The Blu-ray deal of the week over at Amazon this week is Doctor Who: The Complete Specials, which is on sale for $25.99 (that’s 57% off the list price of $59.98).

Doctor Who: The Complete Specials contains four specials starring the tenth Doctor, David Tennant — The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, The End of Time Parts 1 and 2 — as well as bonus features.

The Torchwood news continues to trickle onto the web, with the announcement that Mekhi Phifer from the series Lie To Me, will be joining the cast of Torchwood: The New World. He will be set as a lead character to act opposite John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) in the upcoming fourth series.

Phifer will be playing a CIA agent named Rex Matheson, who Deadline points out is “a fast-tracked high-flyer with a lethal sense of humor who starts to feel his mortality when his life is put in danger.” It is unclear at this point whether he is allied with Torchwood or otherwise.

Torchwood: The New World is a joint venture between BBC and Starz USA that will see the series move out from its Cardiff, Wales, setting into a more international focus. Filming and production is said to include the UK, the United States, and Canada, under direction from showrunner Russell T. Davies.

The TARDISblend returns to GeeksOfDoom.com and we take the opportunity to talk about further views of Doctor Who Series 5 and The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4; as well as discussing some of the news and rumors floating around the web.

Listen to Episode 17 of the TARDISblend here below in our podcast player.

Co-host Tom Cheredar gives us the rundown of what you can expect in the new Doctor Who Series 5 Box Set. We discuss some of the cool extras thrown in, including some new footage Steven Moffat filmed with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan specifically for this DVD release.

Later, co-host Greg Davies takes a look back at Series Four of The Sarah Jane Adventures, and delivers his evaluation of the season. We take a look at the special episode from this series that featured Matt Smith, as well as Katy Manning reprising her role as former companion Jo Grant for The Death of the Doctor, and discuss the special revelations of Time Lord lore and Doctor Who continuity that came out.

Happy Doctor Who Day!

It was on this day, 47 years ago, the British public was first exposed to an eccentric old Time Lord known only as the Doctor in Doctor Who, with William Hartnell being the first man to take on the moniker in the first episode of the series, titled An Unearthly Child.

Initially designed as a science fiction television show for children that would focus on history and science, nobody behind the scenes back in 1963 could have possibly conceived how much of a phenomenon that Doctor Who would become.

In the years since its initial launch, the universe of Doctor Who has expanded significantly, giving rise to a detailed mythos that would form to become the lore and legends of the Time Lords of Gallifrey — a foundation to the Who saga that rivals many other science fiction tales around the world that people have followed.

Creator of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, Russell T. Davies is reportedly in talks to develop a version of the hit BBC show for American audiences.

If Fox decides to order a pilot of the series, John Barrowman, who plays the show’s lead character Captain Jack Harkness, could also star, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

What is unclear at this time is whether the series will be in continuity with the Cardiff-based Torchwood. If this does indeed pan out to be true and Barrowman is attached for the pilot, I would assume this to be the case. But let’s face it, this is an ultra popular sci-fi property that’s being broadcast on Fox. I’m not getting my hopes up and neither should anyone else. [Editorial Note: DAMNIT Fox! Why did you kill Firefly. WHY!?!]