December 20th, 2024
633 comments
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Doctor Who The Collection Season 7 Limited Edition Packaging
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk, www.zavvi.com and www.rarewaves.com
With thanks to BBC Studios
Doctor Who fans can continue to build their own home archive on Blu-ray with a SEVEN DISC box set of the iconic 7th Season, starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.
- SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE
- DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS
- THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH
- INFERNO
In his debut season, the Third Doctor is exiled to Earth, teaming up with UNIT’s Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) and scientist Liz Shaw (Caroline John) to confront alien invasions and threats from our own planet’s primeval past.
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 7 is also jam-packed with hours of new and exclusive material including:
NEW DOCUMENTARIES
SPLENDID CHAP
- A profile of beloved actor Nicholas Courtney
LOOKING FOR MAC
- Uncovering the story of writer Malcolm Hulke
TERROR IN THE SUBURBS
- When Doctor Who came down to Earth
LUCKY 13: ROCKETS, ALIENS AND SPARE PARTS
- How the science of the day influenced Doctor Who
BEHIND THE SOFA
- New episodes with Katy Manning (Jo), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric),
- Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Toby Hadoke,
- and the late Caroline John’s family: husband Geoffrey Beevers (The Master) and daughter Daisy Ashford
IN CONVERSATION
- Matthew Sweet chats to John Levene (Benton) about his life and career
THE DOCTOR WHO ESCAPE ROOM
- Will Team Third Doctor escape the room of doom?
MOVIE-LENGTH OMNIBUS EDITIONS
- The Silurians and Inferno
EXCLUSIVE CONVENTION FOOTAGE
HD PHOTO GALLERIES
INFO TEXT
PDF ARCHIVE
PLUS LOTS MORE!
This seven-disc box set also includes hours of special features previously released on DVD including Documentaries, Featurettes, Audio Commentaries and more.
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ChrisP
March 20th, 2025 - 6:55pmWorking through this in a slightly random order.
Highlights so far:
Spearhead looked & sounded great.
Mac Hulke doc was very interesting.
Inferno omnibus – very well edited I thought.
Menu screensTARDIS also especially fun this time.
Auton
March 20th, 2025 - 9:29pmLoved the new menu screen
Matt L
March 21st, 2025 - 11:45amSo does everyone think we will get Season 13 in 2025 then Season 21 in spring 2026 or the other way around? Thanks
Matt L
March 21st, 2025 - 11:48amSo does everyone think we will get Season 21 or Season 13 next in 2025 since they seem to be sticking to 2 box sets per year.
Gordon
March 21st, 2025 - 12:14pmEverything I’m hearing reading and been told is telling me 13 later in the year then 21 early next year. Though I still wouldn’t rule out it being the other way round to throw us a curveball
Rory
March 21st, 2025 - 1:27pmS13 next would make sense to me, so that they can better space the Tom releases, especially if there’s been agreement on the timescales for future animations so they may want to hold the 60s series back to allow for that.
ex15
March 20th, 2025 - 8:10amThe artwork for the Wargames is now released?
booboo
March 20th, 2025 - 8:18amamazon jumped the gun again since removed, still under embargo i assume
DPHill
March 20th, 2025 - 12:19pmIt is! Paul Who on YouTube managed to snaffle the artwork. It’s in a couple of other places, maybe 21st April after all then? Either way, with the Savages and the glorious S7 boxset and the new series, we are in full swing with Who!
Prof Horner
March 20th, 2025 - 2:53pmFantastic artwork for both DVD/Blu ray and Steelback . I am temped to buy this.
Rory
March 20th, 2025 - 4:35pmLove the artwork for the steelbook. This and the Savages seem to have really upped the game for the steelbook covers.
Prowl 1701
March 20th, 2025 - 5:48pmYeah I’m impressed with how they have upped their Steelbook game lately. Savages and war games steelbooks look great
Bob
March 20th, 2025 - 6:14pmI like how the Steelbook mirrors the Capaldi ones. Extended by 6 minutes? That’s very promising, I wonder if The Daleks in Colour could also be extended for the Season 1 boxset.
DPHill
March 20th, 2025 - 10:33pmThe most recent two are lovely artworks! Do hope there is a reversible cover on this one though! But Matthew Purchase aka cyber devil will not doubt make something wonderful!
James
March 16th, 2025 - 6:07pmWith regards to comments made at the BFI for Savages about animations.
So apparently they will be part of The Collection range model going forward and making them in batches instead of 1 at a time.
So my thoughts are the following
S3 Mission to the Unknown & Daleks Master Plan. This is under the plans that they do animate Mission if they dont decide to before a deal with UCLan to use there live action version. Then again they could always add it as an bonus extra
.
S3 The Myth Makers & The Massacre. The same team for all 4 for consistency and all 4 stories follow one another.
S4 team who did Power of the Daleks to do Smugglers and Highlanders. Ben & Polly in Smugglers and Highlanders, and Jamie in Power and Highlanders. Almost follow 1 after the other.
S5 Fury from the Deep team do The Wheel in Space as story follows on. Then The Space Pirates for S6. Same 3 main characters (2, Jamie and Zoe).
Lastly S1 Marco Polo and S2 The Crusade. 3 characters stay the same (1, Ian and Barbara).
Could release some of them in box sets instead of solo releases before they appear in The collection. Instead of steelbooks.
Marco Polo and The Crusade as a historical adventure set
Wheel in Space and The Space Pirates as a outerspace adventure set
The Smugglers and The Highlanders as a 17th Century adventure set
The Myth Makers and The Massacre as a historical adventure set
Mission to the Unknown and The Dalek Master Plan would be released as a BoxSet in itself similar size to Lost in Time BoxSet. This i feel would be worth a multi verison release similar to the recent animations. DVD, Blu-Ray and Steelbook. As its such a big story and a story alot of fans would love to see.
Not looking bad when you look at we started with 26 incomplete 60s adventures. We are now down to 9 left (not including Mission as can be viewed even if not animated). In the past 19 years we’ve either had missing episodes or full stories animated of 16 adventures.
Still hoping for some to be found or released from pirate collectors.
Whats everyone’s thoughts?
Prof Horner
March 17th, 2025 - 12:17pmWell in reply @James. I think if the animations are up and running next year. I can see The Wheel in Space and The Space Pirates released next year. The Smugglers and The Highlanders in 2027. The Myth Makers and The Massacre in 2028 . Mission to the unknown and The Daleks Master Plan in 2029 . All released separately.
As for the season boxsets , I think season 1 will be released after 13 and 21 next year, without Marco Polo. Followed by 11and 6 in 2027 . 16 and 5 in 2028. 4 and The wilderness Years in 2029 . With season 3 in 2030 . Followed by as a coda to the season boxsets. A mini boxset with Marco Polo and The Crusade.
Craig F
March 17th, 2025 - 7:16pmI think season one will eventually feature an animation of Marco Polo & will be released with the set after a single release.
Possibly after season 5 & 6 this would give time for any clearance issues for an unearthly child.
If any as not heard any news from Seth Coburn recently.
Gordon
March 19th, 2025 - 9:47amEven though the collection sets are going to be a factor in the stories chosen going forward it will still need a stand alone release prior to its collection release. Despite comments in the radio times the animations are not being factored in to the collections model. They will be included in the collection sets just not debut on them. Each animation is a good 5-6 figure sum. Unless they are going to bump up the price of the collection sets considerably to cover the additional cost can’t see it working financially. Gary Russell said when season 2 announced if an animated crusade was debuted in a collection set it would need to be priced a good £30 minimum extra. I think £85-£90 a season will be a dealbreaker for some.
I also very much doubt there will be box sets of debuting animation stories. The budget simply isn’t there to do that. Even masterplan which most expect to be split. Maybe at the end a box set once both parts are out. When it comes to masterplan I wonder with the additional funding they would be able to split one team into 2 and hire extra people to cover the loss of people in splitting and share the same software and assets and have 1 or 2 persons oversee it all for consistency. If it’s likely going to be 2 releases anyway I’m hopeful it’s doable that way.
I have no insider knowledge on what’s the next ones. The running order of releases could all depend on how many stories get commissioned at a time and how many teams they can afford. They are looking at accelerating the rate of releases after all .
For example if it’s 2 stories and 2 teams at a time:
team A
2026: Wheel
2027: Pirates
Spring 2029: Polo
2029/early 2030: Mission/masterplan 1 and 2
team b
2026: Smugglers
2027: Highlanders
2028: Myth makers
2029: Massacre
2030: Crusade
This could give us a hypothetical collection release schedule of
2025 Autumn: S13
2026 spring: s21
2026 autumn: s11 or 16
2027 spring: s16 or 11
2027 autumn: s5
2028 spring: wilderness (to avoid 2 in a row)
2028 autumn: s6
2029 spring: s4
2029 autumn: s1
2030 spring/summer: s3
Here is an example If it’s 3 stories and teams at a time:
Team A
2026: Wheel
2027: Pirates
2028: Highlanders
Team B
2026: myth makers
2027: massacre
2028/ early 2029: mission/ masterplan parts 1/2
Team c:
2026: smugglers
2027: Marco Polo
2028: crusade
Hypothetical collection release schedule
2025 Autumn: S13
2026 spring: s21
2026 autumn: s11
2027 spring: s16
2027 autumn: wilderness
2028 spring: s5
2028 autumn: s1
2029 spring: s6
2029 autumn: s3
2030 spring: s4
Obviously with 9 stories there will be an imbalance so here’s an example of 9 stories split to 2 teams in a 5-4 split
Team A:
2026: wheel
2027: space pirates
2028: smugglers
2029: highlanders
Team b:
2026: marco
2027: myth
2028/9: mission/masterplan 1 and 2
2030: massacre
2031: crusade
2025 Autumn: S13
2026 spring: s21
2026 autumn: s11
2027 spring: s16
2027 autumn: wilderness
2028 spring: s5
2028 autumn: s1
2029 spring: s6
2029 autumn: s4
2030: s3 (depending on when the massacre is out)
It sounds great that potentially we may have a full run by the end of 2030.
When it comes to crusade I’m not expecting a s2 special edition later but if it was to happen maybe a making of for crusade (if it’s not on the stand alone release), a William Russell biography (if it hasn’t already been tackled for s1), the planet of giants, the crusade and the space museum behind the sofas, tales of the tardis, some cutdown omnibus versions, (dioe, web planet and the chase) and maybe new effects for the chase.
However it’s more likely a repackaging of the standard s2 with the crusade discs restructured to fit 1 blu ray disc as the stand alone animated releases have to have the same dvd layout when released simultaneously so they don’t have an extra charge for bbfc clearance. Maybe even move the David Whittaker documentary to the rescue to free up the space for the animations if need be.
Craig F
March 19th, 2025 - 6:10pmVery sound reasoning Gordon, I think 3 teams might be a push but you never know.
I would still like to see the web of fear 3 animation re-done, as a lot of fans were disapointed in it myself included.
Surely the budget on a box set should stretch to do 1 episode as it did for the special edition release.
Gordon
March 20th, 2025 - 7:22amIt would be a stretch I imagine but maybe not impossible if it’s a reworking than restarting from scratch. The sets and camera work are really good but character models and movement needed work. If they get better models and redo the motion capture it might be doable. S5 doesn’t exactly need a huge amount of work outside of wheel which presumably will get on its stand alone release
Craig F
March 15th, 2025 - 2:36pmSo the next classic who release is The Savages.
Just 9 days to go I’m rearly looking forward to watching it.
I know very little about the story as its missing so it should be interesting to see.
Can we expect anything extra than what has already been listed?
I wonder how the pre order times will fair on this release too?
Tom Williams
March 15th, 2025 - 8:02pmThen fingers crossed after doctor who airs we finally get war games 🙂 and maybe the next season announcement or lee teasing the next colours for it 😀
Rory
March 17th, 2025 - 3:42pm@Craig, Nothing confirmed beyond what’s been listed.
The next animation will come when they’ve got the contracts in place, but they seem to be planning to make it more continual rather than starting a new one once the last has been released, so those should be quicker once they start up again.
Rob W
March 17th, 2025 - 5:53pmI’m not sure there is any more colourisations as nothing has been mentioned. Had anyone heard anything?
Craig F
March 17th, 2025 - 6:29pm@Rob there was talk of a colourisation for Tomb of the Cybermen.
I’m not sure if it’s wishful thinking by RTD but I’m sure it was mentioned somewhere.
Just like the War Games was rumored then denied & then it happened.
So who knows?
Tom Williams
March 17th, 2025 - 6:39pmI hope we do more get the teasing colours for the next season soon like season 13 but in regards too coloured animations it would be decent too see another one end off this year for next year ?
Alex
March 18th, 2025 - 9:07pmLOOKING FORWARD TO SEASON 13
Gordon
March 19th, 2025 - 9:55amAside from war games in colour, season two, and the next collection set that might be it. If there is another colourisation it’s probably a long way off being announced. The next animation has been said won’t be till next year but depending on when they can get contracts in place and started there might be a small chance of an announcement of the next one at the very tail end of this year
Bob
March 13th, 2025 - 12:39amWith Silver Nemesis, “The Cave Monsters” and Inferno, these new omnibus edits are looking to be a standard feature going forward. I’ve never been a huge fan of them although there are some stories that would certainly benefit from being condensed.
The Daleks, The Sensorites and The Monster of Peladon could probably be shortened to 90ish minutes.
Maybe Warriors of the Deep could get a new lease of life at 60 minutes.
A 2h30 movie edit of The War Games could work well but I’m more than happy to just watch its 10 episodes in full.
Craig F
March 13th, 2025 - 7:38amThe omnibus editions do work & I’m sure more are planed, such as Monster of Peladon.
In my opinion the collection series team have done better edits than R.T.D.
The Unlicensed Physician
March 13th, 2025 - 8:54amCraig: I think RTD’s coloured in versions were cut together by a former magazine editor, which is maybe not quite the right sort of editing for a TV show.
Bob
March 13th, 2025 - 10:42amI thought the cutdown version of Silver Nemesis was seamless but I didn’t like The Silurians edit. I haven’t watched Inferno’s yet.
These made for boxset edits have a lot of potential since they can be as long as the story needs rather than having to fit within strict timeslots like the TV repeats of old.
I liked The Dæmons omnibus but not really any of the others. The Sea Devils came really close but there were a few jarring cuts that just broke my immersion.
I also thought Enlightenment’s Special Edition was good, just a shame it’s a straight rip from the DVD instead of getting upscaled.
MIKK89
March 13th, 2025 - 12:34pmI saw the Colourised Daleks when it aired in 2023 and was absolutely aghast at how bad it looked (more akin to early recolourings of Black and White copies Pertwee Episodes, than the later ones) images were to blurry (when the Black and White Version looks cleaner than a Colour ‘ReMaster’, you know something has gone wrong), plus my argument was we already had a Colour Version of the Daleks in DR WHO AND THE DALEKS (the Lead Hero has different origins, the companions have different backgrounds and names, and the set design is bigger, but the movie got everything important from the serial it needed and was better than RTD’s redux) so when they announced The War Games I was worried, as their is no alternative to it to base it on except the original 10-part Broadcast from 1969, and worried RTD would again deviate too much from the original… I couldn’t be more wrong, while some music choices don’t work well (as well as a classic 1 off villian being shoe-horned in as a pre-Roger Delgado Master) it looked cleaneer than before and that end sequence was stunning. In Color, itt felt as much part of Season 7 as the Black & White Version was part of the 1960s.
Craig F
March 12th, 2025 - 10:43pmA random question but still sci-fi/fantasy related.
The Sapphire & steel ice lolly’s from Lyons maid 1980/81 the advert exists, but does anyone remember buying one.
I’m a child of the 70’s & I don’t remember them, just wondered if they were produced or just the advert was & they were never made.
I was having a debate with a friend & were not sure so if anyone can help.
Helmic Regulator
March 11th, 2025 - 9:01amIf we do get Season 13 next I would want new effects for Planet of Evil and Pyramids of Mars. I know they did new effects for Pyramids of Mars for Tales from the TARDIS but I think they could improve on that for the full unedited story. With Planet of Evil the anti matter monsters don’t need improvement but the planet shots of Zeta Minor and the Morestrans space craft in flight do.
Bob
March 11th, 2025 - 9:52amI think Terror of the Zygons needs it the most and it looks like that’s what they’re going with but it’d be great if Planet and Pyramids could be updated too. All Pyramids of Mars needs is some new shots of the TARDIS, for Tales they just repurposed footage from Shada which really triggered my OCD due to it being the wrong police box.
They have updated multiple stories before with Seasons 20 and 25, however I suspect Season 16 is being held back so it can get new effects on every story.
Helmic Regulator
March 11th, 2025 - 10:45am@Bob I would love to see an updated Skarasen. Surely they could update these three all time classic stories after what they did for Season 25.
Nick
March 11th, 2025 - 11:10amI was hoping the Seeds of Doom Krynoid scenes over the house would be improved.
Drew
March 11th, 2025 - 8:50pmCan’t wait for Season 13 next hopefully 🙂
Gordon
March 12th, 2025 - 3:17amI don’t think it’s a guarantee alternative effects for complete seasons or multiple stories. I suspect season 20 only got 3 titles with alternative effects because of the delay in it. It was supposed to come out In late 2020 after season 8 (which was delayed till spring 2021)Season 25 was only 4 stories and 14 episodes so the workload was less and they were late on restorations to work off so more time and money was able to be done with it. There is a few for season 13 that I feel deserve it. Outside of the already mention zygons and pyramids I would say android invasion could do with some work as well. However it may only be one or 2 stories. 15 only got 1 story despite underworld also being an option. The time and budget was unfortunately not there for 2 stories. Chris Thompson said he wanted to do kroll effects if asked when it comes to 16. I don’t think it will be all of them but Pirate planet would also be a nice option I guess. I don’t see much needing for ribos or Tara. I think Armageddon needs both a reedit and new effects. Maybe some omnibus edits or even an omnibus edit of the entire season to one story would be fascinating
Prowl 1701
March 12th, 2025 - 6:58amI would definitely be up for an omnibus version of The Armageddon Factor and it getting some updated effects. I want Pirate Planet to get them the most for 16, and Planet of Evil to get them the most for 13.
Craig F
March 12th, 2025 - 6:02pmWow an omnibus for the complete season 16, now that would be something.
SV7
March 11th, 2025 - 8:22amA bit off topic but…
I’m currently enjoying the standard edition of Season 9 and was wondering if Day of the Daleks Special Edition got a new restoration for Blu-ray or if it was just a straight rip of the DVD?
The booklet doesn’t give any useful info.
Bob
March 11th, 2025 - 9:41amThe Special Edition has also been remastered although I found Day of the Daleks to have one of the least substantial upgrades in terms of image quality. I find that if the DVD had a purple BBC logo, there won’t be much improvement on the Blu-Ray, the exception being some early Pertwee stories.
Gordon
March 11th, 2025 - 10:00amIf memory is right the majority of the budget went on other stories. I don’t think much was done with it. Not that it need much working on it
Prowl 1701
March 12th, 2025 - 7:01amDay has all of it’s videotape masters still existing and in the archive (the first Who story to do so), so less work was needed to tidy them up.
DanielM
March 15th, 2025 - 2:12pm@SV7 The Day of the Daleks Special Edition on the Blu-ray was just a straight upscale of the DVD Master. You can tell by looking at the Credits and seeing that the Text is lower Quality compared to the TV Version on Disc 1.
Gordon
March 8th, 2025 - 10:59pmChris chapman says “Our two Moon Balloon docs for the next Who set are nearly done, one running at 76mins, the other at 57mins!” Going by previous tweets the 76 min one a biography and the 57 min one is a “whoray adventure of ours – very much a jolly, this one”
Guess the biography i would guess is Ian marter though Robert Holmes or Robert banks Stewart would also be welcome . The 57 min one sounds like a location feature of sort.
SeriesofLegend
March 9th, 2025 - 10:55amSo S13 it is then
Mac
March 9th, 2025 - 5:49pmHoping Adrienne Hill gets some special documentry.
She seems to be the forgotten companion.
Gordon
March 10th, 2025 - 12:53amI’m sure she will get something on either the mythmakers masterplan vol1 or season 3 release
Matt L
March 10th, 2025 - 5:07pmWhen does everyone think we might get a “clue” from Lee Binding for the next dr who box set? Thanks
Bobby Davros
March 10th, 2025 - 6:26pmOne of those documentaries has to be Dougie Camfield,surely. No other box set would be appropriate.
Prof Horner
March 10th, 2025 - 8:15pmWe already have a Douglas Camfield doc on the Terror of the Zygons DVD.
Gordon
March 11th, 2025 - 8:04amProbably April may time. I don’t think there is a set time he drops the hints.
Yeah there is a pretty good 30 min one on Douglas already that is pretty in depth. Not sure he needs a second one.
Craig F
March 12th, 2025 - 7:03pmI would go for an Ian Marter tribute, I’m surprised he’s not had one before & Robert banks Stewart for a writers doc.
A Paddy Russell directors doc would be welcome too, Philip Madoc or John Woodnutt as well.
Just depends if theirs time to do them with the delay for season 7.
Basil Funkenstein
March 8th, 2025 - 12:26amSo what we all thinking… a July announcement for a Season 13 set with a September release?
If true that Season 13 is next I am beyond excited. I did want them to leave this season til one of the last ones because it is my favourite season of Classic Who but I see why they would want to release another heavy hitter season so soon after Season 7. Gotta get the sales numbers up and as consistent as possible and gives them more time to work on Seasons 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11. (I would imagine Seasons 16 and 21 are much easier to handle than the other remaining seasons to be released.)
I’m thrilled that we have so many 60’s seasons left to look forward to tbh. There is something ethereal and magical about the Hartnell and Troughton eras. Here’s hoping there’ll be a ton more animated stories released by the time they get round to releasing another 60’s set and I’m hoping they’ll re-release Season 2 with the 2 episodes of The Crusade that are missing animated as well one day.
Absolutely astounds me that we now have only 9 more sets to go. I really hope they decide to do a Wilderness Years set and the modern series of Who as well. (NuWho.) Would be phenomenally awesome to see Eccleston or Capaldi reacting to stories from their era or other Doctor’s eras. (Obviously that sentiment extends to the rest of the Doctors and companions but Eccleston and Capaldi don’t have fond attachments to the BBC and Doctor Who so it would be especially fun to get their views, thoughts, and opinions.)
ex15
March 8th, 2025 - 8:04amI wouldn’t be interested in modern collection sets, definitely not, having already bought much media already plus have no interest beyond the 12th Doctor.
The Wilderness Years yes.
Anonymous
March 8th, 2025 - 9:42amEccleston In Conversation on the Series 1 collection set is the dream! I’m not wholly convinced he wouldn’t be up for it too.
Tom Williams
March 8th, 2025 - 11:42amI think season 13/21 would be next tbh but as its more true i feel 13 is confirmed at this stage i dk if im right or wrong but I suspect it could be after finally getting war games steel book so maybe may/june time for sept release and then hopefully in dec finally a extra season like 21 if 13 is first i think as i read aswell Gordon confirmed it was announced there wont be other steel books out this year tbh ? So it would make sense fir two more limited editions at least for that reason
Gordon
March 8th, 2025 - 11:54amIt all depends on how much time he can make up. Peter Crocker was supposed to deliver Season 7 by mid November. However due to the work required he didn’t finish till Christmas Eve. Then as it was closed over Christmas he and new year he didn’t actually deliver till 7th January. Assuming it’s correct about 13 I can see the restoration being ready about juneish and trailer being ready for release in July and release in September or maybe late August to tie in with 50th.
I can see it going a couple of different ways after the colour seasons are done.
1. Black and white seasons then a wilderness years set though there might not be enough turn around time.
2. Wilderness years to give the 60s an extra 6 months then start the 60s run. I feel this is the most likely outcome though that’s just a hunch on my part. It would be doable that we get all remaining seasons missing episodes animated but also very tight in terms of timescale
3. Mix in the new who series as well as wilderness years. That would free up time till all the 60’s are ready. They could always do series 1 to test the waters on them as it’s a whole doctor’s era in one set. It’s not like it will take away from the restoration work as the new who eps are pretty good to go. I know not everybody is on board with 2005 onwards getting them but at the end of the day we don’t have to buy them.
Gordon
March 8th, 2025 - 12:21pmI don’t have any insider info or anything on the steelbooks but it would not be surprised if we got the savages, war games in colour and season two (ncuti) and that’s it. It’s been 4 years next month since series 8 steelbook came out. Seems like If a new release of the series 9 steelbook was to come out it would have done at this point. The next animation is said to be at least a year off. It may go up for preorder at the very tail end though. Unless they plan to start the collection range in steelbook form though I feel they will most likely wait till they can go in number order if it ever happens
Mutant
March 8th, 2025 - 12:50pmI would like to see another Lis Sladen season soon as there is only season 12 and part of 14 so far.
Prof Horner
March 8th, 2025 - 2:05pmWhat about digital rights to Unearthly Child Gordon. One of the youtubers claimed that they were up early next year. So maybe we could get season 1 before the end of January.
Gordon
March 8th, 2025 - 3:39pmNot sure that’s right. From what I know and heard the physical media rights and digital rights are separate and the physical media rights were sorted in perpetuity.
Bob
March 8th, 2025 - 5:18pmThe argument against New Who Collection sets is the main selling point being the upgrade from DVD to Blu-Ray, which the entirety of the modern series is already available on. There’d need to be another quality upgrade. Series 5 onward could be upscaled to 4K as proven with Twice Upon a Time but Series 1-4 has reached its maximum quality.
James
March 8th, 2025 - 7:45pmAs the modern who has been done multiple times already how about they do The Collection for them but as Doctor Sets.
Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi have all had their own box sets (Tennant region2 and Smith /Capaldi region1). Smith 16 discs and Tennant/Capaldi 14 discs. Obviously the Collection box sets would struggle physically to hold that many but the s1-4/specials box set out recently had 13 discs so could work around disc space. Rather have it done that way.
The Collection The Ninth Doctor Series Box Set (series 1 plus 50th ep, maybe shalka webisode)
The Collection The Tenth Doctor Series Box Set (series 2-4 plus 2009/10 specials and 50th ep)
The Collection The Eleventh Doctor Series Box Set (series 5-7 plus 50th ep and extras)
The Collection The Twelth Doctor Series Box Set (series 8-10 plus 50th ep)
The Collection The Thirteenth Doctor Series Box Set (series 11-12, Flux, Specials)
Fourteenth Doctor maybe a box set or maybe something different….
Then maybe a a special box set. The Collection Anniversary Box Set (10, 20, 25, 50, 60 years specials. Three Doctors, Five Doctors, Two Doctors, Day of the Doctor, Star Beast/WildBlueYonder/giggle). Include the stories, the extras from the previously released dvd/blu rays. Then release for each anniversary there after like 70th etc.
Gordon
March 8th, 2025 - 8:05pmThey could always shift focus to the new bonus features being the main selling point. But for that they would absolutely necessitate the need for the main players. As I said do series 1 to test the waters. It’s his whole era so if it underperforms at least it’s not ending mid doctor.
With the large potential of bonus features for new who I doubt the budget would be there if it was doctor era sets for tennant onwards unless it’s priced ridiculously high. To do it justice It would need separate season sets.
4th Doctor
March 8th, 2025 - 9:37pmGOT A SEASON 13 FEELING
Nb7
March 9th, 2025 - 10:36amNot sure they could do New Who in this style of packaging as maybe not enough discs to fill it out?! No way would we get an eccleston in conversation, letting rip into the producers.
I can see 4K versions appearing, especially of spearhead, even the tv movie (which I doubt could be upscaled enough. Even if it can’t be they can still release it in “4k”.)
Maybe even a Doctors boxset containing these sets for each doctor. Wouldn’t surprise me. Even adding an extra disc or a bloody exclusive funk pop!!! Heaven forbid
Tom Williams
March 9th, 2025 - 1:21pmI think me and blu ray .com is dangerous lol i just spotted 1-4 specials blu ray remastered ones prorder which clearly aint been announced yet but also has pictures does this mean there is new versions off blu rays now coming out each year ? Ie 5-50th anniversary for 2026 ?
4th Doctor
March 9th, 2025 - 7:48pmSEASON 13 IS 50 THIS YEAR AS WELL SO WOULD BE WELL TIMED RELEASE
Tom Williams
March 9th, 2025 - 9:54pm@4th doctor i think alot off people would be aware off that lol but we don’t know if this is real or false about the 1-4 specials remakes as that site as i was told before just leak stuff and don’t confirm it properly especially
Gordon
March 10th, 2025 - 12:48amThe thing about Blu ray . Com is anybody with an account could list or edit . My guess it’s maybe just a repackaging. I doubt there will be anything new as the previous release is less than 18 months old
Tom Williams
March 10th, 2025 - 7:06amThese ones i saw was apparently being separate releases i do admit it would be alot helpful especially for people who still vist stores now days like foops and hmv etc as most off the time they hardly ever have much blu rays now esp the seasons themselves is getting harder:/
Tom Williams
March 11th, 2025 - 6:02am@gordan these i spotted are individual ones i feel if they do do them they will only realise as five separate ones each year as i know myself now days its getting harder with blu rays in stores compared too online
Gordon
March 11th, 2025 - 7:36amNow I’ve seen them I’m pretty sure they are fan upload listings rather than actual listings. It’s the clean steelbook artwork with the Jodie logo plastered on it. Plus some of the edited information is from years back
Tom Williams
March 11th, 2025 - 3:01pmDid look very convincing lol esp it looked more like new artworks for it but even though it wouldnt bother me off course as got the whole steel book collection but only fans would be fulled too believe it now days
Tucker
March 7th, 2025 - 4:38pmHas anyone else noticed Ambassadors Episode 5 seems slightly sped up compared to the other episodes. Sort of 1.5 speed, I thought it was my player but I don’t seem to have an option to play at different speeds.
Tucker
March 7th, 2025 - 9:25pmNo, having compared it to the iplayer version it’s the same, seemingly faster paced with quicker camera cuts/changes. I think they have done a decent job with refining the colour recovery and agree with the comments that these (The Silurians and Ambassadors) are now in the best format they will be.
Gordon
March 7th, 2025 - 10:12amI’ve really enjoyed this release on the whole. Not without flaws but still an excellent release.
Fantastic restorations of especially both Silurians and ambassadors. I know some elsewhere have been unkind towards this release and grumbled about the restoration cherrypicking screenshots. Is it perfect? No. Not 100 percent perfect but still a great step up over the previous releases especially when you know the history of the archive status of the 2 stories.
The colour on ambassadors is far more stable than on the previous dvd. Got me excited for invasion of the dinosaurs when season 11 comes around.
Really enjoyed behind the sofas for this season. They are slightly longer at 35 -40 minutes each. Matthew Waterhouse was rather excitable on this. Him and Katy make a brilliant double act. Janet Sarah and Sophie are a decent trio and the former two aren’t overtly negative. Only thing saying Caroline was underused which I’m onboard with. I found the Toby/Geoffrey/daisy team the most interesting to hear their views. Partly to hear about Caroline. Toby does kind of drive the team.
I thought the looking for Mac piece was really well made and the highlight of this set. Well presented with nicely picked guests and it gives us a glimpse in to Malcom. The pub at the end may look familiar if you know about the Ruth Ellis murder.
I thought the Nicholas Courtney doc had some good ideas but not all of them worked. I liked it but I can’t say i loved it. I get wanting to focus on his ancestors but spending 14 mins before you even get to his birth felt too long. The theatre recreations didn’t work for me either. Plus the Jon Culshaw sections narrating as Nicholas felt off putting though I do think it was a nice idea. I feel It only scratched the surface of him. On the plus side the late frank Windsor was great and from doctor who onwards was great. Bit of a tearjerker at the end.
The terror of the suburbs started well with the cg recreations and the spearhead location filming then it kind of fell off for me and ran out of steam in the 2nd half
Lucky 13 was far more fascinating with the nasa and tomorrows world archival footage and the contemporary science explanations.
I’ve always found John Levine a bit of a marmite person. Sometimes I like him and sometimes not. On the in conversation he really comes off really well despite his terrible jokes but it almost feels like a coping mechanism. Matthew sweet really does a stellar job of navigating it. Can’t help but feel sorry for him regarding his upbringing and father. His love for Jon shines through.
I enjoyed the escape room. It’s by far the best of the three released but it Katy manning is by far the best thing about it. Plus having 2 younger and more active people involved and seemingly want to be there helps. Still not perfect though. The green/red light puzzle is still frustrating and the whole thing could be done with a good 15-20 mins lobbed off.
The convention footage was great to see considering both are no longer here. Barry doing basically a commentary of the then recently discovered Aldbourne footage was the highlight.
I liked the extended ep 5 of inferno. It doesn’t really add much but I’m glad it’s there.
Really enjoyed both omnibus editions. Won’t be the default versions but good to view if I get the itch and not have the time. Would be fun seeing over Christmas or bank holidays. I do prefer the cave monsters out of the two. I only wish ambassadors got as well.
Tardis 2
March 7th, 2025 - 10:38amA spot on summary.Though personally I could do without the escape room,but that’s just my opinion,if other people like it fair enough
Gordon
March 7th, 2025 - 11:26amI get the escape rooms not being for everyone. I know some are saying why couldn’t they have done x instead of this however all 7 eps were shot over 2-3 days and once you split it over 6-7 releases it’s probably a cheaper extra to put together than most of the suggested alternatives.
I do like them more than some but I think with reworking it could be better. Cut down to 45-50 mins for starters. I adore Emily Cook. However as host I feel she’s a little miscast in this. Someone with a bit more eccentricity would be better. I’ve always thought Paul mcgann in 8th doctor costume would have been better. Sadly they have all been shot so too late.
I also don’t think the series started the best way. The first doctor one was by far the worst of the three released so far. The third one is so much better as they work faster and cohesive plus katy is hilarious in it. plus unlike the first doctor one it felt they actually wanted to be there unlike Pete and Maureen who clearly couldn’t wait to get out of filming.
Prof Horner
March 7th, 2025 - 11:41amWell so far I only had time to watch The Silurians. A big improvement o the DVD release. I thought episode 3 was the poorest in terms of picture quality but not so bad. I look how good my favorite story Ambassadors of Death is. I never thought Inferno was that bad as picture quality. I agree Gordon on the the Nicholas Courtney doc . The scenes with Jack Klaff as Sir Donald Wolfett were bizarre to say the least.
The Unlicensed Physician
March 7th, 2025 - 12:01pmThe restoration is pretty much one guy working on a shoestring, and you just know that if the BBC said that they could do more at a higher price per unit or cutting back on extras then the “fans” (note quotation marks) would start complaining in the usual manner. (The same “fans” who begrudge cast and crew getting decent royalties.)
David McCallum
March 7th, 2025 - 2:40pmI agree with your observations, Gordon, particularly on the Nicholas Courtney documentary which I found quite disjointed. Although it was interesting, it felt like two separate documentaries cut together, and Jon Culshaw’s impressions felt a little out of place.
While it’s never going to look perfect, I’m very impressed with the restoration of the episodes – both picture and sound – and that was always going to be the most important part of this set for me.
Lewis James
March 7th, 2025 - 3:38pmI’m absolutely loving this box set, my favourite Jon Pertwee season with my two favourite stories of his, Ambassadors & inferno & I agree I think this the best quality we are going to get. Just got the docs & omnibuses to go now.
Pete X
March 7th, 2025 - 5:35pmHave, so far, only watched the new docs, Ambassadors of Death and the omnibus of the Silurians.
The work on the restoration and re-colourisation of the episodes I’ve seen so far is incredible. The improvement on both Silurians and Ambassadors since I first saw them on their video release 32 and 22 years ago is astounding. I recall the scene where the
Silurians kidnap the Doctor suffering from a red/brown fringing on the video, less so on the DVD, now absent.
Having watched several late 60’s ITC programmes recently (75th anniversary of founding), I realised how much S7 not only owes to Quatermass but also ITC.
Am quite happy with the docs, though, interesting as it was, I think the Lucky 13 doc suffered from not looking at all the science in the season. Yes, I know the science from Silurians and Inferno were looked at in the DVD releases for those stories, but there wasn’t enough in Spearhead to make up their abscence and what was, was used to lever the Kit Pedlar material in and which would have been better used in either the S3 or S4 sets. I think the Ambassadors/Apollo 13/moon landings would have been great on it’s own. I would like to see the Machine Men (iirc) documentary that Michael Fergusson watched in preparation for directing the War Machines as part of that story’s blu-ray extras in the S3 collection.
Max
March 6th, 2025 - 6:13pmCan someone please update The Complete Classic Doctor Who DVD List?
Darren
March 16th, 2025 - 8:56amOr change the title to The Incomplete Classic Doctor Who List
Craig F
March 5th, 2025 - 9:23pmAh the Randolph tapes recovered In late 2018 by Kaleidoscope, being three 5 3/4-inch reels of 1/4” tape recorded 4-track mono at 1 7/8 IPS.
Tape 1 starting with The Nightmare Begins (second half only) tape 3 ending with the Moonbase episode 1 suggesting there were originally more.
The quality is generally very good a few of the Daleks masterplan episodes are better than Graham Strong’s recordings & Graham’s tape ran out a couple of minutes before the end of The Highlanders episode 1.
The recent release of The Celestial Toymaker was possible with the Randolph recordings as Strong had recorded over his in error.
Just thought I’d post this extra info for those not in the know.
The Unlicensed Physician
March 5th, 2025 - 11:07pmI think Graham Strong said that he’d deliberately taped over Toymaker because he didn’t think it worth keeping. (Possibly because it was too visual, not that he necessarily thought it was rubbish…)
Babelbro
March 4th, 2025 - 11:22pm@Craig fascinating to read, many thanks for this review.
I’ve noticed quite a number of fans on social media are praising the sound work on Spearhead, so that’s even more proof for me that more 60’s animations are worth it alone for the sound restoration techniques available today. The sound work on Galaxy 4 with the telesnaps / photos was night and day improvement over what was available to Loose Cannon.
Regarding the posts on the ‘blue/grey Pertwee hands’ for a few frames in Ambassadors – much respect to Peter Crocker for admitting his frustration with that and that it was a genuine error. Because this is a commercial project and not a fan edit of course it won’t be possible to mend that for all kinds of logistical reasons, and the fact its just a few frames, I couldn’t care less. Every single Doctor Who media range has its own fair share of human errors – so for something as deeply complex and intricate as chroma colour work to warp out for just a few frames on a commercial Blu-ray set containing a sheer mega ton of material, is not that great of a deal.
I last saw Ambassadors around 2021 – I can’t recall if it had a similar dreaded slower pacing of some of the later 60’s and later 70’s stories given it’s from the start of the 70’s (The Silurians was certaintly too long) – but in terms of the storytelling, characters, plot and tone, it is simply for me one of the very best Doctor Who episodes in one of the best Seasons ever made.
Season 7 takes the science / grounded, human psycological edge of the Hartnell era, with the futuristic and horror feel of the Troughton era, combines them and then cranks it up a gear into what often feels like a more mature, serious kind of realistic gritty spooky final result.
As a whole Season, this one’s easily one of the best in all of Doctor Who.
Prof Horner
March 5th, 2025 - 9:47amTotally agree. The Ambassadors of Death is one of my favorite stories and the this seasons one all time greats. As I have been working the last two days, so I haven’t had a chance to watch any of the stories yet. I have watched the Mac Hulke and Nicholas Courtney doc’s. I look forward to seeing how good the restoration is on Silurians and Ambassadors of Death is .
Gordon
March 5th, 2025 - 5:55pmMark did talk about soundtrack quality at the savages bfi screening and the stories from masterplan to moonbase have been helped because of the Randolph tapes . He also mentioned myth makers as part of the Randolph tapes but later said he was mistaken. However he also said that one now exists in good quality but will be a pain when he gets round to it. He also spoke of an unnamed Troughton story which he used to be extremely worried about, but implied it wouldn’t be as much of a problem now. By the process of elimination it’s probably space pirates. (The soundtrack for highlanders was remastered for the power se and wheel had work done for the Britbox and is also in good condition anyway)
I’m up to inferno and I have to say I think silurians and ambassadors are both good improvements over previous releases which was exactly what I was hoping for. No they aren’t perfect but unless either the master tapes turn up or it had the budget of the in colours (which was never going to happen unless it was broadcast) and about 2 years on each story it’s never going to be. Peter did jokingly say on the power of three podcast he could work on this till 2030 and it probably would still not be perfect.
The Unlicensed Physician
March 5th, 2025 - 10:58pmDoesn’t the currently known copy of Space Pirates come from Australian off-airs, made via microphone stuck over the speaker? That must have made it the worst of the missing eps recordings. (What does it say that all the usual UK fans decided to miss out on keeping that story? Ouch…)
Missyrules
March 6th, 2025 - 12:34amI’ve never minded space pirates. The doctor, Jamie and zoe are what makes it entertaining as they are just so enjoyable to watch/listen to together. Okay the plot is not great, having holes you could drive the v41 through but I think it’s one that animation would really lift.