Minecraft is a truly wonderful thing – a video game that allows you to build entire worlds from blocks, an international phenomenon whose values are rooted in creativity rather than destruction. It’s fitting that – yet again – it should collide with Doctor Who.
Youtube user A&V Artwork, a Minecraft fan with a penchant for Doctor Who, has created a breathtaking remake of the series eight opening titles (which were themselves inspired by another fan, Billy Hanshaw.)
Victorian investigators team up for a special audio spin-off from Doctor Who.
Strax, the Sontaran butler to Victorian investigator Vastra and her wife Jenny, will be swapping the Paternoster Gang for a short spell with Jago and Litefoot in a new audio special from Big Finish Productions: Jago & Litefoot & Strax!
In this special double-disc release, the Sontaran suffers a disorienting attack, mistakes the two Victorian investigators for Jenny and Vastra and moves into Litefoot’s home. Together, they are on the trail of a creature that is stealing brains, which may or may not be linked to a haunted house in London.
The characters of Jago and Litefoot, played by Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter, were created by Robert Holmes and first appeared opposite Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor in The Talons of Weng-Chiang in 1977.
“It’s a testament to the great Robert Holmes and these two wonderful actors that Jago and Litefoot remain so eternally popular,” says producer David Richardson, “and it’s such a joy to have them set foot in the world of current TV Doctor Who as they join forces with Strax for a special investigation.
“Justin Richards’ script is superb, packed with excitement and wit, and it’s so fun to see the mis-matched duo of Jago and Litefoot become a mis-matched trio!”
Dan Starkey, who first played Strax on TV opposite Matt Smith in A Good Man Goes to War, says: ‘The Talons of Weng-Chiang was one of my favourite Doctor Whostories growing up, first in its form as a Target novelisation and then in the prized VHS I got for Christmas 1988. Spool forward nearly 30 years, and I’ve been lucky enough to encounter Jago and Litefoot in their audio incarnation already, with my turn as Mr. Tibbs in Series Nine.
‘Now it’s a joy to bring Strax face to face with the characters who in many ways defined how Doctor Who “does” Victorian London. I hope the sonic thaumaturgy of those clever coves at Big Finish will excite the ears and invigorate the imagination, as Henry Gordon Jago might have put it!’
Jago & Litefoot: Series 10 will be available from October. The previous nine series of adventures are also available to buy, with Series 1 now permanently reduced to just £20 on CD and download.
Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton alongside David Bradley as William Hartnell in ‘An Adventure In Space And Time’
Actor, comedian and award winning writer Reece Shearsmith joins Peter Capaldi (the Doctor) and Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) as he takes-up a guest role in a special episode of Doctor Who, returning to BBC One this September.Reece has previously played Patrick Troughton in a docu-drama about the conception and making of Doctor Who, An Adventure In Space And Time, and returns to Cardiff for a part in an adventure written by Mark Gatiss, directed by Justin Molotnikov and produced by Nikki Wilson.
Most famously known for his work as part of The League Of Gentlemen, along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson, Reece comments on his casting for the hit show:
“I am absolutely thrilled to be filming Doctor Who, as Mark Gatiss has written a fantastic role for me in a very scary episode. It has been so exciting to be part of a very singular episode – which, I can say with authority will be unlike any previous episode of Doctor Who. It’s a joy to play a part in the show – certainly a badge of honour.”
Mark Gatiss, writer of the episode, adds: “I’m delighted to be writing again for Peter and Jenna’s brilliant TARDIS team and very excited about this particular story. It’s been brewing in the dark recesses of my mind for a while now! I’m also chuffed to bits to finally welcome my old friend Reece Shearsmith onto the show. He’s been badgering me for ten years!”
Reece will be joined by Elaine Tan (Eastenders, Entourage), Neet Mohan (All In Good Time, Desert Dancer), Bethany Black (Cucumber, Banana) and Paul Courtenay Hyu (Dalziel And Pascoe, Coronation Street).
Other guest cast for the new series, launching on Saturday 19 September, include Michelle Gomez, Maisie Williams, Rufus Hound, Ingrid Oliver and Rebecca Front.
Doctor Who has had a decade of success and is one BBC One’s most highly regarded shows. The much-loved brand is already a phenomenon delivering on a global scale, with the last series’ (series 8) consolidated average at 7.4 million.
Doctor Who series 9 is shot in Cardiff at BBC Wales Roath Lock studios and is a BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC One.
It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Autumn leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows, and carved pumpkins leer from stoops and front porches.
The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken in the town, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient chestnut tree and the mysterious book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard in the dead of night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? And why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own?
As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate…
Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman in the hit sci-fi series from BBC Television.
News Source: BBC Books
ON SALE FROM 27th AUGUST 2015 In Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle and Audio download / CD
DOCTOR WHO CASTS ACTRESS AND STAND-UP STAR BETHANY BLACK FOR SERIES 9
The stand-up turned actress has landed a role in series 9 of the BBC hit
Bethany Black is set to appear in Doctor Who, when the BBC 1 sci-fi drama starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna-Louise Coleman returns for the 9th series in September.
The stand up comedian turned actress, who has already appeared in Channel 4’s Tofu, Cucumber and Banana confirmed the new on Facebook that she’d landed a role in the iconic Russell T. Davies show.
Later she spoke about the honour she felt in joining the cult show, claiming it was the role “of a lifetime”.
Black wrote: “It is genuinely the greatest job I could ever have imagined getting. Everything about it is magical.
“I’m enjoying every day of filming and cherishing it, because you never know if you’ll ever get to do anything like this again. I only hope that I do the role and the show justice, and that you all enjoy it. For me it’s the gig of a lifetime.”
A life long Doctor Who viewer, she admitted the show used to scare her as a child: “Growing up as a queer kid in rural Lancashire in the early 80’s That and my Commodore 64 were my only escape. I watched everything, but especially Doctor Who.
“My earliest TV memory was Peter Davison in Doctor Who in Four to Doomsday, I remember running into the lounge, running away from the music, running back in and hiding behind the couch, leaving when it got too much. I’ve been a Doctor Who fan ever since.”
It hasn’t been revealed exactly what character Black will be taking on. The comedian’s breakthrough to acting came in another T Davies drama, Tofu, Cucumber and Banana.
News Source: The Mirror
DOCTOR WHO CAST ‘BANNED’ FROM EATING BISCUITS AS PRODUCERS FEAR FOR THEIR DIETS
According to reports, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are no longer allowed to snack on the treats.
Doctor Who is facing his biggest battle yet – against custard creams.
Lead star Peter Capaldi has reportedly been banned from eating the biscuits after taking a fancy to them during fiming.
Co-star Jenna Coleman – who plays his sidekick Clara Oswald – is allegedly the person responsible for getting the actor hooked.
Producers are believed to have got worried when the brunette asked catering to order heaps of the treats for the cast.
Bosses have since panicked about the stars’ diets and ordered the snacking to stop.
However sneaky Jenna isn’t prepared to go cold turkey just yet.
A source told The Daily Star: “They’ve been taken off the menu but Jenna keeps an emergency packet in her dressing room.”
The BBC have denied that biscuits are not allowed.
Jenna might not have to worry about her secret stash any longer as she’s rumoured to be getting killed off.
Peter Capaldi recently put sci-fi fans on tender hooks when he suggested his sidekick might be meeting her maker.
He told Doctor Who News: “The thing that is tricky about the Doctor and his relationship with companions. You know, Christopher Eccleston said in his first episode, ‘I can see… everything. All there has ever been and all there ever will be. And that drives me mad’.
“So in a way, the Doctor knows the fate of all of his companions. That makes it… difficult. But [with Clara] he is deliberately enjoying the relationship and this great toy box of time and space that they can explore together. But of course, as it’s Doctor Who, there is an ever deepening shadow pursuing them.”
Doctor Who returns to BBC One on Saturday, 19 September and this stunning new image gives us a sense of the action and adventure that series 9 will deliver.
It shows the world’s greatest heroes in explosive form, dashing from danger but – knowing those two – running headlong into more trouble!
Big Finish is delighted to announce the return of Holly Earl to the world of Doctor Who in this box set, which will be released in January 2016.
Holly first appeared as Lily in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, where she aided Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor in rescuing her brother from a dangerous alien world.
Now working as a nurse for Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) in his twilight years, Lily will find herself helping to overcome an alien incursion in The Chartwell Metamorphosis, the climactic story in the Doctor Who: The Churchill Years box-set.
Lily is one of the many characters from the New Series of Doctor Who which producer David Richardson was keen to use in the first wave of Big Finish’s new range.
‘If we’ve learned one thing from nearly 52 years of Doctor Who, it’s that meeting the Doctor transforms people’s lives. And Lily life has been changed by the events of that Christmas episode – and what follows, as she is called in by the Doctor to help a friend in need. Lily is one of those great companions-that-might-have-been, and here she gets the chance to rise to the fore and fight an alien menace!’
Holly is the final member of cast for the brand-new box set, released in 2016. Already announced is the return of Danny Horn as Kazran Sardick, along with Alistair Petrei as Julius Caesar, Emily Atack as Hetty Warner, Laura Rogers as Queen Tristahna and Nicholas Briggs as a rogue Dalek, trapped in ancient Britain.
But with the cast and storylines for these titles now revealed, could there any more New Series announcements in the pipeline?
‘There might be one more significant recurring character from 21st Century Doctor Who that is on the brink of announcement… Watch this space over the coming days!’
THE VERY FIRST INDEPENDENT DOCTOR WHO DRAMA TO BE RE-RELEASED ON DVD, DOWNLOAD AND STREAM FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Re-mastered and re-graded, with a full stereo sound mix by MARK AYRES, this is the first time WARTIME has been made available in digital media.
This classic 1988 drama featured Sergeant Benton from UNIT as he battles both a terrorist threat and ghosts from his past – including his father (played by MICHAEL “Davros” WISHER).
Also featuring the voice of NICHOLAS COURTNEY … and if you look hard you’ll see NICHOLAS “Voice of the Daleks” BRIGGS!
Also available will be an in-depth documentary special feature recounting the history of independent DOCTOR WHO spin-off dramas.
The DVD will also feature a photo gallery plus the first 500 copies will be printed with a reversible inlay – featuring both the new cover artwork by MARTIN BAINES and the original 1988 art by PHIL BEVAN.
A real treat for all Cult TV fans!
News Source: Reeltime Pictures
‘IT’S A GREAT PART’: GAME OF THRONES’ MAISIE WILLIAMS WILL PLAY ‘SIGNIFICANT ROLE’ IN DR WHO AS IT’S REVEALED THE CHARACTER HAS BEEN CREATED FOR HER.
The trailer of the ninth series of Dr Who gave fans a glimpse of what’s to come, as it was revealed that Maisie Williams will be playing a significant role in the long-running show.
The Game of Thrones actress, 18, was seen in a exchange with The Doctor in a clip played at Comic-Con, as fans immediately had theories over what character Maisie could be set to play.
But show runner Stephen Moffat revealed more information about the young actress’ character on Friday, as she gave away that Maisie will be playing a brand new name in the series.
‘It’s a significant role. We’re not just getting star value and doing nothing with it. She is a brand new character, not someone from The Doctor’s past, unless I’m lying,’ Stephen said speaking at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles.
Therefore fans who predicted that Maisie will playing a regenerated version of the Doctor’s daughter, Jenny, were wrong, as were those who believed the Game of Thrones actress would take on the role of his granddaughter, Susan.
But instead it seems that Maisie will take on a completely new role, as even the Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, isn’t certain of who she is in the preview clip of the ninth series.
In a scene that is left until the very end of the explosive trailer, the Doctor watches Maisie unmask herself in astonishment before asking, ‘You?’
‘What took you so long old man?’ replied Maisie’s character as she looked deeply into the Doctor’s eyes.
The role will no doubt come as a welcome surprise for fans of both Doctor Who and Game of Thrones, with the latter seeing the teen star as revenge-seeking tomboy Arya Stark.
It’s been announced that Doctor Who will return to TV screens with a ‘new hunger for adventure’ next time around.
The ninth series of the iconic sci-fi programme will see Peter Capaldi reprise the role of the Time Lord as he’s given fans of the show an idea as to what they can expect from the much-anticipated new season.
He shared: ‘Soaring through all of time and space, series nine sees the Doctor throw himself into life with a new hunger for adventure.’
