EvErY disc • EvErY episode • EvErY ExTrA COMPILED BY PAUL SMITH A History of ClAssiC DoCtor WHo on DVD One of the enduring appeals of Doctor Who, and a reason why it’s still going strong after half a century, is that it’s like no other programme on television. Whether you’re old enough to have been watching since the first episode in November 1963 or you only became hooked during the series’ recent fiftieth anniversary, you can probably list half a dozen ways in which Doctor Who stands apart from other shows. Whenever you think you have a handle on what the programme is or can do, it spins off in a new direction, whether as a result of casting a new incarnation of the Doctor himself or by reviving something from its long history that leads you to discover a whole aspect of the series you never realised was there. That history has never been more accessible than it is now, with all but one surviving episodes — including those rediscovered barely more than a year ago — available to watch in pristine quality on DVD. The current series, of course, has been released in regular series sets since its revival in 2005, just like any modern show. Even if you’re just now catching up with the 21st Century adventures of the Doctor, seven series with around a hundred episodes isn’t that daunting a prospect in today’s scheme of things, when marathoning the whole of a programme like 24 or Lost is a popular way to spend one’s evenings. However, that’s barely a third as long as Doctor Who’s initial twenty-six-year run, even accounting for the shorter episodes back then and the fact that many of those from the 1960s are still missing. But that needn’t be off-putting for the intrepid viewer interested in dipping into the Doctor’s past, and in fact the way the Classic Series has been released on a story-by-story basis, rather than as modern-style season boxsets, makes this easier than it might seem. A show like no other Most drama on television, from the medium’s early days right up to the present, fits one of two formats. There’s the serial, in which a self-contained story is told over a number of episodes, much like a book with chapters (indeed, television serials are often adaptations of books). One needs to watch every episode in order to follow the characters’ experiences and enjoy the unfolding of the story. Then there’s the series, in which each episode generally tells a one-off story (or maybe two as a main plot and a subplot), but there’s some continuity of characters, location and situation over the course of the episodes. Thus, once you’re familiar with the setup, you can watch random episodes and still get a complete narrative, but there’s more depth to be gained from watching them all and following the characters’ development. If a serial is popular it may be brought back to tell further stories with its characters and become a series, although each block of episodes usually tells a self-contained story. An example would be 24, where each season is yet another day in the life of Jack Bauer and the team at CTU, but over successive seasons there are developments in the characters and their relationships that reward returning viewers. Similarly, a series may run the occasional two- or three-part storyline, especially at the climax of a season, but generally each weekly episode is a largely standalone story. This is the norm for police and medical shows from Z Cars to Juliet Bravo to CSI, and from Dr Findlay’s Casebook to Casualty to House, with a case of the week but ongoing characters. More recent programmes have created slight variations of these standards. Police procedural Waking the Dead, for example, was a series that presented each case over two episodes, making it a series of two-part serials, whereas Lost had little closure at the end of each season let alone each episode, making it essentially a long serial told over several series. Soap operas are another unique case, being essentially a never-ending serial. And a third, less-common structure is the anthology series, where each episode is a totally new story with fresh characters and situations, but linked by a theme, such as all being murder mysteries or horror stories. When Doctor Who was being devised in 1963, it was always conceived as something different, combining all three formats: an anthology series of serials. There would be continuing characters, as in a typical series — the Doctor and his companions — but they would regularly find themselves in a new location and a new story, as with an anthology. Each adventure would be presented over 7 ● Yes ◑ some episodes STORY SEASON ON STORY SEASON ON ClAssiC DoCtor who tV stories ○ no ● Animated No. No. DVD SE No. No. DVD SE 78 12:4 Genesis of the Daleks 119 19:4 The Visitation STORY SEASON ON STORY SEASON ON ● ● No. No. DVD SE No. No. DVD SE 79 12:5 Revenge of the Cybermen ● 120 19:5 Black Orchid ● * 1963 1968 80 13:1 Terror of the Zygons ● 121 19:6 Earthshock ● FirSt Doctor: William hartnell 41 5:5 The Web of Fear ● 81 13:2 Planet of Evil ● 122 19:7 Time-Flight ● 1 1:1 An Unearthly Child ● 42 5:6 Fury from the Deep ○ 82 13:3 Pyramids of Mars ● 1983 2 1:2 The Daleks ● 43 5:7 The Wheel in Space ◔ 83 13:4 The Android Invasion ● 123 20:1 Arc of Infinity ● 1964 44 6:1 The Dominators ● 1976 124 20:2 Snakedance ● 3 1:3 The Edge of Destruction ● 45 6:2 The Mind Robber ● 84 13:5 The Brain of Morbius ● 125 20:3 Mawdryn Undead ● 4 1:4 Marco Polo ○ 46 6:3 The Invasion ●◕ 85 13:6 The Seeds of Doom ● 126 20:4 Terminus ● 5 1:5 The Keys of Marinus ● 47 6:4 The Krotons ● 86 14:1 The Masque of Mandragora ● 127 20:5 Enlightenment ● 6 1:6 The Aztecs ● * 1969 87 14:2 The Hand of Fear ● 128 20:6 The King’s Demons ● 7 1:7 The Sensorites ● 48 6:5 The Seeds of Death ● * 88 14:3 The Deadly Assassin ● 129 The Five Doctors ● * 8 1:8 The Reign of Terror ●◕ 49 6:6 The Space Pirates ◔ 1977 1984 9 2:1 Planet of Giants ● 50 6:7 The War Games ● 89 14:4 The Face of Evil ● 130 21:1 Warriors of the Deep ● 10 2:2 The Dalek Invasion of Earth ● 1970 90 14:5 The Robots of Death ● * 131 21:2 The Awakening ● 1965 thirD Doctor: Jon Pertwee 91 14:6 The Talons of Weng-Chiang ● * 132 21:3 Frontios ● 11 2:3 The Rescue ● 51 7:1 Spearhead from Space ● * 92 15:1 Horror of Fang Rock ● 133 21:4 Resurrection of the Daleks ● * 12 2:4 The Romans ● 52 7:2 Doctor Who and the Silurians ● 93 15:2 The Invisible Enemy ● 134 21:5 Planet of Fire ● 13 2:5 The Web Planet ● 53 7:3 The Ambassadors of Death ● 94 15:3 Image of the Fendahl ● 135 21:6 The Caves of Androzani ● * 14 2:6 The Crusade ◑ 54 7:4 Inferno ● * 95 15:4 The Sun Makers ● Sixth Doctor: colin Baker 15 2:7 The Space Museum ● 1971 1978 136 21:7 The Twin Dilemma ● 16 2:8 The Chase ● 55 8:1 Terror of the Autons ● 96 15:5 Underworld ● 1985 17 2:9 The Time Meddler ● 56 8:2 The Mind of Evil ● 97 15:6 The Invasion of Time ● 137 22:1 Attack of the Cybermen ● 18 3:1 Galaxy 4 ◔ 57 8:3 The Claws of Axos ● * 98 16:1 The Ribos Operation ● 138 22:2 Vengeance on Varos ● * 19 3:2 Mission to the Unknown ○ 58 8:4 Colony in Space ● 99 16:2 The Pirate Planet ● 139 22:3 The Mark of the Rani ● 20 3:3 The Myth Makers ○ 59 8:5 The Dæmons ● 100 16:3 The Stones of Blood ● 140 22:4 The Two Doctors ● 21 3:4 The Daleks’ Master Plan ◔ 1972 101 16:4 The Androids of Tara ● 141 22:5 Timelash ● 1966 60 9:1 Day of the Daleks ● 102 16:5 The Power of Kroll ● 142 22:6 Revelation of the Daleks ● 22 3:5 The Massacre ○ 61 9:2 The Curse of Peladon ● 1979 1986 23 3:6 The Ark ● 62 9:3 The Sea Devils ● 103 16:6 The Armageddon Factor ● 143 23:1 The Trial of a Time Lord ● 24 3:7 The Celestial Toymaker ◔ 63 9:4 The Mutants ● 104 17:1 Destiny of the Daleks ● 1987 25 3:8 The Gunfighters ● 64 9:5 The Time Monster ● 105 17:2 City of Death ● Seventh Doctor: Sylvester Mccoy 26 3:9 The Savages ○ 65 10:1 The Three Doctors ● * 106 17:3 The Creature from the Pit ● 144 24:1 Time and the Rani ● 27 3:10 The War Machines ● 1973 107 17:4 Nightmare of Eden ● 145 24:2 Paradise Towers ● 28 4:1 The Smugglers ○ 66 10:2 Carnival of Monsters ● * 108 17:5 The Horns of Nimon ● 146 24:3 Delta and the Bannermen ● 29 4:2 The Tenth Planet ●◕ 67 10:3 Frontier in Space ● 1980 147 24:4 Dragonfire ● SeconD Doctor: Patrick troughton 68 10:4 Planet of the Daleks ● 109 18:1 The Leisure Hive ● 1988 30 4:3 The Power of the Daleks ○ 69 10:5 The Green Death ● * 110 18:2 Meglos ● 148 25:1 Remembrance of the Daleks ● * 31 4:4 The Highlanders ○ 70 11:1 The Time Warrior ● 111 18:3 Full Circle ● 149 25:2 The Happiness Patrol ● 1967 1974 112 18:4 State of Decay ● 150 25:3 Silver Nemesis ● 32 4:5 The Underwater Menace ◔ 71 11:2 Invasion of the Dinosaurs ● 1981 151 25:4 The Greatest Show in the Galaxy ● 33 4:6 The Moonbase ●◑ 72 11:3 Death to the Daleks ● 113 18:5 Warriors’ Gate ● 1989 34 4:7 The Macra Terror ○ 73 11:4 The Monster of Peladon ● 114 18:6 The Keeper of Traken ● 152 26:1 Battlefield ● 35 4:8 The Faceless Ones ◔ 74 11:5 Planet of the Spiders ● 115 18:7 Logopolis ● 153 26:2 Ghost Light ● 36 4:9 The Evil of the Daleks ◔ Fourth Doctor: tom Baker FiFth Doctor: Peter Davison 154 26:3 The Curse of Fenric ● 37 5:1 The Tomb of the Cybermen ● * 75 12:1 Robot ● 1982 155 26:4 Survival ● 38 5:2 The Abominable Snowmen ◔ 1975 116 19:1 Castrovalva ● 1996 39 5:3 The Ice Warriors ●◕ 76 12:2 The Ark in Space ● * 117 19:2 Four to Doomsday ● eighth Doctor: Paul Mcgann 40 5:4 The Enemy of the World ● 77 12:3 The Sontaran Experiment ● 118 19:3 Kinda ● 156 The Movie ● * 26 27 Beneath the Surface ConneCtions Apart from his outfit and some improbable ball skills in Four to Doomsday (1982), this features Boxset of Doctor Who anD the SilurianS, the Sea DevilS and the only evidence of the Fifth Doctor’s predilection for cricket.