Pull To Open

Friday, 23 June 2023 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Pull To Open (Credit: Paul Hayes/Ten Acre Films)

Ten Acre Films have announced a new Doctor Who non-fiction book to be published next month. Called Pull to Open, it tells the story of the creation of Doctor Who in 1963 and is written by Paul Hayes, a regular contributor to Doctor Who Magazine whose previous Doctor Who book from Ten Acre, 2021’s The Long Game, told the story of how the programme came to be recommissioned in 2003 and was described by Starburst as an “astonishingly interesting and page-turning... an essential book for anyone interested in the arcane world of British television production.”

Speaking to Doctor Who News about the new book, Paul said:

I very much wanted to try and bring the same approach to the creation of the show in 1963 as The Long Game did for the 1996-2003 period, The idea is to try and provide the same wider background and context to the events – so not just what happened, but why it happened. To give an idea of how BBC television drama worked at that time, the world into which Doctor Who was born, and also to flesh out some of the lives of people we normally only see as names on a list – the likes of Eric Maschwitz and Alice Frick, for example. Pull to Open tells the story from Maschwitz first asking the Script Department about science-fiction in the spring of 1962, to the Daleks first appearing at the end of 1963 – so it’s a book which pretty much entirely concentrates on the creation of the show. That is the story in this book, rather than simply being the start of the story as it sometimes is when told elsewhere. It’s a period which has long fascinated me, and I hope people enjoy reading about it as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing it!

Pull to Open is due for publication on 24 July from Ten Acre Films, the company which has previously published new editions of popular Doctor Who books such as Richard Marson’s biographies of Verity Lambert and John Nathan-Turner and Andrew Cartmel’s diaries. They have also provided documentary features for the Doctor Who classic series Blu-ray range. The foreword is written by actor, comedian and Doctor Who historian Toby Hadoke, who describes Pull to Open as “fresh and compelling… as definitive an account of those early years as I have read.”

The book is available to pre-order now via Ten Acre's website.





FILTER: - Books - Non-Fiction

Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 592

Thursday, 22 June 2023 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine  Issue 592 (Credit: Panini)Doctor Who Magazine  Issue 592 - Supplement (Credit: Panini)

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 592 is now available. 

Highlights of the new issue include:

  • A 20-page supplement featuring Four Hours of Doom’s Day – a new comic-strip adventure including Autons, Cybermen and lots of surprises!

  • A giant double-sided poster.

  • Voice of Doom – Sooz Kempner, aka Doom the assassin, discusses playing the lead character in the new cross-media adventure Doom’s Day.

  • Day of Reckoning – the complete guide to Doom’s Day, with insights from the people who have created the stories.

  • Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies looks forwards to the new episodes of Doctor Who, and recalls the revived series’ launch back in 2005.

  • The Doctor’s Wife – actor and author Elizabeth Morton on being the wife of the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, and the mother-in-law of the Fourteenth, David Tennant!

  • Working Wonders – colleagues and family recall the pioneering visual effects created by the late Peter Day.

  • The DWM 60th Anniversary Poll – the analysis of the results continues, with this issue looking at the rankings of the Seventh and Ninth Doctor’s adventures.

  • Memory Worm – Dalek writer Robert Shearman puts his knowledge of his Doctor Who career to the test.

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

  • Quick Draw – John Erasmus reveals what it’s like to work as a storyboard artist on the new series of Doctor Who.

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

  • 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.

  • The Fact of Fiction concludes it exploration of the Second Doctor’s encounter with the Cybermen aboard The Wheel in Space.

  • Gallifrey Guardian – all the latest official news, including cast announcements.

  • 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 592 is on sale Thursday 22 June from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £10.99 (UK).

Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £9.99.

 




FILTER: - DWM

Lenny Rush Joins Doctor Who

Thursday, 15 June 2023 - Reported by Marcus
Lenny Rush (Credit: BBC Studios)

Award winning actor Lenny Rush is to appear in the next series of Doctor Who. 

Having just won a BAFTA at the age of fourteen, Rush takes on the role of Morris in the 2024 series of Doctor Who, starring alongside Ncuti Gatwa.

Lenny Rush has starred in numerous shows including ‘Dodger’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’ but it was his starring role in Daisy May Cooper’s ‘Am I Being Unreasonable’ that won him the BAFTA for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme this year.

Now Rush is about to join the team travelling time and space as he takes on his new role as Morris.

Speaking about joining Doctor Who, Rush said:

It’s an absolute honour to be part of Doctor Who, one of the most iconic shows on television and wow what a dream come true!

Showrunner, Russell T Davies said:  

This is what Doctor Who's all about, brand new talent from the next generation, and no one’s more talented than Lenny! He joins the TARDIS team just in time for the Doctor’s greatest nightmare, so hold on tight!

 





FILTER: - Production - Series 13/39

Doctor Who: Chronicles: 1963-64

Sunday, 11 June 2023 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Chronicles: 1963-64 (Credit: Panini)

The latest issue of Doctor Who Chronicles has been published by Panini, covering the first season of the show. 

This lavish 116-page publication from the makers of Doctor Who Magazine looks at the stories, people, events, and news of this formative period – a time when William Hartnell played the Doctor, and the world was introduced to the Daleks, the TARDIS, and an incredible adventure in space and time. 

The bookazine covers all the stories from 1963-64: 100,000 BC (aka An Unearthly Child), The Mutants (aka The Daleks), Inside the Spaceship (aka The Edge of Destruction), Marco Polo, The Keys of Marinus, The Aztecs, The Sensorites, The Reign of Terror, Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It also includes exclusive articles and rare behind-the-scenes images.

Contents include articles on:

  • The year’s most significant events in the Doctor Who universe (both on and off screen)

  • Profiles of stars William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford

  • Doctor Who in the popular press

  • Special effects and production techniques

  • The very first items of Doctor Who merchandise

  • … and much more!

Doctor Who: Chronicles – 1963-64 is on sale now, RRP £11.99 from panini.co.uk and selected branches of WH Smith while stocks last. 

It’s also available digitally from pocketmags.com priced £10.99.

 




FILTER: - DWM - Season 1

Mel Returns to Doctor Who

Wednesday, 7 June 2023 - Reported by Marcus
Bonnie Langford (Credit: BBC Studios)

Star of stage and screen Bonnie Langford will once again reprise her role as Melanie Bush as she returns to Doctor Who, this time starring alongside Ncuti Gatwa who plays the Fifteenth Doctor in the new series. 

 

Bonnie first entered the world of Doctor Who in 1986 as the companion to the Sixth and Seventh Doctors played by Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, before returning in a cameo role in Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Thirteenth Doctor.

 

Making her West End debut at just seven years old in ‘Gone with the Wind’ at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Bonnie has since gone on to lead an outstanding career. From her countless performances on both Broadway and West End, such as ‘Chicago’, ‘9 to 5’ and ‘Cats’, to her award-winning role as Carmel Kazemi on EastEnders.

 

Now Bonnie is back, as Melanie returns for another epic adventure.

 

Bonnie Langford said:

I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing Melanie Bush back. To be part of the exceptional cast, crew and production team led by the force of nature that is Russell T Davies is a career highlight. I’m so privileged and proud to have been a member of the Doctor Who family since the classic era and to be included in the new generation is phenomenal.

 Showrunner, Russell T Davies said:

“Open those TARDIS doors wide, because Bonnie’s back! What an honour, delight and hoot to welcome back the character of Melanie, after too long away. And this isn’t just a cameo, Bonnie is right in the thick of the action, battling monsters and chaos and cliffhangers, right at the Doctor's side, just like the old days.”

 





FILTER: - Production