#9: The Ark In Space
Release date - April 2002
Back cover info:
"Many thousands of years in the future, Earth becomes uninhabitable. Aboard space station Nerva, the remaining survivors of the human race drift among the stars in suspended animation.
The Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive to find vital systems have been sabotaged. As mankind begins to awake from its enforced deep sleep, the Doctor discovers that they are not alone...
The Wirrn are an insect race that inhabit the cold depths of space. But they too have found the Ark and its sleeping occupants. Can the Doctor prevent the last of the human race from becoming the Wirrn's new source of food...?" Special features:
- Commentary with Tom Baker (The Doctor), Elizabeth Sladen (Sarah-Jane Smith), Philip Hinchcliffe (Producer)
- On-Screen Production Notes
- Version With New CGI Effects
- Stand Alone New CGI Effects (dur. 1.30)
- Unused Title Sequence (dur. 0.43)
- Original Model Effects (dur. 7.10)
- BBC Trailer (dur. 0.51)
- Tom Baker Interview (dur. 5.55)
- Space Station Schematics (dur. 1.08)
- Roger Murray-Leech Interview (dur. 10.29)
- TARDIS Cam #1 (1.24)
- Photo Gallery
Easter Eggs
1) Episode Selection - Highlight 'Episode 1' - Press 'Up' for logo - Enter for VT Countdown CLock
2) Special Features Menu - Highlight 'Tom Baker Interview' - Press 'Left' for logo - Enter for Blackpool 'Doctor Who Exhibition' Advert
3) When episode 2 finishes, do not stop playback or return to the menu. Continue playing for more Blackpool Exhibition Promo
The story was later re-released as a 2-disc special edition
Release date - February 2013
Back cover info:
"The TARDIS lands on a space station orbiting Earth in the distant future. It's seemingly deserted, but the Doctor, Sarah and Harry soon discover that they are not alone. Thousands of humans are in cryogenic sleep, and while they've slept their Ark has been invaded. A parasitic insect race — the Wirrn — have taken control and threaten the very future of mankind..." Special features:
Disc 1
- Original broadcast 4 episode version
- Commentary with Tom Baker (The Doctor), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah-Jane Smith) and Philip Hinchcliffe (producer)
- Alternative CGI Sequences – option to view the story with some physical model effects replaced by CGI models via angle branching.
- A New Frontier (dur. 29.52) – Cast and crew look back on the making of the story
- Roger Murray-Leach Interview (dur. 10.28) - an interview with the stories designer
- Model Effects Roll (dur. 7.10)
- CGI Effects Roll (dur. 1.32) - standalone versions of the new CGI effects created for this release
- 3D Technical Schematics (dur. 1.06) – faux tech schematics for the space station
- Trailer (dur. 0.51) – the original BBC1 trail for episode 1
- Alternative Titles (dur. 0.44) - unused alternative title sequence based on the previous Jon Pertwee titles.
- TARDIS-Cam no.1 (dur. 1.30)
- Photo Gallery
Disc 2
- The Ark in Space: Movie Version (dur. 69.49) – compilation edit of the story that was transmitted in the summer of 1975
- Doctor Forever: Love & War (dur. 27.35) – looking at how Doctor Who was kept alive in a range of original novelisations after the end of the classic series in 1989
- Scene Around Six (dur. 7.33) – a compilation of 1978 news items from BBC Belfast’s ‘Scene Around Six’ news show, featuring Tom Baker switching on the Christmas lights in Derry and visiting children in schools and hospitals in Belfast.
- Robot 8mm Location Film (dur. 1.09) – amateur 8mm cine film shot on location during the filming of Tom Baker’s first story, 'Robot'
- Coming Soon - The Aztecs Special Edition (dur. 1.15)
Easter Eggs
1) Disc 1 - Highlight 'Play All' - Press 'Left' for logo - Enter for Countdown Clock (dur. 0.32)
2) Disc 1 - Highlight 'Photo Gallery' - Press 'Left' for logo - Enter for Blackpool Exhibition trailer (dur. 0.15)