With five Tuesdays in April, this is the equivalent of a “skip week” in the world of home entertainment, but there are still some items of interest including a reconstruction of a lost Doctor Who serial with episodes recently rediscovered in Africa, an enlightening documentary on the life and times of the cult sex goddess Bettie Page, a breathtakingly brutal Israeli crime thriller, and a sparkling Blu-ray edition of the mecha anime Eureka Seven.
 
TV on DVD
 
This week’s top release is Doctor Who, Story 041: The Web of Fear (BBC, 150 min., $19.98), which contains five of the six episodes of the long lost fifth serial of the fifth season of the original Doctor Who series.  The six episodes originally aired in 1968, but for many years, only the first episode survived in the BBC archives.  However last year four of the five missing episodes were found in Nigeria, leaving only episode three missing (see “Newly Recovered ‘Who’ Episodes Revealed”).  “The Web of Fear” is the sequel to “The Abominable Snowmen” saga and it marks the first return of the Yeti, the Great Intelligence, and Professor Edward Travers, as well as the first appearance of Colonel Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (aka “The Brigadier”).  It appears that rather than the more elaborate animated reconstructions of some of the “lost” episodes, “Episode 3” of The Web of Fear will be a more rudimentary version using still photos.
 
Also of interest is a new Blu-ray edition of The Spectacular Spider-Man: The Complete Series (Sony, 590 min., $45.99), which includes all 26 episodes of the animated TV series developed by Victor Cook and Greg Weisman that aired on the WB and Disney’s XD in 2008 and 2009.  The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon series was heavily influenced by the look and high school-set narratives of the original Steve Ditko/Stan Lee Spider-Man comics.
 
The only other release this week (April had five Tuesdays this year) is Newhart: The Complete Third Season (Shout Factory, 510 min., $29.93), which collects al 22 episodes of the CBS sitcom starring Bob Newhart that originally aired in 1984 and 1985.
 
Theatrical Releases
 
No big releases this week, but there are still some films of interest including Bettie Page Reveals All (Music Box Films, “R,” 101 min., $29.95, BD $34.95), Oscar-nominated documentary director Mark Mori’s film about the sexy cult idol, who rose from humble beginnings to “stardom” in the scandalous world of 1950s pin-up art and exploitation films,  then survived a bout with evangelical Christianity, and finally unwanted status as a 1990s hipster style icon.  Mori’s documentary contains audio interviews with Page along with a wide range of individuals who comment on her significance including Hugh Hefner, Dita Von Tesse, Rebecca Romijn, Bunny Yeager, Paula Klaw, Mamie Van Doren, and Naomi Campbell.
 
Another documentary of interest is Bill Siegel’s The Trials of Muhammad Ali (Kino, “Not Rated,” 94 min., $29.95), which concentrates on Ali’s influential opposition to the Vietnam War and his attempts to obtain conscientious objector status.  This documentary concentrates on the evolution of Ali’s political views, and not on his boxing career—don’t buy this disc expecting a standard boxing documentary, this is a much more of a social history of Ali’s turbulent decades.
 
Fans of bloody “torture porn” horror films are in for a treat this week, the dark Israeli thriller Big Bad Wolves (Magnolia, “R,” 100 min., $26.98, BD $29.98) is a film that almost elevates this debased genre to the level of art.  The highly manipulative narrative involves a potential child murderer who is released because of a police blunder, but later kidnapped and tortured (in succession) by a rogue cop and the father of one of the victims.  Quentin Tarantino call Big Bad Wolves “the best film of 2013,” and it managed to earn a solid 78% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but this is one sadistic drama that is only recommended for those can stomach lots of screen brutality.
 
Anime
 
This week’s only major anime release is the Blu-ray edition of the now classic mecha series Eureka Seven produced by Bones.  The 50-episode series aired in Japan in 2005-2006, and will now be available in a two-part Blu-ray edition: Eureka Seven: Part 1 (Funimation, “14+,” 625 min.,  $34.98, BD $44.98), which includes the first 26 episodes, and Eureka Seven: Part 2 (Funimation, “14+,” 575 min., $34.98, BD $44.98), which contains the final 24 installments of the series.  It must be said that this series is of recent enough vintage that it really does look spectacular in the high-def upgrade, which is well worth the extra cost.
 
Tom Flinn
 
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.