2 Entertain, out now

The 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special gets an Ultra HD upscaling to 4K and looks all the better for it.

I’m going to assume that most readers will already be familiar with Peter Capaldi’s swansong episode, involving his 12th Doctor teaming up with David Bradley’s version of the 1st (as opposed to William Hartnell per se) and  instead focus on the technical specifications of this new release.

This is a first for a Doctor Who release, a 4K disc, which also has the Blu-ray Disc in the package, meaning that if you don’t already have a 4K player and TV you can future proof your purchase and watch the Blu-ray in the meantime. The extras are repeated on each disc – Doctor Who Extra, The End of an Era and Doctor Who Panel: San Diego Comic-Con 2017 – but the appeal here is the gloriously upgraded picture.

As 4K buffs will tell you, it’s not so much about the number of pixels (4 times the number of Blu-ray) but the high dynamic range (HDR) that this format provides. Blacks are blacker, colours are far more vibrant, and this is especially true in the dark South Pole scenes, where the detail is noticeably sharper. Peter Capaldi’s wild hair has never been so well-defined or his face more craggy. It also seems right that we get to see our new Doctor at the end of the hour in the sharpest way possible, and hopefully we’ll get Series 11 in this format too.

Verdict: if you have 4K capabilities, this is a great upscale and worthy of your attention. The Blu-ray version also serves as sweetener for those on the cusp of the upgrade. The episode itself isn’t to everyone’s taste, but judged purely on technical aspects, this release scores highly. 9/10

Nick Joy