It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Actor, Richard Briers.

Richard was perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans for appearing in the Classic Series, 7th Doctor adventure; Paradise Towers as Chief Caretaker. He also appeared in the Torchwood episode A Day In The Death as Parker.

Richard's other career highlights include; The Good Life, Ever Decreasing Circles, Down To Earth, Monarch Of The Glen, Love's Labour's Lost and Cockney's Versus Zombies.

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Richard's family and friends.

[Source: BBC News]

AudioGO have sent DWO the cover and details for the forthcoming Doctor Who CD release of Paradise Towers.

Much in need of a holiday, Mel and the Doctor head for Paradise Towers: a luxury man-made planet with sparkling fountains, sunny streets, exotic flowers and a shimmering blue swimming pool.

But when the TARDIS materialises in a dark, rubbish-filled, rat-infested alley it seems that this particular Paradise has turned into Hell!

Pursued by rogue cleaning machines, authoritarian caretakers and old ladies with strange eating habits, the Doctor and Mel track down the source of the chaos to one mysterious character – the designer of Paradise Towers, the Great Architect himself...

This title is read by Bonnie Langford.

+  Paradise Towers is released on 5th April 2012, priced £13.25 (CD) / £12.29 (Download).

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

[Source: AudioGO]

Manufacturer: BBC DVD / 2|Entertain

Written By: Stephen Wyatt

RRP: £20.42

Release Date: 18th July 2011

Reviewed By: Dale Who for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 23rd June 2011

Mel, as played by Bonnie Langford, wants to go for a 453 appendix 1 subsection 6 swim. If this were everyday drama, she would, and that would be that. However this is Doctor Who and things rarely go according to any sort of plan the main characters have, in this 1987 story, remastered and released on this single disc DVD from the BBC / 2|Entertain team of Caretakers.

The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) pilots the TARDIS to Paradise Towers - a "remarkable architectural achievment" promising a clean, lovely, comfortable living experience, and with a swimming pool on the roof.  Accordingly, Mel can paddle whilst the Time Lord can have a (512 appendix 2 subsection 9) look around and investigate things. However upon exiting the now materialised time machine they discover a much different world of uncared for spaces, unexplained disappearances, and unfriendly inhabitants in all shapes and sizes… and something truly horrific in the basement.

Paradise Towers is one of those stories that you may remember as being not terribly good; but happily it's not the case at all. Despite a few cases of acting so wooden it puts the section 9/41, subsection 12c props to shame, it's a clever tale of high-rise horror and society meltdown in a confined area. It manages to feel tight and claustrophobic, and the script and wordplay used are first rate. Cleaned up and remastered in a way the Towers never were, this first season McCoy story manages to succeed on many levels - probably due to the Kangs pressing the buttons for all the floors on the alleviator again..

The special features on this release are well thought out and worthy of a 178 appendix 13 subsection 7 round of applause:

Horror on the High Rise - Mark Ayres takes a look at the making of the story, with contributions from writer Stephen Wyatt, script editor Andrew Cartmel, incidental music composers Keff McCulloch and David Snell, and actors Richard Briers, Catherine Cusack, and Howard Cooke. Clever, insightful and revealing, it shows the story's roots, along with the strengths and weaknesses of the tale.  Entertaining and informative, with some accurate and amusing views on the way some of the actors chose to protray their characters.

Girls! Girls! Girls!: The Eighties - Presented by Doctor Who stalwart Peter Purves, this riotously funny and entertaining featurette has Sophie Aldred, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding discussing the highs and lows, the trials and tribulations, and the ins and outs of being a Doctor Who assistant. Fielding especially is brilliantly funny, her acidic humour never crossing the line into nastiness, but still demonstrating some of the slightly less eviable things the 80s female companions were expected to put up with, from high fabshion disasters to stereotyping after leaving the show. Defintely a winner, and a team that should be assembled again to discuss all things Who.

Deleted and Extended Scenes - From the first edit of the story, some trims and edited sequences that never made the transmitted version of the show; and there are some very good scenes in there too.

Audio Options - Not only does this DVD have the usual available 304 subsection 12 commentary, hosted by Mark Ayres again, with Judy Cornwell, Stephen Wyatt and Dick Mills, it also has something of a rarity - an entire second incidental music score.

The original score by David Snell was vetoed by showrunner John Nathan-Turner back in the day, and Keff McCulloch was commissioned to do a very quick replacement.  Both of these versions are available on the DVD, with Snell's score in particular giving a dark, more menacing feel to the story.  

Continuity - The linking announcements for the BBC1 transmission, together with plugs for some of the Doctor Who VHS tapes avaialbe at the time.  Notable for an announcer getting the name of one story wrong, and for one link cutting off a mere second before being exposed to the "hilarity" that was "Hi-De-Hi".

Casting Sylvester - A very short piece from Clive Doig explaining his working relationshop with Sylvester McCoy and how he helped with Sylvester being chosen to play the seventh incarnation of The Doctor.

Coming Soon Trailer - The Coming Soon section itself has had a 915 appendinx 8 subsection 2 makeover. Gone is the vworping TARDIS, and in it's place is a slick little end sequence after a great trailer for the next release.

The TARDIS arrives on Pluto, to find Citizen Cordo about to take a header off the roof as he can't pay the taxes levied by Gatherer Hade and a small venomous leech called "The Collector".  Can the Fourth Doctor, Leela and K-9 lead a work unit revolution, or has the Time Lord's life expectancy overdrawn? The Sunmakers DVD is out in August.

With the usual Photo Gallery, Radio Times listings, Subtitles for those who may need them and the Production Notes and Info Text giving you facts and trivia along the way, Paradise Towers is an enjoyable Doctor Who story well worth watching again, on pain of a 327 appendix 3 subsection 9 death.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

2|Entertain have sent DWO the cover and details for the Doctor Who DVD release of Paradise Towers.

Paradise Towers

Featuring: Sylvester McCoy as The 7th Doctor

Mel wants to go swimming and, as the TARDIS pool has been jettisoned due to a leak, Paradise Towers seems to fit the bill. However, when she and the Doctor arrive, instead of the bright squares and charming cloisters the brochure promised, they find dark, rat-infested corridors full of uncontrollable cleaning machines, undisciplined street gangs and over-worked and belligerent caretakers. Some of the residents seem to be disappearing in mysterious circumstances, too.

What has caused such terrible decay? How could such perfect accommodation have become so rundown and dangerous? And why do the street-wise Kangs, apathetic caretakers, sinister Rezzies and Pex – the self-appointed warrior who puts the world of Paradise Towers to rights – all fear whatever terrible force dwells in the basement? Only the unpredictable Chief Caretaker knows what is down there – and the real secret behind the disappearances…

Special Features:

• Commentary – with actress Judy Cornwell, writer Stephen Wyatt, special sounds supervisor Dick Mills and moderated by Mark Ayres.

• Horror on the High Rise – Doctor Who composer Mark Ayres presents a look at the making of Paradise Towers. With actors Richard Briers, Howard Cooke and Catherine Cusack, writer Stephen Wyatt, script editor Andrew Cartmel, original score composer David Snell and replacement score composer Keff McCulloch.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes – deleted and extended scenes from the first edit of the story.

• Continuity – continuity announcements from the story’s original transmission.

• Girls! Girls! Girls! – The Eighties – three actresses who played companions in the 1980s – Sophie Aldred, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton – discuss the trials and tribulations of being a Doctor Who girl. Introduced by Peter Purves.

• Casting Sylvester – Jigsaw producer Clive Doig explains his relationship with Sylvester McCoy and his role in the actor’s casting as the Seventh Doctor.

• Photo Gallery – production, design and publicity photos from the story.

• Coming Soon – a trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.

• Radio Times Listings in Adobe PDF format.

• Programme subtitles.

• Subtitle Production Notes.

+  Paradise Towers is released on 18th July 2011, priced £20.42.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com.

+  Rent out Paradise Towers and a whole host of other Doctor Who stories at LOVEFiLM. Sign up today and get a completley free 2 week trial too, visit the site now at www.lovefilm.com to start renting dvds from comfort of your own home.

[Source: 2|Entertain]

BBC America have sent DWO the cover and details for the 9th August 2011, Region 1 Doctor Who DVD release of Paradise Towers.

Mel wants to go swimming so the Doctor takes her to a tower block called Paradise Towers where there is reputed to be a fantastic pool. When they arrive they discover that the place is far from being the superb leisure resort they had expected - it is run-down and dilapidated.

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary

• Horror on the High Rise

• Casting Sylvester

• Deleted and Extended Scenes 

• Continuity

• Girls! Girls! Girls! - The Eighties 

• Photo Gallery 

• PDF materials: Radio Times Listings

• Production Note Subtitles 

• Digitally remastered picture and sound quality

+  Paradise Towers is released on 9th August 2011, priced $24.98 (USA) / $26.98 (Canada).

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com.

[Source: BBC America]

2|Entertain have confirmed all the Doctor Who DVD titles they will be releasing in 2011, along with a few extras to tantalise us in the meantime.

Meglos - Out Now

The Mutants - 31st January

Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Race Against Time documentary on race

-  Mutt Mad ('making-of' documentary)

The Ark - 14th February

Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Riverside Studios documentary

-  All's Wells that Ends Wells documentary

-  One Hit Wonder documentary

Mara Tales (Contains: Kinda & Snakedance) - 7th March

Kinda - Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Optional CGI Effects

-  Feature on director, Peter Grimwade

-  Original studio footage

-  Dreamtime ('making-of' documentary)

-  Matthew Waterhouse on Top of the Pops

Snakedance - Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Snake Charmer ('making-of' documentary

-  Deleted and Extended Scenes

-  Part Four alternative ending

-  Original studio footage

Revisitations 2 (Contains: Carnival of Monsters, Resurrection of the Daleks & The Seeds of Death) - 28th March

Carnival of Monsters - Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Destroy all Monsters ('making-of' documentary)

-  The Mary Celeste Mystery documentary

-  Early edit of Episode 2

-  The A-Z of Gadgets documentary

-  On Target With... Ian Marter

-  Includes other VAM as previously released

Resurrection of the Daleks - Special Features:

-  New Commentary on UK two-part transmission version

-  UK two-part transmission version

-  New 5.1 mix for two-part transmission version

-  Isolated score for two-part transmission version

-  Casting Far and Wide

-  Come In Number Five (era documentary, presented by David Tennant)

-  Easter Egg

-  Tomorrow's Times: The Fifth Doctor

-  Includes other VAM as previously released

The Seeds of Death - Special Features:

-  Audio Trailer

-  Lords of the Red Planet documentary

-  Monsters Who Came Back for More documentary

-  Monster Masterclass

-  Includes other VAM as previously released

Planet of the Spiders - Release Date TBA

Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  90-minute compilation version

-  Jon Pertwee on Wogan

-  John Kane Remembers

-  The Final Curtain documentary

-  Directing Who: Barry Letts

-  Now and Then locations documentary

Mannequin Mania (Contains: Spearhead from Space & Terror of the Autons) - Release Date TBA

Spearhead from Space - Special Features:

-  New Commentary

-  Regenerations; From Black and White To Colour

-  UNIT Recruitment Film

-  Down To Earth ('making-of' documentary)

-  All four episodes newly restored from high definition telecine transfer

Terror of the Autons - Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Nestle Comic Strip

-  Additional footage from Episode One

-  Plastic Fantastic documentary

-  Isolated Score

-  Down to Distraction ('making-of' documentary)

Frontios - Release Date TBA

Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Isolated Score

-  Driven To Distraction ('making-of' documentary)

EarthStory (Contains: The Awakening & The Gunfighters) - Release Date TBA

The Awakening - Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  'Horse destroys gate' outtake

-  On The Cutting Room Floor

-  Kamelion deleted scene

-  Barry Newbery: Designer documentary

-  Back to Little Hodcombe documentary

-  Location footage compilation

-  Now and Then locations documentary

The Gunfighters - Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  End of the Line? documentary

-  Tomorrow's Times: The First Doctor

Paradise Towers - Release Date TBA

Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Girls Girls Girls: 1980s

-  Horror on the High-Rise ('making-of' documentary)

-  All four episodes with original, rejected score by David Snell

-  Jigsaw

Revisitations 3 (Contains: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Robots of Death & The Three Doctors) - Release Date TBA

The Tomb of the Cybermen - Special Features:

-  New Commentary

-  Tomb and the Magic of VidFIRE documentary

-  All four episodes VidFIREd for the first time

-  Sky Ray promotional TV spot

-  Lost Giants documentary

-  Curse of the Cybermen's Tomb documentary

-  Cybermen (extended edition of the documentary that appeared on a box-set of more recent episodes)

-  Includes other VAM as previously released

The Robots of Death - Special Features:

-  New Commentary

-  Sandmine Murders ('making-of' documentary)

-  Robophobia documentary

-  Girls Girls Girls: 1970s

-  Includes other VAM as previously released

The Three Doctors - Special Features:

-  'Making-of' documentary

-  When Doctor Who Was Uncool documentary

-  Episode encoding/authoring errors on original release fixed

-  Includes other VAM as previously released

The Solar System (Contains: The Ambassadors of Death & The Sun Makers) - Release Date TBA

The Ambassadors of Death - Special Features:

-  Commentary

-  Battle for Mars Probe 7 ('making-of' documentary

-  Tomorrow's Times: The Third Doctor

The Sun Makers - Special Features:

-  TX Trail

-  Running From the Tax Man ('making-of' documentary)

-  Doctor's Composer: Dudley Simpson

Day of the Daleks - Release Date TBA

Special Features:

-  Special Edition with new visual & audio FX, and new Dalek voices from Nicholas Briggs

-  Blasting Past documentary

-  Blue Peter

-  Cheating Memory documentary

-  Nationwide: Win A Dalek

-  UNIT: Dating Conundrum

-  View From the Gallery

-  New FX - Making-Of

-  Day of the Daleks Teaser Trailer cut exclusively for 'Now and Then' DWAS Event

-  Online teaser promo

As dates are confirmed, full details and covers will be added to the DWO Release Guide.

 Post a Question to 2|Entertain in the DWO Forums.

 Compare Prices for the Doctor Who DVD range on CompareTheDalek.com.

[Source: Doctor Who Magazine - Issue #430]