If anyone could help me with the following questions I would be grateful !!

I am a bit of a Doctor Who DVD virgin ( only ever owned VHS's !! )

Is the DVD quality about the same as, say, UKTV Gold's repeats, or is it tarted up a bit?

Are they in episode format ? Or as one long "film-style" episode?

Are the extras any good?

Thanks in advance everyone !!

Ah, VHS, those were the days...

I've got a few of the Doctor Who DVD's. They're generally digitally remastered.

They are in episode format.

The extras can be quite good. On the Dalek Invasion of Earth for instance, you can replace the old special effects with some new CGI ones. You also get other stuff like commentry by the actors, producers, etc.

Hope this helps

Genesis of the Daleks is a good one double disk. with a 55 minute feature on the Daleks a documentary on the making of the episode. Although to be fair all the new BBC re-issues are good.

I wa going to buy that this week but I ended up buying "The Christmas Invasion" DVD instead. I also bought a Kit Kat chunky - the new one with peanut butter. One of the best things I've put in my mouth...

I love them new KitKat Chunky's. Havn't bought the new DVD pre ordered the boxset due out 20/11 though.

I could of waited for the box set but I'm one of the most impatient people I've ever met and I wanted it NOW

Does the Christmas Invasion DVD have the 3 minute introduction just after he regenerates that was in Children In Need and was not on the Christmas episode that was aired on BBC ONE? (If that makes sense )

I know what you mean No, It just goes straight into the bit when the Tardis crash-lands, The Doctor stumbles out and wishes Jackie and Mickey a Happy Christmas before colapsing.

It does... fingers crossed that Children In Need special will be on the box-set. The individual DVDs are 'vanilla' with no special features, commentaries - just the programme as it was broadcast.

Classic Who DVDs are a different kettle of fish - they're lovingly restored by a group of fans who work in the Television industry and a lot of effort goes in to making extras and a commentary from the original contributors (where possible, many have sadly passed on). They're well worth the money and, if you shop around online, you can pick them up for much less than the £19.99 rrp. Try Find-dvd for good prices - I've paid less than £10 for nearly all of mine.

I'm loving the peanut kit-kat chunkies too - are they just a limited edition?

I hope not - they're a bit gorgeous. I remember having them last year when I went to Orlando to get married and thinking then "cor, I wish they done these back home" Next time, I'm gonna wish for a million quid...

I just bought The Beginnings DVD. I should have bought it earlier. It really is good in line wity what you said about 'a lot of effort goes in to making extras and a commentary from the original contributors'.

I'm not sure what DVDs/VHS I have otherwise...I'd have to check!

The Beginnings dvd blew me away!

The quality of the work by the Restoration Team is simply superb. I'd seen the 'orphaned' episodes a few times before on old vhs recordings, but the standard to which they manage to clean up old recordings is stunning.

The Doctor Who DVDs are brilliant, the imrovements that the restoration ream have made to various episodes is amazing. The commentaries are interesting and if its a Peter Davison story then usually a bit of a laugh.

Janet Fielding is very naughty on the commentaries! We likey!

Can you recommend me one of the dvds where she has done a comm., BG?

The commentaries are usually brilliantly entertaining and the other extras are usually great too. The DVDs are superbly made and I buy them on the day of release every time.

Obviously avoid the Vanilla releases of the new series

I haven't seen any of the old DWs and am considering buying some of the DVDs. But are they all in colour, or are some in black and white?

The extras on DW DVDs are always superb. The last set on Genesis put virtually all other shows releases to shame. Same with the Beginning, esp the Marco Polo recon.

I'm surprised (if it's true - although it is now being listed on some stores apparently, so it is likely) that Mark of the Rani is up for a release as we had a Colin Baker last year. It almost seems like they are attempting to get all of his out of the way ASAP!


All Doctor Who in the 60's was B&W, and the ones currently released are:
The Beginning (the first 3 stories + recon of the 4th)
The Aztecs
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Web Planet
The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Mind Robber
The Seeds of Death
(+ Lost in Time, although if you're just getting into the DVD's that wouldn't be a good place to start, as there are no complete stories).

There are a few early 70s stories only existing in B&W, which is a totally different story and none are out on DVD yet anyway.

Don't let the fact that they are B&W put you off, as you would be missing some brilliant television. Personally, I would suggest Tomb... to start with out of all the DVDs, but it depends on your taste. There is plenty on these boards and elsewhere that should help you make up your mind.

cheers for that, god of biscuits. I may well get some of them tomorrow. I can't say i have ever watched a whole film or even tv programme in black and white, but I love the current series of DW so much that i will try and stick the old ones out.

I can never understand why people would buy them; home recordings give exactly the same content, i.e. the episode with no extras.

Am I right in thinking Ambassadors of death and Mind of Evil are the only 2 Pertwee era stories only available in B&W,although a few episodes of AOD were colorised on the VHS release,but not UK Gold.
And the other stories that were B&W have been colorised,like The Daemons,Silurians,Terror of the Autons etc.

Re:Janet Fielding's DVD Commentries...
She's done commentries on the "The Visitation", "Earthshock" & "Resurrection of The Dalek's" DVD's.
The commentries are extremely funny IMO, as Peter & Janet tend to mercilessly "rip the P**s" out of said stories...
For example, in "The Visitation" DVD, Janet makes barbed comments about her Season 19 hairstyle, while Peter comments that the "potential decapatition with scythe" cliffhanger, would'nt work, as the scythe blade would break on the floor if you tried it....

DVD quality absolutely urinates over UK Tin's transmissions. Buy the DVDs.