Koch Media have announced two new releases for 4th November, both of which feature the unscrupulous reptilian businessman Sil, as played by Nabil Shaban.

A recreation of a long lost Doctor Who episode is to be released on the official Doctor Who YouTube channel, exactly 54 years after it was first screened in the UK.

Mission to the Unknown was first screened on BBC One on Saturday 9th October 1965. Sometimes known as The Dalek Cutaway it was a prequel to the upcoming 12 part story The Dalek Masterplan and is the only Doctor Who episode in history in which neither The Doctor or any of his companions are featured.

The original episode was destroyed by the BBC many years ago, but the story has been faithfully recreated by a team of students, graduates and staff of the University of Central Lancashire.

The new production will be premiered on the Doctor Who YouTube channel at exactly 5.50pm BST on the 9th October to mark the anniversary of the original broadcast of the episode.

The project was masterminded by Andrew Ireland, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Digital and Creative Industries at the university, and brought together a dedicated group of students from a wide range of disciplines including film and television, acting, fashion, music, design and dance to recreate the episode from the original script as authentically as possible, carefully researching and reproducing as faithfully as possible the original 1960s production techniques to re-create the classic look of the series.

The recreation caught the imagination of several Doctor Who luminaries including Nicholas Briggs, who has provided the Dalek voices for the recreated episode, and stars including Peter Purves, who played 1960s companion Steven Taylor, and Edward de Souza, who played Marc Cory in the original episode, visiting the new set to lend their support.

The episode will be followed by a making-of documentary short created by YouTuber Josh Snares.

Luke Spillane, Digital Publishing Manager for Doctor Who at BBC Studios, said: Andrew Ireland, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Digital and Creative Industries at the University of Central Lancashire, said:

Readers in the United Kingdom have a chance to win of a copy of the latest DVD release from the Reeltime Pictures archive, The Doctors: The Paul McGann Years, courtesy of Koch Media UK:

BBC Studios have announced that Season 26 will be the next instalment in the DOCTOR WHO: THE COLLECTION Blu-ray range

Released on Monday 23rd December is the acclaimed final season from the series’ original run, starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred:

Doctor Who – The Collection: Season 26

• BATTLEFIELD
• GHOST LIGHT
• THE CURSE OF FENRIC
• SURVIVAL

In 1989, Doctor Who was on a creative high, with the Seventh Doctor and his companion Ace revitalising the programme for a new generation. Season 26 featured four epic adventures traversing a future Britain invaded by inter-dimensional knights, a strange Victorian house haunted by ghosts from Ace’s past, an alien world populated by Cheetah People and a 1940s army camp under siege from monstrous vampires.

With guest stars including Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Jean Marsh, Nicholas Parsons, Anne Reid, Ian Hogg, Sylvia Syms and comedy duo Hale & Pace, this fondly-remembered set of stories saw the end of an era for Doctor Who, and set the stage for its hugely successful revival.

With all episodes newly remastered from the best available sources, this Blu-ray box set also contains extensive and exclusive special features including:

Rare Restored Extended Cuts

• The Curse of Fenric VHS Extended Version
• The Curse of Fenric DVD Special Edition
• Battlefield VHS Extended Version
• Battlefield DVD Special Edition

5.1 surround sound & isolated scores

• On all 14 broadcast episodes, plus 5.1 sound on all extended versions of The Curse Of Fenric and Battlefield.

Behind the Sofa

• New episodes with Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, plus companions Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Anneke Wills and Jodie-Whittaker-era writers Pete McTighe & Joy Wilkinson.

Showman - the Life of John Nathan-Turner

• A feature-length look at the life and career of Doctor Who’s longest-serving producer, who fought to keep the programme on-air during the 1980s. Contributors include Peter Davison and Colin Baker.

Making ‘The Curse of Fenric’

• A brand new documentary featuring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Tomek Bork, Nicholas Parsons, Cory Pulman, Marek Anton, Ian Briggs, Andrew Cartmel, Mark Ayres and Ian Collins featuring unseen behind-the-scenes footage and photographs.

In Conversation

• Matthew Sweet chats to companion Sophie Aldred.

The Writers’ Room

• Ben Aaronovitch, Marc Platt, Ian Briggs, Rona Munro and Andrew Cartmel discuss their work on Season 26.

Becoming The Destroyer

• Actor Marek Anton and prosthetics designer Stephen Mansfield recall the creation of one of Doctor Who’s best ever monsters.

The seven-disc box set also includes hours of special features previously released on DVD.

Pre-order on Amazon.

On Saturday 23rd November, the BFI Southbank will be screening Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric (from the Special Edition Blu-ray) and holding a Q&A with actor Sophie Aldred and script editor Andrew Cartmel. Tickets are available from the BFI on the following dates:

• Monday 16th September – BFI Patrons and Champions
• Tuesday 17th September – BFI Members
• Tuesday 24th September – public booking

BBC Studios have announced that the next instalment in their collection of remastered Blu-ray Doctor Who boxed sets will see the Doctor on trial as Colin Baker's last season is released on 23rd September 2019.


The six disc Blu-ray collection includes all four of the stories comprising this season, features previously available on the original DVD releases, plus a range of new material:

• Extended edits - of all fourteen episodes
• Terror of the Vervoids - four-part standalone edition with updated effects
• Immersive 5.1 surround sound and isolated scores - on all 14 broadcast episodes*
• Behind the Sofa - new episodes with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, Mark Strickson, Frazer Hines and Matthew Waterhouse
• The Writers’ Room - Eric Saward, Philip Martin, Christopher H Bidmead & Waly K Daly discuss the ‘Lost’ Season 23
• The Doctor Who Cookbook Revisited - brave cast members tackle their original recipes from the 1980s official cookbook
• The Doctor’s Table - join Colin Baker and friends for dinner
• In Conversation - Matthew Sweet chats to companion Bonnie Langford
• Plus: unseen studio footage, rare archive treats, convention footage, Blu-ray trailer, HD photo galleries, scripts, costume designs & more in the PDF Archive.

The collection is available for pre-order in the United Kingdom from our Amazon Shop.

BBC Studios has announced that The Faceless Ones will be the next animated Doctor Who release.

The release follows the success of The Power of the Daleks, Shada and The Macra Terror. The Faceless Ones will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray and as an exclusive steelbook next year.

The Faceless Ones is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April to May 1967. Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, the story concerns a race of identity-stealing aliens known as the Chameleons.

The story is the last to feature Michael Craze as Ben and Anneke Wills as Polly.

Only two of the six episodes are held in the BBC film archives with snippets of footage and still images existing from the other four. Off-air recordings of the soundtrack also still exist, making the animation of a complete serial possible once again.

The six new animated episodes are being made in full colour and high definition and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2020. The DVD/Blu-ray release will also include surviving archive material from the original 1967 production.

The Faceless Ones is available for preorder as Blu-Ray, DVD and Steelbook.

A number of DVD titles that have been unavailable in the United States are to have "made-on-demand" re-releases via the BBC Shop.

The first batch of five titles consist of The Time Meddler, The Krotons, The Three Doctors (special edition), Planet Of The Spiders and The Sun Makers, and are released on the 25th June:


The next batch of five follow a couple of weeks later on 9th July, consisting of The Invasion of Time, Frontios, The Mark Of The Rani, The Happiness Patrol and The TV Movie special edition:


The titles can be pre-ordered now via the BBC Shop by clicking on their relative image above.

Note: all titles are DVD R1 (North America).

BBC Studios have announced the forthcoming release of Doctor Who's Fourth series of adventures in the 21st Century in a Blu-ray Steelbook:


The steelbook is due to be released on 27th May 2019, and is available to pre-order in the UK from Amazon.

BBC Studios have annnounced that the next release in their Doctor Who: The Collection will be the tenth anniversary series of advantures, starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor:


The six disc Blu-ray collection includes all five of the stories comprising this season, plus a bonus disc of extras. As well as features previously available on the DVD releases, the set will include:

• A brand new feature-length documentary examining the Third Doctor’s Era, with archival contributions from Jon Pertwee, Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks plus all-new interviews with Katy Manning, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, presented by Matthew Sweet.
• Updated special effects and surround sound mix for Planet of the Daleks.
• Five new instalments of Behind the Sofa, featuring Katy Manning, Richard Franklin (Captain Yates) and John Levene (Sergeant Benton), along with 21st century Doctor Who panel Phil Collinson (Producer/Executive Producer), Pete McTighe (Writer) and Joy Wilkinson (Writer).
• Looking for Lennie, a documentary investigating the life of director Lennie Mayne.
• Keeping up with the Jones’, which sees Katy Manning with Stewart Bevan (Cliff Jones) pay a return visit to the Welsh locations from The Green Death.
• Plus: a repeat omnibus of The Green Death unseen since Christmas 1973, rare Panopticon convention footage, Blu-ray trailer, HD photo galleries plus scripts, production files and rare documentation provided as PDFs.

The set will also include Death Of The Doctor, which featured Katy Manning reprising her role as Jo in The Sarah Jane Adventures.


Doctor Who: The Collection: Season Ten is due to be released on Monday 8th July 2019 (the day after what would have been Jon Pertwee's 100th birthday), and is available to pre-order in the UK from our Amazon Shop.

The cover art and special features of the animated version of the missing Doctor Who adventure The Macra Terror, releasing on DVD, Blu-ray, special edition Steelbook and digital download on 25th March 2019, have been revealed.

Originally broadcast in four weekly parts from 11th March to 1st April 1967, and starring Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze and Frazer Hines, no full episodes of this serial are known to have survived on film. Fortunately for fans, a complete audio recording of all four parts still exists. Now, 52 years later, the four episodes will be brought back to life through the power of animation, available on disc and digital download, in both colour and black and white, from 25th March 2019.

Anneke Wills says, The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions arrive on a human colony in the far flung future. The colony appears to be a giant recreational complex - a holiday camp for rest and relaxation. Everyone looks happy and carefree but all is not as it seems. The colony has been infiltrated and brainwashed by a race of giant parasitic crab creatures called the Macra.

The Macra have only returned once since, 40 years later, coming face to face with the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) in the 2007 episode Gridlock.

Paul Hembury, Executive Producer, BBC Studios says, Special features for the DVD and Blu-ray release include:

• Audio Commentary: Toby Hadoke presents an audio commentary track on all four episodes of ‘The Macra Terror’, featuring cast and crew from the original 1967 production - Frazer Hines (Jamie), Terence Lodge (Medok), Anthony Gardner (Alvis), Maureen Lane (Majorette) and director, John Davies. Commentary produced by John Kelly and recorded in London on 4th January 2019.
• Episode Reconstructions: Surviving film frames, fragments of existing footage and set photographs are brought together with the original unedited audio to reconstruct a presentation of the original now lost live-action production of ‘The Macra Terror’, as seen by viewers of BBC 1 in 1967. Produced by Derek Handley. Available to watch with or without an optional narration track read by Anneke Wills.
• Bonus Mini-Episode: A ten-minute animated short, built around an otherwise lost Doctor Who episode from 1968 starring Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines. Directed by AnneMarie Walsh.
• Animation Test: Prior to the project being formally commissioned, this short animation test (of a scene from episode 3 of ‘The Macra Terror’) was produced in March 2018, to investigate the feasibility of mounting the production in full.
• Animatics: A selection of scenes showing how the new animated production of ‘The Macra Terror’ went from initial storyboards to final animation. Storyboard art by Adrian Salmon.
• Animation Gallery: A gallery of artwork from the development, pre-production and animation of the new animated version of ‘The Macra Terror’, including character art from Martin Geraghty and background paintings from Graham Bleathman, Colin Howard and Lydia Butz.
• Teaser Trailer: A short teaser trailer animated by Rob Ritchie, produced to promote the announcement of a new production of ‘The Macra Terror’ in December 2018.
• Alternative Black and White presentation: The full four-part animation is also available to view in an alternative black and white format on disc 2.
• 1992 Audio Presentation: In 1992, the BBC Audio Collection released ‘The Macra Terror’ on audio cassette, in a special release narrated by Colin Baker. It was the first time that the story had been made commercially available by the BBC and that audio-only release is included here in full. Surviving Footage: Less than two minutes of original footage still exist from the 1967 production of ‘The Macra Terror’. These film fragments have been painstakingly restored and digitally remastered for this release, with considerable improvements made to the overall picture quality and resolution of this unique footage. Film restoration by Peter Crocker.
• Behind the scenes film: In 1967, during pre-production of ‘The Macra Terror’, film cameras visited the visual effects workshop in Uxbridge where work was underway on construction of the Macra props. Special effects props and models from other Doctor Who stories can also be seen in the workshop, including parts of a Cyberman from ‘The Tenth Planet’ (1966) and an aeroplane from ‘The Faceless Ones’ (1967). This footage is accompanied by a new audio commentary track from Doctor Who visual effects designer and BBC visual effects historian, Mike Tucker, explaining some of the effects techniques and props featured in the film.
• Censored Scene: A reconstruction of a scene from episode 2 of ‘The Macra Terror’ that was heavily re-edited by censors for the episode’s Australian television transmission in November 1967.
• Title sequences: ‘The Macra Terror’ saw the debut of a new title sequence for Doctor Who - the first time the programme had made such a change. The title sequence is presented here in full, remastered in HD and in a number of alternative versions.
• Photo gallery: A collection of 36 photographs taken during the production of ‘The Macra Terror’ in 1967, featuring original design department set photographs and Radio Times publicity images. All presented in HD.
• Production Paperwork: A full set of original camera scripts, studio schedules, floor plans and other materials are available to view by accessing disc 2 via your computer’s DVD or Blu Ray ROM drive.

Additional extras exclusive to Steelbook:

• Gridlock: The Macra returned to Doctor Who in 2007, in this episode starring David Tennant and written by Russell T. Davies
• Audio commentary: Julie Gardner, Travis Oliver and Marie Jones discuss the making of 'Gridlock' in this audio commentary track from 2007.
• Doctor Who Confidential – Are we there yet?: A documentary looking at the making of the 2007 story, 'Gridlock'.