Through 1993 and 1994 releases continued to come at a fast rate – although the pattern became a little more relaxed. There were generally 1-3 tapes released every month, with some gaps in 1994. The order was also quite lacking, although Terminus and Enlightenment followed up the late-1992 release of Mawdryn Undead to form the ‘Black Guardian trilogy’, and Kinda and Snakedance, although technically had a special release breaking them up, were clearly planned together, evidenced by sequential catalogue numbers.
Generally speaking, episodes remained unedited. In previous years the Hartnell stories had their final episode cliffhangers removed. During 1993/4, The Chase and The Romans were not edited in this manner, although The Rescue was.
| Date | BBCV | Title | Cover art [U] = Uncredited | Length* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 050 | 11/01/1993 | 4890 | Terminus | Andrew Skilleter | 01:40:32 |
| 051 | 15/02/1993 | 4891 | Enlightenment | Andrew Skilleter | 01:39:19 |
| 052 | 15/03/1993 | 4950 | The Dæmons | Alistair Pearson [sic] | 02:03:39 |
| 053 | 15/03/1993 | 4941 | Image of the Fendahl | Andrew Skilleter | 01:35:40 |
| 054 | 05/04/1993 | 4957 | Terror of the Autons | Alistair Pearson [sic] | 01:36:41 |
| 055 | 05/04/1993 | 4888 | Silver Nemesis | Photographic | 02:20:20 |
| 056 | 10/05/1993 | 4962 | Vengeance on Varos | Andrew Skilleter | 01:30:57 |
| 057 | 07/06/1993 | 4973 | The Keeper of Traken | Andrew Skilleter | 01:39:32 |
| 058 | 07/06/1993 | 4974 | The Invasion | Andrew Skilleter | 01:15:39 01:13:38 |
| 059 | 12/07/1993 | 4990 | Doctor Who and the Silurians | Andrew Skilleter | 01:37:29 01:12:26 |
| 060 | 09/08/1993 | 4978 | The Curse of Peladon | Andrew Skilleter | 01:39:10 |
| 061 | 06/09/1993 | 5005 | The Daleks [Tin 1] The Chase Remembrance of the Daleks | Andrew Skilleter Alister Pearson | 02:29:44 01:39:36 |
| 062 | 11/10/1993 | 5008 | The Trial of a Time Lord | Alister Pearson | 01:39:39 01:39:56 02:33:45 |
| 063 | 01/11/1993 | 5143 | Resurrection of the Daleks | Andrew Skilleter | 01:39:21 |
| 064 | 01/11/1993 | 5148 | The Two Doctors | Colin Howard | 02:15:56 |
| 065 | 29/12/1993 | 5180 | Planet of Evil | Colin Howard | 01:35:29 |
| 066 | 29/12/1993 | 5181 | Dragonfire | Bruno Eletton | 01:14:47 |
| 067 | 07/02/1994 | 5218 | The Ark in Space [Complete & Unedited] | Sid Sutton [U] | 01:39:48 |
| 068 | 07/02/1994 | 5219 | The Day of the Daleks [Complete & Unedited] | Sid Sutton | 01:37:21 |
| 069 | 07/02/1994 | 5220 | Pyramids of Mars [Complete & Unedited] | Sid Sutton | 01:39:49 |
| 070 | 07/03/1994 | 5199 | Arc of Infinity | Pete Wallbank | 01:39:31 |
| 071 | 07/03/1994 | 5324 | The Colin Baker Years | Photographic | 01:30:47 |
| 072 | 09/05/1994 | 5269 | Inferno | Colin Howard | 01:35:54 01:13:35 |
| 073 | 09/05/1994 | 5344 | Ghost Light | Colin Howard | 01:14:12 |
| 074 | 04/07/1994 | 5349 | The Visitation Black Orchid | Pete Wallbank | 01:38:28 00:51:36 |
| 075 | 04/07/1994 | 5350 | Destiny of the Daleks | Colin Howard | 01:41:26 |
| 076 | 01/08/1994 | 5377 | The Seeds of Doom | Colin Howard | 01:14:22 01:12:31 |
| 077 | 05/09/1994 | 5378 | The Rescue The Romans | Andrew Skilleter | 00:50:39 01:38:05 |
| 078 | 03/10/1994 | 5432 | Kinda | Colin Howard | 01:40:10 |
| 079 | 07/11/1994 | 5403 | More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS | Andrew Skilleter | 01:29:04 |
| 080 | 05/12/1994 | 5433 | Snakedance | Colin Howard | 01:39:23 |
Artwork continued to be provided primarily by Andrew Skilleter, with Alister Pearson adding some variety, and Bruno Elleton and Pete Wallbank also making appearances. By mid-1994 Colin Howard had taken over as the primary artist.
Most tapes with greater than four episodes continued to be split across two tapes in a single clamshell box: The Invasion, Doctor Who and the Silurians, Inferno, The Visitation/Black Orchid, The Seeds of Doom and The Rescue/The Romans (unlike Sontaran/Genesis before, two story sets were split more logically with one full story per tape). The Chase was however presented on a single tape.
A number of special releases took place, especially in the thirtieth anniversary year of 1993:
- The Dæmons, Terror of the Autons and Doctor Who and the Silurians were colourised by mixing US offair colour videotape recordings with the b/w film versions held by the BBC. Autons sported a sticker warning of the resulting poor quality. A collectible box containing all three was also promoted, although there is no evidence it made it to sale.
- After the success of The Curse of Fenric, Silver Nemesis was similarly extended under the supervision of Producer John Nathan-Turner. Without new music, though, the score was simply faded out during every additional sequence. The tape also included the New Jersey Network documentary The Making of Doctor Who, edited to remove clips from episodes written by Eric Saward, who was still in dispute with Nathan-Turner. Silver Nemesis was released in two covers – the rarer one was missing the words ‘Behind the scenes with the Doctor Who team’ from the cover, the word ‘Doctor Who’ in the subtitle on the spine, and the STEREO emblem on the spine. The back cover blurb opened with the words ‘To launch the 1993 Doctor Who 30th Anniversary celebrations…’ The colour scheme also differed slightly.
- John Nathan-Turner also oversaw a release of The Invasion with new linking material filmed, featuring Nicholas Courtney. Two versions of the cover were produced: The original stated ‘COMPLETE AT LAST!’ while a replacement version was a little more clearer about the nature of the ‘completeness’.
- A ‘Daleks tin’ containing two Dalek stories, and a book about their history.
- A three-tape release of The Trial of a Time Lord (although the labels on the tapes were misnamed ‘The Trial of The Time Lord’), in a cardboard sleeve housed in another collectible tin.
- The Colin Baker Years continued the format established in The Tom Baker Years of having the lead actor watch clips from his stories (except Revelation of the Daleks) and comment. Despite hopes, The Davison Years and The McCoy Years did not follow, and Nathan-Turner had no further involvement with BBC Video.
- More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS was an extended version of the 1993 TV documentary Thirty Years in the TARDIS.
The cover art added a 30th anniversary logo throughout all 1993 releases from Terror of the Autons up to The Two Doctors except for Silver Nemesis (although the BBCV code suggests this may have been prepared as a 1992 release and postponed).
Resurrection of the Daleks was the four-part version as produced, although the sleeve stated the two-part version as aired.
The Ark in Space, The Day of the Daleks and Pyramids of Mars were all reissued as ‘Complete and Unedited’, replacing their 1980s omnibus releases.
Almost all tapes continued the format established in 1992, opening with a tracking/quality notice, followed by a copyright warning, the rhombus-shaped logo, then a card advertising other videos available before the episodes started. Most of the tapes from Vengeance on Varos to The Two Doctors except for the second/third tapes on The Invasion, Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Trial of a Time Lord also featured a 30th anniversary ident after the rhombus logo at the start. Dragonfire included an animated caption card clarifying the title of the story immediately before the first episode.
| Terminus: Castrovalva/Earthshock/ Mawdryn/Androzani | The Invasion: None | Planet of Evil: Morbius/Genesis/Shada | Ghost Light: Dragonfire (Animated slide) |
| Enlightenment: As above | The Silurians: BBC Audio | Dragonfire: As above | The Visitation/Black Orchid: Tripods/Ghost/Tripods |
| The Dæmons: Spearhead/Pertwee/Axos/Time Warrior (Animated slide) | The Curse of Peladon: Autons/Dæmons | The Ark in Space: Day/Pyramids C&U [using original art] | Destiny of the Daleks: Ghost/Tripods/Inferno |
| Image of the Fendahl: Blakes’ 7/Red Dwarf/Star Cops | The Chase: Cybermen/Daleks EY | The Day of the Daleks: Ark/Pyramids C&U [using original art] | The Seeds of Doom Tape 1: Ghost/Arc/Dragonfire |
| Terror of the Autons: Axos/Pertwee/Five | Remembrance of the Daleks: The Invasion | Pyramids of Mars: As above | The Rescue: Tripods/Moonbase 3 |
| Silver Nemesis: Mawdryn/Fenric/Aztecs | The Trial of a Time Lord Tape 1: Traken/Varos | Arc of Infinity: Day/Ark/Pyramids C&U [using original art] | Kinda: Moonbase 3/Tripods |
| Vengeance on Varos: Fenric/Twin | Resurrection of the Daleks: Daleks tin | The Colin Baker Years: None | MTTYITT: Moonbase 3 |
| The Keeper of Traken: Autons/Dæmons | The Two Doctors: Trial tin | Inferno: Spiders/Spearhead | Snakedance: MTTYITT |
The tapes then closed with the rhombus logo with an added copyright date (matching the year of release) and the copyright warning again.
The sleeve interiors were used to advertise other BBC videos. Details are on our page here.
Tape labels were consistent through 1993 and 1994, all being black and sporting the rhombus logo.
And finally… a collection of press releases promoting the 1993 videos…:
