List of BBC Blu-ray releases

The following is a list of Blu-ray disc releases by the BBC, broken down by year of release. It includes the catalogue number for each release, as used on the UK version of each Blu-ray Disc (BD).

While the BD format is primarily designed for content produced to high definition standards, upscaled standard definition content can also be distributed using this medium. By taking advantage of the larger disk sizes and bitrates available, the overall picture and audio quality of such an upscale is usually better than DVD.

Spin-off series Torchwood was one of the first BBC productions to be produced and broadcast to HD television standards (1080i50 in the UK) in 2006, and has been released on BD since 2008. The BD releases for first and second series were significantly later than their corresponding DVD releases.

The first series of Torchwood was also released at the same time in 2008 on (BBCHD0016), a rival format to Blu-ray. At this time, the was already drawing to a close, and as a result there were no further Doctor Who franchise releases on the failed format.

Doctor Who has been released on BD since 2009. Planet of the Dead was the first Doctor Who episode to be produced and broadcast in HD, and thus it became the first Doctor Who BD release. The entirety of BBC Wales-era Doctor Who has since been made available on Blu-ray, with the first four series upscaled from their original standard definition masters.

Animated episodes The Infinite Quest and Dreamland have also been released on BD - the former upscaled from its standard definition master, while the latter was originally produced in HD.

As for classic-era Doctor Who, whilst studio scenes were shot in standard-definition using electronic cameras, most on-location scenes were shot on 16mm film. Where the film negatives from these shoots still exist, they have been re-scanned and combined with upscaled studio footage for their high definition BD releases.

Due to an ongoing studio technician strike at the time of recording, the entirety of Spearhead from Space was shot on film. It is thus the only classic-era story that has been re-mastered entirely in HD without any upscaling.

The 1996 TV movie was also shot entirely on 35mm film, and can potentially be re-mastered entirely in HD. However, the existing BD release is an upscale of a standard-definition PAL version (which itself is a conversion of the NTSC master).

Where serials have been entirely or partially recreated through animation, such as The Power of the Daleks (entire serial missing) and the 2017 reconstruction of Shada (the unshot studio scenes), the animation has been rendered at 1080p. Most serials which have been entirely animated include both black & white and colour versions.

In 2018, a new line of BD releases was launched under the banner of Doctor Who - The Collection. Whilst the The Key to Time (Season 16) and The Trial of a Timelord (Season 23) story arcs had previously been released as DVD collections, this new line aims to release the entire classic-era of Doctor Who as season box sets for the first time. In the UK and Australia, these box sets are named after the overall season count (e.g. The Collection - Season 12); whereas in the US, the box sets are named after the season count of the particular actor who played the Doctor (e.g. Tom Baker - Season 1).

The Sarah Jane Adventures was produced and broadcast in HD from its third series onward, though only the fourth and fifth series have been released on BD. However, third series story The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith is included as part of The Complete David Tennant Collection.

The short-lived Class was also released on BD.

The Day of the Doctor was shot using 3D cameras, and produced in 3D for cinema release. The standalone BD release of this story includes both the 3D and 2D versions on a single disc, and is compatible with both 3D and 2D BD players. A standalone version of Dark Water/Death in Heaven was also released in this way, though the story was shot in 2D and converted to 3D in post-production.

BD has also become the medium for Ultra high definition (UHD) content, taking advantage of even higher capacity discs to fit video that has four-times the resolution of standard HD content. UHD video also has additional features such as (HDR), and requires a compatible UHD BD player to be able to read the discs. The first UHD Doctor Who release was Twice Upon a Time in 2018.

2010
The Complete Fifth Series was also released as a Steelbook (BBCBD0130), with three exclusive art cards. A second Steelbook (BBCBD0487) was released in 2020 as a 4 disc set.

A Steelbook version of the Complete Specials (BBCBD0470) was released in 2019, with a bonus disc containing animated stories The Infinite Quest and Dreamland.

2011
The first and second series of Torchwood were repackaged (BBCBD0198 and BBCBD0299 respectively) with standard Blu-ray cases as part of the Torchwood - Series 1-4 box set. The original releases of these series used cardboard 'Digipak' packaging.

The Complete Sixth Series was also released as a limited edition (BBCBD0193), featuring a raised Silent head slip case and four 3-D art cards. A Steelbook version (BBCBD0505) was released in 2020.

2012
The Series 7: Part 1 box set was also released in a limited edition Weeping Angel case (BBCBD0225), with an exclusive documentary, The Science of Doctor Who. Another version was also released (BBCBD0226), containing five exclusive art cards. In the UK, all versions included a redeemable Ultraviolet copy of the first five episodes of the series.

2013
In the UK, the Series 7: Part 2 box set included a redeemable Ultraviolet copy of the last nine episodes of the series.

In the US, the Series 1-7 box set included new versions of the Complete Specials (now a 3 disc set), Complete Fifth Series (4 disc set), and Complete Sixth Series (4 disc set).

The Complete Seventh Series box set was released as a limited edition book case with a raised TARDIS cover (BBCBD0251). In the UK, both versions included a redeemable Ultraviolet copy of all episodes in the series. A Steelbook version (BBCBD0517) was released in 2020.

A Steelbook version of Spearhead from Space (BBCBD0344) was released in 2016.

Steelbook versions of the Complete First Series (BBCBD0343) and Complete Second Series (BBCBD0393) were released in 2017, followed by the Complete Third Series (BBCBD0436) in 2018, and the Complete Fourth Series (BBCBD0467) in 2019.

2014
The Complete Eighth Series was also released as a special edition (BBCBD0289), with a foil embellished slipcase and a button press sound chip containing the TARDIS dematerialisation sound effect, and four art cards.

2016
The Complete Ninth Series was also released as a Steelbook edition (BBCBD0357).

2017
The Complete Tenth Series (BBCBD421) and Shada (BBCBD0431) were also released as Steelbook editions.

2019
The Complete Eleventh Series (BBCBD0455) and The Macra Terror (BBCBD0464) were also released as Steelbook editions.

In Australia and New Zealand, the contract to distribute BBC Blu-ray releases transferred from Roadshow to Universal in August. As such, some subsequent releases were delayed compared to their UK/US counterparts. Following this change, titles from The Collection started to be released in New Zealand, beginning with Season 10.

2020
The Faceless Ones (BBCBD0482), the Complete Twelfth Series (BBCBD0498), and Fury from the Deep (BBCBD0500) were also released as Steelbook editions.

The Power of the Daleks, originally released on Blu-ray in 2017, was re-released as a special edition with significant changes to the animation and additional bonus features. Unlike the previous release, the episodes were only made available in black & white.

Non-English releases
Blu-ray releases of Doctor Who and its spin-off shows are managed internationally by a variety of distributors under licence from the BBC. While for the most part, releases of modern-era stories have typically mirrored those of the English releases, there are some exceptions. In contrast, classic-era stories have had very limited release outside of the English-speaking regions.

Uniquely, The Infinite Quest and Dreamland both saw their first release on BD as part of a German double-feature in February 2019. The stories were later made available the same year as a bonus disc in the Complete Specials Steelbook in the UK, and The Complete David Tennant Collection in the US.

In Italy, a BD version of The Complete David Tennant Years (titled Gli Anni Di David Tennant) was released in 2016. An equivalent set would not be released in the US until three years later in 2019.

Classic-era releases in Germany
In Germany, DVD releases of classic-era stories only started in 2014, as opposed to English-speaking regions where they have been available since 1999. As such, instead of directly mirroring the The Collection line of season box sets, individual classic-era stories were released on BD simultaneously with their DVD counterparts.

Releases were typically first made available in limited edition 'Mediabook' packaging, then re-released with standard Blu-ray cases a few months later.


 * Castrovalva - 25 January 2019
 * Earthshock - 25 January 2019
 * Revenge of the Cybermen - 15 March 2019
 * The Visitation - 28 June 2019
 * Black Orchid - 19 July 2019
 * The Keeper of Traken - 25 October 2019
 * Logopolis - 22 November 2019
 * Four to Doomsday - 21 February 2020
 * Kinda - 8 May 2020
 * Time-Flight - 25 September 2020
 * The Leisure Hive - 27 November 2020

In January 2020, a line of season box sets was announced, starting with Season 23 - the most recent season to be released in English-speaking regions. However, it was announced two months later that due to poor pre-order sales, and the affecting the country, that the release had been put on hold indefinitely.

Standards conversion of releases
Almost all of Doctor Who and its various spin-offs were shot and broadcast to the UK television standards of the period. These were B&W (1963 - 1967),  B&W (1968 - 1969), 576i  (1970 - 2008, except Torchwood), and  (DW, SJA from 2009; all of Torchwood).

UK television uses 50Hz as its basis for frame rate. For classic-era stories, was used to shoot studio scenes, while on-location film shoots used. For modern-era stories, all scenes were shot at 25p. For broadcast mastering, 25p content is converted losslessly to 50i.

While almost all UK televisions and BD players are fully compatible with both UK 50Hz and US 60Hz standards, many TVs and players in the US do not playback UK 50Hz content correctly. Thus, BD releases in Region A must be in some way to a more compatible format.

2008-10
For early BD releases, 2|entertain chose to produce a single master for all markets. They decided to convert the 1080i50 broadcast masters to 1080i60, to ensure the discs were compatible in both regions.

This conversion preserved playback speed, but required inter-frame interpolation to increase the number of frames per second.

2010-13
Following complaints from buyers, 2|entertain started to produce two different masters for new BD releases - one for the US/Region A, and one for UK/Region B. The Region B releases persevered the original 1080i50 broadcast, while Region A releases continued to use standards converted 1080i60.

The first Region B release to benefit from this change was Series 5: Volume 1.

2013 onwards
This trend continued until 2013, where Region A releases changed to using 1080p24 mastering. This preserved the original frames of the UK broadcast master with no interpolation, but resulted in the video running approximately 4% slower. Audio was pitch-corrected to compensate.

The first 1080p24 release in Region A was Spearhead from Space, followed shortly after by the Complete Seventh Series.

For the release of the Series 1-7 box-set later the same year, 2|entertain (now branded BBC Worldwide) produced a single master for the first four series; opting for the same 1080p24 format they had recently adopted for Region A releases.

In Region B, this meant the set was released with Series 1-4 mastered at 1080p24, the 2009 Specials mastered at 1080i60, and Series 5-7 mastered at 1080i50. In Region A, the previously released series were remastered, resulting in the entire set being presented at 1080p24.

Modern-era Doctor Who releases have continued to be released in Region A with 1080p24 mastering. However, classic-era stories in The Collection use 1080i60 mastering.

Most new Region B releases continue to use the 50i format of the broadcast masters - exception to this is the UHD release of Twice Upon a Time, which is presented at 2160p24. Steelbook re-releases of series, starting with the 2009 Specials, also use 1080p24 mastering.

Miracle Day
Torchwood - Miracle Day was a co-production between the BBC and US-broadcaster Starz. As a result, it was shot and produced at 24p, like most other US television dramas.

For the BD release, Region A was mastered at the original 1080p24, while Region B was converted to 1080p25 (resulting in a slight speed up). This conversion for Region B is notably odd, given 1080p24 releases are the norm for movies in this region.

The Day of the Doctor
The Day of the Doctor was shot natively in 3D, with both cameras shooting at 25p. When broadcast in 3D on UK television, this was presented at 25p in side-by-side format (25 frames per eye, with half horizontal resolution). For cinema release, this was converted to 24p (24 frames per eye) using the same slowdown method used for US releases.

The original BD release for Day of the Doctor was formatted to be able to played in both 2D and 3D formats using the same disc. BD standards for 3D video did not provide a suitable format for 50Hz content at 1080p. Instead, the disc had to be mastered at 1080p24 - an identical frame rate to the cinema release. This master was used in all regions.

For the 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition released the following year, The Day of the Doctor was presented in 2D only. However, BBC Worldwide kept the slowed down frame rate that had been necessary for the 3D release, resulting in the story being presented at 1080p24. Following complaints from buyers, a disc replacement programme was launched - allowing the disc containing the 'faulty' master to be exchanged for one that had been mastered at 1080i50.

1996 TV Movie
The 1996 TV Movie was a co-production between the BBC and Fox networks. The story was shot on film at 24p, which was then using 3:2 pulldown to US  picture standards at 60i for editing and mastering.

For the UK broadcast, the US broadcast master was "reverse telecined" back to 24p, before being converted to 576i PAL, and sped up to playback at 25p.

For the 2016 BD release, this PAL master was upscaled to HD, rather than returning to the original film elements (as done for Spearhead from Space). However, for reasons unknown, it was not slowed down back to the original speed of 24p.

Blu-ray covers
The covers for all BBC Blu-ray releases include Doctor Who Blu-ray covers, SJA Blu-ray covers and Torchwood Blu-ray covers.