Commentary Highlights:

Richard Martin’s voice is one which hadn’t been heard very much up to this point, and he has a few previously-unfamiliar anecdotes about William Hartnell, not least the one about the Spitfire.

I Didn’t Know That Before I Read The Information Text:

The reason why the Robomen’s collars have ‘CHARGED’ written on them in that particularly unsubtle way is that they were powering the light on the side of the helmet.

Future Memories: 45 minutes of recollections and anecdotes, most of them newly recorded, from many of the supporting cast, including Bernard Kay, Peter Fraser, Ann Davies and Mr Rumbold himself, Nicholas Smith, to name but four.

Future Visions: an interview with designer Spencer Chapman, who practically overnight went from being Raymond Cusick’s assistant to designing the most ambitious Doctor Who story that had been made to date.

Talking Daleks: a short collection of interviews with the likes of David Graham and some of the cast of ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’

Now and Then: In which Gary Russell guides us around many of the locations, some of which are still there and some of which have even been redeveloped since the documentary was recorded.

Script to Screen: An utterly fascinating five-minute segment demonstrating how some of the studio work on the final episode was set up and recorded.

Whatever Happened to Susan?: The radio comedy programme featuring Jane Asher as Susan (strangely reminiscent of Lalla Ward’s Romana) finds a home on this disc.

Rehearsal Film: about 90 seconds of home movie footage from Carole Ann Ford of the last day of studio rehearsal- includes some good shots of the Dalek control room set in colour, a rare glimpse of William Hartnell being himself and Richard Martin being all dramatic and sweeping.

Dalek Cakes: A Blue Peter segment in which Valerie Singleton makes several high-cholesterol and very wasteful edible Daleks (she gladly chucks away half a Swiss roll and plasters the remainder with an icing made from butter, icing sugar and chocolate flavouring) although I like the Walnut Whip ones.

Photo Gallery: Unfortunately not very many major discoveries here, but some interesting ones of the sets (presumably courtesy of Spencer Chapman).

If it seems as if it’s taken me an age to work my way through this disc (and it has) then that’s almost certainly a tribute to the amount and quality of additional material- as if it weren’t enough to have six episodes of skilfully-restored Hartnell era Who, we also have a second disc including some 90 minutes of material produced especially for this disc plus a few other bits and pieces which give the extras disc almost as long a running time as the story itself. On the surface of things, it’s tempting to say that the story is fortunate to have quite so many surviving participants, however at the same time I think it’s also an indication of the young and committed team Verity Lambert brought together in the early years of Doctor Who, particularly in terms of directors and designers who saw the series’ challenges as an opportunity to make a name for themselves. On the commentary we have Verity Lambert, Richard Martin, William Russell and Carole Ann Ford moderated by Gary Russell, who does a good job of keeping things going and asking a pertinent question whenever the conversation starts to flag. Not having been interviewed as often as the other three, Richard Martin’s contribution is particularly interesting and includes some unfamiliar stories.