iTunes’ catalogue of classic Doctor Who serials is woeful when compared to the standard-bearing BBC / 2 | entertain DVDs that are still widely available. With the notable exception of The Underwater Menace, there’s no bonus material on offer, and the files’ rudimentary random-logo-and-still thumbnails (see right) pale in comparison to the DVDs’ generally lush artwork.
However, with iTunes being used as the quick-release platform for the recently-discovered Web of Fear and Enemy of the World episodes (frustratingly billed as ‘‘Lost Episodes’’, despite having been found!), and now The Underwater Menace has been given a duly comprehensive release, I’m hopeful that in the future the whole Who catalogue, special features and all, will be made available on there. But, until it is, I’ve repurposed Region 1 Doctor Who DVD covers (which I prefer to the roundel-laden Region 2 versions) to make some temporary replacements for the existing iTunes artwork, starting with – funnily enough – the first Doctor’s era.
As of the time of writing, only The Best of the First Doctor (An Unearthly Child, The Aztecs and The Dalek Invasion of Earth) is available from iTunes, but – unless the BBC Store really takes off, which seems unlikely given its crippling limitations – the rest of the William Hartnell-era serials are sure to follow. The episodes currently online can be downloaded for £1.89 each. Alternatively, you can buy the whole Aztecs serial for £4.99.
To adopt the DVD-inspired artwork, simply save the images below to your computer; go into iTunes; right-click the episode in question and select ‘Get Info’; go to the ‘Artwork’ tab; and then use the ‘Add’ button to integrate the new artwork.
Unfortunately the resolution of the images is limited by that of the source material.
