Watching Doctor Who

Hello, and welcome to your DVD update! All sorts of things are heading for those shelves, so let’s get started.

Torchwood series one is due in the US on 8 January 2008, which isn’t soon enough for me, but at least it is going to appear. Sci Fi Wire has the extras listed as follows:

“The bonus features include the featurettes “Welcome to Torchwood”; “Torchwood on the Scene”; “Torchwood Out of This World”; “Torchwood Sex, Violence, Blood and Gore”; “Torchwood on the Road”; “The Team and Their Troubles”; “Torchwood: Moments in the Making”; “The Captain’s Log”; “Torchwood on Time”; and “Torchwood Declassified.” The DVD will also feature deleted scenes, audio commentary on all 13 first-season episodes and outtakes. ”

By the way, the word is that Torchwood brought in just under 500,000 viewers for its premiere, making it BBCAmerica’s best premiere ever. I hope that the numbers stay up high for the rest of the series.

6 November 2007 will be a big day in the USA. A big day in Doctor Who, that is. This day will see not only the release of two classic 5th Doctor episodes - Time Flight and Arc of Infinity, but also the Third Series of the current show.

Amazon.com lists the extras for Time Flight as:

Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary by actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and script editor Eric Saward
DVD ROM Features: 1983 Doctor Who Annual and Radio Times listings
Featurette: Jurassic Larks Behind-the-scenes featurette (19 mins)
Interviews: Mouth on Legs Actress Janet Fielding talks about her time on the programme, playing the role of Australian air-hostess Tegan Jovanka (13 mins) Peter Grimwade Interview Screenwriter (4 mins)
Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Photo gallery, and Production Notes

And Arc of Infinity will contain:

Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary by actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Colin Baker
DVD ROM Features: 1983 Doctor Who Annual and Radio Times listings
Documentary: Anti-Matter in Amsterdam - A new making-of documentary (34 mins)
Featurette: Under Arc Lights - Behind-the-scenes featurette (11 mins) The Omega Factor - Writers and actors look at the character and motivation of the renegade Time Lord, Omega (14 mins)
Other: Continuities (3 mins) CGI Effects Option
Deleted Scenes, Music Only Track, Photo gallery, and Production Notes

Sci Fi Wire tells us that the Doctor Who series three extras are:

“The six-disc set will include the featurettes “Freema Agyeman Tour of the Studio” and “David Tennant’s Video Diaries,” outtakes, deleted scenes, video of the first rehearsal of the season’s finale and audio commentaries. The DVD set will also include an easter egg of the Doctor’s message from the episode “Blink.”

All I can say is…it’s a good thing that my birthday and Christmas are coming up.

Sadly, there is still no word on and DVDs or showings of the Sarah Jane Adventures in the US. The UK, on the other hand, can expect the pilot episode to be available on DVD on 29 October 2007, and the show to begin its first run later this month.

According to the official Doctor Who site, the UK can also expect a couple of Doctor Who DVDs to appear soon. The classic 4th Doctor story - Planet of Evil will be available 15 October 2007, complete with commentary by Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, and a host of other extras. The Infinite Quest will appear on DVD 5 November 2007, just in time for Christmas. (Still no word on a US-related anything with this one.) The DVD will contain the entire series and “exclusive cast interviews, David Tennant’s animation test, animation and voiceover behind the scenes features, animatics of episodes and deleted scenes, character profiles, and a photo gallery.”

So, there you are. Better start saving your money now.

Torchwood, Doctor Who, 5th Doctor, Time Flight, Arc of Infinity, Sarah Jane Adventures, The Infinite Quest