DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Michael Ferguson (Seeds of Death), Barry Letts (Carnival of Monsters), Matthew Robinson (Resurrection of the Daleks)
Starring Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison
Release date Out now

Three vintage Doctor Who stories (Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters, Resurrection of the Daleks) are given the special edition treatment, with copious, brand-new extras…

A second batch of previously released Doctor Who DVDs get the deluxe special edition treatment in these extra-laden re-issues.

None of the three stories are out-and-out classics, but they’re all great fun. The Seeds of Death rematches Second Doctor Patrick Troughton with the hissing, villainous Ice Warriors; Jon Pertwee encounters the toothy Drashigs in the colourful Carnival of Monsters; and Peter Davison defrosts Davros and encounters the deadly Daleks in Resurrection of the Daleks.

All three stories come with a host of brand new extras, as well as the material from the earlier releases. ‘Lords of the Red Planet’ examines the making of the Ice Warrior tale; ‘Monster Masterclass’ has director Michael Ferguson discussing how to shoot a monster; while ‘Monsters Who Came Back for More’ examines the reasons certain monsters keep coming back to Doctor Who.

‘Destroy All Monsters’ is a ‘making of’ for Carnival of Monsters, couched — not particularly convincingly — in the style of a cod monster movie trailer: “See Katy Manning impersonate a chicken!”

Ian Marter, actor and author, is the focus of a touching ‘On Target’ entry, while the fast-paced ‘A-Z of Gadgets and Gizmos’ is self-explanatory. Rather out-of-step is a history lesson about mysteriously missing ships, rather surplus to requirements. There’s also the infamous early, longer edit of episode two, complete with the infamous ‘Delaware’ unused version of the show’s theme tune.

Central to the Resurrection of the Daleks re-issue is a brand-new, nearly hour-long examination of the Peter Davison era — ‘Come In Number Five’ — presented by Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant. It’s a great encapsulation of a time when the show was under some scrutiny.

Elsewhere, Toby Hadoke interviews some of the bit-part actors from the story, including the infamous Dirty Den himself, Leslie Grantham. There’s an additional new commentary on the previously unreleased two-part transmission version of the story, and a ‘Tomorrow’s Times’ feature on the press coverage of the Fifth Doctor, well presented by Frazer Hines with a cheerful glint in his eye. Brian J. Robb

VERDICT: 9/10
A great package, well-worth the ‘double dip’ purchase due to the sheer amount of additional material included.