New Writers Announced

Wednesday, 25 October 2023 - Reported by Marcus

The new series of Doctor Who will feature an episode co-written by writing duo Kate Herron and Briony Redman, which will air once Ncuti Gatwa takes control of the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor.

Both writers have made their mark, Herron as the Executive Producer and director of the entirety of the popular Marvel Studio’s series Loki, as well as directing on the critically acclaimed series Sex Education.

Redman is an actor, comedian and BAFTA Rocliffe winning writer, whose work includes the Welsh crime-comedy Pont Brec with Damian Evans, and the award-winning short film Forget-Me-Not, which screened across film festivals internationally.

The pair have collaborated on a range of work together including their comic, The Storkening, as well as TV and film projects including the sci-fi Miss Universe and the acclaimed short film Smear.

Now they have now teamed up once more to take viewers on an unforgettable adventure in the new series of Doctor Who.

Kate Herron said:

Clearly, I can’t get enough of time travel. It is an absolute honour to write for Russell and Ncuti. We had so much fun and can’t wait for you all to see it.

Briony Redman said:

As a big fan of Doctor Who and Russell T Davies, it’s been a dream to write on this show.

Doctor Who Showrunner, Russell T Davies said

This is when I absolutely love my job. Working with the stellar talents of Kate and Briony makes my whole world bigger and brighter, and a lot more fun. I was a huge fan of Loki and reached out to Kate to say so - she then introduced me to Briony, and it was all systems go! They've written a wonderful script which created unique challenges for cast and crew alike. The end result is gorgeous and thrilling and scary, and not like any other episode of Doctor Who.

”

FILTER: - Production

Talking Doctor Who

Tuesday, 24 October 2023 - Reported by Marcus

David Tennant is to host a documentary on BBC Four to mark the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

In the programme, shown next Wednesday, Tennant time travels back through the BBC archives to tell the story of the Doctor’s classic era, with a selection of rarely seen interviews and clips covering William Hartnell’s first incarnation right through to the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

On the way, Tennant compares some of his own experiences with the actors who came before him and shares special archive moments that reveal, amongst other things, how to film a regeneration, which actor was a master of modern gadgetry - including a collapsible caravan - and what the factors were that helped to decide how a Doctor selects his own individual and distinctive costume.

Viewers in the UK can see the programme on BBC Four on Wednesday 1st November at 7.30pm.

FILTER: - David Tennant - Documentary

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 596

Thursday, 12 October 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 596 is out today

Highlights include:

• Meet the Meep – Miriam Margolyes, who voices the Meep in the first 2023 Special The Star Beast, talks exclusively to DWM about her lunch with David Tennant, her affection for Tom Baker, and why she’s the Fourth Doctor’s companion who never was.

• Noble intentions – Jacqueline King and Karl Collins – who play Donna’s mum, Sylvia Noble and her husband, Shaun Temple – on their imminent return to Doctor Who after 13 years.

• Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies on important dates for your diary!

• The Beast Unleashed – go behind the scenes on the brand-new making-of show Doctor Who Unleashed.

• Star Makers ¬¬¬– comic book legends Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons – and two of their biggest fans, Russell T Davies and David Tennant – tell us why it’s The Star Beast’s time to shine.

• Drawn Upon a Spin Off… – episodes of Doctor Who have inspired everything from comics and novels to audio dramas and video games. But what about those times when the inspiration has gone the other way?

• Memory Worm – The Worm deletes your past – and it’s loose! DWM continues to test Doctor Who contributors for signs of contact with the creature. This issue: Jamie actor Frazer Hines.

• Production Diary – script editor Scott Handcock files his latest report, direct from Doctor Who’s HQ.

• Effective Management – Matt Nathan, VFX editor on the forthcoming special episodes and the next series of Doctor Who, reveals how he manages the magic we see on screen.

• “Nothing in the World Can Stop Me Now!” – with an animated reconstruction of 1967's The Underwater Menace on the way, DWM reassesses at Joseph Furst’s baroque performance as Professor Zaroff.

• Liberation of the Daleks Part Thirteen – the adventures of the Fourteenth Doctor continue in the epic comic-strip adventure written by Alan Barnes and illustrated by Lee Sullivan.

• The Fact of Fiction unlocks the secrets of the Tenth Doctor and Donna’s first reunion episode, 2008’s Partners in Crime.

• 60 Objects, 60 Years – the latest instalment of the series that tells the story of one object from every year of Doctor Who’s history.

• Gallifrey Guardian – all the latest official news.

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

• Previews, reviews, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser and more.

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 596 is on sale Thursday 12 October

from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £7.99 (UK).

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

FILTER: - DWM - Fourteenth Doctor

Adventures in Type and Space – Charity Bookazine

Wednesday, 11 October 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Adventures in Type and Space (Credit: Ten Acre Films)

Ten Acre Films is releasing Adventures in Type and Space in December, a charity bookazine exploring the title sequences of classic Doctor Who.

Highlights include new in-depth interviews with Bernard Lodge (title designer 1963-1979), Peter Govey (special cameraman 1970-1979), Gareth Edwards (titles animator 1987-1989), along with contributions from Sid Sutton (title designer 1980-1986) and the family of Oliver Elmes (title designer 1987-1989).

Illustrated throughout with rare and unseen imagery, Adventures in Type and Space is a celebration of the artistry and ingenuity that went into creating Doctor Who's extraordinary title sequences, told by the people who made them, and includes a foreword by Mark Gatiss.

Proceeds will benefit Unicef, Bernard Lodge's chosen charity.

Created by Graham Kibble-White, Jack Kibble-White and Stuart Manning.

Format: 124 pages; full colour,

21cm x 21cm, perfect-bound

All pre-orders will be entered into a prize draw to win a one-of-kind print of the diamond logo, taken from the original metal-block master used to create the actual TV graphic, personally printed and signed by Bernard Lodge.

Pre-order here

FILTER: - Books

60 Years of Doctor Who on iPlayer

Tuesday, 10 October 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who 60 Years (Credit: BBC Studios)

To mark the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC is to make over 800 episodes of the series and its spin-offs available on iPlayer.

The episodes will be released on iPlayer from the start of next month, with each one having subtitles, audio description, and sign language available. It will be the biggest collection of Doctor Who ever available on the iPlayer with hundreds of episodes available with multiple accessibility features for the first time.

With the Anniversary Specials due to hit our screens, next month, viewers will have the opportunity to travel back in time with any of the Doctors through the show’s 60-year history with the classic series, as well as explore the vast world of Doctor Who with spin-offs like the Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and Class, or step behind-the-scenes with every episode of Doctor Who Confidential – all available in one place - BBC iPlayer.

With over 800 episodes of Doctor Who programming on iPlayer, Russell T Davies, Showrunner said:

I’d like to thank the BBC for all the hard work, to get this massive back catalogue under one roof, at long last. I'm so excited for new viewers - imagine being 8 years old, spending winter afternoons exploring the 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. And we’re determined this won't be a dusty museum - we have exciting plans to bring the back catalogue to life, with much more to be revealed!

Dan McGolpin, Director of iPlayer and channels, said:

Doctor Who has captivated countless millions of viewers on the BBC for 60 years and in celebration of this special moment we are bringing classic series to BBC iPlayer for the first time. Fans will be able to enjoy many of the Doctor’s earliest adventures with William Hartnell right through to the very latest series and the soon to be released and tremendously exciting new anniversary specials with David Tennant. We want everyone to be able to enjoy this breath-taking back catalogue, so we are making each episode on iPlayer as accessible as possible, with subtitles, audio description, and sign language all available for the first time.

As the companion to the back catalogue, the BBC will simultaneously launch an extensive online archive from the show’s history at bbc.co.uk/doctorwho, with everything from interviews with cast to written documents, long unheard audio, and behind-the-scenes photos. Together, they tell the story of the ground-breaking series through 60 archive gems for the 60th anniversary.

The archive invites fans to delve even deeper into the show with curated journeys such as the genesis of Doctor Who, where audio from former Head of Drama, Sydney Newman alongside documents with his original handwritten notes guide you through the origins of Doctor Who.

In its beginning stages, this new site will feature curated journeys through the archive to bring the show’s extensive history to life for fans – with items like interviews with cast members, news pieces, audio, imagery, and written documents.

Over time, more content will be added to the archive including a special collection of photos that have been scanned at 8k resolution from an estimated total of 25,000 prints, negatives, slides and digital images, which will give an unprecedented insight into the show with access to all areas throughout the years.

The expanded archive will also feature additional gems from over 100,000 documents, including memos, correspondence, designs, and audience research, alongside orchestral scores of sheet music.

Also being added is a selection of audio clips about Doctor Who, including radio programmes, documentaries, interviews, and music.

BBC iPlayer’s back catalogue and the online archive will launch on 1st November before David Tennant returns as the Fourteenth Doctor for three special 60th-anniversary episodes.

FILTER: - Doctor Who - iPlayer

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries + Competition

Sunday, 1 October 2023 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The Mystery of Lucy Wilson - Apocalypse Tomorrow (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries - The Web of Terror (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

Candy Jar Books has announced a simultaneous release of the next two instalments of the Lucy Wilson series, available for pre-order, exclusively from the Candy Jar website.

The first release in this double-header is entitled Apocalypse Tomorrow, and it serves as the epic conclusion of The Mystery of Lucy Wilson arc, which has seen Lucy separated from her best friend Hobo by the small matter of several decades and one apocalypse.

The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Apocalypse Tomorrow

Written by Steve Walton and Shaun Russell

Lucy Wilson’s adventures in time have taken her to some strange places. Dangerous places, faraway places… But none so strange and alien as where she finds herself now… The 1990s.

Pokémon battle in the schoolyards. Tamagotchi roam the streets. And a giant spider from a ruined future looks to spark an apocalypse that, technically, has already happened.

Timelines converge and realities shattered as Lucy’s exile in time reaches its epic climax. And in the end, it all comes down to one question: who’s better, 2Unlimited or Adamski?

Available to purchase from the Candy Jar website.

Serving as a coda to this storyline,The Web of Terror starts off on more familiar ground: Lucy’s home in sleepy Ogmore-by-Sea. But humanity’s last line of defence doesn’t get many off days: soon she’s confronted by a foe from her past. Or more precisely, several of her pasts…

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Web of Terror

Written by Paul W Robinson and Shaun Russell

Lucy Wilson thought that her run-in with killer spiders was over after her time in Australia! But soon strange happenings on Ogmore-by-Sea beach set her skin crawling once again…

Still, whether trapped in a spaceship, abducted by a familiar face, or hunted by space pandas, Lucy’s just glad to have her best friend Hobo back by her side.

But the past has a way of catching up with you. Can Lucy escape the enemy that she thought she’d left behind long ago?

Available to purchase from the Candy Jar website.

With the arc juggling multiple timelines and locations, tying a bow on this storyline soon spilled over the bounds of a single book, which prompted the decision to release these novels simultaneously.As Shaun Russell explained:

On one level, Apocalypse Tomorrow and The Web of Terror are two very different stories. What unites them, however, is that they see the characters of Lucy and Hobo rediscovering themselves – both as individuals and as a team. At this point, they’ve been separated for several books, and their reunion is not straightforward. We didn’t want to provide the readers with the setup while withholding the payoff; by the conclusion of these stories, we’re ready to kick of a distinct new phase in Lucy and Hobo’s adventures. But as we needed both novels to get there, we decided, why not release them together?

It's an ambitious conclusion, which sees (at least) three different timelines collide. But as co-author Steve Walton continued, that’s just one of the exciting aspects of writing for these characters:

Time travel, intergalactic spaceships, multidimensional beings… It’s all just a day in the life for Lucy Wilson! It’s the nature of storytelling to take a character from one familiar situation, and into a strange new one – and there’s no characters where you have more scope to do so! We went as big as possible with these stories, particularly with the conclusion of Apocalypse. But I think most of all I enjoyed playing with the idea of Lucy being dropped into the 1990s, a place somehow all the stranger for its seeming familiarity.

Co-author Paul W Robinson followed Apocalypse Tomorrow with The Web of Terror - tying up a few loose end, this book also sends Lucy on her very first adventure to an alien planet. Paul said:

I felt it was about time that Lucy and Hobo travelled beyond the earth’s atmosphere. It was fascinating creating a brand new world, while thrusting Lucy into her very own Hunger Games–style mystery.

Competition

Candy Jar Books are offering readers in the UK a chance to win both of the Lucy Wilson books, plus the hardback Lethbridge-Stewart relase of The Grandfather Infestation: The Illustrated Edition, and a signed copy of Jill Curzon 2023 A.D.

In keeping with the spider theme of the books, simply answer the following question:

Name the planet the Doctor and Sarah travel to in Planet of the Spiders.

Send your answer to comp-candyjar@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "Om mani padme hum". Competition closes on Sunday 15th October.

FILTER: -

David Whitaker Biography

Friday, 29 September 2023 - Reported by Marcus

A new biography of David Whitaker is to be published by Ten Acre Films.

David Whitaker in an Exciting Adventure with Television will look at the life of Doctor Who's first story editor. The book, by Simon Guerrier, will be published in November to mark 60 years since the first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast.

Discover the extraordinary, little-known life of one of the series chief architects. As the show’s first story editor, he helped to establish the compelling blend of adventure, imagination and quirky humour that made – and continues to make – the series a hit.

Whitaker commissioned the first Dalek story and fought for it to be made when his bosses didn’t like it. Regeneration, the TARDIS being alive, the idea of Doctor Who expanding to become a multimedia phenomenon in comics, books and films… David Whitaker was all over it. Yet very little was known about this key figure in Doctor Who history – until now. Why did he fall out with Irving Berlin? Was he really engaged to Yootha Joyce? And how did an assignment to Moscow badly affect his career?

Simon Guerrier has written countless Doctor Who books, comics and audio plays. He’s also the author of Sherlock Holmes — The Great War and has produced a number of documentaries for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.

The biography will be published on 6th November 2023 and is available for pre-order

FILTER: - Production

Doctor Who: Unleashed

Wednesday, 27 September 2023 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has announced a new behind-the-scenes series on Doctor Who is coming to BBC Three this autumn.

Doctor Who: Unleashed is a brand new access all areas show giving viewers an unmissable insight into the world of Doctor Who.

The 30-minute factual entertainment series is produced by Bright Branch for BBC Studios for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer.

Host Steffan Powell (BBC Gaming Correspondent and former Radio 1 Newsbeat Presenter) has been given the keys to the TARDIS and, after every episode of Doctor Who, viewers can switch over to BBC Three or iPlayer as Powell takes viewers on a journey showing them just how this out of this world drama is made.

With exclusive interviews with the stars in front of the camera, as well as those behind it, Unleashed is described as the ultimate companion to Doctor Who.

Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Showrunner says:

Over the years, I meet so many people who were inspired to find careers in TV, because of the behind-the-scenes material the BBC would show. And now it’s back, in the grand old tradition of Doctor Who Confidential, but in a brand new form, Unleashed! So a whole new generation – and faithful fans of old – can see what the stars and the crew get up to behind the cameras.

Steffan Powell, Host of Doctor Who: Unleashed says:

When you’re told Russell T Davies is asking for you to present a show, you say, ‘when does he want me?’ Doesn’t matter, I’ll be there…There’s a really fun and fascinating group of people bringing Doctor Who to life - I can’t wait for the audience to meet them. I’m so chuffed to have been trusted to help tell, in all its glory, the story of what goes into making the magic happen.

Jo Pearce, Bright Branch Creative Director and Doctor Who: Unleashed Executive Producer says:

This series gives audiences access to all areas, led brilliantly by Steffan Powell, viewers are invited to see what really goes into the making of Doctor Who. It’s been such a privilege to create this show and we’re so grateful to the cast and crew who welcomed us in and allowed us to tell the story behind the drama.

Fiona Campbell, Youth Audience (BBC iPlayer and BBC Three) says:

Doctor Who is a show that needs no introduction, so it goes without saying that BBC Three and iPlayer are thrilled to introduce this incredible new series that invites viewers into the world of Doctor Who, showing them just what really goes on.

The series is the first regular show to delve behind the scenes of Doctor Who since Doctor Who Confidential was canceled in 2011.

FILTER: - Unleashed

Lethbridge-Stewart - United Nations

Monday, 25 September 2023 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books has announced the third title in its final series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels.

United Nations

Written by Jonathan Blum

It was impossible that the public could ever have missed seeing the giant alien spaceship. But somehow, everyone did.

The US and USSR both want to know how the UK covered the incident up. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart would quite like to know who actually did cover it up. Old allies from both sides of the Iron Curtain are chasing the answer – but each with their own agenda. Everyone wants the power to make inconvenient secrets disappear.

The search leads Lethbridge-Stewart to the single most normal man on the Isle of Man, and what happens to the world around him when he dies. Lethbridge-Stewart faces death by coincidence, as probability gets turned upside-down.

And as the attacks get closer and closer to home, so does the political fallout. His career, his dream of uniting the worlds’ nations against alien threats, even his family could pay the ultimate price.

United Nations is written by Jonathan Blum, his first Lethbridge-Stewart novel, but by no means his first foray into Doctor Who fiction. During the 1990s he penned several Doctor Who novels with his partner, Kate Orman, for BBC Books, including Vampire Science and Seeing I. Outside of books, he also wrote the seminal Big Finish audio, The Fearmonger.

Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:

I’ve long wanted to work with Jon Blum, having been an admirer of his work since I first read Vampire Science in 1997. It took a while to work out, since Jon is a busy chap and we needed a window that would work for him. A such, his first Lethbridge-Stewart novel comes at the end of the range, and has taken something of a lengthy gestation period. For these last few novels, starting with Spheres of Influence and It Came from the Isle of Man, I made sure the authors worked closely together to build up an ongoing situation, worthy of such a big event as the creation of UNIT.

Blum said:

Much of this book was springboarding off of where John Peel left his book. He set up an adventure with international scope, then resolved the crisis itself… Because John was doing the big alien adventure, I wanted to explore the other half of what would become UNIT’s remit; ‘anything unknown [on Earth], or even beyond.’ I wanted human-scale adversaries, people living with the unearthly or trying to exploit it. And I wanted to show how humans can produce the sort of global threats the UN is supposed to be uniting us to deal with. The business with the Odds was inspired by some middle-aged reflection on just how outrageously unlikely my life has been over the years. Lethbridge-Stewart keeps trying to have a normal life in the midst of barking madness, and I wanted to draw some parallels with these other people coping with improbable events. Dramatize that sense of a little bubble of normality, but on a global scale. And then blow it up.

Setting up UNIT is a large part of these final books. Frankham-Allen continued:

That was also the endgame of this series, to fill the gap between The Web of Fear and The Invasion, to show what happened in those four years between to not only Lethbridge-Stewart, but Earth at large. What series of events would warrant the set-up of such an international force…? We had it all planned, and things were going smoothly, and then we were hit with a bizarre reference to The War Machines (a story that happened long before The Web of Fear) in 2022 with Doctor Who: Flux…

Blum explained:

We were most of the way through the story, when suddenly Flux established that UNIT was being set up years before Lethbridge-Stewart even came on board [despite countless previous references to his importance in the founding of UNIT]. But then if you look at what actually happens in Flux, it turns out there’s a very good reason why the original UNIT was strangled at birth, and needed our heroes to breathe life into it. And suddenly we see some things the Brigadier’s superiors did earlier in the book series in a rather different light…

Thirty years ago now, I made my student film Time Rift, and Marsha Twitty played Adrienne Kramer, commander of UNIT USA. And her part kept getting bigger, because her performance really jumped off the screen. Marsha became a lifelong friend, and Kate and I wrote General Kramer into our Eighth Doctor novels. Then the Lethbridge-Stewart team asked if they could feature a younger Kramer in their series (Times Squared). But when Marsha passed away in 2019, I decided I wanted to write for her once more as a tribute. Somehow that snowballed into being the big founding-of-UNIT story! I talked with Marsha’s friends, her mother and her boyfriend, and really tried to dig into the truth of what it would be like for a young Black woman officer working at the UN in those days. She was a joy to write for – a take-charge woman who’s also really good at keeping things to herself, and having more up her sleeve than you think. And we see very different sides to her in these books. Even after all these years, she was still able to surprise me!

The final two books in this Lethbridge-Stewart series will be Intelligence Taskforce by Jonathan Blum, and the series epilogue, The Lost Son by Andy Frankham-Allen.

You can order United Nations from the Candy Jar website, and it is part of any subscription to the book range.

FILTER: -

New Trailer Released

Saturday, 23 September 2023 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has released a new trailer for the three 60th Anniversary Specials which will be broadcast later this year.

Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials | Doctor WhoDestiny isn’t done with them just yet… The Doctor and Donna return for three special episodes ❤️❤️➕🔷 

The brand new trailer features Neil Patrick-Harris waltzing onto the scene, as it is now revealed that he will play the Toymaker, an all-powerful enemy last seen in 1966 - but what is it that brings the Doctor face-to-face with this enemy from his past?

Also shown, UNIT is back with a bang! Jemma Redgrave reprises her iconic role as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart alongside David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor.

Russell T Davies, Showrunner said:

This is just the start, as the fever starts to burn. We’re heading for a November full of Doctor Who surprises, for fans and new viewers alike. Stay alert!

Doctor Who returns in November 2023 with three special episodes with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor to coincide with the 60th anniversary. Ncuti Gatwa’s first episode as the Fifteenth Doctor will air over the festive period.

Doctor Who will premiere exclusively on the BBC for the UK and Ireland. Disney+ will be the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside of the UK and Ireland.

FILTER: - Fourteenth Doctor

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