February 19th, 2026
27 comments
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Doctor Who The Movie Stunning New Restoration on 4K and Blu-ray
Available to order from 12.00am Friday 20/02/2025 from www.amazon.co.uk, www.zavvi.co.uk, www.rarewaves.com and other selected retailers.
With thanks to BBC Studios
DOCTOR WHO: THE MOVIE STUNNING NEW RESTORATION on 4K and Blu-ray
In 1996, Paul McGann debuted as the Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who, a feature length co-production between the BBC and the American Fox network, more commonly known as The TV Movie.
This 90-minute feature was shot on film, and now, for the first time, all 219 reels of original film (totalling almost 200,000 feet!) have been pulled from deep storage in the US and meticulously scanned over 21 days, then restored by Paul Vanezis to provide a definitive 4K experience.
The TV Movie has never looked or sounded so good, with a 24-frame transfer to match the original film rushes, and immersive surround sound, rebuilt from the original raw sound elements.
Also starring Sylvester McCoy (the Seventh Doctor), Daphne Ashbrook (Grace), Eric Roberts (The Master) and Yee Jee Tso (Chang Lee), The TV Movie sees the Doctor’s regeneration triggered on an operating table, with surgeon Grace Holloway accompanying the new Doctor on an epic adventure to prevent The Master from stealing the Doctor’s future lives.
This new release is available on 4K in a limited edition steelbook with exclusive artwork, as well as standard Blu-ray, and includes a host of special features including:
- The ‘uncensored’ UK version.
- The USA broadcast version.
- Soundtrack in Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and stereo.
- Sylvester McCoy and Janet Fielding featurette.
- 3 New Featurettes with Daphne Ashbrook, Eric Roberts and Yee Jee Tso.
- Two audio commentaries.
- Isolated music score.
- Production info text.
- The Seven Year Hitch making-of documentary.
- Paul McGann’s audition tape.
- Alternate takes.
- Electronic press kit and behind the scenes footage.
- TARDIS tour.
- BBC Trails.
- And much more.
Doctor Who – The Movie. The ultimate new restoration is available will be available to pre-order on Friday 20th February midday, ahead of its release on 25th May 2026 in the UK.
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Prof Horner
February 19th, 2026 - 3:23pmWell this is good news. But it is disappointing that we still haven’t had news about new animations or missing episodes .
daz
February 19th, 2026 - 3:16pmGreat artwork by Lee Binding.
I’ll buy it and then sell it on when we get the wilderness set in say 2028 maybe.
The ergon
February 19th, 2026 - 3:36pmIll wait. 2 years go by so quickly and to watch it once doesnt justify paying out for it again. The artwork is amazing.
The Silent Silent
February 19th, 2026 - 3:07pmLooks like a Fantastic Release 🙂 How much will the 4K Steelbook cost ?
Gordon
February 19th, 2026 - 3:29pm£34.99 for the 4k/blu ray combo
£24.99 standard 4k only version
£14.99 for the standard blu ray version
David Minter
February 19th, 2026 - 3:07pmI wonder if we’ll get a Region A NTSC release. Wasn’t the TV movie previously released on a Blu-Ray in the UK that wasn’t released in the US? I may be misremembering that, though.
Audred
February 19th, 2026 - 3:00pmI think there may have been a bit of a boo-boo with this as Amazon had it up for sale, but you couldn’t find the link without Google’s AI assist which took me straight to the page where I managed to place and order for two before it got taken down. Seems my insomnia paid off for once.
Anita
February 19th, 2026 - 2:29pmAnyone else getting Page Not Found with that Amazon link? It was working earlier on as I was able to order the Steelbook but it seems to be down now.
booboo
February 19th, 2026 - 2:39pmwas taken down as to early will be Friday 12am now (we hope)
Anita
February 19th, 2026 - 2:46pmThanks booboo!
Mikk89
February 19th, 2026 - 2:52pmThe irony is only a few days before the announcement of this, my Nephew had his first experience of this on the previous Blu-Ray version.
I’m looking forward to this.
Audred
February 19th, 2026 - 2:58pmI was up late last night and saw a YouTuber say it was released on Amazon, I couldn’t find it via a regular search, but I found that typing it into Google’s AI assistant it gave me a direct link to the page, so I snapped-up two of them right then and there. It’s clearly been an error and taken down, but my purchase is still showing as ordered.
Rory, the original you might say
February 19th, 2026 - 2:59pmTiming malfunction.
James
February 19th, 2026 - 2:26pmDoes anyone know why the differences are between the ‘uncensored’ UK version, and the USA broadcast version?
Thanks
Rex F
February 19th, 2026 - 2:43pmThe Millennium Effect website has the differences. Google millennium effect tvm, and it’s the second link.
Demdike@CultLabs
February 19th, 2026 - 1:49pmLooks gorgeous doesn’t it compared to the original which looked like, well, a 90’s tv movie.
DaveR1974
February 19th, 2026 - 1:46pmBBC messed up with the trailer and press release.
In the trailer, at 1m37s, Sylvester states “available to pre-order now”, but it is not available to pre-order until midday tomorrow.
Also, there is an error in regard to the statements “The ‘uncensored’ UK version” and “The USA broadcast version”.
The original UK broadcast was edited, whereas the USA version was not.
It will be interesting to know if the UK version in this release will include the Jon Pertwee dedication at the start as per the first broadcast and first DVD release.
I am looking forward to finally seeing this in the original 24fps instead of the stupid PAL speed up (resulting in higher pitched voices and stuttering of some camera moves). If only the BBC would re-release the Torchwood Miracle Day Blu-ray with the correct frame rate and pitched voices too.
Rex F
February 19th, 2026 - 2:54pm“Uncensored UK version” relates to the BBC2 edit, which had no cuts but retained the alternative act break treatments of the UK BBC1 premiere. Basically it’s the DVD edit.
Audred
February 19th, 2026 - 2:56pmThe Steelbook was posted for sale on Amazon, but it was only discovered through a link supplied by Google AI, so I got in quick and ordered two. Must have been some technical error, but I got my order number.
War Chief
February 19th, 2026 - 1:43pmWell, good luck with that…..it looked a bit rubbish back in 1996……
Much as i’m a big Paul McGann fan now, back then i didn’t know who he was…..i could be forgiven for not recognising him from Alien 3, and i didn’t see Withnail and I till the following year….
Clay
February 19th, 2026 - 1:42pmThis is beautiful and an instant must-buy for me, but it makes me a little sad that it probably means we’ll never get that long-rumoured ‘wilderness years’ collection set with all the missing retrospective-type features that haven’t made the jump from DVD.
Gordon
February 19th, 2026 - 2:01pmI’m pretty sure this doesn’t rule out a wilderness years set. This needed a stand alone release as this never would have gotten a new remastering on the budget of the collection range especially with everything else needed for that release.
Rory, the original you might say
February 19th, 2026 - 3:18pmSeems to me this makes Wilderness Years more likely rather than less. BBC are going to want to get as much money out of this as possible, so it makes sense to do a solo release to recoup costs of the restoration, then package it into a Collection set in a couple of years time so they can spend the Collection money on the rest of the set.
Neil
February 19th, 2026 - 1:27pmPity it doesn’t seem like we are getting any deleted scenes (we’ve all seen the pictures of Gordon Tipple in costume as the Muster..), and no mention of those awful Dalek voices from the beginning being replaced, oh well….
Gordon
February 19th, 2026 - 2:09pmI imagine that will probably happen for the collection release in a couple of years time. Considering they have 37 hours of rushes and this was a massive long complex job I think it can be forgiven if they didn’t get round to it
Bookcollector
February 19th, 2026 - 1:21pmI do rather enjoy this story, it’s heart (or should that be hearts) are in the right place even if it is half human…
Ricky
February 19th, 2026 - 1:20pmWow thats fantastic and I love the steelbook artwork.