The actor Richard Franklin, who played Captain Mike Yates in 43 episodes of Doctor Who, has died at the age of 87.

As one of the UNIT personnel, Franklin was a key character in the team which developed in the third Doctor era, led by Jon Pertwee, as a sidekick to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and a love interest for Jo Grant. 

Richard Franklin made his debut as Mike Yates in the eighth series of Doctor Who, appearing in four of the series' five stories, Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Claws of Axos and the story often designated as a favourite by members of the cast The Dæmons. 

The character was back in the following year appearing in Day of the Daleks and The Time Monster before returning in the last three episodes of series 10, The Green Death

In Pertwee's final season, the character of Yates found himself on the opposite side to the Doctor in Invasion of the Dinosaurs believing in a project to return the earth to a golden age. His final appearance in Planet of the Spiders saw the characters' redemption.

Richard Franklin died early on Christmas morning after a long illness. His death was announced by family friend Liam Rudden on Social Media

Richard Franklin was born in Marylebone, London, on 15 January 1936. He was educated at Westminster School and Oxford University before training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. 

His early work was in the theatre where he spent six years in repertory theatre. His break into television came in 1969 when he was cast as Joe Townsend in the soap opera Crossroads, appearing in thirty-six episodes. 

Other roles included parts in Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Little Women, The Borgias and Blake's 7

He returned to Doctor Who in audio productions for BBC Audio and Big Finish and made a cameo in the 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors.

Katy Manning, who played Jo Grant in the series was a good friend and collogue of Franklin, paid tribute on x.

After some six years Doctor Who has returned to Christmas Day, which of course makes it a candidate for being the most watched show on the day!

Though it is unlikely to make the top slot tomorrow - the King's Speech is almost certainly going to have that honour owing to its simultaneous showing across the major broadcasters - the bookies seem to generally agree that The Church On Ruby Road might well be the second-most watched programme of the day at 6-1! This is followed up by Call The Midwife at 8-1, and both Eastenders and Strictly Come Dancing at 9-1. ITV1 shows include Coronation Street at 16-1 and Emmerdale at 25-1.

Of course with six years between Christmas Specials, it's been six years since our ratings competition for Christmas Day, and this year you can win a copy of The Church On Ruby Road on Blu-ray or DVD. To enter, simply email us at comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net with your name and the consolidated one week figure you expect the episode to achieve, as reported by BARB early next year.

Please specify the number in millions to 3 decimal places, for example 6.848m as achieved by The Giggle at the start of the month. For guidance, the highest rated non-King's speech programme last year was 7.814m achieved by Call The Midwife, who also took the 'silver crown' in 2021 with 7.831m.

The competition is open to UK residents, the closing date is Tuesday 26 December at 8:00am.

Doctor Who continues on Christmas Day with the first full story for the Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa.

The Church on Ruby Road can be seen on BBC One in the United Kingdom at 5.55pm.

It will be released on Disney+ and the BBC iPlayer at the same time.

The Church on Ruby Road also features Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday, Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood and Davina McCall as herself.

It is written by Russell T Davies and directed by Mark Tonderai for Bad Wolf Productions and BBC Studios.

Doctor Who: The Giggle had an official 7-day rating of 6.85 million viewers according to the research board BARB.

The official rating includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within a week.

The rating made the episode the 10th most-watched programme on British television for the week. All three of the 60th Anniversary specials appeared in the Top Ten for the week.

The top-rated show was the Saturday broadcast of Strictly Come Dancing with the Sunday results show taking second position. 

I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here occupied positions 3-9 in the top ten. 

The Appreciation Index, a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the episode, was 85.

Doctor Who Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, is now available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray and as a TARGET novelisation.  

The Church on Ruby Road will see the Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa take control of the TARDIS and meet a new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.  

Alongside Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson is Davina McCall who will be playing herself as she joins the cast alongside Michelle Greenidge as Ruby’s mum Carla, Angela Wynter as Ruby’s grandmother  Cherry and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood. 

Doctor Who’s Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, airs December 25th at 5.55pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and streams on Disney+ globally outside of the UK and Ireland. 

Fans can pre-order the DVD and Blu-ray here 

As well as the DVD and Blu-ray, BBC Books will be publishing a novelisation of  The Church on Ruby Road under the TARGET imprint. Russell T Davies' original script has been novelised by up-and-coming literary talent Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson.

Jikiemi-Pearson is a science-fantasy author and co-founder of the organisation Impact of Omission, as featured in the Guardian, Huffpost, and the Channel 4 Documentary "Where's My History?" with footballer and anti-racism campaigner Troy Deeney.

An audio version of the novel will be available read by Angela Wynter

The Church on Ruby Road (BBC Books, £14.99) is out in hardback on 25th January 2024. Pre-order here

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder has a 7-day official rating of 7.14 million viewers according to the research board BARB.

The official rating includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within a week.

The rating made the episode the 9th most-watched programme on British television for the week, 

The top-rated show was the Saturday broadcast of Strictly Come Dancing, however unlike last week Doctor Who had more viewers than the Sunday results show, possibly because there was no eviction this week.  

I'm a Celebrity occupied positions 2-8 in the top ten. 

The Appreciation Index, a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the episode, was 83.

The final episode or the Fourteenth Doctor trilogy, The Giggle, had an overnight rating of 4.62 million. Its Appreciation Index was 85. 

Ncuti Gatwa has made his first public appearance as The Doctor to switch on the lights at the London Eye on London's South Bank.

The newly regenerated Doctor was joined by his companion Millie Gibson who plays Ruby Sunday in the upcoming series. 

Also attending was showrunner Russell T Davies and stars from the upcoming Christmas story The Church on Ruby Road including  Anita Dobson.

The cast and crew were present for the press launch of the episode. Ncuti Gatwa told the audience

Millie Gibson described the story

While Russell T Davies spoke of his delight the new Doctor was finally being seen

Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road, can be seen on Christmas Day at 5.55 pm UK time on BBC One in the UK and worldwide on Disney+

The Goblin Song, written by Murray Gold and Russell T Davies, has rocketed to the top of the UK iTunes charts on the day of release. 

The single is taken from the soundtrack of the 2023 Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road due to be broadcast on BBC One on Christmas day as well as being available worldwide on Disney+.

The story is the first full adventure for the Fifteenth Doctor as played by Ncuti Gatwa. 

In the episodes the Doctor's world collides with Ruby Sunday played by Millie Gibson

The episode also stars Davina McCall as herself, Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood, Michelle Greenidge as Ruby’s mum Carla, and Angela Wynter as Ruby’s grandmother Cherry.

The Goblin Song is available on BBC Sounds and is also available via Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer.

All proceeds will go to BBC Children in Need.

The Goblin Song - Official Lyric Video The Goblins are coming for Christmas! 🧌🎄 Listen to THE GOBLIN SONG from 'The Church on Ruby Road' - available to stream now! 🎶

Lovarzi has revealed new Doctor Who festive designs, featuring the Weeping Angels and Great Intelligence.

The designs are available as a Christmas Sweater, Hat, and Scarf, all made from lightweight, high-quality Acrylic,

The Weeping Angels first appeared in Blink (2008), voted one of the most popular stories of all time by Doctor Who Magazine readers; their popularity meant they were soon back, this time to face off against the Eleventh Doctor in The Time of Angels/ Flesh and Stone (2010). They’ve returned numerous times since, including in Matt Smith’s swansong episode, The Time of the Doctor (2013) and in the Thirteenth Doctor episode, Village of the Angels (2021).

The Great Intelligence, meanwhile, first menaced the Second Doctor in The Abominable Snowmen(1967), but is probably best remembered for the sequel, The Web of Fear, the following year. Despite being a massive hit, the Intelligence disappeared for many years, finally returning in The Snowmen (2012), featuring the sinister titular snowmen that are a key part of Lovarzi’s Sweater, Hat, and Scarf designs.

Maninder Singh Sahota, Director of Lovarzi, says:

The Weeping Angels and Snowmen Sweater, Scarf, and Hat are also decorated with the Doctor’s trusty space-time ship, the TARDIS, plus Christmas trees and a flurry of snowflakes.

The Weeping Angel and Snowmen Christmas Sweater, Scarf, and Hat are available to order from lovarzi.co.uk

Reaction to the final Doctor Who special starring David Tennant as Doctor Number 14, The Giggle, is overwhelmingly positive with many praising the episode that saw the return of the Toymaker and the introduction of new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa.

The Evening Standard described the episode as one of the best ever

For the I it was a return to form for the series under Russel T Davies's leadership with Ncuti Gatwa showing the role of the Doctor is in safe hands

Collider also paid tribute to the returning showrunner

For The Telegraph the episode was a magical trip across the Whoniverse. 

For the Guardian, one standout performance was that of Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, a character returning to the series after 57 years.

Den of Geek lamented the departure of the Fourteenth Doctor, paying tribute to returning actor David Tennant.

And Games Radar paid tribute to Catherine Tate, returning as Donna Noble

Have your say on the episode of the Doctor Who News Facebook page

Doctor Who returns for a Christmas Day special and a new series in 2024