Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 26 is coming to UK stores Dec. 23 and the U.S. and Australia “soon.”
The collection of the original series’ final episodes includes the following stories from 1989:
- Battlefield
- Ghost Light
- The Curse of Fenric
- Survival
“In 1989, Doctor Who was on a creative high, with the Seventh Doctor and his companion Ace revitalising the programme for a new generation, reads a statement on the release from the BBC, which canceled the long-running series that same year. “Season 26 featured four epic adventures traversing a future Britain invaded by inter-dimensional knights, a strange Victorian house haunted by ghosts from Ace’s past, an alien world populated by Cheetah People and a 1940s army camp under siege from monstrous vampires.
“With guest stars including Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Jean Marsh, Nicholas Parsons, Anne Reid, Ian Hogg, Sylvia Syms and comedy duo Hale & Pace, this fondly-remembered set of stories saw the end of an era for Doctor Who and set the stage for its hugely successful revival.”
The BBC announced the Doctor Who Season 26 Blu-ray collection with a specially recorded trailer featuring Sophie Aldred reprising her role as Ace, now the head of “A Charitable Earth” but never giving up hope that the Doctor will return:
With all episodes newly remastered from the best available sources, the Blu-ray box set also contains extensive and exclusive special features, including:
- Rare Restored Extended Cuts – The Curse Of Fenric VHS Extended Version, The Curse Of Fenric DVD Special Edition, Battlefield VHS Extended Version and Battlefield DVD Special Edition
- 5.1 surround sound and isolated scores on all 14 broadcast episodes, plus 5.1 sound on all extended versions of The Curse Of Fenric and Battlefield.
- Behind the Sofa – new episodes with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, plus companions Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Anneke Wills and Jodie Whittaker-era writers Pete McTighe & Joy Wilkinson.
- Showman – the Life of John Nathan-Turner – a feature-length look at the life and career of Doctor Who’s longest-serving producer, who fought to keep the programme on-air during the 1980s. Contributors include Peter Davison and Colin Baker.
- Making ‘The Curse of Fenric’– a brand new documentary featuring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Tomek Bork, Nicholas Parsons, Cory Pulman, Marek Anton, Ian Briggs, Andrew Cartmel, Mark Ayres and Ian Collins featuring unseen behind-the-scenes footage and photographs.
- In Conversation – Matthew Sweet chats to companion Sophie Aldred.
- The Writers’ Room – Ben Aaronovitch, Marc Platt, Ian Briggs, Rona Munro and Andrew Cartmel discuss their work on Season 26.
- Becoming The Destroyer – Actor Marek Anton and prosthetics designer Stephen Mansfield recall the creation of one of Doctor Who’s best-ever monsters.
- Plus: Brand new Ghost Light extended workprint, unseen studio footage, rare archive treats, convention footage, HD photo galleries, scripts, costume designs, rare BBC production files and other gems from the archive in PDF.
- The seven-disc box set also includes hours of extensive special features previously released on DVD.
