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.

Tom Baker: "I'm Still Doctor Who"

 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

 

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

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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

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

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

Jenna Coleman on Matt's Regeneration: :"I knew it was going to be sad, but it was really traumatic"

In a matter of 5 weeks, on Christmas Day, we will bid a sad farewell to the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and welcome in the Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi. Clara Oswald played by Jenna Coleman, will be there to witness the regeneration of the Doctor. 

Jenna: "I knew it was going to be sad, but it was really traumatic. It was very emotiomal and overwhelming. It's a stranger thing but, it's the nature of the show. Matt leaves and Peter arrives in his costume, and the scen carries on. You just keep going - that's the show"


 
Below, Jenna Coleman on Tuesday morning's edition of  Daybreak (19th November 2013)

The Last Day - Minisode

The second mini episode for the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, is now online. Unlike the first one though this is currently only available through iTunes. For some reason, it costs £2.49 in the UK, whereas it is free on the American iTunes store. The video was reportedly priced in error, and is now  available as part of a series pass. A spokesperson for the BBC told the Radio Times: “This is an error on the part of iTunes. This should have been free. We’re waiting to hear back from them about how this will be rectified.”

Synopsis:

First day on the front line? Time to attach a Headcam for a soldier’s point-of-view. What could possibly go wrong?

50th Mini epsode The Last Day by culttvstuff

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An Adventue In Space And Time Trailer

 

Moffat on McGann’s Return

Steven Moffat has spoken to the BBC about bringing back the eighth Doctor, Paul McGann for today’s amazing mini-episode.

 

Question: How did The Night of the Doctor come about?

Steven Moffat: Well, we had our new ‘hidden mystery’ Doctor and I was thinking, what else can we do for our anniversary year… I thought… Why don’t we get Paul McGann in and regenerate him into John Hurt? I’d like to see that! I’d love to see that! And we had this possibility that we could do it as a surprise, so we got in touch with Paul who was dead keen and I’m delighted to say he was so happy to join in with the idea of keeping it secret. He was childishly excited about it!

Paul came along and shot it – it was the last two days of the shoot for the fiftieth, actually. He did a wonderful job. It was great! We designed a new costume for him based on his old one. Howard Burden did a fantastic job with that.

Q: It was a well-kept secret! How important was that for you, and what measures did you go to, to ensure this regeneration was kept under wraps?

SM: We were phenomenally secret with the making of it! And I’m sure some people are a bit cross that we were so secretive but the fact is, there is only one way to ensure you keep a secret, and that’s to keep it! So, we kept it very tight and we hope it all came as great surprise to everyone.

Q: For those that don’t know him, could you describe the Eighth Doctor?

SM: The Eighth Doctor is perhaps the first of the sexy, romantic Doctors. I don’t mean he’s the first sexy Doctor – he’s not. But he’s the first one who kisses a lady, for example. He’s obviously dashing, terribly handsome and quite romantic. I always found it hard to imagine him fighting in the Time War. I’d always imagined the ‘Time War Doctor’ would be more grizzled, somehow, you know?

Paul only played the Doctor onscreen once before, in the TV Movie. He gives a wonderful performance in it. It’s a terrifically exuberant performance and it anticipates the later performances, particularly of Matt and David. He’s a dashing, romantic, very funny and very affecting Doctor! Of course, Paul is not only known for the telemovie but for all his wonderful audio adventures. I’m always telling the Doctors and companions, as they come through the show, that they’ll never be quite done with it – Big Finish is expecting them.

Q: It’s an interesting spin on the Time War – the Time Lords becoming this hated race, as bad as the Daleks in some people’s eyes. Will we see that play out with John Hurt’s Doctor and so on?

SM: We will see some of that play out. We’ve already seen some of it play out on the show, in The End of Time, where the Doctor reveals the Time Lords got as bad as the Daleks towards the end, and he was as worried by them as anything else. And we know the Doctor wiped out his own people. He wouldn’t do so unless things had got pretty bad. Genocide is a big decision for anyone!

 

Q: People seemed delighted when they heard the Sisterhood of Karn was returning. Did that surprise you?
SM: A little bit! I was terribly excited about having the Sisterhood of Karn coming back which is why I did it! But I should probably learn to have a little more faith in the fact that what gets me excited as a sad, old fan will get other people excited as well! And okay, the Sisterhood are unknown to the kids, but I was a kid when I first saw the Sisterhood and I thought they were great! So I’m hoping other people will like them!

Q: And the character the Doctor encounters in the mini episode… Is that supposed to be Ohica, from The Brain of Morbius?
SM: No! If you look at the credits you’ll see I called her Ohila so it suggests she’s in some way connected to Ohica. Instead of having that confusion in having it the same person, I thought we’d just imply they were connected.

Q: Finally, running a show like Doctor Who is always going to be hard work… But how much fun was it? Bringing back the Eighth Doctor?
SM: Oh, it was a complete treat! It was always frustrating that we never got to see more of him! The completist in me… the ‘box set man’ in me wants every box ticked and I wanted every regeneration scene! And we get to see the Paul McGann Doctor regenerate into the John Hurt Doctor! I love regeneration episodes – there’s nothing more exciting! And in the anniversary year we get to see two regenerations… That’s pretty cool!


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Paul McGann: The Night Of The Doctor minisode

After all the speculation as to whether Paul McGann would be seen again as the Eighth incarnation of the Doctor, can finally be put to rest. In the Steven Moffat penned  minisode The Night Of the Doctor , a prequel to the fiftieth episode The Day Of The Doctor, sees his return to playing the Doctor on screen, even if it is via the BBC red button service. 

The changing image of the Eighth Doctor from left to right:  The TV Movie, Dark Eyes and Night Of The Doctor. Belowscreencaps taken from the minisode and promo image.

14th November - the return of Paul McGann as the Doctor and also his 54th birthday. Many happy returns!

 

  

  

And here is the minisode The Night Of The Doctor

Steven Moffat: "Fiftieth is epically ambitious"

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has described writing the upcoming 50th anniversary special as "The most terrifying thing I’ve ever done".

Speaking to CultBox on the set of 'The Day of the Doctor' in Cardiff earlier this year, the writer commented: "I knew the story we wanted tell and certain things in the kit of parts that we could tell it with. That has to be the priority, otherwise you might as well just have a walk-down, a curtain call… It can’t all be curtain call. Not that I’m saying we don’t have a curtain call!"

Moffat added: "It was a very, very, very difficult script to start writing, because it had to be epically ambitious. I’ve never written anything quite like it. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done."

The writer explained: "I knew what I wanted to accomplish. I think there’s a tremendous danger if you attach the word 50 to anything that you are arranging a state funeral and a retrospective. I wanted it to be the show that ensures the next 50 years – it does celebrate the last 50 years, trust me, people seem to worry that I‘m not going to do that. It celebrates the legend, rather than saying ‘it’s really old, you know’."

He joked: "You don’t want to say that to kids, do you? ‘This is something your grandparents watched!’ You want it to be an absolute forward thrust."

'The Day of the Doctor' will air at 7.50pm on Saturday 23 November on BBC One.

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Doctor Who Live: The After Party to air on BBC Three for 50th

BBC Three's twitter has confirmed that it will air a new edition of Doctor Who Live on Saturday, November 23.The special - expected to follow a similar format to August's episode, which unveiled Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor - will air at 9.05pm.  Details on the 'after-party' - including which stars will appear - are yet to be confirmed.

The Day Of The Doctor Official Trailers

The Day of the Doctor premieres on BBC One a fortnight tomorrow, at 7.50pm on Saturday, 23 November. Just after Strictly Come Dancing, BBC One aired the first of two trailers being premièred over the weekend. Watch them both below

  

The Day of the Doctor - behind the scenes pics

 oday's edition of UK publication The Telegraph included a pull-out magazine with a feature on The Day of the Doctor and behind-the-scenes photographs. Included in the pics are: David Tennant, Matt Smith, John Hurt, Billie Piper, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat and director Nick Hurran. Also included here are some quotes from the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special and from the article. 

  

 

From The Day of the Doctor:

"You were The Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right."

The Eleventh Doctor

"What we do today, we do not out of fear or hatred,

but because there is no other way."

The Tenth Doctor 

 

"What's really interesting is that Steven has managed to invent something new about the character, which is wonderful after fifty years." Matt Smith

"He's [John Hurt] from The Doctor's past, and The Doctor did not expect to see him again. We pick up, as it were, months later [After the events of The Name of the Doctor]. So you'll get an update on what Clara's been up to, a little bit about what The Doctor's been up to." Steven Moffat

 "Very, very roughly, I suppose, and with apologies to Charles Dickens, it's the A Christmas Carol structure - there's the ghost of the past, the present and the future. There's plenty of inter-Doctor rivalry and, as The Doctor's 50th birthday present, we're establishing a whole new Doctor right there in front of you." Steven Moffat.

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Matt Smith - Excited to be in 3D

23rd November sees the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, Matt Smith's penultimate episiode as the time travelling hero, is to be shown in cinemas simultaneously with the episode shown on BBC One. Tickets went on sale on Friday 25th October, and the special screenings have completely SOLD OUT!.

Screenings will take place in 216 cinemas across the UK at the same time as the special will air on BBC One on Saturday November 23. If, like me, you are one of thousands not lucky enough to get a ticket from one of the many participating cinemas, will miss out on seeing  Matt Smith as the Doctor and his chin in glorious 3D, and will just have to make do with our flat screens at home.

 Grinning, he said: "My chin is in 3D. I think it's about time. Frankly I think it's exciting. I think this show was born for 3D. The TARDIS in 3D looks brilliant." 

While Matt's thrilled by his chin, former Doctor David Tennant, who reprises his role in the special, says the script is what excites him. 

"I think what works with this is the script is very story led, rather than fill it with things that make people 'oh it's a special anniversary lovely birthday thing'.

 There will also be cinema screenings across the world with fans in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Germany and Canada having the chance to enjoy the special on the big screen. In addition to the cinema screenings, the special will also be played to the 20,000 fans who will gather at London's ExCel for an official celebration event, which will feature appearances from Matt Smith, and former Doctors Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Tom Baker.

Doctor Who 50th biopic new pictures

BBC America has released three new images from An Adventure in Space and Time.


David Bradley as William Hartnell





 Filming with David Bradley, Jemma Powell and Jamie Glover as Jacqueline Hill and William Russell who played Susan's teachers Barbara and Ian.

  
David Bradley as William Hartnell with Claudio Grant as Carole Ann Ford as Susan

The Day of the Doctor: TV and cinema screenings

Thousands of Doctor Who fans will be able to enjoy the option of seeing the 50th anniversary episode in cinemas around the world. The Day of the Doctor will be shown in 3D on the big screen, in  cinemas throughout the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Germany and Russia.

The cinema screenings will take place the same time as the UK TV broadcast on BBC One on 23rd November 2013, giving fans another unique opportunity to be part of a truly global celebration for the iconic British drama series.

216 VUE, Cineworld, Odeon, BFI and Picturehouse cinemas in the UK and Ireland have already confirmed their participation, with tickets for the anniversary screening set to go on sale this Friday October 25th at 9am. Locations include London, Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

 Internationally, German, Russian, American* and Canadian* fans will be able to gather in cinemas to enjoy the simulcast release with approximately 30 cinemas in Germany and up to 50 theatres debuting the episode in Russia. The celebrations will cross time (and space) zones travelling over the equator to New Zealand and Australia where fans will have a choice of 106 cinemas across both countries to view the episode in 3D on the big screen on the 24th November, following the simulcast TV broadcast earlier in the morning.

To find participating cinemas chains, head over to DoctorWho.tv. More cinemas will be added to the map as they’re confirmed, so keep checking back.

Paul McGann: "I'm not in the 50th"

  Speaking at the London Film and Comic Con last week, the actor  attempted to put all rumours to bed with a succinct “we’re not in it.”

 Nor are we in the Christmas special let me tell you. I don’t think so anyway! Not unless they are going to shoot it next week.