Back on Dec 19, the BBC officially announced that Season 7 would be the next complete season of the Classic Series to be released on Blu-ray. This wasn’t too surprising – there had been one or two leaks strongly indicating as such.
What was surprising was that there was no trailer included with the announcement. While we knew not to expect any more newly recorded scenes to accompany the trailer, it was still surprising and a little disappointing to see no trailer at all, especially for fans wanting to catch a glimpse of both the restoration of these much-loved stories and the brand-new special features.
Thankfully, fans were finally given a new trailer on Friday, Jan 24. While it doesn’t include a newly recorded scene, the trailer does begin in a surprising way: with a regeneration…
Regeneration
Using clips from “The Mind Robber”, “The War Games” and “Inferno”, the new trailer for Season 7 depicts a new, simple take on the regeneration from Troughton to Pertwee. I have to admit that it does work nicely, at least on its own terms. The only reason why we didn’t see the regeneration in full in “The War Games” was that the Third Doctor hadn’t been cast at the time. If Pertwee had been cast just a little sooner, the regeneration may have happened almost exactly like it does in the above trailer.
It's strange that we have been given a new take on the regeneration, though. Even though this new edit was made just for the trailer and likely not meant to be taken as canon, it’s surprising that the new trailer didn’t include the new regeneration scene from “The War Games in Color”.
Regardless, the real highlight of the trailer is getting a glimpse of the brand-new special features. Most exciting are the documentaries on both Nicholas Courtney and Malcolm Hulke. Courtney had such an impact on the show as the iconic character the Brigadier, and Hulke wrote so many great stories for the show, so both are reason enough to check out the new box set. Also, knowing how great Matthew Sweet’s previous interviews have been, this box set’s In Conversation with John Levene will also be fascinating to watch.
Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 7 will be released on Blu-ray in the UK on Mar 3. Currently, there’s no confirmed date for the box set’s US release date, although the US release of Season 25 – which will be released in North America as Doctor Who: Syvester McCoy Complete Season Two – is currently scheduled for Feb 25.