Doctor Who Season 8 Is Headed For Blu-Ray, But Will It Be Here In Time For Christmas?
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We’ve still got three episodes remaining in Doctor Who’s season eight, and it’s been a fascinating ride as we’ve watched actor Peter Capaldi settle into his role as the latest incarnation of the rogue Time Lord. If you haven’t been keeping up with the recent run of episodes, you’ll soon get the chance to marathon through them at your own pace, as BBC Home Entertainment has revealed a release date and details for Doctor Who: Season 8 on Blu-ray & DVD.
Good news for anyone with a Who fan on their Christmas shopping lists: the season 8 set will hit shelves on December 9, giving you plenty of time to burn through the season before the new Christmas special arrives on, well, Christmas Day. And none of that split-season nonsense like last time. Thankfully, this season is running straight through without a break, so the set will get you the complete collection of 12 episodes. (The season wraps its TV run on November 8, with the ominously titled “Death in Heaven.”)
The Who sets have a good track record of including all sorts of worthwhile bonus features, and this one looks to be no exception. Especially with a new Doctor in the house, there should be plenty to talk about across the set’s multiple features and episode commentaries. If I have one complaint, it’s that we won’t be getting a commentary on “Listen,” easily one of the best episodes of the season. And yet we are getting commentary on “Kill the Moon,” easily one of the worst of the season. To quote a memorable Firefly character, does that seem right to you?
Here’s the full rundown of bonus features:
- EXCLUSIVE footage from London Post-Premiere Q&A with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat
- EXCLUSIVE Doctor Who episode commentaries for ‘Into the Dalek,’ ‘Robot of Sherwood,’ ‘The Caretaker,’ and ‘Kill the Moon’
- Behind-the-Scenes featurettes (12 total)
- Doctor Who Exclusive (4 total)
- Doctor Who: The Ultimate Time Lord (special with Fifth Doctor Peter Davison)
- Doctor Who: The Ultimate Companion (special with Fifth Doctor Peter Davison)
- Doctor Who: Earth Conquest (World Tour Documentary)
- Tour of the TARDIS
- Doctor Who: Deep Breath Live Pre-Show & After Who Live (hosted by comedian and Doctor Who superfan Chris Hardwick)
- FOXES — ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ (Music video from ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’)
I will definitely be interested to see who is participating in the commentaries, but all in all it’s a decent selection. Ideally we’d get commentaries on every episode, but I may just be looking a gift horse in the mouth. (I’ll have to ask the Doctor; he speaks horse.)
The Blu-ray lists for $89.98, but you can currently pre-order it on Amazon for $69.96. The DVD set lists for $79.98 and is available for $54.96 on Amazon. Of course, if you’re only interested in the show itself and don’t want to wait until December, you can grab digital versions of the show from Amazon Instant Video and iTunes, where episodes become available as they premiere on TV.
