The Giggle

Friday, 8 December 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who continues this Saturday with the third and final story in the series of specials made to mark Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary.


The Giggle can be seen on BBC One in the United Kingdom at 6.30 pm. It will be released on Disney+ and the BBC iPlayer at the same time.

The giggle of a mysterious puppet is driving the human race insane. When the Doctor discovers the return of the terrifying Toymaker, he faces a fight he can never win.

The Giggle stars David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. It is written by Russell T Davies and directed by Chanya Button for Bad Wolf Productions and BBC Studios.

 

The Giggle: Picture Shows: Neil Patrick Harris, The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap))The Giggle: Picture Shows: Neil Patrick Harris and The Doctor (David Tennant) (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: The Doctor (DAVID TENNANT), Donna Noble (CATHERINE TATE) (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Shirley (Ruth Madeley) and Neil Patrick Harris (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Shirley (Ruth Madeley) (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Neil Patrick Harris (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Charles Banerjee (Charlie De Melo) (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Neil Patrick Harris (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient) (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: John Logie Baird (John Mackay) (Credit: BBC Studios (James Pardon)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient) (Credit: BBC Studios (James Pardon)) The Giggle: Picture Shows: Kate Lethbridge Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) (Credit: BBC Studios (James Pardon)) The Giggle: The Toy Maker (NEIL PATRICK HARRIS) (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) The Giggle:  (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap)) 

 

Dancing With The Toymaker... | PREVIEW  The Doctor and Donna are back on Earth - but what's happened to the human race? 😨





FILTER: - Fourteenth Doctor - David Tennant

Christmas single: The Goblin Song

Thursday, 7 December 2023 - Reported by Marcus
The Goblin Song (Credit: BBC Studios)

The BBC is releasing a Christmas single, featured in the upcoming Christmas episode, The Church On Ruby Road.

The Goblin Song, described as a fiendishly catchy song, is being released as a single, ahead of the big event. It is an original composition by Murray Gold and Russell T Davies, with proceeds going to BBC Children in Need.

The single’s music video shares exclusive content from the special as Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa takes his first adventure through time and space in the TARDIS.  

The track features in Doctor Who’s Christmas episode, where the Doctor’s companion Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, goblins, stolen babies, and perhaps uncovers the secret of her birth.

As well as meeting Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) for the first time – the Doctor meets Davina McCall who plays herself, Michelle Greenidge as Ruby’s mum Carla, Angela Wynter as Ruby’s grandmother Cherry and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood.  

The Goblin Song is available on BBC Sounds from Monday 11th December and will also be available via Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. 

Murray Gold said

I don’t like these goblins and you won’t either but they have agreed to donate everything from their song to BBC Children in Need so let’s not give up on them

Claire Hoyle, Director of Income & Engagement at BBC Children in Need said

We’re delighted to continue our long standing relationship with Doctor Who, and we are so grateful for their support with this Christmas single.

Russell T Davies said

We’re releasing this as an early Christmas present for everyone. And if you want to see how the Doctor and Ruby escape from the Goblin King at the end of the song, you’ll have to watch on Christmas Day!

Doctor Who’s Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, airs December 25th on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and streams on Disney+ globally outside of the UK and Ireland.

 





FILTER: - BBC - Music - Murray Gold

The Celestial Toymaker Animation

Thursday, 7 December 2023 - Reported by Marcus
The Celestial Toymaker (Credit: BBC Studios)

The BBC has confirmed that the part-missing first Doctor story The Celestial Toymaker will be the next animation to be released on Blu-ray. 

The story, first shown in 1966 stars William Hartnell as the Doctor with Jackie Lane as Dodo and Peter Purves as Steven. Michael Gough plays the mysterious Toymaker, a character returning to the series this Saturday. 

Only Episode Four of the four-part story exists in the BBC archives. 

The Celestial Toymaker sees the Doctor and companions separated when they come up against The Toymaker. While the Doctor plays the Trilogic Game, Steven and Dodo are forced to play seemingly childish but ultimately dangerous games with the aim of being reunited and getting back to the TARDIS.

The two-disc set features all four episodes animated in colour using off-air audio recordings of the missing three episodes.

Special features include: 

Disc One

  • Episodes 1-4 â€“ Animation â€“ Black and White
  • Episodes 1-3 â€“ Reconstruction
  • Episode 4 â€“ Original 1966 Episode newly restored
  • New Audio Commentaries

Disc Two

  • Episodes 1-4 â€“ Animation â€“ Colour
  • Making The Animation
  • Doctor Who Escape Room â€“ Team First Doctor
  • Sylvester McCoy Introduction for episode 4 as per the original VHS release
  • Photo Gallery
  • PDF Material including camera scripts

 

The Celestial Toymaker (Credit: BBC Studios)The Celestial Toymaker (Credit: BBC Studios)

 

The disc is available to preorder on DVD, Blu-ray and as a Steelbook. 

 

The Celestial Toymaker: Animated Teaser The first game between the Doctor and the Toymaker - now fully animated! 🎲





FILTER: - First Doctor - Blu-ray/DVD

Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 598

Thursday, 7 December 2023 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine Issue 598 (Credit: Panini)

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine introduces the readers to the fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa.

The bumper edition includes a 32-page mini-mag of the original Star Beast comic strip and a double-sided poster.

The issue also includes a special offer to download a free audio drama featuring the Fifth and Seventh Doctors.

This issue’s features include:

  • An in-depth interview with new doctor Ncuti Gatwa.

  • Exclusive previews of new episodes The Giggle and The Church on Ruby Road with Russell T Davies.

  • Mum and grandma of new companion Ruby (alias Michelle Greenidge and Angela Wynter) on joining the show in this year’s Christmas Special.

  • The final interview with much-loved national treasure Bernard Cribbins.

  • The Diary of the Meep! A minute-by-minute account of the irrepressible Miriam Margolyes’ journey to becoming the Meep.

  • Further Than We’ve Ever Been Before – DWM’s Emily Cook on the set of Wild Blue Yonder to discover its VFX secrets.

  • A very special comic strip adventure featuring the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna…

  • 80s director Andrew Morgan remembering his time on Doctor Who.

  • A glimpse behind the scenes on 60s Doctor Who.

  • Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies is in the festive spirit, and even lets a few secrets about the next series slip.

  • Production Diary – script editor Scott Handcock on how production on Doctor Who has reached its busiest point yet!

  • The Fact of Fiction – all you could ever want to know about the 2015 series finale Hell Bent.

  • Gallifrey Guardian – all the latest official news.

  • Other Worlds – the essential guide to new stories in Doctor Who’s expanded universe.

  • Reviews – The Underwater Menace animation, Frazer Hines’s Evil of the Daleks and action figures!

  • The fiendishly festive DWM Christmas quiz!

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 598 is on sale Thursday 7 December  from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £10.99 (UK). 

Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £9.99.

 




FILTER: - DWM - Ncuti Gatwa - Fifteenth Doctor

Ratings Update

Tuesday, 5 December 2023 - Reported by Marcus
The Star Beast: The Wrath (Credit: BBC Studios ())

The first special starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor, The Star Beast, had an official 7-day rating of 7.61 million viewers in the UK.

The rating is the highest figure for Doctor Who since The Tsuranga Conundrum in 2018.

Doctor Who was the 10th most-watched programme on British Television for the week, behind seven episodes of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and two of Strictly Come Dancing.

The official rating includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within a week.

Globally the episode is the 61st watched movie on Disney+. It has been most successful in Australia, New Zealand and Turkey.

The Appreciation Index, a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the episode, was 84.

The second episode, Wild Blue Yonder, had an overnight rating of 4.83 million, third for Saturday behind the dancing and grub-eating reality shows. 7-day figures will be released next week. Its Appreciation Index was 83. 





FILTER: - Ratings - fourteenth Doctor

The Church On Ruby Road

Friday, 1 December 2023 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) (Credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/Bad Wolf)

The BBC has released details of the Christmas episode of Doctor Who, The Church On Ruby Road. 

Long ago on Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, stolen babies, goblins and perhaps the secret of her birth.

New images have been released from the story where Ncuti Gatwa, takes over the TARDIS for his first adventure. The Fifteenth Doctor will be joined by Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, as she makes her debut as the Doctor’s companion.

Airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, the episode sees the Doctor come face-to-face with the mythical and mysterious goblins as his life collides with Ruby Sunday.

Little is known about Ruby Sunday as she was abandoned on Christmas Eve as a baby. Now living with her mum, Carla and grandmother, Cherry,  her world is about to be turned upside down when she encounters the Doctor and the two set off on their first adventure together.

Alongside Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson is Davina McCall who will be playing herself as she joins the cast alongside Michelle Greenidge as Ruby’s mum Carla, Angela Wynter as Ruby’s grandmother Cherry and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood.

Davina McCall said:

It is beyond an honour to be asked to appear in not only Doctor Who but also Ncuti’s first episode as the new Doctor. It was such an extraordinary experience and Russell has written you all a Christmas delight!  Now I  just can’t wait for everyone to see it!

Russell T Davies, Showrunner adds

From Day One in this job, I wanted Doctor Who back on Christmas Day!  And with Ncuti, Millie, Davina and the Goblin King, I hope it’s a feast for all the family!

The Church On Ruby Road: Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) (Credit: BBC Studios (James Pardon))The Church On Ruby Road: The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) (Credit: BBC Studios (James Pardon))The Church On Ruby Road: Davina McCall (Credit: BBC Studios (James Pardon))The Church On Ruby Road: Gobins (Credit: BBC Studios (Maxine Howell))





FILTER: - Fifteenth Doctor - Production