The actress Wendy Williams has died at the age of 84.

Wendy Williams played Vira in the highly acclaimed 1975 story The Ark In Space. Her performance as the revived human, struggling to adjust to the reality of the Wrin invasion. was a tour de force, developing real chemistry with the newly regenerated Fourth Doctor played by Tom Baker.

Wendy Williams was born in Cheam in Surrey, just south of London. Her first television appearance was in the 1954 play A Party for Christmas.

Over the next forty years, she became a regular on British Television, appearing in many popular series. Her first main role was as Lady Lizzie Eustace in the 1959 series The Eustace Diamonds. she played Frances Graham in Knight Errant Limited and Margaret Hale in North and South. Roles followed in The Further Adventures of the Musketeers, Thirty-Minute Theatre, The Regiment, Crossroads, Z-Cars, Dominic, When the Boat Comes In and Angels.

In 1976 she played Barbara in the Terry Nation series Survivors and later appeared in Poldark as Lady Basset. in 1981 she joined the cast of Tenko as Vicky Armstrong. The following year she played Lady Brandon in the Barry Letts production of Beau Geste.

Wendy Williams was married to Doctor Who director Hugh David until his death in 1987.

BBC Books is expanding the Doctor Who Target range with seven new titles in Summer 2020 – some that fans have probably been expecting, and a few that should be a pleasant surprise.

After the successful hardback publication of Eric Saward’s long-awaited novelisations, Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks, fans will finally be able to complete their Target collections with paperback editions. These will be accompanied by a Target edition of The Pirate Planet by James Goss, the first time this Douglas Adams story has been published in the Target range, and a reissue of the Gary Russell’s novelisation of The TV Movie.

To complete the set, BBC Books will be publishing 3 new-era novelisations: The Witchfinders by Joy Wilkinson – the first Thirteenth Doctor adventure to be published on the Target list – Dalek by Robert Shearman, and The Crimson Horror by Mark Gatiss.

For Doctor Who fans, the range of novelisations published by Target Books in the 1970s and 1980s hold a special place. There was a novel published for almost every Doctor Who serial between 1963 and 1989, with a very few (five, actually) notable exceptions, and BBC Books has been successfully reissuing a number of these classic paperbacks since 2012. In 2017, BBC Books expanded the range by publishing the first all-new batch of Target novels, filling in one of those classic-era gaps (City of Death), along with new-era novelisations from Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell and Jenny T Colgan – all five of them instant classics.

Joy Wilkinson said: Robert Shearman said:Mark Gatiss said:BBC Books will publish all seven Targets on 23rd July 2020, each with newly commissioned cover artwork by Anthony Dry

A new immersive adventure, Doctor Who Time Fracture, in in development by the BBC and will be launched in late 2020 in London.

The show, developed by BBC Studios and Immersive Everywhere, will give fans a chance to experience the Doctor’s adventures.

From the team behind The Great Gatsby, the UK’s longest-running immersive show, Doctor Who Time Fracture will premiere in late 2020 at a London location to be announced.

This immersive adventure promises to put you at the heart of the story, plunged into a journey across space and time. Featuring amazingly realised worlds - the universe as we know it is at stake. Audiences will discover a great challenge lies ahead and that it’s time to be a hero, step up, and save the planet!

Audiences can purchase Gallifreyan Coin tokens prior to general on-sale. Each token purchased equates to one ticket and will provide priority access to book for the date and time of your preferred performance when announced in February 2020.

You will receive a code for each token purchased which can then be redeemed for your ticket(s), as well as an exclusive pin badge given to you at the venue on the date of your chosen performance.

Tokens are available online

The Sisterhood of Karn, the Long-running social group for LGBT Doctor Who fans, has named Katy Manning a true gay Icon of Doctor Who.

On Saturday the group, founded in 1994, held a special celebratory gathering to mark 25 years celebrating Doctor Who.

They were joined by actress Katy Manning, who played companion Jo Grant opposite Jon Pertwee’s Doctor in the 1970s, and were thrilled to present her with an award recognising her status as ‘A TRUE GAY ICON OF DOCTOR WHO’.

Organiser Richard Unwin said: The Sisterhood of Karn hold regular meet-ups on the third Thursday of every month, in the upstairs bar of The Kings Arms pub in Soho, London. Newcomers are always welcome. For more information and event listings, follow them on Facebook and Twitter

The next edition of the Radio Times (7th-13th December) is the latest to feature Doctor Who on the front cover, anticipating the return of the series to television on New Years Day.

The magazine features a preview of the series, with an interview with head writer Chris Chibnall, who discusses how the show has been is life-changing, occupying all his waking hours. Admitting the pressure on his first series was huge, he said the new series will be a step up, with more scale, fun and some new and old monsters:

The Radio Times is out now.

The BBC have now confirmed Doctor Who will return on New Years Day with the first part of the new series, Spyfall.


Update 3rd Dec: time of broadcast is confirmed as 6:55pm on BBC One. A new, longer trailer for the premiere has now been released:

This Christmas, Candy Jar Books are offering readers in the UK a chance to win a surprise bundle of books from their collection, to arrive specially wrapped for the festive day itself!

To be in with a chance to win the bundle, simply answer this question:


Please send your answer along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-candyjar@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas". Open to readers within the United Kingdom only. Only one entry per household will be accepted. Closing date: Monday 16 December 2019.

Doctor Who Infinity, the follow up to the Doctor Who: Legacy video game by Tiny Rebel Games, which soft-launched in late 2018, has gone live as a full, 5- story release for mobile devices, PC, and Mac.

The game brings the world of the Doctor to life with brand new, stand-alone, comic-book style interactive audio adventures. Players can now delve into all five episodes including The Silent Streets of Barry Island, The Horror of Flat Holm, The Dalek Invasion of Time, The Orphans of the Poloypotra, and The Lady of the Lake

. Each of the stories in Doctor Who Infinity was created as a collaboration between Tiny Rebel Games and Seed Studio; they include a roster of primarily Wales-based artists and writers and each features narration and dialogue from well-known British actors.

Doctor Who Infinity episodes include:

• The Horror of Flat Holm: One of the new stories, this was written by the multi-talented Mike Collins, drawn by Patrick Goddard, and colored by John-Paul Bove. It is an epic U.N.I.T. Cyberman story told in several time periods with the Fourth Doctor joined by Captain Mike Yates (voiced by Richard Franklin) and with modern day Osgood (voiced by Ingrid Oliver) and Kate Stewart. The cast will be joined by a Cyberman (voiced by Nick Briggs).
• The Silent Streets of Barry Island: Another new adventure, this was written by Jacqueline Rayner, drawn by Emma Vieceli and colored by Kris Carter. It features the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams in mods-n-rockers era Barry Island. It's a summertime love story in an unseasonably snowy Barry Island which is plagued by mysterious, gruesome deaths and disappearances. They've arrived for a planned holiday but quickly have to ditch the beach gear and blend in with the locals. Their guide is Ted, a down-on-his-luck fish ‘n’ chip shop owner, voiced by Steffan Rhodri. Look for a startling reveal for Doctor Who fans!
• The Dalek Invasion of Time: The first story to be released was written by George Mann, the critically-acclaimed author and screenwriter, including many Doctor Who stories; drawn by acclaimed artist and writer Mike Collins, known worldwide for his history of work with Doctor Who and other major comic properties; and colored by Kris Carter, who has a long history of working on brands such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Shrek, among many others. The game is narrated by actors Michelle Gomez, who reprises her TV series role as Missy; Ingrid Oliver, who reprises her TV series role as Osgood; and Bella Ramsey, who voices new villain Freya in the game.
• The Orphans of the Polyoptra: This adventure was written by Gary Russell, which he has stated is his final Doctor Who story. He is well-known as a writer of Doctor Who novels producer and writer of Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish productions, formerly a Script Editor for Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and was formerly Editor of Doctor Who Magazine. The game’s art has been drawn by David Roach, noted inker of comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine; and also colored by Dylan Teague. The story is narrated by actor Katy Manning, who returns as Jo Grant, her role from the Doctor Who TV series, and also voices the enemy.
• The Lady of the Lake: This story was written by Scott Handcock, author of many Doctor Who audio dramas and short stories; drawn by Neil Edwards, noted comic book artist whose work includes Marvel, DC, Doctor Who, Titan Comics and many others; and colored by John-Paul Bove, known for his colorist work on G.I. Joe, Doctor Who, Transformers; and Dylan Teague, known for his work as a comics artist and colorist for Doctor Who Magazine, DC Comics. The story is being narrated by Celyn Jones as Geraint, a critically acclaimed and award-winning actor and screenwriter, who is known for films such as Set Fire to the Stars and Submergence and the TV series Joe. Other voices featured include Katy Manning as Delyth and Marilyn Le Conte as the eponymous “Lady of the Lake”.

Doctor Who Infinity is being published and developed by Tiny Rebel Games in collaboration with Seed Studio, and is under official license from BBC Studios. The new game was funded as a joint effort between the Welsh Government’s Media Investment Budget and British game publisher/developer Double Eleven Limited.

Candy Jar Books has announced a festive collection of tales for The Lucy Wilson Mysteries:


Head of publishing at Candy Jar, Shaun Russell, says:


The short story collection entitled contains five stories by a range of different authors.

• The Mobile Army, written by popular children’s author Cherry Cobb
  
  I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to write a Lucy Wilson story, having read the books I fell in love with Lucy as a strong independent character who isn’t afraid to stand up for her beliefs. I hope my daughter grows up to have the same outlook on life.
  
• The Christmas Cracker Conundrum, written by Tim Gambrell (originally given away for free in 2018)
  
  It feels very fitting, to me, for The Christmas Cracker Conundrum to make its way into print, now, for a whole new set of readers. Lucy Wilson, Hobo and I have been on something of a wild journey over the last twelve months. It started with Shaun asking me to contribute a Lucy Wilson short story to Candy Jar's 2018 advent calendar, then it ran through my two 2019 novels, and the journey now comes full circle, back to The Christmas Cracker Conundrum!
  
  I love the characters, their energy, their individuality and the world they inhabit. And Lucy doesn't just speak to kids her own age, either. In the best tradition of children's literature, there's always something in her stories for everyone. Shaun gave me pretty much free reign with my short story, only specifying that it had to involve Christmas crackers, somehow. That's more than enough to get the imagination flowing. We all know where the mystery is with a Christmas cracker, until it's pulled. And if my story makes the readers pause momentarily before they pull their crackers over Christmas dinner, then I'll consider my job well done!
  
• Crimes of Fashion, written by Terry Cooper
  
  I read some of the previous books and couldn't wait to jump into Lucy’s adventures. The story takes inspiration from my teenage years as a rapper and break dancer, when the fashions were highly sought after and everyone was looking for the latest trends in shell suits and trainers. Added to the familiar sci-fi genre, it was great fun to write!
  
• Imposters, written by Keren Williams (Candy Jar’s publishing co-ordinator)
  
  I joined the Candy Jar team just after the very first book in the Lucy Wilson series, Avatars of the Intelligence, was published. Since then, I have had the greatest pleasure of working through the entire range. Being given the opportunity to become a writer in the series has really made my year, but I just hope I’ve written something that everyone can enjoy.
  
• Past, Present and Yet to Come, written by Chris Lynch
  
  I also wrote my story for the Candy Jar Christmas advent calendar last year. This story is a light reworking of A Christmas Carol and explores the future possibilities of the Lucy and Hobo characters.
  

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Christmas Crackers is available to pre-order from the Candy Jar website, and will be released just in time for Christmas.

Hero Collector have announced two new Doctor Who Companion Sets featuring a cast of beloved TARDIS travelers separated by 55 years.

The company, which publishes high-quality collectibles from across the worlds of pop culture, has released companion sets based on the first TARDIS crew and the current incumbents.

Hero Collector is Eaglemoss’ imprint for genre collectibles and is one of the world’s leading producers of figurines and fantasy die-cast vehicles. It makes products based on many of the world’s most popular entertainment brands, including Marvel and DC comics and movies, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Alien, Predator, Battlestar Galactica, Sonic the Hedgehog, Back to the Future, WWE, Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, and James Bond.

Each set contains four figurines – an incarnation of The Doctor alongside their three companions – rendered in hand-painted polyresin at 1:21 scale (approximately 3.5 inches tall). They also come with a companion magazine, packed with details behind each character’s time in the TARDIS – including interviews, photographs, and a look back at some of their best-loved stories.

• The First Doctor (William Hartnell) arrived on screen in 1963, when teachers Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Ian Chesterton (William Russell) followed their mysterious pupil Susan (Carole Ann Ford) home. They soon discovered that she and her grandfather were alien time travelers living inside a police box – which led to all four setting off on adventures through space and time together!
• The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) crash-landed in Sheffield in 2018. Teaming up with trainee engineer Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), former bus driver Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), and probationary police officer Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), she defeated a tooth-stealing alien warlord and made her way back to the TARDIS – complete with new friends in tow.

The Thirteenth Doctor Companion Set will be available direct from HeroCollector.com or your favourite retailer in January 2020, with the First Doctor Companion Set following soon after in February 2020. They join Hero Collector’s ongoing line of 1:21 Doctor Who figurines, which explores aliens, monsters, robots, humans and Doctors from over five decades of classic science fiction TV. .