April 14th, 2026
1,121 comments
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Doctor Who The Collection Season 21 Limited Edition
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk, www.zavvi.com, www.rarewaves.com and various retailers on www.ebay.co.uk
Protective Slipcovers and Sleeves can now be ordered from the Steelbook Central ebay store.
Doctor Who fans can continue to build their own home archive on Blu-ray with a ten-disc box set of the climactic 21st Season, starring Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and introducing Colin Baker as the Sixth incarnation.
- WARRIORS OF THE DEEP
- THE AWAKENING
- FRONTIOS
- RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS
- PLANET OF FIRE
- THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI
- THE TWIN DILEMMA
In his final season, the action ramps up for Peter Davison’s Doctor as he faces terrors from his past, invaders from the future, arch enemies and a battle to the death. With companions Tegan (Janet Fielding), Turlough (Mark Strickson), Peri (Nicola Bryant) and robot Kamelion (Gerald Flood) the Doctor journeys from an underwater seabase to contemporary England, from a devastated Earth colony to the beaches of Lanzarote, from a volcanic alien world to the deadly caves on Androzani.
Along the way, the TARDIS crew confront Daleks, Sea Devils, Silurians, Tractators, slug-like Gastropods, the evil Malus and the vengeful Master!
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 21 is also jam-packed with hours of new and exclusive material including:
UPDATED SPECIAL EFFECTS
On The Awakening, Frontios, Resurrection Of The Daleks and The Caves Of Androzani
WARRIORS OF THE DEEP: SPECIAL EDITION
An exciting four-part re-edit with updated special effects and immersive 5.1 surround sound mix
IN CONVERSATION
Matthew Sweet chats to Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough) and Matthew Waterhouse (Adric)
NEW MAKING-OF DOCUMENTARIES
For Resurrection Of The Daleks and The Twin Dilemma
LOOK WHO’S BOATING
Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton take to the River for an epic adventure.
48 HOURS WITH FIELDING
Toby Hadoke crashes at Janet Fielding’s
BEHIND THE SOFA
New episodes with Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Bonnie Langford (Mel), Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Tara Ward (Preston), Keith Jayne (Will), Jeff Rawle (Plantagenet), Rula Lenska (Styles), director Graeme Harper, Paul Conrad (Romulus) and Andrew Conrad (Remus).
THE DOCTOR WHO ESCAPE ROOM
Two new teams battle it out
BRAND NEW AUDIO COMMENTARY
On The Awakening
NEW SURROUND SOUND MIXES
On Warriors Of The Deep, The Awakening and The Caves Of Androzani.
TALES OF THE TARDIS
A 2023 edit of Earthshock with new linking material from Peter Davison and Janet Fielding
THE FIVE(ISH) DOCTORS REBOOT
With brand new audio commentary
EXCLUSIVE ARCHIVE TREATS
Including never-before-released TV appearances and studio footage
HD PHOTO GALLERIES
INFO TEXT
PDF ARCHIVE
PLUS LOTS MORE!
This ten-disc box set also includes hours of special features previously released on DVD including Documentaries, Featurettes, Audio Commentaries and more.
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Babelbro
August 10th, 2026 - 6:53pmReally interesting find today at a Car boot sale;
It was the 1999 dvd release of ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’, with an original Forbidden Planet retail sticker on it, presumably from that year, printed £19.99
I’m no economy expert let alone knowledge on physical media pricing history, but it really opened my eyes as to how expensive dvds once were, and that the early range of VHS tapes were crazy silly expensive.
Meanwhile today, my local CEX’s second hand 4k section that’s been one tiny shelf for years has, as of this summer, quadrupled in quantity. Plenty of 4k’s below £20, with some 4k’s even as low as £4, with a Doctor Who standard Collection set on the Blu-ray shelves for £24.99.
Amypondfan
August 10th, 2026 - 7:47pmThey are exactly the same prices now. You rarely paid the full retail price. Doctor who dvds retailed at around the 20 mark from the start until the end of the range but most shops sold them cheaper. Films were the same. I paid £9.99 for movies in 2000 and I pay the same now.
Babelbro
August 10th, 2026 - 8:07pm@Amypondfan I remember paying £15 in Sainsbury’s for Doctor Who Series 1 Volume 4 in 2005, as it still has the big red price sticker on the front cover.
Also in about the late 2000’s, can’t remember what the price tag was for it but I also remember a second hand video game store, long gone now, with a cellophane wrapped Trial of a Time Lord dvd boxset for some out there price far higher than £60 that the limited edition blu-rays are today.
bookcollector
August 10th, 2026 - 8:10pmThe retail price from the beginning to the end of the classic range was on average £19.99 but most shops sold them at £14.99 give or take a few quid. The price of dvds has stayed remarkably solid for the whole lifetime of dvds. Its only in the last year or so that films have begun (and its not all films) to increase to £10.99 from the £9.99 price that as amypondfan says has been the standard price certainly since I started getting dvds in early 2000. (Spurred on it the release of the five doctors in 1999 I think it was. Five doctors was the first dvd I bought)
bookcollector
August 10th, 2026 - 8:11pmThat should be spurred on by the release of the five doctors
bookcollector
August 10th, 2026 - 8:23pmTrial would be higher as it was four stories. The recommended retail price in 2008 was £39.99 so a lot cheaper than selling them individually. It was a box set.
Matt L
August 14th, 2026 - 6:59pmHi Gordon, have you heard anything from your contacts regarding getting any new dr who animations in dvd/blu ray or getting any other dr who the collection box sets during 2026? Thanks
RobW
August 14th, 2026 - 10:44pmI remember paying £20 for a Doctor Who story on VHS back in the 90s. Now you can buy stories on collection sets, dvd or stream. It’s changed so much for the better for fans who want to access episodes
Gordon
August 16th, 2026 - 12:13pmNo real updates since the last one. I suspect there will be something out before christmas. At a guess (and bear in mind I know nothing and it’s just a hunch) there will be at least announcements on both animations and collection releases before the year is up even if they ain’t out till next year. If I was going to guess what comes first it will be an animation.
Film is fabulous did update people at the Leicester event yesterday. No missing doctor who eps have either been recovered handed in or in their possession at the current time. They however do know of multiple collectors that do. They do reiterate that Film is Fabulous is not a treasure hunt. They look for vulnerable collections and help to preserve and look after them.
The collections that contain Doctor Who are not as vulnerable as others so they will get to them when they can.
Wendy Padbury was asked at a convention last week if she’s got any collection blu ray releases lined up and her response was ‘i can’t possibly comment…’ with a smile.
Prof Horner
August 16th, 2026 - 2:53pmWell it is positive news on missing episodes . They know were more are, it’s just a matter of time.
As for season collection boxsets. There’s still two Thursday left this month for announcement. Let’s hope we hear something before too long on this and animations.
ThePrimordInfectant
July 31st, 2026 - 10:07pmAnyone noticed Seeds of Doom on the Season 13 collection set seems to not have had AI Employed for its restoration. Maybe I didn’t notice it but to my eyes it doesn’t seem like theirs any. Just wondering if everyone else thinks the same!
Babelbro
August 5th, 2026 - 1:07pmOne or two stories avoided it like Seeds of Doom and Pyramids of Mars.
I just hope we get further context by the Restoration Team on what the DNR is removing and why.
It’s confusing going from the Jon Pertwee Seasons 7 + 8 Blu-rays, that have retained all of the analogue and telecine noise, then to watch the Davison to McCoy Blu-rays that have removed as good as all of the analogue noise that was present on the dvds – the dvds of which had already been DNR’d to a lower degree.
The dvds do have Mpeg2 codec artefact blocking, but the dvds of the Davison to McCoy era also have a chromatic looking noise especially in darker scenes. The question is, was that noise on the broadcast masters or is it second generation artefacting from the way the tapes were duplicated to digital back in the 80’s to 90’s.
I say that because I’ve also recently compared the newest Paul McGann tv movie release to the 2016 Blu-ray, and there’s a similar level of analogue noise on the source of the 2016 Blu-ray, especially on any dark areas like the blackness of space.
But if the above is the case and the noise was caused by 80s – 90’s archiving technology then it begs the question as to why Season 7 wasn’t given a similar DNR treatment. Did they simply run out of time, or was there just not enough picture detail if DNR were to be used on Season 7, given how poor quality the existing tape footage is of that season as a whole.
Matt L
August 6th, 2026 - 8:13pmSo does anyone think we might get an announcement after circuit breaker is out in August? So basically an September announcement for hopefully Season 16? Thanks
Gordon
August 6th, 2026 - 10:53pmThere is nothing circuit breaker planned next week. Looking at the schedule:
17/8/2026: don’t blink (short story on website)
20/8/2026: doctor who and the three witches (time lord fairy tales short story book)
27/8/2026: Momento Mori (lost in time game)
31/8/2026: the black archives (Blu ray)
3/9/2026: the kaleidoscope (book)
22/9/2026: full circuit (big finish)
24/9/2026: short circuit (big finish)
Next week is a possibility but I am also confident that a Blake’s 7 season 3 announcement with cover reveal extras and release date is pretty imminent though that doesn’t need to wait around for circuit breaker or anything who related. That could be as soon as tomorrow (the last one came on a Friday). After that probably September is your best bet
James
July 30th, 2026 - 3:32pmWell that’s the last Thursday of July gone by and it’s gone 2/3pm….waiting continues lol
ex15
July 30th, 2026 - 3:39pmOh dear, next year it is then?
Missyrules
July 30th, 2026 - 4:14pmIt will come out when it comes out.
Pete X
July 30th, 2026 - 4:36pmAnd if it means less poorly applied AI, then all the better.
Nb7
July 31st, 2026 - 10:48amIt’ll happen when it happens. We’ve been really lucky with the amount of releases within less than the last 10years! It’s amazing! And if there’s a slight gap I can easily live with that as I know more are coming and like every rehearsal far it’ll blow my socks off!
Remember the vhs days? They were deleted very quickly after release. I missed loads of vhs’ because of saving up pocket money to get the ones I really wanted. Now they’re everywhere!
ex15
July 31st, 2026 - 11:28amFor the older original fans, time is not a luxury, especially if health is an issue, so delays are always a worry.
So hopefully the reprocessing doesn’t take too long and we get back on track at some point, I know these things are not a 5 minute job and the team do a marvelous creation, just a shame that everywhere in life there is too much reliance on AI..
Prof Horner
July 31st, 2026 - 12:30pmWe don’t know for sure there is a delay. The fact that the last three releases were announced in July for September/October release. Doesn’t mean a thing. The previous two to them were announced in August for a December release. We also don’t for sure that the next one has been delayed because of the backlash against AI or have I missed something? Still, it is disappointing that we haven’t heard anything on the boxsets and future animations.
Gordon
August 1st, 2026 - 6:33amWell I’ve heard there is a backlog of things to be anounced. Mark ayres said he’s got about 6 soundtracks already delivered for release that has yet to be anounced (they won’t all be coming at once though). Circuit breaker seems to be the main brand marketing focus is going on. I don’t think even that key to time novelisation has even been advertised by the bbc outside of book listings though that could just be me (I’ve stopped buying dwm so not sure if it was mentioned on there). I’m pretty sure things are coming even if it’s not been anounced yet I asked and was told things are “on schedule” though no idea what the timetable for release is. Chris chapman has about 18 unseen documentaries (he says most of them are who)plus he did a reccie for another 3 so there is stuff going on behind the scenes. David Busch seems to know the schedule and in response to someone doommongering on galifrey base saying something has happened he said: “ Nothing has happened – there are many releases in the pipeline. I’ve personally worked on one of them (no, I won’t say which one). Everyone just relax!”. Considering his contributions for the bbc is just animation (dads army, shada and macra terror) I think it’s a safe bet to assume he’s referring to an animation
Matthew Flin
August 1st, 2026 - 9:12amThanks Gordon, that’s much appreciated.
James
August 1st, 2026 - 12:50pmGordon
Glad you’re here on this site. Fountain of knowledge and get to hear more from you then anywhere else. Thought the case was the focus was on Circuit Breaker first then other releases after. Just impatient lol
Gordon
July 27th, 2026 - 7:35pmNice to hear Chris chapman’s keeping himself busy. He’s done a documentary for Anderson entertainment on the secret service called secret service revisited. 63 mins and hosted by Matthew sweet. Was never a huge fan of the show. Probably my least favourite of the Anderson puppet shows but it’s a gap that needs filled plus if Chris is involved I’ve no doubt it will be good,
Matt L
July 27th, 2026 - 11:55pmHi Gordon, have you heard anything more on Season 16 and do you still think at this moment we will get 1 more dr who the collection season this year? Thanks
Babelbro
July 26th, 2026 - 11:58amVery interesting piece via a member of Gallifreybase…
“Mark Ayres pops up occasionally to talk about the sound mixing/editing but he keeps well clear of any talk about the picture quality. Best I can find is this from Steve Roberts, who’s an ex-member of the team.
“For what it’s worth, I’m not a fan of AI remastering and if I was still technical lead on the project we would not be using it. However, it’s well over a decade since I’ve been involved now. I was involved with AI scaling tests with BBC R&D just before I retired from the BBC last year and the consensus of my colleagues was that it wasn’t mature enough to be used. A major factor is that the results of processing video should be absolutely repeatable, but with AI tools the output changed in some respect every time it was re-run.
I also think that the QC process and operators are not yet capable of spotting AI artefacts, but this will undoubtedly improve once their brains have trained. I remember when we bought the first DVNR at TV Centre in the mid-nineties and were so astonished at its ability to remove dirt and grain that were were completely oblivious to the holes appearing in people’s arms, flocks of birds winking out of existence mid-flight etc.” “
Matthew Flin
July 16th, 2026 - 10:18amSomeone on X suggests that there is a rumour going around that the next collection set is being delayed until March 2027, not sure why or if this is true?
Gordon
July 16th, 2026 - 10:41amIt was being discussed over on the Peter Davison season 3 page:
I’ve not heard anything but looking in at roobarbs forum (where the rumour originated) it’s supposedly someone who was at an event that mat Irvine was apart of. Someone “close to things” told them of the supposed date move and “no AI”. It may explain why Lee said in may he was going to do a tease after the tv movie release and has not yet posted it yet. I’m a bit skeptical of it as they don’t have set dates rather tentative ones until everything is finalised. It could be true but I’d be surprised if it would take that length of time to fix ai if that was the case. Restoration isn’t my strong suit in discussion but I would have thought the Ai was added at the end of the restoration process so wouldn’t take that long especially if files were kept at the pre ai point, I suppose it’s possible they are also redediting the bonus features as they do tend to use the new restorations when showing footage on the new docs. Plus another posibility could be they could be going back to 13 and 21. It could also probably help the animations to give them more time and maybe film is fabulous as well. I do hope we get something to fill the gap even if it’s an animation rather than collection set as none of the remaining 60s sets are ready and I don’t think 11 is quite ready either . If it means no more ai id welcome the wait. I’ve still not been able to put myself through rewatching s21 again for the commentaries and production subs like I normally do when I get these sets
Matthew Flin
July 16th, 2026 - 10:46amThanks Gordon, much appreciated.
Prof Horner
July 16th, 2026 - 12:24pmAgain Gordon, I can’t say I have noticed! It would be disappointing if we don’t get another set this year. Maybe we are only going to get one set a year from now on . Which would give more time for animations and hopefully more lost episodes recovery . The problem is of course as I am 63 next Thursday and if they only release a year, I wonder if I will l still be when they release the last one!
Still on the plus side,I have picked up a copy of the Troughton tribute magazine at TG Jones here in leeds.
James
July 18th, 2026 - 6:59pmHas it always been a Thursday announcement?
How likely is it to be no more Collection sets for 2026 Gordon? Any more whispers from the new animation team set up last year?
Jack
July 18th, 2026 - 9:27pmRE James: There’s been 6 Announcements on a Tuesday, 3 on a Wednesday and 10 announcements on Thursdays in total so far. Since Season 9’s announcement on the 26th January 2023, we’ve had a new set announced on a Thursday up to now.
James
July 19th, 2026 - 12:07amThanks Jack
Gordon
July 19th, 2026 - 1:12amAgain I’ve not heard of any delays that would mean we get no more collection sets this year but that doesn’t mean there won’t be. The more I think on this rumoured delay the more it sounds like a friend of a friend type information especially when they have since also mentioned animations for smugglers and massacre coming soon. The fact that paul Hembrey producer of the animations said last year that the massacre wasn’t an imminent one I’m not sure how much I’d put stock in it but we will see. I know some may dismiss what he says but Richard Bignell said in response to it that: “I think you should start getting new sources that haven’t been smoking strange things.” Which suggests to me at least part of it might not be true.
As for animations I’ve not heard anything new. Hard to say when we will get an anouncment as we don’t know when work started on it but I’m completely convinced things are being worked on. It will be anounced when things are ready
I suspect if we don’t hear in terms of anouncments anything by mid October it won’t be till next year till the next collection set or animation
Matt L
July 23rd, 2026 - 7:19pmSo no news today about Season 16 -hopefully we do still get another box set this year – so hopefully there is an announcement in August. Does everyone still think Lee Binding will do a teaser this month or v soon for this box set?
Babelbro
July 9th, 2026 - 1:00amI wonder if the longer delay pending announcement of the next Collection is down to some kind of review into the use of Topaz Ai on the last few sets.
Speaking for myself I’ve certainly talked about this half to death over the last many sets as to why I don’t believe it should be anywhere near something like a final ever physical release range of Classic Who;
There are far more effective non-Ai methods and algorithms and software, some of which completely free to the public, that can upscale 576p footage as accurately as it can and will ever be done.
There’s QTGMC deinterlacing, the very least destructive existing form of creating 50 progressive frames a second, and NNEDI3 upscaling, that when combined with QTGMC can deliver a butter smooth output video free of jagged edges, colour bleeding and colour detail dropout.
I highly, highly recommend watching this video by archivist Zachary Halberd, who perfectly demonstrates both software tools, and helps best explain the preparation of archival video material towards a final editing project.
There’s plenty of good examples of Blu-ray boxsets avoiding Ai; ‘The Sweeney’, ‘Blakes 7’, ‘Only Fools and Horses’, and, of course, the earlier Doctor Who Collection sets.
There have of course been good reasons for denoising footage, recolouring, rebuilding composite shots and even entire sequences from source materials and Doctor Who’s certainly no different;
But all of that said and done, there are perfectly good, up to date, more than adequate non-Ai tools that can be actively used now for future Collections, without resorting to an experimental Ai programme that is literally redrawing detail by looking at random databases of what it *thinks* people and objects should look like, instead of recognizing the nature of the source footage, offering a sensible upscale with zero reimagining, eliminating all/any upscaling artefacts you could typically get by watching the dvds on a 4k tv, and just call it a day.
If the Restoration Team are more than happy to have left all of the SD tape signal banding all over Season 21, then hypothetically why would they object if the higher ups ordered them to stop using Topaz? Because if we the consumers have more or less not complained about the banding, then who on Earth is going to miss all of the screw ups caused by Ai on the last handful of box sets?
I wish I were proven wrong but sadly I think the damage has been done and is financially irreparable on those handful of sets, and maybe there’s just not enough incentive by the BBC to bother calling up the Restoration Team on this issue given the position Doctor Who has been left in recently, but holy moly is the Ai just blatantly bad.
It just isn’t an archival range anymore, it’s a reimagining, or maybe even along the lines of a cheap and awful Ai filter the likes of Disney Plus tend to slap onto early episodes of the Simpsons.
Genuinely, if tomorrow they simply put a social media post out to say “we got it wrong, no more Ai on future Collections” I would go back to pre-ordering them. It’s just such a shame.
Babelbro
July 9th, 2026 - 1:02amZachary Halberd YouTube link here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g4STqyERKfM
Prof Horner
July 9th, 2026 - 9:06amWell I remember that both season 17 and season 2 where released in December. Both where announced in August I think. So I could be announced today, next week,next month who knows? There doesn’t seem to be any rumors at the moment and no colour tease. Maybe it’s my age but I can’t say I noticed the AI so it hasn’t really spoiled my enjoyment of these sets.
Mr Robert Watkins
July 9th, 2026 - 10:30amSeason 25 standard announcement first I think.
remember we are heading towards the final collection sets, so wouldn’t surprise me if they left bigger gaps.
Gordon
July 9th, 2026 - 10:41amNo delay as far as I’m aware. These get announced as when they are ready and not to some deadline. Could be any number of reasons it hasn’t been revealed yet. Could be that they are waiting for a gap in the circuit breaker schedule to reveal it or there might be an animation announcement or some other product reveal that they want to put out or various other reasons that they may be holding an announcement off. All I know is there is another release (16) coming this year
Also there isn’t really a restoration team and haven’t really been since the dvd range ended. It’s just really Peter Crocker on picture restoration, mark Ayres on sound and Paul Vanezis helps out on the scanning of film meterial.
James
July 9th, 2026 - 11:00amSmall team but they are doing a fantastic job. Who’d had thought we’d be only seven sets (possible eight if include a Wilderness/Legacy years/era set) away from a complete run of Classic Who on Blu-ray. As tech gets better the use of aí will be less noticeable.
Regards to circuit breaker the schedule is as follows
July
23 magazine story
30 audio book
August
4 comic
6 mobile game
17 website game
20 book
27 story
31 blu ray
September
3 bbc novel
22 big finish audio
27 big finish short story
Fingers crossed for another animation this year as well as a Collection set.
This doesn’t include all the Big Finish sets coming out. Fills up the gaps we’re missing for the televised show so loads of content to keep us occupied
COMICshopsDontStand
July 14th, 2026 - 9:10amAre they not waiting for circuit breaker publicity to finish first.
James
July 14th, 2026 - 10:21amIf they do we are looking at an October announcement with a December/january release. Christmas to much of a busy period I feel to be doing releases. Plus got to fit in a bfi press screening event thing.
So we could get a colour tease this month and announcement early august. Then a September bfi and October release.
Prof Horner
July 14th, 2026 - 10:42amAs I said before James , season 17 and 2 were released in December. I think 17 was released on December 20th. So a announcement could be next month or September, if that is the case.
Gordon
July 14th, 2026 - 11:18amPlus we got the Blake’s 7 season 3 cover, trailer and release date anouncment still to fit in somewhere as well. It’s probably out in November like the first 2 so that will probably be coming within the next monthish.
ex15
July 4th, 2026 - 12:31pmAre we likely to see “Spike Milligan’s Pakanstani Dalek sketch” in the Wilderness years box?
Bookcollector
July 4th, 2026 - 12:38pmDoubt it. Two reasons. One it’s from 1975 not the wilderness years. And two it’s not exactly modern sensibilities these days. I imagine it would be problematic for the BBC to include it.
Rob
July 9th, 2026 - 10:31amCan you imagine the reaction? Best leave it off.
Basil Funkenstein
July 3rd, 2026 - 7:10pmHas anyone got a “preferred release order” list of their next top 5 most wanted?
Mine are:
16
11
6
1
5
These 5 seem to make the most sense to me to be the next bunch of boxsets.
Basil Funkenstein
July 3rd, 2026 - 7:16pmAlso, incidentally, unless they somehow make animations quicker and release them wayyyyyyy before their respective season boxsets I can see them moving to doing only 1 boxset a year after season 11 is released. We miiight still get 2 a year but they’d really be pressed for time.
I’m totally okay with getting 1 set a year if that means those seasons will be as complete as possible.
I don’t personally buy the animations but it still bothers me that season 2 has those two missing episodes from The Crusade. I hope they either re-release season 2 one day with Crusade complete OR the release the animation of Crusade with disc artwork that matches the season 2 collection set so the disc can be swapped out.
If getting 1 set a year means we don’t get a repeat of the Crusade situation on season 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 I’ll be more than happy.
Scotel
July 3rd, 2026 - 8:09pmAs they have said repeatedly over the years, they are not waiting for the animations. They’ll take what’s there (and if all the plans the animation team had are going ahead then the Collection team will know exactly which animations are coming in the next few years).
Beyond the courtesy (and potential backlash) of not dropping a set right on top of a corresponding animation I can’t see a slow down. People are already having a meltdown because they haven’t heard any animation news, slowing down the Collections would have doomsayers screaming from the rooftops that it’s all been axed.
Gordon
July 4th, 2026 - 8:54amThere is no guarantee that they will all be animated even with this new deal. Crusade in 2022 had already been passed for animation due to the complexities in character, set, and locations count so it made sense to put out season 2 in 2022 without an animated crusade. If they had skipped season 2 and put something else complete in that slot we in July 2026 would be just away to get the last colour season and we are no closer to getting the crusade animated now than we were in 2026. Personally I think there will be some animations but id expect the animation range outlast the collections regardless of how slow the collections go. It’s not just having the animations ready for the collection sets they need to recoup costs individually and a timeframe of exclusivity first before they go near the collection sets. I was hopeful that there was a posibility of getting the majority of the remaining ones animated for the collection range but as time rumbles on that becomes less and less of a reality. I expect there will be some animations done in time but not all. The animation range is its own thing and I expect will continue long after the collections are done. There is also no guarantee that there won’t be any hiatuses with them if there is a funding or some other issue that comes up. I suspect the likes of myth makers, smugglers, wheel and space pirates will get done in time for the collection range. Massacre and highlanders I’m kind of 50/50 on. Marco Polo and masterplan are both going to be really tall orders considering the enormous amounts of work that would be required.
Gordon
July 4th, 2026 - 8:55am“we are no closer to getting the crusade animated now than we were in 2022”
Prof Horner
July 4th, 2026 - 9:05amDo think Gordon they will prioritize stories with no visual representation. Like The Myth Makers and The Massacre ?
Gordon
July 4th, 2026 - 9:48amI’d expect massacre to be a very challenging one. I wouldn’t expect that one soon. If they are going in terms of easiest to most difficult it’s
Mission by a long shot as it’s only one ep and it’s a smallish cast (with the exception of the delegates scene) but it’s tied too closely to masterplan.
Wheel
Myth makers
smugglers
Space pirates
These 4 are roughly in the same level of difficulty though for every one that may be a bit easier in one aspect but has something else that equals itself out in other ways
Massacre and highlanders both have their different difficult challenges
Marco Polo is a 7 ep location hoping epic with a grand cast of characters
Crusade has more cast costumes and locations and moving parts than Marco making it more difficult despite only being 2 eps
Masterplan is by far the most difficult one to do.
bookcollector
July 4th, 2026 - 11:19amI do think we may have to accept that certain stories may never be animated. Marco, Crusade and master plan are ones I’d love animated but it may just be too much in terms of budgets versus sales for them to ultimately be viable.some people might say well do the easy ones then take the time to do the longer, harder ones. But time equals money. The longer the animation process the more it will cost in terms of production. I don’t think it’s ever been stated by the various animation teams that the plan was to animate every episode. I think it’s an ideal (and one fans talk of) rather than a practical reality. I agree with Gordon that certain stories are likely despite all stories having their own individual issues. Mission would be the easiest to a degree but would it be commercially viable to be released on it’s own? No doctor would definitely be an issue to some buyers. Massacre and highlanders have complications in terms of complexity in costumes that will make animation difficult without comprise. The remaining four should be achievable and even if we only get those that’s still brilliant. I feel sometimes who fans only focus on the negative, as in, we haven’t got these, instead of thinking how brilliant it is we have got what we have.
The recently returned master plan episodes exemplified this. So many comments about why didn’t they find this episode instead of focusing on the the fact that any returned episode is something to celebrate.
ex15
July 4th, 2026 - 12:40pm16 is next, 11 in the spring 2027, hopefully 6 autumn 2027, then 1 in 2028, that would be my preference. Perhaps the Wilderness Years next if it helps 3 & 4?
James
July 4th, 2026 - 1:29pmI hope when they use the same style when it comes to Myth/DMP/Massacre. If they did DMP they have to do mission at the same time. As said above it wouldn’t make sense to animate it and release on its own. Would only make sense to release it on Myth Makers animation.
Could they not work on multiple stories at the same time? Having the same main cast.
Myth Makers and Massacre
Smugglers and Highlanders
Wheel in Space and Space Pirates
These being the easiest/shortest/uncomplicated stories
The Crusade and Marco Polo
Mission to the Unknown and Dalek Master Plan
These being the longest/hardest/more complex stories
When it comes to the season 3 I’d be ok (not happy but ok) if they had massacre and myth animations, left dmp but added the unclan version of mission as an extra. Then animate it for its own release along with dmp after. See it being a Lost in Time size dvd release.
Also if they did multiple animations running alongside another be great to have double releases. Could have the 2 box set releases. Historical set for Myth and Massacre and Space set for Wheel and Pirates.
bookcollector
July 4th, 2026 - 5:58pmThe highlanders is not a straightforward story to animate. The costumes make it complex as tartan is very difficult to animate and keep continuity right. Plus it has a reasonably large cast and multiple locations.
Gordon
July 5th, 2026 - 9:38amThe animations aren’t cheap. They are 6 figure sums James. Not a chance they would do double packs as it wouldn’t be maximising its sales potential. It will be individual releases.
Working on multiple animations at once is also a good idea in theory but you need twice the workforce there to make it a reality. As things stand they are already pushed to get an animation done in time. Heck toymaker wasn’t done in time for its bfi screening. Just ask Rob Ritchie about the insane crunch’s he done to get it done on time. Hopefully Paul Henbury’s new animation studio that he’s set up may change things
The Ghost Monument
July 9th, 2026 - 12:47pm@Basil Funkenstein, Why would you not buy the animations? How are you meant to watch them (and support them!) if you don’t buy them?
Basil Funkenstein
July 11th, 2026 - 12:17am@TheGhostMonument
I bought the whole bunch for a while, a good long while, but for personal reasons I decided to just buy the collection sets.
If the collection range finishes and there are still animations released after then I’ll definitely get those as well, however I’d personally prefer everything to be in the collection range, i.e. re-released seasons or swappable discs etc.
Rob
July 11th, 2026 - 9:43amA lot of fans stopped buying animations when the quality dipped, so we are looking at Fury, Web 3 (that was a killer), G4, Abominable and the Underwater Menace
James
July 11th, 2026 - 11:08amGhost monument
Can see why some fans don’t buy everything that’s released. If they are going to be included in the Collection sets some may see it as buying the same thing twice. Whereas most of the collection sets are the original dvd but upscale. Where as the animations are a straight copy.
Personally I’ve watched them on iplayer then brought the, for my shelf when the prices have dropped a bit. Or lucky enough to find on market place when sold or part of job lot sales.
Was lucky enough to get the last Tom set for £15 off market place.
Amypondfan
July 11th, 2026 - 12:40pmI buy the animations and I think sales for all of them have been good. I’ve not had any issues with the newer style ones. Loved g4. Fury, abominable and underwater were all great. Yes web 3 was weak but it was a tester for that style of animation. I don’t buy the collection sets, too many issues and I’ve bought these stories on vhs and dvd so it’s simply a costs issue for me. I’ve got the dvds and I’m happy with that.
Gordon
July 12th, 2026 - 4:24amI don’t think sales of the animations have dropped off as much as people think. The savages was the 2nd biggest selling tv show on disc of 2025 (just behind house of the dragon) and since about fury they pretty much always topped or near the top of the charts the week of release
Released 16 March 2020: The faceless ones: dvd: 12 blu ray: 1 video (combined): 1 tv show on video: 1 end of year: info Not available
Released 27 July 2020: The power of the daleks SE: dvd: 21 blu ray: 2 video: 1 tv show on video: 1 end of year chart: info not available
Released 14 September 2020: The fury from the deep: dvd: 1 Blu ray: 1 video: 1 tv show on video: 1 end of year chart: info not available
Released 16 August 2021: The web of fear SE: dvd: 4 blu ray: 1 video: 3 tv show on video: 1 end of year chart: info not available
Released 27 September 2021: The evil of the daleks: dvd: 1 Blu ray: 1 video: 1 tv shows on video: 1 end of year chart: 74
Released 15 November 2021: Galaxy 4: dvd: 4 Blu ray: 2 video: 3 tv shows on video: 1 end of year chart: info not available
Released 5 September 2022: The abominable snowmen: dvd: 2 blu ray: 1 video: 1 tv shows on video: 1 end of year chart 66
Released13 November 2023: The underwater menace: dvd: 4 blu ray: 1 video: 3 tv show on video: 1 end of year chart: 97
Released 10 June 2024: The celestial toymaker: dvd: 1 blu ray: 1 video: 1 tv show on video: 1 end of year chart: 55
Released 24 march 2025: The savages: dvd dvd: 2 blu ray: 1 video: 1 tv show on video: 1 end of year chart: 49
I get that physical media sales have dropped but considering a niche animation of a missing 60s tv show direct to disc release can hit the top 50 and considering the competition I think that’s pretty good going
bookcollector
July 12th, 2026 - 1:00pmLike you say Gordon considering these are very much a niche market even hitting the top 100 is impressive let alone the top fifty. I’ve enjoyed the animations they really help to tell the stories and bear in mind that say in the case of underwater for example, some of these are not exactly the greatest doctor who stories written! The thing I find odd is that often the same people who complain about the animation likenesses are the same people who praise the tardis timegirl wheel animation which, be honest, rarely captures the actors correctly. It’s great but the leads don’t look like the actors most of the time. But the animations are not definitive versions they are approximations designed to give life to lost episodes.
bookcollector
July 12th, 2026 - 1:06pmPosted before I finished! The animations are what they are. Versions of the stories. None have been truly accurate 100% of the time . The newer ones focus on telling the story visually in a more complete way. Faceless for instance massively improves the sets and locations. What is obviously a small studio space on the original becomes a full sized warehouse or the full airport concourse. I loved fury and abominable opted to show the correct ethnicity of the characters which makes sense and looks good over the full animation. I really hope we get an announcement soon, perhaps in the next few months for a late 2026 or early 2027 release of new animations. Don’t even care what, just a new one!
Professor Flibble
July 12th, 2026 - 4:09pmI do think Underwater Menace is the worst animation because it’s not compatible with the existing episodes at all. And it looks incredibly flat. Even the other animations there’s visual continuity with the original production, but Underwater Menace, they completely changed the set designs and cast seemingly for the sake of doing it. And what was with those TARDIS doors? While they’ve been shifting the goalposts away from just filling the gaps in, they still need to consider that a good chunk of their audience, probably most tbh, are going to be watching the animated missing episodes with the existing ones. It was never an issue with the other ones so what went wrong with Underwater Menace?
Professor Flibble
July 12th, 2026 - 4:19pmAlso, people praise the TARDIS Timegirl stuff because it actually looks like the existing episodes. I personally think that Wheel in Space animation is good, needs a lot of polishing in different areas, but it’d be my ideal way to fill the gaps in 1960s Doctor Who, to do semi-photorealistic 3D animations like that. One of the only issues I have with that particular animation is the oil painting effect added to the characters, which wasn’t present on the other TARDIS Timegirl animations. And I’m not sure if it followed the camera scripts. I like a lot of the 2D animations in their own way, given I don’t have any conventional Doctor Who animated stories I can watch. But if we’re being totally objective, what TARDIS Timegirl’s doing is pretty much the way to go.
Gordon
July 12th, 2026 - 4:39pmTotally in agreement bookcollector. They are pretty much their own things at this point. They stopped being gap fillers and are pretty much their own versions at this point. since 2016 they are pretty much their own productions.
It’s no secret I want as many animated stories as possible released. It’s not just the animations I buy them for. It’s the recons, commentaries, the bonus documentaries and features, the steelbook and artwork. It’s the full package. Are the animations perfect? No far from it but it’s better treated than 99 percent of other missing shows which get nothing. Outside of dads army there really isn’t any other shows that get the treatment the missing eps does.
Professor Flibble
July 12th, 2026 - 4:54pmThere’s a point though where the changes are just totally arbitrary.
bookcollector
July 12th, 2026 - 5:19pmFunny thing is prof when watched galaxy 4 and faceless recently I opted for watching the full colour animations in order to maintain continuity of image. If I want to watch the original episodes I’ll watch them with the black and white version or more likely with the recon. The differences don’t particularly bother me. Like Gordon I buy these for the animation, the recon and the extras. You have the original version there as a recon. The animation is its own thing. I prefer the moving image of the animation to the recon but I will rewatch galaxy soon as a recon to see the original version.
Professor Flibble
July 12th, 2026 - 5:36pmWhat I’m saying is while you can’t please absolutely everyone, changing the designs of the entire cast and the design of every set is basically cutting your nose off to spite your face. The only thing I hear said about it is “well they’re doing their own thing” but every other animation adhered to the costume and set designs, and the actors’ faces. Faceless Ones, Evil of the Daleks, even Galaxy 4 to a point kinda works whichever way you choose to watch it. Underwater Menace forces you to watch in one way otherwise it’ll look really confusing. Why was Underwater Menace any different? What was the rationale? It genuinely confuses me. What was gained from removing Thous’ eyebrows?
The Ghost Monument
July 12th, 2026 - 5:58pmAnd I buy them because they provide a way to actually watch the stories rather than listening to them. Everything beyond that is simply a bonus; it is not the reason that they are bought (especially when I don’t even care for most of it anyway!).
Given the choice between listening to a story and watching a story, I will always choose to watch it. These animations make that possible.
The relative qualities of any individual animation are also equally irrelevant; any visual representation is better than none at all!
The Collection sets are a separate thing entirely. I never feel like I’m “double dipping” on those, especially given that every single BD release has included something I have an actual interest in watching that was not on the DVDs, even for seasons where I don’t enjoy the core product of the stories that much! (If anything, I almost wish I’d started collecting the Classic series a few years later and jumped directly to the BD versions!)
The Ghost Monument
July 12th, 2026 - 6:01pmAnd I buy them because they provide a way to actually watch the stories rather than listening to them. Everything beyond that is simply a bonus; it is not the reason that they are bought (especially when I don’t even care for most of it anyway!).
Given the choice between listening to a story and watching a story, I will always choose to watch it. These animations make that possible.
The relative qualities of any individual animation are also equally irrelevant; any visual representation is better than none at all!
The Collection sets are a separate thing entirely. I never feel like I’m “double dipping” on those, especially given that every single BD release has included something I have an actual interest in watching that was not on the DVDs, even for seasons where I don’t enjoy the core product of the stories that much! (If anything, I almost wish I’d started collecting the Classic series a few years later and jumped directly to the BD versions rather than spending so much time and money collecting the DVDs first just to upgrade later!)
bookcollector
July 12th, 2026 - 7:18pmThous eyebrows were ridiculous so why not remove that design element? As has been said the animations post 2016 are not meant to be recreations of the missing episodes. But the animations pre 2016 weren’t meticulous recreations either. The sets were more accurate but as we’ve said the newer ones are about expanding on the original. Look at tenth planet 4 as well and the scenes that do exist don’t match the animation. Its an interpretation. The first time I watched macra I was disappointed by the changes but subsequent releases and rewatches of macra have led me to enjoy the changes. There is no rule to say you have to watch the original episodes with the animation. If I want to watch the full unedited macra I can. Its there on the recon. I’ve watched it a few times but I like ghost monument prefer the moving images of the animations even over the reconstruction. I suffer with a concentration problem that means I can’t little to audio stories or radio comedy anymore. I had to stop listening to big finish in 2012 when I realised I just couldn’t follow the story anymore. I was very pleased to get reconstructions of the missing episodes as I can follow them better than the audios but the animations mean I can easily follow the plots (or lack of them lol) without having to take breaks between episodes. I understand you want them to match up with existing material but that’s what the reconstruction is for. I’m intending to evil of the daleks soon and I’m watching the full colour 7 episode version.
Gordon
July 12th, 2026 - 7:20pmWhat has to be said which hasn’t already about underwater menace is that the decision to enlargen the sets were down to being influenced by the script and novelisation. They were trying to be faithful to the original writers intention. Personally I think fury and abominable are far less faithful than menace. They take further twists from what was on screen than menace does.
It’s not a case of moving of the goalposts it’s more of a case there was nothing scorable from where the goalposts were that it was a necessity to move them. Invasion sold well but not enough to justify cosgrove hall doing power. When we next got an animation reign of terror by all accounts tanked badly enough that 13 years later we haven’t had another historical. Ice warriors faired better but despite being the most faithful of all the animations released so far got called dull and boring and captain pugwashy plus the animation studio went to the wall shortly after. Tenth planet did well but that may have had to do with the legendary status more than the animation. Moonbase was well received though some called it cheap looking however didn’t sell well partly to some believing the real thing was soon getting announced. Moving to full blown animations was a necessity for the range to move forward.
The underwater menace isn’t the worst animation by any stretch but it’s very basic by the numbers and Im convinced it’s partly to do with budgets being slashed which led to its flat looking production as well as . It was the first post bbc America animation after all. I also feel with some animators going and changing there may have been some needing time to find their feet.
Gordon
July 12th, 2026 - 7:27pmAlso I want to add I find the animations (or at least the recent ones) are more adaptations than recreations using scripts, sometimes telesnaps and footage. As with any adaptation from one medium to another changes are sometimes needed. Sometimes what works in live action doesn’t work as such in animation and vice versa. No matter how close the adaptation is there will nearly always be changes to fit
bookcollector
July 12th, 2026 - 7:41pmUnderwater is definitely influenced by the novelisation and the original scripts. Abominable is very different but it works. As you say Gordon these are different mediums and what works on screen in a life action production can be very hard to translate to animation. And yes the budgets are tighter now so simplicity is cheap. But simplicity also still works. I enjoyed the savages animation even though it is very simple. One of my favourite bits in the savages is the moment on the soundtrack you hear a savage grunt/cry out. The animation opts for a grunt of effort as a spear is thrown. The audio narration bizarrely opts for a savage somehow managing to impale himself on his own spear! Its all about choices and interpretation. One person hears athletic effort another hears an ejit somehow stabbing himself with his own spear.
Professor Flibble
July 12th, 2026 - 8:12pmIt’s 60s Doctor Who, bookcollector, most of it looks ridiculous. I asked why remove Thous’ eyebrows, could’ve also asked why make his eyes white, why make him bald, why make him look nothing like the actor did? What I’m saying is other animations might’ve had an approach of “Oh let’s add an easter egg or make the set a bit bigger,” the shot composition isn’t accurate to the telesnaps etc, but there’s a huge difference between that and just going “eh whatever” and making it look nothing like the original did. I don’t understand this point about the animations being more adaptations, no they’re still generally trying to look enough like the original, it’s only Underwater Menace and arguably Celestial Toymaker that’ve really deviated that much and even then at least Celestial Toymaker is more of a stylistic deviation than outright changing what the characters look like. Faceless Ones might not match the telesnaps to the dot or anything but all I need from it is exactly what it did, the characters and sets look exactly like they did, but the production value’s just been kicked up a notch so the Chameleon spaceship doesn’t look like a model, and the lighting is more cinematic. Otherwise you can watch it totally in colour widescreen or black and white 4:3 with the existing episodes and both work just as fine.
Gordon, my issue with Underwater Menace is it’s not just making the sets bigger like Fury did, I don’t even have much of an issue with that on its own. The issue is the sets, characters and costumes bear absolutely no resemblance to the original at all. It did shift the goalposts. Macra Terror is pointed to as one of the biggest examples of an animation deviating from the original but while yeah the colony looked much bigger, every character still looked exactly as they originally did. The way they do the animations I don’t need them to match the telesnaps or camera scripts or anything but I’d at least like them to try and *look* enough like the original production.
I only have minor qualms with the other ones really, it really is just Underwater Menace I have a major issue with if it’s the only way I’m ever gonna watch it in a fully moving state.
Rob
July 13th, 2026 - 9:08amWho can hit a top ten or become a best seller on Amazon as overall physical releases are dropping off and it still has a strong fan base. However most friends who are fans I know stopped with the animations when the decline in quality. I only know of one other friend who buys them apart from Celestial, which he avoided after the Web3 animation. I know these are done on a budget, but the ones farmed out to the overseas team in India are poor. Long arms, wide shots which are empty and characters looks changed.
I am a fool and pre-order them all anyway, same for the AI collection sets.
Neill Stringer
July 2nd, 2026 - 1:41pmWill we getting an announcement this month for the next Collection set?
Rob
July 2nd, 2026 - 1:47pmNothing this week by the look of it
Nb7
July 3rd, 2026 - 4:40pmShould be this month but no tease from Binding yet!
Let’s get this new fx version of Kroll!
Basil Funkenstein
July 3rd, 2026 - 7:07pmI could obviously be wrong but I personally think Lee won’t release a colour tease this time and just wait for the official announcement. Unless he has decided to throw a curveball, and do seasons 11 and 16 as different colours to the ones we’re expecting, I think it’d make it too obvious if it were either blue or lilac if he HAS decided to use those colour pallets for those 2 seasons.
I’m guessing an announcement will be either the 2nd or 3rd week of July if we’re getting a September/October release.
I’m genuinely hoping we get season 16 next. Then I can FINALLY watch all of Tom Baker’s era.
Gordon
July 4th, 2026 - 7:24amLee has already said back in may that we are getting one. Could be a later reveal than the usual July reveal
Rob
July 13th, 2026 - 9:09amHopefully Thurs this week for some announcement for animations or collections, I wonder if they are giving it a breather with Circuit Breaker in the headlights.
Lewis Frisby
June 26th, 2026 - 7:01pmQuick question I fancy watching resurrection of the Daleks on the s21 boxset is the new special effects on the 4 part or the 2 part version
daz
June 26th, 2026 - 7:07pm2 part
Lewis Frisby
June 26th, 2026 - 7:09pmCheers
Matt L
June 27th, 2026 - 4:03pmWhen does everyone think we will get a “tease” from Lee Binding for the next dr who box and does everyone still think we should get a trailer for it in July or August?
Rob
June 27th, 2026 - 4:07pmA picture online of the Tardis and Anneke on a beach by a cave, must be for a Smugglers documentary.
Bookcollector
June 27th, 2026 - 4:34pmAs has been said, a documentary doesn’t mean smugglers is imminent. The Myth makers documentary was filmed in 2024.
Gordon
June 28th, 2026 - 4:47amThat’s not a surprise considering there was a local newsletter saying there would be filming in the area this month. I know Toby was filming something on Thursday and considering he did a video with Anneke on his Patreon celebrating 60 years of polly I assumed it was for the smugglers.
I can’t think there is much locations left to cover at this point. Maybe Frensham Common in the highlanders and the pond for the model sequences in the myth makers but most of the locations in 1/3/4/5/6/11/16 are either covered or maybe tricky getting anybody to film there
Prowl1701
June 28th, 2026 - 6:17amSurprised we haven’t gotten a color tease for the next boxset from Lee Binding yet.
Prof Horner
June 28th, 2026 - 2:34pmWell Film is fabulous have certainly changed the game as far as future classic series releases as are concerned. It’s far more likely that The Smugglers doc is for a future animation release, but if the story turns up a private collection, it could be for that.
As far as the next collection set , we usually get announcement in July for the autumn release. As the announcements are usually announced on a Thursday and my birthday falls on a Thursday the 23rd of next month, it could be announced on my birthday!how cool would that be! I think we may get a colour tease this week.
Scotel
June 28th, 2026 - 6:44pmA complete story has never turned up in a private collection and nothing Film is Fabulous has found has changed that fact.
Matthew Flin
June 28th, 2026 - 8:10pmI think they announced the Season 13 boxset at the beginning of July last year, hopefully it will be the same with the Season 16 announcement.
Prof Horner
June 28th, 2026 - 8:28pmBut that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Just because something hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Four part stories may exist in private collections. Film is fabulous may turn a lot of missing episodes, then again they may turn up only a few. We will have to see. All I know is they have turned up two cracking episodes.and I am grateful for that.
bookcollector
June 28th, 2026 - 9:17pmI’m all for optimism but I do feel people are getting carried away a bit. There seems to be this feeling that film is going to find anything and everything! Masterplan animation? Just wait until film finds the remaining 7 episodes. Smugglers animation? Surely film has found it. Optimism is great but it must be tempered by reality. As scotel says no full story has been found in the hands of a collector yet, and it’s possible, yes it’s possible, but it’s also unlikely. Personally I’d love more returned episodes but I’m not going to assume anything has been returned until we can actually watch it.
I remember back when tenth planet was being released on dvd. There were rumours of finds including the oft repeated 90 episodes returned that the BBC were “hiding from fans” and someone, the same poster as the 90 episodes story insisted that the tenth planet dvd wasn’t going to have an animated episode because episode 4 had definitely, categorically been found and it was going to be a double release with the returned power of the daleks episodes. All complete nonsense but people were so excited and no matter how many others tried to warn them they insisted on believing the nonsense. There were many devastated comments after tenth planet came out.
I also remember when the enemy and Web episodes were found and the rumours before the announcement. I was shocked when fans said they putting in freedom of information acts to the BBC demanding they tell them what had been found and again it was because of those ridiculous 90 episodes rumours were flying around again.
So once again I say, yes be excited by possible returns but don’t assume episodes have been found. Film can only find what exists in collections collectors are willing to return. Add to that they don’t actively hunt for doctor who it’s just what someone might have. And remember this, the chances of every episode existing is remote. Some episodes will be genuinely lost forever. I’ll be very happy when we get animation announcements and if we get returned episodes as well then fantastic. Ive seen comments like im not getting animations now I’ll wait for film to find the original episodes but the chances of the episodes being returned is very slim so I’ll be content with animations.
Some of you may think this is a very negative comment but frankly I’m just urging people to manage their expectations as I feel many people will be in for a disappointment when animations are announced over returns.
Gordon
June 28th, 2026 - 10:07pmBookcollector You are apsolutely spot on with people managing expectations. In my opinion they wouldn’t film extras for a recovered story till the recovery is anounced so it could be kept under wraps as much as possible till the time is right. This is why I’m more thinking it’s an animation or collection feature. People saying they ain’t buying animations as they are expecting a missing eps recovery has an aura of history repeating its self. I remember people being adamant and refused to buy the animated moonbase as it was just a contractual release and the bbc was gonna double dip and release it again with recovered eps. Shock horror it didn’t happen.
bookcollector
June 28th, 2026 - 10:08pmOh and prof i agree about the masterplan episodes. Such a joy to watch them.
Prof Horner
June 22nd, 2026 - 10:32amI starting to wonder wether season 6 will be released without The Space Pirates. If as I hope season 6 will be released in the autumn of next year, we are running out of time for a animation to be included on season 6 boxset. They will have to give it a stand alone release first. Even if we get it this year it’s only going to be less than a year between stand alone release and inclusion on season 6. Question is would you buy the stand alone if it will be on the boxset only months later.
Sad to hear the passing of David Daker at the end of April. Great in The Time Warrior and possibly played the the most tragic character in Who history in The Nightmare of Eden . RIP David.
James
June 22nd, 2026 - 11:24amDidn’t someone mention (maybe Gordon) that the animation releases will be shorter periods after standalone release before they’re added to boxsets or iPlayer?
Currently roughly 18 months but will be shorter
Scotel
June 22nd, 2026 - 11:48amI’m not aware of anything having been said beyond pure speculation.
The one thing we can say is that if the animation team got the new contract structure they were pushing for then the next few animations are locked in and the Collection team will know what’s coming and when. If Season 6 is coming first then we’re either getting The Space Pirates next or it’s not on their immediate lineup.
MrRobert Watkins
June 27th, 2026 - 4:08pmA picture online of the Tardis and Anneke on a beach by a cave, must be for a Smugglers documentary.
Gordon
June 20th, 2026 - 6:26pmJust seen this on gallifrey base. Apparently it was a local newsletter:
FRIENDS Of
STRUẠN
& St GRADE
DR WHO AND THE SMUGGLERS:
FILMING AT ST GRADE
We have some exciting news about filming at St Grade this month. A BBC documentary series is being made about early episodes of Dr Who. One of these was filmed at St Grade in 1966, as part of a Dr Who story
called The Smugglers’,
and the documentary will be reminiscing
about this episode. We are looking for anybody in the area who remembers the filming at St Grade in 1966, or who remembers seeing the episode.
Prof Horner
June 20th, 2026 - 7:25pmLet’s hope this is for a Smugglers animation.or even better a missing episodes recovery. Either the way , let’s hope for some positive news soon.
Related news , I understand that Anneke Wills is making her final public appearance at a Talking Pictures event in September before retiring.
Auton
June 20th, 2026 - 7:26pmGreat news! Would have thought they would have already banked something like this
SV7
June 20th, 2026 - 10:37pmThank you so much for sharing this. Fingers crossed this is for an animation!
James
June 21st, 2026 - 12:18amSo could we be looking at a smugglers animation release in the winter and maybe S4 box set late next year?
bookcollector
June 21st, 2026 - 12:35amWould love the smugglers animated it’s a story i have always enjoyed. First from the target book then from the audio version. But an animation would really help bring it to life.
Prowl 1701
June 21st, 2026 - 6:15amLove The Smugglers, the novelization is a great read, and it’s one of my favorite telesnap recons to watch as well. Like many, I’d love an animation of it. Season 4 is my favorite 60’s season of Who after all.
Gordon
June 21st, 2026 - 6:24amI doubt it’s for a recovery due to how they handled the 2 masterplan eps and I’ve heard that even if a full story from FIF was recovered it would go directly on iPlayer before any sort of physical release. Could be for a release that is years away. Worth noting the myth makers making of was recorded in 2024 so doesn’t necessarily mean it’s next. I do think it will get animated even if it’s not next. I’ve been told the next black and white season is expected to be 6 so it could be for an animated release. It could also easily fit on the season 4 set whenever that comes then an animated release later if an animation release isn’t imminent or vice versa.
Speaking of season 6 Paul revealed recently when discussing the possibility of them working on the newly recovered masterplan eps for iPlayer he mentioned that it worked out that R3store did it as they were already busy scanning other things for the black and white box sets at the time and referenced the surviving eps of the invasion as well as other eps getting scanned (2, 5 and 10 of masterplan, war machines and “others” were mentioned)
Duncan
June 21st, 2026 - 3:21pmThe Smugglers ? Yes, please ! Great if the original prints have turned up but Ill be happy with an animation. I listened to the audiobook a few weeks ago, and really enjoyed it. This story deserves more attention imo.
bookcollector
June 21st, 2026 - 9:41pmAs Gordon points out this doesn’t actually mean anything is imminent. Talk of returned episodes is very premature it’s more likely to be an animation but as to when is the question. I think we may get an animation announced within the next few months, possibly by September but it’s more likely to be myth makers or space pirates. I feel expectations need to be managed a little. Personally I will be happy with whatever story has been animated first. Doesn’t matter to me which it is as long as we get one!
Trebor
June 22nd, 2026 - 9:10amI posted that on GB, as a poster called Greg shared it on Facebook.
I will say that I was told about the DMP returns before the announcement, along with four other episodes. However the four others were NOT the duplicates found, but a complete missing Hartnell story. So I wait and see if this happens.
I do believe there are more to come this year.
Prof Horner
June 22nd, 2026 - 10:40amWell we will see wether this is true or just wishful thinking. Personally I’m want some Troughon. I certainly think there more to come. Film is Fabulous won’t behave in the same way Philip Morris behaved . if he had nothing instead of wind blowing in the right direction nonsense. I trust film is Fabulous far more than Morris.
Prof Horner
June 22nd, 2026 - 10:41amShould have read, if he had said nothing.
Nb7
June 10th, 2026 - 7:21pmSo, I didn’t know where to post this, but as there’s a really nice little community on here, it felt it right.
I first caught Who at the tail end of the original run, that was my introduction and for those few weeks and months it gripped me. Then nothing.
Every now and again we would visit a video shop and buy Who videos, I wore out the Fenric tape! And then nothing.
Paul McGann is THE Doctor. Bought more videos, saw the tv movie then nothing.
We moved house in 2003 and found my old Who videos, then I became the proper fan, watched everyone and bought more. And that’s how it was.
Then it was due to come back in 2005!
It’s been up and down ever since (more ups) but I’ve always loved the show… the imagination, the regenerations, the stories.
My love for that show, which has also shaped me into trying to be a better, thoughtful, respectful and happy person, will never die.
Where ever its future is, I can guarantee it will return, one day, not tomorrow, next week, next year or maybe even the next 10 years, but it will return.
bookcollector
June 10th, 2026 - 8:54pmI have memories of small bits of the green death (I was 3) then I remember alpha centauri from the monster of pelodon (but sadly and annoyingly I have no memories of the ice warriors) then I clearly remember from episode 6 of the planet of the spiders all the way through to episode 3 of survival. I loved the 1996 mcgann movie and I’ve enjoyed new who from 2005 up till the end of Jodie’s era. I’ve struggled a bit with Russell’s return but have enjoyed some stories. Its had a profound effect on my life. Helping me through depression and life in general. I’ve lifelong friends because of this show. Even met my partner because of it. She likes classic, smith and jodie. Our daughter loves it all. Cheers who, you’ve been a pal.
Gordon
June 10th, 2026 - 11:48pmWhat a lovely posts guys. The show has been there in more than a few times in the past 20 plus since 2005 when I’ve been down or low. Girlfriend break ups, family loss, depression and other sad times. It’s helped me taking my mind of things a lot. Admitedly it’s not always been on the same level of love for it as when it was in prime but there is still feeling there.
I do have friends that are who fans but I as I have other interests they are also into like films and music as well as gigs.
I’ve enjoyed some of rtd 2 era stories however both finales left a bitter taste in my mouth and that isn’t something that is just there for that era. Chibnel era feels similar with their finale’s so it’s not just a rtd 2 problem.
After how the last ep ended I’m actually ok where it currently stops for a couple of years. Gives the bbc time to regroup, figure on what went on and go and come back hopefully stronger better refreshed and renewed. Yeah it’s a little sad that doctor who is going away for a bit but it’s not dead. It’s out to competitive tender and I’m hopeful it will get another production company doing it and eventually will be back.
As much as I have love for the main show it was the dvd releases that really cermented my love my show. In 2005 I was playing catch up and by 2008 I was playing the waiting game sometimes not knowing what the next release going up for pre order. Going forward my doctor who focus will be on the collection and animations. I know I have had my issues for the last couple of sets but I still think in terms of bonus features the collection range is one of the most fantastic and value for money for the bonus features. Plus there are also other shows movies and music that I’m into. I’m not going to focus on the sadness and being mopey at it being gone but rather other things that makes me happy.
bookcollector
June 11th, 2026 - 12:33amThat’s one of the differences this time Gordon. When it ended originally we had so little material. Now I have all of the stories available to watch. But I also have hundreds of movies as I’m a big film fan. I’ve hundreds of music cds as I’m (an old-fashioned) music fan. My latest cd is out tomorrow (tarja, a Finnish opera-metal star) I’ve a wide range of interests including obviously a huge book collection of which who is only a part. As you say Gordon it’s sad but this time round we have lots to keep us occupied
Gordon
June 11th, 2026 - 2:10amAgreed. The doctor who world is so much bigger now than it was 36 years ago last time round plus it’s way more easier and accessable. Previously you had to be made aware of things being released and getting hold of things from independent companies etc may involve sending away postal orders and cheques and waiting sometimes weeks to get things back. Now it’s all easily found out and viewable in seconds as it’s easily downloadable or put on YouTube. It’s all a fingertip away The fan creator community will play a good part going forward especially with how talented some of them are
Oh I know of tarja. Was a fan back from when she was in nightwish. I can’t say I’ve completely kept up with her solo career but I did like listening to her what lies beneath and colours in the dark albums. Even saw her live in 2016 as she was playing a festival I went to.
Prof Horner
June 11th, 2026 - 9:26amWell my earliest memory of the series was season 6 and early Pertwee seasons terrified me . I remember how disappointed I felt when the special was cancelled back in 1993 . It feels different this time. The truth is I don’t care. Is that sad.Come on gives us colour tease for the next season boxset.
Alydon2007
June 11th, 2026 - 10:07amCrikey… I feel old…
I was initially turned on to the series through a fascination with Dalek rolykins on a very early family holiday, and I first started watching halfway though THE WEB PLANET, though I was so young I wasn’t always sure what was happening. My earliest memories are pretty vague for Hartnell, clearer for Troughton (I was convinced that the Krotons were actually Trods from TVComic), but it was the Pertwee era when I actually started following the stories and wasn’t just watching for the monsters.
And to echo some of the above comments… it may be off our screens for a while, but I’m sure it will be back.
Rory, the original you might say
June 11th, 2026 - 4:59pmI grew up with 80s Who, and I collected what scant offerings were available at the time. I had a great librarian at my local library who would always manage to get as many Targets as possible, whether by purchasing the new releases or by doing swaps with other libraries, so I mostly got to experience the first three Doctors and parts of four through the Target novels.
In the 90s I got my Who fix through the Virgin novels and waking up early at the weekend to record classic Who on UK Gold, so I eventually got to see every existing story. I avidly scoured the John Fitton catalogues for anything I hadn’t yet consumed, and managed to collect almost every Target and Virgin novel (I have since filled the holes in my collection).
Doctor Who has been with me for as long as I can remember. While I didn’t like the RTD2 era because I thought it had the same problems as his first era, but turned up to 11, I love experiencing new Who stories. I’m sad that there won’t be a xmas special, but there is still a lot of new work being created. This is a far cry from the wilderness years, although I wouldn’t mind having a new book published every month again.
This isn’t the end. It’s just a necessary pause. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
—
Also, I have seen Tarja several times, with and without Nightwish. I enjoy my music as much as I enjoy my Doctor Who, so it’s nice to see that there are others out there with similar tastes.
bookcollector
June 11th, 2026 - 5:18pmTarja is a definite favourite, unfortunately tomorrow’s cd is delayed as his masters haven’t received stock yet. I also follow the other nightwish leads, anette olzon and floor jansen. But it’s a wide range of music I listen too. Can’t listen to audio stories any more due to issues relating to concentration that arose from my mental health but music I can still enjoy.
bookcollector
June 12th, 2026 - 10:09pmJust received the email telling me my tarja cd is on the way. Much needed boost. Judging by the singles it’s set to be her heaviest album yet and I can’t wait!
Oh and my very first doctor who merchandise I bought… gerry Davis’ tenth planet target book when I was 7. Been thinking of who off and on all day and that suddenly came back to me.
James Spackman
June 9th, 2026 - 12:00amAny ideas as to what the next box set might be? , S11 or S16 have been speculated?.
ex15
June 9th, 2026 - 6:28amS16 I believe is expected.
COMICshopsDontStand
June 9th, 2026 - 7:28amI guess any update. / announcement wont happen until Circut Breaker as all been released depending how well that goes.
Prof Horner
June 9th, 2026 - 8:04amHopefully we will get a colour tease soon. Since there are only two colour seasons left to release. We from the colour, which one it will be. Blue for 11 ,purple or pink for 16. With a proper announcement next month.
Rob
June 9th, 2026 - 1:14pmNo word on animations either, like you said maybe after Circuit Breaker!
James
June 2nd, 2026 - 11:10pmRandom request. Is anyone good with Photoshop/ai/chat gpt? Looking at seeing if its possible to create a Blu-ray size cover using the template of the old silver dvd covers. Wanted to create a cover for Resurrection of the Daleks for starters. Updating the special features to cover all features old and new from the Blu-ray Collection S21 discs.
DPHill
June 2nd, 2026 - 11:21pmHello, I have always been a cover changer to match the style of the typical classic range, all nuWho dvds are in that styles as well as sja, wilderness unoficial spin-offs, the stageplays, lost season 23 and 27, i have also toyed with doing the televised omnibuses, all updated effects and omnibuses that have featured on blu-ray but not dvd, i even have the myth makers documentary collection dvds in the old classic dvd range format – question is, do you have a particular artwork in mind from anywhere? I could easily do one for you if there was an artwork – i do have a resurrection artwork in my clutches that i could use as i was going to do my own one anyways
James
June 3rd, 2026 - 2:00pmDphill
Either use the original release or the special edition from revisitations box set.
Rob
June 9th, 2026 - 1:13pmI didnt think chatgpt or copilot allow copyrighted material to be uploaded and altered.
James
June 9th, 2026 - 1:20pmManaged to get chat to alter the Daleks and war games colour covers so the text wasn’t multicoloured and matched the rest
Nb7
May 29th, 2026 - 10:43amWatched the tv movie on 4K last night and without doubt the best bbc upscale to date!
I knew it would be brilliant anyway but seeing it how it’s been for the last 30 years and now the new upscale, wow. Well done all involved!
Craig F
May 29th, 2026 - 5:53pmWell not an upscale, Paul V just done a 4K scan from the original 35mm negative.
Nb7
May 29th, 2026 - 6:41pmStill looks incredible.
Prowl 1701
May 29th, 2026 - 7:03pmThe 4K scan is much much better than an upscale. It’s in true 4K HD for the first time.
Rob
June 9th, 2026 - 1:13pmI agree, its incredible
Prof Horner
July 10th, 2026 - 11:13amWell it is always fun to speculate on season boxsets and what order they will come out in. The next two are 16 and 11 it seems. But what happens then? Season 6 seems likely late next year. But would season 1 be released after that given that 6 and 1have the most original episodes and need the most restoration. Would the so called Wilderness Years be released between them in the spring of 28? With season 1 in the autumn of that year? Then it will be 5,4 and 3 in that order. What do we think?
RobW
July 10th, 2026 - 12:21pmA few years ago season 6 was on the cards but then they must have changed plans around the space pirates. James Goss still has the original Invasion assets on a hard drive
Prof Horner
May 25th, 2026 - 12:55pmWell I would be interested in views on a Space Pirates animations later this year. If we get we get season 6 released later next year. It would have to be a far shorter release time between the animation stand alone release and the inclusion on the season 6 boxset. Maybe less than a year. Our friend Prowl did an excellent video on future animations .
Matt L
May 25th, 2026 - 1:32pmProwl’s videos are always a good watch, appreciate them. Yeah hoping it’s season 16 later this year and then next year S11 and S6 hopefully
Harold Shand
May 25th, 2026 - 6:14pmIs this speculation or announced? I may have missed it
Professor Flibble
May 25th, 2026 - 6:36pmI could see it being Space Pirates. A lot of people talk about its reputation but I think it’s been conspicuous by its absence. The only gap in Season 6, only a handful of characters with simple outfits, some fairly basic locations, and an opportunity to zhuzh it up a little.
Prof Horner
May 25th, 2026 - 6:57pmI was speculating on The Space Pirates beening animated. Just watched and commented on Prowls latest video on no news on animations.
Bookcollector
May 25th, 2026 - 9:10pmI’d like to see space pirates animated as it’s a story I think would benefit greatly from having visuals over just the audio. The savages is one that is helped greatly by the animation, which I enjoyed, yes it’s a fairly simple animation style but it greatly improves the story being able see it than just listen to it. Pirates is one that an animated version of would I think see it be reassessed. It’s not the greatest story and has some plot holes big enough to get the v-41 through but it is fun and the team of troughton, Jamie and zoe are one that is just fun to hear on the missing episodes. There are stories I think are better but sometimes it’s nice to get a weaker story and watch it with a fresh eyes.
Scotel
May 25th, 2026 - 10:27pmThe Space Pirates definitely suffers from the lack of visuals (for my personal tastes I’d say The Myth Makers suffers worse, but it’s definitely second place).
Also with the two TARDIS Timegirl animations we’ll be able to watch the complete Troughton era at long last.
Gordon
May 27th, 2026 - 1:56amIt probably wouldn’t happen but I wouldn’t be against a model and miniatures/animation hybrid with chris Thompson and his b7 model team doing the models trying to match the models and shots from ep2. I’ve always thought the space pirates would be a good one to do with a supermarionation style but I’d imagine that would be way to expensive plus I’d imagine Chris and co are busy.
Prowl 1701
May 27th, 2026 - 5:44amI’d definitely enjoy seeing an animation of The Space Pirates as I consider it to be a very visual story. If they took some creative liberties like they did with Macra I think we could get a really good animation story.
Professor Flibble
May 27th, 2026 - 12:00pmEpisode 2 doesn’t seem properly representative of the whole story, it’s the only episode that doesn’t feature Caven and it doesn’t feature Dom Issigri either. Bit like how Episode 3 of Enemy of the World was the only one for years and people didn’t care for it.
Prowl 1701
May 27th, 2026 - 10:25pmPlus in episode 2 our main cast are just stuck in that one room not able to do much for the episode.
Amypondfan
May 28th, 2026 - 12:04amCould be worse they are barely in some of the other episodes!
Professor Flibble
May 28th, 2026 - 12:50am15 minutes it takes for the TARDIS to arrive in Episode 1. I think yeah the story’s not very popular not only because of how missing it is (no telesnaps, barely any photographic material, only one surviving episode that isn’t representative of the whole thing), but also how absent Troughton and all that are in the whole story.
Also, Prowl 1701, want to say I enjoy your videos! Always nice when we get an announcement for a missing episode animation or a collection set and seeing your intitial thoughts on them
DPHill
May 28th, 2026 - 2:00amSure that a recovery or more likely an animation would bolster this story in a lot of people’s opinions -personally going for wheel but only because it is sixty years of the cybermen this year!!
Prowl 1701
May 28th, 2026 - 8:07amThanks professor, I appreciate you watching the channel! I feel soace pirates was just there to fill slots until they got ready for wars games. Do t our main cast just appear in pre filmed parts of part six as they were filing war games by then?
Bookcollector
May 28th, 2026 - 8:21amYes prowl, it takes 15 mins for them to appear in episode 1 and they only appear in pre filmed inserts in Episode 6. They are in around three minutes of the episode
Prowl 1701
May 29th, 2026 - 6:59pmI’ve only gone through the space pirates once as that recon is a rough watch. The novelization is a good read though.
bookcollector
May 29th, 2026 - 8:11pmAlways enjoyed the novel. Terrance did a good job with a rather rough story. The reconstruction is okay but an animation would be great.