In 2016 the very first Doctor Who steelbook came out. After years of exclusive/limited box sets consisting of weirdly tall books, protruding Silence and Cybermen faces and bulky packaging, BBC Worldwide decided to do an extremely limited release (or at least more limited and sought after than any other Doctor Who steelbook) of Series 9 on Blu-Ray as an exclusive to Amazon. This came with unique, beautiful artwork by Alice X. Zhang, as opposed to the standard release which was just reusing the basic publicity photo for the series. Steelbooks were fast becoming a standard form of release in the home media industry, aimed at collectors who care about such things as packaging.
 |
| The Series 9 steelbook. |
Probably one of my biggest regrets as a fan was not purchasing Series 9 in steelbook form. I was going to. I even had it on order with Amazon. But then just before BBC Shop closed, they offered 25% off all products except pre-orders, but they forgot to switch off the code meaning I could pre-order the standard Blu-Ray of Series 9 for only £25 with free delivery! This was £15 less than what I would have paid for the steelbook, and at the time as I did not have any others and it meant that I would have a spine that sort of matched Series 8. Therefore, I decided to cancel my Amazon order.
 |
| The standard Series 9 Blu-Ray design |
As time has come to pass, there have been many more Doctor Who steelbooks from the new series and the animation range (plus Spearhead from Space and the Dalek films). Series 9, especially if it ends up being the only steelbook I do not have, feels like a big hole in my collection and looks more noticeable as I slowly replace the standard re-leases with new steelbooks. (I don’t have the Dalek films, but I’m not too fussed about those). The following series (Series 10) steelbook is on Amazon at a reasonable price, but they sold out of Series 9 years ago. The cheapest I could pay to get Series 9 second hand on eBay, is over £200. A 5x mark up. And as I currently type, the only copies available cost £500 under a buy it now option.
I really hope once Series 8 is released, the BBC will decide to do another steelbook release of Series 9. I think there is a fair argument for it. Series 9 & 10 will be the only steelbooks to use the Capaldi era logo. I know it might be perhaps a little unfair for those who originally purchased it in 2015, but if the BBC were to commission new artwork, I do not think it would disrespect the original release at all. I know I am not alone in trying to seek out just that one release, having started collection Steelbooks from The Power of the Daleks onwards.
I would also like to see Twice Upon a Time somehow incorporated into the Steelbook range as it could end up being the only story not to have a Steelbook release. How this should be done I am not sure. On one hand if Series 9 comes out then it might make sense to do Series 10 as well and incorporate Twice Upon a Time this time around. However, it does pose an issue because Series 10 is already a 6-disc release, the maximum number of discs a steelbook can hold. Do you ditch The Fan Show disc? (which I think would be a deep shame as it means we lose out on content) Re-jiggle the disc layout to squeeze everything onto 6 discs? (it can be done but at a large cost).
Or maybe it might be worth considering giving Twice Upon a Time it’s own steelbook release. Using only existing material, you could include the 4K upscale disc, the standard Blu-Ray and maybe a bonus disc with The Tenth Planet, Series 8 Deleted Scenes, Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, Strax Cinema Prequel and maybe some Deleted Scenes from Twice Upon a Time. That could make it an interesting and justifiable release.
 |
| Twice Upon a Time is currently the only 4K Ultra HD Doctor Who release, which was upscaled. |
Anyway, the potential re-release is still 2 or 3 Steelbooks
away. Before I get too carried away,
that gives them plenty of stuff to plan before they even start thinking about
what follows. Maybe Torchwood and The
Sarah Jane Adventures might end up joining the steelbook line one day?
