Former Showrunner Steven Moffat is making a return to the new series of Doctor Who as he writes an episode due to air in Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as the Fifteenth Doctor.

Moffat has been lauded for his work on Doctor Who, first writing on the show when Russell T Davies revived it in 2005. He then went on to succeed as Showrunner, leading the show during the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras. Moffat is known for penning some of the most praised episodes in the history of the show as well as creating one of the most terrifying and iconic monsters, the Weeping Angels.

Outside of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat has been celebrated for co-writing and co-creating the multi-award-winning series Sherlock. His play, The Unfriend, recently completed a second West End run. 

Now he’s back, returning alongside Showrunner Russell T Davies, as he writes a whole new adventure for the upcoming season debuting this May.

Directing the adventure will be BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Julie-Anne Robinson, who also kicks off the season by directing the episode that succeeds The Church on Ruby Road that aired at Christmas. Robinson has previously directed some blockbuster television series including Bridgerton, Orange Is The New Black and Scandal, and is now jumping on board the TARDIS to front two of the episodes.

Speaking on his return to the Whoniverse, Steven Moffat says:

Speaking on directing episodes in the new season, Julie-Anne Robinson says: 

Doctor Who is set to make a return to screens worldwide on Saturday 11th May 2024.

Viewers inside the UK will be able to access two episodes from midnight on the BBC iPlayer, the first time episodes have made their premier on the 'on demand' service.  The episodes will be shown on BBC One later that day just before the annual Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final.

For those outside of the UK the episodes will be available on Disney+ from midnight UK time, 2300 GMT.

The new season of Doctor Who will see Ncuti Gatwa return as the Fifteenth Doctor, alongside Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday, it comes after they made their highly acclaimed debut on Christmas Day in The Church on Ruby Road. 

Within the upcoming series, audiences will see the Doctor and Ruby travel through time and space on adventures to unknown lands, to the Regency era in England, to outer space worlds and the sixties.

This season will also see the return of Michelle Greenidge as Carla Sunday, Angela Wynter as Cherry Sunday and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood as well as featuring an array of special guest stars including Jinkx Monsoon, Aneurin Barnard, Yasmin Finney, Jonathan Groff, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush and Indira Varma with more to be announced soon. 

Russell T Davies, Showrunner said: 

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 601 is released today

Inside the issue

• Costume designer Pam Downe discusses dressing the stylish new Doctor, as well as how she created looks for the Toymaker and the Goblin army.

• Script to screen: An in-depth look at how the Goblin army developed, from the original concept to the finished product – blending masks and animatronics with digital effects.

• A tribute to Michael Jayston who played the Doctor’s evil alter-ego the Valeyard.

• Louise Jameson is among the interviewees in a special preview of the Season 15 Blu-ray collection.

• Abdoul Ceesay – director’s assistant on Doctor Who – talks to DWM about his role and future aspirations!

• Get cooking! A deep dive into the part food has played in the series over the years, with some recipes you can try at home!

• A look at how other TV shows have found their way into episodes of Doctor Who.

• Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies sings in praise of companions of yesteryear as he recalls a week making Tales of the TARDIS!

• Time-Space Visualiser – learn how fandom went mad for the Sixth Doctor! Rightly so! 

• The Fact of Fiction – we examine the closing episodes of 1973’s Planet of the Daleks.

• The adventures of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday continue in the comic strip!

PLUS!

• Gallifrey Guardian – new cast and directors revealed and an update on the Christmas ratings.

• Reviews – covering books, audio dramas and the Fugitive Doctor action figure!

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

• Win Season 17 on Blu-ray, plus books and CDs!

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 601 is on sale Thursday 29 February  from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £7.99 (UK). 

Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £6.99.

The actress Pamela Salem has died at the age of 80.

Pamela Salem appeared in three Doctor Who stories. In 1977 she played Toos in the acclaimed Fourth Doctor story The Robots of Death. Her voice was used as one of the voices of Xoanon in the previous story, The Face of Evil.   She returned to the series in 1988 playing Rachel Jensen alongside the Seventh Doctor in Remembrance of the Daleks. She later reprised her role as Jensen in the Big Finish audio spin-off series Counter-Measures and 1963: The Assassination Games. 

Pamela Salem was born in Bombay, India, and educated at Heidelberg University in Germany and later at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England.

Film work included the role of Miss Moneypenny in the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again, starring Sean Connery. 

Other television appearances included parts in EastEnders, where she played mafia affiliate Joanne Francis, and as the evil witch Belor in ITV's Into the Labyrinth.

Other television guest appearances have included roles in the third episode of  Blake's 7, The Onedin Line, The Professionals, Howards' Way, Ever Decreasing Circles, Tripods and All Creatures Great and Small

She later moved to the United States where she continued her career in series such as Magnum, P.I., Party of Five, ER and The West Wing where she played a British prime minister.

The new 116-page bookazine from the makers of Doctor Who Magazine celebrates an unforgettable era in the show’s history.

The success of the first episodes starring Jon Pertwee saved the series from the threat of cancellation. A year later, the next phase of its reinvention introduced a new assistant for the Doctor and a debonair adversary to threaten him during his exile on Earth. The colourful formula for some of Doctor Who’s best-loved adventures was complete. 

This issue covers all the stories from 1971: Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Claws of Axos, Colony in Space and The Dæmons. All-new content includes exclusive features, insightful commentary and rare behind-the-scenes images.

Contents include articles on:

• The year’s most significant events in the Doctor Who universe (both on and off screen)

• Stars Roger Delgado, Richard Franklin and Katy Manning

• Writers Don Houghton, Bob Baker and Dave Martin

• Doctor Who in the popular press

• Special effects and production techniques

• Classic Doctor Who comic strips and merchandise

• … plus much more!

Doctor Who: Chronicles 1971 is on sale now, RRP £11.99 from panini.co.uk 

and selected branches of WH Smith while stocks last. 

It’s also available digitally from pocketmags.com priced £10.99.

To mark Record Store Day 2024, Demon Records are releasing the complete narrated TV soundtrack of the Doctor Who story ‘The Edge Of Destruction’.

This brand new audio presentation, making its debut in any format with this vinyl release, features unique linking narration by Carole Ann Ford.

There’s also a bonus interview with Ford herself, in which she recalls playing Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter, in the original TV episodes.

The vinyl boasts a picture disc Side A, showing the Ship’s melting ormolu clock from a pivotal scene in the story, and an exclusive Zoetrope Side B, depicting the TARDIS swirling across space and time (best experienced using a smartphone running a third-party stroboscope app).

The 12” disc is presented in a stunning die-cut artwork outer sleeve.

2024 is the 60th anniversary of this two-episode story starring William Hartnell as the Doctor. First broadcast on the 8th & 15th February 1964

The disc will be released on 20 April 2024 on Record Store Day, the day when over 260 independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture.

The actor Michael Jayston has died at the age of 88.

Michael Jayston is best known to Doctor Who fans for playing the Valeyard in all fourteen episodes of the 23rd season The Trial of a Timelord. The script describes the character as an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides between his twelfth and final incarnations.

Jayston played the character opposite the Sixth Doctor as played by Colin Baker in the series that aired in the autumn of 1986. He later recreated the character in many Big Finish audios. 

Colin Baker today paid tribute to his old colleague

Michael Jayston was born in the town of West Bridgeford in the English Midlands. He trained as an accountant before switching careers and enrolling in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

One of his best-known movie appearances was as Tzar Nicholas II in the film Nicholas and Alexander, the film that featured an unknown Tom Baker as the monk Rasputin, a role that helped Baker to win the role of The Doctor. 

He was a familiar face on television throughout the last 60 years. His first appearance was in 1962 in the series Suspence.  By 1970 he was taking leading roles playing Macbeth alongside Barbara Leigh-Hunt. He played Mr Rochester in the 1973 version of Jane Eyre and Peter Guillam in the acclaimed 1979 version of the spy novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

In 1975 he headed the cast of a detective series playing the title character Quiller. 

He has appeared in a number of long-running series including Coronation Street, EastEnders, Only Fools and Horses, The Bill, Heartbeat Casualty and Midsomer Murders. 

Michael Jayston's death was announced earlier today. A statement on behalf of his family said:

Doctor Who Magazine marks its 600th issue this month with a celebratory issue which includes a 16-page supplement, an exclusive art card, a specially commissioned diorama featuring figures from the recent series and a four-hour-long Sixth Doctor audio drama for every reader.

The Magazine, which started as Doctor Who Weekly in 1979, has been covering the ups and downs of Doctor Who for over 40 years, ever since the era of the fourth Doctor.

Inside this issue

• Millie Gibson checks in with DWM following the debut of companion Ruby Sunday in The Church on Ruby Road.

• UNIT regulars Jemma Redgrave (Kate Lethbridge-Stewart), Alexander Devrient (Colonel Ibrahim) and Ruth Madeley (Shirley Anne Bingham) face questions from the TARDIS Tin.

• Production designer Phil Sims takes us on a guided tour of UNIT’s central London HQ!

• We talk to DWM writers about their experiences interviewing the stars of Doctor Who for early issues of the magazine.

• International Who! A special report on how the series has become a hit in Spain!

• Meet Christina Rotondo – the singer who gave voice to Janis Goblin!

• We pay tribute to Richard Franklin who died on Christmas day – and examine the impact he had as UNIT officer Captain Mike Yates.

• We talk to production runner Thani Subkhi about his vital work on the upcoming series.

• Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies gives us an update on the progress being made on the next two series!

• Time-Space Visualiser – discover the secret recipe for sky-high ratings!

• The Fact of Fiction – we examine the opening episodes of 1973’s Planet of the Daleks.

• The adventures of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday continue in the comic strip!

PLUS!

• Gallifrey Guardian – all the latest official news.

• Reviews – covering books, audio dramas and games.

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

• Win The Daleks in colour, Blu-ray box sets, books and audio dramas!

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 600 is on sale Thursday 1 February  from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £10.99 (UK). 

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

The latest special from Doctor Who Magazine, the 2024 Yearbook is released today.

Included in the issue

• A year in the life of the stars of Doctor Who.

• A look back at the 2023 Specials.

• The producer of Tales of the TARDIS discusses this nostalgic series.

• A summary of various instalments of the Doom’s Day multi-media event!

• Wrarth Warrior actor Robert Strange speaks to the magazine about his role in The Star Beast.

• A special feature on Goblin celebrity Janis!

• A report from the Doctor Who at 60 musical celebration at Cardiff’s Millennium Centre.

• We talk to BBC Audio, Big Finish, Silva Screen and AUK Studios about the various audio offerings over the past year.

• Doctor Who writers discuss the last 12 months of books and comics.

• Follow the journey of young fan Piper as she is crowned The Ultimate Whovian by Blue Peter!

• Alan Barnes and Lee Sullivan discuss their epic Fourteenth Doctor strip, Liberation of the Daleks.

• We visit a new exhibition of Who props and memorabilia at Gunnersbury Park Museum.

• A look at the new version of the Daleks… in colour!

• Archivist Helen Randle on making the BBC’s vast catalogue of information available to the public.

• A tribute to the Doctor Who luminaries who passed away in 2023.

• Coming soon… A look ahead to 2024!

Doctor Who Magazine Yearbook 2024 is on sale Thursday 25 January from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £8.99 (UK). 

Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £7.99.

2024 will see the launch of Candy Jar’s UNIT range with a series of original novels.This new series of books now squarely focuses on UNIT and explores the fall-out from The Invasion, both on a personal and national level, and how the story would have been spun by the government and the press.

As the title suggests, the first book, The Vaughn Identity, looks into the background of Tobias Vaughn, picks up where the TV story The Invasion left off. It is written by the range editor, Tim Gambrell, who said:

But as well as looking back to The Invasion, The Vaughn Identity also looks forward to the series of books that will follow. Tim continued:

There will be another short Benton Files book, free with the hardback of The Vaughn Identity. More details of that will be available nearer the time.

The Vaughn Identity can be pre-ordered from the Candy Jar website.