The BBC have released clips looking behind the scenes of this weeks episode of Doctor Who, The Witch's Familiar.




A full review of the episode can be found on Doctor Who Reviews

Missing episode hunter Philip Morris, the man responsible for recovering nine missing episodes of Doctor Who, has told fans at a convention that he also located the missing Episode Three of The Web Of Fear, only for it to be stolen before it could be returned to the United Kingdom.

Previously missing episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 of Enemy of the World were recovered in 2013, alongside episodes 2, 4, 5, and 6 of Web of Fear, two stories from the fifth Season of Doctor Who, originally screened in 1967/8. The films had been found gathering dust in a store room at a television relay station in Nigeria.

These finds completed the two stories, with the exception of Episode Three of The Web of Fear, an important episode in the history of the series as it introduces the character of the Brigadier. At the time it was claimed that this episode was not located with the other finds. The third episode was reconstructed by the BBC Doctor Who Restoration Team, for the DVD release of the story.

However, speaking at the Pandorica 2015 convention, being held in Bristol this weekend, Philip Morris announced that when he initially located the episodes, episode 3 was indeed part of the collection.

The negotiations for the return of the episodes took over six months, and when the episodes were finally returned to the UK, episode three had vanished. Morris said he believed that after word of the find leaked out an offer was made to a member of staff at the Nigerian station, and that the episode had been sold to a private collector.

Currently 97 episodes of Doctor Who remain missing from the BBC archive.

BBC Worldwide America have released a Blu-ray + DVD Combo release of the 3D version of last year's season finale of Doctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven

The release comes hard the heels of the recent cinema event, Doctor Who: Dark Water/Death in Heaven 3D, which saw the two-part season eight climax shown in movie theaters across the United States.

Special features on the Blu-ray 3D + DVD combo pack include The Doctor’s Meditation – the special prequel scene to the first episode of season nine – and a 45-minute extended interview with Doctor Who stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, hosted by Wil Wheaton of Star Trek fame.

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Fans at the Radio Times Festival were treated to an extended Doctor Who session tonight, when the main star of the series, Peter Capaldi, having defeated Daleks and Cybermen, and conquered time, fell foul of the Friday night rush hour traffic on the M4, and arrived 30 minutes late for the session.

The actor had been filming all day at the Doctor Who studios in Cardiff, and had been whisked by car to London when he was greeted by a capacity audience in the main festival tent. The organisers extended the session to make sure the crowd had a full hour to enjoy a conversation with the Doctor.

The session was hosted by comedian and rabid Who fan Frank Skinner and also featured executive producers Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin. With last week's episode fresh in everybody's mind the trio discussed The Magician's Apprentice and Julian Bleach's impressive performance as Davros. You wait until you see the next episode said Moffat, He is amazing.

Peter Capaldi told of how some of the most surreal moments in filming the series came when acting with the Daleks. You rehearse with the guy who sits inside the Dalek, he said. His eyelevel is the same as a Daleks eyestalk, so you rehearse with him just standing there wriggling. I found it very funny.

Moffat denied an ancient fan rumour that there was a contractual duty to include the Daleks in each series of Doctor Who. My mother in law was Terry Nation's agent when he created the Daleks. Believe me there is no such clause in the contract.

One question that was met with a grimace from the Executive Producer came when Skinner asked about the plans for Series 10 and whether, contrary to rumour, there would be a full series of Doctor Who in 2016. Moffat seamed irritated by the question and said he wished people would concentrate on this series. We don't even know if the Doctor will survive until Christmas. Moffat did confirm he had signed up for series 10, but said that was only done 'very recently'.

The team discussed Jenna Coleman's departure from the series, which has been confirmed as taking place this year. Coleman had originally wanted to leave at the end of Series Eight, but had then decided to stay on for the Christmas special. It was on the World Tour that we ambushed her, said Capaldi, and persuaded her to stay for another season. I said it would be so much fun Moffat said he has no idea who the new companion will be.

All members of the team were adamant that they would not be able to produce more Doctor Who episodes per year. We started filming in January and we finish tomorrow, said Capaldi. The crew need a break. They are exhausted.

Peter Capaldi spoke of his costume and how he didn't want his doctor to have a specific costume, but more a look, in the same way Tom Baker's Doctor had a look. I loved his first season where he just grabbed some clothes and ran around looking like a tramp. He was asked about his recent comment that he didn't feel he had nailed the role in Series Eight. I don't think you ever really nail a role. Capaldi said he would happily be typecast as The Doctor. I don't mind being typecast as Doctor Who. I mean what's wrong with that? It's great, you know, if that's the stigma that's attached to you, how lucky you are.

Russell T Davies has made a strong defence of the BBC and the licence fee and the values it stands for, but warned the battle may already be lost.

Speaking at the Radio Times Festival, he urged people to consider the alternatives to the compulsory licence fee, such as a subscription model and to look at the schedules of current subscriber services such as the American premium cable network HBO and see what subscribers get for their money. He said: "couple of high class dramas. No news. No soaps.no weather, no radio stations. Google their schedules and see if that is what you want?"

Davies was being interviewed by Alison Graham for the first ever Radio Times Festival, which is being held at Hampton Court in West London. He said his favourite memory of working on Doctor Who was the laughter he had. "It was hard work but we did have fun". He revealed he most enjoyed writing dialogue for Daleks. "They are so clever. I love them".

He also spoke of how proud he was of Doctor Who. "It's indestructible. Imagine if they tried to cancel it now. There would be riots in the streets".

Speaking on writing for the Doctor: "you get the secret of writing for the Doctor when you realise he is much cleverer than you are. Then it falls into place".

He talked about how he started in the industry and advised aspiring writers to just write. "get all the experience you can, not necessarily on your pet project but say for your local youth theatre".

He talked about his current project, a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for the BBC. "It's something I've always wanted to do, he told the audience. It has a fantastic cast, and the whole play finishes with a joyous dance choreographed by Arlene Phillips. It's going to be on Saturday night in prime time. Only the BBC would do that".

Davies finished the session by talking to fans and signing autographs.

BBC One have made a late change to their schedules on Sunday afternoon by adding a special feature-length broadcast of The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar. The 90 minute omnibus is to be broadcast from 3:15pm, replacing the previously scheduled repeats of Eat Well For Less? and The Great British Bake-Off, with an episode of Escape To The Country following afterwards to plug the gap before Points Of View at 5:15pm.


No reason has currently been given for the repeat of Doctor Who's opening story, but it is possible that this is to enable viewers to catch up on the Doctor's adventure who might have missed Saturday's episode owing to the England vs Wales Rugby World Cup game, broadcast live on ITV from 7:15pm.

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It isn't often that Doctor Who receives an unexpected broadcast - the previous time this occured was back in 1974, when a compilation of The Sea Devils was shown in the morning of Monday 27th May instead of the scheduled cricket match coverage, which was lost owing to one of the regular BBC union industrial actions of the era.

This itself wasn't a precedent, though - owing to the tragic events that occured in the United States the day before the very first episode, An Unearthly Child, was broadcast, the BBC decided to repeat it a week later at 5:06pm, leading to a slightly truncated Grandstand and the scheduled Doctor Who episode The Cave Of Skulls pushed back from 5:15pm to 5:30pm instead.

Four new Doctor Who products are being launched by Lovarzi, including the company's first foray into the revived series with a scarf based the Matt Smith story Vincent and the Doctor.

The Pandorica Opens Scarf is 100% Pure Silk Scarf! and based on the painting by Vincent van Gogh of the same name: a warning to his Time Lord friend that the universe is cracked, and the ultimate prison is opening. The picture captures the disaster that led to total event collapse – the TARDIS exploding.

The scarf comes complete with a presentation box (adorned with foil-printed Doctor Who and BBC logos), this is the first time Lovarzi has specifically celebrated the Matt Smith era of the show.

After the success of the Seventh Doctor Jumper and Paisley Silk Scarf, Lovarzi is launching the Seventh Doctor Hanky, digitally-printed in Italy.Designed by Ken Trew, the BBC purchased about 20 red hankies to wrap around the Time Lord's panama hat, and Sylvester McCoy stepped out in 1987 in Time and the Rani. This intricate hanky, also presented in a gift box, is made from 100% Cotton.

Lovarzi's original screen-accurate replica of the Fourth Doctor Scarf remains a bestseller, and now the company is to launch a shorter version: at 25 x 200cms. It's still made of 100% premium-quality Acrylic yarn, and comes in a special carry-case.

Fourth Doctor fans can also enjoy Lovarzi's exclusively-designed Knitted Tie takes those same colours in that same pattern and makes a unique product for anyone who wants to show off their love for the longest running Doctor. Also presented in a gift box, foil-printed with the Doctor Who logo, the Fourth Doctor Knitted Tie is made in Italy from 50% Wool and 50% Acrylic.

Maninder Singh Sahota, Director of Lovarzi, says:
Lovarzi, the UK’s leading online scarf retailer and is the only official licensee of Doctor Who scarves in the UK.

Last week the BBC released a photograph of Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman posing on the Abbey Road zebra crossing in London, recreating the famous cover photo from the Beatles album, with the help of a couple of Daleks.

The picture was taken on Saturday morning, and the BBC have now released a video showing how quickly it was achieved to avoid disrupting traffic in the area.

Abbey Road is a main thoroughfare running north from Lords Cricket Ground near Regents Park in Central London. Its famous crossing lies just outside the Abbey Road studios where The Beatles recorded much of their music. The crossing featured on the cover of their 1969 Abbey Road album, making the crossing a well visited tourist crossing, with many attempting a recreation of the picture. The attempts can be viewed live on the Abbey Road WebCam.

The law in the UK states that motorists must give way to pedestrians at zebra crossings, even if the pedestrians are two Daleks, a Time Lord and an Impossible Girl. So to avoid total gridlock the photo session needed to be completed in as short a time as possible.

This is how it was done.

Character Options has today unveiled details of a brand new Limited Edition Doctor Who 5.5” scale action figure.

Missy, played as by Michelle Gomez will be available in two variants; a purple outfitted version with hat from the series finale episodes; and alternatively in her ‘Heaven’ outfit, hatless with black jacket and manic grin.

The Missy figures each have 18 points of articulation. Each figure head can also be swapped so that both heads can be incorporated with either outfit, and they both come with accessories.



4,000 units of each of the two figures will be available in exclusive UK packaging at character-online.co.uk for a price of £19.99 each (excluding P&P)

BBC Worldwide has announced further guests to the Australian Doctor Who Festival. Sylvester Mccoy, Billie Piper and Dan Starkey will join Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss in Sydney on the 21st and 22nd November 2015. Piper and McCoy will appear on stage at the festival in a series of fan Q&As hosted by Adam Spencer. Billie Piper’s attendance at the Doctor Who Festival is subject to her filming commitments.

Sylvester Mccoy said:

Dan Starkey said: