The Collection: Season 9

This was the thirteenth season released, on 20th March 2023 in the UK, marking the exact midpoint through the original 26 seasons.

Defenders of Earth

Sources

PAL VTDay of the Daleks, The Sea Devils:4-6, The Mutants:3-6, The Time Monster 6 (B/W)
NTSC VT & b/w filmThe Curse of Peladon (some film sequences exist), The Sea Devils:1-3, The Mutants:1-2, The Time Monster 1-6

For the DVD releases, the NTSC VT episodes used the RSC process to return them to PAL (and presumably this will be the case here). The Curse of Peladon Episode Three was badly damaged and had to be baked to enable it to be played back. The Sea Devils Episode Five had a scratch running through most of it that needed repairing. The Time Monster Episode Six combined the colour signal from the NTSC VT with the b/w PAL VT

For the Blu-ray, the primary restorations of the above episodes are b/w film, VidFIREd, combined with the colour from the NTSC VT. As the films are slightly cropped (See Season 8 for an example), the original DVD restorations are also presented as bonuses (except The Time Monster Episode Six).

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

VHSVHS ArtDVDDVD Art
Day of the Daleks8/8/86
88
7/2/94
Sid Sutton19/9/11Lee Binding
The Curse of Peladon9/8/93Andrew Skilleter18/1/10Clayton Hickman
The Sea Devils4/9/95Colin Howard14/1/08Clayton Hickman
The Mutants17/2/03Uncredited [Black Sheep]31/1/11Lee Binding
The Time Monster5/11/01Uncredited [Black Sheep]29/3/10Clayton Hickman

Day of the Daleks was released on VHS in omnibus form in 1986 (and then reissued in 1988 at a lower price point), and then in 1994 unedited. In both cases mistitled The Day of the Daleks. The Mutants was in a ‘Master’ tine with Colony in Space. For more images see here.

The Sea Devils was released on DVD alongside Doctor Who and the Silurians and Warriors of the Deep in the Beneath the Surface boxset. The Time Monster was part of a DVD boxset called Myths and Legends with Underworld and The Horns of Nimon.

With the exception of The Sea Devils, 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 releases. Day of the Daleks had an exclusive alternate cover design in Australia.

Summary

Behind the Sofa are

  • Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding
  • Katy Manning, Michael E. Briant
  • Sophie Aldred, Wendy Padbury

Info text originally by Martin Wiggins on all stories except The Mutants (which was by Richard Bignell), all updated here.

The Sea Devils has new Dolby Atmos and Dolby 5.1 options.

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.

Disc 1: Day of the Daleks (1:36:19)

Commentary with Jimmy Winston [1,2 and the last few minutes of 4], Mike Catherwood [1,2,3], Terrance Dicks [1,2,4], Barry Letts [1,3,4], Anna Barry [2,4] (2011)

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
Making-of DocumentaryHD30:34Day of the Daleks
Behind the SofaSD31:53New
A View from the GalleryHD20:02Day of the Daleks
Now and ThenSD5:23Day of the Daleks
Blue PeterSD4:48New
BBC Trails & ContinuitiesSD1:23New
Photo GalleryHD11:12SD 5:31 version on Day of the Daleks
Audio Archive [Sunday Best – Terry Nation [.2.72]Audio9:20New
Audio Archive [Free Thinking – The Daleks 13.7.22]Audio43:16New

Total disc contents: 4:14:10

Disc 2: Day of the Daleks Bonus

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
1973 Omnibus VersionHD1:00:19New
Special Edition [Four parts, newly shot footage, CGI effects and updated Dalek voices]HD1:36:19Day of the Daleks
Making the Special EditionHD13:35Day of the Daleks
The Cheating MemorySD8:26Day of the Daleks
The UNIT Dating Conundrum SD9:04Day of the Daleks
Convention Footage [Courtney and Franklin at Monstercon 1986]SD42:18New
Teaser Trailer [for Special Edition DVD]SD0:20Day of the Daleks

Total disc contents: 3:50:21

  • Coming Soon: Colony in Space moved to Season 8.
  • The UNIT Family (Part Two) has been moved to Season 10.
  • Nationwide moved to The Sea Devils.

Disc 3: The Curse of Peladon (1:37:57)

Commentary with Katy Manning, Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks, Chris D’Oyly-John, moderated by Toby Hadoke (2010)

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
Making of DocumentarySD23:25The Curse of Peladon
Behind the SofaHD30:39New
Jon & Katy FeaturetteSD7:08The Curse of Peladon
Storyboard ComparisonSD2:18The Curse of Peladon
Film SequencesHD3:24New
BBC Trails & ContinuitiesSD4:13New
Photo GalleryHD9:30SD 7:31 version on The Curse of Peladon
Audio Archive [Abridged BBC Audiobook]Audio1:29:42New
DVD VersionHD1:37:57The Curse of Peladon

Total disc contents: 6:06:31

  • Proposed moving Warriors of Mars to The Ice Warriors.
  • Coming Soon: The Masque of Mandragora expected to move to Season 13

Disc 4: The Sea Devils (2:27:47)

New 5.1 and Dolby Atmos options on both broadcast and omnibus versions

Commentary with Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks, Michael E Briant, moderated by Andrew Cartmel (2008)

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
Making-of DocumentarySD36:39The Sea Devils
Behind the SofaHD31:40New
Defenders of Earth [BD Trailer]HD7:28New
Behind the Scenes FootageSD3:53The Sea Devils
Music FeaturetteSD13:53Doctor Who and the Silurians
Nationwide [22.2.72]SD3:25Day of the Daleks
South Today [19.11.13]HD3:54New
BBC Trails & ContinuitiesSD10:456:20 version on The Sea Devils
Coming SoonSD0:43Meglos
Audio Archive [Radio Solent Jon Pertwee Interview 21.10.71]Audio3:52New
Audio Archive [Radio 4 Today 28.3.72]Audio2:09New

Total disc contents: 4:36:05

  • Coming Soon: The Time Meddler moved to Season 2.

Disc 4: The Sea Devils Bonus

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
Omnibus VersionHD1:28:28New
Location Location LocationHD42:52New
Michael Briant DocumentaryHD51:46New
Stuart Fell DocumentaryHD26:35New
DVD Version [Episodes 1-3]SD1:13:14The Sea Devils

Total disc contents: 4:42:55

Disc 6: The Mutants (2:26:01)

Commentary with Katy Manning [1,2,4,6], Terrance Dicks [1,3,5], Christopher Barry [1,3,5,6], Bob Baker [1,5,6], Brian Hodgson [2,4], Garrick Hagon [2,4,6], Jeremy Bear [3,5], moderated by Nicholas Pegg (2011)

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
Making-of DocumentarySD19:13The Mutants
Behind the SofaHD30:55New
Diversity DocumentarySD37:43The Mutants
BBC Trails & ContinuitiesSD1:01New
Photo GalleryHD8:04SD 2:58 version on The Mutants
DVD Version [Episodes 1-2]SD48:56The Mutants

Total disc contents: 4:03:09

  • Dressing Doctor Who has been moved to Season 14.
  • Coming Soon: The Ark is likely to move to Season 3.
  • Blue Peter moved to The Three Doctors.

The Making of documentary was slightly edited when compared to its DVD counterpart, to remove some racial slurs on the part of Terrance Dicks. The DVD length was 20:39.

Disc 7: The Time Monster (2:27:50)

Commentary with Barry Letts [1,5,6], Marion McDougall [1,5,6], Graham Duff [3], Phil Ford [3], Joseph Lidster [3], James Moran [3], Susan Penhaligon [5], moderated by Toby Hadoke, plus John Levene commentating alone [3,4] (2010)

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
Behind the SofaHD30:52New
Between Now… and Now!SD23:39The Time Monster
Nationwide [07.12.72 Special Effects Exhibition]SD3:26New
BBC Trails & ContinuitiesSD0:37New
Photo GalleryHD10:02SD 8:01 version on The Time Monster

Total disc contents: 3:36:26

  • Coming Soon: The Creature from the Pit moved to Season 17.

Disc 8: The Time Monster Bonus

FormatLengthOriginal DVD Source & Notes
DVD Version [Episodes 1-5]SD2:02:49The Time Monster
Making-of DocumentaryHD50:16New
DVD Restoration ComparisonSD3:23The Time Monster
Jon Pertwee Sketch [On the Waterfront 6.5.89]SD3:27New
The Panopticon Archive [Ingrid Pitt and Terrance Dicks 1992]SD43:33New
50th Anniversary Archive [Richard Franklin]HD10:14New
Studio ClocksSD9:27New

Total disc contents: 4:03:09

The original DVDs contained Radio Times listings on all discs. Day of the Daleks also included a Radio Times feature on Katy Manning, The Curse of Peladon also included the sales documentation now moved to Disc 1, and The Sea Devils included The Making of Doctor Who.