February 21st, 2026
745 comments
We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
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.
ebay advert
Categorised under: 
The Doctor Who Site
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Merchandise
Flickr
YouTube
Ryan
March 24th, 2026 - 2:45pmIf they do decide to drastically reduce the Ai upscaling for future releases (and that’s a BIG if), will it be possible that they’ll fix the issues that have plagued Seasons 13 and 21, maybe in time for the standard releases?
Also, did this upscaling happen with Season 7 because I can’t see it anywhere
Gordon
March 24th, 2026 - 4:24pmThere was some used on bits of15 and 25 but I can’t say it looked too noticable. 7 there was some again. It wasn’t till 13 when it got cranked up yet again to a point it became too far for most.
I suspect it’s possible. They did fix the issues with season 20 but we will have another 18 months to find that out
Bob
March 24th, 2026 - 5:25pmI noticed it on the warehouse shoot out scene in the first episode of The Ambassadors of Death but the rest of the boxset looked decent, or at least as decent as that season can look.
Babelbro
March 24th, 2026 - 6:12pmThe whole range uses AI (on everything Blu-ray).
Going as far back as the 2017 Shada Blu-ray, the studio footage has an uncanny valley look, to the point where the 2013 dvd studio footage is sharper, presumably because there was no AI upscaling back then. The entire DVD range also uses noise reduction so it can’t be that affecting focus.
I’m not sure how the range can seriously do anything unless they do like a ‘revisited’ set of releases, like the ‘revisited’ dvd boxsets – that were specifically released on part because the Restoration Team wanted another go at them.
Rex F
March 24th, 2026 - 7:09pmShada on Blu just had a higher blast of noise reduction, applied by a different operator to the DVD range. Someone wanted to take out every bit of noise, so the new upscaled version looks softer and less detailed than the included old version, that’s been left in SD.
daz
March 23rd, 2026 - 5:16pmIt’s been years since I saw Resurrection of the Daleks on dvd.
Has it always been so ‘liney’, as in a lot of vertical lines throughout. Especially noticeable on the Doctor’s costume in the darker studio scenes?
Noticing a lot of artifacts too and the soldiers jumpers losing their pattern to become completely flat then back to normal all as they are simply walking in a scene. Guessing this is AI?
I thought Disc’s 1 to 3 were fine though.
Rex F
March 23rd, 2026 - 5:56pmNoise reduction and AI. We get to enjoy both these days. Yay.
Babelbro
March 23rd, 2026 - 10:27pmIt’s going to be quite a bit complicated to give a simple answer given the gargantuan amount of digital processing and AI alterations so I’ll do my best;
Yes, the lines did originally exist on the broadcast masters. The lines are simply a constant part of the original tape picture, though you’ll notice the lines will flare up more on any composite shots (eg the miniature Master in Planet of Fire) because by the very nature of the lower quality tape Classic Who was using in 1984, when you start building composites the tape / sequence reacts in that way.
I’ve no idea what quality tape Classic Who used from Seasons 15-20 but straight away the lines are already there in stories like ‘Horror of Fang Rock’ and ‘Destiny of the Daleks’, though without being able to see the non-borked-with tape transfers pre ‘restoration’ and upscaling it’s really difficult to know for certain if the output quality of the tapes Classic Who used started to be slightly lower grade even halfway through the Tom Baker era – but in terms of the spec names of the different label versions of tape, the later half of the Peter Davison era absolutely did change to a lower 1 inch (I think?) tape and instantly the consequence is stronger ‘lines’.
Not quite the same thing but the other way videotape will temporarily react is to extreme sounds such as prop gun firing. ‘The Caves of Androzani’ shows this straight away within the first 5 minutes. You can go back to the 90’s VHS and those lines are all there too… However for whatever the reason, the Blu-ray version of Androzani uses so much heavy AI + DNR that it blurs / replaces that tape noise completely… While the Blu-ray does absolutely sweet f.a. to remove the constant tape lines. The phrase ‘why bother in the first place’ comes to mind here.
Ultimately no matter how much you try to understand why the Restoration Team did what they did, their final result, on so many technical levels, is so confusing to try and justify;
Yes the signal lines are a natural part of the original camera tapes – but are they supposed to be that visually striking? Or is that the AI DNR exaggerating them, or worse still – removing the original lines, and guessing what a ‘prettier’ version of those lines should look like. Because of how compressed the VHS and DVD copies of these episodes are, we simply have no real way of knowing for definite.
We would have had a very good idea, had the Restoration Team *not* caked it with AI slop…
I suggest the latter is true, based on the fact the AI turns Peter Davison’s hair into tinned spaghetti in ‘The Awakening’, so it wouldn’t be unrealistic to imagine that the AI is heavily sensitive to any form of lines, that it just doesn’t know what to do with them, or perhaps the humans at the computer simply aren’t even properly telling the AI what to do with the lines.
Basically, it is such a mess.
daz
March 23rd, 2026 - 10:36pmThanks Babelbro.
Prowl1701
March 24th, 2026 - 12:57amSeason 20/The Five Doctors was the last season to use the 2”inch quad tape. Season 21 was when they switched over to 1”inch type C tape as I recall.
Peter
March 23rd, 2026 - 12:45pmI was thinking “look how much makeup everyone has on!” throughout this boxset, but it’s an overuse of AI. Sharaz Jek’s mask looked like a cartoon in some scenes to my eyes.
Utterly disappointing this happening with these sets, with them taking a nosedive in remastering quality halfway through. So much for assembling the ultimate collection to keep on the shelves. *sigh*
Such a shame as the new special effects are great (Awakening’s are very subtle and just give it a little bit more polish). Plus, the 5.1 mixes are amazing.
PJ
March 23rd, 2026 - 7:16pmIt’s bad it’s very bad……………..
Carl
March 22nd, 2026 - 6:35pmDoes anyone know have an inkling, heard a rumor or know anything behind closed doors what the next boxset will likely be, 11 or 16?
Also, after the last 2 colour boxsets are done, are they likely to start releasing Troughton or Hartnell boxsets?
Gordon
March 22nd, 2026 - 6:54pm16 next followed by 11
Gordon
March 23rd, 2026 - 7:22amAlso yes we are getting 60s sets. 100 percent on all 5 remaining getting released
COMICshopsDontStand
March 23rd, 2026 - 9:24am@gordon s16 eta? For trailer
And dec 2026 Release or march 2027
Gordon
March 23rd, 2026 - 10:02amLike the last couple of years around July reveal with October ish time for release
Tom Williams
March 23rd, 2026 - 12:03pmEven though in my opinion they have season 25 standard coming this year which was also out in October and could clash we could maybe have it sept or the other way round but also December would be hard on releasing the next season after due too having the Christmas special unless it was at the start off December or January 27 so it would give more time for any 60s or even wilderness one
Gordon
March 23rd, 2026 - 12:39pmStandard 25 could pretty much come at any time. They don’t really promote them. Also it’s very likely we are getting an animation at some point
Tom Williams
March 23rd, 2026 - 10:32pmWould the animation more be June ? Or November
Gordon
March 24th, 2026 - 12:14amThe animation could be any month. We’ve had collections and animations in the same month. It will be whenever it’s ready
John Dickson
March 22nd, 2026 - 5:39pmDoes Resurrection 4 partner not have updated special effects? Says it does in the booklet. Anyone know???
Gordon
March 22nd, 2026 - 6:56pmIt’s a misprint
John Dickson
March 22nd, 2026 - 7:34pmGordon – thanks. Thought it was another error. Not watched Caves yet – is it that bad
RPG74
March 20th, 2026 - 5:47pmThis might well kill the range. Though I’m starting to wonder if perhaps that’s what the Beeb wants.
Master
March 20th, 2026 - 7:00pmThankfully only 2 more colour series. I do hope they scale back on this in seasons 11 and 16. Not sure how this ai will look in the B/W collections.
COMICshopsDontStand
March 21st, 2026 - 5:43pmITS BBC STUDIOS biggest money maker.
They dont want to kill it.
Andy
March 22nd, 2026 - 5:09pmAgreed the range will continue in some form or other. 4k will probably be next for the range. It’s were us as fans draw the line. I said I wasn’t gonna bother with these Collection Sets on Blu-ray but I did because of the extras on them otherwise I would have just stuck to my current DVDs I had over a hundred now I only have about twenty or something left. I mean what else can they do with them but because the range has been so.successful with VHS, DVD, and now Blu-ray which is soon gonna be complete. So whatever the next format the range will continue with the future in some form or other as yes it is the BBC Studio money market.
Gordon
March 23rd, 2026 - 7:52amIt topped the blu ray sales chart despite the issues with the previous release.
James
March 20th, 2026 - 3:39pmJust a thought after seeing a picture on marketplace. Someone is selling all their Blu-ray of the first and second Doctor animations.
Be another line they could go down to sell Classic Who. Once all stories have been upscaled for The Collection sets, they could then re-release the classic run for each story onto Blu-ray.
We’ve had quite a few already with all of the animations, the movie (again in May), spearhead in space and the 2 colourizations.
With the Timelord Victorious release we’ve had 5 other Classic stories (planet and genesis of the Daleks, deadly assassin, state of decay, and curse of fenric).
Just be the case of reprinting the discs with new artwork installed into Blu-ray casing with a smaller silver cover and updating info.
Just a thought. Only other way I can see is upscaling Classic stories into 4k. But not sure how possible this would be. Long long way off and by then something else may be invented.
Bob
March 20th, 2026 - 4:26pmIt’s the way it’s done in Germany but it’d seem a waste in the UK given how the standard editions aren’t too expensive as they are and also frequently go on sale on online store fronts.
I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually even the individual seasons get discontinued and replaced with Doctor specific ones to further reduce packaging.
James
March 20th, 2026 - 6:20pmBob
Agreed they are cheap now, around the £6 mark. Even a few new ones have come down. I got the Victorious Blu-ray set for £7.99 (was£22) and Underwater Menace animation for £4.99 (was£18) at her mistress sound shop the other day.
Once all done and animated the set versions should be Doctor sets next. But not all the extras. Just the best version of each story, plus the animated episodes. Either done as mega Blu-ray box incased ina cardboard box OR each season in a standard Blu-ray box incased ina cardboard box. Years down the line though.
US has the NewWho Doctor book style sets. We got Tennant but that’s all. Smith, Capaldi and Whitaker they have continued. Think Germany did a 7th Complete book style set.
Andy
March 21st, 2026 - 3:26pmYeah James, I thought for a minute when I saw The Underwater Menace Animation on DVD for £4.99, & Blu-ray also.is £7.99 even on Amazon as well. I thought it was funny just before the announcement of the missing episodes last week I thought it might have been the reason for these being reduced I thought they were gonna announce the 2 missing episodes from this story had been found, and were trying to get rid of these first lol. But now we know they were from The Daleks Master Plan.
Whofan44
March 19th, 2026 - 6:58pmSo how has all this issue with AI being used happened? It didn’t used to happen and does not seem to effect any content outside the DW Collection. Blake’s 7 is fine, TV Movie looks fine so why these last few sets?
Babelbro
March 19th, 2026 - 11:43pmAllegedly GallifreyBase’s moderators are censoring any criticism that specifically mentions the AI.
GallifreyBase of course, is home to plenty of the officials involved in the Doctor Who Collection range that have since avoided using Twitter/X, BlueSky, Instagram & Tik Tok.
Peter Crocker notably has since deleted his social media accounts.
Rex F
March 20th, 2026 - 1:00amWhofan44: One person handles the work on the Collection sets, and he liked the results of the new AI software. Paul V is handling B7 and the TVM, and he’s fortunately less keen. (It’s worth pointing out that Paul V comes from a technical background, whereas the other guy had an amateur background.)
Presumably the higher ups not involved in the technical side of things aren’t clued up enough to see/understand the damage being done by the AI software, or possibly even think it actually looks good – some people do.
Being honest, the first time I ever saw AI enhanced video I did think it was disturbingly good – it took a few minutes to spot the artefacts, and direct comparison with the original to see exactly how much was being invented by the software. AI processed video of the sort used in the Collection sets is essentially a lie, and if acting itself is a lie that we’re all in on, AI enhanced video could be a lie of the sneakiest kind.
Babelbro: I can also think of other reasons he might have done that…
Whofan44
March 20th, 2026 - 7:44amSo what we need is either the person who does the sets to stop using the AI or Paul V takes over the restoration of the Collection sets. Is that possible to happen?
Gordon
March 20th, 2026 - 8:39amDavid brunt has implied the decision to use ai on the doctor who collection may have came up from the higher ups and it’s enforced upon him whether he wants to use it or not. Because of his contract he may have to essentially say he likes it publicly even if it may not be the case.
If that’s the case In my opinion the money people maybe looking at cutting corners. It is a very expensive range. In my opinion they should be focusing on the extras rather than the restoration at saving money. As much as I loved the let’s go boating feature does it really need to be made if they are looking at saving money?
I finished the set yesterday and the location material on film (that they possess) is fantastic and untouched. However the studio material is all very noticeable throughout. Looking at the behind the sofa and other new features that has footage to my eyes the Ai looks more aggressive than on the main feature which does make me feel that there was at least an attempt to tone it down and I don’t think it’s as agressive as s13 but they didn’t go near far enough. I’ve always suspected s21 was too far on and having watched the whole thing it really needed delaying but I suspect the higher ups wanted it out before the financial year ended at the end of march. Watching caves was a really rough watch and I do think it has broke me seeing it in that state. The annoying thing is everything else on this set is 10 out of 10 in my book. I’ve no issue with anything else on this set. I’ve still to go through commentaries and production notes but I just don’t feel ready after this to watch the whole thing again which isn’t the norm for me.
They have been using ai in a low level as mark Ayres described it since the range started but since season 15 the usage has been ramped up and more and 13 and now 21 took it way past acceptable standards.
The issue for me isn’t the usage more how it’s used. I understand it’s a tool and how it’s used is important. It’s being used like an unwieldy hammer. The ai HD upscale of space Precinct looks good despite it being ai. It really needs controlled and monitored better if it is to be continued. If they can’t do that it should be put back to whatever they were doing pre s15 levels.
Im conflicted going forward. I want to continue to support the range as I love everything else on s21 and everyone else does work hard to deliver the best possible product and they do deserve support. However if the results of the main feature are going to continue to look like this I’m not sure i want to continue to finance this. My stance may change once I see the trailer and new features but something has to give. Make no mistake I will probably end up buying it as I pretty much have zero willpower and the ocd completionist in me will bug the hell for having a gap on my shelf but unless there are visible changes for the trailer for the next one I can see myself waiting a bit before purchasing it or perhaps even getting it on the second hand market (cex/ebay)
Gordon
March 20th, 2026 - 8:59amPaul V is busy restoring other shows as well as the tv movie/blake’s 7 as well as working on the behind the sofas, in conversations and other features. I suspect that he’d not have the time to restore doctor who collection sets on top of other things.
Peter Crocker was said to be retiring this year. Whether or not he means to I’ve no clue. I expect if that’s the case he’ll do the 2 remaining colour seasons and go and someone else may do the 60s. Maybe the r3store that are handling the 2 recovered episodes. They have worked with bbc and doctor who in the past delivering film so they might be good.
Rex F
March 20th, 2026 - 12:08pmFrom what little I’ve seen of Space Precinct, the AI usage there was mainly for improving edges and their sharpness (removing jaggies), it wasn’t adding/inventing detail. There’s also a guy in the US who has created a very good AI upscaling algorithm called Astro-res, which works brilliantly with the outlines in animation and reducing any analogue ringing artefacts on them (without adding things). So AI can certainly be used well.
K-9stein
March 20th, 2026 - 12:18pmSo far, I’ve watched the special edition of ‘Warriors of the Deep’ and the 2-part version of ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’. I can see at times the effect that the use of AI has had on smoothing the picture, but I honestly don’t think it’s as bad as what was done on the Season 13 set.
DanielM
March 20th, 2026 - 2:29pm@ Rex F
Peter Crocker did say earlier in 2025 that he was deleting his Twitter/X Account due to the nature of that Site in recent Years. He is still active on Bluesky.
Lee
March 22nd, 2026 - 12:12amWell, after watching “Warriors” I thought – ok they’ve been a little over zealous on the edge sharpening in places, but I can live with that. Awakening seems ok, but I’m now just 2 episodes into Frontios and I’m apalled.
There are scenes where Peter Davison’s head looks to have completely different lighting to the rest of his body. There are scenes where the entire cast look like badly animated cardboard cutouts. It’s disgraceful quality control, in my opinion even worse than s13.
I accept that these sets are expensive to produce, with a niche market – but if money needs to be saved, for goodness sake lose a couple of extra features! Sure, I generally enjoy them but the priority has got to be episode restoration. I personally think that seasons 13,21,11 & 16 are amongst the best of classic Who and they’ve been (or are about to be) utterly ruined. I can’t see that the seasons destroyed by AI processing will ever be re-released and fixed within my lifetime. I’ve bought every set so far on release, but for the rest of the run – I think I’ll wait until I see the standard editions in the used bargain bins or charity shops. My prediction is, sales will fall of a cliff and we may not even see the end of the series. So much work and passion has gone in to these sets up to (but not including) s13, It’s a real shame.
Babelbro
March 22nd, 2026 - 3:07am@Lee – in regards of the production cost of these sets and where money can be saved;
Generative AI must be one of, if the most expensive offender, in terms of software licensing, hardware to run it, digital storage, equipment to render it, the sheer electricity usage and overheads.
What shocked me was seeing the frame by frame comparison for the Regeneration sequence in ‘The Caves of Androzani’ – the very moment the former companion heads appear, the AI layer sharply disappears (evidently an editing mistake)
However what this error allows you to see is just how *good* the non-AI studio tape footage looks, even as a softened multi layered tape composite. Yes it’s been upscaled but it genuinely left me wondering what the purpose even was for the use of AI when underneath it, the video quality was already *this* good.
I think, in the not too distant future once the Collection range has finished and a new team eventuatgets involved relaunching the current TV series, inevitably the BBC will want to make extra money by reprinting the last 60+ years in the neatest but more cost effective way possible, and to my mind that means slim, barebones ‘per Doctor’ boxsets (just the episodes to fill the least amount of discs).
If the above were to happen, then by the time that were to take place I imagine it would be reasonably simple to go back to the project files, turn off the AI+DNR and render new masters out.
Rex F
March 22nd, 2026 - 5:16amI’m guessing the comparison you refer to is by TJ DW on YouTube? His work is always very helpful.
It’s bizarre that someone decides to filter away actual detail with insane levels of noise reduction, then tries to add pretend detail with AI. Someone definitely needs to retire.
Babelbro
March 22nd, 2026 - 8:38am@Rex F – TJDW, plus a copy via a friend of a friend.
In the film restoration realm, DNR seems to be popular for a number of reasons, being that raw film negs can be noisier than the original broadcast masters, and that naturally film noise will balloon the encoded file sizes, taking preservation and disc storage size into consideration.
That all said, ‘Old Gold Media’ that worked on ‘The Sweeney’ Blu-rays still listened to the online comments in favor of *not* using any form of AI+DNR, those comments then reached the head office and the decision was made to avoid it entirely, and the result is simply the best modern day restoration of a classic British tv series I’ve seen to date. Even one of the episodes that survives purely on videotape still looks really darn good *because* AI+DNR was completely avoided.
Ultimately my argument would be that the ‘noise’ and ‘grain’ is vital picture detail, it’s a integral part of actor’s faces and the environment around them. When you scrub it out and replace it, you’re actively destroying what was there before, hence you get actors with completely different looking faces particularly in ‘The Caves of Androzani’ – in Colin Baker’s shot, Peri’s out of focus in the background with someone else’s face that barely reassembles Nicola Bryant.
It is just surreal how this set passed quality control checks, let alone a ‘peer review process’.
Valeyard
March 23rd, 2026 - 12:48pmIt makes me so angry to read all this, particularly about Caves. It’s my favourite DW story and I’ve been looking forward to its blu-ray release ever since the Collection range began. For that story alone I was hoping for the addition of a surround sound mix and alternative updated SFX and was so pleased when I read they’d been done, but it sounds like it’s been the worst affected by this AI BS – it’s such a needless shame. I can only hope the standard editions are released in a ‘corrected’ format in a few years time, but I won’t hold my breath…
PJ
March 23rd, 2026 - 7:24pmIt’s horrible as I’ve said before about AI and I won’t be buying anymore
Gordon
March 19th, 2026 - 1:08amWell our physical media announcement this week is Blake’s 7 season 3. It’s up for pre order on a certain His Musical Vision website if you catch my drift. I know it’s not doctor who per say but thought you would like to be aware
Tom Williams
March 19th, 2026 - 3:51amSeems it also landed on h website gordan 🙂
Ricky
March 19th, 2026 - 6:20amThanks Gordon,of course we wanted to know this 🙂 that’s great news indeed
Prof Horner
March 19th, 2026 - 9:10amWell it is great news. Do we know when ? November again perhaps? Pity we haven’t got any news on animations.
Gordon
March 19th, 2026 - 9:13amI assume November. Still too soon on the animation front. I’m not really expecting for a couple of months at least
Tom Williams
March 19th, 2026 - 1:38pmOut of interest would they release master plan as three releases ? Like standard dvd blu ray and steelbook ? Or is it too soon plus would it clash with the movie one out in may time especially considering the war games was out last year and also the reason they ain’t done any animations as off yet
James
March 19th, 2026 - 2:51pmTom Williams
DMP won’t be out anytime soon.
The 2 eps may either be attached to the next Hartnell animation as an extra (like Galaxy 4 ep on The Aztecs Special Edition) so maybe Smugglers release if that is next. OR if we get an S3 Collection set before DMP animation (most likely as DMP is like animating 3 stories -3 x4 ep stories plus Mission so 13 eps) obviously it will be on there along with eps 2,5&10 with recons for missing eps. As the Collection team have said they aren’t waiting for all stories to be animated to release the sets.
Even though it be great just to have DMP on the shelf it’s a wait. Id be happy if they did a vanilla dvd release with just eps 1-3, 5, and 10 with the soundtrack of the story. No extras just basic (like the NewWho S1-5 releases). That would be cheap to get out quick then reinvest the profit’s from that into the animation.
When it comes to the official animated DMP be the same as the other animations (so steelbook, dvd, Blu-ray). However it maybe released a few ways.
1. Split into 2 releases. Part 1 with eps 1-5 animated, colour and b&w, original eps, extras and Mission animated colour and b&w plus the UNIclan remake. Then part 2 with eps 6-10 animated and original, colour and b&w extras.
Done as dvds, Blu-rays. Part 1 being released when 1-5 are done. Then part 2 releases months later when completed.
2. Done as a full set release with all eps animated in colour and b&w, original eps, extras, Mission animated colour and b&w plus UNIclan version.
Done as a dvd, Blu-ray, steelbook.
3. Done as a box set style with 2 sets (part 1 and part 2) housed in a box (like oldstyle box sets Dalek War, The Beginning). This would only work in Dvd and Blu-ray. This being done after option 1. So part 1 released, part 2 released then box set after that. Obviously for steelbook it would be done as 1 mega steelbook.
Pricing though. As it’s like 3 stories (3 x4 ep stories) it’s gonna be quite pricey. I’m going to crystal ball a guess at £30 dvd £40 Blu-ray and £60 steelbook. S3 Collection going to be quite a lot as it’s a mega set with a lot of work and animations so I’m going with around £100. This is going by previous dvd/Blu-ray/steelbooks around £15/£25/£40 and recent Collection set at £55.
Plus you never know what FiF may stumble upon with the collections they have obtained and not got round to catalogueing or will be obtaining. They’ve done great work.
Don’t think we will get any news of animations or box sets releases until June earliest as Movie is out in May. Never know things may change if anything else turns up.
Gordon
March 19th, 2026 - 2:59pmI wouldn’t expect a physical release till the second half of the year. I’m sure a release could get put out for late may time but it would essentially be a basic as possible release with zero extras
Tom Williams
March 19th, 2026 - 5:45pmPlus @gordan i know what u mean tbh as especially waiting for season 16 and the season 25 standard
Tom Williams
March 20th, 2026 - 3:22am@James thats nice
Gordon
March 20th, 2026 - 9:13amI’m not sure it will be included in another animated release. It makes no sense to just have 1 and 3. You got to have 2 to fill in that gap. Then you are just as well including 5 and 10 as well. Maybe the mission remake too. Thats 6 Eps. At that point there is a clear imbalance. It stops being buying myth makers or whatever release it is to get eps of masterplan and then it becomes a masterplan release with an animated myth makers or whatever release.
Andy
March 21st, 2026 - 2:36pmI think what they will probably do is when The Movie is released in May, to fill in the gaps they will probably release The Collection Season 25 Standard Edition Blu-ray around August, then another The Collection Limited Edition around October most likely to be Season 16 just to complete Tom Bakers era. Then if they have any animation planned slot it in between those ave mentioned. But I think the animations are likely to be on hold for awhile as the recent missing episodes turning up might be hope that more are discovered by the end of the year. But I wouldn’t expect Daleks Master Plan to be animated anytime soon as it has a lot of different locations and characters on not impossible just would need a lot of work on it. So far now if they do decide to release the recent missing episodes I think we may get like they did with the Underwater Menace 2015, The Daleks Master Plan Episodes 1-3, 5 and 10. than maybe reconstruction photo stills for the missing episodes I think thats what they might do for now. But the animation does need time not unless they have been currently working on it we never know.
daz
March 21st, 2026 - 3:02pmBeing in the uk there is no need currently to rush in and add the two new Masterplan episodes to another story physical release.
Iplayer is enough. Although they might show it on bbc four at some point this year.
They could do what Andy has suggested as a limited edition maybe.
For the rest of the world they might have the option to buy them digitally though if not.
The animations should carry on as normal bts as nothing is definitely coming unless something still existing is known to the teams working on them.
Gordon
March 21st, 2026 - 4:16pmThe animations are not on hold. It is supposedly mostly orphan episodes that are said to be in collectors hands and full stories get animated regardless. Plus as Paul Vanezis is heavily involved with film is fabulous he’s likely to suggest which ones to avoid. Sure there is always ones that Paul may not know about but it makes sense to have animations in the works as it would make it easier for orphan eps to get a release.they could hold off work till the end of the year and the day after they start working an ep gets found. Then what? Pause things again?
If they do animate it I wouldn’t expect it till 2028 at the very earliest. I think a recon with extras seems likely for it
Tom Williams
March 21st, 2026 - 9:10pm@Andy tbh it would more be the other way round as we did get season 25 in October more for coming out so i think it would more be realased round that date season 16 could more be realsed in sept as don’t forget the Christmas special will be on in December so that would get in the way for alot off other realises happening so in fairness for season 11 if that was last for 27 they would more announce it at the start of December before like they did with season 21 or could be after in January
Babelbro
March 18th, 2026 - 4:48pmIt astounds me more how no one official has come forward to address the AI.
Months ago it was stressed that a ‘Peer review process’ had taken place, specifically for this boxset, presumably to check quality control.
What the heck has happened?
Rex F
March 20th, 2026 - 1:03amToo much “restoration” work already carried out on AI enhanced video, and no time/money/inclination to start again?
Rob
March 20th, 2026 - 11:35amIt’s astonishing isn’t. I can’t believe it’s been since October last year with season 13 and here we are again on season 21 with the same issues
Alex
March 23rd, 2026 - 7:26pmThey know about the AI and how awful it is but are not listening a lot of people including me will not be buying anymore sets
Master
March 23rd, 2026 - 8:15pmI tthink i will be hanging onto my season 11 and 16 DVDs. They have spoilt this range.
Nb7
March 18th, 2026 - 11:00amGathering my thoughts on this AI “up scaling” , I’m assuming these sets will be released again one day in another format, 4K for instance and I’m assuming that will be marketed as a less ai upscale. I know some 4k movies have been restored using ai I guess the future could hold a less ai restoration.
I’m just totally guessing here, but we’re coming to the end of this range now and as the dvds faded into blu rays are we going to see the same with the blu rays fading into 4ks?!
They have to keep the brand alive some how.
A possible steelbook of each story in 4k packaged with the target novel I suppose is possible but I have no interest in buying any more Doctor Who!
I did the vhs, dvds and blu rays and I’m not going into the 4k market that won’t look much better than it currently is. I’m assuming Spearhead will be first inclination we’ll get if that heads to 4k, safe to say the rest of the show will end up in that format.
They could easily market any future 4k discs as non ai restoration. Or at least toned down. They know as fans we’ll by them but I have no interest any more discs of the show. Once this collection archive is completed that’ll do me. But season 13 and now 21 id have consider getting again as these are pretty rough in areas.
COMICshopsDontStand
March 18th, 2026 - 1:48pm4k so £120+ per season
Not going sell many are they
Bob
March 18th, 2026 - 3:00pmConsidering how subtle the improvements from the Blu-Rays have been, the gains would be even more minor from upscaling them to 4K. With the exception of Spearhead from Space, the only way the image could be boosted that significantly would be to use AI, and considering how uncanny its results have been from a supposedly “low level” usage, I dread to think what it’d do when asked to enhance the footage to ultra HD.
The technology will certainly improve but it won’t be a case of restoration any more. Instead of adding clarity to the already present detail, it’s replacing it with what an algorithm thinks should be there, and I don’t want to see William Hartnell looking like an Instagram model.
Gordon
March 18th, 2026 - 11:57pmEven then spearhead probably wouldn’t get too huge of a jump with it only 16mm. Personally I don’t see too much calls for 4k classic who outside of spearhead and the tv movie and maybe shada (you could up grade the animation files to 4k. The recent animation files could probably be easily upgraded to 4k though considering how divisive they are I can’t see much calls to go again on them.
daz
March 21st, 2026 - 3:19pmI believe twice upon a time didn’t sell well enough in 4K to continue a 4K range but the tv movie might make the BBC reconsider but for nuwho.
Revolution of the Daleks & The Power of the Doctor double pack maybe?
Gordon
March 18th, 2026 - 2:32amI’ve watched up to caves. Ai is very visible unfortunately however it’s nowhere near as aggressive as s13 though you can still see it. Not unwatchable but there is some places where it is really rough. Looking at the behind the sofa it does look way worse so I do think they tried to scale it back but it’s nowhere near enough. I’m chalking this down to being too late to change it. The next one should give us a definitive answer on whether they are listening or not. The most frustrating thing is the film sequences of the awakening and planet of fire and the ones that they have of caves look superb. Going forward I feel they really need to monitor and control its usage more or if they can’t they should drop it or offer a non ai option. As I’ve said before even though I don’t like it I get its a tool and like any tool it all depends on how you use it. Use it correctly and you get something like space precinct. Use it wildly it’s season 13.
The alternative effects are all various levels of good but for resurrection it is fantastic. It really adds to it.
Really enjoyed the resurection making of.
They have got more people than I thought. However seeing Eric saward was a shock. He unfortunately really doesn’t look well.
The mark strickson in conversation I enjoyed but a lot of it I’d heard before
The Janet fielding in conversation is great but it does spend a good chunk talking about her ex husband Nicholas Davies and his scandal with Isreal arms dealers.
The Matthew Waterhouse one is fascinating and has an ending i didn’t expect.
The 48 hours of fielding is very interesting and it’s good seeing Janet in an everyday setting and interacting with friends that aren’t Peter and Sarah.
There is nearly 4 hours of studio footage from planet of fire (2 hours 42) and caves of androzani (1 hour 10).
I’m enjoying the behind the sofas but I feel the guest aspect worked better in s25. Colin’s reaction to androzani is very touching.
Trenzalore
March 18th, 2026 - 4:06amAI is just another fad that will age these boxsets one day. Like the nonsense people in the 80s used to do that we laugh at now. Nice that you’re up to Caves already. Then you’re done, nothing else to watch I believe…
Duncan
March 18th, 2026 - 1:14pmThis is a rare moment when I’m pleased my eyesight isn’t the best. I don’t notice this AI stuff. Must be frustrating though if you’ve got good eyes.
Duncan
March 18th, 2026 - 1:22pmLove the Peter, Janet, Sarah boat adventures :). Could watch those three for hours. Sarah is so sweet.
DeliveryRus
March 18th, 2026 - 3:43pmIs the AI an issue on every bluray player?
As some users did not have any issues with s13.
I. E. Is it certain models of player
OllieOz
March 18th, 2026 - 7:40pmThe AI issues are inherent to the remaster on the disc, it’s not a player issue.
It’s down to the viewer to notice what the AI upscaling is doing to the image negatively and unfortunately for me, I really notice it. Waxy and smeary images, ruined depth of field and loss of native details in place of this newly invented ‘detail’. Such a shame they didn’t delay this set to scale it back even further and more carefully after the already significant backlash to the S13 remaster.
ChrisP
March 18th, 2026 - 11:14pmOnly watched Resurrection so far.
There is some AI waxiness but it’s nowhere near as bad as the worst of season 13. ie it wasn’t pulling me out of the story.
I still don’t love it though. Felt like it was trying to make the film sequences not look like film.
I’d rather have the Blakes 7 style restoration that feels more sympathetic to the original look of the programme.
Prof Horner
March 17th, 2026 - 11:46amWell I enjoyed Warriors of the Deep special edition. The story is still crap and acting not great. But the new Myrka is quite wonderful! Does The Myrka eat Ingrid Pitt ? He certainly runs off with her in his mouth!
Hopefully we can get the same standard for the Dinosaurs in Invasion of the Dinosaurs for season 11.
daz
March 17th, 2026 - 2:16pmI loved the new version of the Myrka.
Rumour is S16 is next so they have more time to work on the dinosaurs.
Rusure
March 17th, 2026 - 3:08pm@daz – is it not more likely to be S11 next ?
Otherwise its been S13 ( tom ), s21 ( davison/colin ) then a tom again if you Are correct ?
daz
March 17th, 2026 - 3:19pmThe order doesn’t matter at this stage. Season 11 needs more work than Season 16 so will be surprised if 11 does drop first.
Just rumours from social media so we won’t know for definite until August when the next announcement/trailer is expected.
Basil Funkenstein
March 17th, 2026 - 3:39pm@rusure
Weren’t the first 3 sets in the collection a Tom, Peter, and then another Tom?
12, 19, and 18?
I don’t really think the ordering matters too much. Makes sense that 16 would be next so Invasion can be given more attention.
Gordon
March 17th, 2026 - 4:34pmLast I heard it was 16 then 11
Prowl 1701
March 17th, 2026 - 4:40pmReally hoping Pirate Planet gets some updated effects, I feel its effects are the only thing really keeping it from being a 9.8 out of 10 for me. If it’s Kroll that gets updated effects I will be disappointed. You guys know how I feel about Kroll.
Scotel
March 17th, 2026 - 5:02pmIf we’re going to talk about patterns, the Pertwees have all been two years apart and that seems to be continuing here.
Andy
March 17th, 2026 - 11:48pmIt will be Season 25 Standard Edition first round about August or September I guess. Season 16, sounds right to finish Tom Bakers era. Then we will probably get Season 11 early next year.
Oh and people don’t forget Season 1 needs a release as well with the absence of Marco Polo.
Lee
March 18th, 2026 - 4:01amDespite my earlier rant about the packaging, I still love the content.
Warriors of the deep special edition is outstanding. The 5.1 mix is great, the new Myrka looks genuinely intimidating and genuinely dangerous. The cgi was done really well, aesthetically it looked like you might imagine 80s cgi would look if they’d had the tech back then. It fitted perfectly imo.
Also fantastic new editing and lighting really helps this story along. Ingrid Pitt’s awful death scene (where she karate kicks the pantomime horse!) is gone and replaced with something much better. Great job on this story, looking forward to the rest of this set.
DAVIDR
March 17th, 2026 - 11:27amDOES THIS COLLECTION HAVE THE OPTION TO WATCH THE STORIES WITHOUT THE ENHANCED EFECTS AND ”AI” ENHANCEMENTS ?.
Mac
March 17th, 2026 - 6:44pmQuite please, no shouting here
daz
March 17th, 2026 - 7:04pmEffects yes. AI enhancements no.
That might be an ‘AI off’ option for the next set after the response from S13 and S21.
DAVIDR
March 18th, 2026 - 1:46pmThis was just an honest question .
DAVIDR
March 18th, 2026 - 2:04pmMac, i’m not shouting, its a honest question.
Ricky
March 19th, 2026 - 1:47pmDoesn’t bother me David but what Mac is referring to is using all capitals in your post ,this is considered shouting in the world of forums etc .
D84
March 17th, 2026 - 11:21amMy copy arrived yesterday and wow its a beast
Looking forward to enjoying the stories when I get time to watch them
Babelbro
March 17th, 2026 - 10:18amStop AI being used on Classic Doctor Who. Please sign the petition! https://www.change.org/p/bbc-studios-to-stop-using-ai-to-restore-classic-doctor-who?recruiter=57806873&recruited_by_id=fd2e4b60-d911-0130-b1e1-38ac6f16d25f&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=6391cfa48ce0418aac41942a82049aeb&utm_medium=twitter&share_id=sppSX9HNPP
Bushboy
March 17th, 2026 - 7:48amCan anyone tell me please, are the new SFX on Warriors of the Deep special edition also available to view on the transmitted version?
Gordon
March 17th, 2026 - 8:21amAs it’s a re edit it’s just on the special edition.
ex15
March 17th, 2026 - 7:27amAI is evident on Resurrection of the Daleks (disc 4) and it really shows, waxy faces, general lack of detail.
This is disappointing if this is going to be the continuing trend of the collection releases..
Nb7
March 17th, 2026 - 8:31amAlso evident on Twin Delima. At one point Colin’s face looks mangled!
I’m guessing the two new missing eps are going to get this over the top Ai treatment!
I bought Gerry Anderson’s space precinct blu ray last year and uses a dash of ai, nowhere near the overuse these sets are getting.
Gordon
March 17th, 2026 - 8:32amI wasn’t expecting it to be completely gone. I always suspected it was too late for this. The next one will be the big test to see if they listened. It’s nowhere near as bad in motion as zygons/androids on s13 (I’ve still got planet/caves/twin to go) but it’s still quite noticeable in places. I do think the aggressiveness has been toned down but I don’t think it’s far enough. On the plus side the film sequences do look fantastic and are untouched.
Gordon
March 17th, 2026 - 8:38amNb 7 rumour has it Crocker isn’t doing the 2 recovered eps. Paul Vanezis isn’t either (he’s busy finishing up the tv movie). Someone new. (I suspect it might be at FIF’s request
Nb7
March 17th, 2026 - 9:25amThat’s interesting Gordon. Can the whole doctor who back catalog go missing and be found by FIF lol
daz
March 16th, 2026 - 4:34pmMine just arrived from Amazon.
Lovely squashed corner so going through their returns/replace process which is thankfully easy to do. Definitely damaged in transit as hole in parcel .
Only used them this time as I had vouchers. 7th one I’ve had to get replaced from Amazon .
Checked it in the steelbook collector DW7 case I used for S20. It just fits but I display mine without the J-card so every spine might be slightly different again.
Coleman
March 16th, 2026 - 4:43pmMine arrived Today from Zavvi. They Tried to Deliver it Saturday Morning but I missed the Post so they Redelivered Today. Atleast it’s in hand now. In Good Condition and well packed.
Tom Williams
March 16th, 2026 - 4:59pm@daz that is the case i think as mine is still sealed and got in with no issues it could be amazons ones theres always problems with sizes unless someone has this issue from another website they brought
daz
March 16th, 2026 - 5:16pmI believe the boxes are made in 2 different factory’s so this could be why certain limited packaging have different widths.
This damaged one had no overlap from the front/back cover though but was still able to fit without the j-card.
I’ve ordered another DW7 case in preparation. Just hope my replacement Season 21 has a similar but undamaged spine .
The Time Lord 1944
March 16th, 2026 - 6:45pmThat happened to me once and because it was damaged in transit they gave me a full refund and also let me keep the item. Suddenly I could live with the squashed corner.
Andy
March 16th, 2026 - 8:04pmYeah mine arrived from Zavvi today was well packaged it was only £54.99 at the time I placed my pre-order I only switched to these they used to be Virgin Mega Stores back in the day. And was a few quid cheaper than others.
Yeah Daz I had the same problem with Amazon they sometimes arrived damaged or not arriving on time or if I wasn’t in they would just dump the parcel on the door step. So that’s the reason why I switched to Zavvi and use Royal Mail they never leave a parcel if no answer.
So yeah can’t wait to get stuck in to it.
daz
March 16th, 2026 - 9:30pmThis will be the 7th set I’ve returned to Amazon over the years. As I said thought I’d try again as I had vouchers.
I’ll keep returning them til i get a perfect one.
I still miss Zoom.
Tom Williams
March 16th, 2026 - 9:42pmIn honesty i used too use h but wasn’t very secure with packing now days only till i switched with rare waves and they only sent in a jiffy but used bubble too protect it more which was super glad no damaged happened otherwise i would of switched too h click and collect for my nearest store
Tom Williams
March 16th, 2026 - 9:46pmBut did choose that option of click and collect from h recent for the land of sea steel-book which missed out on last month so hopefully arrives too the store safely
Matt L
March 16th, 2026 - 10:33pmAny recommendations for a good and reasonably priced external blu ray drive so I can see the pdf’s from the blu ray box sets? Many thanks
DPHill
March 16th, 2026 - 10:46pm@ Matt, I used one from amazon called BUNUD, and it is very good comes with a warranty, and when unexpectedly it began not working after several months, I contacted the email in the leaflet, and eventually they gave me another completely free of charge – works quite well
BossMan
March 16th, 2026 - 11:38pmDaz what DW Protecter for this with the J Card in place
Lee
March 17th, 2026 - 2:20amArrived this morning, badly put together at the factory – the whole box is twisted and bent, with disc trays not properly fixed in place and inner damage around the velcro catch. Also, very badly shrink wrapped. Also, the retailer has tried to send this out in a standard size box (same size as all the previous, physically smaller releases) which had split and led to some corner damage in transit. Terrible quality control from both manufacturer and retailer. We should not be paying a premium for these sets, I’ve had better 2nd hand sets from ebay. If I could stand to wait the best part of 2 years, I would honestly ditch these “special editions” and switch to standard. Pathetic!
***end of rant***
daz
March 17th, 2026 - 9:53amBossman.
If you have the DW7 one for your Season 20 try your Season 21 in it. Tom said his fits perfectly so yours might too.
If it doesn’t they plan to make a DW8 but guess we’ll have to make them aware we definitely need one.
daz
March 17th, 2026 - 9:55amLee.
Which retailer did you get yours from? Hope you are returning it.
Tom Williams
March 17th, 2026 - 5:18pm@daz sadly i spoke too steel-book last night and they ain’t planning on a DW8 now so 7 is the only option sadly as they confirmed it on the listing on ebay i did also ask about season 16 if it was next would it be ideal for DW2 but they didnt know as yet but Season 3 they will indeed if it ends up 12 disc be making another DW no matter what lol
daz
March 17th, 2026 - 7:01pmThanks for asking them Tom.
My replacement s21 arrived (in perfect condition) and it just squeezes in tightly without the j-card which is fine for my use as I put the j-cards in a folder.
My new DW7 protector should arrive tomorrow but there is definitely a 1mm difference in the 2 copies of S21 that I’ve got, and that’s without the j-card.
Tom Williams
March 18th, 2026 - 12:01amNo problem daz 🙂 they always seem too update very well when they eventually get back too you off course lol
Matt
March 16th, 2026 - 3:59pmHad this on order from rare waves and it’s a no show. Also had some big finish cds that have been in transit for over 2 weeks now. Absolutely no idea what is going on with the postal service in Walsall.
Who?
March 16th, 2026 - 4:44pmPoland?
Keith
March 17th, 2026 - 8:35amMine is the same. The tracking says whistl have handed it to Royal Mail THREE times and still not had it delivered!,,,,,it’s anyone’s guess where it is.
Matt
March 17th, 2026 - 8:11pmFinally received the Big Finish CDs this morning but still no sign of the collection set. Hope yours comes soon.
Tom Williams
March 17th, 2026 - 8:33pm@Keith had the same issue say it was handled from whistle too royal mail but they never bothered sending me any valid tracking till my surprise it turned up without knowing or Saturday which was missed then answered too a loud massive bang on my door by the royal mail man Monday which finally received i think if im honest its royal mails fault
Amypondfan
March 17th, 2026 - 11:09pmWhistle are not good. My heart always sinks when I realise companies have sent stuff via them.
Tom Williams
March 17th, 2026 - 11:56pmGot nothing too do with whistle people have had problems with royal mail round certain areas recently depends especially where keith is based as west midlands aint be very well
Tom Williams
March 17th, 2026 - 11:58pmAlso amazon isnt as great with delivery’s recent as daz received his copy damaged and waiting for a replacement as they way its not the sellers fault but the postal who handle it
Who?
March 18th, 2026 - 3:57pmAh, I was thinking of Warsaw. (Which of course is in Poland). I thought it will take awhile to arrive. LOL.
Tom Williams
March 16th, 2026 - 1:54pmArrived super safe from rare especially better packaging then h did previous very happy with the art work the most looks amazing also anyone stuck DW7 does fit as i found out today
Prof Horner
March 16th, 2026 - 1:37pmMy copy has just arrived from Amazon. It looks gorgeous. Lee Binding has surpassed himself.
As for the season it’s self, I have mixed feelings about it. This was the last original season I enjoyed on it’s original transmission and Peter Davison was the last original Doctor I liked . I have always said that Twin Dilemma should have been an end and a beginning, the end of JNT successful time on the series and the beginning of Colin Baker’s successful time as The Doctor.instead it was the beginning of the end.
Gordon
March 15th, 2026 - 12:59amWatched the Warriors of the deep Special edition.
Improved the rushed produced broadcast version no end and makes it a far more fun experience. Better paced and the myrka is far more threatening and scary and doesn’t look like the obvious pantomime horse it obvious is. Doesn’t fix all the problems but I had a good time
Prof Horner
March 15th, 2026 - 10:00amWell I look forward to watching this when it arrives tomorrow. I have to say that the news of missing episodes recovery has eclipsed this release.
Bob
March 15th, 2026 - 10:42amAnd what of the image quality? Does it look as waxy as it did in the announcement trailer?
Neill Stringer
March 16th, 2026 - 12:16pmMine was dispatched last week but likes like it’s not due to Wednesday this week.
Talk about keeping me in suspense.
Revan
March 14th, 2026 - 5:20pmIs there any news on the US release?
Gordon
March 15th, 2026 - 12:51pmI didn’t see or notice too much on the warriors special edition but it may have been processed differently. For those complaining about The titles in the trailer they look great on disc. The film sequences in the awakening look beautiful and look untouched. The studio scenes do look a little too sharp in places so I do think Ai may have been applied though I’m not ruling out the possibility of a bi product of the dnr of the previous restoration as we do know they do sometimes use the previous dvd masters. There is one shot in the awakening at the ep 1 cliffhanger stage where Peter’s hair seems to morph a little and fingers seem to look weird which is kind of ringing alarm bells a little but at the moment the positives are outweighing the negatives on this release. Nothing as bad as s13 so far.
Gordon
March 15th, 2026 - 12:57pmThis was a response to bob
Gordon
March 16th, 2026 - 6:34am100 percent ai on this. Watched Frontios and it looked way too sharp for it not to be not ai.
DanielM
March 16th, 2026 - 8:51am@Gordon The biggest test will be Resurrection, Planet of Fire & Twin as there was a lot of bits on the Youtube Trailer from those especially Resurrection which appeared to be heavy DNR and detail enhanced on the Studio Scenes like the Planet of Evil and Android Invasion Film Sequences.
Bob
March 16th, 2026 - 6:44pmThat’s a shame, I’ve seen some further images on Twitter and Reddit, perhaps the boxset was too far ahead in production to account for the complaints of the Season 13 release, either way I’m glad I didn’t pre-order. I’ll wait until the next set and if it still has these issues then I’ll get the remaining stories on DVD. Most of Season 21 got fairly late DVD releases so I imagine they’d have some of the better encodes.
RPG74
March 17th, 2026 - 6:22amSad. We all had a nice 72 hours didn’t we, but I guess we had to come crashing down to Earth at some point.
The ergon
March 14th, 2026 - 12:13pmAnybody got their copy today? Mines coming monday.
Gordon
March 14th, 2026 - 12:26pmMine is due any time in the next couple of hours according to my Royal Mail email.
Gordon
March 14th, 2026 - 1:52pmMine has arrived just as I was leaving for work. At least I know it’s there.
Tom Williams
March 14th, 2026 - 2:08pmEnded up missing mine opps as heard a banning on my door but aint got no royal mail tracking seems monday is only day i be waiting in now lol
monsterry
March 14th, 2026 - 2:33pmYep, mine arrived from Z….i at lunchtime. Brilliant and a hefty old package. But sitting on the shelf, it’s the same width as Season 20. Gonna save Warriors of the Deep for tonight’s viewing
K-9stein
March 14th, 2026 - 5:22pmMine arrived in the post today, so I’ve gotten on and watched the special edition of ‘Warriors of the Deep’. A vast improvement in my opinion! The Myrka looks properly terrifying now, and the action scenes are pacier and more engaging than before. 😀
Gordon
March 13th, 2026 - 9:06pmJason Arnopp says on his unboxing that season 21 it’s 60 inches which is 2 longer than season 2 and 20’s 58.
Goody2Shoes
March 13th, 2026 - 9:22pmwhat protector for this set
Prowl 1701
March 14th, 2026 - 12:34amLove the back cover art for the set as well, nice to see it.
Tom Williams
March 14th, 2026 - 4:22amAs i repeated myself too so many people now lol it isnt made yet but DW8 was confirmed by steel-book central on ebay
It’s hard to tell if it will fit until it’s been made, hopefully if now we may have to make another protector for it. But we will make sure we protect every edition that is released 🙂
Regards
Matt
I also messaged them too ask if this will come out in may but not heard back yet
Tom Williams
March 14th, 2026 - 4:36amAlso looks like SCF23 Steel book Protector could fit this set as a alternative currently
SCF23 Protector Dimensions: 190 (h) x 83.5 (d) x 157.5 (w) mm
But depends on the new seasons measures
Gordon
March 14th, 2026 - 5:22amThe back and the inside back where the discs are is really inspired choices. Can see how they are going to tackle season 4
daz
March 14th, 2026 - 12:50pmYeah. Saw the review on youtube and it is definitely the way I’d like Season 4 to be done.
My copy is not due til Monday via Amazon as i had vouchers to use.
Rex F
March 13th, 2026 - 7:17amI keep thinking that one of these days I’ll have to take a look at this social media thing. Then I’m always persuaded not to. Sturgeon’s Law.
Rex F
March 13th, 2026 - 7:18amShould have appeared in reply to Babelbro’s post at the bottom of the page.
Babelbro
March 13th, 2026 - 9:02am@Rex F – No worries, many thanks for the replies this Morning.
Yeah I’m honestly so back and forth on social media myself. The good is that I can connect with my favourite video/music artists that just aren’t in the mainstream. We tend to look at the past with rose tinted glasses and I have to remind myself just how lucky we are to have this close access that just wasn’t technically possible before.
The grey area for me is within the fandoms (eg the Doctor Who Collection sets) where the nature of those conversations quickly go from important, comprehensive conversations to emotionally charged bite-sized tweet slanging matches, both from fans and officials in the range. I find X in particular desensitizes people to that culture and I’ll admit it’s been very easy for me to fall into, so I do my best to refine that side of my writing.
The bad is of course when that sourness increasingly tries to outdo itself – which sadly is what Social Media’s really thrives on since outrage garners the most traffic. Given the context behind the previous with John Barrowman, when I’d first heard about what had happened this week I honestly assumed it was a storm in a teacup, but oh boy I couldn’t have been anymore wrong.
Anyway that’s the dilemma really. There’s something uniquely positive about it in there amidst all the negatives. None of us that use it are perfect by any means but I think if you’re unable to stop to self reflect then that becomes the real issue. I can’t see what John Barrowman might experience that may or may not be goading him into typing what he’s said towards Doctor Who fans, but I also think it’s a shame that across this week no one close to him seems to want to help advise him on the bigger picture, given he’s still very much busy and working in showbusiness. None of that condones any abuse he may be getting online but nevertheless there’s a healthy balance to be had, and it can’t be good mentally to be facing that all day everyday imo.
The ergon
March 13th, 2026 - 4:41amFantastic. I,m so glad it is more from Daleks masterplan. Especially devils planet as we get the death of katerina and more Bret vyon. If it had been the traitors or destruction of time. We could have had the death scenes of both Bret and Sara.
So thankful to Film is fabulous we have these returned.
The ergon
March 13th, 2026 - 5:11amPeter purves will love this.
The ergon
March 13th, 2026 - 7:55amToby Hadoke and Peter Purves attended a private screening in liecester to which Peter was unaware of what he was attending.
He was absolutely thrilled
All over breakfast news
Bookcollector
March 13th, 2026 - 9:03amKatarina’s death occurs in the 4th episode traitors. It does mean we only have two missing katarina episodes myth makers 4 and masterplan 4 though.
The ergon
March 13th, 2026 - 11:08amIts the end of devils planet that bor pulls her into the airlock though but yes the actual death is shown in the opening scenes of the traitors. Would have had 2 deaths in one episode had that been one. I would love the traitors, volcano and destruction of time to turn up at some point.
Gordon
March 13th, 2026 - 12:36amWell we are down to 95 missing episodes
Nightmare begins and devils planet have been found. Will be on iPlayer over easter
Gordon
March 13th, 2026 - 12:44amIn case anybody is asking it’s a film is fabulous find
Bellal
March 13th, 2026 - 12:46amOmg
Absolutely delighted. No iplayer in Ireland though. I will find ways and means no doubt.
Absolutely fair play to all of those involved and thank you
Bookcollector
March 13th, 2026 - 12:49amHopefully it won’t be long until we get a DVD release of the episodes. Not necessarily masterplan itself but even just those two episodes on the next hartnell animation. We waited a long time for galaxy 4 and underwater menace to be released. Great news though
Gordon
March 13th, 2026 - 1:39amId imagine Russell Minton is already thinking and planning on getting it out physically in some form. The problem with animating it is of course it will take a long time. I would absolutely take a part black and white only animation. However Evil which also was a 7 eps animation took 18 months and that’s nowhere near as complex. I’d imagine they would want it out sooner than that so a release on another Hartnell release would be ideal. Alternatively a recon release maybe the quickest way though I do feel it’s a different ball game to having just 1 ep of the web 3 recon.
Bellal
March 13th, 2026 - 2:00amMasterplan surviving episodes plus recons coupled with mission to the unknown remake would still top dvd charts undoubtedly.
Would rather that just be put out then wait until animation at a later date in the future. Porting over other general Hartnell special feature could justify it I’d say
Prowl 1701
March 13th, 2026 - 2:09amThis is amazing news, not only two episodes found, but they are both from DMP as well. Always fun when I have to get out a new YT video on the fly about DW news! I hope US fans get access to the episodes quickly too.
DPHill
March 13th, 2026 - 2:41amThis is amazing news! And I thought it would be 9 & 11 or 4… either way we get to see more of Katarina now at 60% survival rate alongside Hartnell and Courtney! This is wonderfully amazing news that will keep me up all night with excitement!
Definitely think the best course of action is clean up the now FIVE surviving episodes of master plan, and then do telesnap recons for a quicker half-hearted release before animations is the way to go, and then you could include mission in it’s various forms!
Wow! This is amazing!
Babelbro
March 13th, 2026 - 3:39amThis, and finding the TV Movie film negatives has to be the best Doctor Who news in years – this feels like Christmas Day Morning!
Forbes’ news article describes the found DMP episodes as being ‘vcr copies’? Ugh this is just so, so exciting and fascinating at 3.38 in the morning!
Babelbro
March 13th, 2026 - 4:18amEdit: Definitely a film reel copy, not a vcr dupe.
Having watched the video snippet of the footage – I didn’t expect it to visually look so clear, though I think this is hinted towards being a technician’s review copy, so it must surely be as close as you can get before posessing the original broadcast master.
Also equally it must be stressed just how mind blowing it is just how many audio recordings we have thanks to the dedication of the fans. In the possible instance that if there’s a chunk or more of missing audio from the found reel then we always have an audio reference to fall back on to rebuild the original as close as we’re ever going to get, thanks to people that simply genuinely care about this show.
Also I’m loving that Hartnell officially did the messy quiff hair before David Tennant haha!
Rex F
March 13th, 2026 - 6:56amPaul V always said that missing eps tend to turn up in twos.
As for “technician’s review copies”, you have to make an initial print from the negative and that’s what these will be – like an answer print. The film can for ep 1 has an Ice Warriors-style “cutting copy” label, so they’ll have viewed this print to see where they had to cut out any off-locks on the negative, etc. It also suggests that DMP probably had two sets of prints made, as you likely wouldn’t send out the initial review copy to a key broadcaster, they’d want a properly timed fresh print.
So the question now for me is, how many television recoveries were foreign returns and how many were copies made for internal use that never left London? We also need to increase the number of prints made for each episode by one. E.g. The two copies of Moonbase ep 4 or Tenth Planet ep 2 might not both be overseas returns.
Rex F
March 13th, 2026 - 8:04amSomeone’s also written “The Executioners” on the film label – what a disappointment if the can had contained the ep of The Chase instead!
Bob
March 13th, 2026 - 8:18amHaving 5 of the 12 episodes is enough for me personally to only do a partial animation however The Underwater Menace was fully animated despite half the story still existing, they even went a step further and changed character designs which made mixing and matching jarring.
I’m still open to the idea of a split release like they did with the novelisation or how Warner Bros. handled Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and The Long Halloween.
Babelbro
March 13th, 2026 - 8:19am@Rex F –
When you say ‘making an answer print from the negative’, Wouldn’t everything studio have been shot on analogue videotape, with just the outdoor shots have been actual film negatives?
I’m purely wild guessing here but wouldn’t the ‘answer print’ be a reel where that videotape + film neg bits are put together in a rough cut, given to a technical reviewer to then be finely cut + revised, and that then be the final editing blueprint/ref for the video editor to make the trims on the original material, with that final edit then being telecined for UK tv, while being duped onto extra cans of film to go out to overseas broadcasters?
If any of the above is correct then yeah it still sounds like this must be an early generation copy close to the original elements (while still not identical) which, given how this is DMP and how darn super rare this is – this is just even more surreal.
So much of this is completely new to me and I’m not in any way knowledge on this stuff but, being informed this early in the Morning about there being edit draft copies and little intricacies potentially just hidden away right under our noses after all this time just really excites me again as a Doctor Who fan. It’s not even that it necessarily has to be the best physical quality or whatnot, I just find the stories behind them so so fascinating.
Bookcollector
March 13th, 2026 - 9:10amI personally think a reconstruction release would be best in order to get it out. An animation will take some time, as you say Gordon evil took 18 months so unless the seven episodes have been worked on in secret presuming this discovery was known about leading to a partial animation release like the original animation releases (but I don’t think will be the case) then a reconstruction with extras isn’t a bad way of getting these out there.
Gordon
March 13th, 2026 - 10:39amThink the issue with doing 2 solo releases is of course you have the season 3 collection release coming in 4-5 years so it would be 3 releases. If you do a recon release this year is there time to do another solo release with animation before the season 3 release? With how long it would take to animate It doesn’t give a huge amount of time in shops before they would have to start producing the animated version so it’s out in time for both a solo and a season 3 release.
Rex F
March 13th, 2026 - 10:46amBabelbro: Although DMP wasn’t sold overseas, they still film recorded it in the usual way (as in, recorded it off monitor from a playback of the 2″ tape) with the intention of selling it. From that 16mm film negative they make a positive print to review the quality, and decide on any technial edits needed, and that’s what’s turned up now. If you look at the BBC News piece you’ll see the film can with a BBC Enterprises logo, showing it’s an element from the foreign sales department.
What you’re thinking of isn’t too different to what would have happened with some of the episodes broadcast from 35mm film though, like Planet of the Giants 3, or the preparation of film inserts (like the bits of The War Games 1 that turned up recently), so you’re not completely off the mark there with how episodes were prepared.
Bookcollector
March 13th, 2026 - 10:52amA reconstruction would be a great way to do it but I get the limitations of timing for a future animation and eventually season release. I imagine these episodes will appear on the next hartnell animation and I’ll be very happy with that. Just to have the episodes will be great. As I said Gordon I feel the best option would be a reconstruction but I should have said that I understand it’s more likely to be similar to the galaxy 4 situation and the episodes will be on another story. Myth makers would be the obvious one but it depends what’s being worked on really.
Babelbro
March 13th, 2026 - 12:59pm@Rex Ah I’m with you now
Yeah not sure why I didn’t think of that this Morning, of course there would be a foreign sales submission since New Zealand + Australia had declined it.
I was just in an excited haze so early in the Morning and unable to properly think straight. I’ve even got the news on now hoping Doctor Who will pop up again!
That little clip of The Doctor whispering “Daleks!” and that horror chime sound, I’ve legit still got chills from it.
Rory, the original you might say
March 13th, 2026 - 1:08pmAnother possibility is to release the episodes with a recon of the missing parts, which would take care of most of the work required for the Collection set.
Then they could focus their animation efforts on the remaining S3 stories and have a complete S3 Collection set with the recon of DMP.
That would allow them to focus on animating the rest of the missing stories to get those onto Collection sets.
Babelbro
March 12th, 2026 - 9:51pmWell John Barrowman certainly did boost one thing…
Doctor Who’s Social Media engagement on X.
Flipping heck there’s essays upon essays of arguing between so many people you could fill up a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with it.
Then right when you think you’ve reached the end of it, the Type 40 Podcast account decides to bung a firework in there