Doctor Who News, Articles, Cast and Crew Interviews

[rushy]

Here's what Doctor Who's 50th anniversary would have looked like with Christopher Eccleston...
http://io9.gizmodo.com/heres-what-do...ook-1756655392

[Alan]

Doctor Who spin-off Class to start filming in April with Peter Capaldi set to 'pop up' in new show

Casting announcements are also expected soon, but it remains unclear whether the programme will be shown weekly or 'drop' as an entire series on BBC3

By Ben Dowell
Monday 29 February 2016 at 3:50PM

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...up-in-new-show

New Doctor Who spin-off show Class will start filming in April, RadioTimes.com can reveal.

And while the cast has still not been confirmed it is understood that Peter Capaldi’s Doctor is in line for an appearance in the spin-off drama.

According to top level sources, the finishing touches are being put to the cast list for the series which is set in Coal Hill, the iconic Doctor Who school that we’ve seen various times throughout the show’s history and at which, more recently, Clara Oswald taught.

The cameras will start rolling in just over a month – and certainly before Doctor Who series ten starts filming in May, according to the sources.

“It wil have a close connection with Doctor Who so don’t be surprised if Peter pops up,” said one source close to the production.

Eight episodes, each lasting 45 minutes, have been commissioned but so far the BBC is undecided about how to show them.

They have been commissioned for BBC3 so will air online first. But the BBC is still to decide whether they will be posted on a week-by-week basis or whether the whole series will be 'dropped' at once to allow fans to binge watch the entire first run. Like all original BBC3 content, Class will eventually find a home on a linear channel, almost certain to be BBC1.

The BBC has so far teased fans with details of the series which it expects to air towards the end of 2016.

It has said that “incredible dangers are breaking through the walls of time and space, and with darkness coming, London is unprotected” and promises “all the action, heart and adrenalin of the best YA fiction."

The drama is set in Shoreditch, hipster capital of the world and is written by Patrick Ness - an author of nine books, including six bestselling YA novels.

He has written the screenplay for his own novel, A Monster Calls, which has been filmed for release in 2016 and stars Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones. Described by John Green as "an insanely beautiful writer’" his works have an appeal with the Young Adult fiction audience.

Ness said: "I can't wait for people to meet the heroes of Class, to meet the all-new villains and aliens, to remember that the horrors of the darkest corners of existence are just about on par with having to pass your A-Levels."

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat will acting as executive producer on the show, which he describes as "growing up in modern Britain – but with monsters!”

[Alan]

Could ex-EastEnder Rakhee Thakrar join Doctor Who as the new companion?

With the search still on for a companion for Peter Capaldi's Time Lord, one name in the frame will be familiar to fans of the BBC1 soap

By Ben Dowell and David Brown
Monday 29 February 2016 at 5:47PM

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...-new-companion

The hunt is still on for a new companion to join Peter Capaldi in the Tardis for the next series of Doctor Who – and one name who could be in the frame for the part is Rakhee Thakrar, known to EastEnders fans as Shabnam Masood.

It is understood that Thakrar, who left EastEnders in February, is on a list of actresses in the frame to replace Jenna Coleman in the coveted role.

According to a source, auditions are poised to begin for the part with Thakrar – who won plaudits from the soap’s producers and fans – in line for an audience with the producers.

Neither the BBC nor Thakrar's agents would comment on the speculation, but if – and it’s a big if – she gets the gig, she would be the first non-white main companion since Freema Agyeman’s medic Martha Jones left David Tennant’s side back in 2008. But time will tell. As it so often does with Doctor Who…

32-year-old Thakrar earned herself a National Television Award nomination for Best Serial Performance earlier this year, but lost out to EastEnders co-star Danny Dyer. The actress made the shortlist following a traumatic 12 months for Shabnam that saw her deliver a stillborn baby in emotional scenes that won praise from both critics and viewers.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com about the impact of the storyline, the actress said: "It was handled so sensitively. It wasn’t sensationalised and the script was really simple and true. It was one of those rare times when you see a day play out as it would in real life.

"And I had a lot of feedback from parents saying that what they saw Shabnam and Kush experience was exactly how they themselves felt."

As for the future of Doctor Who, RadioTimes.com revealed last month that Steven Moffat will be overseeing at least 12 new episodes for series ten in spring 2017 and a Christmas special which will air this year. It is believed he is planning to bow out with a special episode for Christmas 2017 after which he will be replaced as showrunner by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall.

When asked about casting for his new companion at the Radio Times Covers Party in January, Capaldi remained tight-lipped.

"We’ve just had some brief talks about it, we haven’t actually chosen someone yet — that I know of,” he said. “I would expect that I would meet them before we finalised all that... we’re looking for someone different."

Doctor Who series ten will begin filming in May

[BruTak]

No opinion on her one way or the other.

I don't watch Eastenders (never have), and a quick look at her IMDB entry shows I haven't watched anything else she's been in.

[Alan]

The Diary of River Song: Series 2 – Coming January 2017!
29 February 2016

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/the-...g-january-2017

Alex Kingston will return as River Song in the new year for four new adventures with two different Doctors!

Time travelling archaeologist and adventurer River Song will return on audio in 2017 – and this time she will be stepping into the past life of the Doctor, encountering two of his incarnations at once! Alex Kingston returns in The Diary of River Song: Series 2 alongside Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy!

From the space exploration vessel Saturnius – which is heading to a destination that never gets any closer – to a doomed planet Earth and beyond, River’s journey will bring her closer to a new foe... and an encounter with both the Sixth and Seventh Doctors.

'We’re thrilled to have both Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy appearing alongside Alex in this box set,' says producer David Richardson. 'I can promise that River and the Doctor might not necessarily be working to the same agenda. In fact, the two Doctors might not be working to the same agenda either...'

The four hour-long adventures are The Unknown by Guy Adams, Five Twenty Nine by John Dorney, World Enough and Time by James Goss and Eye of the Storm by Matt Fitton. The impressive guest cast includes Anna Maxwell Martin (Midwinter of the Spirit, And Then There Were None, The Bletchley Circle), Jessie Buckley (War and Peace), Ann Bell (Tenko, Wallander), Robert Pugh (Game of Thrones, Mr Selfridge, Doctor Foster), Dan Starkey (Doctor Who, Wizards vs Aliens) and Barnaby Edwards (Doctor Who).

In addition, 2017 will see the release of a Doctor Who: The Churchill Years Volume 2, in which Ian McNeice returns in the role of Winston Churchill – once again relating more terrifying adventures that featured his old friend the Doctor.

Also out in 2017 is Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 2, in which legacy Doctors battle foes from the post-2005 series. Expect a return for some of the Doctor’s darkest and most terrifying enemies...

The series are produced by David Richardson, script edited by Matt Fitton, directed by Ken Bentley and Barnaby Edwards and the executive producers are Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs.

The Diary of River Song: Series 2, Doctor Who: The Churchill Years Volume 2 and Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 2 can all be pre-ordered from the Big Finish website for just £20 each on both CD or download – with a special money-saving bundle of all three releases also available

Alex Kingston also returns as River Song on Thursday March 3rd in Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 2 alongside Paul McGann, Nicola Walker and Hattie Morahan. Pre-order your copy now and enjoy free UK delivery. And remember, when you choose to buy this release on CD directly from Big Finish, you will also unlock instant access to a digital copy for download.

Both The Diary of River Song: Series 1 and Doctor Who: The Churchill Years Volume 1 are still available to order at the introductory price of £20 on both CD and to download until Thursday March 31st. Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 1 will be released in July 2016.

[Alan]

Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 2 Trailer

[Alan]

Doctor Who Magazine 497
Thursday, 03 March, 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2016/03...016110008.html

The latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine is out today, and celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the TV Movie, featuring new interviews with Daphne Ashbrook, Eric Roberts, Yee Jee Tso, Gordon Tipple and the Eighth Doctor himself, Paul McGann!

The 56-year-old actor can’t quite believe how quickly 20 years have flown by:

It seems like yesterday. If you’d have said ‘ten years’, I’d have said, ‘Yeah, that’s about right.’ But it’s actually 20! I remember every bit of it. It’s an anniversary, isn’t it? We love anniversaries in magazines, and we love anniversaries on the telly.

The actor also acknowledges how, in hindsight, the pilot for a series which never materialised did play its part in Doctor Who’s legacy:

Those of us who were involved in it, when on the occasions that we do get to meet and talk about it in front of an audience, even four or five years ago... Phil Segal was there, and Yee Jee was there, and Daphne was there, Eric Roberts was there… we all met and there was a proper reunion and we talked about it, and I think the feeling then between us, and the audience agreed, was that yes, flawed it might have been, and a long shot it certainly was, and in the end it failed its chief function which was to go to a series, but... all things considered it was a good idea and it played its part in restoring the momentum enough. It kept Doctor Who going. Ten years later, it came back. And Russell T Davies [showrunner 2005-10] gave the nod, in subtle ways, to it.

Other featues inside this special TV Movie-themed issue include:

• The TV Movie's lasting legacy: DWM explores how the 1996 venture influenced the revival of the series which would follow in 2005.
• Daphne Ashbrook interview: Grace Holloway actress Daphne Ashbrook reminisces about kissing the Doctor, and how the TV Movie made her fall in love with Doctor Who.
• Yee Jee Tso interview: Yee Jee Tso who played Chang Lee looks back on the time when he collaborated with the Master.
• Jo Wright interview: Executive producer Jo Wright reveals how getting the TV Movie off the ground proved to be an almost impossible challenge.
• Eric Roberts interview: Hollywood star Eric Roberts talks about giving the Master a whole new lease of life in 1996.
• Gordon Tipple interview: Gordon Tipple delves into his ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ appearance as the ‘old’ Master in the TV Movie.

Also:

Ask Steven Moffat: Doctor Who’s showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers' questions.
We're going on a Witch Hunt: ...in part one of our brand-new comic strip adventure, Witch Hunt, written by Jacqueline Rayner and illustrated by Martin Geraghty.
The Test of a modern audience: Jacqueline Rayner revisits the TV Movie with her twin boys and gives their verdicts in her column, Relative Dimensions.
Time Team: What will the Time Team make of Winston Churchill’s new allies in Victory of the Daleks?
The Power of Kroll: The Doctor and Romana face a huge problem when they land on the third moon of Delta Magna, in this issue’s Fact of Fiction.
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: DWM puts one of new showrunner Chris Chibnall’s previous episodes under the spotlight.
Coming Soon: DWM previews all the latest Doctor Who CD and book releases.

Plus all the latest official news, reviews, competitions and The DWM Crossword.

[Alan]

Peter Capaldi discusses future
Wednesday, 09 March, 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2016/03...316093008.html

Peter Capaldi appeared on a number of programmes yesterday to promote the release of Doctor Who: The Complete Ninth Series on DVD, Blu-ray, and through the BBC Store, during which he also discussed his present and potential future involvement with the show.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's The Janice Forsyth Show, he discussed his thoughts on continuing to play the Doctor when the show's next lead writer Chris Chibnall takes over with presenter Edi Stark:

I haven't made my mind up. I've been asked to stay on, which is lovely, and I think Chris Chibnall's fantastic and a wonderful choice. To be perfectly honest, it's so far away in the future, and I don't - you know, Doctor Who is a very difficult thing to say goodbye to, and I don't want to make that decision right now. I don't know yet - they've asked me to stay on, so when I am forced to make that decision I will make it.

Speaking on BBC Radio Two's Steve Wright in the Afternoon, he said:

I love being Doctor Who, so I will be around as it's right to be around.

Meanwhile, the next series, which definitely continues his adventures with the Doctor, will begin filming soon; when asked on ITV's Lorraine show, he responded:

It's going to start very soon. For some reason I'm not allowed to tell you, because Doctor Who is veiled in secrecy always!

The new series will also feature the new companion, with Peter telling Steve Wright:

It's sad when Jenna was on the show before I arrived so she was my welcome to the show and she introduced me to it, and told me where to go and where to get my corned beef and where to sit and all that stuff, and she was absolutely lovely so I'll miss her very much. We're going to have a new companion, because we're just obviously about to start filming the new season - it's going to be someone very different who will be announced shortly. I really can't say who that is, but the whole dynamic is going to be very different - but that's good too, you know, it's a different character.

---

Radio Times has reported that, in addition to his usual duties in Doctor Who, Capaldi may also make a guest appearance in spin-off series Class, which is due to commence filming in April.

[Alan]

Peter Capaldi Talks Series 9 and 10 - Doctor Who: The Fan Show

[Alan]

Peter Capaldi: Draw My Life - Doctor Who: The Fan Show

[Alan]

New Doctor Who companion has been cast - and will be "along any minute" reveals Peter Capaldi
Capaldi says he now knows who his next TARDIS companion will be and that they represent an "exciting" and "very different sort of take on it"
By Paul Jones
Saturday 19 March 2016 at 11:03AM

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...-peter-capaldi

The new Doctor Who companion has been cast – and according to Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman's replacement could be announced very soon...

"There will be a new companion, along any minute," said Capaldi, "which I'm very excited about, 'cause obviously I know who that is and we've been doing a bit of work together already and it's very exciting. Because it's a very different sort of take on it."

Capaldi added that, unlike Coleman's Clara Oswald, the new arrival will know "very little about the Doctor".

"Clara had prior knowledge of the Doctor," Capaldi told Brazilian website Omelete. "It was conceived as a human connected to your timeline, and so had access to the cosmic nature of the Doctor. She understood a little about how he was. And as she was already with [Eleventh Doctor] Matt [Smith], she knew the Daleks and the TARDIS. Now we have someone who knows very little about the Doctor."

How much or how little fans will already know about the new companion when they are finally announced remains to be seen...

[Alan]

Peter Capaldi accepts Guinness World Record for Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Doctor Who Characters
The Time Lord was joined by 492 Whovian cosplayers at a convention in Mexico City
By Paul Kirkley
Monday 21 March 2016 at 11:44AM

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...who-characters

Peter Capaldi was on hand to witness a world record-breaking gathering of Doctor Who's friends and foes.

The Twelfth Doctor accepted the Guinness World Record for Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Doctor Who Characters at the La Mole Comic Con in Mexico City on Saturday (20th March).

The day saw a total of 492 Doctor Who doppelgängers gathering in the same time and space, with cosplayers dressed as everything from the TARDIS to the Time Lord himself, as well as a menagerie of monsters including Daleks, Oods and Weeping Angels.

The Sibylline Sisterhood, from 2008's The Fires of Pompeii, were also there to keep their eye on the record attempt:

Capaldi and executive producer Brian Minchin were in Mexico to celebrate the premiere of Doctor Who season nine on NBC’s Syfy channel, and visited the convention to lend their support to the epic record attempt.

Doctor Who is no stranger to Guinness World Records. It is officially recognised as the planet's Longest-Running Science Fiction TV Series, while a new book, Guinness World Records 2016 Blockbusters!, boasts a whole section dedicated to the show and its fans.

Featured record-breakers include Largest Collection of Doctor Who Memorabilia (2,021 items belonging to Ian O’Brien from Manchester), Most Expensive Dalek (£36,000 paid for an original 1970s prop) and Most Popular Doctor Who Story (Fifth Doctor adventure The Caves of Androzani, which has an IMDB rating of 9.3 out of 10).

The coveted prize for Largest Dalek Sculpture, meanwhile, was awarded to British firm Snugburys Ice Cream, who spent 700 hours constructing a 35-ft, six-tonne replica of the Doctor’s mortal enemy out of straw and steel. (Hands up who would have preferred them to make it out of ice cream?)

A hearty well done to all. Although we can’t be the only ones to have noticed that, if Peter Capaldi had brought along a certain red-lined jacket, the weekend’s total could have been boosted to 493...

[Alan]

Amazon Prime confirmed to exclusively stream Doctor Who in United States
Monday, 21 March, 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2016/03...316204508.html

Amazon and BBC Worldwide North America have announced that Doctor Who will be available to stream exclusively from Prime Video in the United States, kicking off with the first eight of the modern series from 27th March, with last year's Series 9 and The Husbands of River Song to follow in the autumn.

The show will be available to Prime members for no additional charge.


Back in February, BBC Worldwide announced an exclusive streaming deal with CraveTV in Canada.

[Alan]

A young Doctor Who fan with Asperger interviews Christopher Eccleston about autism drama The A-Word

In an exclusive and very personal video interview, Gerard Groves talks to Eccleston about the show's portrayal of a family with an autistic child - and tells us about the appeal of Doctor Who to those on the autistic spectrum

By Paul Jones
Tuesday 22 March 2016 at 5:52PM

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...ama-the-a-word

Gerard Groves is a talented young filmmaker. He describes himself as being on the autistic spectrum. And he is a huge Doctor Who fan, whose love of the show began with Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston.

So landing an exclusive interview with Eccleston about The A-Word, his new BBC1 drama about autism, and then editing a film about it must have ticked a lot of boxes for Gerard...

Gerard’s early obsession with Doctor Who will be recognisable to many fans, and it’s also what sparked his interest in filmmaking.

“I was watching Doctor Who back in 2005 when Christopher Eccleston started and it was his portrayal of the Doctor that really got me into it,” says Gerard, now 19. “It was halfway into series one when I started making these films and when my whole childhood started revolving around his portrayal of this one character on TV.

“Back in the day, I did all kinds of different films… I did a series of films as a kid called Cat Who. Basically, due to my lack of available friends who wanted to be in a film on the internet – this was back when it was ‘what the hell’s YouTube, this weird thing? We don’t want to be on the internet’ – I ended up roping my cats in to being the companions to my Doctor Who, so I filmed these cats and added the voices in later.”

“After spending a year obsessing about that one thing, especially as a 7/8 year old, I think it kind of gets burnt into your brain, and into you as a person, and it holds that very special place for you, almost like how a parent or a granddad or someone close to you would. It’s funny how TV can do that.”

Gerard is not alone. Doctor Who is now a global phenomenon and there are millions of fans of all types, shapes and sizes around the world. But Gerard says that in his experience the show holds a special appeal for those, like him, on the autistic spectrum.

“Doctor Who’s got a big audience – but especially an audience of people on the autistic spectrum,” he says. “I don’t know what it is about Doctor Who exactly but I was volunteering at the Doctor Who Festival a few months ago and what I noticed there was that there was a huge, huge autistic spectrum fanbase. And since Christopher Eccleston is not only a big name in [The A-Word] but also a big name in the Doctor Who world, I thought he’d be a really good person to talk to; it kind of ties it all together.”

Eccleston doesn’t do a huge number of interviews (in fact, Gerard’s was the only one he did for The A-Word aside from the official BBC Q&A) and he doesn’t necessarily have a reputation as being particularly forthcoming. So what was he like?

Let’s just say Doctor Who fans scared of having their illusions shattered needn’t worry…

“He was absolutely lovely. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of speaking to,” says Gerard.

“You often hear the phrase ‘don’t meet your heroes’ but it couldn’t have been further from the truth. I was scared going up to interview him as you see in the film… but he was so lovely and so warm. He was happy to talk about his role and he was happy to talk about my experiences [as someone on the autistic spectrum] and he reacted to it, you could tell he listened – in his eyes and in the way he spoke and in his reactions.

“He’s just a very genuinely nice man. I think he’s caring and I think his work means a lot to him; that when he hears how his work’s impacted someone it means a lot to him. He’s always thinking about his work but I think what that boils down to is thinking about people, and how people work. And I suppose when you’ve got someone whose job is people, and taking on those roles, you’re going to get someone who’s really nice and a people person.”

Watch Gerard’s exclusive interview with Christopher below and see for yourselves.

But as someone on the autistic spectrum, what did Gerard think of Eccleston’s new drama, penned by Peter Bowker, which follows a family learning to cope with an autistic child? Having seen the first two episodes, Gerard says that at times “it was like staring into a mirror”.

“Watching it was a really bizarre thing. I had goosebumps all up my arms. It was like staring into a mirror or watching a biopic of my life. Some of the moments in it that the family have were just so representative… I was thinking ‘I can relate to a lot of those moments from my childhood’ and ‘this is maybe what my mum was going through’, that kind of thing.

“It was really nice to see it all being represented in such a positive and real way. I think it’s very easy to fall into those pitfalls of doing something negative and dreary and showing someone that’s in distress, and a family being stressed out. But that almost becomes voyeuristic and a very negative way of doing something. I think it’s better to show the fun moments too, and that’s what I really loved about the show.

“All the characters could have their own spin-offs – that’s how you know a show’s really good, they’ve all got those dimensions to them. And each of them have their own funny moment. I was sat through this show with goosebumps, with some moments very close to the bone but then others where I was really laughing.”

The A-Word starts on Tuesday 22nd March at 9pm on BBC1

See more of Gerard Groves' work on the BBC RAW YouTube channel which showcases content made by a diverse range of young working-class filmmakers

[Alan]

How long does it take to watch every episode of Doctor Who?
Are your adventures in space and time taking up much time?
By Radio Times staff

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...-of-doctor-who

Are you a Doctor Who fan? We mean a *real* Doctor Who fan… a dyed-in-the-Tardis-seen-ever-episode-that’s-ever-been-made Doctor Who fan?

Yes? Well congratulations, it turns out you’ve essentially spent a full calendar month watching your favourite show from start to finish (and that’s if you only watch every episode once!)

Indeed, those of you who have watched all the episodes of Classic Who from Hartnell through to McGann, and then sat down to the nine series of new Who screened from 2005 to 2015 have enjoyed a whopping 28 days 7 hours and 50 minutes of Doctor Who, according to tiii.me. That’s like spending all of February awake with Doctor Who on the TV.

The 26 series (and specials) of classic Who are the biggest part of the viewathon, taking 21 days 22 hours and 30 minutes to get through. But even those of you who are only fans of the modern show since Christopher Eccleston brought it back under Russell T Davies have still spent 6 days, 9 hours and 20 minutes (or just under a week without sleep) keeping up with adventures in space and time.

The ‘good news’ is that the total time won’t be going up for a while with no series of the show slated for 2016, so plenty of time to slip a quick month of Doctor Who in to remind yourself just what you're missing.