New Classic Who Blu-Ray Sets (2021 edition)
- Thread starter Nightowl1701
- Start date
The Season 1-13 Blu-Ray box set is up for pre-order. Looks like it's already selling out. The BBC website is out of their allocation.
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I'm assuming the Series 1-4 clips that have been popping up in the Anniversary trailers and the like have been the remastered versions, because while they don't look like real HD (obviously) they definitely look better than I've ever seen them before.
I have just spent some time flipping through the remastered S1-4 discs and I am definitely happy that I spent the money.
It's a mixed bag depending on how it was originally shot and scenes with CGI in them fare the worst but even from just my random sampling there's a lot of it that looks far better now than we could ever have expected to see.
Bit annoyed they didn't use the right logo on the cases, though. Time to hit photoshop I guess.
It's a mixed bag depending on how it was originally shot and scenes with CGI in them fare the worst but even from just my random sampling there's a lot of it that looks far better now than we could ever have expected to see.
Bit annoyed they didn't use the right logo on the cases, though. Time to hit photoshop I guess.
Finally - season 17 is being released on standard Blu-Ray, sadly too late for Christmas 
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who...y&qid=1702325883&s=dvd&sprefix=,dvd,93&sr=1-3
You know, for Doctor Who's 60th you'd have thought there would have been more releases. This year we've had two limited editions - 9 & 20 and one standard - 24. Last year I'm sure they released far more.
.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who...y&qid=1702325883&s=dvd&sprefix=,dvd,93&sr=1-3
You know, for Doctor Who's 60th you'd have thought there would have been more releases. This year we've had two limited editions - 9 & 20 and one standard - 24. Last year I'm sure they released far more.
In 2022 we had Season 22 and Season 2. This year we've had Season 9 in March and then Season 20 in September.
The team have said they work in UK financial years, and aim to release up to three per year. In 22/23 they released three sets (22, 2 and 9).
We know they've been working on several future sets, but I suspect a release slot might have been postponed due to the 60th releases - the remastered RTD1 Blu-rays last month and the 60th Specials next week.
There's still just about time to release another two sets before the end of March, but it's probably unlikely. I guess there will be another announced in the new year for release Feb/March in the quiet period before the new series marketing gears up. And then maybe another in the summer after Season One has finished, with a third in the autumn.
The team have said they work in UK financial years, and aim to release up to three per year. In 22/23 they released three sets (22, 2 and 9).
We know they've been working on several future sets, but I suspect a release slot might have been postponed due to the 60th releases - the remastered RTD1 Blu-rays last month and the 60th Specials next week.
There's still just about time to release another two sets before the end of March, but it's probably unlikely. I guess there will be another announced in the new year for release Feb/March in the quiet period before the new series marketing gears up. And then maybe another in the summer after Season One has finished, with a third in the autumn.
They could have released more standard packaged sets though. In 2022 they released 26, 14 & 8, this year only 24.
Season 17 is coming in January. I guess the intention is to keep them roughly 2 years after the limited edition release, and 17 was first released in December 2021.
Not wishing to appear greedy or impatient, but I think more than enough limited edition sets have been released that anyone who is going to collect them has started and is committed to them and not be swayed by the lower price of the standard ones, so I think its high time the BBC brought out seasons 22, 9, 2 & 20 in standard and then going forward simultaneously release the box sets in standard and limited packaging.
Seems like they're going to have to stick to two a year, as they're now fast running out of seasons not requiring very extensive restorations and/or yet-to-be-made animations. Season 1 may now be the last release (even after Season 3!)... or never at all.
Yeah, it could well be that the delay is down to episode restoration. It's widely been speculated that a Troughton set is probably due soon, most likely Season 6, which is a lot of episodes to polish up. Season 7 would also be quite complicated.
Maybe they were working on Season 1, but the Unearthly Child issues have messed up their plans...
I'm not too worried. Chris Chapman, who produces a lot of the extras, is regularly Tweeting about how many films he's working on, so there's a lot going on.
So I'm thinking of the easy remaining blu ray sets. Those not requiring new animations or extensive restoration. I don't have all mine handy but here's what comes to mind:
- Pertwee's final season (1)
- All of Tom's remaining seasons. I forget how many are not on Blu Ray. (3 or 4?)
- Davison's final season (1)
- McCoy (1)
Yeah, there’s three for Tom, two eighties sets and the Wilderness Years collection that are trouble-free. Pertwee’s last season is easy except for the first Invasion of the Dinosaurs episode which will need a lot of colourisation.
Season 5 and 6 each have one story that hasn’t yet been animated (Wheel in Space and The Space Pirates), but that need not be a bar to release as Season 2 shows. Most of the surviving Season Five episodes have been recently remastered for animation blu-rays, so it’s really just The Ice Warriors and Tomb of the Cybermen that could do with attention.
Season 4 isn’t far behind, with just two stories needing animation.
Which leaves Season 3 as the most challenging, and Season 1 due to the rights issues.
Season 5 and 6 each have one story that hasn’t yet been animated (Wheel in Space and The Space Pirates), but that need not be a bar to release as Season 2 shows. Most of the surviving Season Five episodes have been recently remastered for animation blu-rays, so it’s really just The Ice Warriors and Tomb of the Cybermen that could do with attention.
Season 4 isn’t far behind, with just two stories needing animation.
Which leaves Season 3 as the most challenging, and Season 1 due to the rights issues.
And I hope in addition to colourisation that they update the special effects on the dinosaurs. I'm not asking for Jurassic Park obviously but, something better than what we got.
I’d love it if instead of crappy CGI they could shoot new models that blend with the original footage. Mike Tucker did some work for the Power of the Daleks, recreating the Dalek production line sequence.
I'd assume that wouldn't be too much work. Or at least it doesn't have to be. They can upscale the DVD colorized version. They could redo it with the latest technology I suppose, but I'm not sure if the incremental improvement would be worth it, especially given it's a single episode. Even if they go that route, it's much easier than say dealing with The Ambassadors of Death!
The DVD version is only partial colour and it's a bit of a mess - the colour recovery they used successfully on The Mind of Evil and Planet of the Daleks wasn't as effective here as it turned out the blue signal had been filtered out when the film recording was made. The DVD budget couldn't stretch far enough to fix it so they made it an optional bonus with the B&W episode as the default.
Personally I think it's perfectly watchable and I'm sure it'll look perfect when they get to the Blu-ray. They've just colourised The Daleks, and the recovered colour episodes on the Season 8 set looked amazing!
Pertwee's my favourite classic era, so I'm really looking forward to his last two sets.
Has it ever been discussed if NuWho could ever receive a treatment akin to The Collection? If not we should be gathering material for fan covers to match the sets, lol.
The seasons that can be released without requiring reconstructions or recreations are Season 7 (Pertwee), Season 11 (Pertwee), Season 13 (T. Baker), Season 15 (T. Baker), Season 16 (T. Baker), Season 21 (Davison), and Season 25 (McCoy).