List of BBC DVD releases

The following is a list of DVD releases by the BBC, broken down by year of release. It includes the catalogue number for each release, as used on the Region 2 version of each DVD.

Doctor Who has been released on this medium from 1999 until the present. K9 and Company, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K9 have also been released on this medium since their inception. Classic Doctor Who stories that have been released in boxsets in Regions 2 and 4 have been mostly released in Region 1 on their own as single releases, in spite of some of them sharing the same release date.

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 chosen title for this 'test' was The Five Doctors, which was picked due to it already existing in a "Special Edition" format from the BBC Video release of 1995, which allowed it it to take "better advantage" of the DVD format with the use of 5.1 surround sound. The Region 1 release of this title would feature 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
After The Five Doctors, which was something of a false start, the range eventually kicked off properly (with a different cover art template) a year later with The Robots of Death. Although the menu intro sequence was the same as that used on The Five Doctors, in all other respects the menu system was completely redesigned; the plan originally being that each disc would feature the relevant theme music of the story 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 ever 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 released in the second slot, but issues to do with contract negotiations led to it being postponed and The Ark in Space was put in its place. After the release of The Five Doctors, the original plan was to release one title from each Doctor of the then eight Doctors, but as the range progressed this was not quite achieved as The Ark in Space and Carnival of Monsters were then slipped into the schedule to prevent 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 as a box set containing the six stories from the Key to Time season was released in Region 1 years before a similar release occurred in Region 2.

2003
For the 40th Anniversary of Doctor Who, 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 then held back for release in the anniversary month. To mark the anniversary most of the 2003 releases included a special music video tribute to the series using clips from the show 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, featured an additional slip cover fitted over the cases, which were covered in silver TARDIS roundels and replaced the standard DVD range logo with the 40th 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 single episodes. It also marks the first time two different Doctors where released together, without it being a multi-Doctor story.

2005
From Revelation of the Daleks and onwards the DVDs featured the logo of 2|entertain, a DVD release company formed by the BBC and Woolworths. The release of the Dalek collection saw 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 an increase in the number of releases, with titles being assigned as either a "Super Value Edition" (like The Sontaran Experiment), which meant a reduced extras package, or "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 before being 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 beyond that of 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 a previous release (the new disc correcting mistakes with effects and the multi-angle feature, and upgrading the Photo Gallery feature, as well as adding new documentaries).

2008
The release of The Five Doctors is the second re-release of the series, the first being Remembrance of the Daleks, which was released in 2007. This made the original 1983 version of the story available on DVD for the first time.

2009
The Special Edition release of Remembrance of the Daleks that was part of the 2007 Davros box set was released separately this year as an extra title above the number of regular releases. The Dalek War box set was originally planned as a late December release, but was brought forward to fill a hole created by the Torchwood: Children of Earth DVD release being brought closer to the broadcast date. Due to new recolourisation methods, Dalek War also saw the first release of episode 3 of Planet of the Daleks in colour.

2010
The Kamelion Tales DVD box set was originally scheduled for the January release slot, but was pushed back due to an administrative error. Its replacement, the Peladon Tales box set, had originally been planned for 2008, but was likewise held back until this year. Three new special editions of stories released early in the range appeared in Revisitations 1 boxset. 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, meaning that the same Region 1 and 2 titles were generally released within two weeks of each other. New special editions of three previously available stories were released in Revisitations 2 boxset. In addition, a new special edition of Spearhead from Space was paired with Terror of the Autons to form the Mannequin Mania boxset.

2012
The three stories in Revisitations 3 and Vengeance on Varos are the last of the new special editions of stories released early in the range. A provisional Classic Doctor Who release schedule for 2012 was published in Doctor Who Magazine 434 (5th May 2011). The two missing episodes of The Reign of Terror will be animated for release.

Still to be released

 * The Tenth Planet - incomplete; nature of DVD release unknown.
 * The Ice Warriors - incomplete; nature of DVD release unknown.
 * The Ambassadors of Death - originally announced for DVD release in 2011 but has been delayed due to ongoing restoration issues.
 * The Mind of Evil - Colour Recovery has been attempted on episodes two-six of this story (the first episode lacks the necessary 'chromadots', so would require some other means of colourisation), but a great deal of post-processing is needed before these episodes can be considered for release on DVD. Commentary and interviews have been recorded as of June 2010.
 * The Dæmons - In pre-production by October 2010
 * Invasion of the Dinosaurs - In production in March 2011
 * Shada - Announced in October 2010 for release with another story.

DVD covers

 * All BBC DVD releases can be found here.