September 15th, 2023
1,485 comments
We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
Doctor Who The Collection Season 20 Limited Edition Packaging
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk, www.zavvi.com and various retailers on www.ebay.co.uk
BBC Studios continues to offer Doctor Who fans the opportunity to build their own home archive on Blu-ray with a limited edition NINE DISC box set of the 20th Season from 1983, starring Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. This set is the most jam-packed release yet, with hours and hours of new and exclusive material.
- Arc Of Infinity
- Snakedance
- Mawdryn Undead
- Terminus
- Enlightenment
- The King’s Demons
- The Five Doctors (20th Anniversary Special)
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the programme, these stories feature the return of old friends, enemies and even past Doctors! Over seven exciting stories, the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson) face off against the Black Guardian, Omega, the Mara, the Master, Cybermen and the Time Lords themselves!
All episodes have been newly remastered from the best available sources including original film elements for The Five Doctors – these classic adventures have never looked or sounded so good on home media.
The Collection: Season 20 Blu-ray box set also includes extensive Special Features including:
THE FIVE DOCTORS – 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
- A brand new version of the 90-minute anniversary special, with updated special effects,
- Dolby Atmos & surround sound, plus an exclusive new commentary with Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson.
UPDATED 2023 SPECIAL EFFECTS
- Exclusive to Blu-ray, on Snakedance and Enlightenment.
BEHIND THE SOFA
- Seven new episodes with Peter Davison, Colin Baker (The Doctor), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor),
- Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Katy Maning (Jo) and Sophie Aldred (Ace).
BLU-RAY TRAILER
- A brand new episode of classic Doctor Who.
IN CONVERSATION
- Interviewer Matthew Sweet chats to Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton.
LET’S GO DUTCH!
- The TARDIS crew travel to Amsterdam to revisit locations and reminisce about Season 20 and their time on the programme.
LOOK WHO’S DRIVING
- Join Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton on an hilarious European Road Trip.
WHEN JANET MET MARTIN
- Janet Fielding chats to Martin Clunes, 40 years on from his appearance in Snakedance.
MAKING THE KING’S DEMONS
- The regular cast return to the castle location and reminisce.
MAKING THE SEASON 20 TRAILER
- A look behind the scenes
LONGLEAT CELEBRATION FOOTAGE
- A previously-unreleased look at the iconic 1983 convention, plus panels featuring Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and many more.
STUDIO FOOTAGE
- Hours of material going behind-the-scenes on production of Arc Of Infinity, Snakedance and The Five Doctors.
LOCATION FILM RUSHES
- From The Five Doctors.
RARE CONVENTION FOOTAGE
- Including Australian interviews with Peter Davison and Janet Fielding shot during production of this season.
ONCE UPON A TIME LORD
- A rare US documentary from the 1980s.
NEW 5.1 SURROUND SOUND MIXES
- On Snakedance and The Five Doctors. Plus Dolby Atmos mixes on The Five Doctors.
ARCHIVE TREATS
- Hours of rare and previously unreleased material from the BBC Archives.
HD PHOTO GALLERIES
- Including many previously unseen images.
INFO TEXT
- Behind-the-scenes information and trivia on every episode.
PDF ARCHIVE
- Including scripts, exclusive unseen BBC production files, the Radio Times 20th Anniversary Special and other rarities.
PLUS LOTS MORE!
This nine-disc box set also includes hours of special features previously released on DVD including Documentaries, Featurettes, Audio Commentaries, The Five Doctors Special Edition and more.
Categorised under: 
The Doctor Who Site
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Merchandise
Flickr
YouTube
Bobby Fackrell
November 19th, 2023 - 2:10pmHappy Birthday William Russell ❤️
The Time Lord 1944
November 12th, 2023 - 11:06pmToby Hadoke has said in a Facebook group that he has one more Blu-ray documentary in the can and he is working on one more at the moment. Wonder what collection sets these are for. He said he will do more if asked. I actually thought he’d have more in the can than that. Good to hear though. His documentaries are often my favourite part of the releases.
Jones
November 8th, 2023 - 6:24pmSeason 20 doesn’t get released in America until April. It’s a longer wait than usual. I wonder if it’s because they’re looking into the judder issues.
I miss the early collection days where we got the blu rays at the same time as the UK!
Jake E
November 7th, 2023 - 4:43pmSeason 18 Blu-Ray story Warriors’ Gate does anyone else have issues with the 5.1 Surround Sound?
For the first 3 episodes it’s perfect and then episode 4 has echoes almost the whole episode
Ricky
November 9th, 2023 - 10:23amThat’s odd, no issues on mine, I seem to remember it was only the leisure hive that got replaced on that set so can’t of been too many issues reported with warriors gate.
The Time Lord 1944
November 10th, 2023 - 12:06amTo be honest after all the judder issues with season 20, that some just aren’t seeing, I’m starting to doubt my own sight. I see the judder everywhere I go now. I saw it in the frozen food section of Sainsbury’s the other day.
Things That Go Bump In The Night
November 10th, 2023 - 2:34pm@ The Time Lord 1944; It’s like the rainbow effect on DLP projectors. Some folks easily see it, some folks see it occasionally and some folks don’t see it at all…
But interesting if you can elaborating on how you see ‘judder’ when walking past the frozen food section of Sainsbury’s… We have a Sainsbury’s we go to regularly, but no judder issues; maybe our local has set cadence flag detection to ‘video’ instead of ‘auto’?
All the best, take care, cheers!
Things That Go Bump In The Night
November 6th, 2023 - 12:05pmSorry to comment on this ‘open’ topic yet again, but….
Is it possible that the announcement of the next The Collection season release could be delayed indefinitely whilst the investigation into the ‘judder’ issues, that a number of collectors experience, are ongoing? I would expect that a new release’s discs are not going to be pressed until the technical experts can be sure it won’t happen again.
I was also thinking about work flows; if Season 20 was only held up from release until they could complete the road trip and visiting Amsterdam documentaries post Covid, would that imply that the restoration of the actual episodes had already been completed some years ago?
However, we have had newer restored The Collection sets to purchase before Season 20, and these would have been made after the bulk of the work was completed on Season 20. But there doesn’t seem to be similar ‘judder’ issues, with, say, Season 2 and 9…
If true, that Season 20 episodes were restored before Season 2 and 9, why would Season 2 and 9 be ok, but Season 20 not be? Therefore, it seems to mean that the issue is in the authoring of the disc pressing masters from the completed video files, rather the the video restorations themselves. That could also explain why some collectors experience ‘juddering’ in the VAM.
I was hoping to ask Paul Vanezis at the recent ‘Film is Fabulous’ event in Leicester if he knows about the issues reported with Season 20 (if Paul is still involved in the sets), but a family illness prevented me from attending. Did anyone else attend?
Finally, for those that are interested, I have tested Season 20 discs on 4 x Blu-Ray players (Oppo BDP-203EU, Oppo UDP-103, Panasonic DP-UB820 and Marantz UD5007) and two viewing devices (Marantz VP-11S2 projector and Sony KDL-40X3500 TV) with various settings but I have yet to see the ‘judders’ mentioned by other collectors. Please note the Blu Ray player’s video signals are routed through a AV pre-amp (Marantz AV-7706) or an AV amp (Marantz NR1504) before the viewing devices. Btw, the Marantz projector has a Gennum GF9351 video processor which includes de-interlacing and scaling so their could be extra processing of difficult frame flagging there which ‘masks’ any issues with frame flags.
Thank you
Gordon
November 6th, 2023 - 12:48pmDoubt they could delay it even if they really wanted to.
James
November 6th, 2023 - 8:09pmWould make sense to delay slightly so it can be rectified. If this set has had so many people with the same problem they will have to fix it before hand. Concidering the cost Collector’s are folking out for them. Would cost more money in the king run if a. Have to reprint the discs if not working and b. If people feel its not worth spending there hard earned cash and not getting a fully functioning product maybe not continue as lose faith.
It’s a shame to delay but I’d rather have something worth the money with no fault then have a faulty product.
Stupid question but the standard sets are the same discs just differently packed and less info in the booklet right?
The Time Lord 1944
November 6th, 2023 - 9:22pmThank you for the player details. I have an LG player that shows the judder so it’s good to see players I could invest in as an alternative.
Ricky
November 6th, 2023 - 10:37pmYou’d have go second hand on the oppos or marantz as they no longer make players, even secondhand they are very pricey but great high end players.
I can vouch for the Panasonic UB820,its my main player and is superb and can be had for around £300 new, no judder issues on my season 20 set through either Panasonic players I own, which are the UB820 and UB150.
Things That Go Bump In The Night
November 7th, 2023 - 8:19am@ James – I believe that, mostly, the standard sets are the same discs. Although, I’ve also read that some of the earlier standard sets have had minor corrections made over the original discs. And, of course, the standard sets include any re-issued discs that were done for limited edition sets, e.g. Season 12. Yes, the standard booklets are a ‘digest’ version of the full booklets in the limited edition sets.
I agree with you, I’d rather have the next release delayed so that all collectors can have trouble free sets and this doesn’t happen again, rather than disappointment and waiting to see if a disc replacement program is instigated. Plus, it erodes the margin on these sets to have to go back and press discs again so there is also a business case to get them right.
@ The Time Lord 1944 – you are welcome. I think I remember one of your previous posts asking for fellow collectors to specify the equipment they are using to play back Season 20.
As Ricky mentions, most of my kit is no longer available as new, but I wanted to ensure all the details are there.
@ Ricky – Yep, like me, the most of the players I have are getting old, but still going strong, again, like me… lol. I also have a vintage Denon DVD-A1XVA player that I use to spin SACD, DVD-Audio and CDs and it works great. It can play my Doctor Who DVDs, and scale them using the HQV video processor, but I don’t use it for that. And don’t get me started on my vintage LaserDisc players… I even have some Doctor Who LaserVision discs! Remember those?
I purchased the kit from new, when they were available at retail. I have noticed the Oppo players are expensive on the second hand market.
Thanks
Samuel
November 7th, 2023 - 9:57amJust worth saying; This judder may be baked into the actual footage on the discs – Restoration Team still has not yet confirmed if they have completed their investigation on the discs – so I personally really wouldn’t go changing your 4k Blu Ray players just yet.
The players themselves may be perfectly fine.
Ricky
November 7th, 2023 - 10:33amYou’ve got Some great kit there, I remember laser disc very well, it was a natural upgrade from tapes for home movies and I had a pioneer CLD 2850 LD player with auto both sides play, lovely kit built like a tank, I had the. Encore range of Dr. Who discs, wish Id kept them all now!
It’s a shame oppo gave up on the home theatre side as they made great players, (I had the 203) the likes of panasonic, reavon and Magnater seem the only alternatives these days.
Marantz are great, I’ve had 2 of their av recievers and enjoyed them for movies and Music but now on the Yamaha aventage range, always liked the dynamic and warmer sound of yamaha compared to the denons more slightly clinical presentation, but denon always made superb quality kit.
A used oppo 103 are worth around £250 and the 203 fetches around £700 plus, such is the high resale value of these models, they just don’t make them like they used to!
Ricky
November 7th, 2023 - 10:36amSamuel, good point, not worth investing hundreds on a fix for a few potentially faulty discs that should play fine on any £50 Blu-ray player.
Jake E
November 3rd, 2023 - 2:53pmDo we think now the BBC have commissioned Timothy to do The Daleks Colourisation that they’ll get him to do the some of the remaining Pertwee episodes for the Blu-Rays?
It’s cool that they are doing this but I would much rather Pertwee’s get done and Timothy has already posted lots of great clips of Invasion of the Dinosaurs a couple years back. Imagine how much better they could be now
Scotel
November 3rd, 2023 - 5:37pmColourisations aren’t a one man project and there’s already a team working on recolouring the Pertwees for the Blu Rays. Given the Blu Ray range already has that covered I’d rather any new funding be directed towards new projects.
Gordon
November 3rd, 2023 - 10:53pmIt’s not just Timothy. It’s rich tipple (farfromallover), Kieran highman and Scott Burditt (whocolour) so it’s definitely a team effort. According to Ian Levine we are getting an improved colour version when season 11 rolls out so I think they have that in hand already.
Jake E
November 4th, 2023 - 8:37amI know I just couldn’t be bothered to list everybody.
But I appreciate all of the effort from everybody and that’s great to hear about Season 11 🙂
The Castallen.
November 3rd, 2023 - 1:45pmDoes anybody know if the classic series on BBC iPlayer is a permanent feature, or just temporary?
The reason I ask is because each episode says “Available for over a year”.
Does that mean they’ll be taken down at some point?
I’m Batman
November 3rd, 2023 - 3:05pmThat’s the max they can show. All content is either limited, or if anything is permanent* then it shows “Available for over a year” just like NuWho.
I’m sure they’ll leave it on forever since they want iPlayer to be a streaming service instead of just catchup.
*permanent in the sense of streaming
Samuel
November 3rd, 2023 - 8:03pmThe BBC would be too thick headed to want to take down the entire Whoniverse section of Iplayer after one single year.
RTD and Badwolf have literally offered the BBC the golden goose as it were, along with all the golden eggs, giving many, many fans of Doctor Who that may or may not have previously considered cutting their tv licence a year ago into getting back on board with Iplayer.
Wether the tv licence is tenable in the future, Doctor Who’s offering a ton of financial revenue towards Iplayer. BBC would be taking it to the face by a gatling gun to ever want to undo all of the 60th work.
RPG74
November 4th, 2023 - 1:08pmClassic’s time on iplayer may depend on how RTD2.0 turns out. If the new stuff bombs and the Beeb pull the plug then where’s the incentive?
Rex F
November 5th, 2023 - 8:06amSamuel: How do RTD and Bad Wolf come into it? You mean their new series has the opportunity of adding value to the old, making more people want to watch it online?
Samuel
November 5th, 2023 - 6:55pm@Rex F – RTD, and Badwolf have completely re-energized Doctor Who across the UK and overseas. Russell particularly once said a couple of years ago that Doctor Who *should* be a bigger universe, it should, essentially be much more in the public consciousness with regards to tv entertainment, and pretty much relevancy.
I have many friends young and old, that loved the initial 2005-09 revival, dipped out, but have jumped right back on board with the show, not just for the 60th specials onwards, but equally for the accessibility of the Classic series, with ‘tales of the Tardis’, and generally actually having instant access to the earlier seasons thanks to the Whoniverse system on iPlayer.
It’s pretty shocking that as TV licence fee payers we didn’t have such a quick way to watch 99.% of Doctor Who. From the way RTD has continued to vocalise emphasis on the licence fee – I feel himself and Badwolf have just done the best thing possible to make the licence fee significant to Doctor Who fans like myself and my friends and family.
It’s the ease of accesibility, it’s the brand new content, it’s the genuine hype being generated by the new and returning producers. It feels like they’ve actually got proper control of Doctor Who again, and, quite frankly, aside from maybe the recent rise in quality of Eastenders – I’m pretty convinced that if the BBC threw away the Whoniverse from their online systems via the Licence fee, then they’ll end up right back in public debate as to what the point is in a licence fee at all, wherby we have zero access to previous material that generations of us paid hardworking money towards.
RTD and Badwolf get it, they fully understand the situation, and they did something about it. I’m really grateful for that, and so should the BBC.
Jake E
November 3rd, 2023 - 10:00amWhen everyone was saying that Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury had said at a convention that had done the Behind the Sofa for The Mind Robber are we sure they weren’t secretly referring to doing Tales of The Tardis for The Mind Robber?
Gordon
November 3rd, 2023 - 10:13amThat was only filmed in September. The rumours of the mind robber behind the sofa started well before then
Matt L
November 4th, 2023 - 10:30pmDo you think we will get a trailer for the next box set this month or in december for season 15 or season 6? Thanks
Gordon
November 5th, 2023 - 10:16pmI’ll be surprised if we hear anything before the 23rd as they seem to be focused on promoting the various stuff on tv/iPlayer and radio/Sounds . Can see possibly announcements on the 23rd
D84
November 6th, 2023 - 8:19amAt this point I think it will be a quiet month, at least the next couple of weeks – with any announcement held for 23rd – which is actually a Thursday so aligns with what seems to be their preferred announcement day of the week anyway
Gordon
November 2nd, 2023 - 8:21pmWell that’s the daleks confirmed to be getting a 75 min colourised tv screening on bbc four on the 23rd
Prof Horner
November 2nd, 2023 - 10:19pmInstead of Unearthly Child prehaps? I will be interesting to see how it works with over half the story cut out.
I think we can safely assume that the we aren’t going to get another season blu ray Boxset this year.
Jake E
November 3rd, 2023 - 9:56amThey said they have been working on The Daleks for 12 months. So Unearthly Child was never going to happen. The BBC have probably known about the rights issues for ages and anyway the Daleks is a waaaaay better choice for colourisation
Rory
November 3rd, 2023 - 11:11amHoping it gets a steelbook release. I’ll definitely be buying that as always.
D84
November 3rd, 2023 - 1:56pmI was going to say the same, as it’s been 12 months in the making this – one would imagine have been the original choice
I too am.hopeful of a steelbook release which I will of course instantly pre order
Prof Horner
November 3rd, 2023 - 2:36pmWonder if we are going to get Tomb of the Cybermen in colour?
Rich
November 3rd, 2023 - 6:25pmI wonder if a colourised AUC was done as a standalone to splice directly into the Daleks?… Could have worked… a bit like the novel… and would have run to feature length…
Rex F
November 5th, 2023 - 8:15amRich: I was thinking the same thing, and a 20k offer for script royalties is surprisingly high. Whether they got very far with it or not, I’d make a small wager that it was at least the original plan.
Scotel
November 5th, 2023 - 8:52amThe timeline is absolutely not adding up for it though beyond perhaps a couple of initial pitches. By the time the Mirror were reporting on it The Daleks was absolutely locked in and negotiations for streaming were well underway.
The high payout was to try and avoid a court battle, even if the BBC have already dealt with it in the past its still time consuming and a pain so throwing money at the problem and hoping it would go away is what many businesses do and in this case it just didn’t work (at least they didn’t have to go to court though).
Rex F
November 5th, 2023 - 11:17amI’m thinking that if he’d taken the money when first offered they’d just have managed to get it done in time for November (doing the work in reverse order). It must have been on the wish-list for the 60th, if they could get him to play ball (never gonna happen, based on his comments ten years ago!).
Is his theoretical court case in relation to what contract Coburn sr wrote under, or the creation of Who (the wacky stuff)? I’m still not fully clear on what Coburn jr is after (aside from the obvious) and if he thinks – genuinely – that his freelance father created the Tardis and so on then he’s probably going to want *a lot*. I realise that businesses can often resort to paying people to go away, but 20k seemed quite low even as a percentage for what he was claiming – although he could of course have been playing a bluff, not truly believing the wild stuff*.
*People can make up their own jokes here.
The Time Lord 1944
November 1st, 2023 - 10:47amI dug into BBC iplayer this morning and went straight to Arc of Infinity to compare it to my Blu-ray copy. It must be the old master as there are no judder issues and the picture quality of studio and location scenes look far better than the Blu-ray. Unusual as normally I find iPlayer streaming slightly poorer quality.
Gordon
November 1st, 2023 - 5:04pmNot everybody had judder issues with the blu ray though. I doubt they would use the blu ray remasters anyway as it’s far too soon. If it was too soon for the animated snowman to be added it’s obviously too soon for the season 20 blu ray masters. It seems to be a bit of a hodge podge of hd restored (season 19) and unrestored vhs (reign of terror). Apparently it’s been reported to iPlayer and will get fixed. Pretty much all surviving episodes are on there bar inexplicably reign of terror episode 1 and an unearthly child for obvious reasons
The Time Lord 1944
November 1st, 2023 - 6:25pmThe question is was the judder issue hidden by certain players/TVs or was it a fault on a certain batch? From what I’ve read it seems to be something to do with the encoding of the remasters sending out certain signals that some TV/players can’t cope with.
OllieOz
November 2nd, 2023 - 1:41amI would say it’s a matter of some not noticing the issues, which are apparent on and off throughout VT sequences in the affected stories, or unknowingly having TV/ player settings enabled which mask the issues, rather than not having the issues in their sets entirely. There’s enough evidence to suggest the issues are with the remastered video files which have been used for the main features of the affected episodes and clips of them within new special features rather than it being a batch issue with the discs.
The issues aren’t prevalent to the older masters that have just come onto iPlayer, further suggesting they’re a fault which developed in the edit of these new remasters.
Would love an official update since, I’m still holding off on a proper watch through of the episodes until we know if these issues will be addressed in the near future or not. I’ve not been having much joy with the workarounds and compromises to my display settings which have little to no issues natively playing back my other blu-rays as is. Have loved the VAM in the meantime though. 🙂
The Time Lord 1944
November 2nd, 2023 - 8:03amOllieOz all the evidence suggests you are right. One of the Restoration Team did make a statement on twitter a few weeks ago. He said he had no issue with playing the episodes. However, when he stripped back his settings in his player he noticed the problem. For a member of the Restoration Team, with I imagine an advanced copy, to not notice, strip back the the settings and then notice, it does seem to suggest that the issues have been masked by certain settings and players.
AfricanQueen
November 3rd, 2023 - 8:56amI’ve been holding off watching too, such a shame as there’s such a lot of excitement and anticipation of getting these releases. Now it’s just sat on a shelf. Just hoping future releases don’t have this issue.
Jake E
November 3rd, 2023 - 9:32amSame thing with me. It’s even got the judder issue in some of the studio footage behind the scenes for the Five Doctors on Disc 9.
Very irritating and I’m getting no replies from BBC DVD support or the restoration team
Rex F
November 3rd, 2023 - 12:10pmJake: Bearing in mind the old Restoration Team hasn’t really existed for years, who have you been contacting (presumably via social media)? I get the feeling that the different players aren’t as connected as they used to be, so there may not be anything new to report. If you’re having problems with 576i50 material though, then that’s something new to add – although I had that problem on an older season release until I switched off film detection (one of the former dvd extras, where a psychologist was being interviewed IIRC).
Jake E
November 3rd, 2023 - 2:50pmI contacted Restoration Team on Twitter a few times they were the ones that said they were looking into it weeks ago and I’ve contacted the official DVD Support email for BBC loads of times with no replies
Rex F
November 5th, 2023 - 8:25amThe RT Twitter feed is still going? Wow… But since the old team have all gone their separate ways, I’m guessing information travels much slower – not like when they could all quickly get in touch with top brass. It could take a while, if it doesn’t get lost in the ether (I’m thinking it might…). Could you tell me a studio footage scene that caused you problems please? I’d like to play around with it a bit, see if there are any clues.
Richard
October 29th, 2023 - 7:57pmI really want SEASON 7 but would probably wait for the standard edition as I have 2 other seasons in that range and would be nice for them to match.
D84
October 30th, 2023 - 7:22amSeason 7 has been mentioned a little while ago and suspicion is that it may be towards the end of the range due to the colour recovery and restoration required.
Could be wrong of course we are over half way now but with 1, 3-6 (B&W) plus 7 and 11 still in the mix they are running out of “easier” ones aside from those
The Time Lord 1944
November 2nd, 2023 - 1:31pmSeason 7 is one of my favourite ever seasons. It really set the tone for the next era of Who and led to some of the most memorable stories in the shows history.
AfricanQueen
October 29th, 2023 - 7:16amSorry to raise this again but has anyone had any joy with getting season 20 discs corrected? I’ve had three sets all with the same glitches – very frustrating. I’ve tried to rest various things on my Sony 4k player but that doesn’t work. This is the only bd I have had this issue with! Any help would be appreciated.
The Time Lord 1944
October 29th, 2023 - 10:04amNobody has had any joy upto now as far as I know. There was a response from The Restoration Team a while ago that was quoted on here. One of the team did say that on certain settings they had noticed something odd and said they were investigating. It’s a puzzle as somebody else with the same Blu-ray player and TV as me doesn’t see the fault. It could be that my player needs a software update but others have carried out a software update on other makes of players without joy. Some think the problem lies with the remastering of the episodes themselves that maybe causing problems for certain players or settings. It’s all very strange. They don’t normally take this long to look into a fault so I imagine it may be quite complicated.
OllieOz
October 29th, 2023 - 12:18pmHonestly, it would be nice to have some kind of update to know if they have identified the issue in the remasters and if they feel there is justification to correct it with a replacement disc program. Personally, the workarounds in player settings only slightly reduce the issues, but don’t entirely resolve them for my setup.
ex15
October 29th, 2023 - 4:28pmI’ve no issues whatsoever on my LG player/TV ?
Rex F
October 30th, 2023 - 4:21amIt’s a new fault, so it’s going to take a while to resolve. Something in the video is tricking some players with some settings into momentarily making a progressive image. And some TV sets either mask it when it’s there or cause the problem when it’s not (as in not being caused by the player). And the information the disc producers are getting about problem set-ups isn’t exactly always very specific (it would help to have player models, firmware, film-detect settings, output settings, TV models, TV film detect settings). There aren’t many BDs in 1080i50 with 1080i50 source material, so they also don’t have much to compare to – some extra features on Studio Canal titles mainly I think? (I’m interested in the Wicker Man extra that’s giving a poster here the same problem – could there be a new piece of scaling/encoding software they both used, for example.)
The Time Lord 1944
October 30th, 2023 - 12:19pmRexF it was me who has the issue on the new Wicker Man Blu-ray. The issue is mainly with the new extras produced for this release. They judder in certain places. Same issue as the Season 20 set. Usually when moving from indoor to outdoor scenes. Also the uncut film itself ( that has the lower quality deleted scenes reinserted ) creates the judder when moving from the original and deleted sections. This did not happen on the previous release. It only happens on this new scan, which is supposed to be better. I suspect that you are right. That this is something to do with a new encoding software that both teams may have used. If they don’t sort it I imagine all future collection sets will repeat the problem.
Ian zygon
November 4th, 2023 - 7:12pmAll my discs have played ok. Think it must be the TV or the player for some people.
The Time Lord 1944
November 5th, 2023 - 12:15amIan Zygon a member of the Restoration Team said his discs played ok on his Oppo but when he stripped back the settings to standard settings he saw the issues. I have an LG player and LG TV that shows the issues while someone else on here has the exact same LG TV and LG player and doesn’t see the issue. It’s a strange one.
Jake E
October 26th, 2023 - 11:20amDoctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials Steelbook just announced!
I hope they don’t miss out The Christmas Special from one of the steelbooks like they’ve previously done.
James
October 26th, 2023 - 11:54amWhere
James
October 26th, 2023 - 1:25pmNever mind seen it now.
The Time Lord 1944
October 26th, 2023 - 9:15pmConfirmation that New Who will still get physical media releases under the Disney plus streaming deal. Great news.
DPHill
October 23rd, 2023 - 3:59pmSomeone has confirmed at the UWM animation Q and A that these animations will eventually, when the times comes (as predicted) will absolutely be on the collection sets!
James
October 23rd, 2023 - 4:34pmIsn’t it a given anyway? The sets would have loads missing if not.
DPHill
October 23rd, 2023 - 6:53pmYes of course but now even more given-ness
Gregor
October 23rd, 2023 - 8:16pmWe’ve know this since season 17 included shada speaking of which where’s the standard edition got to
Jake E
October 24th, 2023 - 9:03amNot just that but also that more animations are confirmed to be coming and that 2 teams are working on them!
DPHill
October 24th, 2023 - 10:32amit really is exciting times!
what do we think is next?
something like this if all of the rumours prove to be true…
Anniversary Treat 2023/4 – Celestial Toymaker??
Spring 2024 – The Smugglers
Late 2024 – The Massacre…
Could it be poissible that Ian Levine has caught wind of a future animation and has attempted to complete it before they do? Or do you think that he would just steer clear if he knew there was some sort of project going on? I really don’t know
Prof Horner
October 24th, 2023 - 11:32amI really think they will do The Wheel in Space before The Massacre. It’s the last Cybermen serial not complete and it will complete season 5. The Massacre is worthy, but not as exciting as a Cybermen serial. Even if The wheel is probably the poorest Cybermen serial of the sixties. I think it and The Space Pirates are just two episodes longer than they should have been.
Pete X
October 24th, 2023 - 1:02pmI’m not expecting 4 animated releases a year. There are only a couple of teams working on the animationss. At best we can only expect 2 releases per year, one from each team, or one per year for two/three years while one of the teams works on the Dalek Masterplan (+Mission to the Unknown).
It is possible that the next release is either the Smugglers or the Celestial Toymaker, but not bothwithin months of each other. Of the rumours around the animation and release of these stories, one might be true but not both. There would need to be a third animation studio or of CT, tS or UM, one would have been made at least a year ago and the release delayed by 12 months or so – delaying a return on the work.
I do think WIS will be animated and released before the collection S5, while SP will be after the release of S6.
I think the Massacre will be the last S3 story to be animated and after the release of the S3 collection (late 2027 or 2028), MM, DMP, CT and tS having been already animated and released as standalones.
James
October 24th, 2023 - 2:20pmPeteX
agree and hope 2 per year but may d a big ask. Rather have it done properly inntesd of rushed. And stick to one style of animation so at keast there’s a bit more continuity especially for season 3 stories.
The remake of mission be better to have on the set instead of animating it. I know it’s only 1 episode but that could money and time be better spent on the other animations. Obviously the bbc would have to agree with the uni team.
Smugglers was rumoured in January along with underwater and the colour episodes.1 has been officially announced and the animations will be uploaded to the iplayer back catalogue next week. So guessing smugglers may not be afraid behind.
Celestial has also been rumoured and would make sense to be released after the 60th maybe around Xmas time along with the 3 specials. As a separate release and part of the 60th anniversary box set. Could be announced on one of the dates rtd has said to look out for.
As only 3 Troughton ones left (highlanders, space and wheel). Male sense to do some of the hartnell ones first as already had 8 2nd Doc and only 1 1st Doc. With 33 episodes across 7 stories of hartnell to animate just the missing eps and only 13 across 3 if Troughton to animate just missing eps. (Not including smugglers or mission).
James
October 25th, 2023 - 7:42amDaily Mirror says Celestial Toymaker will be the next animation. Today’s tv news wed 25th October 23)
D84
October 25th, 2023 - 8:13amI can’t find the article James can you post the URL?
Scotel
October 25th, 2023 - 10:27amGiven the description of the source, it will be in the newspaper itself and not on their website. They’ve done it before, easier to pretend a rumour never happened if the trail is physical rather than digital (not what you’d traditionally expect but that’s the world we live in now).
Jake E
October 25th, 2023 - 10:33amYeah, it’s an article in the actual newspaper.
It’s weird they don’t go into details. It literally just says it’s the next animation and then has like 4 or 5 paragraphs about the 60th anniversary specials using Toymaker
James
October 25th, 2023 - 10:43amD84 ita the small tv section on page 31 Sqaure Eyea
Look WHO’S coming back…
Doctor Who fans can expect plenty of fun and games in the next animation, thanks to The Celestial Toymaker.
The character will appear in the hit BBC show this autumn after being brought back by Russell TDavies for the final special marking the shows 60th anniversary.
Neil Patrick Harris will play the immortal being, who exists only to play games and cause havoc in others lives. But The Celestial Toymaker- a William Hartnell story from 1966- will also be brought back, to life in cartoon form after the master tapes were wiped years ago.
Batman star Michael Gough, inset, originally starred as the villain alongside ‘Allo ‘Allo’s Carman Silvera and former Blue Peter star Peter Perves.
But only part four of the story still exists in the BBC archives after a copy was returned from Australia in February 1984.
An insider said: “For many fans, The Celestial Toymaker is one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever”.
And there is a picture of Harris as the Toymaker leaning on a desk.
Rex F
October 25th, 2023 - 11:55amMaybe a reporter read Mr Levine’s Twitter-now-X account.
DPHill
October 25th, 2023 - 12:56pmhttps://twitter.com/IanLevine/status/1717127641042395498/photo/1
SV7
October 25th, 2023 - 2:08pmDo we know who wrote the report? Is it Nicola Methven again? Also I wonder if this is from the same source as before? If so, it might be independent from the rumours that have been circulating for months now online.
Rory
October 25th, 2023 - 3:39pm@james “An insider said: “For many fans, The Celestial Toymaker is one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever”.”
Which fans did they ask?
I have no name
October 25th, 2023 - 6:26pmA link or tweet or X whatever it’s called now to someone who’s posted about the newspaper article with the paper in a photo https://twitter.com/riccy_unwin/status/1717136767118102697?s=46&t=IY5MhVVIEVUCFXtcg5fpug
Prowl 1702
October 25th, 2023 - 8:04pmI’m willing to bet that the shapeshifter animation project Gordon mentioned recently is the celestial Toymaker. Which mentions it would be a 3D animation.
D84
October 25th, 2023 - 9:20pmVery good, seems promising
See what next Wednesday brings eh (1st Nov)
DPHill
October 26th, 2023 - 9:11amI feel like there may be a collection and animation amongst sone other things on 23rd November as they have done whos bday like that before, 1st will have the i player drop as well as the visual concert performance and talking dr who, 17 is children in need so for me that kind of leaves it’s bday as the announcement day? Thoughts? I do think our Gordon is right about shapeshifter (an ironic name for the company doing toy maker)
D84
October 26th, 2023 - 9:42amFair point DPHill – I had slightly forgotten the significance of the Classic episode collection launching on iPlayer on 1st Nov
Yes we have had a BDay announcement at least last year (Abominable) and likely in the years prior but i forget what.
CIN will almost certainly see something i expect – it was a tradition for the RTD era so i do see that coming back
I am hopeful of a “Collection” announcement soon but with the end of the year fast approaching i cant see it being released before Xmas – unless its purposely been held back and its ready to go but just held back
Prof Horner
October 26th, 2023 - 9:58am@D84. Season 17 was released on the 20th of December 2021. So I suppose there is still time for another release this year. But you would think it will have to be announced within the next week or two.
DPHill
October 26th, 2023 - 11:51am@D84 – i definitely agree that RTD will reprise his CIN parts, and yes, in 2020 they announced pertwee’s Sn8 and troughton’s tWoF [scary] animation, 2021 was abominable, i think last year they didn;t do anything?
it will probably be after xmas now, but still be happy to see it announced on such an auspicious day
@Prof_Horner, you’re right, there still may be time, but that was announced the first week of October, so by that time on 23 nov, it will be getting on a bit unless they break tradition and release it in four weeks, personally i see an end of Jan beginning of Feb release for a Nov announcement.
Prof Horner
October 26th, 2023 - 12:42pm@DPHill, yes I think it is more likely that the next set will be early next year. Maybe around Tom’s 90th birthday at end of January. If it is a Tom Baker season next. Then we will maybe get three sets next year.
Rory
October 26th, 2023 - 3:19pmRadio Times are now reporting Celestial Toymaker being animated, but their article is just a rehash of the Mirror piece, so nothing official there.
Basil Funkenstein
October 26th, 2023 - 5:58pm@prof I agree. There is very sound logic behind thinking that the next collection set released will be late January/early February next year.
If the rumours are true of it being season 15 then I can see 6 and 25 being released next year as well.
Basil Funkenstein
October 26th, 2023 - 6:01pmHow many discs do we predict for each set?
Season 15 is likely going to be 7 discs.
Season 25 most probably 8 discs.
Is Season 6 going to be our first 10 disc set perhaps?
Prof Horner
October 26th, 2023 - 9:22pmRegarding season 6 and how many discs it Will be. It all depends on how many episodes you can get on a single disc. The Invision is 8 episodes and War Games 10 . So you would need discs for their extras at least and another for the bonus disc. So 10 would be about right. As for 15 , seven sounds about right. Maybe 8 for 25 a bit many. But it is McCoy’s last season to be released, so I suppose that is only fair.
DPHill
October 27th, 2023 - 12:47amSn6 should definitely be 10! I think they fitted 8 extended episodes of sn23 on bd1, so 8 is about right with a slight bit of wiggle room, perhaps 9 given that they were extended, I feel like they may split invasion and war games over two discs (the actual stories themselves and not just the special features)
Sn15 – 6 stories and a bonus seem right so 7 would be great
Sn25 – I think 8, remembrance will have two im sure and possibly silver nemesis, im hoping all stories have an extended version like in 24, we shall see but I can’t see it with the amount of extras there are already and stuff they never put on the dvds, 8 seems right
Also After profs mention of Bakers 90th I just can’t see them not doing a Tom after so long!
Looks like we shall hopefully be getting an animation and collection announcement on whos 60th, who knows, maybe even more…?!
DPHill
October 27th, 2023 - 12:54amIn conversation for the rumoured 15, 6 then 25?
John Leeson
Wendy Padbury
Andrew Cartmel (and hopefully something with Terry Malloy and David Banks if not Cartmel)
Basil Funkenstein
October 27th, 2023 - 2:57am@prof
@dphill
Who do we think will be on the behind-the-sofa stuff for each season?
Surely Tom is getting on a bit to be doing that stuff but maybe they have banked a lot of his interviews and bonus material content already. Obviously Louise Jameson should be involved. What other people would you like to see, be it actors or producers of the show, and do you think we’ll get anyone from the modern series again or family members of the cast and crew?
It’s intriguing and exciting trying to guess and predict what they’ll do for each collection set, it’s all part of the hype for me. So looking forward to the announcement for the next season boxset.
Basil Funkenstein
October 27th, 2023 - 3:06amPerhaps for season 6, and all the other seasons from 60’s Who, we’ll get as many as the surviving cast that are able to film the bonus content as possible. It would be brilliant if they stuck to that formula for each era, for example 70’s companions and crew from the 70’s era, with the exception being season 8 so far with Sacha Dhawan who had a connection with Roger Delgado via The Master, and 80’s companions and crew from the 80’s era.
Obviously they might have to mix eras here and there, which they have done already, but I think it’s cool that that might be the predominant rule/formula of the Behind the Sofa bonuses.
The Time Lord 1944
October 22nd, 2023 - 6:35pmThe recent tweet from Mr Coburn says the BBC have approached him again and although the money offerred has not increased there have been certain other offers that they have made. He has sent their latest communication to his solicitor. Certainly doesn’t sound as hopeless as before. He certainly says he will consider it with his solicitor and see what happens.
The Time Lord 1944
October 22nd, 2023 - 6:46pmHe also says fans need to stop being abusive on his twitter if they want a deal to be reached.
D84
October 22nd, 2023 - 7:31pmI can totally understand that too, we need to leave him alone.
It will get sorted I’m sure, the Beeb are not going to give up on AUC as it’s “The ORIGINAL – you might say”
Rory
October 23rd, 2023 - 9:44amSounds promising. Let the lawyers do their thing and let calmer heads prevail. Hopefully they can iron things out in time for us to get the rumoured colourised Unearthly Child this year.
Antagonising the man over this is just counter-productive.
beef
October 25th, 2023 - 4:06amYou’re right, Rory. But let’s not forget that he is a really horrible individual for other reasons not just this one.
Rory
October 25th, 2023 - 9:20am@beef, absolutely agree. I haven’t read any of the things he’s said as I don’t use Twitter/X, but what has been reported by others is heinous and deserves to be called out.
I was specifically saying that people shouldn’t hassle him over Unearthly Child, and let the BBC’s lawyers do their thing.
D84
October 22nd, 2023 - 5:41pmHurrah we’re back online
James
October 22nd, 2023 - 10:25pmWhat happened? Other parts of the site OK just Merchandise couldn’t be accessed
booboo
October 23rd, 2023 - 8:16amserver migration they didn’t tell us about and it should have just been overnight not a whole day
James
October 20th, 2023 - 10:31amJust rereading the daily mirror article from. January. Said about episodes being coloured for broadcast and maybe unearthly child being a certain for the mix. Obvs uec currently not going to be seen. But maybe it wasn’t referring to eps being coloured, maybe it was referring to the animations that have been coloured. As these will all be on iPlayer. Just a thought. Maybe the s1 collection will be coming sooner then expected before the distribution of physical media runs out.
D84
October 20th, 2023 - 12:10pmJames yes it was leaked and mentioned that early episodes such as AUC would be colourised for transmission around 60th anniversary but with the rights issue that has blown up and BBC’s confirmation that AND won’t be in iPlayer come 1st Nov I guess that may have fallen through for now.
Someone mentioned not too long ago that restoration on S1 had not yet begun, so I would guess that one coming out is at least 18 months away (personal opinion)
Scotel
October 20th, 2023 - 2:40pmThe BBC’s lawyers will have double and triple checked everything. There’s no way they’d have gone ahead with colourising An Unearthly Child without clearing everything first given the time and money involved.
As I’ve said before I will not at all be surprised if it turns out that the Smugglers animation and 60s colourisation thing jointly end up being a reference to the recoloured clips and nothing more.
James
October 20th, 2023 - 6:27pmD84. But I heard somewhere the rights for physical media distribution run out for series 1 soon with regards to uec. So would it not be bumped up the list so it doesn’t effect its release if left for later down the line?
Odd the person only moans about it during am anniversary year. Last time they complained during it’s 50th year. Don’t hear about them the rest of the time. It’s a shame doesn’t want the work celebrated if they had a relative involved.
As they have picked certain stories to complete with animation, makes you wonder which other missing ones they know are out there and hope for their return.
As there are 6 full stories completely missing (Marco, myth, massacre, savages, smugglers (possibly animated for this year), highlanders) and 5 stories with 1/2/3 episodes in storage (crusade, dmp, celestial (possibly animated for the 60th), wheel and space). O
Obviously doing UWM to get s4 more complete (as smugglers maybe done this year only leaving story short =highlanders) but crusade has the same amount of episodes missing (both 2/4). Unless it will be get the sets all out 1-6 with each having 1 story per set with a recon of some sort (s1 Marco, s2 crusade, S3 ?, s4 highlanders, s5 wheel, s6 pirates).
They could leave a space in 1,3-6 for a disc once they get worked in after it’s release to insert.
Rory
October 23rd, 2023 - 9:54am@james, although Crusade has the same number of missing episodes, it also has a lot of costumes and characters. UWM is much smaller scale, so less work to animate.
I’m happy for them to release Collection sets with one story as a recon since I collect the animation steelbooks as well.
I don’t think leaving a space for future animations would be a good idea since these sets are going to be massive anyway, and it would just make the set look incomplete unless you spring for the animation also.
Jake E
October 18th, 2023 - 10:20pmI’ve noticed just now on Britbox that a lot of shows such as Only Fools and Horses are saying they leave Britbox in 14 days!
What’s going on? For reference I have Britbox with Amazon Prime Video
Jake E
October 18th, 2023 - 12:18pmHas anyone heard anything about the dodgy Season 20 Blu-Ray discs?
Sorry to bring this up again but it’s been the better part of a month now with no resolutions
D84
October 18th, 2023 - 1:42pmIve watched AOI, Snakedance and Mawdryn so far – all good here
AfricanQueen
October 18th, 2023 - 2:59pmI’m having issues with all discs except Five Doctors, such a shame as will send them back and stick to the DVDs .
The Time Lord 1944
October 18th, 2023 - 6:47pmNot heard anything yet. The issues seem complicated and I imagine it may take time to work out what’s causing the issues and which discs or batches are effected. I had similar issues on my Wicker Man Blu-ray. Similar juddering
that wasn’t on the previous Wicker Man Blu-ray. Maybe it’s an issue where the discs are manufactured. Recently you shared a twitter post from the Restoration Team on the issue. Do you have a link for that twitter page so I can keep an eye out for any updates?
Dr Blyss
October 18th, 2023 - 8:11pmAside from the motion blur issues with some of the discs (I also still have my PS3 for blu rays, so thank you to the poster who posted the settings tip, it worked) and Stef Coburn holding An Unearthly Child to ransom, has anyone else experienced the usual quality issues with this release I.e. poor gluing in the rear and the disc trays tearing loose under the weight of the trays? I have ordered 2 from Amazon, both new and sealed but have arrived damaged. The first with an poorly constructed J card and sizeable crease in the inner flap cover where the disc tray has fallen against the edge of the flap and the tray torn away from the rear cover of the box. The second arrived as raised as faulty with Amazon, the second the J card and inner flap were OK, but the tray had come away on this one as well. Opted to super glue it back into place, which is the first release I have done this for (I have all the others, the other release this poorly put together was Season 24 and I have had four copies of that before I managed to get a decent undamaged one) as I couldn’t be bothered with the faff of trying to return and request a third off Amazon. I am contemplating not ordering any future releases from them based on lately.
Rex F
October 18th, 2023 - 10:38pmIt’s not a batch fault, nor manufacturing glitch, this is something caused before physical manufacture. Physical defects don’t manifest like this and it wouldn’t be possible to address by forcing interlace – something in the physical realm would be quickly found by burning a BD-R. Like you said, this is something complicated – and apparently new.
The Time Lord 1944
October 18th, 2023 - 10:47pmRex F I am sure you are right but what puzzles me is why someone else with the exact same Blu-ray player as me doesn’t see the fault. What are they doing that’s hiding it?
Rex F
October 19th, 2023 - 5:51amIt could be different firmware, or there could be another menu option somewhere that also needs changing (where you both have it on opposite settings). The other possibility is that their TV is interpolating inbetweens on the problem sections, when yours isn’t, so it’s just masking the problem for them. (Or they’re like my dad and just don’t see it!)
Ricky
October 19th, 2023 - 11:58amDid you manage to update your firmware on your lg player time lord?
D84
October 17th, 2023 - 10:46pmWhat are people’s thoughts on if we will see a 3rd Collection set this calendar year?
When is the next DWM out? You’d think it would get a mention in that so if that’s soon – we may not see that 3rd set pre Christmas?
DPHill
October 18th, 2023 - 9:20amI think january or February are most likely, usually eight weeks from announcement in recent times and it is kind of getting late, I think it could form part of some anniversary announcements next month, after which it will defo be 2024
Pattern so far considering they April to March
2018/19 – 12, 19, 18
2019/20 – 10, 23, 26
2020/21 – 14, 8
2021/22 – 24, 17
2022/23 – 22, 2, 9
2023/24 – 20, XX?, ?
Wonder if this financial year will see three, which is possible…
D84
October 18th, 2023 - 9:41amYea i’m starting to think we may see an announcement soon – but the actual release of that set will drift into 2024
We’ll see, if an announcement doesn’t come before the end of this month – I think the chances of that set being released pre Christmas is slim
Prof Horner
October 18th, 2023 - 10:13amI suspect that is too late for another release this year. Maybe early next year, with any luck.
James
October 18th, 2023 - 11:13amBe around Christmas for january/February.
Got the uwm out in November. Should get an official announcement this month for smugglers animation. And next month celestial toymaker animation.
Guessing the color transition of UEC is not going to happen this year with what’s currently going on. Amazon have had it this week as top seller which is no surprise. Most likely being brought up and resold for stupid prices online. Lucky got mine when it came out first time round. Plus still got the VHS copy. Kept all of the VHS copies I have stored away. Watch now and again for nostalgia.
Hoping for Tom set next .
With all the 2nd Doc series having 1 story not complete (highlanders, wheel, space), van see them being released with either recons, telesnaps, or just the audio. Shame but season 2 had 1 story short, so seems if each had 1 short 5 or 6 could be next. 4 would have to be put back a bit for after smugglers has been out a while.
Series 3 be a long way off as so much work. Series 1 let’s bot get into it lol
Rory
October 18th, 2023 - 2:34pm@james, my money’s on s6, so they can recoup as much as possible on the individual animations for s5. Also, we are due a Troughton.
Highly doubt we’ll see another Hartnell for a while given the issues with Unearthly Child, and the sheer number of missing episodes in s3.
Anon
October 18th, 2023 - 6:16pmLets get that standard season 17 out for preorder first..
Gordon
October 17th, 2023 - 7:37pmIf anybody is wondering about stef’s mental state. He’s planning on leaving his father’s doctor who IPs with an enemy of the bbc. The enemy being THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION who “will prosecute till the cows come home”
I wish I was joking or making this up!
the timelord 1944
October 20th, 2023 - 1:49pmWe could do with a rich fan making him an offer he cant refuse who then sells the rights back to the BBC for the price the BBC is able to pay. There are some rich and famous fans out there. Failing that fan crowdfund through the conventions etc.
SV7
October 17th, 2023 - 4:30pmOk, so An Unearthly Child won’t be on iPlayer from Nov. 1st, that is now sadly, a fact.
Now the next important question: Do we know if the beginning box set DVD is going to drift out of print?
Gordon
October 17th, 2023 - 7:38pmToo early to say. Nobody seems quite sure just yet.
Rex F
October 17th, 2023 - 9:12pmThe issue would be how the contract renews – is it just the BBC’s option or not. I can’t see BBC Studios talking, so you’d have to see if another estate from the same period would talk about their contract, assuming they’re fairly standard. But there are loads of copies out there, used and new, for anyone who cares that much (before we start on naughty copies and streams – a quick Google will likely keep anyone who wants to watch happy).
Prowl 1701
October 17th, 2023 - 11:12pmOn Amazon UK The Beginnings boxset is currently the #1 seller in the Television category right now. Crazy, this is all just so crazy.
http://www.amazon.co.uk
James
October 18th, 2023 - 11:24amAlready 2 people cashing in online. 1 for £100 and 1 for £200. Still got my set and the VHS copy. If the BBC can’t show it surely the shopping side of the company cant reprint and sell anymore copies? Shame as I was looking forward to a colour/blu ray version.
Jake E
October 18th, 2023 - 12:17pmDoesn’t the DVD rights run out either the end of this year or early next year?
Which would mean if they want to do a Blu-ray then it needs to be released now. Maybe just do a Blu-Ray of Unearthly Child which we can then put in a future Season 1 set if they leave the disc 1 slot empty
the timelord 1944
October 18th, 2023 - 8:40pmJake E thats a great idea but I think bluray releases need a seperate rights agreement. I might be wrong but Im sure thats what held up some of Networks bluray releases because they were seperate rights and had to be renegotiated for bluray. I might be wrong though.
Rex F
October 18th, 2023 - 11:05pmTimelord 1944: Most of the UK union agreements refer to one term for all home video formats (one of them still even specifies videotape as meaning any home format). When the RT reached a point of doing only DVDs they explained that everything was cleared because the BBC had current “videogram” rights. The separate rights agreement would usually refer to the owning company, so mainly ITV Studios for Network who obviously want to squeeze out every penny. The studios don’t use “videogram” in their contracts when it benefits them not to… (I remember when the Beeb got burned because they’d licensed out too vague optical disc format rights sometime before DVD was launched, thinking they were only talking VCD and LD. Whoops.)
SV7
October 19th, 2023 - 7:07pmI’m hoping that the DVD rights will renew indefinitely as long as the set stays the same. It has been in print since 2006 after all, and Stef claims that he’s owned the IP for An Unearthly Child since 2013 (as far as I know).
Some copies of the box set I’ve seen in HMV recently before all this kicked off have all three stories in clear cases (not silver), which surely means that they must date from post 2020?
SV7
October 20th, 2023 - 5:08pmUPDATE: Went to my local HMV today. The Beginning box set I saw on the shelf definitely had all three stories in transparent cases, which surely means they must date from mid-2020 at the latest, seven years after Stef claims he inherited the rights to An Unearthly Child.
The Amazon UK listing is currently saying that 400+ have been sold in the past month. I really, really hope that this DVD will stay in print for many years to come…
Whoooooo
November 6th, 2023 - 11:59pmVideogram is future proofing and should cover physical, but not online
Samuel
October 17th, 2023 - 2:16pmIt’s been shared on Twitter as a light hearted joke, but I’m seriously wondering if the BBC may produce a 10 minute short introductory feature (for Iplayer & Disney) with the ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ cast remaking / summarizing the very first serial, with anything Coburn related completely excluded.
Otherwise, at the very least, a 10 minute summarisation by David Tennant or Ncuti Gatwa, as The Doctor, reminiscing / recalling the events of An Unearthly Child.
The original serial is very easy to obtain elsewhere, however for generations to come that simply don’t have, or don’t carry physical media or downloads on computers, purely watching Doctor Who on streaming, I think just leaving no reference at all to the very first story will just look so random, let alone on the 60th year, or the 70th year to come.
DP Hill
October 17th, 2023 - 2:02pmI really can’t see them wanting to do one without the first ever story given that it is not even lost, it’s lost in rights limbo, I think if they figure something out, it’s definite, but I would be quite sad not to see it because it is very different to actual missing episodes being filled in with telesnaps and animations where we are lucky. That would eb a massive shame not to have it on the set, despite it making the load of discs a little lighter as I could see the first ever story having enough features for two discs.
Gordon
October 16th, 2023 - 12:13pmhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ghwp8w
On a more positive note they are listing programme guides for every episode of the first 5 seasons. There are also pages for all the animated episodes (yes even web 3) with the exceptions of the underwater menace all the abominable snowman. Which suggests all the animations up to galaxy 4 will be included on iPlayer.
D84
October 16th, 2023 - 9:11pmLooking positive Gordon thanks
James
October 17th, 2023 - 11:16amAlso lists the missing eps aswell. (Smugglers, dmp) found?or just putting all synopsis up?
RPG74
October 17th, 2023 - 11:33amI wonder if the Beginning boxsets will sell out now.
Gordon
October 17th, 2023 - 11:55amIt’s just synopsis James.
Gordon
October 17th, 2023 - 12:10pmI suspect it will sell out but I’m sure more will get manufactured if they can be legally allowed to. Everything seems up in the air. Richard bignell isn’t even sure if Auc is going to be releasable on blu ray as things stand.
RPG74
October 17th, 2023 - 5:43pmI’m not sure if this would work, but if the Beeb have enough DVDs of AUC from the Beginning set, couldn’t they just stick them in the Season 1 collection set instead?
Samuel
October 14th, 2023 - 1:31pmHoping someone more informed than me can help verify this;
The BBC’s YouTube channel have apparently only recently been making clips of An Unearthly Child private? (ITVX’s contract is allegedly soon to run out also) Would there be at least some amount of legitimacy towards the Corburn distribution claims?
SV7
October 14th, 2023 - 8:04pmI don’t have a Twitter (X) account, but I am slightly curious as to what that platform’s users are making of this situation. Really starting to look like Doctor Who on iPlayer is going to start with “The Daleks”.
Prof Horner
October 14th, 2023 - 9:30pmIt’s very sad and quite unpleasant the way the son of the series original writer is behaving. Not just blocking the screening of Unearthly Child and making wild claims that his father co created Doctor Who. But worse still making some disgusting comments about new Who. Sad indeed.
The Time Lord 1944
October 14th, 2023 - 11:27pmThe tweets from Coburn’s son are very convincing. It looks like Season 1, if it comes to bluray, will be incomplete unless the situation changes. Which will involve more money to pay for the rights and a few other demands, that I can’t see BBC agreeing to.
Gordon
October 15th, 2023 - 2:43amWell according to stef coburn (son of Anthony) he claims he has removed the licence for the bbc to use an unearthly child (he calls it the tribe of gum). He says it won’t go on iPlayer. He says the bbc offered him a pittance (in a previous tweet he claimed he turned down flat £20,000). He wants the bbc to “deal fairly”. He also says “As matters stand, they will NEVER AGAIN have the right to distribute Tony’s episodes”
If the name rings a bell it’s because he tried something similar 10 years ago. 10 years ago he accused the bbc of stealing his father’s idea of the tardis and wanted the bbc to either stop using it or pay his father’s estate for every time it’s mentioned or shown. Obviously that didn’t happen but he seems undeterred by it. He’s also claiming among other things that terry nation plagiarised his robots of Luxor script with the original dalek story.
Looking through his twitter feed it’s full of conspiracy nonsense, racist homophobic and transphobic vile tweets so I don’t think he’s a very rational man.
Going by what I heard his father was quite abusive towards him so I feel it’s a bit more complex than him simply cashing in on his father. There is father son issues here and I don’t feel 100 percent comfortable heading here.
I really don’t know if has the power to stop this. It’s still on britbox. Could just be him mouthing off for attention. Seems a very complex legal situation. Probably see the courts get involved. If he can block it just Don’t expect a season 1 box set until it gets sorted.
Auton
October 15th, 2023 - 9:05amThere was a BBC news article about giving Anthony Coburn more credit as he was a forgotten name, ironic that his son is now only going to make Doctor Who turn against him if he continues down this path of stupidity. Most of the ideas for the an unearthly Child came from Sydney Newman, David Whittaker and Verity Lambert and of course the main cast so what did Anthony actually contribute, the boring and slow Caveman scenes?
Gordon
October 15th, 2023 - 12:33pmSeems like the issue has been ongoing for some time. A German release of an unearthly child was blocked in 2021:
Well, our German label mentioned repeatedly in a podcast and on stage at TimeLash, what strange thing happened in 2021 to their ability to publish Unearthly Child… so I guess, it is not strictly speaking a secret and I can mention it as well.
Because I think it is part of the same thing, and Coburn can and did block any new releases of Unearthly Child (or Tribe of Gum as he insists on calling it).
About two years ago, early in 2021, our German label wanted to publish a limited edition Mediabook repack of the German release of Unearthly Child (Kind von den Sternen, as it is called over her). This time it finally was supposed to be a Beginning set.
Well – back then they suddenly were informed about a problem with the licence, that had come to the BBC’s attention, which resulted in a worldwide block of any new releases of Unearthly Child.
The BBC never specified, what the problem was exactly … but I guess, now we know.
James
October 15th, 2023 - 3:34pmGuess the rumoured transmission of a coloured version of this story is just a drem then for at least this year. One day it will be back, one day. Until then…lol
SV7
October 15th, 2023 - 3:57pmSo, will the Beginning box set now drift out of print? Genuinely crazy that this has been allowed to happen. Surely the BBC can’t just stand by and do nothing.
Rex F
October 15th, 2023 - 5:33pmRichard Bignell previously said that the issue that he could have a point on relates to Coburn receiving a contract during about four days when he wasn’t a BBC staff writer – so did he do the actual work as a freelancer or staffer? I think the BBC are classing him as staff, which means certain rights are covered (with or without a fee) but other rights aren’t and still need negotiation. They got around the previous repeat block (BBC4) because of some rule that allows them to defer to previous agreements in a new dispute (as per a member of the old Restoration Team), but I’d wager Coburn jr was the sudden “rights issue” that stopped series three and four of Warship receiving a DVD, him playing silly beggars because he couldn’t get his own way on Who.
I wouldn’t normally recommend a trip to the Missing Episodes forum, but there’s pure factual info there from Mr Bignell, including the elements that Coburn Sr created (not just the cave men, unfortunately).
Worst case scenario, Coburn copyrights expire Dec 31st 2047.
Rex F
October 15th, 2023 - 8:21pmWas Coburn in the Writers’ Guild? That will also affect things, although there’s less open info on the UK union compared to the WGA. (A disgruntled heir definitely can’t play this game with recent scripts.)
SV7
October 15th, 2023 - 8:44pmSo does this effectively mean that the earliest we could see a complete Season 1 Blu-ray is in 25 years time? Flippin’ eck…
But on a more serious note, the BBC own Doctor Who. Surely any court jury would side with the BBC? I mean come on, if “The Masters of Luxor” had been made instead of “The Daleks”, Doctor Who would’ve in all likelihood been cancelled after the first 13 episodes, as was originally planned had Dalekmania never happened!
The fact that the BBC haven’t commented on it officially (as far as I know) surely means there must be some hope? I’m still half expecting “An Unearthly Child” to be there safe & sound on iPlayer from Nov 1st despite all this drama Mr. Coburn Jr. has created.
Rex F
October 16th, 2023 - 3:15amI’m also expecting it to be on iPlayer in some form, because they’ll find a loophole like before – Auntie Beeb has legal teams, Coburn the younger doesn’t even have a no win, no fee lawyer. (And who credible would want to represent him when his formerly-known-as-Twitter feed is publicly accessible?) It’s just other stuff where he’ll kick up a stink, things not under the staff contract, like he blocked the audio book after it was recorded (Coburn’s widow presumably gave initial permission, but died before everything was finalised). Let’s just be glad there wasn’t any US involvement when Who was created, because then I could imagine some deluded, crackpot lawyer getting involved and dragging things out…
If you look online you’ll also see claims from others that the draft scripts for The Tribe of Gum and Masters of Luxor also clearly show the origins of the sonic screwdriver, Daleks, regeneration, and pretty much everything else in Who. It sounds like someone took that at face value and became unhappy when no one with a brain cell would agree it was true.
Gordon
October 16th, 2023 - 9:12amNo it means it will be the absolute latest it will be before it gets sorted. December 2047 is when it goes public domain. It could be solved earlier if
A) there is some sort of agreement between stef and the bbc. Probably unlikely to happen as he blames the bbc for causing a heart attack that killed his father and he also accuses them of blackmail stealing his ip and is treating the whole thing as some sort of vendetta.
B) a court case clears up all of his claims
C) he passes away and whoever takes over his estate is willing to agree on terms.
He is 69 just now. He’d have to live till he he is 93.
Having listened to his interview for type 40 I don’t think his claims can be legally usable in court. It’s all he said.
My advice is just leave the bbc to it. It’s a complex legal issue plus I’m convinced he has serious mental health issues. Antagonising him online is only going to make things worse. I’ve heard that there is a Facebook group planning on doxing his address to go and visit him. Whatever you do Please Don’t do that.
The Time Lord 1944
October 16th, 2023 - 1:38pmIf he really is taking on the BBC over this it is strange that he did not block the recent Maigret Blu-ray release, a BBC series that included an Anthony Coburn episode. It does suggest it’s more to do with his issues over the direction of Dr Who than the money, which is impossible to negotiate.
DPHill
October 16th, 2023 - 2:30pmI agree with Gordon on this, that’s the last point of all else fails in 2047 but im sure something will be reached before then, sooner, we all hope, although I do think that visiting him would personally be interesting to see why, but not to shout at him or anything, I do think he is clearly troubled and antagonising him in a whovian mob would be unfair and rude, I think we are better than that as a fandom
Scotel
October 16th, 2023 - 2:39pmNoting that I am not a lawyer, to the best of my understanding and having had a look at the legislation in question, the script won’t independently fall into public domain in January 2048. The whole work is tied up behind the last of the writers, director and composer (so in the case of An Unearthly Child that’s Warris Hussein who is thankfully still with us to sort out some of Coburn’s more ridiculous claims).
The BBC’s lawyers are on it and he’s made enough of a fool of himself I’m sure there will be enough to work with if anything comes up.
Rex F
October 16th, 2023 - 6:08pmTime Lord 1944: The Maigret series is now owned by the Simenon estate, at least for non-broadcast rights. (Network wouldn’t tell me exactly how that happened though.)
Gordon
October 16th, 2023 - 9:22pmThe time Lord 1944 he’s made some unrepeatable homophobic, racist remarks about ncuti being cast and transphobic comments about Jinx moonsoon too . It’s clear he has an axe to grind with this show.
There is one thing that doesn’t add up. stef claims he cancelled the licence as soon as he could.He got his hands on the estate august 2013. He also claimed he just found about britbox showing an unearthly child in the last few days. Britbox has had it in the us since 2017 and U.K. in 2019. Wonder who licensed it to britbox if it wasn’t stef? Something really doesn’t add up. I’m getting more and more convinced it’s all talk
Ben
October 17th, 2023 - 12:49amGreat insights Gordon. The worst-case scenario is worrying, but the legal ground he stands on is so shaky that the BBC will surely be able to sort something out.
Also: I’m not knowledgeable in this area, but from what I gather, a work can be copyright-protected in one country but not another. Although it doesn’t help the situation at all, it’s nice to know that New Zealand’s shorter copyright duration means that An Unearthly Child is technically out of copyright here.
simon.ss1
October 17th, 2023 - 9:46amWhether the blocking of An Unearthly Child is true or not, Anthony Coburn’s son should take enormous pride in his father’s influential contribution to Dr Who.
An Unearthly Child celebrates, reinforces, and helps keep his father’s memory alive.
What greater legacy could there be?
Gordon
October 17th, 2023 - 11:14amSeems like it’s not just talk. Radio times has confirmed from a bbc spokesperson that the first 4 episodes won’t be on iPlayer when it launches next month
dave
October 17th, 2023 - 11:15amBBC have caved and removed it from the ilayer library coming in november. they just announced it
RPG74
October 17th, 2023 - 11:36amWonder if The Beginning boxsets will sell out now.
Gordon
October 17th, 2023 - 11:54amI don’t think the bbc haven’t caved. If they had he would have gotten whatever he wanted and it would be put up on iPlayer.
What he wants exactly I’m not 100 percent sure but he was rambling about part of his father’s frontier 21 script and the £20k being a pittance compared to what Gary lineker gets.
Neill Stringer
October 17th, 2023 - 12:21pmWith the latest News about An Unearthly Child, does that mean we won’t be getting a season 1 boxset then?
Gordon
October 17th, 2023 - 12:46pmIt will still happen. Whether or not an unearthly child will be included with it is currently up in the air.
Rex F
October 17th, 2023 - 2:32pmScotel: You’re reading about rights to the programme as a whole as in before anyone can broadcast/release it (so rights to say costumes don’t protect the work as a whole, you can put it on youtube even if the costume designer is alive and well at age 200 – just don’t go selling a replica costume). Since the script is the only problem element for the BBC, they get what they want when Coburn’s personal rights expire.
Gordon: That would mean Mrs Coburn was still in charge until 2013, or an agent working for her, and most of these things last five or ten years. If a stream classes as a broadcast, and BBC4 could screen a repeat in 2013, there was probably something left over and junior had to wait. The other possibility is that they’re only now looking at the possibility of Coburn’s work being freelance, so certain rights stop being automatic.
Ben: It would have still been four more years in NZ for the written script, even before their recent extension to match EU durations.
Simon.ss1: He is very proud, which is why he thinks it’s worth £££. (The 20k he was offered is already far more than the usual royalty.)
Bobby Fackrell
October 12th, 2023 - 6:47pmThis ‘Look who’s driving’ film is terrible
Prowl 1701
October 12th, 2023 - 9:03pmDisagree, it was hilarious. I laughed out loud through a fair amount of it. Though the bit with Janet doing poetry in the woods was a bit meh. I think it boils down to how much you like the bickering of Tardis Team 5, I tend to love it. The Let’s Go Dutch one wasn’t as good, but still enjoyable.
Ben
October 13th, 2023 - 12:43amTerrible how Bobby? I haven’t got my set yet, is it poorly made or just unfunny?
Bobby Fackrell
October 13th, 2023 - 6:32amIt’s just very contrived and not remotely funny. It’s solely based on the Davison and Fielding love hate arguing but it’s very unnatural and staged.
The ‘Let’s go Dutch’ is a better watch largely due to Mark Strikson driving it.
Overall, the highlight of the box set for me by far was ‘The Five Doctors’ 40th anniversary that was excellent.
Auton
October 13th, 2023 - 6:32amI thought it was very fun and enjoyable, one of the key highlights of this set’s new special features
Gordon
October 13th, 2023 - 9:27amSome of it was probably preplanned but I still found it really entertaining. I was howling with laughter. Did enjoy the going Dutch documentary more though. Partly as I’ve been to the Amsterdam locations before
daz
October 13th, 2023 - 12:16pmI enjoyed both, especially ‘Let’s go Dutch’ but mainly for the interview bit on the train.
Prof Horner
October 13th, 2023 - 1:57pmBoth road trip and let’s go Dutch were great fun. I’m afraid I will have to disagree with you again Bobby.
Bobby Fackrell
October 13th, 2023 - 11:52pmNot fully Prof I liked Let’s Go Dutch, so we don’t fully disagree. It’s like we both love series 25 but I can’t agree with you on Silver Nemesis I think it’s rubbish but you love it
Prowl 1701
October 14th, 2023 - 8:02pmI enjoy silver nemesis, just rewatched it the other day. Falls apart a bit in episode 3, but overall a nice watch.
James
October 11th, 2023 - 10:51amFantastic news about all Clasic Who being added to BBC iPlayer. But will this affect the sales of the Collection sets? With all the xtra conenet they are adding to the BBC Doctor Who page (audios, interviews, documents).
James
October 11th, 2023 - 2:30pmRedo my comment as errors.
Did enjoy the remakes they did with actors. Would be nice to see a live action version of a Hartnell story. Possibly DMP as 9 eps missing, follow on from the Uni remake of Mission
Jake E
October 11th, 2023 - 4:13pmI don’t think it will affect sales for the Limited Edition too much. Lots of us love seeing them on our shelves and we are too far in to quit buying them now. Also we get all the extras that won’t be on BBC iPlayer to go a long with the stunning artwork.
I could see it hurting the Standard edition Blu-Rays quite a bit though and absolutely destroy Britbox. I know I’ll be getting rid of Britbox soon now. It will also hurt ITVX a bunch probably.
If this somehow helps us to get more animations then cool. I do find it interesting about all the sign language and stuff that they are doing for iPlayer that won’t be on any of the Blu-Rays
Gordon
October 13th, 2023 - 9:53amBritbox is pretty much done in the U.K. anyway. Since itv bought the bbc studios share and brought the catalogue to itvx it’s been on borrowed time. On their own website it redirects you to subscribe to itv x. Can see it closing sooner rather than later
Gordon
October 10th, 2023 - 6:18pmhttps://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fyi/359/animated-dads-army-on-gold/
Seems like the animation team was busy doing dads army episodes as well as underwater menace. Back in 2016 they animated stripe for Fraser. They have now animated the other 2 missing episodes and 2 Christmas skits. Will be shown on gold next month
Jake E
October 11th, 2023 - 8:59amThis is so cool. Dad’s Army finally complete.
I hope this gets a physical release. Maybe give the whole show a Blu-ray would be nice. Does any of the shows film survive?
I think some of it was filmed with film right?
James
October 11th, 2023 - 10:35amDid enjoy the remains they did with actors. Would be jokes to see a live action version of a hartnell story. Possibly DMP as 9 eps missing.
Gordon
October 11th, 2023 - 12:17pmThe remakes got a dvd/blu ray release through network so I’m sure it will get released in some form. Won’t be through network though as they are no more
Jake E
October 11th, 2023 - 4:14pmI find it a little bit funny that for the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who we get multiple new Dads Army animations and all of Blackadder on Blu-Ray haha 🙂
Anon
October 11th, 2023 - 5:29pmI have so much good stuff on Network DVD. The clifton house mystery, Sky, king of the castle and children of the stones. Classic cult telly from my 70s childhood. Perfect now the dark nights are drawing in again.
The Time Lord 1944
October 12th, 2023 - 7:48pmGordon I spoke to someone high up in a rival nostalgia dvd/Blu-ray label the other day. He said the network catalogue is in limbo because of the company being in administration. All the rights etc are tied up in limbo. However, as most of Networks catalogue was Fremantle and released through a third company via Network he is expecting most of the catalogue to reappear repackaged. Network were the middle man and did have their own restoration facilities so could restore some obscure stuff but he says most of their catalogue will live on and he expects new releases will appear too when Fremantle and the other company ( can’t remember the name of it, Spirit or something ) get access to the titles back.
Gordon
October 13th, 2023 - 10:17amThey have released so many good releases over the years. The prisoner, danger man, the professionals, man in a suitcase, the saint, world at war, Robin of sherwood, animals of farthing wood, all the Gerry Anderson releases the list goes on. Such as shame it went into liquidation when it did as I hear thunderbirds was pretty much the next Gerry Anderson set that was going to happen. I’m sure all the existing content will pop up elsewhere. Far too valuable to be left to rot.
Rex F
October 14th, 2023 - 7:19amA few things:
Dad’s Army film inserts survive for the titles (35mm) and one Xmas special (16mm).
The BBC were going to do a DVD of the DA remakes originally, but then it curiously moved to Network minus the Stripe animation (so BBC-owned elements removed). On the plus side, it was upgraded to Blu-ray.
Some Network stuff has already transferred – Anderson Entertainment has re-released the content they produced (docs, concert) and also Space Patrol (which Network acted as exclusive distributor for).
Spirit Entertainment acted as Network’s distributor to retail. Most Network content came from ITV Studios, StudioCanal and Fremantle (probably Fremantle second just due to library sizes) although the Fremantle situation was a little odd as some discs were still being produced by them – which ties in with Network acting as middle-man on those. I’d not be surprised to see Fremantle titles pop up again (Fabulous Films already circling some?) but ITV have developed a reputation, so if they don’t do theirs themselves I don’t know who will. They only like to license in bulk, because it’s not worth their time/effort otherwise, but other than Network everyone else was put off – although saying that I can see someone like Fabulous now going after a package of newly available ITC titles in HD, even if not Yus My Dear and Clayhanger et al on DVD.
Samuel
October 10th, 2023 - 5:54pmBrace yourselves; Dimensions in Time and Doctor in Distress in 4K Ultra HDR with Dolby Atmos mix by Mark Ayers coming to BBC Iplayer!
D84
October 11th, 2023 - 9:51amWhere did you hear about this Samuel? is it on the iPlayer announcement?
Jake E
October 11th, 2023 - 4:15pmD84 my suspicion is that this may be a joke 🙂