It is not until you look at the sparse menus on other releases that you realise quite how special the classic Doctor Who DVD range is.
As well as the painstakingly restored stories themselves, the discs hold making-of documentaries, audio commentary and information text for you to consume while you watch.
More than that, the discs are replete with little pieces of history from across the years where Doctor Who impacted other programmes, preserving interviews, features and news clips. They even hold pdfs of publications such as annuals and Radio Times specials.
Seeking to chronicle the range, serving as both a reference work and a buyer’s guide, Wonderful Books’ Classic Doctor Who DVD Compendium is a weighty-looking tome running to over 400 pages.
It begins with a 19-page potted history of the programme’s recording formats and release pattern. This serves as an excellent primer for the quirks of the range touching on missing episodes, animated replacements, colourisation and the reason for the lone Blu-ray release (‘Spearhead from Space’).
As well as running down the details for each disc, such as the principal cast, story setting, adversaries and initial air-dates, author Paul Smith also provides a ‘Story Teaser’ paragraph and a ‘Connections’ section which makes links to other tales, both in terms of cast and crew, as well as themes and plot elements.
One thing we found surprising was the decision to list the stories A to Z by title. While it perhaps makes some sense in appealing to newcomers, to the hardened fanit seems odd not to be thinking in terms of story order (and therefore by Doctor). It is a minor quibble though, and he does preface the main section with a chronological list by year, so there’s no need to get hot under the Fez about it. Let’s face it, most buyers will be well on their way to knowing story order by heart anyway.
In all honesty, if you own all the releases, the true attraction of this guide sits in its appendices. Smith has comprehensively analysed the contents from all manner of angles. You can look stories by commentary and feature contributors, as well as interviewees by subject.
It is possible at a glance to track down the locations of specific PDF materials, or a certain interview or sketch – something we have often had to go searching online for. He has also identified the location of all the Easter Egg treats on the discs.
Possibly the most useful section covers features by subject matter, allowing you to keep track of the multipart strands such as ‘Stripped for Action’ which chronicles the Doctor’s illustrated history and ‘Tomorrow’s Times’ which looks the impact the show made in the press of the day.
While it is understandably bereft of artwork or photos and therefore pretty dense with text, given its status as an independent publication, we will gladly be making a home for this compendium on the shelf and imagine it is destined to become incredibly well-thumbed.
Luckily, it is also available in eBook formats offering the benefit of being searchable too.
Out now from Wonderful Books.
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