January 17th, 2024
811 comments
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Doctor Who The Collection Season 15 Limited Edition Packaging
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk, www.rarewaves.com, www.zavvi.com, www.hive.co.uk and various retailers on www.ebay.co.uk
Available to order as a standard edition from www.amazon.com #ad.
Tom Baker’s fourth season as the Fourth Doctor is the next release to come to Blu-ray when The Collection – Season 15 releases later this year.
Doctor Who fans can continue to build their own home archive on Blu-ray with a SEVEN DISC box set of the 15th Season from 1977, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. Containing six classic stories, this limited-edition set is packed with hours of new and exclusive material.
These stories feature Louise Jameson as the Doctor’s warrior companion Leela and the introduction of trusty robot dog K-9, building to an epic showdown on the Time Lords’ home planet Gallifrey with the Doctor pitted against his old adversaries the Sontarans.
- HORROR OF FANG ROCK
- THE INVISIBLE ENEMY
- IMAGE OF THE FENDAHL
- THE SUN MAKERS
- UNDERWORLD
- THE INVASION OF TIME
All episodes have been newly remastered from the best available sources – these classic adventures have never looked or sounded so good on home media.
The Collection: Season 15 Blu-ray box set also includes extensive Special Features including:
UPDATED SPECIAL EFFECTS
- Exclusive to Blu-ray, on Horror Of Fang Rock.
BEHIND THE SOFA
- New episodes with Louise Jameson (Leela), Colin Baker (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Betsan Roberts (wife of director Pennant Roberts) and comedian and presenter Toby Hadoke.
BLU-RAY TRAILER
- A brand-new scripted trailer to announce the Season 15 Boxset of Doctor Who.
DARKNESS AND LIGHT
- A look at the life and career of producer Graham Williams.
IN CONVERSATION
- Interviewer Matthew Sweet chats to Louise Jameson.
INSIDE THE LIGHTHOUSE
- Making Horror Of Fang Rock.
TOM TALKS
- Tom Baker muses on life, the universe and everything.
AUDIO COMMENTARIES
- Exclusive new Audio Commentaries from Tom Baker.
5.1 SURROUND SOUND MIX
- On Horror Of Fang Rock.
RARE CONVENTION FOOTAGE
TOM BAKER BLACKPOOL EXHIBITION LINKS
RARE ARCHIVE TREATS
HD PHOTO GALLERIES
INFO TEXT
PDF ARCHIVE
Plus lots more!
This seven-disc box set also includes hours of special features previously released on DVD including Documentaries, Updated Special Effects, Featurettes, Audio Commentaries and more.
Text and images with thanks to BBC Studios.
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Prof Horner
May 2nd, 2024 - 4:46pmWell no announcement today then. I suspect with the new series starting next week it may well be the end of this month at least before we hear anything. So Bobby is going to have to be a little bit patient for season 25 ,as I with season 6.
D84
May 2nd, 2024 - 5:37pmI was thinking the same “not today then”
Wonder if they will hold it back until after the new series has aired a couple of weeks?
Or maybe drop it next Thursday? Feels unlikely
Prof Horner
April 30th, 2024 - 11:54amI would be interested in what the BBC’S stance is regarding the use of AI in recreating lost stories. Has anyone asked them ?Do they regard it to be too primitive and more importantly too expensive right now? It certainly the way forward in my opinion and maybe in a few years time we may get say Daleks Masterplan done properly in AI.
Ian Levine’s AI recreations are watchable, but not as good as he seems to think they are.
Gordon
May 1st, 2024 - 9:44amWell mark ayres saw Ian’s work and told him it was no way releasable for dvd or blu ray in that state. Apparently also some sort of bbc employee deeply offended Ian by saying that it looked grotesque ghoulish and offensive and considering how bad some bits are I don’t 100 percent disagree. It’s probably the closest we are going to get on their stance
Think it’s a more complex answer than them having a stance. They don’t have the freedom Ian has. He can pretty much do whatever he wants and as it’s pretty much never getting an official release outside of YouTube. He doesn’t have to get the ok from various estates who may not want their loved ones work estimated by a computer software programme or follow any guidelines. They have certain rules regarding the usage of ai they have to follow and also have to take into account how likely are people going to buy them. Considering the backlash to late night with the devil having used ai imagery, pink Floyd picking an ai video as a winner in their dark side competition, Netflix using ai to alter a persons expression in marketing a true crime documentary and the bbc to using ai to help market their doctor who newsletters I can see quite a bit of pushback happening.
Personally I don’t think the market is ready to purchase ai recons. Sure Ian’s getting praised by his fans for these ai recons but they are free content. Put a price tag up and a lot of that praise will inevitably change.
Personally I do think there is room for these ai recons to exist on officially released dvd or blu rays however it should never replace animations or traditional recons which is what Ian wants and demands the bbc to do. They shouldn’t stop doing animations or more traditional recons they should be alongside those. Simply put mot everybody is on board with ai.
Rex F
May 1st, 2024 - 10:35amAt the moment it’s barely a step above Clutch Cargo (sorry, Ian), so I doubt the Beeb have even thought about it seriously. They’ll probably think about it when they see a decent, affordable proof of concept.
Gordon
May 1st, 2024 - 11:47amIt certainly wouldn’t be done In the same way Ian has done it ie rushed. would be done properly and given proper time and budget and started from scratch to get the best results
I’m Batman
April 29th, 2024 - 10:27amI may or may not have heard from a certain someone that the BFI event for a certain season may or may not be happening around August time.
Gordon
April 29th, 2024 - 10:57amI know the bfi are renovating nft 1 at the moment and that screen is closed till at least the end of May. Not sure when it’s reopening so that might actually be right. We might still get it announced soon. August is about 3 months away.
Jake E
April 28th, 2024 - 7:25pmDo we know how much studio footage Season 25 has?
Is it big like Season 24 or is it small amount?
Rex F
April 28th, 2024 - 7:42pmShould be similar to S24, unless stuff has disappeared recently.
Gordon
April 28th, 2024 - 7:55pmThere is a fair amount in private hands but I’m not sure if they can get access to it or not. For remembrance 1 of the studio sessions and 35 mm print of the model sequences exist in private hands. For happiness patrol the bbc have 13 x 1-inch studio recording and insert spools for Part One. For silver nemesis 7 hours of rushes exist in private hands. For greatest show 35mm film of the model sequences, and a VHS source for one of the ‘studio’ sessions, exist in private collections. There are extended 71 edits existing for every episode bar episode 4 of greatest show and also some 72 edits for episodes 1 and 3 of happiness patrol and episode 3 of silver nemesis. Speaking of s25 Sophie today said at a convention that she recently recorded behind the sofa
D84
April 28th, 2024 - 9:16pm“Recently recorded” – doesn’t sound like an announcement for it is imminent then?
Unless she’s muddled and it was “recent” as in last October?
Or for another Season?
Gordon
April 28th, 2024 - 10:38pmOh sorry I wasn’t clearer she said she had recorded a behind the sofa it was for silver nemesis she said she had done. Seeing as they normally record a whole season of behind the sofa in the same day I suspect she’s also done the rest of 25
As for season 25 having the same amount of studio content as 24 now I come to think of it I doubt it will be as much as that. Season 24 had 25 hours of studio and location footage and that was whittled down from 100 hours.
D84
April 29th, 2024 - 9:47amAh ok I gotcha Gordon thanks
Prof Horner
April 28th, 2024 - 11:59amJust watched Ian Levine’s aI of episode one of The Massacre. Well it is watchable and they seem to be getting better. But there is still along way to go. But with a proper budget, who knows what will be achieved.
Gordon
April 28th, 2024 - 1:34pmI do think it’s better in some ways. Though for me the lip syncing I don’t think is ever going to work when they have the same facial expression regardless of how happy angry sad etc they sound on audio. Plus the face morphing does take me out of it. It may work for others but not for me unfortunately. The editing is reign of terror levels of bad at the start of episode. there is couple of instances where there are about half a dozen shots in a couple of seconds. Really lacked focus.
Rob
April 28th, 2024 - 1:12amSpoke to James Goss today and asked him about the Invasion. He said he has the digital files for HD and the BBC/Russell Milton would need to contact him. So, I presume season 6 isn’t even on the radar yet if he’s not been contacted, unless the BBC use what they have.
Prof Horner
April 28th, 2024 - 12:05pmWell this is disappointing news. Did he say anything about if the rest of the season 6 had been up scaled to HD . If rest of the season had been done, how long would it take upscale The Invision? I still hope we will get it by the end of the year.If not season 7 would be a great substitute.
Gordon
April 28th, 2024 - 1:13pmWell if he does have the files in hd it shouldn’t need any sort of upscaling. Probably wouldn’t take that long to send over. Probably less than an hour.
Prof Horner
April 28th, 2024 - 1:24pmWell thanks for that Gordon, I think I misunderstood (not unusual for me unfortunately!) Rob’s post. Still hope for season 6 before the end of the year.
Bobby Fackrell
April 28th, 2024 - 3:31pmYou’ll still be all over 25 by the end of the year Prof, you won’t be able to get enough of the 600 hours of studio footage
Happiness will prevail
Rex F
April 28th, 2024 - 3:47pmIt wouldn’t be unusual for one group to not know what the other group had. Maybe someone who’s contacted Mr Minton before should let him know what’s out there, just to be safe.
Prof Horner
April 28th, 2024 - 9:06pmWhat are we going to bicker about when season 25 finally does come out Bobby my old chum ?
Rob
April 28th, 2024 - 9:48pmPlease don’t contact Russell Minton. He knows James, so will ask when ready I suppose. James has the original assets for the Invasion and it can be released in HD he said. He also has 1 minute test footage of Power of the Daleks 2/e commissioned.
Like D84, I too was at the event and asked a few questions about collection sets, but forth coming as people are not supposed to say and that’s fair enough. Releases will be a nice surprise when they happen.
I wish standard season 22 had been released by now and I could have got Fraser, Colin Spaull, Dean, Graeme Harper to sign it. It’s been over two years now, I think they will release May to June and maybe 25 for autum?
Gordon
April 26th, 2024 - 10:09amWell bit of an update on that Ian Levine “animated” version of the massacre that he was asking people for a minimum of £100. I use the term animation loosely as the images and character models were traced images from the loose cannon recons with ai. Well the animation company Hancock animations turned out to be a fraud. He gave them £6k and all he got from them was 3 minutes of footage and “a bunch of excuses”.
I do feel sympathy for him wasting all the money on a con but it wasn’t like he wasn’t warned that they weren’t trustworthy. Hancock animations was an obvious con. From a quick dig into them there was absolute no record of them existing anywhere prior to may 2023 (roughly when they approached Ian) despite claiming to have over 5 years experience and over 2500 projects to their name and no record of anybody working for them anywhere. There was 2 address neither matched any sort of animation studio (1 was coin evaluation the other was a place that teaches you how to be a fitness instructor). Images from the website was stolen from other places and the showreel on YouTube also contained footage stolen from other places. Trying to explain this to Ian however he chose to ignore them and rage at them calling them troublemakers trying to ruin things venomous cockroach’s and other obscenities. It’s not like people didn’t try and tell him.
As for those wondering about people getting refunds from him he ain’t doing them. He’s now doing the massacre in the same style ai recon as masterplan wheel savages and as he feels it’s something that is far superior and better to animation and doesn’t feel he needs to do refunds as something better is being given. However when told he’s breaking the 2008 trade descriptions act as he’s not giving out what was promised (an animation) he’s trying to weasel out of it saying ai is a form of animation
Jake E
April 26th, 2024 - 11:15amOh man what a mess!
Honestly why is anyone that desperate for an animation anyway? I like the animations but this is a bit ridiculous.
Ian got scammed and now technically he’s scamming his “fans” in return. Lovely. I hope there wasn’t too many people that gave him £100
James
April 26th, 2024 - 12:35pmWhile I agree the animations are OK. The ai versions look more authentic. But they are not at the level where by they are ready for commercial release. Maybe a few years down the line when tech has improved a bit more. It’s a shame Disney aren’t asked to step in. They have the budget. And could be similar to NewWho whereby they release on disney+ worldwide and the UK get to distribute physical copies. They did a excellent job with Rogue One bringing Peter Cushing back to the screen.
I got scammed when the Collection sets started. Found a website selling season 12. But was a fake company. Always to research first
Gordon
April 26th, 2024 - 2:53pmIan’s wanting them all done when he’s still alive and able to enjoy them. He’s also unhappy with inaccuracy of the official releases. That’s why he’s so desperate to get them done. These ai recons of masterplan etc are costing him 2k an episode. He’s planning on doing all remaining stories too. 49 missing episodes have been officially animated add on Ian’s mission that leaves 47 episodes. £94,000 he’s gonna need for that.
I think he had a good idea with getting people to chip in but the execution where it was £100 minimum was terrible. Asking £10 – £20 from people was a far more realistic amount but Ian as per usual ignored everyone else and thought he knew better.
Regardless of him being scammed on this animation the second he started proclaiming the ai recons as the future of doctor who dvd releases and treating ai as the fix to absolute everything I suspected it would never get finished. He’s said he’d go back to it if the demand was there but considering his fan group seem to lap up these ai recons he puts out regardless of quality I will be surprised if the demand is ever going to be there.
Personally I think they are very early days. Some are better than others but none of them are dvd or blu ray ready. Give another couple of years and I’m sure the results will be better. Such a shame he isn’t willing to wait but he himself thinks it’s good enough when it clearly isn’t. His worst in my opinion is the savages. There is a scene where Steven and dodo is having a conversation and both of them have a tardis behind them. Because of where they both are there it looks like there is 2 tardises. Add on the lip sync and facial likeness being all over the place it really doesn’t work in an official capacity.
Can’t even criticise it as he takes it as a form of trolling or a betrayal. Some said it was okish and he went ballistic and said these things weren’t made to be criticised and to keep their hateful bile to themselves and yet he is more than willing to slag off other works
A couple of the loose cannon lot are not happy with him using their work without permission or acknowledgement. One of the wheel animators had asked him not to use any of the animation as a newer version was being worked on and his response was to call them ungrateful etc after everything he’s done. He’s also fallen out with multiple members of the dvd team over it and even blocked Josh snares and called his animations naff and that a 2 year old drew it all because Josh shared a YouTube link to his savages recon. An act that Ian called theft as it was exclusively for his forum. However sharing a link is not theft especially as he doesn’t own the link.
Its a shame that all the good will he had from finding episodes seems to wasting away because he can’t handle anybody criticising any of his work.
As for Disney. Not gonna happen. The deal is for the 2023 show onwards. Nothing classic who related. Even if it was the budget would never be there to hire them. These animations are direct to dvd after all. The current budget would barely afford the x-men 97 team 3 minutes of animation. That’s how small the budget it is.
GA
April 26th, 2024 - 3:22pmSix grand of other people’s money, it wont be his money. He’s had thousands of pounds of fans money for his projects over the years, it’s about time the BBC told him to desist this nonsense. How can he moan about the BBC animations after this, it’s dreadful cack.
GA
April 26th, 2024 - 3:39pmWhy have the BBC stepped in at this point? He could be pocketing fans money for all we know. Creating a product based on BBC copyright material, I thought they would have slapped him with a notice by now.
Gordon
April 26th, 2024 - 4:45pmTo be fair to him he got the ball rolling he did donate 2k to get going. Considering he called the donation idea in hindsight a disaster I doubt he got many donations outside of one person he eventually fell out with who gave him nearly $1000. I don’t think the bbc mind as long as it’s not made for profit and considering how much it’s costing him I doubt he would be profiteering much . However they did tell him no when had plans to put it out on dvd for donators as they had the soundtrack copyright. I think blocking him willl only make him worse and gives him the chance to play the victim and say the bbc hate him and are jealous of his superior efforts etc. He thinks as he’s found those missing episodes he’s entitled to do what he wants
He has recently said he ain’t asking for donations any more due to the disaster of funding the massacre however if people offer he won’t turn it down so I don’t think he’s had much luck in getting donations.
Considering it’s gonna cost him £94,000 in total I do wonder if he’s gonna run out of money. I get he had a really well off and he’s had a pretty successful music career but he’s made some really dodgy financial decision’s over the years. Money doesn’t last forever regardless of how much you have
Nb7
April 26th, 2024 - 5:46pmOh dear! He’s going to end up in big trouble if he isn’t careful. The tardis itself is copyrighted so he can’t even show that in the animations if he’s selling them, which I’m assuming he will. I don’t get why he’s been doing it as surely he’ll be sued for using the doctor who name, use of the tardis, characters, script, music etc. Even if it’s a script owned by the bbc, written by an outside writer he’ll still be in bother. Look at the Unearthly child situation.
The only way he could do it is keep totally silent and charge people to see it from the one copy he owns, which sounds like something a private collector would do. Even then he’d have to charge a lot per viewing.
I don’t wanna knock the guy too much as he gets quite angry and I’m assuming he doesn’t come on here. To me he acts like everyone owes him a favour for finding some stories. He’s clearly burnt a lot of bridges.
Rex F
April 27th, 2024 - 2:08amIan Levine must be stopped! For his own sake…
It’s a shame he can’t just watch the recons and use his imagination, like most other people. However that’s his nature, he genuinely can’t.
But 2k an episode? For that? I’d assumed he’d had it done using free online software… Flippin’ ‘eck… One born every minute. (Got those eps back from Taiwan yet, Ian?)
And the goodwill he had started bleeding away the moment people discovered the internet. It’s not nice to see someone turn into a massive joke, but when they repeatedly don’t help themselves through simple learning then it’s also harder and harder to feel any sympathy.
It’s also been shown that he saved far less material than he claimed, but that’s another story (he’s not actually lying exactly, just quite ignorant of the facts).
If he had genuine friends, they’d stage an intervention.
Gordon
April 27th, 2024 - 10:32pmThe 2k an episode I suspect is to pay the people that are doing the work. He’s alegedly got a team of people working on each story. Still overpriced for what they are doing but I get it. I don’t think he’s actually doing much of the computer work. He doesn’t even do the upload he gets someone to upscale it and someone else to put it up on YouTube for him. All I think he does is supply the material/gives a link to the loose cannon recon to work off tell them what he wants from the shots and also signs them off it’s good or tells them to do it again if it’s not. I could be wrong I just get the impression he’s not as computer literate as he tries to appear as.
Ian pretty much surrounds himself with people who love everything he does these days and describes every project that as amazing and the best thing ever. He doesn’t want to hear anything negative and says if anybody saying anything bad about them are trolls etc and will be banned and cast aside. It’s his life’s dream to have a complete visual run on dvd and he’s pretty much driven to make it happen before he passes away no matter what the personal cost is. He’s burned a lot of bridges in the past year with some of his friends over the massacre animation and these recons for speaking against them. A few going back decades. His close friends that are not fans of it unfortunately know this and have to pretty much keep their mouth shut and go along with it.
Anon
April 28th, 2024 - 3:51pmHe has a bit of a nerve criticising other people’s work but then kicking off if his own work is criticised. Frankly I’m unimpressed by his ai recreations just leave the loose cannon stuff alone, it works for what it is (the wheel in space with CGI cybermen is great.) The animations are good and they have the reconstruction on them. Of course they aren’t accurate to the original episodes. But to do that would cost a fortune if it has to be commercially viable for a release. At my age I’m fully aware that I may not be around to see a fully animated range for the missing stories but I’d rather see the ones I can and miss out if they take too long than have a substandard, rushed release simply in order to finish the range with (going by what I’ve seen of Ian’s output) rather poor products.
Rex F
April 28th, 2024 - 3:59pmI suppose if it makes him happy… (Not that it always sounds like it does…)
I’m just glad I’m well away from it all!
D84
April 25th, 2024 - 10:20amDo we think we will see the next The Collection set announced today?
Eyes peeled for 3pm ??
daz
April 25th, 2024 - 11:42amI hope so as it is nice to have something pre-ordered. Fingers crossed.
Gordon
April 25th, 2024 - 11:44amProbably not considering it’s the premier today.
D84
April 25th, 2024 - 12:12pmPremier?
Of new series S14 ?
Gordon
April 25th, 2024 - 12:44pmYep. Today is the big press screening for it.
D84
April 25th, 2024 - 1:39pmAh fair enough
I have totally missed that then
Hmmm, yea I would agree then potentially not, unless they want to go for the double whilst the attention is on
Tom Williams
April 25th, 2024 - 2:48pmMy opinion I think it will be after season 22 standard comes out first or round it’s realse as it said apparently on a web June time and aswell when doctor who finished It would make sense more too fit in the next season for sept maybe again ?
ex15
April 25th, 2024 - 3:10pmRealistically I can’t see an announcement (assuming 2 releases, as per last year), till early July, with a September release (as per last year).
Now if it is S25 next, might be a bit earlier (as it’s a small easy release), with S6 to follow just after Xmas, that’s my thoughts.
D84
April 18th, 2024 - 2:23pmAny leaks or mentions of the next release coming out?
Any spoilers today?
D84
April 18th, 2024 - 4:22pmNot today then
Fingers crossed for next week
Nb7
April 19th, 2024 - 9:33amPersonally I can’t see an announcement till the summer sometime. Hopefully there is an announcement soon but going on past comments I.e peter Davison regarding season 20, the dates he mentioned I don’t think lined up. Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m sure season 20 we were told was due summer last year but the announcement was the end of summer for autumn release. Maybe that’s what he meant as I remember us all guessing and wandering what was happening. Not putting blame anywhere I wouldn’t do that , I just think these sets are never on a schedule it seems. Which is absolutely fine as I’d rather wait to have a perfect set. I don’t believe we’ll be getting three sets a year, I don’t think we’ve ever had three sets a year. It used to be three announcements a year and then delays .
Whatever’s released I’m happy with!
And another thing, this is a such a great forum! You’re all so nice and informative and I’ve not ever seen any nastiness! So nice to see.
Fingers crossed for an announcement soon…
daz
April 19th, 2024 - 12:28pmI still think we’ll get an announcement next week. Thursday 25th for Season 25 with a July release.
It could be Season 6 of course but I see us getting that later in the year.
Ncuti’s Season 1 will be taking centre stage in May and June.
D84
April 19th, 2024 - 1:15pmWe have had previous comments from people very close to the sources say that S25 is indeed “the next one” and that its due soon
Thurs 25th for announcement may prove correct
Tom Williams
April 19th, 2024 - 1:50pmI think the same that it could be possible too come out next week as the announcement as they always end up being realised round the summer and if season 6 is like we had with season 2 realised in December it would be a perfect fit
Jim
April 19th, 2024 - 7:41pmSeasons 6, 13, 16, 21, 25 are the last of the easy sets left to release.
Every other Season left, for various reasons will be very difficult to release; Seasons 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, Wilderness Years.
GA
April 20th, 2024 - 11:49amNext weekend I am at a two event with Sly and Sophie, might have to see if I can pump em for information
Jim
April 20th, 2024 - 12:27pm@GA If you’ve ever watched ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, then you’ll know exactly what ‘pumping them for information’ really means…
Gordon
April 17th, 2024 - 7:05pmWell Chris chapman has said he’s filming in phoenix arizona today. Some are saying it’s to do with filming something gunfighters related. I think it’s too obvious. More likely it’s someone who lives there or is connected to whoever or whatever the topic is
DanielM
April 18th, 2024 - 3:41amConsidering he’s filming a new Looking For… Documentary this Week. I’d say it’s for that. Perhaps Toby Hadoke is doing a Zoom Call with someone there and there’s also a very small film crew in Arizona filming the Person while they are chatting over Zoom. Similar to Matthew Robinson who was in Cambodia on the Season 22 Location Documentary and someone from Australia on Looking for David.
Tom Williams
April 13th, 2024 - 3:14pmSo happy I nearly got the whole collection back since 2020 now but so upset too see most off my sets from cex the tray has came off completely and been having too put pressure down on them too keep them in place better is it worth adding extra glue on them
Jim
April 14th, 2024 - 7:13pmThis is the exact predicament I was stuck in re. the limited edition range.
Lovely looking sets, lovely artwork and booklet – within one or two opening and shutting almost per case the disc tray backing glue just rips away from the rear interior material, destroying the artwork in the same four spots.
I must have some level of ocd, because each time these sets ended up looking damaged it just used to fill me with immediate dread.
As a fan that adores the Classic era, it pains me more to own busted limited edition sets with entire heavy disc trays falling out for £60 a pop, than it does to pick up a £20-£25 standard set in the Christmas sale without all the bells and whistles of the limiteds.
I wish it wasn’t the case, but it is what it is.
Mutant
April 13th, 2024 - 9:38amJust finished watching the Sun Makers – noticed a slight issue with the Trails and Continuity bonus feature, in that the intro text states ‘The Invisible Enemy’ with the dates for that series.
Jim
April 12th, 2024 - 10:34amI decided to play Disc 6 of the Season 17 Collection last night;
I happened to play “What’s on Wogan: Lalla Ward” – a “new” addition to the Blu Ray range.
How the # did Cyril Smith get on here, while Season 22 removed Jimmy Savile? (The Two Doctors dvd from 2003 even had a later revision to remove Savile).
The Limited Set released in 2021, Standard reissue in January this year – does the BBC think Cyril Smith’s one of the good guys or something?
Alarming to say the very least.
Gordon
April 12th, 2024 - 11:39amCan’t remember exactly as it’s been a while since I watched it but think it was a case that they cut out any dialogue he had. However as he’s in the middle of the screen It was impossible to cut him out completely without excluding the feature all together. The full version on YouTube is about 10 minutes and it was already cut down to 2 and a half minutes
Jim
April 12th, 2024 - 1:15pmSince Season 22 went through the trouble of putting a special edit in to remove Savile, requiring Colin Baker to record *new* dialogue, new rotoscoping and fx work required all for a few minutes extra – Season 17’s Cyril Smith removal would’ve been far, far easier to do.
Putting that aside – I just think it’s shocking that the people in charge of The Collection range thought “ah, we haven’t included this clip of Cyril Smith before, let’s do it”.
For me I completely found this out by pure accident – I’d dread to imagine any of Cyril Smith’s victims discovering this unintentionally.
The Time Lord 1944
April 13th, 2024 - 1:44amI was watching a repeat of Through the Keyhole a few months ago and David Steel was on. While he was talking to David Frost he referenced the parties he held at his house with Cyril Smith and Clement Freud. I don’t think we know the half of it.
Walrusremix
April 7th, 2024 - 10:13pmSeason 25 Collection to be announced “within the next couple of weeks”
Includes 2 hour Matthew Sweet interview with Ian Levine
Rex F
April 8th, 2024 - 6:40amRe. Mr Levine interview: You’re six and a half days too late. Unless it’s a secret plan to kill the range – or Matthew Sweet.
WhoR
April 8th, 2024 - 4:11pmInterview with IL you sure as he says he hates the BBC most times or comes across like that
Anon
April 8th, 2024 - 4:48pmBy all means interview him… but have a scrolling fact checker at the bottom of the screen!
Auton
April 8th, 2024 - 6:21pmWhile i’m sure an Ian Levine Interview would be interesting, why are they doing one? I’m more hopeful for a Andrew Cartmel Interview for Season 25
Craig F
April 8th, 2024 - 7:16pmSo where did you get your information from?
daz
April 9th, 2024 - 11:30amThere wont be an interview with Ian Levine.
But expecting 25 and 6 next.
Craig F
April 9th, 2024 - 6:19pmTotally agree Daz.
Gordon
April 10th, 2024 - 7:45amWell Mike tucker said at a convention this past weekend that the next collection set is due to be announced in the next couple of weeks so if it is 25 that is up next that is correct. As for Ian doing an interview I assume that is a joke as he wouldn’t be on 25 even if he had recorded one as he had already left as continuity advisor.
daz
April 10th, 2024 - 1:18pmThursday 25th April would be perfect day to announce Season 25.
Tom Williams
April 10th, 2024 - 4:04pmIf this one comes this month as the announcement it would fit in perfect with the sets I recent got/getting back season 24 and 26 🙂
Craig F
April 10th, 2024 - 8:51pmAn interview with Ian would be interesting & more appropriate on season 21.
The man did do a lot of good things for the programme in the 80’s some might say.
Perhaps a 30-40 minute feature might be more realistic.
Prof Horner
April 10th, 2024 - 10:25pmIf there is announcement this month then you would expect a release in either June or July. Which hopefully means three this year. 25 in July, with 6 in November or December perhaps ?I would be happy with that.
Bobby Fackrell
April 11th, 2024 - 7:35pmProf is getting very excited about 25 now
Happiness will prevail
MDS
April 12th, 2024 - 8:11amWith The Celestial Toymaker due on the 10th June according to my email from HMV, at the moment there is no release scheduled for May. could a season 25 box set be released towards the end of that month if there is an announcement in the next couple of weeks?
Gordon
April 12th, 2024 - 9:25amNot a chance. No way near a big enough pre order window
D84
April 13th, 2024 - 10:29amIf an announcement comes over the next couple of weeks for the next “Collection Limited Edition Set” the I would predict a release of July – Sept
These have seen a circa 2 month gap from announcement to release of late
daz
April 13th, 2024 - 1:45pmI think we’ll get the complete Season 1 of newNuWho at the beginning of July with Season 25 or 6 (going by the colours Lee Binding tweeted) at the end of July or August.
D84
April 13th, 2024 - 6:05pm@Daz various sources have said NuWho is not being worked on and given “The Collection” treatment – plus we got a re upscale box set of S1 – S4 +Specials last year.
I feel it’s unlikely, but would buy if it does come
Have we had new tweets from Lee around colours?
D84
April 13th, 2024 - 6:16pmAh yes I see the tweet with the colours on
To me – that could literally be anything, and we were surprised at the colour scheme chosen for S15 so I would say all predictions based on the colours aligning with a particular story are off
Roll on the next couple of Thursdays to see what happens
DPHill
April 13th, 2024 - 6:55pmI think the colours could really easily be anything with Lees fantastic work, the orange and grey for season 1, or any b&w series for silver and gold, the orange and gold work well for inferno and ambassadors for s7, also grey for death to the daleks, orange for dinos and time warrior and gold for metebelis 3? S11 could be! Could well be 13 but surely not straight after a another Tom?
Or what I hope is s25, gold for daleks and orange for their blasters, orange as a similar hue to sone bits in happiness patrol, gold again for segonax, and the unavoidable silver for silver anniversary and cybermen… either way it will be another treat!!
daz
April 13th, 2024 - 7:04pmD84. I was talking about Ncuti’s Complete Season 1 set. Similar to the 60th Specials I see that coming out very close to broadcast so it will be due in July.
I can see the next Classic collection following it a few weeks later.
D84
April 13th, 2024 - 9:08pmOh I see
Ridiculous they have re started the numbering again
It’s S14 and let’s leave it there
Although personally I would leave the re number the whole it with Doc 9’s only series becoming S27 and so on
It’s all canon afterall
D84
April 13th, 2024 - 10:21pmLet’s try that again ….
Although personally I would love them to re-number the whole thing with Doc 9’s only series (2005 S1) becoming S27 and so on to bring it all inline
It’s all canon afterall
daz
April 13th, 2024 - 10:48pmWe have Classic who (1963-1996), Modern Who (2005 to 2022) and Doctor Who (2023 onwards) according to the Iplayer.
I’d prefer Ncuti’s series to be Season One rather than Season 1 just to differ slightly from the Classic Season 1.
Less daunting for new viewers though when you think it is the first series and looks better on Disney+ as they don’t have anything pre2023.
But yes, it is all Doctor Who however you like to categorise it .
Lewis James
April 14th, 2024 - 8:08pmI think there is a good chance season 11 may well be the next colour season, as I think they may well go 11,25,16,21,13 & 7 to balance out the remaining colour releases & gaps between the remaining Tom & Jon, also I think 7 will be the last colour release due to the amount of colour restoration needed on silurians & ambassadors.
Gordon
April 14th, 2024 - 10:00pmWell Mike tucker did a convention last weekend. He’s working on things for two or three sets that aren’t out yet and throwing about ideas for others. There have been several discussions on how to go about Invasion of the Dinosaurs but he’s not keen on CGI, instead wanting to do puppets or stop motion. Several discussions on how to afford it he says! He also mentioned that he’s suggested that The Power of Kroll would be a good one for replacement effects. I think as they are only discussing dinos I don’t think season 11 is far enough on to be the next one.
Pablo Barracuda
May 1st, 2024 - 12:12pmWhich TB season is next? 13 or 16?
Pablo Barracuda
May 1st, 2024 - 12:18pmSorry meant to add if they are going to update the effects for Kroll are they going to update the effects for Zygons as well?.
Sutekh
April 4th, 2024 - 7:50pmFor those interested, Louise Jameson is selling signed Season 15 postcards from the BFI Event on her website. Ordered mine earlier in the week, hopefully arrives soon.
Jake E
March 29th, 2024 - 9:46pmBBC deficit projected to skyrocket to £500 Million next year.
Man I hope we can get all of the Collection sets before the BBC goes under
Rex F
March 30th, 2024 - 1:04pmIt won’t affect Studios, that’s profitable.
Jake E
March 29th, 2024 - 3:21pm2 Questions:
Is there anywhere where I can watch the extended edition of Dimensions in Time with the extra footage inserted in?
Also have we ever gotten a definitive answer to how much the Behind the Sofa cast watch of each story? I was watching Invasion of Time and the way they were speaking it was as if they watched all 6 episodes which we know they don’t. Do they only watch roughly the amount we see in the behind the sofas or do they watch let’s say 1hr per story and then they cut it down to 30mins for us?
Cheers for any replies 🙂
Jim
April 1st, 2024 - 6:17am@Jake E – In Type40’s recent Podcsst with Ian Levine, Ian briefly just so happens to mention that he acquired many 80’s, 90’s uncut / extended recordings, intended to be destroyed on the instructions of John Nathan Turner, that Ian intercepted through various contacts.
To my memory based on the length of that podcast – Ian does mention Dimensions in Time, and there’s a split second mention of “why hasn’t / will there be a Wilderness Boxset, will or why hasn’t Dimensions in Time yet received a home media release” (There’s plenty of articles on the web stating it to be a charity-contract-financial issue for the BBC and every single cast member from both Doctor Who and Eastenders that had taken part – similar to the current pain in the backside with An Unearthly Child – I think – wherby one single cast member can just say “nope”, or otherwise some, or all the cast might say “fine, but pay us” – or on legal grounds the first answer might be “no, because it was for charity, not profit”).
As I said below, I felt the Podcast panel were polite and patient with Ian with regards to each and every topic discussion – and several in depth references are recognised by the rest of the panel when Ian goes into an explanation – I just think the real meaty bit should’ve been an extra panellist with similar links to Doctor Who to Levine, that could at least have countered, or answered a number of these questions, and massive claims, by Ian Levine (such as Levine apparently owning extended Silver Nemesis and 18+ minutes of The Happiness Patrol).
Let’s be honest, @Gordon should’ve been in that podcast haha!
Gordon
April 1st, 2024 - 9:51amI did post this a few days ago but I don’t think it went through. Ian Levine has it (he made it). Outside of the shada curry nights he used to hold about a decade back he’s not made it available.
From speaking to someone who did get a chance to experience it is better and it does feel a lot more like doctor who but it’s also nothing particularly special and there are a few shots that are repeated and I also got the impression that the deleted scenes were vhs quality with timecodes burned on to the screen. Lasting impression being “You can’t polish a turd but you can shine it up a bit”
The biggest hurdle these days with a release of dimensions in time is sheer cost children in need want for it. 60k for 15 minutes of content.
Think it was Janet that said behind the sofa they get seen 45-50 minutes of it
George Agdgdgwngo
April 1st, 2024 - 11:44amI have a copy of Dimensions in Time with extra scenes inserted and it’s bloody awful. Cringeworthy stuff. If the original wasn’t bad enough then this is one hundred times worse.
Dan Hall asked Ed Stradling to look into Ian’s Shada and if it could be commercially released. For some it couldn’t be. Probably due to the nature of how it was made.
Jim
April 1st, 2024 - 12:52pm@George If only there were a way to somehow see this extended Dimensions in Time, purely for educational purposes of course
George Agdgdgwngo
April 1st, 2024 - 9:56pmJim, I would need to find the DVD and then using software extract the content to a mp4 file to upload to YouTube or daily motion. Not sure I have the time, or willing at the moment.
The extended contains what I would call outtakes inserted. For example there’s one of Tom where the take ends and Tom kind of trails off, but it’s left in. There’s a dreadful helicopter CGI scene with the brigadier and sixth Doctor. Sounds nothing like Nic Courtney.
Jim
April 1st, 2024 - 10:59pm@George – you have D.i.t on dvd? I take it the picture quality must be far better than anything else available online.
This is purely a suggestion not that I’m officially endorsing this practise in any such way but to educate myself and those around me – but one could try popping the disc into the disc drive, load up makemkv, let it to it’s job, then link via Google Drive or Mega – if the file size is too crazy high then Handbrake at the correct source frame rate and decent quality level would more than suffice.
No worries if you’re not able to do so at this moment, but it literally is *so* saught after online – both an extended cut, and a half decent image quality copy of the main feature in of itself. The YouTube uploads are like jacket potato quality.
Anon
April 2nd, 2024 - 12:50amI too have an extended version of dimensions and yes, I can confirm it’s awful! I prefer the original, and yes it’s not great too, but it is amusing in itself.
Mac
April 7th, 2024 - 12:00amWould love to see an extended Dimensions in Time. Just to compare.
Jim
April 7th, 2024 - 10:57pm@Mac agreed – there’s literally no way of seeing this full extended edition anywhere, let alone any half decent picture quality copy of the original main Dimensions in Time, except for the very blocky sub 480p Youtube and Dailymotion copies.
Until it’s made possible to see a good clear copy of the extended / full length Dimensions in Time, then I’ll outright refuse to agree with anyone claiming to either own it or have seen it, while talking it down as bad as if matter of fact. I don’t believe it’s fair to make such a statement about a Doctor Who ‘spinoff’ special in it’s entirety while everyone else is essentially blocked from being able to form that individual judgment for themselves.
Until then, there’s zero evidence that proves it’s actually bad whatsoever.
Rex F
April 8th, 2024 - 7:16amThe extended DIT is mostly the broadcast DIT, so the idea that it wouldn’t be bad… (And that’s before adding that it’s been created by one I Levine Esq.)
Anon
April 8th, 2024 - 12:03pmEbay
Anon
April 8th, 2024 - 12:06pmThe dvd version I have features the original version with noel Edmunds intros, the original with no intros and an extended version that features scenes from new who added in. The original is terrible but fun in itself. The extended version is just badly done.
Anon
April 8th, 2024 - 6:50pmI’ve just got Jim sangster’s target novelisation of Dimensions in time. Haven’t read it yet but it looks like fun!
Jim
March 28th, 2024 - 11:54pmI’ve just listened to Type 40’s Podcast with Ian Levine;
Some interesting info I wasn’t previously aware of:
According to Ian, he says he has further extended episode cuts of both ‘Silver Nemesis’ and ‘The Happiness Patrol’, the former of which included the VHS deleted scenes material with Ace’s portrait, the latter story of which he says he has at least an extra 18 minutes of. Ian says he offered all of this material to the DVD range, all of which were essentially rejected upon when those DVD projects took place.
Given everything that’s since happened with The Celestial Toymaker BFI, it’ll be interesting to see if this material makes it to the future Season 25 Collection set.
Gordon
March 29th, 2024 - 2:51amI suspect they have already have that stuff despite Ian’s claims of them rejecting it. Both stories have well over 20 minutes each on the dvd’s of deleted and extended scenes. The scene with ace’s portrait was definitely included on the dvd. I checked. so it most certainly will be on the blu ray. It could be yet another case of Ian’s memory being not 100 percent reliable as he thinks it is. That podcast really needed a counterbalance and someone to respond to his claims as the whole thing was very one sided and just constant agreement from the type 40 lot came off as very echo chamber but as Ian had zero desire for debate (“I can’t be bothered debating this ….”) it simply wouldn’t have happened.
Jim
March 29th, 2024 - 6:03amThe reason Ian’s claim here struck me was because I had this vague memory of there being some fuss about the Silver Nemesis VHS and DVD sets and something having not been included. This is the quote from the Tardis wiki page;
“While including some never before seen, it (Silver Nemesis DVD) nevertheless omits two scenes and several instances of cut dialogue, now only to be found in the previous VHS release.”
While the other three Podcast speakers were very well informed in regards to the specific material discussed by Levine, and a number of direct attempts to question Levine and offer alternative routes to Levine with his (Levine’s) projects, I agree in that I would’ve appreciated someone asking Levine for clarity on that extended footage, because clearly Silver Nemesis is, to pardon the pun, a grey area – and Levine’s stronger spoken emphasis on more never-before-seen material for The Happiness Patrol, I would’ve thought to be a massive claim to want to pick Levine up on and challenge.
Gordon
March 29th, 2024 - 11:04amAh I know what happened there. The dvd didn’t have enough space for all of the missing footage and didn’t have enough budget for an extra disc plus at the time the original mastertape of the vhs version had been lost. Since then they found the original mastertapes (mislabeled in a different section) just months after Pandastorm had to rebuild it for the German dvd release. It will almost certainly turn up on the blu ray release. I’m pretty certain however those extra scenes on happiness patrol when put together won’t run to 18 extra minutes. Some of those scenes might not work when inserted back in and quite a bit of it is extended scenes.
Ian’s claim about his own projects not being accepted really needed some representive from the bbc to explain why they weren’t accepted. His shada for instance wasn’t just rejected because of Paul jones being Tom. The Douglas adams estate was less than thrilled with him doing it without their consent. It also had cameos from daleks cybermen zygons and other creatures which would have need clearances from various estates. Due to Ian animating everything that was in the script the run time was way over what it would have been (nearly 170 minutes) and you compare that with the bbc version which was on season 17 it runs to pretty much 150 minutes as it’s 25-26 minutes each (ie broadcast run times). Also despite his claims that he’s willing to change things pretty much all of his projects have a take it or leave it as is policy with the bbc.
The whole podcast he came across as someone who lacked any sort of self awareness and someone who thinks he can do the releases better than the ones actually being paid to do it. Within 2 minutes Ian says people hate him for knowing too much, brings up mission to the unknown, namedrops Richard bignall, says he embarrasses the BBC, and claims that 90% of fans think he’s a hero.
He was complaining that Russell Minton doesn’t returns his emails. Well maybe don’t doxx his work address and tell people publically on Facebook and twitter that he’s doing a deliberately terrible job on the animations to get Gary Russell back. He also says that russell is too blinkered and narrow minded on the animated releases to listen yet anybody that talks negatively about his projects gets either ignored or shouted down. I saw a fair review of his masterplan ep 1 and his response was to “ Instead of looking for faults why not just enjoy it.”. An hour later he posts a review absolute trashing the toymaker animation.
Both mark ayres and ed straddling are absolutely correct in that masterplan is not good enough for release. Mark has said if they were to do something like this they would use the best possible materials as a starting point and this absolutely doesn’t do that. Ian talks about using ed to keep him at arms length but ed took to twitter and said “The suggestion that he and I could work together in some kind of utopian reconstruction commission is very sweet, but not terribly realistic, for all sorts of reasons.”
Also the claims that the bbc would release this in September and make 100’s of thousands of pounds off it is quite fanciful. Firstly he still has about 7 episodes to do. Any number of issues could come up that could delay it past September. He talks of a shot in episode 3 that had to get sent back 6 times as the software wasn’t giving good enough results and the whole thing would be useless if they couldn’t get it right. Got to wonder what will happen if a shot in a future episode isn’t fixable. That ai software can only do so much. Considering how much of a push back ai has gotten from doctor who and in general I doubt it would be as profitable as claimed. Just look at the angry reactions to when it was announced they would use ai to help market doctor who. They had to put out a statement backtracking on it. Also look at the film late night with the devil. There are 3 bits of ai art in the sets and there has been a massive backlash to it with claims of boycotting the film due to its usage of ai. Simply put I don’t feel people are at a point that they would comfortably purchase ai recons.
Rex F
March 29th, 2024 - 12:44pmI think they still have all the 1″ studio tapes for season 25, so Ian’s stuff is redundant and he’ll have to find another time to play the hero. As for the Nemesis DVD, I think there were space concerns (and a lack of enthusiasm?) so they only included the key deleted scenes, a la the first DVD of Varos.
Doctor Nowt
March 29th, 2024 - 2:08pmSomething else Ian’s been working on, not a bad watch actually, the zooms in and out are a bit jarring but other than that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgK_Z3Y3ABI
Jake E
March 29th, 2024 - 3:17pmYes, I noted this as well when I watched it last night. I really hope everything does get included in the Collection Blu-rays as I want them to be COMPLETE as I’m sure we all do. Hopefully nothing is omitted as that would be unfortunate to say the least.
MIKK89
March 29th, 2024 - 4:20pmdue to Pandastorm’s Limited Edition Complete 07th Doctor Collection (celebrating 30 years of Sylvester’s Doctor), which included the VHS version of Silver Nemesis on a seperate DVD anyway, I reckon that the Season 25 set could do that still, and follow Season 24’s format of each story having 2 discs each (1 with standard episodes, 1 with extended) it would be amazing – great to see a extended ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ if possible
Rex F
March 30th, 2024 - 1:13pmMy original reply seems lost in the ether, but the surviving studio tapes for S25 make Ian’s materials redundant. The deleted scenes package on Silver Nemesis was apparently done for space reasons, not a lack of materials, similar to the original Vengeance on Varos. There’s also a possibility of lack of enthusiasm for that particular release, as in, “here’s the key stuff, make do with it – we know you’ll be keeping your VHS anyway.”
Gordon
March 31st, 2024 - 11:47am@doctor nowt
Well it’s an improvement over episode 1 and it’s fine for what it is (free YouTube content) however a lot of the same issues as episode 1 prevail. Namely the constantly repeated shots and I’m still not believing what is being said matches the lip movements due to the lack of changing of expressions. The lip sync really doesnt work in places. Some of the faces just aren’t consistent. There must have been at least 5 or 6 variations of Hartnell’s face and at one point Adrienne hill looks more like a boy. It’s very much a proof of context rather than something that would put on a dvd or blu ray.
The idea that Ian has that this is read and is good enough for the bbc would sell this at full price main feature on a dvd/blu ray is still pretty fanciful as well as the idea that this would net the bbc 100’s of thousands of pounds of profit. Don’t get me wrong this has a lot of potential but the software is at a far too primitive of a state and the content used is far too low quality to get passed quality control for a dvd at present. Im struggling to see how this is costing 2k an episode.
If the bbc were to do something like this they would start from scratch using the best possible materials. Ian is using someone else’s work (a 20 plus year old loose cannon) as a starting point. They would reject it on the basis that he was using someone else’s work alone. Heck even derek handley doesn’t even use any of the loose cannon recons as a starting point and he actually worked on them. I get that it’s a fan project and that you would do it that way for a fan project but if Ian was wanting it to be used for an official release he should have went to the best possible materials from scratch.
Jim
April 1st, 2024 - 6:37am@Gordon – agreed with your take on the ai.
Corridor Digital on YouTube have made plenty of films and making ofs to best present the work and progress that goes into making ai more and more watchable – it’s something learned over time by both Humans and Machines (Which I think Levine accepts in the Type40 podcast in that he says he will likely keep going over and improving each uploaded part of DMP).
To get a smoother more consistent result you need a full reference of each character at all presented camera angles that your motion reference intends to move to, including facial expressions, mouth movements – if you don’t feed the ai those refs, it makes it’s own mind up frame by frame, often a new interpretation frame by frame, hence you sometimes get two ears of a character blended together, or a different eyebrow a few seconds into a close up of someone, etc.
Knowing this now, for me this best explains why Levine’s shot of The Doctor, Brett and Steven at the spaceship controls during the takeoff looks to me to be the best shot – because there’s actual surviving footage from that exact camera angle (the surviving footage from Blue Peter) the ai has plenty of refs for all of the above details. The motion softening, the slight haziness also sells the effect more.
The rest of the ai reconstructon though, while a fairly good blueprint, can do with far more references, far more image filtering to help make the shots look more like found-footage (I believe there’s an animator on Twitter that’s done a picture perfect job making a cg Tardis interior look as if it were in real Telesnaps; Harry Robbins is also another Vfx artist that’s also achieved similarly excellent results – so that’s where ai needs to go; it needs someone to give it much more image information).
Doctor Nowt
April 1st, 2024 - 10:48am@Gordon – yes totally agree with you, certainly not up to scratch for the Blu-ray collections or standalone release, I do prefer the animations over this.
It’s interesting to see where they are going with ai but again as you say a lot of repeat shots and not so good syncing. Will be interesting to see where we are with it all 12 months or two years from now, but promising to see people are still trying to improve on what we have and get the missing stories to the best place possible.
George Agdgdgwngo
April 1st, 2024 - 11:45amI thought Ian gave you everything to the Restoration Team years ago, so he has nothing new left.
Kenny
March 28th, 2024 - 8:51amI’ve never had any issues with any of the collection sets, so I suppose it’s just my turn! I’ve only watched discs 1,2&7 so far, but on Fang Rock episode 3, I’m getting random dots intermittently on the picture? Anyone else seeing this? Everything else so far watched is fine.
The Time Lord 1944
March 28th, 2024 - 12:54pmFurther down on this page Jim mentions this. Apparently they went back to the original tapes to remaster this and there were picture issues with the masters that they had to sort out but they stated that not all faults were able to be rectified. These spots are probably on the master.
Lee D
March 28th, 2024 - 9:22pmAs I mentioned in my comment below, if you change your tv settings, you will have to play around a bit, from standard, movie, or dynamic setting, the dots seem to disappear. As I said in previous comment, it seems to be to do partly with how technical tvs are today.
Lee D
April 5th, 2024 - 3:33pmI have noticed now that both season 12 and 19, all versions, the special collection sets and American, and standard sets, have very bad Macroblocking issues. Bad compression. Such a shame after all the hard work, the restoration team put into them. Lucky from season18 onwards, the box sets are fine, regarding the compression. The bbc won’t rerelease these again, especially as they did go back and change a couple of minor things on season 12. I’m glad I’ve got my original dvds too still. Shada blu ray has bad compression on the filmed parts and on the season 15 box, but the dvd version is fine.
George Agdgdgwngo
March 27th, 2024 - 11:38pmgossip is two animations per year and two collection sets a year
Jim
March 28th, 2024 - 12:44amWith the BBC as far as I’m aware they work on ‘production years’ and Season 15 and The Celestial Toymaker were the last of the previous production year.
If that rule still applies and this gossip is legit, then it’s possible that there would be a further 2x Collection sets and 2x Animations.
Something’s got to give moneywise now what with RTD again talking up the amount of money Doctor Who’s come into, and has clearly done outstandingly well on the latest Disney YouTube trailer.
G A
March 28th, 2024 - 1:52pmCould be 2 of each finance or calendar year. I was told season 25 next.
D84
March 28th, 2024 - 3:36pmS25 strongly rumoured as next within “The Collection” range
Animations – not sure what’s happening there. I think there was a mention of “more to come” at a BFI screening late last year for something or other – UWM possibly?
Still awaiting a release date for Toymaker – seems to have slipped a bit given the BFI event for that happened earlier this month.
Prowl1701
March 26th, 2024 - 11:27pmMine finally made it across the pond! Looking forward to some updated effects, behind the sofa, and the Williams documentary!
Prowl 1701
March 29th, 2024 - 5:20amenjoyed the Willaims Doc, and the behind the sofas. The updated effects for Fan rock work really well and wiil be my go to version of it to watch now. Loved the panopticon archive will louise and John and well. The fang rock making of was fun and i finally got to see the invasion of time making of as well as i don’t have the dvd for that one.
Jim
March 25th, 2024 - 9:37pmJust wondering if someone more informed in regards to the new picture quality can shine a light on something interesting I’ve come across;
On the Amazon reviews, there’s a screenshot comparison between the new Blu Ray and original DVD releases of ‘Horror of Fang Rock’ – in the side by sides, there appears to be random spotted areas of sharp, fine, diagonal lines streaming down the picture – in the first photo it’s happening on an actor’s head, and the second photo shows the effect affecting a nearby door.
I’ve no idea what to call such an artefact but based on the photos it seems to appear on the studio video-tape scenes. They aren’t the typical vibration signal lines from, say, a gun prop firing off close to a camera (like in Genesis of the Daleks) – instead it’s very fixed, almost like a specific selection of an object or person in shot, as if done on a computer.
Would this potentially be a transfer error on the Blu Ray, or was the DVD so heavily compressed that the constant generated pixellIng/blockiness and low resolution on that near 480p disc was hiding those noisy signal looking lines?
Rex F
March 26th, 2024 - 1:07amIt’s just the way old tube cameras were constructed, and BBC Birmingham didn’t have top of the range equipment. You can see similar artefacts on various old shows, usually in the corner of the screen where something has come out of alignment. Horror’s DVD was significantly filtered (look at CSO edges), possibly to remove these lines. You can also see this patterning very obviously on one of the cameras on the original Five Docs Special Edition DVD. Unfortunately I can’t remember exactly what part of the camera causes it, but I think it’s a piece of mesh over a sensor.
Jim
March 26th, 2024 - 2:43am@Rex F – What an absolutely fascinating read, thank you so much for the reply, I appreciate it.
I understand from Gordon that the heavy DNR from the first Season 15 Collection trailer was a one off decision for the YouTube upload and not apparent in the box set – though again there are already a number of criticisms on the use of upscaling and low level ai (The thought of it gives me nightmarish flashbacks to the intensely waxy frame smearing of Disney’s 4k Star Wars and James Cameron’s 4k Terminator 2… Shudder…)
All of these techniques for picture & sound already were in existence with the dvds – in fact the dvds went as far as re-colour graded entire scenes, and then the Blu Rays went back and corrected those colours. I still even vaguely remember the Spearhead From Space Blu Ray looking so good for simply having removed all of that thick heavy saturation bloom from the two previous dvds.
I’ve got faith in the sheer experience of the Doctor Who restoration team, particularly having to work with difficult condition tapes. I am convinced that the dvds being so compressed and low resolution certainly hid and disguised a lot of what was actually going on with the nature of these film reels and video tapes – but I just hope the Team doesn’t decide to take any James Cameron or Disney risks with regards to trying to doll up the image way too much.
Jake E
March 26th, 2024 - 8:57amIt’s interesting because yes there is DNR and AI used.
I think the AI is easily most obvious in Horror of Fang Rock but after noticing it for a few minutes and thinking oh no after that I actually like it so I don’t see it as a problem.
Something else I found interesting was in Image of the Fendahl I can’t remember which episode but I think they messed up and for about 2mins or so during the studio footage there stopped being DNR and instead you could see all of the video noise. It was random as it just showed up halfway through a sentence but it looked gorgeous so not sure why they needed to DNR it. But with DNR it looks gorgeous too just slightly more waxy so I’m not complaining.
Gordon
March 26th, 2024 - 9:17amWell listening to Peter Crocker on the power of 3 podcast who handles the restoration on this there was some restoration issues with fang rock. There was actually bits missing from the dvd master and instead of using that as a starting point they went back to the original prints so it’s more complete than it’s been since broadcast. He did say there was some restoration issues with it most of which he was able to fix but he did say there maybe some things there that people would see if they looked hard enough. I watched it with new effects and to be honest I don’t really see much wrong with it. Looks much nicer than the dvd however I wasn’t really searching for faults when I watched it. It might be noticeable to watch it with the original effects but I been so busy I haven’t had the time to look
Namenlos
March 26th, 2024 - 10:17amHorror, Disc 1 does contain various errors, however. For example, many people are reporting odd artefacts (in the form of various spots, almost like an image that is overlaid on part of the screen) in various scenes, particularly in episode 3. Look at the scenes where Harker is stoking the boiler, and where Leela is trying to lure Rueben to come out of his room. There are various digital like spots that appear on the door, the door to the boiler, and on the right side of the wall. I’ve emailed BBC support about this, but so far no response. I doubt they will do anything about this. And given that I have checked multiple copies of disc 1 with multiple players and televisions, I’m quite confident the problem is with the the Blu-ray authoring, not the setup. Also, note that this is not an issue that pre-existed on VHS or DVD.
daz
March 26th, 2024 - 4:23pmThe only issue I’ve seen on Disc 1 and 2 as I’ve not watched the others yet is diagonal lines across the whole screen in 1 scene on each story for a few seconds.
Other than that bits of the Tardis scenes backgrounds looking blurry on Disc 2 although that could be normal due to the source material and that I’m watching on a 55 inch TV.
Lee D
March 26th, 2024 - 9:13pmHi, Namelos was saying about the odd dots on certain parts of the disc. Yes I have noticed, but I think it’s to do with how technical tvs are these days, I found out if you change your tv settings and go from movie, dynamic, or standard, you will have to play around with which one, but the dots disappear!. Tvs are complex these days and weather your watching video originated formats or film you should change your tv settings, I know it’s a pain but it usually sorts out the problems. Talk about the modern age!
The Unlicensed Physician
March 27th, 2024 - 2:34pmIs the AI used for sharpness enhancements? I don’t think they’ve used AI software before.
Rex F
March 30th, 2024 - 1:30pmJim: Glad the info was useful. I’ve tried finding out the exact technical details but haven’t had much luck, and as Five Docs was so long ago I can’t remember exactly what I was told. If the diagonal lines are static though, it may be literally some (professional) netting over the lens to stop light sources overwhelming the camera – and Fang Rock does have several bright, visible on set lamps as part of the story.
As for AI, I’ve only seen clips and grabs online but it looks as though some sort of AI process might have been used to smooth out diagonals? Otherwise I’m not seeing anything terribly different outside of Fang Rock’s new effects, where various tweaks have been made to repair things lost due to CSO issues.
Bob
March 24th, 2024 - 7:47pmAnyone know what size Steelbooks Central will fit this season?
daz
March 24th, 2024 - 11:30pmDW2 as Season 15 is the same size as Season 14.
goody
March 25th, 2024 - 8:27pmwhat one for season 20
daz
March 26th, 2024 - 4:17pmI don’t think there is one for Season 20 as the one they’ve done for Season 2 is no good.
Although some Season 20 owners can squeeze their copy in, others can’t.
Jake E
March 28th, 2024 - 12:12pmMy Season 20 fits in a Season 2 pretty well.
Slightly tighter fit but nothing worth worrying about it just means the spine doesn’t fit quite as flush against the plastic as the other seasons
Snowman
March 29th, 2024 - 9:04pmI can Squeeze Season 20 (J Card included) into the Season 2 Sleeve but it was virtually impossible to get out again. It also scuffed a couple of the Corners.
I thought the idea of these Sleeves was to protect the Packaging (Not damage it).
So I won’t be doing that again.
Jake E
March 29th, 2024 - 10:10pmThat’s a shame Snowman. I’ve managed to do it with no issues. I’m extremely careful with my sets.
iamthemaster
March 23rd, 2024 - 8:04pmI bought my copy via Amazon and received it on Wednesday.
I used the chat feature to complain about this and was refunded 20 per cent. It was fairly straightforward and they offered the refund immediately, without me having to push.
Might be worth considering for others who received their copy late.
The Time Lord 1944
March 23rd, 2024 - 11:25pmI’m still waiting for mine and I ordered on day of announcement. When I rang to complain they said that I knew the date of delivery when I ordered. But I didn’t. There was no date when I ordered. Then the Amazon customer service said it would definitely dispatch Friday. It didn’t. Very frustrating.
ex15
March 24th, 2024 - 9:40amDon’t understand the issue you guys have with Amazon? Every single Collection I’ve received has arrived on time!
D84
March 24th, 2024 - 12:29pmSame here
All of mine have arrived on time – on release day, until this one ……
Doctor Nowt
March 24th, 2024 - 3:54pmLast two have arrived late and I’ve had to complain to Amazon ( this one and the last) they said they would dispatch on Tuesday when i complained, they didn’t, strangely I ordered another item on Wednesday and it seemed to trigger the release of the who set, both items turned up Thursday morning, they refunded £10 for the who delay, seems odd the differences in refunds to different customers, I am a prime member and pre ordered on announcement date.
The set did turn up in mint condition to be fair.
iamthemaster
March 24th, 2024 - 6:50pmI’ve ordered all the previous sets through Amazon and this is the first one I’ve had a problem with.
I was surprised how easy the refund was. I didn’t even have to ask for it – I just said it was delayed and they immediately offered 20 per cent.
mark G
March 21st, 2024 - 11:54pmHi All, got a faulty disc 5 (underworld), ep 4, 6min 30 sec in, freezing then skipping 10 sec ahead, any else seeing this?, just arranged for return to amazon and a replacement.
D84
March 23rd, 2024 - 9:06pmNo such issue on my set. I’ve not watched anything else on the whole disc but my copy plays through that specific section with no issues
mark G
March 24th, 2024 - 9:25amhi, thanks for your reply. my new set from amazon has arrived, no issues with new set. i was just unlucky. again thanks.
D84
March 24th, 2024 - 12:28pmNo worries Mark
Prof Horner
March 26th, 2024 - 2:42pmHas everyone in the Uk now received their copy of season 15? What do you all think of it. Is up to the else high standards of the other releases? Am I the only one who prefers original Rutan design?
The Greame Williams doc is the highlight for me .up there with the David Whitaker doc. Well done everyone
Prof Horner
March 21st, 2024 - 9:26amGood news! My copy has finally been despatched today.
Erato
March 21st, 2024 - 12:44pmMine has just arrived from Amazon in perfect condition. I didn’t want to faff around cancelling and reordering because I am away this weekend so the last thing I needed was my reordered copy left outside my address for three days.
Prof Horner
March 21st, 2024 - 12:51pmYes mine has just arrived too. Looks gorgeous. In perfect condition as always.
Alzie Who 66
March 21st, 2024 - 5:22pmMine has arrived safely….. Horror of Fang Rock to watch
Prowl 1701
March 20th, 2024 - 8:11pmMine has dispatched and is slowly crossing the pond. Estimated arrival the 27th
Sigh
Prof Horner
March 20th, 2024 - 10:18pmAt this rate you will get this before I do !
Prowl 1701
March 21st, 2024 - 12:21amI am hoping it comes early, but….
Rex F
March 21st, 2024 - 8:09amThat’s only a week – you make it sound like you’ll be old and grey by the time it arrives! I don’t know, young people today, etc, etc…
Prowl 1701
March 21st, 2024 - 12:42pmpre-pandemic I could get it in two days, first world problems, lol.
Jake E
March 21st, 2024 - 7:04pmProwl has your postage price gone up as well?
I’ve noticed Amazon US to the UK a bunch of items cost money to be shipped now when they were free shipping and included customs charges back along
Prowl 1701
March 21st, 2024 - 9:21pmYeah it cost me about $85 USD total for everything, the set and postage.
Tom Williams
March 20th, 2024 - 5:53pmSo had too go back too collecting the blu rays again and today had season 9 came from Amazon which was very happy with haven’t obvs watched yet but is it better next too more buy season 15 ? Or move onto season 20 one first
Tom Williams
March 22nd, 2024 - 10:00pmThink it’s too late now lol I managed too buy instead 8 and 17 now only need 10 again and 12,14,15 and 18 for John Petwee and Tom makers
Tom Williams
March 26th, 2024 - 7:36pmSo happy I brought this season last night 🙂 arrived today in amazing condition now next onto season 10 and 18 the most
Hunter J
March 20th, 2024 - 5:04pmIt’s funny seeing people complain that Amazon is late when the USA still hasn’t gotten season 20 – and won’t until June! Who knows when we’ll get 15!
WhoKnows
March 20th, 2024 - 6:16pmJune or July last I read for USA.
Gordon
March 20th, 2024 - 3:17pmOnly seen a few of the new features so far but it’s all been great. The Graeme Williams documentary is really superb. One of the best things that Chris chapman has done. It shining a light on a man who was and is still loved by many of those that knew him. His family really are the glue that holds this together. I do recommend watching this first before going on to season 15
The new effects and 5.1 mix in fang rock take a story that is really good and takes it up a notch to the next level. Will be my go to version in future.
The new fang rock making of is a lot of fun. Inspired idea to go to an actual lighthouse for this one with a ton of drone footage of the lighthouse they visited. The usage of cgi sets is a great new addition. Wish they had done this earlier. The pebble mill angle gives us a chance to hear from some people that we have never have gotten before. Just wish Tom had been interviewed.
Tom thankfully is involved in the commentary of 2 episodes and is in fine form. Definitely in better form than he was with Toby on the season 17 ones that he did
Gordon
March 21st, 2024 - 9:51amThe Tom talks feature is a lot of fun but what Tom says is so unconnected to season 15 I’m amazed they were able to create questions that connected it back to the season. I do hope there is more of these recorded. This was recorded back in 2021 (he said he was soon turning 88 which places it about then) so it does give me hope they have done more with him.
The Louise jameson isn’t anything revealing but it is a really nice chat that doesn’t do the usual Janus thorns anicdotes that we normally get from her.
Really enjoying the behind the sofa’s for this one and they seem more positive on this season Colin griping about the violence being worse than his era aside
The emu skits are comedy gold
Anon
March 21st, 2024 - 12:35pmThe EBC one Emu series with the deadly dustbins is the first time ive seen since original transmission. So hilariously bad but fun.
Rex F
March 21st, 2024 - 2:51pmThe Emu skits were much requested back on the old RT forum, but they always said no for some reason…
ChrisP
March 21st, 2024 - 10:52pmFor me, the Graham Williams documentary is possibly the best extra of the range so far.