

      June 7th, 2013 - 3:44pm

      scream of the shalka could also be considered for blu ray

    • MasterKasterborous

      June 7th, 2013 - 4:57pm

      I’m not sure if it could as the frame per second rate is pretty low and it isn’t the highest quality.

    • Anonymous

      June 7th, 2013 - 11:07pm

      Actually on the above comment, the BBC has recovered most of the rights for The Movie again. The various characters associated with it have been featured in the likes of the DWM comics. This was really a problem at one point, but isn’t so much these days. Most of the rights are back now, although they don’t have the film footage.

  • Skaro

    June 4th, 2013 - 9:02pm

    I wonder what the second classic blu ray will be

    Reply
    • The Greater Intelligence

      June 4th, 2013 - 9:14pm

      None, this one was the only story to be completely on film, so it is the only story that would work.

    • Skaro

      June 5th, 2013 - 8:00am

      No they will make second one because it’s a new player and everyone will be selling DVD players

    • josh smith

      June 5th, 2013 - 5:36pm

      most people don’t have blue-ray players. DVD are percelty fine.

    • booboo

      June 5th, 2013 - 5:38pm

      and Bluray players still play DVD;s

      Unlike DVD’ players playing VHS Tapes

    • The Monitor

      June 6th, 2013 - 9:03pm

      We were conned with some of the early DVDs, whereby the VHS masters where used for DVD, so you gained nothing except saving half the space. It was infuriating getting DVDs with two episodes on with the same tape marks on as the VHS. Most of you would not have been born to endure these issues.

      If anything else comes out on Blu-Ray, it’d be DVD quality re-releases which I cannot see the BBC doing or many people buying as there is no net gain. A blu-ray play upscales DVD anyway, so having a blu-ray version achieves nothing. Spearhead is it!!!

    • drjakeyoung

      June 6th, 2013 - 9:08pm

      the 2 60s dalek movies can and have been released in true blu-ray. Another possibility is the 96 movie, as theoretically that can be turned into blu-ray. And the same with SJA series 3 and dreamland, they can all be released on true blu-ray but have not as of yet.

    • The Monitor

      June 7th, 2013 - 6:44am

      Nope, not true Blu-Ray. Spearhead was filmed on 16mm like films are. No other classic Who story was. It was filmed on videotape of which the number of lines (and therefore the effective no of pixels) are limited.

      Unless it was filmed on 16mm film rather than videotape it will not benefit by going to Blu-Ray.

    • drjakeyoung

      June 7th, 2013 - 8:57am

      but the movie was. And if you consider the classic series 1963-89 then the 96 movie isn’t part of that.

    • drjakeyoung

      June 7th, 2013 - 9:14am

      here is the following list of dr who episodes that can be released in proper HD but have not as of yet:

      The movie (1996)
      SJA series 3 (2009)
      dreamland (2009)

    • The Monitor

      June 7th, 2013 - 5:04pm

      I had not considered “The Movie”. It was filmed on 35mm film so should also be a contender for Blu-Ray. It certainly needs it because the normal and SE versions do not look good on a 40in screen, whereas Spearhead does.

      It is ironic that Spearhead was filmed on 16mm because of the cost, when you think that season 6’s declining ratings were because of b&w, which was so much cheaper than colour.

      So not only was SfS colour, but on film. We are so lucky…Just wished it had been all of season 7-my favourite.

    • Skaro

      June 7th, 2013 - 11:08pm

      If they could release anything what would you want?

    • Anonymous

      June 7th, 2013 - 11:09pm

      It was because of a strike, they had to go on location for everything and so used film for everything.

  • Nicholas

    June 4th, 2013 - 7:04pm

    This cover is better than the one current UK one. Will be ordering this in a few days

    Reply
    • josh smith

      June 4th, 2013 - 7:36pm

      i like the UK one better. Its nice and simple

  • Cyberking281

    June 4th, 2013 - 5:40pm

    Nice cover, but its a shame i cant get this because i havent got a blue ray player

    Reply
  • Imaginethatnodoor

    June 4th, 2013 - 5:21pm

    Not sure whether you’ve sern booboo. But they’ve released the cover for the green death se

    Reply
    • booboo

      June 4th, 2013 - 5:23pm

      yes i put it on the site a few days ago

  • videogamemad00

    June 3rd, 2013 - 5:53pm

    Will this be on the DVD list or do you just want DVDs on there?

    Reply
  • Fezmeister

    June 3rd, 2013 - 4:40pm

    I really like this cover and it’s great to see a Classic episode on Blu-ray, though couldn’t they have placed “The JON PERTWEE Years 1970-74” somewhere other than the bottom-right corner? It’s barely noticeable and looks unnecessary.

    Reply
    • drjakeyoung

      June 3rd, 2013 - 5:07pm

      This is the Australian cover, i think it will be altered slightly for the UK version.

    • celestial toymaker

      June 3rd, 2013 - 6:16pm

      dont say that. it looks amazing

    • videogamemad00

      June 3rd, 2013 - 6:41pm

      It will probably be the same cover art but arranged slightly differently.

  • WFK DVD Collector 13

    May 20th, 2013 - 2:12pm

    My birthday wish list is The Ice Warriors, Spearhead From Space Blu-Ray and a Blu-Ray Player 🙂

    And just another question, how much better is the picture qulity on the Blu-Ray version, then on the special addition DVD Verson that came with Terror of the Autons ❓

    Reply
    • josh smith

      June 3rd, 2013 - 6:18pm

      dp you have A PS3? that has blue-ray

    • The Monitor

      June 3rd, 2013 - 6:57pm

      I watch VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray. When I watched SfS SE via a Blu-Ray player on a 42in screen I was on the edge of my seat the whole 100 minutes. It was simply awesome. It was, to me, better than any other classic release.

      I can only imagine that Blu-Ray on Blu-Ray will be even better, although hard to imagine how. My view is that I watch it too infrequently to notice the difference, but side by side, one would probably be able to tell depending on what detail was being compared.

    • WFK DVD Collector

      June 13th, 2013 - 6:56pm

      No I don’t own a ps3, I am getting just a Blu-ray player, nothing special 🙂

      Last week though I got Dr. Who and the Daleks & Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD though the post and watched them on a Dell that plays Blu rays, and it was the best qulity picture I’ve ever seen for to films made in 1965 and 1966 :mrgreen:

    • WFK DVD Collector 13

      June 13th, 2013 - 6:57pm

      Forgot to put 13 at the end of my user name on the last post 😳

  • matparks08

    April 30th, 2013 - 2:33pm

    a cover (of sorts) has appeared on Amazon for this. It still says it has to be confirmed, but I can’t imagine anyone’s gonna be too happy if it stays as it is!

    Reply
    • drjakeyoung

      April 30th, 2013 - 2:34pm

      saw it, it’s the same on all the other websites.

    • Skaro

      June 3rd, 2013 - 4:01pm

      Looks random on not very good on BBC shop seeing as it the first classic blu rag with a cover

    • booboo

      June 3rd, 2013 - 4:03pm

      but that’s not the cover, the cover is above

    • josh smith

      June 4th, 2013 - 7:36pm

      i really like the other cover

  • drjakeyoung

    April 25th, 2013 - 1:18pm

    Keep your copies of the spearhead special edition. Its extras aren’t being ported over to the blu ray version. I think its down to they want people that haven’t bought mannequin mania a reason to buy it. It would be a tough sell for those that buy the spearhead blu then want terror but have to buy a version of spearhead with less extras than the superior blu ray version. It’s not the first company that has done this with blu rays.
    I am usually the 1st to defend special editions and blu rays, but i have to admit, what is that all that about???!!! So basically we only get 3 extra’s? I have already pre ordered it from BBC shop and will not cancel it, but boy are they milking it with this release. This isn’t aimed at a hardcore fan as we already have a couple of copies of this, and this isn’t aimed at the casual fan or buyer as you can’t get terror of the autons without buying spearhead twice. Unless they decide to release terror separately or do a special edition i can’t see this release doing well at all.

    Reply
    • Lachie

      April 26th, 2013 - 9:56am

      maybe they couldn’t be bothered to use them as extras, i mean it’s not that bad is it? besides it is in HD 1080p for a doctor who classic story i would buy it anyway because of that, think about the exclusive to blu-ray extras on that release that aren’t on the special edition 🙂

    • Skaro

      June 3rd, 2013 - 4:02pm

      No they won ‘t buy this!

  • drjakeyoung

    April 23rd, 2013 - 8:45am

    do we have any idea for a price for this? Amazon are doing it for £13.99 (which is cheaper than there DVDs!) so will BBC shop be doing it for the same price?

    Reply
  • Gordon

    April 23rd, 2013 - 7:23am

    2 items cleared the bbfc yesterday. A Caroline john tribute at 29 minutes and a restoration feature at 24 minutes. Still got the Jon pertwee tribute still to come and that is about 42 minutes. So about 1 hour 40 of new features for the blu ray.

    Reply
    • drjakeyoung

      April 23rd, 2013 - 8:36am

      up for pre order on bbc shop yet?

    • booboo

      April 23rd, 2013 - 8:37am

      cant see it

    • drjakeyoung

      April 23rd, 2013 - 8:39am

      emailed them last week and they said they don’t know about this release and don’t know if this will ever be released by BBC shop. They could have just told me they don’t know whats happening!

    • Gordon

      April 23rd, 2013 - 9:55am

      I heard its going up at some point this week. The dvd enquiry line have a bit of a history of saying odd or wrong things. Saying proms was going on s6 box set which it didn’t and snowmen wasn’t going on s7 part 2 despite it is

    • booboo

      April 23rd, 2013 - 3:06pm

      up on the BBC shop now http://www.bbcshop.com/jon-pertwee/doctor-who-spearhead-from-space-special-edition-blu-ray/invt/bbcbd0230/

    • drjakeyoung

      April 23rd, 2013 - 3:12pm

      thanks booboo! just pre ordered it!

  • eddy

    April 21st, 2013 - 8:53pm

    they could do this with all the special edtion dvds, vistation, green death , etc…

    Reply
    • Gordon

      April 21st, 2013 - 8:59pm

      They can’t as they weren’t shot on film

    • eddy

      April 21st, 2013 - 9:00pm

      oh, ok just a thought, s there actually a differnce from this and the special edtion?

    • Gordon

      April 21st, 2013 - 9:08pm

      its in high definition plus it has 2 brand new documentaries

    • eddy

      April 21st, 2013 - 9:10pm

      im not a big fan on the extras and documentry’s really, just the epsiode

    • Jacob

      May 10th, 2013 - 12:55pm

      Yeah, but when Pyramids of Mars was released on the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures as a special feature on Blu-Ray. If they can do that, then how come they can’t release any other stories like Pyramids of Mars on blu-ray?

    • Shane

      May 10th, 2013 - 8:44pm

      The disc was a Blu-ray disc but Pyramids was a standard def video file. You can tell by the quality easily but on a PS3 you can see the bitrate is the usual DVD average of 8Mbs where 1080p would be around 20-35.

  • dr

    April 20th, 2013 - 11:23am

    booboo, could we have a page where everyone can say all the Dr who DVDs they have?

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    April 19th, 2013 - 6:17pm

    Not getting it because I bought both the original and special edittion and there is no way I will buy it a third time! Well … Unless I hear it is really really good on blu-ray

    Reply
    • The Greater Intelligence

      April 21st, 2013 - 8:45pm

      Same with me, I can understand Special Editions, we get better picture/sound quality and more bonus features, but this is just ridiculous. The BBC are just salivating over our wallets this time and can’t believe they’re actually doing this. We’re losing an entire month that could be another releases, and with losing April to ‘The Ice Warriors’ being pushed back and past August just ‘The Tenth Planet’, we’re getting the least amount of DVDs per year (since the beginning of the line) on the 50th anniversary. Way to go BBC.

    • Gordon

      April 22nd, 2013 - 7:34am

      I don’t really see how we are getting less classic release slots as 2012 we got 13 slots and this year we are getting 13 slots with moonbase possibly making it 14. That doesn’t include the regeneration box set (which may or may not be still be happening) and the monster collection.
      I don’t really see why people are getting angry about this. It’s the only classic story that can be shown in a high definition format due to it being shot on 16mm film and will benefit with it being on blu ray.

  • prof horner

    April 19th, 2013 - 11:29am

    Maybe they will release The Moonbase in a boxset with The Tenth planet?

    Reply
    • Some bloke

      April 19th, 2013 - 11:43am

      I doubt it! I don’t understand why people keep coming up with these ideas

    • Blake

      April 22nd, 2013 - 4:00am

      I don’t think they would but it would be a good idea having the first two cybermen stories in one boxset

    • Gordon

      April 22nd, 2013 - 7:40am

      A box set budget can’t sustain 3 animated eps. The budget for boxsets are higher than a single release but smaller than 2 separate releases. as the bbfc classified the moonbase and not as a box set title its certainly coming on its own.

    • josh smith

      June 3rd, 2013 - 6:20pm

      how about the invasion special edition and the moonbace in a boxset

  • drjakeyoung

    April 19th, 2013 - 8:32am

    booboo, the doctor who news site “the animation-enhanced DVD release of The Moonbase” does this confirm animation?

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      April 19th, 2013 - 5:04pm

      No, animation is confirmed when the news comes from BBC Worldwide, the restoration team or we see something from it.

      Everything else is speculation, although we’ve had a “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” about an animation already.

  • matparks08

    April 18th, 2013 - 2:08pm

    A coming soon trailer has been passed for this and The Moonbase.

    Reply
    • Some bloke

      April 18th, 2013 - 2:57pm

      given that,do we know a likely time for moonbase to be released?

    • Johnny

      April 18th, 2013 - 3:26pm

      No, no released date for “The Moonbase” has been confirmed.

      It’s not even been officially announced yet!

    • Some bloke

      April 18th, 2013 - 3:33pm

      I know there’s no official release date yet, but I was just wondering if anyone had any idea as to when they would expect a release. I don’t think it wont be until the first half of 2014

    • drjakeyoung

      April 18th, 2013 - 7:52pm

      late this year i should think

    • Some bloke

      April 18th, 2013 - 8:21pm

      i REALLY hope your right drjakeyoung

  • drjakeyoung

    April 18th, 2013 - 11:00am

    can i pre order this from BBC shop booboo?

    Reply
    • booboo

      April 18th, 2013 - 11:06am

      just seems to be on Amazon at the moment

  • bradllles

    April 18th, 2013 - 10:23am

    lol carnt wait for this hehehehe 🙂

    Reply

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