Doctor Who: Colin Baker’s second (and sadly final) season is out now on Blu-Ray in North America

Fans in the US and Canada can now enjoy Colin Baker’s complete second (and final) season of Doctor Who on Blu-Ray, which was released earlier this week.

Just a couple of months after its release in the UK, (which isn’t that long, compared to The Macra Terror,) Season 23 of Doctor Who is out now on Blu-Ray in both the US and Canada. This is quite a major season, for several reasons.

For one thing, it kind of told one long story: The Trial of a Time Lord. I stress “kind of” because it was really four stories in one. The overarching storyline features the Sixth Doctor on trial for his life – by his own people, no less! (It’s not the first time it’s happened, either. Or even the second.)

During the course of the trial, three adventures of the Doctor are shown as evidence, both for the prosecution (represented by the Valeyard) and the defense. Both of the Valeyard’s presentations show the Doctor’s actions in the recent past, while the Doctor presents a case from his future (or possible future, at least), to show that he improves. The final two episodes conclude the trial, while featuring major revelations for both the Time Lords and the Doctor himself.

Major changes

Another key reason why this season is so important is that it featured a huge format change for the show. After the previous season had featured a length of 13 episodes, the subsequent season changed to 14.

This initially sounds like an increase, but while the previous season had featured episodes that were approximately 45 minutes in length, (and, in fact, was the only season of the Classic Series to use this format,) Season 23 went back to episodes just 25 minutes long. This essentially halved the stories, and lead to the production team cancelling all the stories they had originally planned in favor of something brand new – in this case, The Trial of a Time Lord.

Lastly – although you certainly wouldn’t guess it from just watching it – Season 23 is not only Colin Baker’s second season as the Sixth Doctor, but also his last. When the series came back the next year, the Sixth Doctor was not only killed off at the very beginning of the new season – they did it without Colin’s involvement! Putting Sylvester McCoy in Colin’s coat and a wig, the Sixth Doctor’s send-off was hardly a fitting one. (Fortunately, this has been fixed by Big Finish’s The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure: a special box set revealing the events that lead up to and includes his regeneration.)

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Special features

Along with the episodes themselves, the box set includes a substantial amount of special features, including:

"Extended edits – of all fourteen episodesTerror of the Vervoids – four-part standalone edition with updated FxImmersive 5.1 surround sound & isolated scores – on all 14 broadcast episodesBehind the Sofa – new episodes with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, Mark Strickson, Frazer Hines and Matthew WaterhouseThe Writers’ Room – Eric Saward, Philip Martin, Christopher H Bidmead & Waly K Daly discuss the ‘Lost’ Season 23The Doctor Who Cookbook Revisited – brave cast members tackle their original recipes from the 1980s official cookbookThe Doctor’s Table – join Colin Baker and friends for dinnerIn Conversation – Matthew Sweet chats to companion Bonnie LangfordPlus: unseen studio footage, rare archive treats, convention footage, Blu-ray trailer, HD photo galleries, scripts, costume designs & more in the PDF Archive.The six-disc box set also includes hours of extensive special features previously released on DVD."

I’m definitely keen to watch many of these, particularly the new special edition of Terror of the Vervoids, The Writers’ Room, and The Doctor’s Table. Expect a review on this new release shortly. (Or however long it takes for us to get through it!)

Doctor Who: Colin Baker: Complete Season Two (previously released in the UK as Doctor Who: The Collection: Season 23) is available now in both the US and Canada.

Are you a fan of Colin Baker’s second season? Which is your favorite story from The Trial of a Time Lord? Have you watched the Blu-Ray already, and if so, what did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.