Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 577

Wednesday, 27 April 2022 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine Issue 577 (Credit: Panini)

The latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine features an exclusive interview with outgoing show-runner Chris Chibnall. 

Highlights of the new issue include:

  • In his most extensive and revealing interview ever, Chris Chibnall looks back on his time as Doctor Who showrunner and shares detailed insights into the making of the series since 2017.

  • Director Paul Joyce provides a commentary on the stills that created fantasy backdrops to his 1981 story Warriors’ Gate.

  • How Doctor Who became part of Fortnite, the biggest video game in the world.

  • The team behind the forthcoming Doctor Who – Worlds of Wonder describe the new exhibition.

  • A look at how the Silurians and Sea Devils have evolved since their first appearances in the 1970s.

  • Collectivity meets Doctor Who’s branded-clothing collectors.

  • Apocrypha revisits World Game, a 2005 Second Doctor novel by Terrance Dicks.

  • The Fact of Fiction saddles up for A Town Called Mercy.

  • The fourth and final part of Hydra’s Gate, a new comic-strip story for the Doctor, Yaz and Dan.

  • Previews, reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser, Sufficient Data and more!

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 577 is on sale from panini.co.uk and WH Smith from Thursday 28 April priced £6.99 (UK).

Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £5.99.





FILTER: - DWM - Chris Chibnall

Read the first thoughts of the Thirteenth Doctor

Wednesday, 25 March 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Doctor, as played by Jodie Whittaker (Credit: BBC)The BBC will be releasing a number of items related to Doctor Who over the coming weeks, with today seeing a new short story featuring the thirteenth Doctor written by showrunner Chris Chibnall.

The writer said:
Hello! We’re living through some strange times right now.

With people staying home, and families stuck together, I thought maybe a few little presents from Doctor Who might help. Something to read, together or alone. New treats, from the people who make Doctor Who.

We’ll try and post things here once or twice a week. Tomorrow, we’ll have a never-before-published piece written by Russell T Davies.

To start us off, I’ve written a few words about what went through the Thirteenth Doctor’s head, immediately after she regenerated and was thrown out her TARDIS.

Stay safe.
Chris x

You can read the short story via the official BBC Doctor Who website.





FILTER: - Chris Chibnall - Doctor Who - Online

Jodie Whittaker tells of the Excitement of being cast as The Doctor

Monday, 7 August 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Jodie Whittaker has talked about her reaction to being cast as the thirteenth Doctor.

It was incredibly emotional... I'm about to play an alien, a time-Lord, as a girl.... The fans are the most creative and enthusiastic people and it's so exciting to be part of that.
The actress was talking to BBC 6 Music in her first broadcast interview since her casting was revealed. She described her excitment for the new series led by Chris Chibnall, who worked with Whittaker on Broadchurch.

The best thing about this part is that every script will be brand new and something that I can genuinely say I've never done this before.
Whittaker said she had not seen a lot of the reaction to her casting as she is not on any kind of social media, so she has only seen what friends had sent her. One clip she has seen is the reaction to her casting by a young girl in a clip which went viral.
Seeing things like that are really exciting.... If you grow up watching adventures films and TV Shows, that belief that anything is possible, this is the job to do. And I get to do it. And that was not in the realm of possibility ever growing up.
Whittaker said she had spoken to a few of the other actors who have played the role and the overwhelming advice was to enjoy the exciting adventure she was embarking on. No person plays the part the same.

The interview was to promote the new BBC One series Trust Me, which starts on 8 August. where she stars as Cath Hardacre, a nurse who loses her job after she turns whistle-blower - and then steals her friend's identity as a senior doctor in an Edinburgh hospital.

Jodie Whittaker has also been talking to BBC News about the new role.





FILTER: - Chris Chibnall - Jodie Whittaker

Chris Chibnall Becomes A Doctor

Wednesday, 19 July 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Incoming Doctor Who Showrunner Chris Chibnall has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Edge Hill University.

The award for, services to Literature, was made on Monday 17th July. In a video released by the University, Chibnall talked about how it felt to receive the award and his aspirations for Doctor Who.





FILTER: - Chris Chibnall

Timeline to Series Eleven

Wednesday, 1 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Chris ChibnallBBC Sources have indicated that next year's series of Doctor Who, the first with the thirteenth Doctor, will be broadcast in the Autumn of 2018.

New showrunner Chris Chibnall is currently still working on season three of his ITV crime drama Broadchurch , which is currently being edited and will premiere in the UK on 27 February.

Chibnall told RadioTimes.com that he has not yet been able to fully dedicate himself to Doctor Who. After finishing work on Broadchurch he intends to take a holiday before launching into Doctor Who.

Chibnall will lead the team searching for the new Doctor, although the choice will need to be agreed by the BBC director of content Charlotte Moore and head of drama and former Doctor Who Executive Producer Piers Wenger. It is expected that a new Doctor will not be announced before the Autumn, with the new Doctor making their debut at the end of the 2017 Christmas Special.

Sources told RadioTimes that the first Chibnall series will begin filming at the start of 2018 for transmission in the Autumn.

Series 10 of Doctor Who, the last full series starring Peter Capaldi. is currently in production and will begin transmission on 15th April.




FILTER: - Chris Chibnall - series 11/37

Current Competitions

Tuesday, 31 January 2017 - Reported by Marcus
A roundup of competitions that readers may enter over the next couple of weeks:

BBC Audio: The Pirate Planet

Jon Culshaw reads the brand new novelisation of a classic Doctor Who adventure by Douglas Adams. The hugely powerful Key to Time has been split into six segments, all of which have been disguised and hidden throughout time and space. Now the even more powerful White Guardian wants the Doctor to find the pieces. With the first segment successfully retrieved, the Doctor, Romana and K9 trace the second segment of the Key to the planet Calufrax. But when they arrive at exactly the right point in space, they find themselves on exactly the wrong planet – Zanak. Ruled by the mysterious ‘Captain’, Zanak is a happy and prosperous planet. Mostly. If the mines run out of valuable minerals and gems then the Captain merely announces a New Golden Age and they fill up again. It’s an economic miracle – so obviously something’s very wrong...
The Pirate Planet (audiobook) (Credit: BBC Audio)To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:
Name another pirate captain encountered by the Doctor in the television series.
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-pirateplanet@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Howdy!". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 12th February 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: The Lost Angel

Kerry Shale reads an exciting original story featuring the 12th Doctor, as played on TV by Peter Capaldi, in an adventure with the Weeping Angels. All Alex Yow wants is to become a photo-journalist and break her first story. All Brandon Yow wants is for his sister to keep out of trouble and come home. But that’s not going to happen, because Alex has taken a picture of a statue. A statue that can move. A statue that makes people disappear. A statue that is hunting them down. In upstate New York, the Doctor is chasing weird energies that should not exist. Teaming up with Alex and Brandon, he discovers a powerful force enslaved to another’s will. Who controls the lonely assassin that prowls the streets? What secrets are the residence of Rickman hiding? And will Alex and Brandon survive the night of the Weeping Angels?
The Lost Angel (Credit: BBC Audio)To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:
What was an older name for the Weeping Angels?
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-lostangel@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "This is still our planet". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 12th February 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Audio Download: The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Beast of Kravenos

A stunning new star act is wowing the audiences of the New Regency Theatre. The modern mechanical marvel of canny canine charisma - the automated dog that can answer any question - the incomparable - the unbeatable - K9! The Doctor and Romana have returned to Victorian London and been reunited with their old friends Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. However this is not merely a social visit. A terrifying crime spree is sweeping the capital, and the burglaries of 'The Knave' defy all logic. Something impossibly dangerous is taking place amid the fog. Only the time travellers and their friends can stop it... but can they be sure they're all on the same side?
The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Beast f Kravenos (Credit: Big Finish)To be in with a chance to win a digital download of the audio adventure courtesy of Big Finish, simply answer the following question:
What was the name of the theatre Jago owned when he first met the Doctor?
Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-bf4d1@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Dash me optics!". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 12th February 2017. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

Blu-ray: The Power of the Daleks

The Power of The Daleks (blu-ray steelbook) (Credit: BBC Worldwide)
Animated restoration of all six episodes from the 1966 serial of the BBC sci-fi show starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. The Doctor has regenerated into a new, younger self and while his companions come to terms with this sudden change, they make a terrible discovery at the human colony on the planet Vulcan. What the colonists had thought mere machines reveal their sinister intentions.
To be in with a chance to win the blu-ray, simply answer the following question:
Name the first story to be released that had its missing episodes replaced by animation.
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-powerbluray@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Absolute Power!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 12th February 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Blu-ray: Class

Class (blu-ray) (Credit: BBC Worldwide)
"Time has looked at your faces now. And time never forgets..." It's a new term at Coal Hill Academy, and students are preparing for their Autumn Prom. But when the school comes under attack from deadly monsters, four alienated students must form an unlikely alliance to defeat them. Like all teenagers, these four students have hidden secrets and desires. They are facing their own worst fears, navigating a life of friends, parents, school work, sex, sorrow - and possibly the end of existence. And this incursion is only the beginning... Charlie, April, Ram and Tanya, under the watchful eye of Physics teacher Miss Quill, are now charged with a great responsibility by the mysterious alien known as The Doctor: protect Coal Hill and guard against the creatures of nightmare that want nothing more than to find a way through to Earth and take it for their own.
To be in with a chance to win the blu-ray (or DVD if preferred), simply answer the following question:
Where is the location of another well-known "rift" in the United Kingdom?
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-classbluray@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Here, miss!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 12th February 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.




FILTER: - Chris Chibnall - series 11/37

Moments in Time: The Trip of a Lifetime

Wednesday, 26 March 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Moments in TimeAs one of the highest rated shows on television today, and with four (or five!) new Doctors under its belt, it's perhaps hard to imagine a time when Doctor Who was simply one of the thousands of series that had once flourished but ultimately been consigned to the great script book in the sky. But in the mid 2000s this was how the series was regarded by many, and the brave effort by the BBC to bring it back exactly nine years ago was very much a gamble - how would the 'old-school' fans receive it, and what would a 'modern' audience make of a time-traveller in a police box?

Of course, Doctor Who did have an advantage in that it was a show that was still remembered outside of its core fan base, the general public at large were aware of "Dr Who", his iconic TARDIS, and the Daleks. This helped to lend a sense of curiosity at what the new face behind the show, celebrated writer Russell T Davies, would do with the Doctor, who would be played by an established television and film actor in the form of Christopher Eccleston, not to mention the inclusion of the press-attraction of former teenage pop-star turned actress Billie Piper.

Doctor Who teaser, 1st January 2005. Image: BBCA teaser trailer on New Year's Day 2005 formally introduced the return to the general public, but it wasn't until March when the promotional gears were turned up to maximum with a host of trailers ("Do you want to come with me?") and programmes to build up interest in a way not witnessed again until the 50th Anniversary last year.

The three principal names appeared on a variety of news and magazine programmes in the lead-up to the premiere: Christopher Eccleston was a guest on the ever Who-friendly Blue Peter on the 21st March, and then came face-to-face with 'himself' on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on the 25th; Billie Piper appeared on Parkinson on the 19th; and Russell "TV" Davies appeared on the Breakfast couch on the 11th, on BBC2 Wales's On Show on the 17th, and with Phil and Fern on This Morning on the 23rd. The press preview on the 8th March was covered widely in the media, and led to recorded interviews with the stars popping up on Breakfast and GMTV during that week. Special programmes during the period included: Matthew Sweet looking forward with a little trepidation on how the show's return would fit in culturally on The Culture Show on the 17th; Ian Rankin, Bonnie Greer and Professor John Carey discussing the series' merits on Newsnight Review on the 18th; and BBC Radio 2 presenting Project: Who? on the 22nd. Doctor Who wasn't the only programme on the way - Doctor Who Confidential was also to premiere at the weekend on BBC Three, and executive producer Mark Cossey chatted to Rufus Hound on the channel's Destination Three about what to expect from the behind-the-scenes series.

BBC Wales Today coverage of Doctor Who Preview, 8 Mar 2005. Image: BBCBillie Piper interview on BBC Breakfast, 9 Mar 2005. Image: BBCChristopher Eccleston interview on BBC Breakfast, 9 Mar 2005. Image: BBCDoctor Who coverage on Newsnight, 9th March 2005. Image: BBCRussell T Davies on BBC Breakfast, 11th March 2005. Image: BBCChristopher Eccleston on GMTV, 11th March 2005. Image: BBCMatthew Sweet on The Culture Show, 17th March 2005. Image: BBCRussell T Davies on On Show, 17th March 2005. Image: BBCNewsnight Review, 18th March 2005. Image: BBCBillie Piper on Parkinson, 19th March 2005. Image: BBCChristopher Eccleston on Blue Peter, 21st March 2005. Image: BBCProject: Who?, 22nd March 2005. Image: BBCPhilip Schofield and Fern Britton on This Morning, 23rd March 2005. Image: ITVRussell T Davies on This Morning, 23rd March 2005. Image: ITVChristopher Eccleston on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, 25th Match 2005. Image: BBCMark Cossey on Destination Three, 26th March 2005. Image: BBCThe Trip of a Lifetime Trailer, 26th March 2005. Image: BBCDoctor Who ident, 26th March 2005. Image: BBCThe Trip of a Lifetime Trailer, 26th March 2005. Image: BBCDoctor Who ident, 26th March 2005. Image: BBC

Then, suddenly, it's the 26th March. As the early evening inexorably approaches, appetites are whetted with a special preview (and countdown) in A New Dimension, an excruciating wait through Graham Norton's Strictly Dance Fever ... and then, at 7:00pm, the BBC One "Tap Dogs" ident commences, with the announcement fans have been waiting over fifteen years for:
"Tap Dogs" ident, introducing a new series of Doctor Who! (Credit: BBC)Well now, BBC One hurtles through space and time.
Come with us for the trip of a lifetime!
Aliens, you have been warned ...
Christopher Eccleston is the new ... Doctor Who!


45 minutes later and an unprecedented ten million viewers - and 43.2% of the audience - have watched Rose run to the TARDIS and off into adventures with the Doctor; the final figure rose to 10.81m (44.8%) and achieved seventh place in the TV charts, only beaten by the soap juggernauts Coronation Street and EastEnders. A week later, a further series has been commissioned (not to mention a new Doctor on the cards!), and the longevity of a modern Doctor Who is assured ...





FILTER: - Ninth Doctor - Russell T Davies - Moments in Time - Billie Piper - Series 1/27 - Chris Chibnall