Beneath The Surface DVD Box Set

[Rob McCow]

Actually I reckon it's one of the best photoshop jobbies we've had, far better than the Tegan box set. Although... it does look like Pertwee is trying to repel the 'Earth Reptiles' by farting at them.

Or maybe it's a rather unusal jacuzzi party?

[Ralph]

Me too.

Especially the Wayne & Ralph edition.

Yes this looks like the definitive version

[P-Bal]

I like the title and the cover.

Hurrah and joy juice for everyone!

[Larry]

I like the title and the cover.

Hurrah and joy juice for everyone!

I like the cover but i'm not sure about the title.

[Pip Madeley]

No objections to the title here, it makes sense - the Silurians were beneath the surface of the Earth, the Sea Devils were beneath the surface of the sea, and the Silurans and Sea Devils joined forces... that's right, beneath the surface!

[Stephen Morgan]

No objections to the title here, it makes sense - the Silurians were beneath the surface of the Earth, the Sea Devils were beneath the surface of the sea, and the Silurans and Sea Devils joined forces... that's right, beneath the surface!

Well said. Yes.. I love that cover and the title too.

This is another release I'm really looking forward too, some nostalgia there, The Silurians always reminds me of snow, it's a fairly bleak setting anyway, all those moors. It's being released at the right time of the year too, January, perhaps we'll have some snow. One to settle down by the fire and give you a real glow on a winter's evening I think.

[Thasc]

Excellent cover, well done

[Pip Madeley]

So apparently, we can expect:

3 x Commentaries, Isolated Music, Photo Galleries, Subtitles, Subtitle production notes, Radio Times Billings, PDF of Piccolo book “ The making of Doctor Who”, Plus trailers, "making of" Documentaries - Special effects / Music / Location / Restoration featurettes

Yay!

[Pip Madeley]

RT article now online:

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Disc 1 (episodes 1 - 4)

• Commentary with director Timothy Combe, producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks, actors Caroline John, Peter Miles, Geoffrey Palmer and Nicholas Courtney.
• What Lies Beneath (dur. 35' 11") - a fascinating documentary from Steve Broster, showing how the socio-political climate of the late sixties and the hopes and fears of the British population helped to shape this Doctor Who story. Featuring director Timothy Combe, producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks, actors Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney and Peter Miles, new series writer Paul Cornell and former MP Roy Hattersley. Narrated by Geoffrey Palmer.
  Isolated Music - isolated synchronous music from the story.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Disc 2 (episodes 5 - 7)

• Commentary with director Timothy Combe, producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks, actors Caroline John, Peter Miles, Geoffrey Palmer and Nicholas Courtney.
• Going Underground (dur. 19' 09") - the story's producer, director and designer discuss the problems of shooting underground caves and cave-dwelling monsters… in the confines of a television studio! Featuring Barry Letts, Timothy Combe and Barry Newbery, with more than a little help from script editor Terrance Dicks and actors Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney and Peter Miles. Produced by Steve Broster.
• Now and Then (dur. 9' 39") - Richard Bignell's latest offering in our irregular series, comparing and contrasting the locations used in the story during production with how they appear today. Narrated by Geoffrey Palmer.
• Musical Scales (dur. 13' 54") - producer John Kelly takes a look at an extraordinary era of musical experimentation within Doctor Who in the late sixties and early seventies, with special emphasis on the musical scores for 'Doctor Who and the Silurians' and 'The Sea Devils'. With producer Barry Letts, composer Mark Ayres and directors Timothy Combe, Christopher Barry and Michael Briant, with an archive appearance from Radiophonic composer Malcolm Clarke.
• Colour Silurian Overlay (dur. 4' 42") - a fascinating featurette from Steven Bagley, explaining how the story was restored to its present glory using a combination of black and white film prints, off-air American Betamax video recordings and modern video processing technology. Narrated by Ian. T. Williams.
• Photo Gallery (dur. 6' 01") - production and publicity photos from the story.
• Isolated Music - isolated synchronous music from the story.
• Coming Soon (dur. 1' 03") - trail for a forthcoming release.
• PDF Material - Radio Times billings for the story's original transmission.

The Sea Devils

• Commentary with director Michael Briant, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks, moderated by late-eighties script editor Andrew Cartmel.
• Hello Sailor! (dur.36' 37") - the trials and tribulations faced during the making of this classic Doctor Who adventure are discussed by members of the cast and production team in this highly entertaining featurette from George Williams. Featuring producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks, director Michael Briant, actors Katy Manning and Donald Sumpter and stuntman Stuart Fell, along with Royal Navy personnel who appeared as extras during location filming. Narrated by David Cann.
• 8mm Film (dur. 3' 51") - an amateur cine film shot during location filming at the Royal Naval base by one of the sailors who appeared as an extra. With a commentary from director Michael Briant, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks.
• Trails and Continuity (dur. 6' 18") - BBC1 trails and continuity recreated from off-air audio recordings made during the story's original transmission in 1972.
• Photo Gallery (dur. 8' 38") - production and publicity photos from the story.
• Isolated Music - isolated synchronous music from the story.
• Coming Soon (dur. 1' 03") - trail for a forthcoming release.
• PDF Material - Radio Times billings for the story's original transmission, plus the Piccolo book 'The Making of Doctor Who'.

Warriors of the Deep

• Commentary with actors Peter Davison and Janet Fielding, script editor Eric Saward and visual effects designer Mat Irvine.
• The Depths (dur. 31' 42" ) - production and cast members recall with some amusement their experiences of working on the story, in the face of a foreshortened shooting schedule, camera-hogging guest stars and a giant green amphibious pantomime horse... Steve Broster's affectionate documentary features contributions from director Pennant Roberts, writer Johnny Byrne, actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Ian McCulloch, James Coombes and John Asquith, visual effects designer Mat Irvine, continuity advisor Ian Levine and documentary producer Ed Stradling. Narrated by David Harley.
• They Came from Beneath the Sea (dur 12' 53") - another Steve Broster featurette, focussing on the realisation of the story's non-human cast - the Silurians, the Sea Devils and the dreaded Myrka. Featuring Pennant Roberts, Peter Davison, Johnny Byrne, Mat Irvine, with actors William Perrie and John Asquith (Myrka front and rear respectively). 16:9FHA
• Science in Action - (dur. 5' 58") - BBC Schools presenter Kjartan Poskitt talks to visual effects designer Mat Irvine about some of the techniques and plastic materials he uses in his job in this programme extract from 1987.
• Trails and Continuities (dur. 3' 57") - BBC1 trails continuity announcements from the story's original transmission.
• Photo Gallery (dur. 7' 42") - production and publicity photos from the story.
• Isolated Music - isolated synchronous music from the story.
• Coming Soon (dur. 1' 03") - trail for a forthcoming release.
• PDF Material - Radio Times billings for the story's original transmission.

Isolated score for The Silurians! Isolated score for The Sea Devils.

[Wayne]

Isolated score for The Silurians! Isolated score for The Sea Devils.

I completely agree!

I really like Carey Blyton's music.

The extras for this release look great!

[Milky Tears]

MP Roy Hattersley

Cool!

[Andrew Curnow]

moderated by late-eighties script editor Andrew Cartmel

Given that one of his recent books slagged off much of the pre-Cartmel Who (allegedly - I haven't read the book myself) that seems an interesting choice.

[Si Hunt]

Whither that Katy Manning "Sea Devils" commentary they recorded about a hundred years ago? Has it rotted away with age?

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Steven Bagley has posted a screencap on the RT forum...



Very nice.

[Milky Tears]

I was also going to post that earlier.

[SiHart]

Looks like being a great set, doesn't it? I'm rather pleased that The Silurians has the isolated score- that should be cool! The same with the feature on the music around this time, just the kind of thing I love!

Andrew Cartmel though? Grrr! He hates Non-McCoy era Who, so this should be an odd commentary. Still, nice to see Micheal E. Briant included for the first time. I'm sure he has loads of good stuff to contribute.

Even the Warriors set looks good.

Si xx

[SiHart]

Whither that Katy Manning "Sea Devils" commentary they recorded about a hundred years ago? Has it rotted away with age?

Richard Molesworth says there was no such commentary recorded!

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Gah to fan rumour!

This looks like being the best Doctor Who DVD box set off all time ever!

Si.

[Perry Vale]

continuity advisor Ian Levine

Even cooler!

Love this explanation as to how Janet Fielding got involved in another interview....

Well, she did this one by mistake. She thought she was agreeing to a commentary...

[Antony Cox]

Looking good!

Aside from a very ropey off-air copy of The Sea Devils, I don't have either of the other two stories in my collection so I'll looking forward to this one a lot!

[Si Hunt]

NEPOTISM!

>>Why Andrew Cartmel as a moderator on The Sea Devils?<<

Why not? Richard felt he needed a moderator, gets on very well with Andrew and thought that it might be interesting to have somebody from the later production team talking to people from an earlier one.

Someone wanted to give his mate-who-actually-worked-on-Doctor-Who a bit of work under the pretext of "combining production teams" (why would we want to do that?).

Si.

[Rob McCow]

Gary Russell was quite good at moderating, but he's too busy or something now, isn't he?

Couldn't they get David Tennant to moderate? That'd be cool and awesome. Or Christopher Eccleston :dance

[Milky Tears]

That would be sooooo coool, awesome and wide.







Eccleseeellesstoneeee could quit moderating just before the second episode.

[Pip Madeley]

Ralph and Wayne might wee themselves:



That's Wayne on the left, Ralph on the right.

[Milky Tears]

Who's the old biddy in the middle?