Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-10-26
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 23
• Running time: 3650 minutes

Synopsis
This collection brings together the first four series of the BBC's re-imagined DOCTOR WHO, which was first transmitted in 2005, starring Christopher Eccleston (ELIZABETH, SHALLOW GRAVE) as the crusading timelord, ably assisted by the gorgeous Rose (Billie Piper – SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL).

Customer Reviews

A great boxed set - although it lacks the 10th Doctors final 'season 5' specials
This Dr Who boxed set has all four seasons of the 'new' Dr Who starting with 'Rose', when Rose Tyler first meets the 9th Doctor. Inside the lidded cardboard box theres four large DVD cases [around 2cm wide], one for each season. There's Special Feature's on every DVD disc - these are audio comentaries [some episodes], in-vision commentaries [some episodes], and audio descriptions [all episodes]. The final DVD in each season is just the BBC Confidentials. My son [13] and daughter [15] loathe these how-its-done bits with a passion - they want to believe it's real. They do however like the well produced and illustrated large colour booklet of Episode Guides [around 30 pages] thats included in the box.

This 23 DVD set has only English 5.1 with subtitles as English hard-of-hearing. There's 9h 27m [5 DVDs] of video in season 1, 11 hours in season 2 [6 DVDs], 585 mins [6 DVDs] season 3 and 681 minutes [6 DVDs] season 4. It's rated 12: 'suitable for over 12s only', which is a bit odd as preteens are often Dr Who's strongest fans, with the Doctor's rock-solid moralistic overtones striking a chord within them, although I suppose some episodes particularly 'Blink', 'The Unquiet Dead' and 'The Empty Child' are a bit scary for some under tens. However, this didn't stop my son at 9 loving the first season on BBC TV, although my daughter was moved to tears watching the emotionally charged 'Fathers Day'.

This all four season set has just the specials between seasons, i.e. the Xmas ones: The Christmas Invasion, The Run-away-Bride, Voyage of the Damned. The last episode in this boxed set is Journey's End, the finale of season 4. These Xmas specials are essential for continuity, hence their inclusion.

The later tenth Doctor specials 'The Dead Planet', 'Waters of Mars' and the last two 'End of Time' Xmas 2009/NewYear 2010 specials are not in this set. However all the Dr Who specials, up to the final 'End of time' New Year 2010 episode, are being released soon as one set [on the 11th January 2010], although it's expensive and probably includes all the Xmas specials that are already included in this four seasons box.

So a great boxed set of fifty-four Dr Who episodes, with loads of extras, and very usefully quite compact at 10x14x19.5 cm, easily 6*... For young Dr Who fans also check out the Sarah Jane Adventures, and perhaps the BBC's Roman Mysteries as well that are quite sympathetic to this spin-off series. In fact I actually prefer the Sarah Jane Adventures to the excellent 'adult orientated' Torchwood, probably as Sarah Jane's ethos is far more in keeping with that of the Doctors.

The (almost) complete Doctor Who DVD set
Its the adventures of the 9th and 10th Doctors, its already been on TV, so theres no need to cover old ground about the content, suffice to say if youre reading this, then you'll probably know how good the main content will be. For the price this is great, far cheaper than buying individual series boxes, so why loose a star?

Its advertised as being the complete Doctor Who's, but its not....

Good to know: Its not as big as the picture would lead you to believe. The box looks nice enough, and inside instead of the beautifully packed individual series sets most fans will be used to; there are some cheaper looking plasitc multi DVD cases. Theres a nice booklet with a run down of the various episodes. The set includes all series and specials and the associated Doctor Who Confidentials up to the end of series 4 (clues in the box set title here folks.) The 2009 / post series 4 trilogy of specials are not included.

So of the New Doctor Who stuff you'll just need to get the Planet of the dead/Waters of Mars/End of time specials (and Dreamland {if you really think it counts}) when/as they become available. So if youre looking for the entire stories of the 9th and 10th doctors then you'll probably not be dissapointed. But it would have made for a more complete story to include everything up to the hand over to the 11th Doctor. Sorry but this alone is enough to loose a star, and I'm being generous here! The BBC are releasing in spring 2010 the box set of all the new series specials: Doctor Who - The Complete Specials [DVD]. Why could the BBC not have waited a few months to include everything?

So if you're looking for the First 4 series of the new Doctors for a cheaper bulk price, then don't hesitate, buy it now!

Just remember in a year or two there will probably be a series 1 to 6 box set, then the anniversary series 1 to 9 box sets so the BBC can cash in some more!

Even Better Than I Expected
I bought this item for my girlfriend for Christmas and when she opened it I found that it contains more material than I thought it did when I bought it. She was very pleased with it. The Christmas specials are all included from each series and all the Doctor Who Confidentials. The episode guide booklet is a very nice addition to the box set and to those reviewers complaining that it doesn't contain the specials from 2009, i.e. Planet of the Dead, it says "Series 1-4 Box Set". You get Series 1-4. If you want the 2009 specials, buy them. I am.Doctor Who - The Complete Specials [DVD]