RocShemp

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day of the Doctor (Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD Combo) is up for pre-order. It's currently $20.99. Normally I hold off on these and wait for them to be included with a complete series set but felt compelled to get this one separately.

The Valeyard

I'm going to guess that this one (and Smith's final story) will not be on a Series 8 box set. My gut reaction says that the Series 8 set will be Capaldi only.

RocShemp

What do you mean Smith's final story? You mean when he finally regenerates into Capaldi or another standalone adventure?

Josh-da-man

What we do know is that the "Complete Seventh Series" boxed set will include the 2011 Christmas Special ("The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrboe"), the 2012 Christmas Special ("The Snowmen"), and all of the series seven episodes through "The Name of the Doctor."

Late November will see the 50th Anniversary Special, "The Day of the Doctor," and there will a 2013 Christmas Special a month later that will be Matt Smith's final appearance as The Doctor. Each of these will receive a standalone DVD/blu-ray release.

Series 8 will begin next Spring with Peter Capaldi as The Doctor.

As it stands now, the 50th Special and the 2013 Christmas special are the final two Matt Smith episodes and they won't be on the Compete Seventh Series boxed set.

So far, there are at least three possibilities for how they will be handled:

1) They will receive their planned, separate releases and will not appear on the eventual Complete Series 8 boxed set.

2) They will appear on the eventual Complete Series 8 boxed set, though this would be unusual since the complete series sets have traditionally only included a single Doctor and the specials don't seem to be a part of series 8.

3) The two specials (possibly along with "An Adventure in Space and Time" and any other 50th Anniversary goodies that come along) will get their own boxed set release like the four David Tennant specials that bridged series 4 and series 5. A Fiftieth Anniversary boxed set release that will be consistent in format and packaging with the other complete series boxed sets.

Personally, I'd bet on option 3 as it seems to be in line with the BBC's release strategy for the series.

RocShemp

Thanks, Josh-da-man.

Count_Zero

I've heard rumors that "An Adventure in Space and Time" is included as an extra on the Day of the Doctor blu-ray. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

ytrez

It's not listed on the extras:

Behind-the-Scenes Featurette: Go behind the scenes at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special -- on set and on location -- featuring interviews with Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, David Tennant, Billie Piper and John Hurt. Steven Moffat gives insight into writing the episode and takes a look at the monsters that make a return for this very special event.
Doctor Who Explained: The entire 50-year history in one 50-minute special
Two mini-episodes: "The Night of The Doctor" and "The Last Day" (embedded below)
San Diego Comic-Con Trailer
Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Tribute Teaser

And reviews of the UK version don't mention it.

Josh-da-man

I think it's highly unlikely that the BBC would include AAISAT on the "Day of the Doctor" blu-ray. It will get its own separate release. Their release strategy is to milk everything for as much as they can.

The Valeyard

The original plan was to include "An Adventure in Space and Time" on "The Day of the Doctor" release but it was pulled a month or so back. For now, "An Adventure in Space and Time" is ONLY being released on DVD in the UK. There are currently no plans to release it in States (yet).

There are no plans to release it on Blu-Ray at all.


The UK got their DOTD release and are reporting all kinds of errors with the audio such as stereo phasing. It's also been released at 1080p at 24fps which is causing most to complain about the slowed audio. Volume also seems to be an issue.

RocShemp

So basically reverse PAL speedup?

The Valeyard

Exactly.

Josh-da-man

Ugh. I hope the US release isn't fucked up.

RocShemp

I wonder if maybe folk in the UK assume it's fucked up simply due to it being at 24fps. After all, the complete Season 7 is also 1080p/24Hz despite the separate releases being 1080i/60Hz: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Doctor.../69598/#Review

Could it be that Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor was actually produced at 1080p/24Hz and folk in the UK are just having a kneejerk reaction, assuming that it means there is audio slowdown (and thus hearing what they expect to hear)?

The Valeyard

The back cover of the UK version claims that the main feature is 1080i which it's not. The extras (like "Night of the Doctor" and "The Last Day") are 1080i/50. Wonder if they used a version of "Day of the Doctor" that was meant for the US market?

EDIT: The back cover also says the running time is 76 minutes but it's actually 79 minutes with the slowdown. Hopefully, there won't be a "judder" while watching it out here in the States.

RocShemp

Where you finding this? I tried Googling it and found nothing.

The Valeyard

Over at the Gallifrey Base DVD/Blu-Ray Forums. Got a bit more info from the International Forum over at Blu-Ray.com.

Best Buy has an exclusive on this for a week and it's out today. The set comes with a lenticular cover as well as a card with all 12 Doctors (Hurt included). Don't know if that card is a BB exclusive tho. I'm still debating on picking this up or holding out for a "maybe" 50th Anniversary box set.

RocShemp

Thanks.

Someone in that blu-ray.com thread made a very significant point. And that's if this was shot in native 3D, most likely it was indeed produced at 24Hz and therefor there is no slowdown.

Mickactual

I bought the Best Buy 1-week advance release last night.
Beautiful lenticular cover. Package of collectible cards within. Fantastic looking BD picture quality. The disc also thankfully includes "The Night of The Doctor" and "The Last Day" mini episodes + the "Doctor Who Explained" special & the making of special (narrated by Colin Baker) that was shown in theaters after the movie.

Now...nitpick #1: missing are the pre movie theatrical shorts with the Sontaran explaining theatre etiquette and (most sorely missed) the 3D one with Matt Smith explaining that the presentation will be in "12D". Even more sorely missed is Peter Davison's fantastic short "The Five(ish) Doctors". How they could have left these off is beyond me.

Well not really. This brings me to nitpick #2: the packaging says "BluRay 3D + BluRay + DVD". ...But there are only 2 discs in the package (??) Why are the 3D and regular BluRay squeezed onto one disc? It really seems like they did this on the cheap: $22 for one episode, several missing bonus features, and no separate 3D disc. For shame BBC/Warners.

I went to the theatrical showing because I don't have a 3D TV or BD player and it was my only chance to see it in 3D. Now I'm gonna display my 3D naivete here.. When I popped the BD in my player it just played as a standard 2D Blu. There's nothing in the menu allowing You to choose between 2D or 3D - so how does a person with a 3D TV/BD player access the 3D on this disc? Any explanations offered would be greatly appreciated.

E Unit

Is your Blu ray player one that supports playback of 3D discs? If not, the disc will default to 2D only. Also, if you don't have a 3D TV, then the player will recognize this and default to 2D, so you won't see an option asking if you want to watch it in 2D or 3D. A lot of 2D/3D releases are on 1 disc. If that 3D etiquette short is on the disc, this may be why you can't see it.

Adam Tyner

That's criminal.

The Valeyard

I hadn't even thought of that. Good point.

E Unit

The option menu will only come up when the player recognizes you have a 3D TV. For the Doctor Who disc, it looks like this.



I went ahead and got this tonight from Best Buy. Note to those who have pre-ordered this, Best Buy currently has this for $17.99.

Mickactual

^^ Thanks for explaining. I thought maybe I was missing something...

E Unit

No problem. And just as an FYI, the 3D side doesn't have any additional extras. So none of those theatrical shorts are included.

Mickactual

To quote Adam Tyner above: "That's criminal"!