DVDs: Does size matter?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Well does it?

I remember when the Daleks / Dalek Invasion of Earth and Genesis of the Daleks came out on dual videos. Two videos, so they charged us twice as much - 19.99 instead of 9.99.

There was a lot of grumbling about that.

Now of course looking through the DVD section, there seems to be one-size, one-price (except for the War Games).

Unfortunately that still can create the slight feeling of being ripped off - the Sontaran Experiment or Black Orchid at two episodes is now the same price as Genesis of the Daleks at 6 episodes.

Does this mean the Jon Pertwee fans, with the normal episode run of 6 episodes a story are getting a better deal over the Sylvester McCoy fans with the frequent 3 episode stories?

Has this ever put you off buying either Sontaran Experiment or Black Orchid, or does a need for completion override?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I don't collect every story.

However with the demise of Woolies in the UK, for some reason all Woolies Doctor Who DVD stock have surfaced in New Zealand, and at cut price. So it's meant for about $10-15, I've been able to pick up a few extra stories.

Rather than buying them all up, I tried to limit myself, and had a choice between the Sontaran Experiment or Invasion of Time. Well the Sontaran Experiment is a much shorter story true, but I felt a better quality story, so I went that way ...

[SiHart]

No. I collect every story, so value for money discwise means nothing to me. I've always accepted that there will be stories where there will be next to nothing extras wise, because there's only a finite amount of people still alive involved in them, there's nothing related to it in the archives, or there's simply nothing to say about the stories really. I don't think it's realistic to expect a massive package for every story.

So, no it doesn't bother me. Let's face it, even The Sontaran Experiment gets more extras than your average 50 minutes of Star Trek or Blake's 7 or whatever.

Si xx

[Lissa]

The £12.99 DVD seems to have died a death - everything is at least £19.99 regardless of whether it has lots of extras or not.

[Jonno]

Sontaran Experiment was fine because it did have that RRP of £12.99 and I'm sure it was £8.99 on release online whereas the £19.99 RRPs tend to start off at around the £12-£13 mark online then come down in price after a few months anyway.

Going back to the VHS era, I don't recall that much grumbling about The Daleks at the time - in fact, most fans were pleased it was the first episodic release. They did grumble about the cliffhanger being cut out, and I remember a reviewer pointed out they could easily have added Edge of Destruction to the set!

Genesis on VHS was fine because they added Experiment to it so you got 8 episodes for your £20.

It was the 6 parters for £20 that did leave you feeling shortchanged, but I still went ahead and bought them all regardless!

[Captain Tancredi]

I wonder how many copies of any DVD sell at RRP these days, though. As far as Who is concerned, apart from specialist shops who can offer signed covers etc., I suspect that the answer is virtually none. I can't help thinking that the £19.99 RRP is at least partly designed to allow retailers to sell them at £14.99 and below while advertising a minimum 25% discount.

The McCoy three-parters released so far have had a fairly generous selection of extras, although to be fair they've kept the studio-bound ones back; the issue with a colour six-parter is probably whether you squeeze everything onto one disc or put together enough material for two.

[Larry]

Unfortunately that still can create the slight feeling of being ripped off - ?

During those years when BBC Worldwide had the policy of issuing 6 parters over two video tapes I used to really object to having to pay £20 mainly because I knew that they could easely get each story on one tape. But now I don't mind paying £20 for a DVD, simply because the quality is so much better and in most cases with the extras I do feel you get value for your money.

[Perry Vale]

Has this ever put you off buying either Sontaran Experiment or Black Orchid, or does a need for completion override?

No, and no.

I don't judge things like dvds on cost per minute, but rather how much enjoyment I'll receive from them.

[Lissa]

Let's not forget (or if you have forgotten you can read about it here) that Revenge of the Cybermen was £39.95 when it came out on video in 1983. I shudder to think what that would be in today's money.

[Larry]

Let's not forget (or if you have forgotten you can read about it here) that Revenge of the Cybermen was £39.95 when it came out on video in 1983. I shudder to think what that would be in today's money.

I seem to rescall that the edited 60 minute version of Brain of Morbius, was even more expensive when it was released.

[Andrew Curnow]

Some of the 'little' extras I've really enjoyed - the bit about recording off-air (audio) on The Invasion, for instance, and Peter Howell taking us through the 'new' theme tune on The Leisure Hive, were both excellent little pieces.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Remember those early Doctor Who prices were prices for copies to rent. Buy-to-keep range videos didn't surface until about 1987.