June 17, 2013
What is it?
A beautifully presented coffee-table book containing DVDs of all the televised stories featuring one of the Doctor's regenerations. Plus an early release of the reconstructed The Tenth Planet.
Deeper dive
Regeneration features the following adventures: - The Tenth Planet (with animated episode 4) - The War Games - Planet of the Spiders - Logopolis - The Caves of Androzani - Time and the Rani - Doctor Who - The Movie - Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways - The End of Time: Parts 1 and 2
The lavish 24-page book features an informative potted history of the series and a critical analysis of the stories by prolific Doctor Who novelist writer Justin Richards, alongside beautiful design work, and newly commissioned illustrations by Anthony Dry.
Watch
A clip of the animated regeneration from The Tenth Planet:
Why buy?
Beyond being a thing of beauty, it's fascinating to watch the regeneration stories back to back, and see how the concept developed as the series went on. The nonchalance of how Hartnell crossfades into Troughton remains breathtaking, and occurs with few hints to the viewer. By 1981 and the Fourth Doctor's swansong Logopolis, the moment had been prepared for, with 100 minutes of funereal drama, a spooky spectre of the oncoming change and a clip reel of past companions and key villains running through the doomed Doctor's mind. Each time the change happens, the leaps forward in video and computer technology are reflected - from a simple roll-back-and-mix between Three and Four, to the full fireworks of the dying Tenth Doctor.
The reconstructed and remastered The Tenth Planet will be the highlight for many fans. Its importance to Doctor Who lore is assured by introducing the horrifyingly fleshy Cybermen and the concept of regeneration. Hartnell gives a final thunderous performance and then slowly fades away as the regeneration approaches, and the animated episode 4 is stylishly done.
See our video review by Edd Planet here.
The bottom line
A real celebratory highlight
Please note that this title is currently only available to buy in the UK.
