Much as we delight in the Daleks and covet the Cybermen, the most memorable adversaries faced by the timeless Time Lord in the classic Doctor Who series were often those of a more human disposition. The real bad guys, the humanoid horrors driven by tireless ambition and an unquenchable thirst for power or else possessed by some more manipulative creature lurking in the shadows. Koch’s latest two-disc collection of archive interviews celebrates six of the very best two-legged terrors encountered by the Doctor across the original series’ 26-year run and, as ever with these releases, it’s a bit of a mixed bag from a production perspective but the content is rarely less than interesting even if it tends not to offer up much new material for long-time fans of the classic iteration of the show.

Disc One remembers the much-missed Roger Delgado, the first (and best) incarnation of the Master, the Doctor’s most implacable enemy and very much a fixture of the series during Jon Pertwee’s era in the early 1970s. Delgado was killed in a road accident in Turkey in 1973 before his character could be formally written out of the series (Delgado had already suggested to the show’s production team that it was time to move on from Doctor Who after three years of regular appearances, which he felt were losing him work opportunities elsewhere) and the hour-long tribute here contains memories and anecdotes from those who worked with him on the series and who recall a quiet, gentle man, a consummate professional whose real-world persona could hardly have been more different from the urbane, devious if generally incompetent rival Time Lord he portrayed from 1971-73. The late Ian Collier, who passed away only recently, is best-known to fans of the series from his appearances in 1972’s The Time Monster and as arch villain Omega in the anniversary serial The Three Doctors, although, as always with the character actors who appeared in the show, their careers amounted to so much more than their Doctor Who roles even if they never became household names. Collier’s interview is rather wistful but he seems quietly at peace with both himself and his career. The first disc finishes off with an archive chat with the late Bernard Archard (from 1966’s Power of the Daleks and 1975’s classic Pyramids of Mars).

Disc Two presents a recently-filmed conversation with actor David Gooderson who took over the mantle of the diabolical Davros in three episodes of Destiny of the Daleks in 1979; interviewed in his home Gooderson, now in his 70s but with a pin-sharp memory and still professionally active, recalls his role in the show vividly but his career is actually far more distinguished than a trio of episodes hidden inside a rotting rubber mask might otherwise suggest. The set is rounded-off with a lengthy archive chat with Peter Miles, who passed away in February, who discusses his long and distinguished TV and theatre career alongside his Doctor Who roles which included the oily Nyder in 1975’s Genesis of the Daleks, and Julian Glover, one of the country’s best and hardest working character actors who appeared in Doctor Who in 1965’s The Crusade and in 1979’s City of Death, often regarded as one of the finest serials from the original run. The quality of the videotaped material is variable, of course. Many of these interviews are years old and include footage filmed at convention panels and never intended for commercial release and the cutaway inserts of the questions being asked in a completely different location becomes as wearing as it’s irritating. But as usual with these Koch Media releases, the historical nature of the material, and the chance to hear behind-the-scenes tales from the Doctor Who studio, however familiar, from the people who brought these legendary baddies to life – especially when many of them are no longer with us – is one that fans who yearn for the simpler days of Doctor Who will find entirely irresistible.

THE DOCTORS: VILLAINS! / CERT: E / DIRECTOR: KEITH BARNFATHER  / STARRING: BERNARD ARCHARD, DAVID GOODERSON, JULIAN GLOVER, PETER MILES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW