Monday 23 December 2013

Doctor Who: Missing Patrick Troughton episodes could air on BBC4

Doctor Who: Missing Patrick Troughton episodes could air on BBC4


The BBC has the right - and in some senior quarters the desire - to show the nine recently-discovered Patrick Troughton Doctor Who episodes on BBC television, RadioTimes.com understands.

The BBC has confirmed that it has the right to air both The Web of Fear and The Enemy of the World in the UK decades after they were first broadcast.  And if they do get aired they will almost certainly be shown on BBC4, senior sources have confirmed.

However RadioTimes.com understands that a decision would be made in conjunction with BBC Worldwide, which is masterminding their commercial release on iTunes where they were put on sale in October.

However senior sources have said that the BBC has not ruled out airing the episodes on free to air TV eventually, although no time frame has been decided on and no formal decision has been made.

If it does go ahead it would be likely to be some time after the DVD release, according to sources.
The missing story The Enemy of the World is now out on DVD. The Web of Fear, which has a missing episode, is due to be released on DVD next year but is available on iTunes.

When asked about BBC TV’s interests in airing the episodes, a senior BBC executive told RadioTimes.com that no decision had been made but that if BBC television were to obtain the rights they would almost certainly air on BBC4 and not on BBC2.

A Worldwide spokesman said that the “BBC has the rights to show them if they wanted to”.
The BBC could not confirm the nature of the deal with Phillip Morris, director of the Television International Enterprises Archive, who found the missing material or whether a TV broadcast would require more money paid to him.

Both parties have also refused to divulge whether more missing material has been found by Morris.
The prints, discovered in Nigeria, comprise two (almost) complete Patrick Troughton six-parters: The Enemy of the World (in which the Doctor has an evil double) and The Web of Fear (where the Yeti invade London via the Underground).

Given that episode 1 of The Web of Fear and episode 3 of The Enemy of the World have long existed in the BBC archive, the discovery meant that now all five remaining episodes of The Enemy of the World have been found.

However while four instalments for The Web of Fear were located but episode 3 is still missing.
The serials were originally transmitted consecutively over 12 weeks in the winter of 1967/68
 

Jenna Coleman on BBC Breakfast

Jenna Coleman was interviewed on BBC Breakfast this morning (23rd December 2013). Here, she talks about the Christmas special, Matt's departure and Peter's arrival.

This year's special is an hour long and airs at 7.30pm

The Time of the Doctor release date and contents announced

Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor DVD release
This year’s Christmas special, The Time of Doctor will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in a boxset, alongside the Eleventh Doctor’s other festive adventures.

Starring Matt Smith, The Time of the Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor Christmas Specials, will feature for the first time in one box A Christmas Carol, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and The Snowmen, as well as 2013’s Christmas episode, featuring Matt Smith’s departure from the role.

Contents

The Time of the Doctor (2013) starring Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman.
  
The Snowmen (2012) starring Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman and Richard E. Grant.

 The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011) starring Matt Smith and Claire Skinner.

 A Christmas Carol (2010) starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins.

Extras

The release is also packed full of extra content from The Time of the Doctor including:
  • Behind the Scenes of The Time of the Doctor (12 minutes)
  • Farewell to Matt Smith (44 minutes)
  • Tales from the TARDIS (44 minutes)

Release Dates

The Time of the Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor Christmas Specials will be released on 20 January 2014 in Region 2 and is available to pre-order now on DVD and Blu-ray.

 Price: £17.49

Eighth Doctor And Sarah Jane added to Doctor Who: Legacy

The Eighth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who: Legacy

 Developers for Doctor Who puzzle app Legacy have announced that Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, and Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen) will be added to the game shortly.

Doctor Who: Legacy is available now for free on Google Play and iTunes
Up first is Sarah Jane Smith, who will be released on Sunday 22 December (around 10am GMT). Users will require a promo code to unlock the companion character, which will be released on the Doctor Who Legacy Facebook page, as part of their Advent Calendar.

 Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who: Legacy 

The Eighth Doctor will follow on Monday 23 December. A guaranteed drop - as with previous Doctors - Paul McGann’s Doctor will be found upon completion of the Paradox of the Whispermen level. Excitingly, the artwork for the Eighth Doctor features him in his The Night of the Doctor costume, complete with boots, scarf and shorter hair.

The Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who: Legacy 

 
This release news comes hot on the heels of their recent addition of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors as free characters.

Doctor Who: Legacy is a new free to play mobile action-RPG, where fans can play though 50 years of adventures in space and time. It is available now for free on Google Play and iTunes.

Source

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Peter Capaldi as Cardinal Richelieu first picture

The first promotional photo of soon to be Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi in BBC One’s The Musketeers has been released.

The ten-part adventure drama series also stars Luke Pasqualino (Skins) as D’Artagnan, Santiago Cabrera (Merlin) as Aramis, Tom Burke (The Hour) as Athos and Howard Charles as Porthos.

Capaldi's character, Cardinal Richelieu, is described as "scheming, ruthless and pragmatic" and "the most powerful man in France".



The BBC's official introduction to the character reads: "In the eyes of the Musketeers, he is a villain, a power-hungry dictator whose ultimate aim is nothing less than complete control of France. But in his own eyes the Cardinal is bringing much needed order to an outlaw society. He knows the King’s weaknesses all too well and understands that someone must take on the burden of government in his place. But nevertheless in his own way the Cardinal is loyal to the crown. Dry and witty, capable of great charm, he is also calculating and mercilessly cruel in implementing his vision. Despite his cool exterior the Cardinal is a man of carefully hidden passions."

Psycho Matt Smith

Do you like Huey Lewis And The News? Smith plays the Wall Street yuppie with a secret hobby of slicing people up in brutal ways, while maintaining a facade of normality as a narcissistic investment bankerHaving left Doctor Who, former Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith takes to the stage as Patrick Bateman in the musical adaption of Bret Easton Ellis' 1991 cult novel American Psycho. (see previous post)

He will play the Wall Street yuppie with a penchant for both designer clothing and brutal decapitation; whose sadistic tendencies become ever more uncontrollable as he acts out his narcissistic life in consumer-obsessed '80s New York. With a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and, music and lyrics from Tony Award-winner Duncan Sheik, American Psycho will make its bloody opening at the Almeida Theatre.

The author of American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis felt that there was no need for a film adaptation back in 1999.

'American Psycho was a book I didn’t think needed to be turned into a movie,' Ellis said in 2010. 'It was conceived as a novel, as a literary work with a very unreliable narrator at the centre of it and the medium of film demands answers. I don’t think American Psycho is particularly more interesting if you knew that he did it or think that it all happens in his head. I think the answer to that question makes the book infinitely less interesting.'

However, with this new West End take on his horror satire of a capitalist world, Ellis was more than happy with the casting.

 Is that a rain coat? Matt Smith unleashes his inner serial killer as Patrick Bateman in the West End adaption of American Psycho 

Source

Capaldi: "I'm Too Young for The Doctor"

At the Sky Women in Film & Television Awards on Friday, Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi were interviewed by the Press Association on his new role as the Time Lord.

Steven Moffat stated "The Doctor’s thousands of years old, they've never been able to find an actor old enough to play him!"

Peter Capaldi jokingly agreed, “I'm 1,995 years too young for the part, really. So I think the Doctor's going to be quite happy to look his age at last!”


Happy Birthday Waris & New Xmas Trailer

I've been a tad ill this past week but here is where I catch up.


Firstly, a happy birthday to Waris Hussein who turned 75 on Monday. Waris was of course the director of the pilot episode of Doctor Who : An Unearthly Child back in 1963.

 

Waris Hussein was born on 9 December 1938 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. He moved to London with his parents in 1947. He attended Cambridge and worked as a trainee at the BBC, where his mother, Attia Hussein, was a newsreader and dramatic star. He became the first Asian BBC Drama director. According to Waris, he had to put up with a lot of "innuendo" and gossip about how he got to do what he was doing. He could feel himself being stared at and it made him determined not to fail.

In 1963, he became director of a new programme called Doctor Who along with Verity Lambert who produced it, and the concept of Sydney Newman. Waris moved on the following year to direct The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling in 1964. A list of his credits can be found here. 
 ........................................................................................................................................................
 The Time Of The Doctor

The BBC have released a new trailer for this year's Christmas special and Matt Smith's final outing as The Doctor - The Time Of The Doctor. There is a new rhyme to go along with it:

 "And now it's time for one last bow
Like all your other selves
Eleven's hour's over now
The clock is striking twelves"



 



Saturday 7 December 2013

Happy Birthday Wendy

Wendy Padbury, born 7 December 1947 in Warwickshire, England, played companion Zoe Heriot from The Wheel in Space to The War Games and again in The Five Doctors.



Happy 66th Birthday Wendy

Padbury came to prominence as an actor in 1966, when she joined the cast of the long-running ATV soap opera Crossroads. She played the role of Stephanie "Stevie" Harris, foster daughter to the show's main character, Meg Mortimer (Noele Gordon). 

http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.5034639156118406&pid=1.9She was cast as the Second Doctor's new companion, Zoe Heriot, in Doctor Who in 1968. She became very close to her co-stars Frazer Hines and Patrick Troughton. Padbury tells many fond stories about the practical jokes they played on each other during rehearsals; perhaps the most famous tale she told about this was when, in rehearsal, she fell asleep. As she was wearing a kilt, Patrick Troughton undid the clasp and then woke her up. Startled, she leaped up and the kilt fell off. In those days, the rehearsals for Doctor Who were held in a Church hall - the moment Wendy leaped up and screamed was the exact moment the Vicar walked into the hall. Wendy now says, very fondly of Patrick Troughton, that he had deliberately timed it so! 

Her connection with Doctor Who, after she left the programme (at the same time as Hines and Troughton) was not quite over. She appeared in Doctor Who and the Daleks in Seven Keys to Doomsday (1974), a stage play at the Adelphi Theatre London based on the television series, in which she played a companion named Jenny, opposite Trevor Martin as the Doctor. She made a cameo appearance, again opposite Hines and Troughton in Doctor Who's twentieth anniversary story, The Five Doctors. She is now retired and lives in France.

Friday 6 December 2013

On this day : End of an era

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121228210838/tardis/images/0/00/SeventhDrAndAce-TheAvenue-WestEaling-2.jpg24 years ago today, the original series of Doctor Who came to an end with the final story 'Survival' with Sylvester McCoy as the seventh incarnation of the Doctor and Sophie Aldred as his teenage companion Dorothy 'Ace' McShane. It also had a cameo by the popular 1980's comedy duo Gareth Hale and Norman Pace.

Survival was the fourth and final story of Season 26 of Doctor Who. As such it was the final story to be broadcast, although not produced, of the classic series. The serial aired on Wednesday 22nd November 1989 and ended 3 weeks later on Wednesday 6th December 1989. Each episode were 25 minutes, and hard to believe by today's standard that was all we got back then at the end. 

Interestingly, it is the last canonical televised adventure to feature the TARDIS prop designed by Tom Yardley-Jones's and commissioned by John Nathan-Turner. It made it's first appearance in The Leisure Hive and remained in use for the whole of his time as producer. It had a final outing in the 1993 Children In Need special  Dimensions in Time before being retired. 

Synopsis:

The Doctor brings Ace back to her home town of Perivale. Her old friends are being kidnapped by a race of alien hunters called the Cheetah People, who were shown the way to Earth by the Doctor's old enemy the Master (Anthony Ainsley).


http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/oohum/images/master-survival.jpg 
Anthony Ainsley (20 August 1932 - 3 May 2004)

http://cdn.static.ovimg.com/episode/297780.jpg 
 One of the Cheetah people

Before broadcast, Sylvester McCoy was asked to come back in and record the outgoing dialogue which is heard as The Doctor and Ace walk back to the TARDIS. 

  "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do"



DVD is currently £6.95 on Amazon



Thursday 5 December 2013

Doctor Who - Take On Me

Stunning original animation by Richard Swarbrick... although it does have a slight resemblance to a certain 80's A-Ha video.


His Final Life - Time's Up for the Eleventh

January 2014 issue of Doctor Who magazine Issue 468. Nice by-line. Available in shops 12 December 2013 Price £5.99


The Eighth / War Doctor Regeneration 5" Figure




The ‘Other Doctor’ is the Doctor’s dark chapter, an _hitherto unknown incarnation whose existence he has spent centuries repressing, a secret he wants no one to know of. He is a relic of the past, part of the great Time War, when he spent centuries fighting alongside his fellow Time Lords against the Daleks and made the final decision to end it with a desperate act that cost that incarnation the right to use the name “Doctor”. 

This haunted and battle-worn Other Doctor is finally forgiven after helping find a new solution to end the war, giving the Eleventh Doctor a new purpose as he heads into further adventures.

Contents:
The Other Doctor Action Figure.
The Other Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver Accessory.
The Moment Accessory.
The Eighth Doctor alternate head

Price: £14.99
Available from 28th February 2014
Forbidden Planet 

There is an issue I have with this release is, the (Ninth) War Doctor never wore the same outfit as worn by Paul McGann as the Eighth. If anything, the changeable head should be that of Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor. However, it is is fantastic that McGann is being recognised with this release. We just need an updated Eighth Doctor figures - the Big Finish Dark Eyes and The Night Of The Doctor ones. Maybe we will get them (?)

Paul McGann: the Surprise Interview

 

The BBC have released an interview with Paul McGann taking about returning to the role of The Doctor in The Night of the Doctor.


Time Of The Doctor Promo Images








Tuesday 3 December 2013

Steven Moffat on what's next for the Doctor

In an interview with Digital Spy Steven Moffat has revealed that the Doctor's search for Gallifrey "might take him a while".

 Why did you decide to bring back Gallifrey?

http://i1.cdnds.net/13/32/618x480/showbiz-steven-moffat-2.jpg "It was about a year ago, I remember thinking, 'What occasion in the Doctor's life is the most important?' - well, it's the day he blew up Gallifrey. Then I tried to imagine what writing that scene would be like and I thought, 'There's kids on Gallifrey and he's going to push the button? He wouldn't!' I don't care what's at stake, he's not going to do it. So that was the story - of course he never did that, he couldn't. He's the Doctor - he's the man who doesn't do that. He's defined by the fact that he doesn't do that, whatever the cost, he will find another way. So it had to be the story of what really happened, that he's forgotten. Of course he didn't - he's the Doctor ! He doesn't do things like that! 

How will the search for Gallifrey figure into future Doctor Who?

"The Doctor has the possibility of going home – he can find Gallifrey – but it might take him a while, who knows? And who knows what he’ll do when he gets there? Get bored and run away again, I would think! But he has a mission statement."

 "It was fascinating when Doctor Who first came back that he was this war survivor dealing with guilt and rage – that was his story. Of course, he slowly gets over that and then there’s a danger that he just becomes about… farting about a bit, which starts to take some of the baseline out of the show somehow. So we’ve given him something to pitch for."

He also hinted at how the new story arc will develop: "It’s not like we’ll spend every episode saying, ‘I nearly found it!’ – we absolutely will not do that – but it gives him somewhere to go. The Doctor doesn’t know he’s a character in a television show – he doesn’t know he’s having adventures for our entertainment – he’s got to have something to do and that will be the thing he does."

Series 35 begins filming in January 2014 and is expected to start airing on BBC One in the Autumn of 2014.

Christmas Special time revealed

The BBC have revealed that the Christmas special The Time Of The Doctor will be shown at 7.30pm and will be an hour long.



Sunday 1 December 2013

The Eleventh on Watch over Christmas

UK satalite channel Watch (SKY 109 & Virgin 124) is to dedicate a day to the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith following his finale The Day Of The Doctor which airs on BBC One on Christmas day, two days later on Friday, 27th December 2013.

http://media3.giphy.com/media/9d4gewPxOrVG8/200_s.gifThey kick off with:
 'The Eleventh Hour' at 7.20am
 'The Time of Angels' at 8.45am.
 'The Pandorica Opens' at 10.45am
 'The Wedding of River Song' at 3.45pm.
 'The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe' at 4.45pm.

Steven Moffat on Capaldi: "It's time for the old beast to snarl"

Doctor Who's Steven Moffat has described Peter Capaldi's take on the Time Lord as an "old beast", and that Peter "will give us a whole new version of  the Doctor."

 Peter Capaldi

"We've got used to two brilliant iterations of the younger, more popular Doctor and they have both been superlative," Moffat said, "But now it's time for the old beast to snarl at you for a bit! Sometimes you see that a bit in Matt Smith's Doctor - he will remind the people around him, 'I'm not really like this' - but I think Peter's Doctor will make that even clearer."

Thursday 28 November 2013

Belated Verity Birthday

Yesterday, 27th November 2013, would have been Verity Lambert's 78th Birthday.

Verity was born in Hampstead, London in 1935. She is best known of course for producing the longest running science fiction and worldwide phenomenon that is Doctor Who from 1963 to 1967. 

 http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Media/Pix/pictures/2007/11/23/VerityLambert460.jpg

Verity owned her own production company, Cinema Verity. She was awarded an OBE in 2002 for services to film and television, making her the first producer of Doctor Who to be made an OBE. She was due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Women in Film and Television Awards in December 2007, but died before the award could be presented to her. It was awarded posthumously. She died the day before the show's 44th anniversary in 2007.

http://www.planetmondas.com/wp-content/gallery/aaisat/jessica-raine-as-verity-lambert.jpgAs part of the 50th anniversary celebration, Jessica Raine (Call The Midwives and Doctor Who episode Hide) played Verity Lambert in Mark Gatiss' An Adventure In Space And Time, which told the story of the creation of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who has paid  tribute to Verity Lambert at least three times since it's Russell T Davies brought the show back in 2005. In 2007's episode Human Nature, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant), when he was made human by the chameleon arch, and became John Smith, identifies his mother by the name Verity. The 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned ends with an on-screen dedication to Lambert, who had died in November that year. In the 2009 episode The End of Time included a character named Verity Newman (as an homage to both Verity Lambert and series creator Sydney Newman), the great-granddaughter of Joan Redfern from Human Nature and the author of A Journal of Impossible Things.

 http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/timeandspace/g/1965-01-22.jpg

Happy Birthday Gillan

Happy 26th Birthday to former Doctor Who companion Karen Sheila Gillan who is 26 years old today!

 

Karen is best known for playing Amy (Amelia) Pond/Williams alongside outgoing Doctor Matt Smith from 2010 until 2012. Her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portrayed young Amelia on first meeting the Doctor.

Karen Sheila Gillan was born on 28th November in 1987. Born and raised in Inverness, to parents Raymond John and Marie, Karen stayed here until the age of 16, when she left home to go to Edinburgh to study acting. Whilst in Edinburgh, Karen attended the Telford College to study acting, and later moved to London to the prestigious Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. However, before achieving her degree, Karen left to star in Rebus – she needed to be a member of Equity, which isn’t possible whilst in College.

Karen got her first career break in modelling, and has modelled in a number of shows including 2007′s London Fashion Week for designer Allegra Hicks’ autumn/winter catwalk show. Karen has also modelled for the Dainty Doll make-up range launch party, which was founded by Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts – this was shown in the television episode The Passions of Girls Aloud, and originally aired on 4th April 2008.

In 2009 it was announced that Karen would be the new companion to the newly announced Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, for Series 5 of Doctor Who. Her character was to be called Amy Pond. The first episode of this new series aired in April 2010, to a mostly positive response both for Matt and Karen. However, some fans were unhappy with the new direction, particularly Amy Pond’s wardrobe choices which were deemed a little risqué for family viewing. But, as Karen pointed out several times in interviews, Amy’s choices only mirrored what girls of her age were actually wearing on the streets of the UK.

Read more on Karen at her fan site here

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Jenna Coleman in Death Comes To Pemberley

http://i2.cdnds.net/13/32/300x450/uktv-jenna-louise-colman-death-comes-to-pemberly-set-pics-6.jpg
Current companion to out-going Doctor Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman will be starring in the P.D. James adapatation period drama Death Comes To Pemberley which will be aired at Christmas on BBC One. Jenna stars alonside Matthew Goode, Matthew Rhys and Anna Maxwell-Martin.
The story is a continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and stars Matthew Rhys as Mr Darcy, who says he will be portraying a very different character to that portrayed by Colin Firth. 
Although far removed from the original tome, international bestseller Death Comes To Pemberley imagines the marriage of Elizabeth Bennett - played by Anna Maxwell Martin - and Darcy (Rhys) six years on from their initial union. 
Jenna Coleman is to star as Lizzie’s sister – and Wickham’s wife – Lydia, who arrives at Pemberley one night, six years after the conclusion of Austen’s novel, screaming that her husband has been murdered.
The three-part BBC adaptation of the novel will air over the Christmas period, and was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice.
Below is the first official picture of the cast

Death Comes to Pemberley will air at 8.15pm on Boxing Day.

Christmas special Update

The BBC have now revealed the title and details for the Doctor Who 2013 Christmas special. The episode, which is Matt Smith's final as The Doctor, will indeed be entitled The Time of the Doctor and will air on Christmas Day on BBC One, time to be confirmed.

I have to say, it is not as very imaginative title now is it. I'd have put money on it being The Fall Of The Eleventh, which is a far better title.



 Synopsis:
Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe’s deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars.  And amongst them – the Doctor.  Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his best friend must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

Monday 25 November 2013

Steven Moffat: "Matt's Doctor is ...." Spoiler Alert

Doctor Who will face the end of a 50 year story in the Christmas special - when Time Lord Matt Smith reveals he is actually the 13th and 'final' Doctor.

Actor Matt, 31, has long thought to have been the Eleventh Doctor on the hit BBC sci-fi show, which can only regenerate 12 times according to the show's folklore. Fans have worried for years that the show will have to end once the 13th Doctor dies.

But on December 25, current theories among millions of fans will be exterminated once and for all when Matt says in a dramatic speech he is the 13th Doctor and adds: "I'm dying and there is nothing I can do about it."

On Saturday night at the end of the show's 50th anniversary special, all the Doctors lined up, including John Hurt who was previously not thought to count. David Tennant's Time Lord also used up an extra regeneration to save himself in an episode called Journey's End.

Asked about the Christmas episode and the regeneration of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat confirmed Matt was the 13th Doctor and told the Mirror: "The 12 regenerations limit is a central part of Doctor Who mythology - science fiction is all about rules, you can't just casually break them.
 
Speaking at the Doctor Who 50th Celebration at London's ExCel, the showrunner said that John Hurt's version of the Time Lord does not alter the numbering of other incarnations:
"He has no more ever called himself the 11th Doctor than he would call himself Matt Smith. The Doctor doesn't know off the top of his head [what number he is].
"If you worry about such things, and I do, then I specifically said John Hurt's Doctor doesn't use the title. [Matt Smith's Doctor] is in his 12th body but he's the 11th Doctor, however there is no such character as the 11th Doctor - he's just The Doctor, that's what he calls himself.
"The numbering doesn't matter, except for those lists that you and I have been making for many years. So I've given you the option of not counting John Hurt numerically - he's the War Doctor."

"So if the Doctor can never change again, what's Peter Capaldi doing in the Christmas special?"

A show source explained: "There have been two David Tennant Doctor Whos technically and with John Hurt playing another Doctor in the film, it basically means he can't regenerate again. The riddle of the regeneration problem, something fans have talked about for decades, will be faced head on at Christmas. There is going to be another huge cliffhanger and somehow Peter Capaldi has to join and the series has to continue. The show's big fans, known as Whovians, won't believe their eyes at Christmas."

Christmas special title revealed(?)

This year's Doctor Who Christmas Special, is apparently called The Time Of The Doctor. The episode will be the swan song of current Doctor Matt Smith, as he regenerates into Peter Capaldi.



Bleeding Cool have seen what is to be the outline of the special, and as we all know, there are spoilers and there are spoilers. Take the following with a pinch of salt…

A bell tolls across the Universe. Many are afraid, The Doctor and Clara are… curious.

You will come to Christmas Town, a place of peace, welcomed by Rob Jarvis and Tessa Peake-Jones.
You will come to Trenzalore, a planet of war.
You will find out where Gallifrey went.
You will discover what the Silence are.
You will see who the voice in the TARDIS was.
The episode will be nine hundred years long.

There will be Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels. Some of them will be wooden. So will The Doctor.
He always has Handles. And grab hold, as you will find out what the hell that crack in space and time actually was. Because The Time Of The Doctor will be going right back to The Eleventh Hour.

John Hurt's Sonic Screwdriver





product image The 'Other Doctor' is the Doctor's dark chapter, an _hitherto unknown incarnation whose existence he has spent centuries repressing, a secret he wants no one to know of. He is a relic of the past, part of the great Time War, when he spent centuries fighting alongside his fellow Time Lords against the Daleks and made the final decision to end it with a desperate act that cost that incarnation the right to use the name "Doctor". This haunted and battle-worn Other Doctor is finally forgiven after helping find a new solution to end the war, giving the Eleventh Doctor a new purpose as he heads into further adventures.

The Other Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, as seen in the 50th anniversary episode: "The Day of the Doctor". Includes sound and light FX.

Requires 2 x AG13/LR44/L1154 button cell batteries, Demo batteries included. Ages 5+.



Price: £19.99

product image

Steven Moffat on Peter Capaldi's Doctor is 'energetic and full of vitality'



Peter Capaldi will make his début as the Twelfth Doctor in this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, and begins filming the new series from January. Series 35 (8) will air in autumn 2014.

Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat has revealed that Peter Capaldi "leaps around the place" following his regeneration scene.

The show's 50th anniversary special, 'The Day of the Doctor' aired at the weekend and saw Capaldi briefly appear as the Twelfth Doctor for the first time, but the actor will make his official début in this year's Christmas special.

Moffat told journalists at the Official Doctor Who Celebration in London yesterday: "We've only seen the tiniest moment. It's just the beginning of a process really. Of course, he's brilliant. And just seeing the energy and vitality that he brings to his performance, he works - he's like Matt [Smith] - he works, he's a worker. And he's an extraordinary vital performer."

He added: "The man is not at all elderly in style, he leaps around the place probably more than any other Doctor in that first scene. But that's not how he's gonna play it, he's in a state of post-regeneration madness. It's something we're still working on."


Neve McIntosh will be returning as Madame Vastra and had this to say "It will be sad not to be working with Matt  again but I’m really looking forward to Peter taking over and seeing what he does with it. [Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax will] be helping the Doctor more, but I can’t say anything else."


Alex Kingston will reprise her role as River Song : "I look forward to sharing more of River with you in the future, but… spoilers!"

Sunday 24 November 2013

Tom Baker: "I'm Still Doctor Who"

Tom Baker at the Doctor Who Celebration

 Fourth Doctor Tom Baker told the audience at the Doctor Who Celebration that he is still the Doctor.
“I had a fantasy that I was going on to something else,” he told host Nicholas Briggs. “Which was a fantasy of course because I didn’t go on to anything else.

“I’m still playing Doctor Who in Big Finish. I remain playing that lovely character. He’s really rather like Tom Baker really.”

When asked if he felt that age mattered when playing the Doctor he said: “It doesn’t really matter. Nobody has ever failed at it. It would be quite interesting to see one with a hump.”

Millions tune in for Doctor Who 50th anniversary show

Scene from Day Of The Doctor 
More than 10 million people tuned in to see the special 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who in the UK, according to overnight viewing figures.

At its peak, the show was watched by 10.61 million viewers, with an average of 10.2 million across the 75-minute running time.

It comfortably beat X Factor on ITV, which was seen by 7.7 million people.

But Strictly Come Dancing was Saturday night's most popular show, peaking at 11.7 million viewers (10.6m average).

'Beautiful reinvention'
 
The Day of the Doctor was broadcast in 94 countries at the same time as it aired on BBC One on Saturday night - earning it a Guinness World Record as "the world's largest ever simulcast of a TV drama".
Featuring three Doctors - Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt - it delved deep into the character's psyche over 75 minutes.

Amid the special effects and multiple time zones, critics were particularly impressed with the interplay between the actors.



Speaking immediately after the broadcast, star Matt Smith said: "I think what's really clever about it is that what he [Moffat] has managed to do is change the mythology of the character - which, after 50 years, is an achievement."

Full article here  

Paul McGann: "I'd do more Doctor Who"

Paul McGann has stated that he would definately do more Doctor Who in the future should the opportunity arise to do so.

"Well, it's like with the mini-episode - if they send you the script and it's good, you'll do it," McGann told Doctor Who Online, "So, you know, these things are only as good as the material. So the real question is if the material was good enough and if you were available, you'd do it - cos it's a Who!"

McGann continued to describe the lengths he went to in order to keep his involvement in the minisode and prequel to the fiftieth special  'The Night of The Doctor' a secret. "That was tough, keeping it a secret," he declared. It wasn't easy. I mean a couple of mates knew - family knew, and I'm pretty good at keeping a secret. 

"But of course so many people work on something, you know, technicians and everybody else, and publicity people, you know, I'm not pointing the finger, except I'm saying, somewhere along the line, someone couldn't resist pressing send. "A couple of days ago we were seeing still pictures from the episode going out before it had gone out [officially], so Steven Moffat presumably thought 'I've gotta do something', so we released it."

Below, you can watch Paul McGann in The Night Of The Doctor


Guinness World Record for The Day of the Doctor


Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman accept the programme's World Record certificate
 
Doctor Who‬ has received a Guinness World Record for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama for 'The Day of the Doctor' last night!

The award was presented by to Steven ahead of his first panel appearance today at the Doctor Who Celebration, a special three-day event spanning the anniversary weekend at London’s ExCeL. Cast members Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman were also in attendance along with thousands of fans from across the world.

On receiving the award, Steven Moffat says: “For years the Doctor has been stopping everyone else from conquering the world. Now, just to show off, he's gone and done it himself!”

Tim Davie, from BBC Worldwide, said: "We knew we were attempting something unprecedented in broadcast history, not only because Doctor Who is a drama, unlike a live feed event such as a World Cup football match or a royal wedding, but because we had to deliver the episode in advance to the four corners of the world so that it could be dubbed and subtitled into 15 different languages. If there was any doubt that Doctor Who is one of the world's biggest TV shows, this award should put that argument to rest".



Full article here

Saturday 23 November 2013

50th Anniversary Videos

Steven Moffat with John Hurt, David Tennant, Matt Smith And Jenna Coleman

David Tennant introduces the fiftieth anniversary

 

Matt Smith and David Tennant on The Graham Norton Show (22 November 2013)



Current Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat



Matt Smith



50th anniversary deleted scene



Christmas 2013 teaser trailer



The Twelve Doctors


Thursday 21 November 2013

My Grandfather, The Doctor


 Jessica Carney talks about  her grandfather, the first Doctor Who, William Hartnell.









Wednesday 20 November 2013

The One Show - Doctor Who 50th Special

This evening at 7pm on BBC One's magazine programme The One Show, celebrated 50 years of  Doctor Who with an hour long special with guests Jenna Coleman (Clara), John Hurt (The War Doctor), with Giles Brandwith interviewing current showrunner Steven Moffat  about the fiftieth episode The Day of the Doctor

Below,you can watch the Doctor Who edited pieces thanks to BlogtorWho




Part One


Part Two


Part Three