A calendar featuring 12 recent portraits of Tom Baker.
Most of these portraits are new and previously unseen, although some are from shoots where similar photos have been used in Tom’s website or on his Facebook page.
The calendar is suitable for any country as we have not marked any public holidays – the pages are blank and ready for you to mark your own important dates.
Ware worked on the very first Doctor Who episode and throughout the 1960s and ’70s.
Doctor Who stuntman Derek Ware has died, aged 77.
Ware worked on the show from the very first episode and on several stories throughout the 1960s and ’70s.
As part of his work on Doctor Who, he formed stunt team HAVOC, providing the riders, fallers, drivers and horsemen who fought during Jon Pertwee’s first years as the Doctor (via TobyHadoke.com).
Ware stopped working for the programme in 1971, and went on to appear on TV shows including EastEnders, Z-Cars and Grange Hill in both stunt and acting roles.
His film credits included The Italian Job, on which he was responsible for its iconic Mini chase, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
News Source: Digital Spy
Taking the prize for the biggest surprise of last week has to be the announcement of the new Doctor Who spinoff Class.
Heading up the all-ages show set in the halls of Coal Hill School is award-winning writer Patrick Ness. But who is he – and what can we expect?
After all, Ness has written ‘adult’ novels, but he’s mainly known for his young adult books, particularly 2008’s The Knife of Never Letting Go – first book in the Chaos Walking trilogy – and 2011’s A Monster Calls.
And yet we couldn’t be happier to have him working on Class, and here’s why:
His villains are fascinating and terrifying.
Take Mayor Prentiss, the antagonist of Chaos Walking – he’s one of the most genuinely terrifying villains who ever twirled a moustache (not that the Mayor would ever do anything so gauche as moustache-twirling).
At no point is there ever any question that he’s anything other than a genocidal control freak, but he’s so slick you find yourself wanting to both trust him and run away screaming.
Class needs more than the usual parade of Cybermen and Daleks, and Ness is the man for the job. (And he’s also pretty great at writing young characters, too.)
He isn’t a stranger to Doctor Who.
Ness’s Fifth Doctor-starring Tip of the Tongue short was one of the 12 stories released in 2013 to celebrate Doctor Who 50th anniversary.
It placed him in good company among big names such as Neil Gaiman, Holly Black and Malorie Blackman, as well as giving us some solid evidence that he probably knows his way around the TARDIS.
He’ll tackle big, interesting and challenging topics.
The best young adult fiction is the kind that really gets to grips with the day-to-day issues that plague everyone, and Ness is definitely up among the best.
Chaos Walking deals with (among other things), modern-day information overload, albeit in the form of a virus on a distant alien world, and 2013’s More Than This confronts death and the poisonous power of guilt.
The openly gay writer has featured his share of LGBT characters in his books – and while sometimes their sexuality is central to the plot, at other times it’s just a fact that doesn’t even demand remarking upon. In fact, Ness has made a habit of writing characters of all types.
His diversity and thoughtfulness are qualities that will hopefully tip Class over the line from good to great.
Steven Moffat has his back.
The Doctor Who showrunner knows they’re onto a good thing too, and who are we to contradict him?
“No-one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness, and now we’re bringing his brilliant storytelling into Doctor Who,” said Moffat when the announcement was made.
“This is growing up in modern Britain – but with monsters!”
Class will start filming in early 2016 and air later in the year.
News Source: Digital Spy
Adventures in time, space and LEGO.
Fans will be able to get their hands on the LEGO console room from December 1.
It features an opening TARDIS, detachable interior console room, and four mini-figures – the Eleventh Doctor, the Twelfth Doctor, Clara Oswald and a Weeping Angel, plus 2 Daleks and assorted accessories, such as the sonic screwdriver.
The model – containing 623 LEGO pieces – was devised by fan-designer Andrew Clark. It was selected for production by members of LEGO Ideas – a crowdsourcing community where fans can submit their own ideas for new LEGO products, and vote for other members’ ideas.
Measuring over 5″ (14cm) high, 6″ (16cm) wide and 9″ (23cm) deep, the TARDIS model’s RRP is £49.99 ($75.77).
Doctor Who continues this Saturday at 8.25pm on BBC One.
News Source: Digital Spy
Nothing in Zee world can stop it now!
The incomplete 1967 adventure – missing two of its four episodes – is coming to DVD on October 26.
The two existing episodes have been specially remastered for the release, while the missing pair have been reconstructed using restored audio and surviving stills.
Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, ‘The Underwater Menace’ sees the TARDIS crew encounter the last survivors of Atlantis, and the mad Professor Zaroff (Joseph Furst).
The DVD will include over an hour of extras, including interviews, commentary tracks for episodes 2 and 3, and special featurettes ‘A Fishy Tale’ and ‘The Television Centre of the Universe – Part Two’.
The release means all classic Doctor Who episodes currently in the BBC archive are now available on DVD – allowing fans to at last complete their collection.
News Source: Digital Spy
The Doctor said Andre left him “begging for the brush of death’s merciful hand”.
Peter Andre was the unlikely talking point of Saturday’s Doctor Who when the Time Lord expressed his repulsion for the star’s ’90s hit ‘Mysterious Girl’.
“Two weeks of ‘Mysterious Girl’ by Peter Andre! I was begging for the brush of death’s merciful hand,” The Doctor (played by Peter Capaldi) bemoaned in the episode.
However, despite the less than glowing review, Andre was thrilled to get a shout-out on the programme, telling Digital Spy: “Just to be mentioned on Doctor Who is awesome, like what are you talking about!
“What a legend. I was so happy! I haven’t seen it but I was told about it,” the singer and current Strictly Come Dancing contestant added.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of ‘Mysterious Girl’ and Andre is releasing a brand new album to celebrate.
News Source: Digital Spy
John Hurt will reprise his role as the War Doctor in a new series of Doctor Who audio plays.
Big Finish – producers of audio drama based on the BBC sci-fi since 1999 – have announced a new 12-part series, with Hurt returning to the role he first played in Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary special.
The War Doctor is a ‘secret’ incarnation of the Time Lord, who fought against the Daleks in a devastating Time War.
The audio adventures of The War Doctor will be told over four box sets, each containing three linked hour-long episodes.
The first box set – Only The Monstrous – is written and directed by Nicholas Briggs, executive producer at Big Finish and also known to Doctor Who fans as the voice of the Daleks.
Only The Monstrous will be released in December 2015, and will be followed in February 2016 by the second volume, Infernal Devices. Volumes Three and Four are currently in pre-production.
“The story of the Doctor who refuses to call himself the Doctor in order to do the unthinkable upon the ultimate battlefield – all of space and time – was irresistible to me,” said Briggs. “Such a deeply disturbing and engaging character created by the formidable talents of writer Steven Moffat and actor John Hurt. It’s such a privilege to be working on this.”
The cast of the War Doctor series also includes Jacqueline Pearce – best known for playing villainess Servalan on cult classic Blake’s 7 – as Time Lord Cardinal Ollistra.
But wait, there’s more – Big Finish also have a prequel box set planned that will explore the early days of the Time War. Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor — The Time War will star Paul McGann and will be released in November 2017.
Doctor Who: The War Doctor Saga and The Eighth Doctor – The Time War are both available to pre-order from bigfinish.com.
Captain Jack is back! Torchwood returns with new series of Big Finish audio dramas
Alex Kingston to reprise River Song for new Doctor Who audio plays.
News Source: Digital Spy
“Sometimes you have to be heretical. Sometimes you actually have to embrace the heresy.”
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has opened up over the backlash surrounding the Doctor’s new sonic sunglasses, saying “sometimes you just have to be heretical”.
Many fans are angry over the disappearance of the Time Lord’s sonic screwdriver and its replacement with his new eyewear, with #bringbackthescrewdriver even trending on Twitter.
However, Moffat has defended his decision to introduce the sunglasses for Peter Capaldi’s character.
“Sometimes you have to be heretical. Sometimes you actually have to embrace the heresy. And I just thought, really, on a whim, why would The Doctor feel wedded to a screwdriver?,” he told the BBC.
“Maybe he fancies varying it for a while, maybe he’ll pop his sonic glasses on instead.
“It maybe resurrected the original joke which we’ve sort of slightly forgotten, that the screwdriver was just a screwdriver that made a noise. It’s gradually become this all-purpose everything that looks really cool. It’s fun to be naughty.
“I know some people are incredibly irate about it, and I’m sure the screwdriver will show up again someday. But just to show that we can – why not?”
News Source: Digital Spy
“The BBC represents the spirit of our country.”
Peter Capaldi has joined the ranks of TV personalities that have defended the BBC.
In a passionate interview with US talk show host Larry King, the current Doctor believes the organisation is “seriously under threat from the government”.
“The BBC is one of the great organisations of the world, the most special, special organisation,” Capaldi noted.
“I think the government doesn’t think that the BBC supports it. [The BBC] is not answerable to shareholders and it entertains ideas – all kinds of ideas about Britain and about history and about the world and about art. I think the government don’t want to pay for it.
“The BBC represents the spirit of the country. It is so important that people don’t let this magnificent thing vanish. It is that dangerous.”
Capaldi’s comments follow Doctor Who executive producer Steven Moffat’s defence of the organisation last month.
Moffat claimed that Doctor Who could not have been created by any other broadcaster and that the BBC is “so madly varied and so genuinely mad”.
The Thick of It’s Armando Iannucci also fought back against the organisation’s critics by arguing that creative talents such as Moffat should be consulted on the future of the corporation.
Mark Gatiss recently said that the BBC needs to fight back against being destroyed for those who want to make a profit.
News Source: Digital Spy
With dwindling viewing figures and a changing cast list, the programme could be about to undergo a massive shift.
Worried BBC chiefs are considering scrapping next year’s series of Doctor Who and screening feature-length specials instead.
The legendary sci-fi drama – starring Peter Capaldi as the Time Lord and Jenna Coleman as his companion Clara Oswald – is the Beeb’s biggest-selling programme overseas, earning an estimated £60million a year.
But the cult show has hit a crisis period. Viewing figures have plunged below four million.
Coleman is leaving and Capaldi may do the same to spend more time with his family. Now BBC executives are discussing a range of ways to revive their cash cow.
Last week they announced a spin-off series, Class, aimed at teenagers, to try to find a new army of Doctor Who fans.
Sources say they are also weighing up the drastic step of axing the 12-series run planned for 2016. Instead they would film a couple of Sherlock-style feature-length specials plus a Christmas episode.
A BBC source admitted: “Doctor Who’s decline is very worrying and needs to be addressed. At this stage all options are being considered.
“Everyone accepts that drastic action may be needed.”
Another plan under consideration is rebooting Doctor Who with a new cast in 2017. Game of Thrones and Lady Chatterley star Richard Madden tops the wish list – although BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore has not ruled out introducing a female Doctor.
A BBC spokesman said: “We are only three weeks into this year’s run. It is far too early to discuss next year’s commission.”
News Source: The Mirror