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 distrubed 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.

Spinoff 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 it's standard definition master, while the latter was originally produced in HD. These were first released as a double-feature in Germany in 2019, before being included as a bonus disc on the Complete Specials Steelbook re-release later the same year in English-speaking regions.

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. Standalone releases of 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).

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, The Collection line does not exist in this country - instead, individual classic-era stories have been released simultaneously with their DVD counterparts, starting in 2019 with Revenge of the Cybermen.

The Sarah Jane Adventures was produced and broadcast in HD from its third series onwards, though only the fourth and fifth series have been released on BD. The short-lived Class was also released on this format.

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 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.

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. In the UK, both 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 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
Shada (BBCBD0431) and the Complete Tenth Series (BBCBD421) were also released as Steelbook editions.

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

2020
The Faceless Ones was also released as a Steelbook edition (BBCBD0482).

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.