A Surprise for Who Fans!
Season 24 has been announced as the next entry into The Collection Blu Ray range! It sees Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy’s debut, appearing alongside his companion Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) and also introduces future companion Ace (Sophie Aldred).
Season 24 aired from 7th September to 7th December 1987, and contains the following stories, spread across fourteen episodes:
- Time and the Rani
- Paradise Towers
- Delta and the Bannermen
- Dragonfire
Season 24 is perhaps seen as being notorious for its lighter tone and ideas, which contrasted with the darker characterisation of the Doctor and quality of stories seen later on in Season’s 25 and 26, though hopefully this new boxset will lend itself to some reevaluation.
A lovingly-made trailer for the set can be found below:
The description for the set is as follows:
“The Doctor is faced with enemies including the Rani (Kate O’Mara) and the terrifying Tetraps in Time and the Rani, Kroagnon and his cleaning robots in Paradise Towers, the ruthless Bannermen in Delta and the Bannermenand Kane (Edward Peel), the murderous ruler of Iceworld in Dragonfire.”
The production team behind these sets have pulled out all the stops to provide another comprehensive archive for the season in question, and some new extra features include:
- Extended versions of all four stories, featuring previously un-transmitted material.
- Immersive 5.1 surround sound & isolated scores
- Brand new documentaries – Including a feature-length overview of Season 24 – Here’s To The Future, plus The Making Of Delta And The Bannermen.
- Rare studio and location footage – Over 25 hours of raw material never seen before, including behind-the-scenes footage from the regeneration scene.
- In Conversation – Matthew Sweet interviews Sylvester McCoy about his life, career, and time as the Seventh Doctor.
- Behind the Sofa – Four new episodes with Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Sophie Aldred, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Colin Baker & Michael Jayston.
- The Doctor’s Table – Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Sophie Aldred and Clive Merrison reminisce about the making of the season.
- Rare Gems from the Archives – Hours of footage covering the promotion of this season including lots of previously unreleased material.
- An Audience with Lady Stevens – A brand new interview with Season 24 actor and Rocky Horror cult figure Patricia Quinn.
- Convention Footage
- HD Photo Galleries – Including many previously unseen images.
- Info Text – Behind-the-scenes information and trivia on every episode.
- Scripts, costume designs, rare BBC production files and other rarities from the archive
- Hours of special features from the previous DVD releases
- and much more!
Season 24 may not be one of the stronger entries in the classic series, but it does have some fun stories in its roster, and I look forward to eagerly diving into the new array of extras provided for the set!
As of writing, a release date has yet to be confirmed though it is expected that we’ll see this release in the Summer, possibly around June-July.
Stay tuned for any further Doctor Who-related announcements!
By HW Reynolds
Reverbium 