When Doctor Who's 60th anniversary specials were broadcast last year, UK fans didn't have too long to wait for the physical media release. On Dec 18, 2023 - just 9 days after "The Giggle" was broadcast - Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials was released on DVD and Blu-ray.
Unfortunately, overseas customers had to wait a great deal longer. For a long while, it wasn't made clear if anywhere else would see a physical media release at all. After all, outside of the UK, Doctor Who was mainly seen as a Disney+ show, and very few Disney+ series get a physical release.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case. It took a long time for anything to be revealed, but a few months ago, the North American release of Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials was finally available to pre-order on websites such as Amazon and BBC Shop.
Bonus features
There aren't many movies or TV shows that I tend to purchase on physical media these days, but Doctor Who is still a big exception. A key reason for this is how extensive the bonus features are. This has been a highlight for Doctor Who on physical media since individual stories were released on DVD in the early '00s, and that's continued to be true to this day.
It's a key reason why fans are always excited about the announcement of another classic season in Doctor Who: The Collection on Blu-ray. The picture quality won't be much better than the DVD releases due to the series mostly being shot on video, but each season is guaranteed to have a good mix of special features, old and new.
So unsurprisingly, this is a key reason why I'm excited to watch the physical media release of last year's specials. Especially considering how extensive those special features are, at least based on the following description on Amazon.co.uk:
"Exclusive to the 60th Anniversary specials release:
Rachel Talalay's Scene Breakdown
Chanya Button's Scene Breakdown
Tom Kingsley's Scene Breakdown
Special Features:
The Star Beast Behind The Scenes
The Fourteenth Doctor Reveal
Wild Blue Yonder Behind The Scenes
The Giggle Behind The Scenes
The Giggle In-vision Commentary
The Star Beast In-vision Commentary"
That's a lot of special features included with this release, and honestly, that's not even the full list. Some of them you can find on YouTube right now, but it's still good to see a few exclusives included such as the scene breakdowns. The description of the US release doesn't list if all the same bonus features have been included, but I'm certainly hopeful. Just as I'm hopeful that we'll eventually find out when Ncuti Gatwa's first season will be given its North American release.
Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials is available to purchase now on Blu-ray and DVD.