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The Enemy of the World: Special Edition DVD Announced for March 2018

BBC Worldwide has confirmed that next month will see the release of The Enemy of the World: Special Edition on DVD, including bonus features and commentaries!
The six-part serial, which was broadcast between 1967 and 1968, was rediscovered a few years ago, and subsequently released on DVD for Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary in 2013; however, that was quite a basic title, consisting of the episodes themselves but little in the way of extras. This Special Edition corrects that, by adding in documentaries, PDFs, and commentaries with contributions from Frazer Hines, Mary Peach, Gordon Faith, Milton Johns, and Sylvia James.
In case you’re yet to watch The Enemy of the World, here’s the synopsis:

Recovered and restored – a classic Patrick Troughton adventure!

The TARDIS lands on an Australian beach in the 21st Century. But this is no seaside holiday – within minutes, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are under attack. They soon discover that the Doctor bears a startling resemblance to Leader Salamander, a would-be dictator intent on world domination. Before long, the Doctor and his companions are plunged into a dangerous game of intrigue and deceit as they face off against the enemy of the world…

Here’s the DVD cover in full, by Lee Binding.

And what of DVD extras? Here’s everything this upcoming release will include:

  • Remastered episodes.  Even though all episodes were restored in 2013 for the previous DVD release, Peter Crocker from the Restoration Team is using advances in technology since then to go over each one with a fine tooth comb to ensure they are now presented in the best possible quality for this special edition.
  • “Treasures Lost and Found” – produced by Ed Stradling. With so much information now available about every Doctor Who serial, it’s not easy to learn anything new, so Toby Hadoke embarks on an exciting treasure hunt to find out all he can about the production. Along the way he’ll interview some of the cast and crew including Frazer Hines, Mary Peach, and David Troughton – who made his first TV appearance in this serial as an extra.
  • “Recovering the Past – The Search for The Enemy of the World” – produced by Paul Vanezis. A brand new interview with the episode hunter, Philip Morris, we hear how he tracked down the last surviving film copy of the serial to a dusty room in the African desert.
  • “Remembering Deborah Watling” – produced by Cameron McEwan. Family, friends, and colleagues pay tribute to Debbie Watling who played Victoria Waterfield, companion to Patrick Troughton’s Doctor.
  • Audio commentaries on all six episodes produced by John Kelly. Contributors include Frazer Hines, Mary Peach, Gordon Faith, Milton Johns, and Sylvia James. Moderator is Simon Harries.
  • Production subtitles on all six episodes written by Martin Wiggins.
  • Photo gallery produced by Derek Handley.
  • Scripts of all six episodes as PDFs.

We’re especially pleased to see a tribute to Deborah Watling, who passed away last year, but whose enthusiasm for Doctor Who and for its fans was an absolute joy. (The DWC dedicated a week to Watling following her death, and, personally speaking, it was lovely to see the high regard in which she is held.)
The Enemy of the World: Special Edition is available to pre-order now, with an RRP of £19.99, and will be released on 19th March 2018.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

The Enemy of the World: Special Edition DVD Announced for March 2018

by Philip Bates time to read: 2 min
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