This was the eighth season released, on 8th March 2021 in the UK. This was the first in the range since Season 14 the previous May, after the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production of bonus features. It was reissued on 14th November 2022 in standard packaging, with a shorter booklet.
Sources
The Claws of Axos Episode One and Episode Four, along with The Dæmons Episode Four were remastered from their original PAL VTs (with elements of Axos One from an original studio tape).
The Mind of Evil Episode One is from a hand-colourised B/W film telerecording, with the cliffhanger and remaining episodes colour-recovered using the chromadots. Several scenes from Episode Six are held on an offair NTSC VHS, which was used to create a bonus feature at the end of the original VHS release (the episodes themselves being in b/w), which has not been necessary since the advent of chromadot recovery.
Colony in Space and The Claws of Axos Episode Two and Three are taken from B/W film telerecordings with the colour added back from reverse standards converted NTSC VT returned from Canada in 1981 (Axos) and 1983 (Colony). This restoration technique caused some new artefacts, and slightly cropped visuals, so arguably the original DVD releases which used just the reverse standards converted NTSC VTs (and not the b/w film) could be considered preferable to some. As a result, these versions also appear, in SD, as bonus alternate versions (Axos from its first release in 2005, as the 2012 SE used the same restoration technique as the Blu-Ray). Below are an example from each story – note some of the improvement can only be appreciated when viewing the video in motion; these images demonstrate the decreased screen area on the generally better BD restoration.
In both versions of Axos, several sequences from Episode Two are replaced with footager from a PAL VT studio tape, and the cliffhanger of Episode Three from the PAL VT Four.
Terror of the Autons and the remaining episodes of The Dæmons are sourced from B/W film telerecordings with colour taken from NTSC offair VHSs recorded in the US in the late 70s (with a single clip in Autons sourced from PAL VT as part of an insert reel for the 22/6/73 edition of Nationwide, and cliffhanger material from the orinal PAL Dæmons Episode Four being used in Three and Five).
It was noted during the original VHS restoration of The Dæmons that some minor edits were present in the colour version which was mostly covered by freezing the last available frame of colour available, and also basic colour washes (as Azal clutches his head and screams in Episode Five, and the final shot of Bok in Episode Two). A major colour drop towards the end of Episode Three was fixed by looping a short section of colour. It’s unclear how these were tackled in later releases. For Autons the team had fewer problems, with the only major challenge being a fault in the film recording when the Doctor dissects the troll – the shot was replaced on the VHS using a cleaned up version of the raw colour offair. For the DVD and Blu-Ray, the Autons film was digitally fixed instead.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terror of the Autons | 5/4/93 | Alistair Pearson | 9/5/11 9/13 | Clayton Hickman |
| The Mind of Evil | 18/5/98 | Uncredited [Black Sheep] | 3/6/13 | Lee Binding |
| The Claws of Axos | 11/5/92 | Andrew Skilleter | 25/4/05 ?/11/06 22/10/12 | Clayton Hickman Lee Binding (2012) |
| Colony in Space | 5/11/01 | Uncredited [Black Sheep] | 3/10/11 | Lee Binding |
| The Dæmons | 15/3/93 | Alistair Pearson | 19/3/12 ?/11/15 | Lee Binding |
| The final part of The Dæmons was also included in The Pertwee Years, in b/w | 2/3/92 | Photographic | – |
The original VHS releases of Terror of the Autons and The Dæmons were among the first to be colourised (along with The Silurians) by merging B/W film recordings with NTSC offair VHSs. Colony in Space was released in a collectible tin alongside The Time Monster. For more information and images see our VHS guide.
The Claws of Axos received two DVD releases, as the first was early in the range and could be superceded with improved restoration techniques and bonuses. Terror of the Autons was released on DVD as part of the Mannequin Mania set along with the Spearhead from Space SE. The Dæmons was released in limited numbers at a convention in 2012 with an exclusive slipcase. With the exception of the original Claws, all of these releases took place after the change of BBC logo, and had reversable sleeves to show the older white BBC logo, enabling fans to have a matching set with other older release.
The Claws of Axos also appeared as part of the 2006 Amazon exclusive Third Doctor Collection, Terror of the Autons was paired with The End of Time on the bonus free 2013 DVD The Monster Collection: The Master and The Dæmons in the HMV exclusive Introduction to the Third Doctor in 2015.
The restored episodes were issued as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files magazine (2009-14) across the following issues: 101: Terror of the Autons (Nov 14th 2012); 143: The Mind of Evil (June 25th 2014); 97: The Claws of Axos (Sep 19th 2012); 148: Colony in Space (September 3rd 2014); and 117: The Dæmons (Jun 26th 2013).
Summary
All episodes contain the original mono audio. Terror of the Autons and The Dæmons (along with the latter’s omnibus version) contain new optional 5.1. Autons also contains new optional CGI from Chris Petts and Sally Clayton, mostly to clean up poor CSO, but also to replace the troll and the Nestene.
Behind the Sofa are:
- Katy Manning and Stewart Bevan
- Anjli Mohindra and Sacha Dhawan
- Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding
Due to filming taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, two of these pairings are separated by a plastic screen. Mohindra and Dhawan were co-habiting partners at the time, so were able to sit together.
Revised information text is available by Martin Wiggins (Terror of the Autons, The Claws of Axos and The Dæmons), Stephen James Walker and Martin Wiggins (The Mind of Evil) and David Brunt (Colony in Space); in all cases they had written texts for the original DVDs.
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 560 (released 7 January 2021, cover date February 2021) with the features listed out of order, and with alternate titles.
Disc 1: Terror of the Autons (1:35:21)
Commentary with Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney and Barry Letts
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [Life on Earth] | SD | 33:41 | Terror of the Autons |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 28:25 | New |
| Plastic Fantastic | SD | 11:02 | Terror of the Autons |
| The Doctor’s Moriarty | SD | 18:54 | Terror of the Autons |
| BBC Trails & Continuity | SD | 0:48 | New |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 10:14 | 8:32 SD version on Terror of the Autons |
| Clean Opening & Closing titles | HD | 1:36 | New in these colours. Different version on The Collection Season 10 |
| Coming Soon [The Mind of Evil] | SD | 1:14 | Inferno SE |
Total disc contents: 3:21:15
- Coming Soon: Frontios (from the original DVD) removed, expected to be used on Season 21.
Disc 2: The Mind of Evil (2:27:20)
Episode Six ends with a 24 second ‘restoration credits’ sequence, originally on the DVD
Commentary with Fernanda Marlowe [1,2], Pik-Sen Lim [1,2,3], director Timothy Combe [1,2,3,4,5,6], Terrance Dicks [1,3,4], Barry Letts [ 1,4,5,6], KatyManning [2,3,4,6] and Derek Ware [4,5], moderated by Toby Hadoke
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [The Military Mind] | SD | 22:46 | The Mind of Evil |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 25:15 | New |
| Now and Then | SD | 7:07 | The Mind of Evil |
| Television Centre Documentary [Behind the Scenes, 18/8/71] | SD | 24:01 | The Mind of Evil |
| Blue Peter [Visit to the Make-Up Van, 8/3/71] | SD | 6:54 | New |
| BBC Trails & Continuities | SD | 1:48 | New [DVD featured the audio of the trailer as an easter egg] |
| BBC South East Feature [on colourisation, 12/6/13] | HD | 2:47 | New |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 5:46 | 4:55 SD version on The Mind of Evil |
| Coming Soon [The Claws of Axos SE] | SD | 1:06 | The Ambassadors of Death |
Total disc contents: 4:04:50
No features from the DVD were removed. The original VHS contained colour footage highlights and a restoration credit sequence, neither of which have been reissued digitally.
Disc 3 : The Claws of Axos (1:37:33)
Commentary with Barry Letts, Katy Manning and Richard Franklin
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extended Episode One [1:07 longer than broadcast version] | HD | 25:05 | New |
| Deleted & Extended Scenes [with optional info text by Richard Bignell] | SD | 27:01 | The Claws of Axos (and SE) |
| Making-of Documentary [Axon Stations!] | SD | 26:41 | The Claws of Axos SE |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 22:21 | New |
| Directing Who [Michael Ferguson interview] | SD | 14:46 | The Claws of Axos (and SE) |
| Studio Footage | SD | 1:12:52 | The Claws of Axos SE |
| Now and Then | SD | 6:35 | The Claws of Axos (and SE) |
| DVD Restoration Featurette [Reverse Standards Conversion] | SD | 10:11 | The Claws of Axos (and SE, as an Easter Egg) |
| BBC Trails & Continuities | SD | 0:40 | New |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 9:12 | 10:56 SD compilation appeared on The Claws of Axos (and SE) |
| Coming Soon [Colony in Space] | SD | 1:37 | Day of the Daleks |
| Episode Two – 2005 DVD Restoration | SD | 24:00 | The Claws of Axos [2 seconds longer than main feature] |
| Episode Three – 2005 DVD Restoration | SD | 24:08 | The Claws of Axos [1 second shorter than main feature] |
Tota disc contents: 6:02:42
- Coming Soon: Shada/More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS (from the SE) removed, not on season 17 but perhaps The Wilderness Years.
- Living with Levene moved to Disc 7
Note that the info text on the original DVD for Episode One opened with the Radio Times description of the episode; at the time this was so unusual it was described by some as an Easter Egg.
Disc 4: Colony in Space (2:26:15)
Commentary with Terrance Dicks [1,2], Michael E Briant [1,2,3,4,5,6], Katy Manning [1,2,3,5], Graeme Harper [1,3,4,6], Bernard Kay [2,4,5,6] and Morris Perry [3,4,5,6], moderated by Toby Hadoke
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [IMC Needs You!] | SD | 25:01 | Colony in Space |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 24:37 | New |
| BBC Trails & Continuities | SD | 1:29 | New |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 10:11 | 5:52 SD version on Colony in Space |
| Coming Soon [The Dæmons] | SD | 1:27 | The Face of Evil |
Total disc contents: 3:29:00
Disc 5: Colony in Space [2011 DVD Restoration in SD] (2:26:14)
Does not contain commentary or text features
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode Two (HD Early Edit) [3 seconds longer than version on disc 5, plus a 23 second explanatory card] | HD | 23:12 | New |
| Film Trim Highlights [Compilation, with captions and footage from the episodes, of material from the two below features] | SD | 12:53 | Colony in Space |
| Location Film Trims | HD | 23:12 | New |
| SFX Film Trims | HD | 34:51 | New |
Total disc contents: 4:00:22
- Coming Soon: The Android Invasion/Invasion of the Dinosaurs (from the original DVD) removed; likely to appear on Seasons 11 and/or 13.
Disc 6: The Dæmons (2:02:04)
Commentary with Katy Manning, Richard Franklin, Damaris Hayman and Christopher Barry
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making-of Documentary [The Devil Rides Out] | SD | 28:40 | The Dæmons |
| Behind the Sofa | HD | 26:55 | New |
| Location Film | HD | 9:11 | The Dæmons [extended, original was 6:42] |
| Colourisation Test | SD | 25:01 | The Dæmons |
| Restoration Feature [Tomorrow’s World] | SD | 5:13 | The Dæmons |
| The Pertwee Years VHS Intro | SD | 3:23 | The Pertwee Years VHS |
| Christopher Barry | SD | 19:02 | Creature from the Pit |
| BBC Trails & Continuities | SD | 6:43 | New |
| Photo Gallery | HD | 11:28 | The Dæmons [SD 6:11 version] |
| Coming Soon [Day of the Daleks] | SD | 1:12 | The Sun Makers |
Total disc contents: 4:18:52
Disc 7: The Dæmons [Bonus]
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Dæmons Omnibus [Recreation of 28/12/71 broadcast] | HD | 1:29:16 | New |
| Devil’s Weekend | HD | 36:10 | New |
| Remembering Barry Letts | HD | 33:36 | The Dæmons |
| The Direct Route | HD | 49:21 | New |
| The Direct Route: Bonus | HD | 2:11 | New |
| Living with Levene | SD | 35:09 | The Claws of Axos SE |
| Visual Effects [Peter Day Interview] | HD (from SD material) | 6:41 | New |
| 50th Anniversary Archive [Wills and Franklin] | HD | 30:43 | New |
| Chronicle: The Silbury Dig | SD | 39:30 | New |
Total disc contents: 5:22:37
- Coming Soon: Nightmare of Eden moved to season 17.
- In the DWM preview, The Direct Route and 50th Anniversary Archive were listed on Disc 8, not 7.
Disc 8: Bonus
| Format | Length | Original DVD Source & Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katy Manning in Conversation | HD | 1:15:31 | New |
| Terrance Dicks Tribute [Terrance and Me] | HD | 1:01:49 | New |
| Panopticon Archive [Jon Pertwee, 1991] | SD | 51:15 | New |
| Return of the Autons [Blu-ray Trailer] | HD | 3:57 | New |
| Blue Peter [Lots of doors] | SD | 9:12 | New |
| Audio Archive [Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons] | Audio | 3:51:41 | BBC Audiobooks CD |
| Audio Archive [Audio Book Promo] | HD | 2:14 | New |
| Studio Clocks | HD | 4:20 | New |
Total disc contents: 7:19:59
PDF Material
The Radio Times listings appeared on the DVDs of Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Claws of Axos SE (inc an article on Bernard Holley), Colony in Space and The Daemons (along with an article about Pertwee and Manning). The Master Plan Q material featured on Terror of the Autons, and the Sugar Smacks material on both Terror of the Autons and The Mind of Evil.
Errata
Some copies of the booklet were missing pages, and duplicated others in their place, these were replaced by BBC Studios on request. The page for The Dæmons also mistakenly listed Barry Letts as director – this was not corrected.
