Laserdisc

Laserdisc, trademarked under the names LaserDisc and LaserVision, but often abbreviated LD, was the first optical disc recording format commercially available. It was a product of the 1980s, and continued as a viable format into the 1990s, when it was replaced by the CD and DVD formats.

It offered superior sound and picture fidelity than VHS or other tape formats. It also had a much greater storage capacity than a VHS tape, allowing for extra features to be put on LD, though fewer extra features appeared on "special edition" LDs, than on later DVD and BluRay formats.

Laserdiscs, though moderately popular in Asia, never really took off in either North America or Europe because of the relative expense of both players and discs. Additionally, there was never the possibility of end users actually recording onto blank LDs — a key reason why the VHS and the later DVD formats became popular.

Doctor Who Laserdiscs
Despite the somewhat transient nature of the format, some Doctor Who stories were released on Laserdisc. They were sporadically published from 1983 to 1997, though not in every region of the world. For instance, The following chart explains which LDs were released, when, and in which regions. Stories are listed in order of earliest release, irrespective of region.