Doctor Who News, Articles, Cast and Crew Interviews

[Alan]

5 things the Doctor does in any worrying situation | @Doctor Who - BBC
26 Mar 2020

[BruTak]

Rose: The Sequel
Thursday, 26 March, 2020 - Reported by Marcus

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/03/rose-sequel.html

A sequel to Doctor Who: Rose, written by Russell T Davies, has now been released, celebrating 15 years since the transmission of the episode.

DOCTOR WHO: Revenge of the Nestene

That was ok, I suppose. I could see the punchline coming a mile away though.

[cosmichobo]

The "5 Things" video is quite good... great of Whitaker to do for the kids out there (and some adults, too) who need to know the universe will be ok... even though in my head as my kid was watching, the world wont be OK for those who lose their grandparents/parents to this virus...

The Strax new intro was quite funny, whereas RTD's Rose sequel had me moving on after 1 minute... Maybe I just have no attention span.

[Alan]

#DoctorWhoLockdown: Vincent and the Doctor
Sunday, 29 March, 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/03...320120008.html

The third in the global 'watchathon' events organised by Doctor Who Magazine's Emily Cook - now entitled The Doctor Who Lockdown - will be eleventh Doctor tale Vincent and the Doctor, taking place on the titular Vincent Van Gogh's birthday, 30th March.

As with previous events, the writer for the story, Richard Curtis will be commenting live on Twitter, but this time Emily and her fellow co-organiser for this viewing, the story's script editor Emma Freud, have also announced the Doctor himself, Matt Smith, will be joining Twitter to participate in the discussion, along with his trusty companion's real-life counterpart Karen Gillan, and the actor who brought Vincent to life in this episode, Tony Curran. Not only that, but the uncredited curator of the Musée d'Orsay, Bill Nighy, will also be joining in!

To join in, simply pop in your DVD or Bluray disc, or access a streaming service such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play or Netflix, and then hit play at 7:00pm BST/2:00pm EDT/5:00am AEDT/7:00am NZDT and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #TheUltimateGinger

Vincent and the Doctor | Global Simulcast: Trailer #2 | Trailer #1

There is a new YouTube channel for these event, Doctor Who Lockdown, which features videos relating to all the events so far, and more to come!

[Alan]

Doctor Who: LOCKDOWN | Vincent and the Doctor's Gallery
30th March 2020

[Alan]

Read a new Doctor Who short story ‘Press Play’

https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=new-doctor-who-short-story-press-play-pete-mctighe

In a new Doctor Who story by Kerblam! and Praxeus writer Pete McTighe, the Doctor gets a friendly message dating back from long, long ago…

---

PRESS PLAY

The Doctor was feeling lonely. Most of the time, she could suppress those feelings and distract herself by saving a planet, averting a war, or emergency-deep-freezing Krynoid hatchlings. But not today. Today was different.

Today, she sat on the steps of the TARDIS console room, munching her last custard cream, watching the glowing control crystal rise and fall.

Rise and fall.

Rise and fall.

While her space/time machine was in Artron II Recharge Mode, the Doctor couldn’t allow anyone else on board, especially humans - the artron pulses played havoc with their DNA. She guiltily remembered that time with David Bowie, when his left pupil permanently dilated.

The Doctor sighed, savouring her final mouthful of biscuit. Her brain was still working thirteen million to the dozen, in the background, backing up like the biggest and best hard drive in the universe, but it felt dulled and distant. If mardy was an emotion, she was feeling it.

Then the TARDIS beeped. A friendly, quirky little sound she hadn’t heard before. It was like it knew what she was thinking (which of course, it secretly did). Curious, the Doctor scrambled to her feet, and in response a jet of steam hissed out of the console. Projected onto the steam was a line of old Gallifreyan text:

You have one unread message.

“What message??” the Doctor blurted out loud. “Since when did you start taking messages?”

Since ages ago, the TARDIS replied in a petulant series of hums and whistles.

“Well aren’t you chatty! Where were you last September when I ran out of monologues?”

Just read the message, the TARDIS seemed to say.

The Doctor jabbed a button on the console, then turned as a hologram fizzed into life. She felt a surge of emotion as she stared into the face before her.

The girl was in her mid-teens, with a shock of jet-black hair, a striped top and eyes twinkling with mischief. The sight of her cracked the Doctor’s dark mood like an egg.

“Hello Grandfather,” said the hologram.

The Doctor’s voice caught in her throat. “Hello Susan” she finally replied. This was clearly a recording made when her granddaughter was still a teenager. When they were travelling together, so many lifetimes ago.

Susan’s image crackled as she continued talking: “I’ve built a message bank and retrieval system into the TARDIS data core, for a rainy day. In case you need cheering up. I know what you’re like when you get bored, or lonely.”

“What am I like?” snapped the Doctor defensively.

“Grumpy,” Susan replied.

The Doctor clutched her braces and frowned.

“I know nothing lasts forever,” Susan continued, “and that eventually we’ll have to say goodbye. But when that day comes, I want to leave you with some memories of our time together.”

The Doctor’s eyes misted over. There was a lump in her throat.

“Not just of me, but of future friends. Future times and places. I’ve activated the TARDIS record mode, telepathically linked to your data extract. So if you’re ever feeling bored, or lonely, or sad, all you have to do is access the data bank, and retrieve a favourite memory. It’ll keep on recording until you tell it to stop. All your adventures, all your stories won’t go to waste. They’ll always be here, waiting for you, like an archive. Alive for eternity.”

Stunned, the Doctor watched a stream of text appearing on the screen. Old adventures, logged in a long list that seemingly scrolled forever.

“Some of the early ones might have gaps, sorry about that. You know what the TARDIS is like with integrating new systems.”

The TARDIS grumbled disapprovingly.

“Anyway, I’d better go or I’ll be late for school. I hope this message gets to you someday. When you need it most.”

With a final smile, Susan’s image flickered, then evaporated. The Doctor stared at the empty space for a very long time. Seconds, at least. Then she snapped into action, scrolling through the endless list of titles, unsure where to begin. ‘Crisis on Poosh,’ ‘Genesis Of The Daleks,’ ‘Attack Of The Postmen’, ‘The Timelash’, ‘100,000 BC aka An Unearthly Child aka The One In The Stone Age.’

“Intelligent labelling system’s a bit random,” thought the Doctor, her finger hovering over the activation button. Finally, she made her selection – and pressed PLAY.

The TARDIS console pinged again. Result! The custard creams had been replenished! The Doctor eagerly plucked one from the dispenser and settled back to watch hazy images form on the screen.

As she chewed, she decided she’d FaceTime Graham, Ryan and Yaz later, but for now she was happily distracted with the gift that Susan had left behind; an endless supply of stories; a comfort blanket of fond memories and old friends.

And a reminder.

That she was never, ever alone.

---

You can find more short stories from Chris Chibnall and Russell T Davies on the DoctorWho.tv website.

[BruTak]

Awwwww, that was lovely.

[Alan]

#DoctorWhoLockdown: The Eleventh Hour
Thursday, 02 April, 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/04...420073008.html

The next in the Doctor Who Lockdown global 'watchathon' events will be in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Eleventh Doctor to our screens this coming Friday 3rd March!

To join in, simply pop in your DVD or Bluray disc of The Eleventh Hour, or access a streaming service such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play or Netflix, and then hit play at 7:00pm BST / 2:00pm EDT / 5:00am AEDT / 7:00am NZDT and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #FishCustard

Once again the episode's writer Steven Moffat will be contributing to the Twitter discussion during this episode; speaking on his Instagram account, he also hinted:

There was a scene I cut Ireally liked. I’m trying to find it. Cliffhanger.

Beforehand, at 5pm BST there will also be a Q&A session, with organiser Emily Cook tweeting:

At 5pm on Friday #DoctorWho costume designer Ray Holman will be revealing the secrets and processes behind the Eleventh Doctor's outfit! Join him on Twitter for a live Q&A and celebration of the Doctor's tweed! (Did you know? 3 April is also National Tweed Day!)

The Eleventh Hour: Global Simulcast Trailer

---

You can also support the creative industry behind our entertainment at this time through JustGiving as detailed below:


Emily Cook #FishCustard
@Emily_Rosina
'Vincent and the Doctor' demonstrates the power of TV. If you'd like to support the creative industry at a difficult time, please donate to the @FilmTVCharity's COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. #DoctorWhoLockdown has a JustGiving page to fundraise... http://justgiving.com/fundraising/doctorwholockdown …

Doctor Who: LOCKDOWN!
Emily Cook is fundraising for The Film and Television Charity. Donate on JustGiving
justgiving.com
8:23 PM - Mar 30, 2020

[Alan]

#RTWatch: Q&A with John Barrowman and Naoko Mori
Friday, 03 April, 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/04...420074008.html

Yesterday evening saw the Radio Times present its own "tweetalong", this time for the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness; this was followed by a live Q&A with its stars John Barrowman and Naoko Mori, and is available to watch via their YouTube channel:

Radio Times: Torchwood Q&A with John Barrowman and Naoko Mori

[Alan]

Time Space Visualiser: Missing Episodes
Saturday, 04 April, 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/04...520080008.html

After the success of their first online convention last weekened, Fantom Events will be presenting another this afternoon (Saturday 4th April), this time focusing on the missing episodes of Doctor Who.

Running from 2pm to 5pm, Time Space Visualiser will include a mixture of new interviews archive material and some specially recorded features for the afternoon, with each hour following a theme:

• The first hour looks back at the making of The Savages, with a 2013 stage interview with Andrew Lodge (First Assistant) and Peter Thomas (Captain Edal) together with an interview recorded this week with Kay Patrick (Flower).
• The second hour looks at family connections with a specially recorded interview with David Troughton, and an archive interview with Carole Ann Ford and Jessica Carney looking at the parallels of being and playing the Doctor’s Granddaughter.
• The final hour sees Andy Futter talking to Peter Purves in a brand new interview shot for this event, followed by an archive stage panel with William Russell and Anneke Wills from 2013.

You can watch the event live from the Fantoms Events YouTube channel, where you can also find the complete event from last weekend, plus individual interviews including its own "missing" recording with Nicola Bryant!

Time Space Visualiser will be followed in the evening by what's becoming a regular pasttime for Doctor Who fans, a planned worldwide simulcast viewing of a story to tweet along to; tonight's will be the most recently recovered complete story, The Enemy of the World, which will also includes tweets from Philip Morris, the discoverer of the long-lost Patrick Troughton adventure in Nigeria.

To join in, simply pop in your DVD of The Enemy of the World, or access a streaming service such as iTunes or Britbox, and then hit play at 6:00pm BST / 1:00pm EDT / 3:00am AEST / 5:00am NZST and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #Salamander

To tie in with the 'watchathon', Fantom have also made the first episode of their alternative commentary for the story available for free to listen to this weekend via YouTube.

---

#DoctorWhoLockdown: In The News
Saturday, 04 April, 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/04...420113008.html

The recent global DoctorWhoLockdown initiative organised by Doctor Who Magazine's Emily Cook was reported by BBC News in the lead-up to last night's The Eleventh Hour - you can watch the report via the DoctorWhoLockdown YouTube channel.

This is the second time the initiative has been reported on, with entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba reporting on the simulcast viewing of Rose back on its anniversary on the 26th March (online version).

BBC News | Friday 3 April 2020 (YouTube)
Doctor Who's online viewing convention 26 Mar 2020 (BBC iPlayer)

The next planned DoctorWhoLockdown is for The Doctor's Wife on Saturday 11th April from 8:00pm BST.

[Alan]

Honor Blackman 1925 -2020
Monday, 06 April, 2020 - Reported by Marcus

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/04...1925-2020.html

The actress Honor Blackman, best-known for playing Bond girl Pussy Galore and Cathy Gale in The Avengers, has died at the age of 94.

Honor Blackman enjoyed a career spanning eight decades, appearing in many films and television series. She appeared in Doctor Who in 1986 playing Professor Lasky in the Sixth Doctor story Terror of the Vervoids.

Honor Blackman was born in East London in 1925, the daughter of a Civil servant. For a 15th birthday present, she was given acting lessons, a gift that would lead to her becoming one of the hardest working and most successful actresses of her generation.

Her film debut came in 1947 with a non-speaking part in Fame Is the Spur Other films include in 1948 Quartet based on short stories by W. Somerset Maugham and in 1950 So Long at the Fair in which she appeared with Dirk Bogarde. In 1958 she appeared in the film based on the Titanic disaster A Night to Remember.

Her breakthrough came in 1962 when she was cast as leather-clad crimefighter Cathy Gale in the hit British show The Avengers, playing alongside Patrick Macnee as John Steed. Her action role, which required her to learn judo, endeared her to the nation and with her distinctive dress sense, she quickly became a British icon. One side effect, a top ten single, Kinky Boots, recorded in 1964 with Macnee.

It was her performance in The Avengers which led to Albert R. Broccoli casting Blackman as Pussy Galore, opposite Sean Connery in the James Bond franchise, despite the show not being well known in America. He said, "I knew the Brits would love her because they knew her as Mrs Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good, it was a perfect combination".

Appearances followed in series such as Never the Twain, Bridget Jones's Diary, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, Casualty and even a stint in Coronation Street where she played Rula Romanoff

In 1990, she was cast in a regular role in the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand, playing the glamorous mother of the lead female character. Blackman expressed her fondness for the role, saying it "made women who’d just retired and felt they’d been put on the backburner realise they had a lot of life left to live".

Blackman was a political activist and a member of the Liberal Democrats. She was a committed republican declining an honour from the Queen in 2002, as she felt it would be hypocritical to accept.

Honor Blackman's death was announced today by her family.

It’s with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Honor Blackman aged 94. She died peacefully of natural causes at her home in Lewes, Sussex, surrounded by her family. She was much loved and will be greatly missed by her two children Barnaby and Lottie, and grandchildren Daisy, Oscar, Olive and Toby.

As well as being a much-adored mother and grandmother, Honor was an actor of hugely prolific creative talent; with an extraordinary combination of beauty, brains and physical prowess, along with her unique voice and a dedicated work ethic, she achieved an unparalleled iconic status in the world of film and entertainment and with absolute commitment to her craft and total professionalism in all her endeavours she contributed to some of the great films and theatre productions of our times

[EricG]

Honor Blackman enjoyed a career spanning eight decades, appearing in many films and television series. She appeared in Doctor Who in 1986 playing Professor Lasky in the Sixth Doctor story Terror of the Vervoids.

Season 23 was The Trial of a Time Lord organized as 4 stories in 14 episodes. Blackman was in the third one, Terror of the Vervoids.

If you search Imdb, Terror of the Vervoids is a 2019 edit with CG effects. Blackman is not listed in that, which may be an error. Confusing.

[Alan]

#DoctorWhoLockdown: The Doctor's Wife
Saturday, 11 April, 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/04...420080008.html

The next shared Doctor Who viewing organised by Doctor Who Magazine's Emily Cook takes place this evening (UK):

To join in, simply pop in your DVD or Bluray disc of The Doctor's Wife, or access a streaming service such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play or Netflix, and then hit play at 8:00pm BST / 1:00pm EDT / 4:00am AEST / 5:00am NZST and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #BiggerOnTheInside

As with previous discussions, author Neil Gaiman will be giving insights on his episode, this time joined by director Richard Clark and the voice of House, Michael Sheen.

Neil Gaiman also hinted on Twitter:

Also there is an amazing secret Thing we haven't announced yet.

The Doctor's Wife: Global Simulcast Trailer

Don't forget that there is another shared viewing of Silver Nemesis with Sophie Aldred at 6:00pm BST as part of online Time Space Visualiser convention taking place this afternoon on YouTube.

[tomstone]

Who wants to bet we will get a Corona Episode once the Doctor comes back? Then again, I wonder if they are going to try do a funny twist on it since its obviously going to be long after the Pandemic.

[Alan]

Pip Baker - Died 2020
Tuesday, 14 April, 2020 - Reported by Marcus

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/04...died-2020.html

The classic series writer Pip Baker has died.

Pip Baker, along with his wife and writing partner Jane, was one of the best-known writers from the mid 80's era of Doctor Who, writing eleven episodes for the series. Together they created the Rani, a female Time Lord scientist who was brought to life so vividly by the late Kate O'Mara, as well a creating the companion Mel.

Pip and Jane Baker began writing together in the 1960s working on the films The Painted Smile, The Break, The Night of the Big Heat and Captain Nemo and the Underwater City. On Television, they worked on the children's thriller Circus as well as episodes of Z-Cars and Space 1999.

In 1985 they were commissioned by producer John Nathan Turner to write for the first full series of the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, producing the story The Mark of the Rani. The story was well received and the couple returned the following year to pen Terror of the Vervoids The third segment of the Trial of a Time Lord Season, envisaged as a whodunnit in space.

Later that year the couple were called in following the departure of the then Script editor Eric Saward, who left following a disagreement with Nathan Turner. Saward had withdrawn his script for the final episode of the season leaving the Bakers to come up with an alternative ending, without access to anything already written, and without creating anything which needed a new set to be built. They had just three days to come up with a script capable of concluding a season they had very little part in conceiving.

In 1988 Pip Baker told Doctor Who Magazine about some of the problems they encountered.

We went over to Eric’s empty office and talked it through – whether we could do it justice – not just because of the time period, as we had experience of that kind of speed on American series – but because we were being asked to wrap up thirteen episodes. If people have watched it that long, there’s an expectation that has to be satisfied – this has got to be it. We had three days in the end – two to write, and one to type up from out longhand, which we always write in, and collate everything.

After the transmission of the season, Phi and Jane Baker found themselves defending their scripts on the BBC's feedback programme Open Air, facing criticism from some fans including future showrunner Chris Chibnall.

The Bakers returned to Doctor Who at the start of the next season, introducing the seventh Doctor in Time and the Rani, a script which brought back their most enduring creation The Rani.

In the early 1990's they created the children's programme Watt on Earth which ran for 24 episodes on BBC One.

Jane Baker died in 2014. Pip Baker died this morning after being ill for some time following a fall.