Tom Baker Season 12 Blu-ray

The Sontaran Experiment Review: The actual Sontaran looks great, while I have always preferred this suit to the Nu-Who Sontaran suits, I previously thought the Sontarans face looked cheap... It now looks like quite good. Loving the dirt and grime on outfits. Love the water droplets that soak into the Doctor's outfit as well as Harry's coat. Sharpness again varies but It's like watching these for the first time all over again... So far it's Ark, Robot, and Sontaran in that order of which looks best. I will review the final 2 stories Tomorrow as I want to spread this experience out over two days...Also the Sontaran's probe robot does look HD most the time. I did notice some artifacts in the second episode in the form of some lines of slight discoloration but I'm pretty sure that was present in the dvd as well ( have to rewatch that on DVD tomorrow...I am totally purchasing every season on Blu as it comes out! Going to finish the night off with special features. Night All:)

Here is one potential downside for the US release...

Quote :

Steve Roberts: Uh oh. The Yanks have finally spotted that the US discs don't include Ed Stradling's 40 min doco 'The Doctor Who Times', which was too expensive to clear for the US...

So, apparently, 'The Doctor Who Times' documentary will be on the UK set but not the US one. 'Too expensive to clear'...wonder if it was music-related? I guess it was that or some clips from non-Doctor Who programmes.

Edit: Ed Stradling of the Restoration team has confirmed that it was a music problem.

Quote :

Ed Stradling: It included music which couldn't be cleared in the USA at any price. I was off doing another job by the time we found out... We didn't know about the music problem at the time... I delivered it, only to discover at the last minute that two pieces of music were unclearable in the USA.

amckinney wrote:

Here is one potential downside for the US release...

Quote :

Steve Roberts: Uh oh. The Yanks have finally spotted that the US discs don't include Ed Stradling's 40 min doco 'The Doctor Who Times', which was too expensive to clear for the US...

So, apparently, 'The Doctor Who Times' documentary will be on the UK set but not the US one. 'Too expensive to clear'...wonder if it was music-related? I guess it was that or some clips from non-Doctor Who programmes.

Edit: Ed Stradling of the Restoration team has confirmed that it was a music problem.

Quote :

Ed Stradling: It included music which couldn't be cleared in the USA at any price. I was off doing another job by the time we found out... We didn't know about the music problem at the time... I delivered it, only to discover at the last minute that two pieces of music were unclearable in the USA.

out of pure curiosity, could you list the two pieces of music as well as the Artist or Artists responsible for their creation?

Genesis of the Daleks review (6 part version) grain noticable in outside shots, some occasional glaring and light artifacts. None of which take away from the enjoyment of viewing this story. Whole story visually ranks with the Sontaran Experiment. Close-up views are pretty fresh and overall it looks equal to the Theatrical release that I viewed on the 11th. Facility walls look great, Davros looks better than the DVD version.(Acting on all stories from Robot on  reveals expressions in the faces  not revealed on the Standard Definition version.) Wish I hadn't given my 1080p HD T.V. away as I'm sure this looks better than my 4K screen. Can't stress enough how much I recommend this set.... At first I intended to keep my DVD set as a backup but the upgrade to this set has made me decide to purchase an extra set of Blu-rays instead. I purchased a 2nd copy with a significant discount I had through a different seller but from now on I'm buying 2 from Who North on all the other releases.

Revenge of the cybermen review: 3rd best on the box set. I have read and viewed comments on the low budget sets and designs appearing on the show but both the Cybermen and the other alien species as well as the sets look great, some scenes in this story are the worst of the 5 stories but still looks better than the DVD, This story also has some of the best visual images on the set as well. The Cybermen at times look HD, and bits and pieces of scenery and props I have never noticed before are a real treat.... So I guess that's it on my side as reviews go, would love to hear some reviews from you all:)

Glad every one who has the NTSC set is enjoying it especially those seeing these story's for the first time.  No sign to the UK version shipping yet (Amazon U K has not charged my card).

Sad to hear about the music problems that are preventing an extra being included on the North American Set.  One would think they would have  caught this at an early stage as supposedly as far back as 21ent era all regions were supposed to get exactly the same thing on DVD / BD.

THis was as a result of the Howard Dasilva introductions being offered only on the R1 NTSC DVDs.

Oh well looking forward to mine shipping sooner or alter


EDIT Apparently the UK release date has now been pushed back to 2 July 2018 per Amazon UK, when I checked 24 hours ago it was 22 June 2018. Nice of them not to email me a notice of the delay

Now on Revenge of the Cybermen. I'm watching the new effects version.

First, the new effects are FABULOUS. Seamlessly merging original effects at times with new effects, the story is vastly improved. RotC's effects were some of the poorest of this season and the new effects concentrate on model shots and the command screen.

Oddly enough, the cybermat was never touched. At times, the cybermat is transparent (much in the same way the Robot was as it "grew" in the story Robot). The effects were corrected in Robot, but not here.

Philip Hinchcliffe remarks that he did not like the music cues in this story and wished Dudley Simpson had been contracted. There was even a scene edited with a Dudley Simpson cue. That would have been a nice "alternative" audio, but they did not do it.

I remember Revenge of the Cybermen as the first VHS tape released and the first I owned. At the time, I was disappointed that this title was chosen because I didn't feel it was a particularly good representation of Tom Baker's stories. It still has it's weaknesses, but the ability to watch it with new effects really does improve this story overall.

I always hated the scene in the Nerva Beacon control room where The Doctor and Sarah were trying to avoid crashing into the planet. The scene on the monitor of that was one of the worst SFX shots I have ever seen.

I pray that is one that was fixed.

Yeah I remember the Revenge VHS as well.

It's SO much better now. No more "rolling log," lol. And the new rocket shot at the end is much better.

I take it they replaced the one with the rocket that you could clearly see the words USA on the side of it with something else. That was the other bit that bugged me as a kid back in 1978

I believe they "whited" that out. I wasn't watching too closely at that exact moment.

That is at least an improvement it was clearly an Apollo Moonshot rocket that they used in the footage.

And to think people had the gall to tell me that classic Doctor Who would never look better than it did on the DVD releases. I give them a 10th Doctor "HA!"

Rogue wrote:

And to think people had the gall to tell me that classic Doctor Who would never look better than it did on the DVD releases.  I give them a 10th Doctor "HA!"

Well part of that it self had to do with the Restoration Team telling a lot of people including myself that there was no improvement to be made by upgrading Standard Definition Material to High Definition but obviously time has passed and technology has improved with it

the picture improvements have more to do with the advances made in compression techniques than in upscaling to HD. The MPEG-2 codes for DVD is pretty ancient by today's standards.

The blu-ray format allows for better compression to be used, plus, there's less compression anyway, since we're talking about higher-capacity discs, too.

Winter wrote:

out of pure curiosity, could you list the two pieces of music as well as the Artist or Artists responsible for their creation?

No idea, sorry. No one on the other forum has said, and this set isn't released in the UK until July 2nd anyway.

Someone on the RT did mention, though, that it would be apparent to the viewer as to why they chose to use this music (instead of using cheap library music) when you see the documentary.

I am curious my self but will wait and see when the set is finally released in the UK. I am surprised that the US got it first as usually its the other way around

amckinney wrote:

Winter wrote:

out of pure curiosity, could you list the two pieces of music as well as the Artist or Artists responsible for their creation?

No idea, sorry. No one on the other forum has said, and this set isn't released in the UK until July 2nd anyway.

Someone on the RT did mention, though, that it would be apparent to the viewer as to why they chose to use this music (instead of using cheap library music) when you see the documentary.

I don't see why they couldn't just use "Christmas with a Dalek" and be done with it. No one would care.

I literally don't see any difference. I had the DVD version in my PS3 and the new Blu-ray
in my PS4. I paused each one on the same scene. The DVD color actually seemed a tad
brighter. The blu was a little lighter. Only when I focused on the color of his coat. The color
on Sarah's face was lighter and seemed more natural.

With all that said though, this is totally worth it to me. It saves me tons of space.
And I haven't had any trouble with the blu-rays I have of NuWho. So this will
will eliminate my problem of my BBC DVD's going bad.

UK PAL set has now been pushed back to July 13 due to "Supply Problems" with this release according to Amazon U K

And my copy has shipped from the UK as of this morning

The UK set (at least) will be getting a disc exchange. Here's what they've had to say:

Thank you for contacting BBC DVD Support.

We will be offering replacements for the errors on Disc 3 (The Sontaran Experiment) and Disc 5 (Revenge of the Cybermen) in the Doctor Who The Collection Season 12 Blu-ray release.

In order to obtain a replacement, please email proof of purchase to this DVD Support line, in the form of a receipt from the retailer. If you do not have a receipt from the retailer, then please email a picture of the product with your full name and postal address in view.

The estimated time frame for the replacement to be available is 4-5 weeks. Please allow some time for the replacement disc to reach you.


Remember, this is what they've told a UK fan who contacted them by email.

If you are in the US, you should probably still contact them first (especially if you're asking about the US set). Their email address is DVDSupport@bbc.com.

What was wrong with the UK set, this is the first I have herd about it?

Bob1963 wrote:

What was wrong with the UK set, this is the first I have herd about it?

The main problem is the sound on episode 1 of "The Sontaran Experiment" is 'out-of-phase', which i think basically means the left channel is coming out of the right channel and vice versa. Depending on your audio setup, it can, apparently, be very distracting/off-putting.

I'm not sure, but I think this issue also affects the US set, since at least some of the other lesser errors also afflict the US set.

The full list of errors in the UK set;

- Sontaran 1 - sound out of phase
- Revenge 1 - misspelling of Michael Wisher in credits
- Revenge 3 - Ian Marter credit overlapping with the subsequent credit
- Revenge 4 - overlapping frames at end of episode, noticeable as Sarah and Harry walk to the TARDIS.
- Walls promo PDF - accidentally left off

There are also some subtitles missing in the US release (not sure about the UK).

Some of those mistakes are bigger than others. I wonder if this was the reason for the delay of shipping from the UK ?

The sound out of phase has happened before on a DVD release. Depending on your set up it will either be not noticeable or it will drive you up the wall.

I think I can live with that one based on past experience (But time and my ears will tell)

As for the Revenge of the Cybermen

I can live with the misspelling of Michael Wishers name in the credits in episode 1 and the over lapping of Ian Marter's credit with the next one.

Revenge 4 and leaving off an extra needs to be corrected.

I think the last time we had a sound screw up was the Australian release of the Peter Cushing films about 12 years or so ago. I only new about the problem cause some one posted it on line from Australia and it did not distract my enjoyment of the film.

Still if BBC World Wide is going to give free replacement's discs I will take them