After many rumors – and frankly, a major leak or two – the BBC finally announced yesterday that Season 7 will be the next volume of Doctor Who: The Collection. An extremely popular season from the Classic Series, this is a season that fans have been looking forward to getting the Blu-ray treatment for a long time.
The box set will include four classic stories: "Spearhead from Space", "Doctor Who and the Silurians", "The Ambassadors of Death", and "Inferno". That doesn't sound like many, but considering the last three stories are 7 episodes long each, fans will still be getting a lengthy box set containing 25 episodes. On top of that, movie omnibus editions of "Doctor Who and the Silurians" and "Inferno" will also be included.
Behind the Sofa
Fans can look forward to a wide range of special features for this box set. These include new installments of Behind the Sofa - a series featuring Doctor Who cast and crew reacting to these classic stories.
This volume will include reactions from the family of Caroline John, who played Dr. Liz Shaw in this season. Husband Geoffrey Beevers is probably best known to Doctor Who fans for playing the decayed incarnation of the Master - a role he performed once on television but has since played many more times in Big Finish's audios. Speaking of Big Finish, daughter Daisy Ashford has taken on the role of Liz in the audio series The Third Doctor Adventures. So bringing the family together to watch these stories feels like a lovely tribute.
Also reacting in Behind the Sofa is Katy Manning, who played Third Doctor companion Jo Grant; '80s companions Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), and Sophie Aldred (Ace), and presenter Toby Hadoke.
Documentaries
Also included in the box set are four new documentaries. These include Looking for Mac, which will look at the life of writer Malcolm Hulke. Previous Looking for... documentaries on other box sets have been fascinating to watch, and Malcolm Hulke was a brilliant writer, so I have high expectations for this one.
We can also look forward to Terror of the Suburbs, which sounds like it'll explore the major shift in style that this new Earthbound season brought, and Lucky 13: Rockets, Aliens and Spare Parts, which will show "how the science of the day influenced Doctor Who".
All of these documentaries sound like they'll be great to watch. But the one I'm looking forward to watching the most is Splendid Chap, which will explore the life of Nicholas Courtney. Courtney will always be known to fans as the Brigadier, arguably one of the most iconic characters from the entire history of the show. Considering this was the season that his character went from a recurring character to a regular, it's very fitting that this documentary is released on this particular box set.
Other features
Along with the documentaries, we also have a new In Conversation. Matthew Sweet's extensive interviews with the cast and crew of the Classic Series are highly informative and fascinating to watch. This time, he'll interview John Levene, who played the extremely likable UNIT soldier Sergeant Benton.
Fans can also look forward to convention footage; photo galleries, and even watch Doctor Who actors try to get out of an escape room! On top of all of that, the box set will also include special features from previous releases, including audio commentaries, documentaries, and much more.
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 7 is available to pre-order in the UK right now, although no release date has been given just yet. There's also no release date confirmed for the North American release, likely to be retitled Doctor Who: Complete Jon Pertwee - Season 1. Based on previous releases, it will likely be a few months after the UK release.