Wild Blue Yonder

Thursday, 30 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who continues this Saturday with the second in the series of three specials made to mark Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary.

Wild Blue Yonder can be seen on BBC One in the United Kingdom at 6.30 pm. It will be released on Disney+ and the BBC iPlayer at the same time.

The Tardis takes the Doctor and Donna to the furthest edge of adventure. To escape, they must face the most desperate fight of their lives, with the fate of the universe at stake.

Wild Blue Yonder stars David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. It is written by Russell T Davies and directed by Tom Kingsley for Bad Wolf Productions and BBC Studios.

Where are the Doctor and Donna? Where has the TARDIS dropped the Doctor and Donna this time?... ✨ Watch a preview from the upcoming 60th anniversary special 'WILD BLUE YONDER'!

FILTER: - Broadcast - Fourteenth Doctor - Specials

Doctor Who Back on Christmas Day

Tuesday, 28 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) (Credit: Lara Cornell/BBC Studios/Bad Wolf)

The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who will be back on BBC One on Christmas Day for the full debut episode starring the Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa.

Doctor Who will be a key part of the BBC offering over the festive season with Gatwa taking control of the TARDIS in his first adventure following Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

Charlotte Moore, BBC’s Chief Content Officer says:

This year’s Christmas line-up on the BBC is an extravaganza of must watch shows! Join us as we welcome a brand new Doctor and wave goodbye to our beloved sitcom Ghosts. Alongside a spectacular range of entertainment, drama, comedy and factual programming across the festive fortnight. It’s essential viewing for everyone as we bring friends and families together across the UK.

Doctor Who was an annual feature on BBC One on Christmas Day from 2005 until 2017 before moving to New Year's Day for the Thirteenth Doctor's era.

FILTER: - Broadcast - Fifteenth Doctor

The Star Beast: Initial Audience Reaction

Tuesday, 28 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

The Star Beast: (Credit: BBC Studios (Alistair Heap))

Doctor Who: The Star Beast had an overnight audience figure of 5.08 million viewers in the UK.

Doctor Who was the second most-watched television programme on Saturday night behind Strictly Come Dancing which had 7.67 million watching. ITV had 4.83 million watching the reality programme I'm a Celebrity Get Me out of Here.

The figure shows a large increase over the previous season of Doctor Who with The Power of the Doctor having an overnight figure of 3.710 million.

The figure is an estimate of the number of people who watched the programme on the day of transmission. It will be updated next week to include those who watch the programme on catch-up services.

The Appreciation Index for the episode, a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme, was 84, the highest score since World Enough And Time in 2017.

The new episode was available globally on Disney+ where it is currently classed as the 3rd most-watched film worldwide. It is currently in first position in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Turkey.

FILTER: - raings - specials - Fourteenth Doctor

The Official Doctor Who Podcast

Saturday, 25 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

As the world gears up for Doctor Who mania, BBC Studios has launched The Official Doctor Who Podcast to accompany the latest episodes of Doctor Who.

The Official Doctor Who Podcast is a three-way panel discussion between author and columnist Juno Dawson, pop culture TikToker and movies podcaster Tyrell Charles, and cosplayer and digital creator Christel Dee, with exclusive insights from showrunner Russell T Davies. Each week the team will be reacting to the latest episode, discussing their thoughts, and diving into upcoming theories!

Watch the trailer here:

The 30-minute podcast will drop weekly straight after each Doctor Who episode airs on the BBC starting on Saturday 25th November, and can be found on all major podcast platforms globally and BBC Sounds (UK only). It will also be broadcast globally in a video version on the Doctor Who YouTube channel.

Doctor Who writer and showrunner Russell T Davies said:

No show is complete without its own podcast, and this is a chance for viewers to have their say! I’m proud to have this alongside our vast and unrivalled behind-the-scenes coverage.

BBC Studios’ digital content development director, Chris Allen said

We were thrilled and honoured when Russell T Davies approached us to produce The Official Doctor Who Podcast, And we were even more excited when Juno, Tyrell and Christel all said yes to hosting. Publishing the podcast both in audio via all major podcast platforms, and in video on YouTube means we can reach Doctor Who viewers everywhere, and we hope you join in our conversation.

The Official Doctor Who Podcast is produced by James Goss for BBC Studios Digital. The executive producers are Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Madi Woodstock and Chris Allen.

FILTER: - Production

Fifteenth Doctor makes Apperance on BBC Four

Saturday, 25 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Viewers watching the repeat of the 2013 docu-drama on the origins of Doctor Who, An Adventure in Space and Time, were treated to a surprise appearance of the Fifteenth Doctor as played by Ncuti Gatwa.

The programme originally featured a cameo from the incumbent Doctor in 2013, Matt Smith, but the producers have taken the opportunity to update the ending to reflect the show in 2023

An Adventure in Space and Time 60 years on and the Doctor's legacy continues... ❤️❤️➕🟦

FILTER: - Fifteenth Doctor

Doctor Who Marks 60th Anniversary

Thursday, 23 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who 60 Years (Credit: BBC Studios)

Today, 23rd November 2023, marks 60 years since the first episode of Doctor Who was transmitted.

That first episode, An Unearthly Child, was broadcast at 5.16 pm on BBC Television where it was watched by 4.4 million viewers.

Radio Times - 23rd November 1963

DR. WHO? That is just the point. Nobody knows precisely who he is, this mysterious exile from another world and a distant future whose adventures begin today. But this much is known: he has a ship in which he can travel through space and time although, owing to a defect in its instruments he can never be sure where and when his ' landings ' may take place. And he has a granddaughter Susan, a strange amalgam of teenage normality and uncanny intelligence.

Playing the Doctor is the well-known film actor, William Hartnell, who has not appeared before on BBC-TV. Each adventure in the series will cover several weekly episodes, and the first is by the Australian author Anthony Coburn. It begins by telling how the Doctor finds himself visiting the Britain of today: Susan (played by Carole Ann Ford) has become a pupil at an ordinary British school, where her incredible breadth of knowledge has whetted the curiosity of two of her teachers. These are the history teacher Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and the science master Ian Chesterton (William Russell), and their curiosity leads them to become inextricably involved in the Doctor.'s strange travels.

Because of the imperfections in the ship's navigation aids, the four travellers are liable in subsequent stories to find themselves absolutely anywhere in time-past, present, or future. They may visit a distant galaxy where civilisation has been devastated by the blast of a neutron bomb or they may find themselves journeying to far Cathay in the caravan of Marco

Since that first episode was screened the series has become a global success, holding a number of Guinness World Records and becoming one of the BBC's best-known brands.

Overall 871 episodes of the series have been broadcast, not including spin-offs and special celebrity episodes. To watch every single episode back to back would take 17 days, 23 hours, and 54 minutes. Unfortunately, 97 episodes are currently missing from the BBC archive although the audio exists from all episodes.

13 people have taken on the lead role in the series, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker.

Today we pay tribute to the thousands of people who have worked on Doctor Who and made it the success it has become, as well as the millions of fans around the world who follow and support the adventures of the excentric Time Lord.

And we look forward to the future, with three special episodes and a brand-new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, taking us into Doctor Who's 7th decade.

FILTER: - Doctor Who

Radio 2 Celebrates Doctor Who @60

Tuesday, 21 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

BBC Radio 2 is marking Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary with a number of special programmes available worldwide on BBC Sounds.

Over two new shows, Jo Whiley takes a trip through the Whoniverse to discover the amazing stories behind the rise, fall, and subsequent resurrection of a British institution.

The Classic Years

Whiley hears how the changing attitudes of Britain have been reflected through the TARDIS in a tale that features Dalekmania, Dad’s Army, Mary Whitehouse, Ridley Scott, the Cybermen, Hans Zimmer, the Beatles and the JFK assassination.
With new and archive interviews from Doctors and companions past and present, including Peter Capaldi, Patrick Troughton, William Hartnell, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Sophie Aldred, Bonnie Langford, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Louise Jameson and showrunner Russell T Davies

The Modern Era

In the concluding part of this documentary, Whiley finds out how despite being cancelled by the BBC, the combination of its fan base, a drinks party and a forgotten BBC sitcom combined to help bring one of Britain's greatest cultural institutions back to our screens. Along the way we hear never before heard tales from the teams behind the hugely successful reboot including Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall, plus Doctors and companions past and present including Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jodie Whittaker, Christopher Eccleston, Peter Capaldi, Sophie Aldred, Bonnie Langford, Ncuti Gatwa, Sylvester McCoy, Matt Lucas, John Simm, Billie Piper and Kylie Minogue.

Meanwhile, former Doctors, companions, and alumni of the series, introduce the music that has soundtracked their lives and careers, and talk about their involvement with Doctor Who in a series of 9x My Life In A Mixtapes, featuring:

Peter Davison (the fifth Doctor)
Sylvester McCoy (the seventh Doctor)
Janet Fielding (Tegan)
Bonnie Langford (Mel)
Sophie Aldred (Ace)
Nicholas Briggs (Voice of the Daleks, Cybermen and numerous other monsters)
Segun Akinola (Doctor Who composer during the Jodie Whittaker era)
Ruth Madeley (Doctor Who newcomer)
Plus from the archives, Spiderman star Andrew Garfield (who guest starred in Doctor Who in 2007).

The music of Doctor Who is celebrated in a special concert, recorded at Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff, featuring the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Singers conducted by Alastair King.

The music includes composer Murray Gold's best-known Doctor Who themes, the classic years of Doctor Who are also featured by the Radiophonic Workshop's Mark Ayres and Peter Howell. And there are brand new works premiered including The Woman Who Fell to Earth, a full-length suite composed by Segun Akinola and three of Murray Gold's new works, heard here for the very first time before making their debut in the new season of Doctor Who in 2024.

All episodes of Radio 2 Celebrates Doctor Who at 60 can be found here

And in a bonus episode of the ‘Zoe Ball and Friends’ podcast, David Tennant and Russell T Davies join Zoe to look ahead to the show’s 60th anniversary celebrations

FILTER: - Music - Production

UNIT: A Legacy in Doctor Who / Down in the London Underground

Sunday, 19 November 2023 - Reported by Chuck Foster

"We deal with the odd... the unexplained. Anything on Earth... or beyond.”

Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce details of its second and third books celebrating 60 Years of Doctor Who.

UNIT: A Legacy in Doctor Who explores the rich history of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce – and later Unified Intelligence Taskforce – from its inception under producer and writer Derrick Sherwin, through the UNIT family days of Jon Pertwee’s Doctor, all the way to the Kate and Osgood era of recent years. With UNIT featuring in numerous other media like Reeltime Productions, Big Finish audio, and the Lethbridge-Stewart range from Candy Jar Books, the legacy of UNIT – and its importance to Doctor Who extends beyond its television appearances.UNIT is as much a part of the tapestry of Doctor Who as the Doctor, the TARDIS, or the Daleks. The organisation has been part of the show since the Cybermen first marched down the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1968’s The Invasion, and continue to be one of the Doctor’s closest allies in the battle to save humanity from the galaxy’s greatest threats.

Author, Baz Greenland, believes that the UNIT stories really get to heart of what makes good Doctor Who:

I’ve had the honour to write stories in the Lethbridge-Stewart and Lucy Wilson ranges, but this was something quite special. I’m a huge fan of the Jon Pertwee era and UNIT is a key ingredient in that. Jon Pertwee, Roger Delgado, Nicholas Courtney, Caroline John, Katy Manning, Elisabeth Sladen, Richard Franklin and John Levene all bring such warmth and energy to the show and feature in some absolutely terrific episodes – not just Pertwee’s; The Invasion, Terror of the Zygons and Battlefield are all classics in my eye and UNIT are at the heart of that.

Featuring a retro cover by 100 Objects of Dr Who artist Martin Baines, the book features exclusive interviews with writers and actors John Levene and Sophie Aldred, and explores the development of UNIT, its importance in the Doctor Who mythos and the actors that brought these iconic characters to life – from Nicholas Courtney’s stalwart Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart to Jemma Redgrave’s courageous Kate Stewart.

Baz continued:

It was quite a daunting task to delve into the mythos and creation of UNIT, but it’s been such a treat too. As a big Doctor Who fan, I feel I’ve learned more about the stories, the characters, and the actors that played them and I hope readers of the book will find something new too, that will only strengthen an appreciate for the Brig and UNIT – from 1968, all the way to the modern era as we head into the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who!

Candy Jar’s other release propels the reader right back to the Brig’s first appearance in Doctor Who. Written by popular Lethbridge-Stewart, Lucy Wilson and children’s author George Ivanoff, Down in the London Underground takes a sidestep look at the Brig’s first story, The Web of Fear

George explained:

The idea struck me when I was browsing a copy of Darth Vader and Son, a Star Wars picture book. And I suddenly thought... Candy Jar could do something like this with the Doctor Who characters and creatures they have the rights to use. So, I wrote a pitch. And Shaun jumped at the chance. The book does not feature the Brig, but instead focuses on the Army as it battles the Yeti in the London Underground.

Although aimed at young people, this picture book tries not to dodge the realities shown in The Web of Fear. Head of Candy Jar, Shaun Russell, said:

I am a big fan of the Doctor Who/Mr Men books by Adam Hargreaves and felt that this would be a great way to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th birthday. This book, however, has a slightly darker side. Death is always present in Doctor Who, and just like Grimms’ Fairy Tales, this story attempts to be a true reflection of the world in which it is set. The Yeti are here to invade, and they take no prisoners.

Down in the London Underground has been also been illustrated by Martin Baines:

I’ve always loved illustrating the Yeti, but this assignment was slightly different. I thought it was very important for my cartoon-like artwork to offset the dark nature of the book. I added a few touches of my own and I hope children and adults will enjoy this chilling adventure.

Both UNIT: A Legacy in Doctor Who and Down in the London Underground are available to pre-order from Csndy Jar Books.

FILTER: - Candy Jar - Books

Classic Doctor Who Now Streaming On Tubi

Thursday, 16 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

Viewers in the United States and Canada can from today stream over 600 episodes of classic Doctor Who via Tubi.

Audiences will now have access to episodes from the original series as well as the recreated animated versions of stories missing from the BBC archive.

The episodes will be available for free via On-Demand and a dedicated FAST Channel.

Fans can dive into the legacy series by Doctor, as well as through the “New to Who” collection which is a great entry point for new viewers to gently climb into the Tardis.

Doctor Who is the longest-running action-adventure television series in the world spanning 60 years and winning over 100 awards. This quintessentially British show has a huge global following, with 9.6m fans across social platforms/channels and 100m video views on YouTube in the last year alone.

Tubi is the most-watched free TV and movie streaming service in the U.S. As an ad-supported video-on-demand service, the company offers audiences a personalized experience and offers the world’s largest content library of over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 FAST channels. Tubi is part of the Tubi Media Group, a division of Fox Corporation that oversees the company’s digital businesses.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Tubi

The Daleks in Colour - First Look

Tuesday, 14 November 2023 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has released images from the colourised version of the second Doctor Who story, The Daleks, due to be screened on BBC Four on the 23rd of November 2023.

The story follows the very first crew of the TARDIS as they land in a petrified forest on an alien planet. Determined to explore, the Doctor (William Hartnell) leads his companions into the metal city, where they discover danger at every corner and what will become his deadliest enemy, the mutant Daleks.

Originally broadcast as seven 25-minute episodes, the Terry Nation story has now been edited down to 75 minutes by Benjamin Cook and the result colourised.

With brand new sound and a new score - created by Mark Ayres - The Daleks has been gloriously updated, whilst ensuring the original classic story remains as thrilling as it was when it was first seen back in 1963.

The colorised version will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, and as a Steelbook next February.

This DVD release also includes the original seven episodes in black & white, as they were first broadcast plus a 15-minute exclusive featurette and all special features from the previous release.

The set can be pre-ordered from Amazon.