This was the fourth season released, on 8th July 2019 in the UK. On 3rd July 2021, Season 10 (along with Season 18) was reissued in standard packaging, with a shorter booklet.
The cover image, as usual, featured a ‘new’ image of the Doctor made up of parts from various photos. Artist Lee Binding used a flipped image of Pertwee’s head, which fans immediately noticed when the artwork was released in advance, and flagged up. This was fixed before release.
Sources
Most of this season was from the original PAL VTs, as catalogued when Sue Malden first investigated the archive status in 1978. Carnival of Monsters Episode Three is from a salvage dub made on PAL VT in 1981 when the original was junked as it was discovered it clogged during playback. Frontier in Space Episodes One, Two, Three and Six as PAL VTs returned to the BBC in 1983, several generations down, while Planet of the Daleks Episode Three exists as a b/w telerecording.
Some of the film sequences from the first two parts of The Three Doctors had been played into the studio using a free-running Polygon telecine machine, which had inconsistently smeared frames together. This was improved in the 2003 DVD release by using some automation software to select ‘good’ frames, then noise reduction and manual work in Scratchbox. Otherwise, all the episodes (except the b/w Planet of the Daleks Episode Three) appear to have gone through normal grading and clean-up processes for each subsequent release.
Initially for the 2009 release of Planet of the Daleks, the plan was to make use of good exchange rate with the US to have the American company Legend Films hand colour the b/w episode, and indeed the work was commissioned and fully carried out. Meanwhile, however, James Insell was able to get his experimental chromadot recovery process (using a high definiton scan of the film to decode the dots embedded in the pattern to calculate the colours) to an acceptable standard. The manual colourisation was of a good standard, but typically quite ‘flat’ – so this was mixed in with an early attempt at chromadot recovery, which was less stable but offered more subtle colours in skintones etc, to create a ‘best of both’. By 2019, chromadot recovery had improved to the point where the entire colour information relied on that technique, and Legend’s work went unused.
All episodes have their opening and closing credits rebuilt in HD from the original film sequence, colour-graded to match the original episodes.
UK Release History
| VHS | VHS Art | DVD | DVD Art | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Three Doctors | 5/8/91 1/9/02 | Alister Pearson Uncredited [Black Sheep] | 24/11/03 6/11/06 13/2/12 | Clayton Hickman |
| Carnival of Monsters | 6/3/95 | Colin Howard | 15/7/02 6/11/06 28/3/11 | Clayton Hickman |
| Frontier in Space | 7/8/95 | Colin Howard | 5/10/09 | Clayton Hickman |
| Planet of the Daleks | 1/11/99 | Uncredited [Black Sheep] | 5/10/09 | Clayton Hickman |
| The Green Death | 7/10/96 | Colin Howard | 10/5/04 6/11/06 5/8/13 | Clayton Hickman Lee Binding (2013) |
| Frontier in Space:6 also appeared on The Pertwee Years | 2/3/92 | Photographic | – |
The Three Doctors VHS was reissued in 2002 as part of the Time Lord Collection. The Planet of the Daleks VHS (which came in a collectible tin with Revelation of the Daleks) contained a b/w Episode Three, a format it would remain in for ten years until it was colourised for the DVD. The Green Death was the only release in the long gap between The Movie and The Leisure Hive, issued in tribute to the deceased Jon Pertwee with unique cover art and a foil pressed logo that was missed from some of the first run. The Three Doctors was reissued in 2002 as part of The Time Lord Collection. For more information see our VHS guide.
The Three Doctors DVD (which was originally released in 2003, optionally in a gift set with a die-cast model of Bessie) was reissued in 2006 as part of the 2006 Third Doctor Collection Amazon exclusive (along with Carnival of Monsters and The Green Death, amongst others) and then re-released again with improved remastering and bonus features as part of Revisitations 3 in 2012.
Carnival of Monsters was re-released as part of Revisitations 2 in 2011. The Green Death special edition was a standalone release in 2013. As with The Three Doctors, both featured improved quality and bonus features; the first release of Carnival had been before the Restoration Team began using the PAL Transform Decoder, and so the SE was particularly improved here.
Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks appeared on DVD as part of the ‘Dalek War’ box set.
Most of these were released sufficiently late in the range that they featured reversable sleeves to match the earlier BBC logo.
All of the restored episodes, devoid of extras, were issued as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files magazine (2009-14) across the following issues: 30: The Three Doctors (24th February 2010), 48: The Green Death (3rd November 2010), 60: Carnival of Monsters (20th April 2011), 81: Planet of the Daleks (8th February 2012), and 104: Frontier in Space (26th December 2012). In all cases, these were the original DVD versions, pre-dating the Revisitations versions.
Summary
All episodes contain the original mono. Planet of the Daleks contains new optional 5.1, and also new optional CGI effects from Rob Ritchie and Aaron J. Climas.
Behind the Sofa are:
- Richard Franklin, John Levene and Katy Manning
- Phil Collinson, Pete McTighe and Joy Wilkinson
Revised information text is available by David Brunt and Martin Wiggins (The Three Doctors, replacing one by Richard Molesworth on the original and Brunt on the SE), Richard Bignell (Carnival of Monsters and The Green Death, in both cases replacing ones by Richard Molesworth on the originals, and updating Bignell’s own on the SEs) and Martin Wiggins (Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks, updating from his original).
Audio navigation is provided by Katy Manning.
Disc Layout
With the exception of the audio commentaries, titles are as they appear on the menu screen (and in the same order), with explanatory information in square brackets.
The disc layout was previewed in Doctor Who Magazine 540 (released 27 June 2019, cover date August 2019) with the features listed out of order, and with alternate titles.
Disc 1: The Three Doctors (1:38:41)
Commentary with Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney and Barry Letts.
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [Happy Birthday to Who] | SD | 23:13 | The Three Doctors SE |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 45:37 | New |
| Looking for Lennie | HD | 42:06 | New |
| Looking for Lennie Deleted Scenes | HD | 7:00 | New |
| Clean Opening & Closing Titles | HD | 1:41 | New (Opening titles were included on the Carnival of Monsters (and SE within Revisitations 2 set) as an Easter Egg) |
| Alternative Opening & Closing Titles [aka Delaware] | HD | 1:41 | Carnival of Monsters SE within Revisitations 2 set (1:23) |
| BBC Trails & Continuity | SD | 6:28 | New, includes 0:49 trailer that was on The Three Doctors (and SE) |
| Blue Peter [27/11/72 featuring BBC Special Effects Exhibition] | SD | 1:38 | The Mutants |
| Nationwide [28/12/72 with Jon Pertwee] | SD | 1:04 | New |
| BSB 31 Who Highlights | SD | 10:16 | The Three Doctors (and SE) |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 7:04 | 3:55 SD version was on original and SE within Revisitations 3 |
Total disc contents: 4:06:29
- 40th Anniversary Celebration (on original and SE) removed, likely saved for The Wilderness Years.
- Was Doctor Who Rubbish (from the SE) moved to Timelash in Season 22.
- Pebble Mill at One 21/12/73, Blue Peter 5/11/73 and Panopticon ’93, all from the original and SE moved to Disc 6.
- The Five Faces of Doctor Who trailer, from the original and SE, moved to Season 18.
- Girls Girls Girls and Coming Soon: The Face of Evil (both from the SE) moved to Season 14.
- In the DWM preview, Coming Soon: Carnival of Monsters was erroneously mentioned; the story’s only DVD trailer was for the Revisitations 2 set, and this was not included. Alternative Opening & Closing Titles were considered a new feature.
Disc 2: Carnival of Monsters (1:38:15)
Commentary #1 with Katy Manning and Barry Letts (from original DVD)
Commentary #2 with Peter Halliday, Cheryl Hall, Jenny McCracken, Brian Hodgson and Terrance Dicks, moderated by Toby Hadoke (from SE)
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [Destroy all Monsters!] | SD | 23:14 | Carnival of Monsters SE |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 37:08 | New |
| Studio Footage | HD | 1:46 | Carnival of Monsters (and SE) |
| Visual Effects Footage | HD | 8:44 | Carnival of Monsters (4:22 version) and SE (full version) |
| CSO Demo | SD | 3:09 | Carnival of Monsters (and SE) |
| Episode Two Early Edit | SD | 29:46 | Carnival of Monsters SE |
| Revised Ending | SD | 1:21 | Carnival of Monsters (and SE) |
| BBC Trails & Continuity | SD | 3:53 | New |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 4:12 | Alternate SD versions on original DVD (1:52) and SE (2:55) |
| Coming Soon [Dalek War set (Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks)] | SD | 1:22 | The Keys of Marinus |
Total disc contents: 3:32:50
- Extended and Deleted Scenes (3:53), and an Easter Egg of the Countdown Clock (0:30) appeared on the original DVD but not the SE or BD as the Part Two Early Edit superceded them.
- Delaware Opening Titles (1:23, original and SE) moved to The Three Doctors and extended to include end titles.
- The A-Z of Gadgets and Gizmos (SE) removed, expected Season 11.
- Mary Celeste documentary (SE) moved to The Chase.
- Clean Opening Titles (0:44, Easter Egg on SE) moved to The Three Doctors with opening titles added.
- Coming Soon: Planet of the Spiders expected to move to Season 11.
- The Five Faces of Doctor Who trailer moved to Season 18.
- On Target with Ian Marter moved to Season 12.
- TARDIS-Cam No. 2 (from the original and SE DVDs) removed, expected on The Wilderness Years.
- Who’s Who (text feature from original R1 DVD) removed.
- In the DWM preview, studio floor plans and design drawings were mistakenly listed among the PDFs for Carnival of Monsters (perhaps copied from The Three Doctors list).
Disc 3: Frontier in Space (2:24:03)
Commentary with Katy Manning, Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks, moderated by Clayton Hickman
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making of Documentary* [The Space War] | SD | 17:59 | Frontier in Space |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 45:00 | New |
| Visual Effects Footage | SD | 57:55 | New |
| Roger Delgado Tribute | SD | 31:47 | Frontier in Space |
| Jon Pertwee Introduction | SD | 1:05 | Frontier in Space, originally from The Pertwee Years VHS |
| BBC Continuity | SD | 1:05 | New |
| The Perfect Scenario: Part 1 [Lost Frontiers] | HD | 29:41 | Frontier in Space, revised from 30:04 DVD |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 8:38 | SD version was on original DVD (6:09) |
| Episode Two Credits | HD | 0:56 | New |
Total disc contents: 5:38:09
*the menu misses the normal hyphen in ‘Making-of’.
- Stripped for Action: The Third Doctor removed, expected Season 11.
- Countdown clock for Episode Five, plus Delaware titles (1:42 Easter Egg) removed; the clock forms part of the compilation on Disc 6, while the Delaware titles appear on The Three Doctors.
- Coming Soon: The King’s Demons/Planet of Fire (from the original DVD) removed. It was not included on Season 20 and seems unlikely to be included on Season 21.
- Episode Two Credits were not mentioned in the DWM preview.
Disc 4: Planet of the Daleks (2:21:10)
Commentary with Katy Manning, Tim Preece, Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks and Prentis Hancock
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [The Rumble in the Jungle] | SD | 16:48 | Planet of the Daleks, updated from DVD |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 37:29 | New |
| Restoration Featurette [Multi-Colourisation] | SD | 10:50 | Planet of the Daleks |
| Stripped for Action [The Daleks] | SD | 13:55 | Planet of the Daleks |
| Blue Peter [07/06/73 and 11/06/73 covering the stolen Dalek] | SD | 12:35 | Planet of the Daleks |
| BBC Trails & Continuity | SD | 6:50 | Shorter version on Planet of the Daleks [Easter Egg] (was only 0:12 end of Episode Six voiceover) |
| Commentary Extra [out-take: Episode Three in black and white] | SD | 2:50 | Planet of the Daleks [Easter Egg] |
| The Perfect Scenario: Part 2 [The End of Dreams] | SD | 28:20 | Planet of the Daleks, revised from 30:10 DVD |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 9:22 | SD version was on original DVD (8:58) |
| Coming Soon [The Green Death] | SD | 1:25 | Spearhead from Space Blu-Ray |
Total disc contents: 4:41:34
Disc 5: The Green Death (2:34:26)
Commentary #1 with Katy Manning, Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks (from original DVD)
Commentary #2 with Colin Mapson, Mitzi McKenzie and Richard Franklin, moderated by Toby Hadoke [3-5] (from SE)
Commentary #3 with Katy Manning and Russell T. Davies [6] (from SE)
| Format | Length | DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [The One with the Maggots] | SD | 26:24 | The Green Death SE |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 54:26 | New |
| Keeping Up with the Joneses | HD | 31:02 | New |
| The UNIT Family – Part Two | SD | 31:24 | Day of the Daleks |
| Visual Effects Featurette | SD | 11:40 | The Green Death SE |
| Robert Sloman Interview | SD | 6:52 | The Green Death (and SE) |
| Stewart Bevan Interview | SD | 7:43 | The Green Death (and SE) |
| Wales Today [8/4/94, behind-the-scenes filming footage, plus news report] | SD | 11:40 | The Green Death SE |
| BBC Continuity | SD | 5:15 | The Green Death (and SE) [Easter Egg] alternate 04:09 edit |
| BBC News [27/5/73, with Jon Pertwee] | SD | 0:31 | New |
| Nationwide [22/06/73 with Katy Manning] | SD | 5:15 | New |
| What Katy Did Next | SD | 5:40 | The Green Death SE |
| Global Conspiracy? | SD | 10:53 | The Green Death (and SE) |
| Global Conspiracy? Interviews | SD | 29:41 | New |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 8:46 | SD versions were on original DVD (8:12) and SE (9:52) |
| Coming Soon [The Time Warrior] | SD | 1:00 | Time-Flight, Arc of Infinity |
Total contents: 6:42:38
- Coming Soon: The Ice Warriors (from the original DVD) removed, likely for Season 5.
- Doctor Forever! The Unquiet Dead (SE) removed, likely for The Wilderness Years.
- The Sarah Jane Adventures moved to Disc 6.
- A 0:40 outtake from Global Conspiracy? (an Easter Egg on the SE) was removed; a new placement seems unlikely.
Disc 6: Bonus
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who and the Third Man | HD | 1:32:55 | New |
| Blue Peter [05/11/73, 10th anniversary, with Jon Pertwee and Whomobile | SD | 13:40 | The Three Doctors (and SE), shorter extract on The Tenth Planet |
| Pebble Mill at One [21/12/73, with Patrick Troughton, Bernard Wilkie] | SD | 20:45 | The Three Doctors (and SE) |
| The Death of the Doctor – Episode 1/2 [with optional commentary] | HD | 52:35 | The Green Death SE (was in SD, now presented in original HD) |
| The Green Death Omnibus | SD | 1:29:49 | New |
| Season 10 Blu-Ray trailer | HD | 2:30 | New |
| The Panopticon Archive [Pertwee, Manning, Courtney] | SD | 59:12 | Shorter version was on The Three Doctors (29:54), removed from SE due to licensing issues |
| Audio Archive: Jon Pertwee & Jack Kine | Audio | 8:24 | New |
| Audio Archive: Peter Brookes & David Driver | Audio | 24:56 | New |
| Studio Clocks | SD | 10:19 | New |
Total contents: 6:15:05
PDF Material
Radio Times material had appeared on The Three Doctors SE, Carnival of Monsters SE, Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death SE. Frontier in Space also included the production design drawings and BBC Enterprise’s Sales Sheets for the story. Planet of the Daleks also included production design drawings.
The DWM preview attributed the Doctor Who Holiday Special to 1974, not 1973.
Errata
Several restoration errors were made during production of this collection, with ‘flash frames’ appearing at a number of cuts. BBC Studios declined to replace the discs. This season had form, as during its first DVD release, an entire shot in The Three Doctors was repeated, which was similarly unrectified, until the later Special Edition DVD.
