Doctor Who Comics - WHO Shop Christmas Cover Variants

Sunday, 30 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus
This December Titan Comics is teaming up with The WHO Shop to celebrate the store​'​s 30th Birthday with a special Doctor Who Comics Christmas triptych cover variant. Only available to purchase at The W​HO​ Shop.

Doctor Who Comics Christmas triptych cover variant (Titan) Doctor Who Comics Christmas triptych cover variant (Titan) Doctor Who Comics Christmas triptych cover variant (Titan)
This special image featuring​ the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors was created by artist Lee Sullivan (Transformers, Thundercats, 2000AD) and ​runs across three ​Doctor Who comic issues this December​: ​Tenth Doctor #5, Eleventh Doctor #5 and Twelfth Doctor #3​ .




FILTER: - Comics - Eleventh Doctor - Tenth Doctor - Twelfth Doctor

Hartnell wishes viewers a "Happy Christmas" again

Saturday, 29 November 2014 - Reported by Anthony Weight
BBC One this evening began its countdown to the Christmas season with a special trail broadcast after tonight's edition of Strictly Come Dancing, reminding viewers of some of the Christmas programmes they have enjoyed on the channel in previous decades.

The trail, which is available on the official BBC YouTube channel, features examples of some of the channel's previous festive station idents, clips from various Christmas specials down the years... and William Hartnell, the First Doctor!

The Feast of Steven, the seventh episode of The Daleks' Master Plan in 1965, was the first Doctor Who episode to be broadcast on Christmas Day. Famously, at the conclusion of the episode, the Doctor turns to directly address the audience, breaking the fourth wall to wish: "...a Happy Christmas to all of you at home!" (Contrary to an oft-stated fan myth, this was a scripted line and not an ad-lib from Hartnell). A recreation of the scene was made as a DVD extra for An Adventure in Space and Time, and can also be viewed on the BBC's official YouTube channel, here.

The new BBC Christmas trail features the audio of Hartnell's line taken from the episode, which no longer exists in visual form, played over footage of Hartnell as the Doctor looking directly into the camera as he faces down one of the eponymous adversaries in The War Machines.

The trail also uses the TARDIS sound effect over some of the old Christmas idents to give the impression of going back in time, and features clips from more recent Doctor Who Christmas specials such as The Christmas Invasion and Voyage of the Damned.

Christmas Day television is a peak viewing time in the UK, with special editions of popular programmes gathering large audiences, and much competition to see which shows will end up at the top of the ratings. Doctor Who's next Christmas special, Last Christmas starring Peter Capaldi, is expected to be broadcast on Christmas Day in the evening, at a time yet to be confirmed. This is the tenth year in a row that Doctor Who has been accorded the prestige of a Christmas Day broadcast.




FILTER: -

Series 8 Live+7 Figures

Friday, 28 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus

Figures showing the Live+7 performance of Doctor Who Series 8 are now available.

The LIve+7 figure is calculated by the BBC to try to get an accurate estimate of the total unique audience for an episode of a programme. Unlike official BARB figures the Live+7 uses data to include those who watched one of the broadcast repeats of the episode and those who watched the episode on iPlayer all within 7 days of the original transmission.

On average only 62% of the total audience of Doctor Who watch the programmme live or, as a recording, on the same day as broadcast, compared with an average of 86% across all BBC programmes. Around 24% timeshift the recording compared with an average of 6%, while 4% watch one of the repeats compared with an average of 6%. Around 9% watch on iPlayer, the BBC average being 2%.

Live +7 figures give a fairly consistent ratings across the series, with almost 10.8 million tuning in for the twelfth Doctor's debut. The average rating drops to around 8 million for the rest of the series with Death in Heaven finishing with around 8.8 million watching.




FILTER: - Ratings - Series 8/34 - UK

I'm coming for you on Christmas Day

Friday, 28 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus
BBC America has confirmed the 2014 Christmas special, Last Christmas, will be broadcast on Christmas Day.





FILTER: - BBC America - Peter Capaldi

Doctor Who to Headline Bell Media’s 'Project Latte'

Wednesday, 26 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus
Canadian company Bell Media revealed today that its upcoming subscription on-demand video streaming service, code-named “Project Latte,” will give users in Canada access to 108 episodes of Doctor Who.

Project Latte, which launches next month, is aiming to be Canada’s premium subscription on-demand video streaming service, providing the most robust lineup of superior television content in the country. Project Latte will feature more than 10,000 hours of premium non-kids TV programming, with more than 350 unique TV titles. Designed to complement traditional television and available to all TV providers, to date Project Latte will be offered via set-top box to TELUS Optik TV, Bell Fibe TV, and Bell Aliant FibreOP TV subscribers at launch. The service will also be available via mobile apps, the web, game consoles, and smart TVs.

Doctor Who, which is the Number 1 series of all time on Canadian channel Space, reached new hights in the recently concluded eighth season, averaging 756,000 viewers weekly, making it the most-watched TV series on Canadian speciality television during its run.

Other shows included in Project Latte include Orphan Black, Utopia and all 726 episodes from the Star Trek franchise Mike Cosentino, Senior Vice-President, Programming, Bell Media said
Some of the hottest TV shows on earth right now are sci-fi and fantasy-themed, so we’ve strategically curated Project Latte to deliver the best of this type of programming. In addition to our own Orphan Black and cult-hit Doctor Who, we are also proud to provide the complete Star Trek collection.




FILTER: - Canada

Cult Conversations on DVD

Wednesday, 26 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus
Cult Conversations is an exciting new range of DVDs from Fantom Films, featuring icons of British screen and television, presented by television aficionado Toby Hadoke.

The series contains in-depth interviews from many associated with Doctor Who, including Katy Manning and Terry Molloy as well as actors who have appeared in the series such as Tom Adams from Warriors of the Deep and John Carson from Snakedance. The first three Cult Conversations DVDs are now released (Katy Manning, Terry Molloy and Valerie Leon), with the rest to be published next month, individually priced £10.99 each or £54.95 for the whole series.
Credit: Fantom Films Ltd
Katy Manning

Katy Manning is known to audiences the world over for her role as Jo Grant opposite Jon Pertwee's Doctor in Doctor Who. Outside of this iconic series Katy's life has literally taken her round the world. From uprooting and moving to Australia with her children in the late seventies, writing her remarkable one woman show in LA, through West End shows and the Edinburgh Fringe, even hosting her own chat show, this is the story of a lady who lives life to the full.
Credit: Fantom Films Ltd
Terry Molloy

Terry Molloy is an iconic name in two of Britain's most loved cultural institutions. On television he is best known as the monstrous Davros, creator of the Daleks in Doctor Who. On radio he has played Mike Tucker on The Archers for over forty years. Now the man with the distinctive voice shows his face to tell all about his extraordinary and long lasting career.
Credit: Fantom Films Ltd
Tom Adams

Tom Adams has been acting for five decades, and taken in a vast array of iconic and popular British series. On television he has appeared in Doctor Who, The Avengers, The Persuaders and The Onedin Line amongst others, as well being a regular in medical soap opera Emergency Ward 10. On film he appeared opposite Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. A born raconteur, Tom has a cavalcade of entertaining anecdotes from his wide ranging career.
Credit: Fantom Films Ltd
John Carson

John Carson is familiar to millions for his smooth villainous portrayals on television and on film. His cult television credits encompass all major classics such as The Avengers, The Saint, The Baron, Adam Adamant Lives! and Doctor Who to name but a few. On the silver screen he was a main player in some of Hammer's most horrific outings, including The Plague of Zombies, Taste The Blood of Dracula and Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter. But the real life story behind this legendary star is far greater than any of the roles he has played on screen.




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - People

Sneak Peek: Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #5

Wednesday, 26 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus
Next Wednesday​ December 3​ ​2014, sees the release of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #​5 by Al Ewing and Boo Cook​.​

Titan has released ​a sneak peek​ of​ ​​the interior art ​by Boo Cook.
DYING SPACE STATION!​ ​​​SHAPESHIFTING HORROR! ALICE’S LAST BREATH?

Still trapped aboard the SERVEYOUinc research satellite, Alice and the Doctor must unravel the mystery of the creature codenamed ‘ARC’ - while staying one step ahead of its whisper-quiet rampage through the station!

But there’s something essential the Doctor’s missing – something he’s overlooked.

Can Alice help him see it, in time to save her life… or is the story of the Doctor’s favorite sarcastic library assistant doomed to end in the icy depths of space?

Writer Al Ewing (Loki: Agent of Asgard) and artist Boo Cook (2000AD, Elephantmen) invite you to a high-tech race against time, with everything to play for!

Comes with two covers to collect: an art cover by Verity Glass and a photo subscription cover.
 THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR 5 (Credit: Titan Comics) THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR 5 (Credit: Titan Comics) THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR 5 (Credit: Titan Comics) THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR 5 (Credit: Titan Comics) THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR 5 (Credit: Titan Comics) THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR 5 (Credit: Titan Comics)




FILTER: - Comics - Eleventh Doctor

Death in Heaven - Chart Placing

Tuesday, 25 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus

The finale of Series 8, Doctor Who: Death in Heaven finished as the 14th most watched programme on British Television for the week, according to figures from Barb.

The episode had an official 28.8% share of the total TV audience.

Top for the week was Strictly Come Dancing which had 10.52 million watching, just beating ITV's Downton Abbey, which had 10.44 million viewers.

Doctor Who was the 6th highest rated programme on BBC Television.




FILTER: - Ratings - Series 8/34 - UK

Christmas Special title announced

Tuesday, 25 November 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have announced that the title for this year's Christmas Special will be Last Christmas, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Paul Wilmshurst.

In addition a new image for the episode has been released, featuring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, Jenna Coleman as Clara and Nick Frost as Santa Claus, plus Dan Starkey as Ian and Nathan McMullen as Wolf, two of Santa's helpers as seen in the recent preview shown on this year's Children in Need.

Last Christmas (Credit: BBC/David Venni)

The BBC Media Centre have released details on the BBC Christmas line up, which includes a brief synopsis for the episode:
The Doctor and Clara face their Last Christmas. Trapped on an arctic base and under attack from terrifying creatures, who are you going to call? Santa Claus!





FILTER: - Jenna Coleman - Peter Capaldi - Series Specials

Series 8 Q&A Highlights

Monday, 24 November 2014 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has released highlights from the special Q&A event hosted by Frank Skinner with guests Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Michelle Gomez and Steven Moffat, to mark the DVD and Blu-ray release of DoctorWho Series 8.



The Complete Eighth Series is out now in the UK and Australia - and will be released soon to the US and Canada.




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Series 8/34