BBC, out now

William Hartnell’s nine-story second season of Doctor Who gets a Blu-ray makeover in the latest boxset release from The Collection range.

The 12th boxset in the Doctor Who season-by-season releases is significant for many reasons, not least because we’re nearly at the halfway mark. More importantly, this is the first black and white season to be released in the collection and the first to include ‘missing’ and incomplete stories.

Rather than run through every extra or special feature, I’m going to focus on content that wasn’t on the previous individual DVDs. Planet of Giants’ highlight is a 49-minute William Russell interview with Matthew Sweet in 2018. It’s a fascinating chat, with little revelations like Jacqueline Hill used to work at Cadbury’s, and there’s casual name dropping of contemporaries like Dirk Bogarde and Robert Shaw.

The Dalek of Invasion of Earth has the first set of Behind the Sofa features, with a meaty cast of companions – Carole Ann Ford, Maureen O’Brien, Peter Purves, Wendy Padbury, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Bonnie Langford and Sophie Aldred. The episodes also boast enhanced dual mono audio. The Rescue’s big plus is a lengthy and candid interview with Maureen O’Brien (again with Sweet), looking at everything from her inability to handle public recognition, having a breakdown and handling Hartnell’s racism. The boxset promo featuring O’Brien as Vicki, The Storyteller, is also included.

The Crusade is the only serial in this set that is incomplete, with episodes 2 and 4 reconstructed using original audio and telesnaps. I’m sure there will be disappointment in some quarters that they weren’t animated, but as the standalone serials with animated episodes have currently stopped, this was inevitable. There is however a new commentary on The Lion about the recovery of the episode. Looking for David is a moving and insightful profile of David Whitaker presented by Toby Hadoke, trying to find out more about the script editor. The Panopticon Archives is also a great addition, featuring conversations with Jacqueline Hill, Adrienne Hill (Katarina) and Michael Craze.

The Space Museum includes the 1960s segment of Doctor Who and the Collectors, a new series of documentaries about show merchandise, presented by Emily Cook. Finally, The Time Meddler has a concise summary of the production of Season 2.

Verdict: Another quality addition to the range, proving that older seasons can still look good and that there are new facts and stories to be shared. 9/10

Nick Joy

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