Doctor Who Annual 2018

Friday, 30 June 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Doctor Who Annual 2018 (Credit: Penguin Random House UK)Penguin Random House UK have released the cover for this year's Doctor Who Annual, due out on 21st September.

The series will be finishing tomorrow, but with the annual featuring brand-new adventures on board the TARDIS with the Doctor, Bill and Nardole, there’s no need to wait until Christmas to get your next dose of our favourite show! The annual is packed with secrets from the latest series, fact files on the latest terrifying monsters, exciting comic strips, stories and activities.

The Annual is available for pre-order via our Amazon Shop.




FILTER: - Books - Merchandise

Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 514

Thursday, 29 June 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 514 (Credit: Panini)Looking ahead to the series 10 finale, the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine contains interviews with both Masters.

John Simm tells the magazine about playing the Master with a beard:
Yeah, I just grew it, and turned up at the readthrough, and said, ‘You know, I fancy a bit of this.’ Everybody seemed fine with it. I just thought, ‘Give a little nod.’ It was a nod to the Delgado and Ainley Masters. There’s a line in the final episode where he mentions ‘old-school’, and I made sure to give the beard a little stroke – a small nod to the old Masters.
Michelle Gomez ponders on whether the Master could ever truly become good:
Even the worst psychopath can’t be entirely bad. It’s basic math. A positive cannot exist without a negative, and so there always has to be a thread of goodness in somebody. What makes you thoroughly evil, I believe, is when you recognise that thread of goodness – you’re aware of it, you’re conscious of it – and you still decide to be evil. Then, yes, you’ve earned the crown of… of evilness? Evil-ality. You wear your crown of evil-ality.
Also in this issue:
  • THE DOCTOR FALLS
  • Writer Steven Moffat and director Rachel Talalay give DWM readers an exclusive preview of the series finale, The Doctor Falls.
  • MARK GATISS
  • The writer and actor chats to DWM about his love of Doctor Who, his long association with series, and his most recent episode Empress of Mars.
  • CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY
  • Showrunner Steven Moffat writes about how he has delivered his final Doctor Who script – the 2017 Christmas Special.
  • THE SOUL GARDEN
  • The adventure continues for the Doctor and Bill in Part 3 of the latest comic strip story, written by Scott Gray, with art by Martin Geraghty.
  • MORE MASTER VILLAINY!
  • This issue’s Fact of Fiction looks back at the 1981 Fourth Doctor story The Keeper of Traken – which featured an unexpected appearance of an old foe...
  • REVIEWS
  • DWM reviews the latest TV episodes (The Lie of the Land, Empress of Mars and The Eaters of Light) as well as audio and DVD releases in the world of Doctor Who.
  • COMING SOON
  • Previews of all the latest Doctor Who CD and book releases.
PLUS! All the latest official news, the Watcher’s column, competitions, the DWM crossword – and more.

Doctor Who Magazine 514 is on sale from Thursday 29 June, price £5.99.




FILTER: - DWM

Lethbridge-Stewart: The HAVOC Files 4

Wednesday, 28 June 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Lethbridge-Stewart: The HAVOC Files 4 (Credit: Candy Jar Books)Candy Jar Books has announce its latest volume of The HAVOC Files, collecting short stories from early 2017 (in print for the first time) and brand new exclusive material.

This volume contains three short stories previously available in digital format and released early 2017, plus five brand new stories, including the final episode of the three-part novella, The Lost Skin by Andy Frankham-Allen (episodes one and two of which were published in The HAVOC Files 2 and 3).

  • The Contented Mind by Wink Taylor
  • The Runaway Bomb by Nick Walters (previous digital release)
  • United in Blood by Mark Jones (previous digital release)
  • The Cruel Oil by Harry Draper
  • All the King’s Men by Alyson Leeds
  • The Great Magician and the Spirits of the Vasty Deep by Gareth Madgwick
  • The Slow Invasion by Andrew Allen
  • The Two Brigadiers by Jonathan Macho (previous digital release)
  • The Lost Skin: Episode Three by Andy Frankham-Allen

Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen says:
This is probably our most exciting volume yet, because it features five stories that are a direct result of our recent open submission period. We had such an amazing response and received so many varied ideas, most of which made it as far as the one-page outline stage. Many of those led to a commission, and HAVOC 4 presents the first five of those commissions, all by authors new to the range and, some, completely new to profesionally published fiction.

Among the authors new to range are Andrew Allen, who is a Brighton-based writer, actor, director and workshop leader, as well as the co-founder and Artistic Director of Cast Iron Theatre. This collection also introduces to the range, Wink Taylor, who was a writer/actor for both Sooty and Basil Brush, as well as creator of the popular childrens’ character Theo the Mouse. He is also well-known for his voice impersonations of various Doctor Who characters, notably the Third Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

The cover has been designed by Richard Young:
Shaun (Russell, Head of Publishing) had promised me The HAVOC Files cover since book two came out, so I was over the moon when he said that I was doing book four. I've always had the idea of using the Brig and a filing cabinet, but my initial ideas just weren’t working for me. I then came up with another idea, but it was felt that this new idea was too similar to another cover I had done. Shaun and I then bounced several other concepts back and forth, trying to make the ‘4’ the main element, and after some very minor adjustments just to tighten things up, we had something we both liked.

Like the previous volumes, The HAVOC Files 4 is only available direct from the Candy Jar Store, and is a strictly limited-print run.

HAVOC 1, 2 and 3 are also all available for digital download on Kindle.



Candy Jar is also pleased to announce that the upcoming Lethbridge-Stewart Quiz Book will contain an exclusive story written by Tim Gambrell: "Lethbridge-Stewart is called back to Bledoe to help an old friend he barely remembers, and memories of quiz night with the Bledoe Cadets soon surface..."





FILTER: - Books - Candy Jar Books - Lethbridge-Stewart

The Doctor Falls - Publicity Pictures

Tuesday, 27 June 2017 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC have released a number of new publicity images to promote this week's episode of Doctor Who, The Doctor Falls
The Doctor Falls

Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Rachel Talalay

The Mondasian Cybermen are on the rise. It’s time for the Doctor’s final battle…
The Doctor Falls : The Master (John Simm), Missy (Michelle Gomez), The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway/Ray Burmiston))The Doctor Falls : The Doctor (Peter Capaldi), The Master (John Simm), Missy (Michelle Gomez) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : Missy (Michelle Gomez), The Master (John Simm) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : Missy (Michelle Gomez), The Master (John Simm) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : Missy (Michelle Gomez), The Master (John Simm) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : The Master (John Simm), Missy (Michelle Gomez) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : The Master (John Simm), Missy (Michelle Gomez) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : The Doctor (Peter Capaldi), Mondasian Cyberman, The Master (John Simm) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : Mondasian Cyberman, The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : The Master (John Simm), Mondasian Cyberman, Missy (Michelle Gomez) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))The Doctor Falls : The Doctor (Peter Capaldi), Missy (Michelle Gomez) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))

This week BBC One will show Doctor Who at 6.30pm.

Main Broadcast Details
United KingdomBBC OneSat 1 Jul 20176:30pm BST
Middle EastBBC FirstSat 1 Jul 20179.20pm AST(Sat 7:20pm BST)
United States of AmericaBBC AmericaSat 1 Jul 20178.30pm EDT(Sun 1.30am BST)
CanadaSPACESat 1 Jul 20178:30pm EDT(Sun 1:30am BST)
New ZealandPRIMESun 2 Jul 20177:30pm NZST(Sun 8:30am BST)
FinlandYLE2Sun 2 Jul 201711.25pm EEST(Sun 9:55am BST)
AustraliaABCSun 2 Jul 20177:40pm AEST(Sun 10:40am BST, also on ABC ME)
BrazilSyFySun 2 Jul 20178:00pm BRT(Mon 12:00qm BST)
Latin AmericaSyFySun 2 Jul 201710:00pm CDT(Mon 4:00am BST)

Full listings here




FILTER: - Press - Series 10/36

The Eaters of Light - Official Rating

Monday, 26 June 2017 - Reported by Marcus


Doctor Who - The Eaters of Light had an official rating of 4.73 million viewers.

The episode was the 26th most watched programme of the week, and the 11th highest rated programme on the BBC.

For the second week running, Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on Saturday, overtaking Casualty which was ahead in the initial overnight figures.

Top for the week was Coronation Street with 7.86 million watching. The BBC's highest rated programme was EastEnders with 6.6 million viewers




FILTER: - Ratings - Series 10/36 - UK

World Enough and Time - AI:85

Monday, 26 June 2017 - Reported by Marcus
: Bill (Pearl Mackie), Missy (Michelle Gomez), Nardole (Matt Lucas) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Jon Hall))
Doctor Who - World Enough and Time had an Audience Index or AI score of 85.

The score is an indication of how much the audience enjoyed the episode. The score of 85 is the highest since the series 8 episode Dark Water, and the joint highest of the Capaldi era.

The score is the joint highest score achieved by the two main channels on Saturday, with Casualty and The Voice: Kids also scoring 85.




FILTER: - Ratings - Series 10/36 - UK

Australian overnight ratings for World Enough And Time and final ratings for Empress of Mars

Monday, 26 June 2017 - Reported by Adam Kirk
World Enough and Time has debuted in Australia, averaging 447,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. The story was the highest rating ABC drama of the day and the ninth highest rating program of the day overallThese ratings do not include iview, regional or time-shifted viewers.

Meanwhile, including time-shifted viewers, Empress of Mars averaged 465,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 81,000 extra viewers it was the fourth highest time-shifted program of the day (the highest time-shifted program had 143,000 extra viewers) and the tenth highest rating program of the day overallThese ratings do not include iview or regional viewers.




FILTER: - Australia - Broadcasting - Ratings - Series 10/36

World Enough And Time - Overnight Viewing Figures

Sunday, 25 June 2017 - Reported by Marcus
: The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))
Doctor Who: World Enough And Time had an audience of 3.37 million viewers, a share of 22% of the total TV audience, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The day as a whole suffered from very low ratings with the highest rated show, Casualty, only getting 4 million watching. Mrs Brown's Boys had 3.38 million while Pitch Battle had just below 2 million.

Over on ITV the highest rated show was the children's version of The Voice which had 3.80 million watching.

Official figures will be released next week.




FILTER: - Ratings - Series 10/36 - UK

World Enough and Time - Reaction

Sunday, 25 June 2017 - Reported by Marcus
This item contains spoilers.

Reaction to this week's episode of Doctor Who: World Enough and Time, is overwhelmingly positive, with many reviewers describing it as the best episode for years, if one of the darkest.

The Telegraph called it a dizzying ride. "Doctor Wow, more like. This two-part finale marks showrunner Steven Moffat’s last regular episodes and he’d saved the best until second last. It was darkly thrilling, mountingly tense, genuinely scary and brimming with smart ideas – but stayed just the right side of over-clever, as Moffat is often criticised for being."

The Mirror was impressed with the way the Cybermen were used. "The true grit of World Enough And Time is the rise of the Cybermen and their creepy conversion hospital. It's as close to horror-film than Who has gone to in a long time. Anyone who wondered if the 60's low tech Cybermen could scare modern audiences needn't have worried. Bill awakening on a hospital bed with chest full of retro cyber-tech, rows of half converted patients screaming in pain, the show's own take on Nurse Ratchett silencing the victims' volume dial - it's chilling"

Macabre and riveting is how Radio Times described the story, also focusing on the return of the original Cybermen. "What horror, what disfigurement lurks beneath the knotted bandages of these proto-Cybermen? It really is clever how Steven Moffat embraces the perceived weaknesses of the original 1966 cloth-and-plastic design – scorned and abandoned after their only screen outing in The Tenth Planet – and makes them sting."

Digital Spy felt the number of plot points revealed in advance diminished the impact of the story. "You don't have to be a Doctor Who super-fan, trawling every spoiler thread on every message board, to know that the Mondasian Cybermen and John Simm's Master are in this episode – even if you somehow missed the news, they both appeared in last week's Next Time trailer. The former reveal isn't such a problem. The episode plays the arrival of the Mondasians more as dramatic irony, an open secret it's teasing throughout. It's more a chilling inevitability than a jaw-dropping twist. But Simm's return? That was clearly intended to be a secret."

TV Fanatic agreed "Oh, to live in a day without spoilers. Most of the time, I don't mind them so much, to be honest. But no two ways about it: Doctor Who Season 10 Episode 12 would have been perfect without all the spoilers. Two of the big reveals at the end of the episode -- the returns of the classic Mondasian Cybermen and John Simm as the Master -- were both spoiled by the BBC's own promotional material! How frustrating."

Den of Geek, while also bemoaning the number of spoilers released for publicity reasons, felt the episode was impressive. "I thought World Enough And Time was at several times quite superb. Director Rachel Talalay and Steven Moffat are clearly a potent creative combination, and the middle of the episode in particular, as Bill creeps through a hospital evoking memories of The Empty Child and Asylum Of The Daleks was tonally outstanding."

Games Radar enjoyed the episode but felt the pacing in the middle act was too slow. "The sections with Bill in the hospital and the pre-Cybermen converts are utterly fantastic in terms of pure sci-fi, with the scares bordering on unwatchable for young children but it’s just too slow and filled with exposition."

IGN enjoyed the exploration of the characters of the time lords in the story "Much is also done to explain the bond between Missy and the Doctor. It does make sense that the enormous life experience of Time Lords would lead to a connection between them that other species could never fathom. But that relationship will be tested during the climax of the episode -- and in next week’s finale, no doubt"

AV Club felt the story was bursting with ideas. "None more fascinating than a massive colony ship caught in different time zones because of the gravitational distortion of a black hole. There’s the mad conceit of having Missy pretend to be the Doctor, with Michelle Gomez pulling off the seemingly impossible by making a whole string of “Doctor Who” gags not utterly cringeworthy. There’s the horrific plight of those stuck at the decaying bottom of the ship, which gets closer than any family-friendly Doctor Who story ever has in understanding the true body horror the Cybermen represent."

Ars Technica felt it was a return to form for the series. "We're back on firm ground with World Enough and Time. It's a very strong episode that manages to weave an agreeable timey-wimey spaceship yarn into the climax of this season's gently brewing Missy story, complete with Cybermen. The big reveal doesn’t disappoint, either"

Finally, Flicking Myth thought the episode was one of the best. "You know when you’re watching a fantastic episode of Doctor Who when the credits roll up at the end and you’re convinced that forty-five minutes can’t have passed that quickly. World Enough and Time plays with your emotions from start to finish, from the opening moments where your jaw falls and is left-hanging, and to Missy owning the show ,and again we’re back to silence as we’re left in a state of true shock."

Doctor Who News Review can be found here.




FILTER: - Press - Series 10/36