List of BBC DVD releases

Doctor Who has been released by BBC DVD since 1999, with K9 and Company, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures also having been released on the DVD format by BBC DVD since their inceptions.

1999
Doctor Who was chosen as one of six DVDs released to represent the BBC as a 'test' of the DVD market by BBC Worldwide. The other titles were The Black Adder, Noddy in Toyland, The Planets, Persuasion and Volume I of The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus. The title chosen for this test was The Five Doctors. This was picked because of it already existing in a "Special Edition" format from the BBC Video release of 1995. This permitted better use of the DVD format with 5.1 surround sound. The Region 1 release of this title featured a commentary not available on the Region 2 and 4 versions, but which would later be included on the "Special Edition" re-release of 2008.

2000
The Five Doctors was something of a false start. The range kicked off properly a year later with The Robots of Death. with a different cover art template. Although the menu intro sequence was the same as for The Five Doctors, in all other respects the menu system was completely redesigned. It was planned for each disc to feature the story's theme music over the menu intro sequence. This was dropped early into 2001 as it was felt that the Howell version of the theme fitted the sequence best and has been used on every release since.

2001
Spearhead from Space was a last minute addition to the schedule and was primarily based on the restoration done for the 1999 repeat broadcast.

2002
Pyramids of Mars was originally to have been the Tom Baker title in the second slot. Issues with contract negotiations led to it being postponed and The Ark in Space put in its place. The original plan was to release one title from each Doctor. This was not managed as The Ark in Space and Carnival of Monsters were slipped into the schedule to avoid two black and white stories being released back to back. This year saw the first major discontinuity between UK (Region 2) and North American (Region 1) DVD releases. A box set of the six stories from the Key to Time season was released in Region 1 years before a similar release in Region 2.

2003
For Doctor Who's fortieth anniversary, BBC DVD wanted to release one title from each Doctor. The Three Doctors was originally planned for the first release slot of the year, but was held back for the anniversary month. For the year most releases included a special music video. Clips from the show were accompanied by the popular cover version of the Doctor Who theme music by Orbital. In Region 4 these releases, except for The Curse of Fenric, had an additional slip cover fitted over the cases, which were covered in silver TARDIS roundels and replaced the standard DVD range logo with the Fortieth Anniversary variation.

2004
Pyramids of Mars was released after being voted most wanted DVD release in a 2003 Doctor Who Magazine poll and the Lost in Time set came about due to the recovery of the previously missing episode "Day of Armageddon" from The Daleks' Master Plan, which occurred in the January of 2004. The release of Lost in Time marked the first time BBC DVD released a Doctor Who boxset, instead of releasing individual serials. It also marks the first time two different Doctors were released together, without it being a multi-Doctor story.

2005
From Revelation of the Daleks onwards, the DVDs featured the logo of 2|entertain, a DVD release company formed by the BBC and Woolworths. The release of the Dalek Collector's Edition was the first time that 2|entertain released a DVD collection exclusively to a shop - W H Smith. This was available only in the UK, and not worldwide.

2006
The Sontaran Experiment in October 2006 marked the start of more frequent releases. Titles might be a "Super Value Edition" (like The Sontaran Experiment). This meant fewer extras. Some releases were "Special Editions" like the two disc releases of the past. Super Value Editions were abandoned around 2008. The two missing episodes of The Invasion were originally animated for BBCi and used for the story's DVD release. The Mark of the Rani was a release brought forward to plug a gap created by the delay of Arc of Infinity.

2007
The Series Three DVD box set was, in an exclusive release at Amazon.co.uk, made available with the choice of two additional covers as well as the standard cover. The Remembrance of the Daleks disc, as part of The Complete Davros Collection DVD box set, marked the first example of the range re-visiting an earlier release. The new disc corrected mistakes with effects and the multi-angle feature; it upgraded the Photo Gallery feature and added new documentaries.

2008
The release of The Five Doctors was the second re-release of the series. The first had been Remembrance of the Daleks in 2007. This made the original 1983 version of the story available on DVD for the first time. The release of The Invisible Enemy featured an authoring error on the Region 2 release. A replacement disc could be obtained directly from 2|entertain and the error was corrected for later pressings.

2009
The Special Edition release of Remembrance of the Daleks, part of the 2007 Davros box set, was released separately this year. This was in addition to the regular releases. The Dalek War box set had been planned as a late December release; it was brought forward to fill a hole created by the Torchwood: Children of Earth DVD being released closer to the broadcast date. Dalek War also saw the first release of episode 3 of Planet of the Daleks in colour because of new colourisation techniques.

2010
The Kamelion Tales DVD box set was originally scheduled for the January release slot. It was pushed back due to an administrative error. Its replacement, the Peladon Tales box set, had originally been planned for 2008, but was also held back until this year. Three new special editions of stories released early in the range appeared in Revisitations 1 box set. The rights issues with the 1996 TV Movie were cleared and it was released on DVD for the first time in Regions 1 & 4. A limited edition version of the Season Five box set, a metal tin (BBCDVD3344), was released alongside the standard version.

2011
For 2011, 2|entertain switched to unified release dates. Titles were generally released worldwide within a few weeks of each other. New special editions of three previously available stories were released in the Revisitations 2 box set. A new special edition of Spearhead from Space was paired with Terror of the Autons for the Mannequin Mania boxset.

2012
The three stories in Revisitations 3, plus Vengeance on Varos and The Claws of Axos are new special editions of stories released early in the range. The U.N.I.T Files box contains an alternate colour version of Invasion of the Dinosaurs part 1 achieved through new colourisation techniques in addition to the surviving black & white copy. The same techniques enabled the release of The Ambassadors of Death in full colour for the first time. Beginning with the Ace Adventures the DVDs no longer carry the 2|entertain logo on the release cover, but remain on the reverse.

2013
There are five special editions of older, previously released titles: The Aztecs, Inferno, The Green Death, The Ark in Space and The Visitation. The Big Finish Productions webcast version of Shada was included on the DVD release of the incomplete television story. The missing episodes of The Reign of Terror were animated for release. The same will be done for The Tenth Planet, The Ice Warriors and The Moonbase. The Tenth Planet had an advanced release in region 2, having been released in the Regeneration Box several months prior to the individual release in all regions. The same has happened to Terror of the Zygons, which had been released in a Fourth Doctor Time Capsule set (exclusive to region 2 again) 2 months before it's main release.

DVD covers

 * The covers for all BBC DVD releases can be found here.