DVD

It’s a good time to be a fan of classic Doctor Who right now. Not only did we have the news about the rediscovery of two missing episodes at the end of last year, but the DVD range is also getting closer to the end, with fewer than 15 complete serials still awaiting release at the time of writing.

Now here's a fitting way of celebrating Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. Not only is The Mind of Evil the last John Pertwee story to be released on DVD –excluding any future ‘Revisitations’ of previous Third Doctor DVDs - but this release is also the first time that the six episodes have been seen in colour in decades (click here for how and why). The recolourisation is generally impressive – especially Stuart Humphryes' work on episode one – although the quality varies from episode to episode. As we’ve come to expect from the Doctor Who DVD range, the non-anamorphic 1.33:1 transfer is technically excellent, as is the Dolby Digital dual-mono soundtrack.

Gallows humours abounds in this six-part 1964 serial set during the French Revolution that marked the end of the show's first series. Sadly, only four of the episodes still exist, but for this DVD release, the two missing episodes have been recreated using the surviving soundtracks and some stylish (if rather rapidly edited) animation. Unsurprisingly, the archival 1.33:1 video looks pretty rough, but the audio for all six episodes is excellently rendered. The usual plethora of extras is supplemented by a gallery of animation character models and a closer look at the animated sets.

Director David DeCoteau throws together elements from Porky’s, Meatballs 2 and Weird Science with this uneven sex comedy about a nerdy freshman (Billy Jacoby) who is transformed into a babe magnet after being injected with ‘alien vitamins’ by mysterious new biology teacher Ms Zenobia (Judy Landers). The film’s first act - all pratfalls and comedy sound effects – feels more like a sit-com than a film - but things do get a little bit more interesting when the sci-fi elements start to kick in and it all ends up with a very silly shoot-out in a hideous New Wave nightclub.

Family Guy's tenth season provides another 15 episodes of animated chaos featuring the misadventures of the Peter Griffin and his family. Highlights this time around include abortion-themed Partial Terms of Endearment (which was initially banned from broadcast in the US and ended up making its worldwide TV debut on BBC Three last June), the 150th episode special Brian & Stewie (a smart two-hander featuring the popular dog and baby pairing trapped in a bank vault) and the surprisingly dramatic 55min murder-mystery special And Then There Were Fewer (which actually kills off some of the supporting cast). Like always, the show's mix of gross-out gags, gross stupidity, desire to offend and pop culture spoofs make it an acquired taste - but if you've stuck with the show this far then you won't be disappointed.

Once upon a time the BBC used to delight in terrifying Christmas audiences with adaptations of classic ghost stories – several based on the work of M.R. James. These two volumes celebrate this with four James adaptations. The first houses 1968 and 2010 takes on Whistle and I’ll Come to You, while the second offers up 1971’s The Stalls of Barchester and 1972’s A Warning to the Curious – each a masterpiece of small-screen supernatural scares.

'It gets dark. It gets really, really dark,' is how HCC favourite Walton Goggins sums up this third season of the hit cop show. And while it doesn't quite measure up to the previous season, Justified remains one of the most unpredictable and distinctive TV series currently on the air. While Sony keeps UK fans hanging on for a Blu-ray release, this three-disc DVD is a reasonable alternative due to its cleanly rendered anamorphic 1.78:1 transfers and balanced Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Extras include nine episode commentaries and two behind-the-scenes featurettes.