What's Wrong With... The Greatest Show In The Galaxy

A question you could be asking yourself now, or any time since Peter Capaldi left the series, though some might argue a lot further back into Tom Baker's later reign.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is actually well regarded for its season, though many fans took offence against one particular character. That is, of course, Whizzkid, who was seen as a thinly veiled criticism of certain sections of fandom.

Even though he is supposed to be an alien, or at least a human from the Earth of the far future, his outfit is deliberately contemporary, though old-fashioned for the 1980's. He is far from trendy, and presents as a typical teenage nerd, with glasses, bowtie and tank-top. He's obsessively fond of a particular show and talks of little else. And he collects all the merchandise.

Only the anorak is missing to have him appear as the stereotype of the young, male, boyfriend / girlfriend-lacking, Doctor Who fan.

JNT had been suffering ongoing and increasingly hostile complaints from the more vocal sections of fandom, especially since Season 22. 

People were unhappy with: 

• the quality of scripts, 
• casting of light entertainment figures, 
• his rampant self-promotion,
• his petty vindictiveness,
• kowtowing to America,
• casting Colin Baker,
• casting Bonnie Langford,
• "ruining" returning monsters,
• over-reliance on the series past,
• not relying on the series past,
• listening to Eric Saward,
• not listening to Eric Saward,
• Saward's infamous Starburst interview,
• not using tried and trusted directors from before his time,
• not using tried and trusted writers from before his time,
• the hiatus,
• the lost Season 23,
• prioritising pantos over producing the show,
• prioritising conventions over producing the show,
• and basically staying in the role for far too long...

And that was just what you saw in the letters pages of Doctor Who Bulletin. You'll notice that Whizzkid says of the Psychic Circus that everyone knows it's not as good as it used to be - a common complaint among Doctor Who fans of every generation, but especially during the second half of the JNT era.

Onto the story itself.

The Doctor claims that he has fought the Gods of Ragnarok through all of time. Funny he's never mentioned them until now.

The Gods crave entertainment, but this seems to boil down to fairly rubbishy amateur circus acts - which don't seem to take place very often. If it's simply the death and destruction part they are after, why not just have mass executions and skip the juggling and strongman acts?

They also appear to have gotten rid of the Circus members who were actually quite good at this type of thing - people who may have been able to entertain them more successfully.

If the Gods really are deities, or aliens with god-like powers, why leave the means of your own destruction lying around nearby, guarded only by a robot?

They have the power to raise the dead, so surely they could have protected the medallion piece a lot better.

They begin firing energy bolts at the Doctor, who deflects them with the medallion - but the Gods keep on firing even when they can see it is having no effect. And they keep on firing even when this begins to destroy themselves and their arena.

Where does the Doctor get all that magic paraphernalia for his act at the end? The arena doesn't look like it has a ceiling, so what's he hanging from?

What exactly is "psychic" about this circus, which has fairly mundane acts. It can't refer to whatever it is the Gods get from the so-called entertainments, as it was known by this name long before they took it over.

The initials of Psychic Circus would be "PC" - so why do we see "PS" all over the place?

Allowing for the fact that we know the circus was much bigger in the past, was this the only bus they used to get around? It could hardly have carried all of their equipment, including the actual tent, fittings and fixtures, let alone the members. Bellboy has an entire robotics laboratory.

The Bus Conductor must be the work of Bellboy - so why doesn't he warn Flowerchild about it?

The Stallslady hates the circus-goers, yet they seem to be her only customers - and, as mentioned, there don't ever seem to be all that many of them. She seems to be standing in the middle of a desert, with no signs of habitation for miles around.

How can something as simple as an advertising robot manage to breach TARDIS defences?

Or has this all been set up by the Doctor in the first place? As well as claiming to have battled the Gods, he seems to know about a specific gladiator who fought and died for them, and mentions things getting out of control sooner than he anticipated - suggesting it's yet another old score from the past he's decided to deal with now, just like the Hand of Omega and Nemesis. If it is, it's the third story to have featured this set-up - out of a season that's only got four stories. A pity that the script couldn't have been clearer on this. (Maybe it was originally. Cartmel era stories are nearly always over-written and then need to be pruned right back to fit the running time).

How can Ace have been wearing one of Flowerchild's earrings on her jacket before she has even found it?

And why can't she recall that the rucksack which she's hunting for got blown up along with a Cyberman shuttlecraft only recently?

What's Wrong With... Silver Nemesis

When you've only got four stories to produce in a season, you would think that the producer and script editor could at least make them different...

The first thing that strikes you about Silver Nemesis is its similarity to the season 25 opener, Remembrance of the Daleks. 

Once again we have the Doctor revisiting something he did a long time ago - though we never got to see it - which is going to have an impact on the present. It's the Earth which will be affected once again. The threat revolves around some ancient Gallifreyan device which can be used as a super-weapon, which the Doctor was somehow able to take away with him when he left the planet with Susan.

The Doctor basically tricks the villains into using said device, so that it destroys them instead.

By screening the Dalek story first, this looks like a weak imitation.

Remembrance of the Daleks featured the junkyard at 76 Totters Lane and Coal Hill School and other references to An Unearthly Child - yet Silver Nemesis is supposed to be the anniversary story?

There's cameo appearances by a number of people associated with the show - actors, writers and directors, including Nicholas Courtney - but they all appear in group shots with their backs to us, so what was the point? If you hadn't read about this somewhere, you'd never know they were there - just a bunch of extras.

The story really isn't very good, and certainly isn't well regarded - so why give it to someone who had never written for the show before and was relatively new to the business anyway?

As for the plot, we're told that the Doctor sent the Nemesis statue into space to stop it falling into the hands of Lady Peinforte in 1638 - though she clearly must have possessed it at some point for her to have fashioned the living metal into a likeness of herself. Did the Doctor deliberately put it into an orbit which meant it passed the Earth every quarter century?

As each orbit results in some major upheaval on Earth, then isn't the Doctor responsible for centuries of death and destruction? If launching it into space was just to get it out of Peinforte's hands, then why not simply move it somewhere else afterwards - like parking it on the dark side of the Moon or in orbit around Pluto? Why leave it going round the Earth for 350 years?

And why have it land in 1988? It can't have been in a decaying orbit as its passing was too regular. It must have been programmed to come back in November 1988 - but the question is why.

How could the Doctor have known that Lady Peinforte would be able to time travel to her home in that year, or that the Cybermen were going to turn up looking for the statue? Or that a bunch of mercenaries led by an old Nazi war criminal would come looking for it. Is it all just coincidence? A very big one if it is.

If it's been going round and round for 350 years, why did the Cybermen not simply hijack it in space?

And one everyone knows - the mathematician employed by Lady Peinforte couldn't possibly have known that the calendar was going to be amended, losing 11 days on the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by Great Britain in 1752. His calculations ought to be out.

Do we know if major upheavals actually occurred every 25 years between 1663 - its first pass - and 1963 - it's last pass? JFK was assassinated in '63, but the world was much closer to disaster two years before that with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

If the statue only reaches critical mass when complete, you also have to ask why the Doctor didn't do anything sooner about the bow and the arrow.

There's mention of Roundheads being about when the Doctor first launched the statue into space, and it's the Doctor who says this early in Episode 2. But the Roundheads weren't founded until 1641. (It refers to their haircuts, not their helmets, and was initially a term of abuse).

When the Doctor first visits Lady Peinforte's home with Ace he states that it has been months since he was last there - so it has to already be 1639. But all the dialogue, and even captions, state it's 1638.

Another timing issue is the speed with which De Flores and his mercenaries manage to get from South America to Windsor - managing it in a matter of hours when they've only just worked out the date and location of the landing.

And did they book into their hotel and hire the van dressed like that?

It's looking unseasonably warm for late November in England, and an awful lot seems to happen in broad daylight, which would only be about 8 hours maximum at that time of year.

As for the Cybermen - they are at their weakest here (until their heads start exploding due to the power of Love). Their spaceship manages to land and move around without the military swarming the area - considering they're next door to Heathrow Airport and Windsor Castle, and the Queen in is residence.

(Talking of which, the Doctor and Ace manage to get extremely close to the monarch before security bother doing anything about it).

The Cybermen are actually scared just to be in the vicinity of gold now, and are easily despatched by gold coins fired from a catapult - despite having armoured bodies.

Why do the Cybermen bother capturing De Flores and Karl - why not just shoot them? De Flores is given the earmuff-like devices, presumably to mentally condition him, yet they don't appear to have any effect on him.

The silvered coating on the new helmets of the Cybermen oxidised and turned a golden colour, rather defeating the whole "silver" theme of the story.

The Cybermen falling from the gantry are all too obviously dummies.

Another big problem for me is that there are far too many incidental characters in what is only a three part story - and yet it still feels padded. The skinheads are utterly pointless and add nothing to the story, as does Dorothea Remington. Dolores Gray was only cast in this so that JNT could have a big Broadway / West End star in the show for publicity value - even though she wasn't terribly well known to the general public. The peak of her career was in the 1950's. Her scenes with Lady Peinforte are at least funny.

What's Wrong With... The Happiness Patrol

It is very much a "Marmite" story - in that you either love it or hate it - but in terms of plotting it actually holds up for the most part. The problems are minor compared to some.

For a start, how can you have a Late Show at the Forum, when there's a curfew in place? We hear that attendance is compulsory, so not sure how that works in practice.

Additionally, when we do get to see inside, there's hardly ever anyone there.

Failure to be happy earns you a death sentence, yet Gilbert M is grumpy all the time, and the doorman at the Forum even more so. You can understand why Gilbert M might be tolerated, but surely the doorman could be easily replaced.

Actually, some of the worst offenders are the Patrol members themselves, who hardly ever smile and are usually squabbling.

If making people happy is the prime driver on Terra Alpha, how does the creation of thousands of widows and orphans help achieve that?

Silas P is employed to root out Killjoys by pretending to be one of their number - handing over a card that claims to offer a support group for them. On the reverse, however, is his true identity as a member of the Patrol. Problem is, he hands over the cards with the real ID face upwards, and the Killjoys in each case have to turn it over to show the fake side - without spotting the Patrol ID.

And if he is such a prominent member of the Patrol, ensnaring many Killjoys, why does Priscilla P shoot him down without first checking that he's okay. He's simply acting groggy after being knocked out, so not his usual self. Has she carried a grudge against him for a while and was looking to get rid of him, possibly to get his role? If that's the case, there's nothing to suggest it on screen.

Trevor Sigma is conducting a galactic census, and seems to suggest that he is doing this entirely on his own, on foot - which seems more than a little unlikely.

One production error that makes it into the finished episode is when a Patrol member appears on screen a little too early, whilst the Doctor is messing about with the go-kart.

And what is the point of these vehicles if you can overtake them easily at a brisk walking pace. (We saw a similar problem with the buggies in the Varosian punishment dome).

There's also the business with the Kandy Man's head. It was altered part way through production to add the metal mouth piece and so looks different when we see him in the pipes in the final episode, recorded earlier.

We know that scripts were generally running overlong during this period of the show, with a lot of cutting going on to make episodes fit the time slot (either in the script editing, or in the actual recording edit). This may be why Gilbert M seems to pop up out of nowhere then vanish again at times. On one occasion his disappearance from the Kandy Kitchen actually allows the Doctor to re-stick the feet of the Kandy Man and so escape.

Finally, I suppose we need to talk about that bizarre villain. In the original scripts, the Kandy Man was supposed to look human in a lab coat but with a shiny glazed face, and with belongings like spectacles and pencils which proved to be made of sweets. A decision was then taken to have him made entirely of different sweets, but they elected to go for ones that made him look almost identical to a long established commercial character - Bertie Bassett. This drew a complaint form the company. Surely they must have known that there would be copyright issues here? There are lots of sweet varieties they could have used that would have served the purpose but left him looking unique, and not some copycat. When you consider the issues of product placement at the BBC, it is especially strange that this decision was made. (This was the era when Blue Peter presenters couldn't call it Sellotape, and brand names on things like washing up liquid bottles - ideal for Apollo rockets - were taped over).

Knowing how much he craved publicity for the series, one suspects that JNT provoked this controversy deliberately.

He had to promise that the character would never be returning to the series - so maybe not something wrong after all...

What's Wrong With... Remembrance of the Daleks

After the most popular story of Season 24, we get the most popular of Season 25, and some would argue the best of all the McCoy stories.

It tries to tie in with the earliest history of the series, but in doing so it creates problems.

The story is set in the Coal Hill district of Shoreditch in 1963, a short time after the events of An Unearthly Child. The Doctor has left the Hand of Omega there, secreted at a local funeral parlour, in the expectation that the Daleks will come looking for it, use it without fully understanding it, and destroy themselves. 

Two of the settings are the junkyard and the school, both if which featured in the opening episode back on 23rd November 1963.

Ace even finds a book about the French Revolution in the science lab.

Trouble is, none of this really matches with that original episode, or with the first Dalek story. 

We never saw the school exterior in An Unearthly Child, but what we did see was pupils wearing their own clothes. Here we only see pupils in school uniform, with one wearing jeans - which I don't think would be acceptable in 1963.

The junkyard is nothing of the sort - clearly recorded in a builders merchant yard which is something different entirely. The gates, as is well known, have the wrong spelling of "Foreman" on them. Apparently they were originally painted with the right spelling, but this was changed. (You'll note that this looks nothing like the yard we saw in Attack of the Cybermen either).

The biggest issue is with the idea that the Doctor took the Hand of Omega with him when he and Susan left Gallifrey - and he was already plotting the destruction of the Daleks even then.

It is pretty clear from The Daleks that the Doctor hasn't encountered the creatures before, and thinks he has seen their extinction by the end of that story anyway. 

We were always led to believe, also, that he was nothing special amongst Time Lords when he elected to steal the TARDIS and run away from home with his granddaughter. That he had access to an immensely powerful stellar manipulator device, which no-one seemed to ask for back in any of his subsequent encounters with his own people, just doesn't make sense. It might fit with Cartmel's alleged "masterplan" but bears little relation to anything we saw previously. Both The War Games and The Deadly Assassin would have played out differently if he was some sort of Super Time Lord who could be trusted with such powerful devices.

What exactly is Davros' plan? The Hand detonates suns, providing an immense power source. That's fine, but I'm pretty sure the Gallifreyans never detonated their own sun, in their own backyard.

And just having that power doesn't necessarily lead to mastery over time travel. I'm sure there was a bit more to it than that. Has he done all the other things which Omega and Rassilon had set up back home which would harness that power?

It might have been a smarter idea if Davros had perhaps tested the device somewhere safer first. Why not detonate the Earth's sun as a test, and get rid of the human race - and the Doctor into the bargain?

The book Ace finds cannot be the one Barbara gave to Susan, as that was with her in the TARDIS when it left the junkyard. It doesn't look the same anyway. Neither does the room Ace finds it in, if this is supposed to be Ian Chesterton's science lab.

The other issue everyone notices is the TV scene. We hear an announcer state that a new science fiction series is about to begin, but it's 5.15pm and it's broad daylight outside - impossible for November.

Also, Ace has only just had breakfast and we get a lot more subsequent scenes - again in daylight.

You don't have to look too closely to see modern 1980's buildings in the background of a few shots.

It is evident that the Dalek shuttle had landed in the playground before - we see the scorch marks on the ground. But none of the neighbours seem to have noticed this. When we see it land, it blows in all the classroom windows. The janitor must have done a very good job of repairing all the windows the last time the shuttle landed.

Why does the Doctor get everyone to make the hazardous slide down the rope into the shuttle when they could simply have walked down the stairs?

The transmat has a Dalek on guard, but it takes ages to show itself when the Doctor and Ace first go down to the basement.

Why pick the school as a base in the first place, when it's during term time and therefore in constant use Monday to Friday?

Finally, the Daleks wobble badly when out of location, and whilst we can imagine a blind vicar failing to realise that the Hand is floating by itself, it's hard to believe no-one else noticed this as it is transported through public thoroughfares between the funeral parlour and the cemetery, and all before Group Captain Gilmore has the district evacuated.

Season 25 - The Collection

Before we get on to the content of the discs, a word about the booklet which accompanies this set. I'm afraid that the proof reader must have been on their holiday this time as there are a number of silly errors evident in the text. Lesley Dunlop did not play a character named Norma in Frontios. Fiona Walker did not play a character named Karla in The Keys of Marinus. And Richard Maynarde in Silver Nemesis was most definitely not played by Gerald Taylor.

Anywho, on to the content. All four stories of Season 25 get the Special Edition treatment and, as I've looked at the stories as broadcast elsewhere on this blog, I'll be concentrating on them - plus the numerous new Extras (existing Extras such as the big Davros documentary and the original making-of's are ported over from the DVD releases). Not quite so many of them this time, compared to the 20th Anniversary season, but this reflects the somewhat diminished status of the series in 1988 as compared to 1983.

Remembrance of the Daleks has three versions to chose from - the original, the original with new CGI, or the 2024 Special Edition.

The SE has a few short scenes added - mainly character pieces between members of the Counter Measures Intrusion Group, some of which help sow the seeds of Mike's racism. One nice addition is the change of music playing on the jukebox when Ace first enters the café and meets Mike. It's now "John Smith and the Common Men", as listened to by Susan in An Unearthly Child.

The "I.M. Forman" sign on the gate has been amended to read "Foreman". Sometimes. The "E" comes and goes as the gates are opened and closed.

The main new CGI elements involve the Mothership and Shuttle, as well as Dalek ray effects. A pity they couldn't have painted out those clearly anachronistic buildings which keep appearing in the background of many street scenes.

The Dalek Supreme now melts, rather than disappears in a rainbow swirl.

The Happiness Patrol has the same three options, but this time the Special Edition has seen a major overhaul. There's around 15 minutes of extra material across the three episodes - roughly 5 minutes apiece. Some totally new scenes have been created as well as the inclusion of previously deleted ones, and they have re-edited some sequences. The big visual difference is the CGI expansion to many of the Terra Alpha street scenes, showing them in the context of the larger cityscape.

We see the Kandyman actually being swamped by the hot sugar solution in the pipeline, and the dialogue of the Pipe People has been taken back to the original studio audio so that it is slightly more intelligible. 

Silver Nemesis actually has five different versions on offer. There's the broadcast one, the broadcast one with new CGI, the 1993 VHS version (with a few deleted scenes reinstated), the 2024 Special Edition, and a 55 minute omnibus of the 2024 Special Edition.

Truth be told, I'd go with the omnibus as it cuts out a lot of the pointless stuff from the original episodes (like skinheads and rich Americans). The new CGI effects are mainly the Cyberman fleet in space, and some of their shuttle craft scenes. Nemesis' return to the rocket sled in the third episode has been redone. The Special Edition not only has new effects, it has also been re-edited and restructured to make it flow a little more smoothly. They haven't stuck all of the deleted scenes into it. One scene I always liked as it provides a character moment for De Flores is the one where he talks to his mercenaries in the van. This has been excluded from the SE but is there as an extra. 

Back in 1988, Mike Tucker had wanted to use Cybermats to overpower the policemen when the Nemesis first lands. This was vetoed by Andrew Cartmel, though we did get to see one of the new design on the anniversary documentary 30 Years in the TARDIS, menacing Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant near St Paul's.

They've finally got their scene in the SE.

Finally, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy also has the three options - as broadcast, as broadcast but with new CGI, and the 2024 Special Edition which once again includes previously deleted scenes as well as the new effects.

The main differences here are replacement video effects, though the first and third episodes have a few minutes of deleted material reinstated - which don't add much to the story at all.

Onto the extra material, and the first three stories of the season are given two discs apiece to allow for their Special Editions and extras, whilst the final story is confined to a single disc. Disc 8 covers more general McCoy extras, as opposed to story or season specific ones.

Most of the archive material appears alongside the Dalek and Cyberman stories, as one launched the anniversary season and the other was the actual anniversary story. A lot of this material comprises short appearances on various daytime television shows. Whilst a lot feature McCoy / Aldred, there's another which concentrates on interviews with Jon Pertwee and Verity Lambert, with clips from the very first episode in November 1963. Open Air presents a piece from the "Space Adventures" exhibition by London Bridge, where JNT is interviewed surrounded by monster costumes - nice to see this relatively obscure exhibition.

As always, we have a convention archive feature - two different appearances from McCoy and Aldred at DWAS Panopticon events in the 1990's.

"Behind the Sofa" this time features three panels. Interestingly, the Doctor / companion one sees a guest from each story. McCoy and Aldred are joined by Karen Gledhill (Alison) for Remembrance, Sheila Hancock (Helen A) for Happiness, Mark Hardy (Cyber-Lieutenant) for Nemesis, and Jessica Martin (Mags) for Greatest Show.

Panel Two is Bonnie Langford and Nicola Bryant, and the third comprises Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Wendy Padbury.

McCoy doesn't really say much, so Aldred leads their panel, whilst the third panel isn't heard from too much (which I'm happy about as I've always disliked Fielding's negativity - even if it is sometimes only in jest). The Langford / Bryant panel is quite entertaining, with some interesting impartial insights.

Bonnie obviously relates well to the circus-themed story.

The Dalek story gets a thumbs up, whilst the Cyberman one fails to impress. The Kandyman lets down the second story, as do the sets - though they're watching the broadcast version, obviously. The final story gets a positive response, with the third panel preferring it over the Dalek story.

Everyone agrees that the McCoy opening titles are rubbish.

Matthew Sweet has a busy time, with three "Conversations". The best is with Mr Cartmel. The one with director Chris Clough doesn't really touch on his Doctor Who work very much, whilst Aldred has already been interviewed - so her chat mainly deals with her return in The Power of the Doctor, along with some thoughts on the various contradictory timelines for Ace, post Survival.

The big new documentary this time belongs on Disc 2 - a biography of actor Dursley McLinden who played Mike Smith in Remembrance of the Daleks. A hugely promising theatrical career cut short by the onslaught of AIDS / HIV, he represents a whole lost generation. Friends and family are interviewed, and we see and hear from Dursley himself through home movie footage. Russell T Davies, who knew him, speaks about how he inspired the character of Richie in It's A Sin. Toby Hadoke presents, as one of his "In Search of..." features.

Rumour has it that it's Season 7 next.

Season 25 Special Editions - New VFX

If you've managed to catch the video trailer for the Season 25 - The Collection release, you'll have seen some of the new VFX which accompany the Special Editions of the stories. All four have been given new effects, but it is those for The Happiness Patrol which appear to be the most extensive.

New VFX are always controversial, and I know that some purists will always ignore them. Personally, I have mostly embraced the changes - and they are optional after all. (Re-editing, as with some recent "re-imaginings" is more of a problem for me).

There are a couple of instances where I choose to give them a miss. The Invisible Enemy has some fantastic model work, courtesy of Ian Scoones. For its DVD release, it was decided that the Titan base sequences ought to reflect what that moon actually looks like, making them more scientifically realistic. This means cloudy orange skies. For me these are inferior to the standard star-scape of the original (and they never got round to doing anything about the studio set windows).

The model sailing ships in Enlightenment are also superior to the CGI ones.

Other stories are greatly enhanced by new effects - such as the Dalek saucers in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and space station Nerva in both The Ark in Space and Revenge of the Cybermen.

For the forthcoming Blu-ray set, some stories will have only a few changes. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy doesn't rely on this type of effect too much, and Remembrance of the Daleks will mainly see only Dalek rays, spacecraft and Hand of Omega enhanced.

Silver Nemesis will see the Cyberships and shuttle replaced.

You might think that the studio-bound The Happiness Patrol would not offer much opportunity for new VFX, but it's that very factor which has led to the changes. The cityscape is being opened up with lots of shots showing the upper levels and backdrops to the city, adding a sense of scale to Terra Alpha.

From the shots we can see in the trailer, it makes it look a little more Blade Runner-ish or Gotham-like, with Helen A residing in a huge fascistic palace.

Many will argue that the studio setting, looking as fake as it does, is as it ought to be. It is a deliberate part of the overall design. This is a false society where the smiles are painted on, after all. It is supposed to look fake and unrealistic, and the sets reflect this.

The director, Chris Clough, was concerned about the sets at the time, and wanted to record the story in B&W, with skewed camera angles. (I've tried watching the story with the colour turned down, and it does make for an interesting viewing experience).

The Happiness Patrol is not a popular story. It's better regarded than the previous season's "off-beat" story - Paradise Towers - but the cheap-looking sets and the controversial monster have tended to drag it down. I suspect that, with its new look and ever relevant political dimension, this story is one that will be re-evaluated in a more positive light.

Coming soon: The Collection - Season 25

The next season to be released as part of The Collection is Season 25. RRP is £54.99, and it is due for release on Monday 21st October in the UK.

These are the contents of the set, according to Amazon.co.uk...

• REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS: SPECIAL EDITION
• THE HAPPINESS PATROL: SPECIAL EDITION
• SILVER NEMESIS: SPECIAL EDITION
• THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY: SPECIAL EDITION

The four Special Editions feature unseen footage, updated special effects, immersive surround sound, and surprises.

UPDATED SPECIAL EFFECTS - Exclusive to Blu-ray, on the original broadcast versions of Remembrance of The Daleks, Silver Nemesis and The Greatest Show in The Galaxy
BEHIND THE SOFA - New episodes with Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Bonnie Langford (Mel), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Dame Sheila Hancock (Helen A), Jessica Martin (Mags), Karen Gledhill (Allison) and Mark Hardy (Cyber-Lieutenant)
IN CONVERSATION - Three new episodes, with Sophie Aldred, script editor Andrew Cartmel and director Chris Clough
LOOKING FOR DURSLEY - A documentary looking back at the life and career of Dursley McLinden (Mike)
THE MAKING OF DOCTOR WHO - A rare vintage documentary from 1988, previously only available on VHS
SILVER NEMESIS – VHS EXTENDED VERSION - A version of the story originally released on VHS with extra footage
SILVER NEMESIS – SPECIAL EDITION OMNIBUS - A special cut-down feature-length version of this adventure, in the tradition of the 1970s Christmas repeats
THE COLLECTORS – THE 1980s - Host Emily Cook chats to Doctor Who collectors about their 1980s treasures
THE DOCTOR WHO ESCAPE ROOM – TEAM SEVENTH DOCTOR - Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Bonnie Langford attempt to escape the room of doom
WHEN SOPHIE MET LESLEY - Sophie Aldred chats to Lesley Dunlop, her co-star from The Happiness Patrol who also appeared in the Fifth Doctor story Frontios (1984)
STEPHEN MANSFIELD INTERVIEW - The practical effects genius looks back on his Season 25 work
STUDIO & LOCATION FOOTAGE - Hours of raw footage and outtakes captured during the making of all four stories
5.1 SURROUND SOUND
RARE ARCHIVAL MATERIAL FROM THE BBC VAULTS
EXCLUSIVE CONVENTION FOOTAGE
HD PHOTO GALLERIES
INFO TEXT
PDF ARCHIVE