Sunday 15 July 2012

The Moonbase of the Axons? (aka DVD update)


With word that The Ambassadors of Death will be released in the UK in October, I had thought that this would be the last of 2012's Classic DVD releases. However, some on-line retailers (e.g. play.com & moviemail-online) are accepting pre-orders on a Special Edition release of The Claws of Axos - due 22nd October.
Supposedly with new extras, it will have improved picture quality - particularly in the 2nd and 3rd episodes.
This has yet to be confirmed by the "classicdw" people.
If true, the schedule for the rest of this year would then be:

  • July 30th - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
  • August 20th - Planet of Giants
  • September 10th - Vengeance on Varos (SE)
  • October 1st - The Ambassadors of Death
  • October 22nd - The Claws of Axos (SE)
  • November - Series 7 Volume 1 (in lieu of the annual Box Set for Xmas).
That leaves us with the following for 2013:
  • The Reign of Terror
  • The Tenth Planet
  • The Ice Warriors
  • The Mind of Evil
  • Inferno (SE)
  • Terror of the Zygons
  • Shada / 30 Years in the Tardis documentary.
Of course we still have the two rediscovered episodes to place. It was reported that these would be added to a couple of the above as extras - e.g. Underwater Menace Part 2 could go on The Ice Warriors DVD.
However, something Brian Hodgson (Radiophonic Workshop pioneer) said recently has got me thinking.
He said that he had recently contributed to a commentary on The Moonbase.

This can mean one of only two things - a reissue of the "Lost In Time" DVD set, or the two missing episodes (1 & 3) are being animated for a standalone release. 
Most of the "Lost In Time" episodes lacked a commentary, and picture quality improvement technology has advanced a great deal since the original release (2004), so a revisit is much needed - and this would be the most obvious home for the two rediscovered episodes. 
Yet we've been told they are going on other releases.
Hodgson's comment might then point towards the Cyberman story's release in its own right. 
We know that 2 episodes' worth of animation is realistic in terms of cost and practicality (The Invasion and The Reign of Terror each have 2 animated episodes - and The Ice Warriors will also need 2 episodes of animation). The only other story requiring no more than 2 episodes for completion is The Crusade.

With so few Troughton stories complete, I really do hope that a Moonbase release will happen. If not, a reissue of "Lost In Time" would make an ideal consolation prize.

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