The next issue of Doctor Who Magazine pays tribute to Sir John Hurt aka the War Doctor, who passed away in January. David Tennant, David Warner and Louise Jameson are among those who celebrate a career spanning Alien to Z Cars, with Steven Moffat observing:


ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE...

• DAVID TENNANT INTERVIEW - David Tennant shares warm memories of working with John Hurt on 2013’s The Day of the Doctor.
• STRONG TO THE FINISH - John Hurt’s Big Finish colleagues pay tribute to him – a special interview with Nicholas Briggs, Jason Haigh-Ellery and David Richardson.
• ASK STEVEN MOFFAT - Showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers’ burning questions.
• RICHARD AND THE DOCTOR - DWM speaks Comic Relief’s co-founder Richard Curtis about his role in 1999’s The Curse of Fatal Death and writing 2010’s Vincent and the Doctor.
• WHO CREATED DOCTOR WHO? Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Sydney Newman's birth, a feature on how he was frustrated in his attempts to be officially recognised as Doctor Who’s creator.
• HOME TAPING - What did fans do before the days of home video releases? Before DVD, Blu-ray and digital downloads? DWM follows the story of preserving off-air copies of Doctor Who.
• DRAMATIC FX - We examine how the visual effects of 1977’s The Invisible Enemy were achieved on a miniscule budget.
• DOORWAY TO HELL - The original Master is up to no good in Part Three of our brand-new comic strip, written by Mark Wright and illustrated by Staz Johnson.
• DAY OF THE MOON - The Doctor and his companions lead a revolution against the memory-erasing Silence in this issue’s Time Team.
• VWORP VWORP! - We chat to the creators of Vworp Vworp as they release Volume 3 of their Doctor Who fanzine.
• REVIEWS - DWM reviews the latest book, 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, competitions, the DWM crossword, and more!


Doctor Who Magazine 510 is on sale from Thursday 9rh March.

Peter Capaldi and Sir John Hurt have both lent their support to the #WearYourNHS campaign, set up to raise awareness of the issues and challenges facing the NHS at present.

The actors are pictured wearing a 'Support Junior Doctors' tshirt, designed by fashion icon Dame Vivienne Westwood. The #WearYourNHS Campaign, spearheaded by Dr Lauren Gavaghan, a Senior Registrar in Psychiatry in London, was started as a means to open up the issue of the Junior Doctors Contract negotiations to the public.

Junior Doctors, working for the NHS in England, have today been taking part in their second one day strike, in protest at changes proposed to their contracts by the Government. The management insist the changes are needed to provide a seven day health service in the future. The Junior Doctors are worried that the changes will spread overworked staff even more thinly and jeopardize patient health.

The #WearYourNHS campaign is a play on the words We Are Your NHS. Gavaghan wanted to encourage people to start thinking about the NHS as they might a shirt worn on their backs, something they may take for granted and only miss if it were gone one day.

This latest stage of the campaign sees Capaldi taking part in a session with photographer Sarah Sheldrake. The pictures show THE Dr and 20 ‘Junior’ Doctors, all from a range of medical specialities including A&E/Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatric Anaesthetics, GP, Rheumatology, Acute General Medicine, Intensive Care, and Psychiatry, some senior in their specialities.

On why he was supporting Junior Doctors, Capaldi just said The Twelfth Doctor was joined by the War Doctor in the photoshoot, with veteran actor Sir John Hurt taking part. Hurt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015, and is now doing well following treatment. On why he chose to support Junior Doctors he said Speaking as to why she organised the campaign, Dr Lauren Gavaghan said Full details on the campaign website

Big Finish have announced a new range of adventures in the Doctor Who universe, this time focussing on the mysterious 'other' Doctor who fought in the Time War:

A roundup of recent news relating to Doctor Who cast and crew:

• Matt Smith has begun filming for a new drama for Netflix, The Crown, due to be broadcast in 2016. The ten-part series, based on the play The Audience, will follow the relationship between Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) and the prime ministers who have served during her monarchy, with Smith portraying her husband, Prince Philip. [Northampton Herald and Post, 11 Aug]
  
  
• David Tennant will be portraying the character of 'baddy' Zebediah Killgrave in the television adaptation of the Marvel comic Jessica Jones. Jeff Loeb, Marvel's Head of Television, said: "In the same kind of way Vincent D’Onofrio owned his half of Daredevil, you’ll see David Tennant own his half of Jessica Jones… What you get out of Jessica is a sort of hold-your-breath tension as to what’s going to happen. When you see the dynamic between Krysten Ritter and David Tennant… that question of ‘What’s going to happen next?’ and ‘What could happen next?’ and how that’s driven by character is something that is so important to not just the scripts but also the way the show is shot, and the way that everyone reacts, and the way those two react with each other." [Science Fiction, 14 Aug]
  
  
• 
  Photo: Manchester Evening News
  Christopher Eccleston led this year's tribute in Manchester to mark the anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre, where 15 protesters were killed when troops charged a political meeting there in 1819. The actor read from a speech delivered by Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt from the day. [Manchester Evening News, 16 Aug]
  
  
• Colin Baker will be on hand to officially unveil a display of copies of the Doctor Who scripts by the show's first writer Anthony Coburn at Spoon Web (The DVD Shop) in Whitstable, Kent on Sunday 23rd August. The event also coincides with a Kickstarter campaign aimed to provide funding for the ongoing maintenance, improvement and promotion of the police box replica for Herne Bay TARDIS for Children in Need. [Facebook]
  
  
• Tom Baker may be about to take on a role in the Star Wars franchise. A guest at the recent Day of the Doctors convention, he is reported as saying: "I'm going to be in this new Star Wars thing, you know? I'm going down to record some voices for this new character they've created for me, very soon" [various, including Sci-Fi Fantasy Network, Inquistr, 15 Aug]
  
  
• Frazer Hines has been appearing in Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which this week reaches the Leeds Grand Theatre. Talking about portraying his character, Rogers, he said: "I suppose it’s my experience of being in the show business for over forty years that many could assume that Rogers, being just a butler, could be played just as a butler. But I worked out that he was in the First World War, in the army, so he has this straight-backed walk and respects the general in the play and respects the copper. So I’ve brought those little nuances into the character."
  
  He also mentioned that the most common question he gets asked is what was it like to work with second Doctor Patrick Troughton: "A lovely man. Some of the happiest years of my show business career were working with Patrick Troughton in Doctor Who. But they all ask me that and I wish I had a pound for every time I’m asked that question. He was a lovely, lovely man and we had great fun working together. If I had an idea he wouldn’t say, “I’m the Doctor, you just shut up and be the assistant.” He’d turn and say, “Frazer, what a marvellous idea. Let’s do it.” I’d worked with him before in 1964, before Doctor Who had started and I was the star of that show, Smuggler’s Bay, and he was playing the part of an old smuggler. But a year or so later he was the star of Doctor Who and I was just joining in as Jamie for four episodes so the role was reversed. It was great, we just gelled straight away." [(Entertainment Focus, 14 Aug]
  
  
• Speaking of And Then There Were None, a new BBC One production of the play has been announced, whose cast will feature Burn Gorman as William Blore and Anna Maxwell Martin as Ethel Rogers. [BBC Media Centre, 10 Jul]
  
  
• Jenna Coleman has revealed one of the tricks of the trade employed during filming scenes with her co-star Peter Capaldi: I have to stand on an apple box when we’re filming - it’s called ‘Jenna’s Box’ and it gets brought out when I need to fit into a particular shot." [Express, 15 Aug]
  
  
• Sir John Hurt can be heard as the lead role in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, broadcast this weekend on BBC Radio 4; the play is described as "A dying Soho, seen through the eyes of the notorious columnist of The Spectator - plain-speaking drinker, gambler, wit and raconteur." It also features Nichola McAuliffe and Jeff Rawle. [BBC Radio 4, 15 Aug]
  
  Speaking of his recent diagnosis of having pancreatic cancer, the actor observed: I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it. We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly. But my treatment is going terrifically well, so I’m optimistic." [Radio Times, 15 Aug]
  
  
• Talking about his role in new film Pleasure Island, Samuel Anderson said: "I've played a lot of love interests - those kind of romantic roles, 'sweet boy' kind of thing - so it was brilliant to come in and just play an idiot. From when I read the script, I was hooked. Just the way Mike (Doxford, writer/director) had laid his characters out. You could feel it - each character was grounded and had a bit of weight to them. It was like, 'If I don't get the part, I can't wait to see the film'." [Digital Spy, 15 Aug]
  
  
• On a possible return to Doctor Who, Anderson commented: "Maybe in an alternate universe? I wouldn't mind approaching him in a different way. Or maybe just come back as Orson Pink because then it changes the dynamic between him and the Doctor. If it's Orson Pink I think the relationship would be totally different because instead of a soldier – which is the kind of person the Doctor can't bear – you've got another scientist who could be quite interesting with their relationship. And then instead of it being a love interest with Clara and Danny, it would be a family affair with grandmother and grandson but at the same age." [Radio Times, 13 Aug]
  
  
• Amidst speculation that he may be a future successor to Steven Moffat as the lead writer on Doctor Who, Toby Whithouse responded: "No-one at the BBC has ever had this conversation with me! No-one has asked me, no-one has approached me about if Steven leaves, when Steven leaves. These are conversations that happen purely among fans, not on any official level."
  
  On writing for the show in general: "There’s a reason I go back to Doctor Who every year, and that’s because I absolutely love working on it! There is something so magical, so ludicrous about that show! ... The appeal never fades: I’m 45 now, and writing: ‘Interior: TARDIS’ at the top of a scene is still really, really exciting. You also get to tell these extraordinary stories that you couldn’t write for any other show." [The London Economic, 11th Aug]
  
  
• Many media publications focussed on the casting of Bethany Black as being the first transgender actress to appear in the show. The comedian herself reflected on filming for the new series: "It is genuinely the greatest job I could ever have imagined getting. Everything about it is magical. I'm enjoying every day of filming and cherishing it, because you never know if you'll ever get to do anything like this again. I only hope that I do the role and the show justice, and that you all enjoy it. For me it's the gig of a lifetime." [Facebook]
  
  
• A new series of Who Do You Think You Are? has started on BBC One, which this year will also include the exploration of the family history for Sir Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid and writer Mark Gatiss.
  
  
• Arthur Darvill will be playing Rip Hunter in DC's Legends Of Tomorrow, with the character described as "a time-traveler tasked with assembling a group of villains and heroes together after he sees a future that could destroy everything. This unlikely squad must now stop these devastating future events from happening, but it won’t be easy." [Hollywire, 12 Aug]
  
  
• Darvill can also be seen in the forthcoming fictional account of Lenny Henry's early life, Danny And The Human Zoo, which also features Richard Wilson and Mark Benton.
  
  
• Colin Morgan will star in a new drama for BBC One, The Living And The Dead. [BBC Media Centre, 10th Aug]
  
  
• A number of names previously associated with Doctor Who have been making appearances at Roath Lock Studios of late and getting their photos taken alongside the TARDIS's current 'owner' Peter Capaldi, including Waris Hussein, Georgia Moffett, David Tennant and Russell T Davies.
  
  

  Earlier this week we were delighted that the legendary Waris Hussein - http://t.co/KxpbDk7SP7 - visited the TARDIS! pic.twitter.com/DqlCDwh4O1

  — Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) August 14, 2015

  
  

Sir John Hurt has revealed he has been diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. In a statement released to the Press Association, he said:

Alex Ford, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK, one of several national charities fighting pancreatic cancer, said:

If you wish to make a donation to the charity, you can do so at pancreaticcancer.org.uk/donate.

John Hurt was awarded a Knighthood for his services to drama in the Queen's New Year Honours list.

A doodle by Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, is being auctioned for charity as part of National Doodle Day 2014.

The event is to raise money for Epilepsy Action with celebrities donating doodles to be auctioned on ebay.

Other Doctor Who related stars taking part include John Hurt, Bruno Langley; Martin Jarvis; Terry Molloy, Bill Nighy, Felicity Kendal, Honor Blackman, Ian McNeice, Martin Clunes, Maureen Lipman, Roger Lloyd Pack, Nerys Hughes, Imelda Staunton, Sylvia Syms and Sir Derek Jacobi.

The auction is open until Sunday. Bids can be made via the website.

A doodle by Colin Baker was also auctioned in 2005.

Doctors:

John Hurt has been voted joint first in the annual Beard of the Year Awards, alongside choirmaster Gareth Malone and England rugby player Geoff Parling. The trio came top of the poll from the Beard Liberation Front, which attracted over 10000 votes. [Telegraph, 28 Dec 2013]

David Tennant commented that he currently doesn't know whether he'll be involved in the second series of Chris Chibnall's Broadchurch: "We don’t know where the characters are going. We don’t know the story he is telling. Some people say they know they are in it. I am not sure they do, though. I think some might get a shock. I was dying of a heart attack, so I don’t know how able Alec Hardy will be to do any more crimefighting, so we will have to see." [Radio 4, via Mirror, 28 Dec 2013]

Speaking of which, a Radio Times poll saw critics name Tennant's show the best TV show of 2013. Tim Glandfield, RadiotTimes.com editor, said: "The death of event TV has been greatly exaggerated. Broadchurch drew the nation into a collective hysteria every Monday night for eight weeks, as who killed Danny Latimer became the talking point in the press, pubs, front rooms and factories up and down the country. A brilliant piece of homegrown drama with an exquisite cast of actors, Broadchurch is a fantastic example of British TV at its very best.". [Radio Times, 27 Dec 2013]

Peter Capaldi has been put forward as a candidate for the position of Rector at the University of Glasgow, though the actor himself has yet to agree to run for election. A petition was started by politics student Fiona Duncan, who said: "I’m trying to show that there is a demand from the student body for him to stand before contacting him. It would be great to have someone from the arts representing Glasgow students." [Times Higher Education, 25 Dec 2013]

Peter Cushing is considered the number one thespian from Kent, according to a county news source. Correspondent Chris Britcher observed: "He lived for much of his life in Whitstable, moving there in 1959, in a seafront home he shared with his wife. A popular figure about the town, he would love to sit and paint the view along the beach. Cushing’s View today marks the spot he so adored, while the town’s museum has a permanent section devoted to him.". The "alternative" Doctor is not alone, however, with Tom Baker also listed at number eight: "He remains, for a whole generation, their favourite Doctor Who – and is destined to be synonymous with the character at the very height of its fame. Mr Baker lived for many years in Boughton Monchelsea, near Maidstone, and now resides in Tunbridge Wells. He is a familiar sight in and around the town." [Kent News, 24 Dec 2013]

Writers:

Neil Gaiman has been named the winner of the 2013 Book of the Year Award, with his book The Ocean At The End Of The Lane winning the public vote in the National Book Awards. The writer commented: "I've never written a book before that was so close to my own heart: a story about memory and magic and the fear and danger of being a child. I wasn't sure that anyone else would like it. "I'm amazed and thrilled that so many other people have read it, loved it, and made their friends read it too." [Radio Times, 28 Dec 2013]

A new publication in the Time Trips series of e-books, The Death Pit is now out, and its setting of Arbroath in Scotland has attracted local interest. Dundee-born author Alison Kennedy said: "I know Arbroath a bit. I lived there for a few months and in Carnoustie for about a year. It just seemed a suitable place. I wanted it to be in a small town." Writing for the fourth Doctor, she said: "I was a fan of the series as a child, and I am now. When it’s at its best it hasn’t changed - it’s very resilient. It was a very happy editorial experience." [Evening Telegraph, The Courier, 28 Dec 2013]

A behind-the-scenes report on The Day of the Doctor was shown on BBC One's Breakfast today.

Presented by entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba, the four-minute piece included interviews with Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt, and Jenna Coleman.

Watch the report below. (NB: May not play outside the UK.)