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Circuit Breaker - The Black Archive Files: What's the deal?

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I often talk about how much care and attention to detail goes into the Classic Series releases to convince us fans to shell out on something a lot of us have already bought at least two or three times. Then comes along a random release out of the blue that makes you ask who does this appeal to? But some unexpected new bonus material alongside some unusual and rare episode variants perhaps gives enough value to justify buying.    Circuit Breaker is the latest multi-platform event from BBC Studios, following on from Time Lord Victorious (2020) and Doom’s Day (2023). This time focusing on the mysterious Fugitive Doctor as played by Jo Martin, who has refreshingly been heavily involved with the entire range. I’ve personally not been following the story that closely, but the premise involves the Doctor teaming up with Osgood who is now working in the Black Archive as objects from the Doctor’s personal timeline have gone missing. This new Blu-ray release features 10 Doctor Who stori...
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The Series 9 Steelbook - Should it get a new release?

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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 ...
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Omited New Series Extras

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Since 2005 there have been many new series releases.   I am sure most fans opt to own “The Complete Series” box sets when it comes to choosing a physical release, whether that is the DVD, Blu-Ray or Steelbook versions.   However, beyond these releases there are several other products that contain value added material omitted from the main box set releases in Region 2.   Here is a list of them.   I have written this from my perspective, being based in the United Kingdom. A Christmas Carol – Doctor Who at the Proms 2010 Strangely not included on the Series 6 box set (despite the 2008 proms being on the 2009 specials set) a 60-minute cut down version of the proms, half an hour shorter than the version broadcast on BBC Three, with several performances omitted was included on this disc. The program itself is worth watching, celebrating the wonderful music Murray Gold composed for the series and it is enjoyable seeing the impact the monsters have on the audienc...
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Why The Crusade might not ever get animated.

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  When reading online discussions about the animation and The Collection ranges, one of the most common wishes from individual fans is for the BBC to animate the two missing episodes for The Crusade.   Just by animating those 2 episodes it would complete the 4 part story and the whole Season 2, enabling a complete watchable run from An Unearthly Child through to Mission to the Unknown (if you count the cut-down recons on DVD of Marco Polo and Galaxy 4 plus the brilliant UCLAN recreation of Mission to the Unknown). But sadly, it is not as simple as that. Back in the days of the DVD range, the general rule for animation was if a story requires two or less missing episodes then it might be feasible.   This rule led to the animation of missing episodes from The Reign of Terror, The Tenth Planet, The Moonbase, The Ice Warriors and The Invasion plus the animation for The Underwater Menace which was never completed. When it comes to The Crusade, the biggest ...
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