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

Christopher was perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans for appearing in the Classic Series, 2nd Doctor adventure; The Enemy Of The World as Swann, and in the 3rd Doctor adventures; Terror Of The Autons as Professor George Philips, and Planet Of The Spiders as Barnes.

Christopher's other career highlights include; Z Cars, The Medusa Touch and Jossy's Giants.

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

[Source: Toby Hadoke]

BBC Consumer Products have sent DWO the box-art and details for the Doctor Who 'Regeneration' DVD Box-set.

Regeneration - Box-set
Featuring: The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th 9th & 10th Doctors

Regeneration: a limited edition collectors’ book, including over 1000 minutes of Doctor Who adventures on DVD will be released in June.

The Doctor Who Regeneration set is an individually numbered, beautifully packaged, coffee table album including six DVDs of Doctor Who adventures – including fan favourites like The Caves of Androzani and The End of Time, plus an advance release of the First Doctor’s final adventure The Tenth Planet.

The set is adorned with superb photography from across the era and features detailed and informative accounts of each regeneration. The collection features each Doctor’s iconic regeneration episode; from the First Doctor played by William Hartnell, exhausted after battling the Cybermen to Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor suffering from radiation that had been unleashed by the Great One; and from the spectacular transformation of the Ninth Doctor to David Tennant’s emotional farewell as the Tenth.

And if that wasn’t enough, new to DVD is The Tenth Planet featuring the Doctor’s first regeneration – beautifully restored with the missing fourth episode now brought to life with stunning animation. Utilising the original soundtrack, off-screen photographs and a short surviving sequence of the Doctor’s regeneration the episode has been now reconstructed in animated form, incorporating the restored version of the surviving sequence.

A full list of stories included on the DVD are:

•  The Tenth Planet
•  The War Games
•  Planet of the Spiders
•  Logopolis
•  The Caves of Androzani
•  Time and the Rani
•  Doctor Who: The Movie
•  Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways
•  The End of Time

Watch a trailer for the box-set below:
[youtube:bjICZ4qzLmM]

+  The Regeneration Box-set is released on 24th June 2013, priced £43.25.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com.

[Source: BBC Consumer Products]

Manufacturer: BBC DVD / 2|Entertain

Written By: Robert Sloman and Barry Letts

RRP: £20.42

Release Date: 18th April 2011

Reviewed By: Dale Who for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 20th March 2011

The epic, six part conclusion to Jon Pertwee's era of Doctor Who arrives with this double disc DVD from BBC DVD / 2|Entertain.  Disc one is the episodic version of Planet of the Spiders, complete with an optional commentary from Elisabeth Sladen, Richard Franklin and the now sadly passed away and much loved and missed Nicholas Courtney. All the info usual text is available and it's a great romp; one hundred and fifty minutes of classic science fantasy television.  The giant spiders of Metebelis Three are after the blue crystal The Doctor removed from the planet back in The Green Death, and will stop at nothing to get it back in their webby little legs...

Pertwee's swansong adventure is a long, but very entertaining affair.  It features every form of transport you can think of, and even some dashing about in the TARDIS - something or a rarity for this incarnation of the Time Lord.  The UNIT family are all together one last time, and it's a celebration of the Third Doctor, and all handled in precisely the way that had made the first colour season of Doctor Who work so well.  It's fun, exciting and worth every second.  You'll never look at those big spiders in your bathroom the same way again...

On disc two there's the extras, and something quite surprising.  There's a really nicely put together look back over Pertwee's time as the Doctor, and an equally warm feature with Barry Letts looking back on his time with Doctor Who; both of which show just how much work and love went into the show from start to finish.  Both featurettes have contributions from a variety of sources, including Jon Pertwee, Terrance Dicks, and of course Barry Letts himself.  There are also some great anecdotes from people like Mat Irvine on the spider props and the lesson of telling people what you need in good time; and from John Kane, the immensely likeable and gentle Tommy in the story, on his memories of Who and what he's done since.

Then there's the longest television trailer ever for a repeat run of Planet of the Spiders shown as one long story on a Saturday afternoon in December on BBC1 - the trailer just rambles on and on and on, with clips upon clips; it looked like the BBC had a lot of time to fill that Christmas!

And then, the surprising thing is... they included the abridged story itself!  The unrestored and very long edited together version is here too for your enjoyment, which slightly mystifies me, as there's no extra material as there was with the Battlefield release for example, but if you're a completist it's all good for the collection.

The story gets 10/10 for being suitably epic and wrapping up the UNIT years with panache and style, and the extras get 10/10 for leaving you with a warm glow that Doctor Who was genuinely loved and cared for during Pertwee's tenure as the Time Lord.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

2|Entertain have sent DWO the cover and details for the April DVD release of Planet of the Spiders.

What begins as innocuous research into ESP turns into a deadly mind battle, with the terrifying spiders from the planet Metebelis Three pitted against The Doctor, his friends and Time Lord K'Anpo. 

At a Tibetan-style spiritual retreat deep in rural England, a clandestine circle of chanting brethren unknowingly call upon the evil powers of the Metebelis Spiders, whose quest for the perfect blue crystal leads them straight to the Doctor. He must travel to the alien planet to meet the Great One, merciless ruler of her spiders and human slaves, who plans to take over Earth.

The future of the entire universe is in the Doctor's hands, but if he is to face the fear the Great One sees in his mind, then he must face the certainty of total destruction. Could this be the Time Lord's final death? 

Special Features:

Disc 1:

•  6 x 25 mins approx colour episodes with mono audio. 

•  Commentary - stereo. With actors Elisabeth Sladen, Nicholas Courtney and Richard Franklin, producer / director Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks.

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

•  Programme subtitles.

•  Subtitle Production Notes.

Disc 2:

•  The Final Curtain – five years after its re-invention in colour and its rise to massive popularity, it was time for Doctor Who’s charismatic lead actor Jon Pertwee to move on… and with him the production team that had guided the show throughout that period. This documentary looks at the background to the Third Doctor’s swansong. With actors Jon Pertwee and Richard Franklin, producer / director Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks, designer Rochelle Selwyn, visual effects assistant Mat Irvine and actor and author Mark Gatiss. Narrated by Glen Allen. 

•  John Kane Remembers… – actor John Kane memorably played the gentle, slow-witted Tommy, reborn through the power of the Metebelis crystal. An accomplished writer and series creator, Kane now lives in France, from where he looks back on his memories of the story. 

•  Directing Who with Barry Letts – Barry Letts is perhaps most famous as producer of Doctor Who, but he was also responsible for directing some of the show’s best-loved stories. Barry looks back on his career as a director in this documentary. 

•  Now & Then – the latest instalment in our ongoing series takes a trip back to some of the locations used during production of the story. 

•  ‘Planet of the Spiders’ Omnibus Edition – the full-length omnibus edit of the story, presented here totally unrestored.

•  Omnibus Trailer 

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

•  Radio Times Listings in Adobe pdf format.

+  Planet of the Spiders is released on 18th April 2011, priced £20.42.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com.

[Source: 2|Entertain]

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.

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[Source: Doctor Who Magazine - Issue #430]