TV on DVD: 'Doctor Who' makes U.S. house call

DOCTOR WHO: THE MOVIE (SPECIAL EDITION)

MOVIE Fox tried to regenerate The Doctor in this 1996 TV movie/pilot with Paul McGann, which is finally out for all to recall. Americans didn't care, even with the San Francisco setting, so Fox passed on ordering McGann's Eighth Doctor to series. British traditionalists were unpersuaded, too, by a young and romantic Time Lord who was half-human. But McGann and the movie have their charms, along with (companion) Daphne Ashbrook and (evil) Eric Roberts.

EXTRAS Tons! Director/star commentaries; hour documentary about this regeneration; "The Wilderness Years" about the magazine and other Who products that kept the franchise alive after 1989's BBC ax. Also, vintage auditions, special-effects tests, lots more.

LIST PRICE $35 for two jam-packed discs, out today from BBC.

Also out

DOCTOR WHO: A CHRISTMAS CAROL Current Doctor Matt Smith, a little boy and some flying fish reimagine Dickens in an ingenious and moving contemporary tale, co-starring Scroogey Michael Gambon ("The Singing Detective," "Harry Potter"); $15 DVD/$20 Blu-ray Disc, out next Tuesday from BBC.