August 2017 – Page 5

OUT NOW! Tenth Doctor Audiobook Box Set and Second Doctor classic

3 August 2017 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who

This month’s Doctor Who audiobooks from the BBC give us a box set of novelisations for the Tenth Doctor, and a classic story from the Second Doctor era.

Both releases are available now, check out the details and artwork below.

Tenth Doctor Novels

The titles included are:

Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole
The Last Dodo by Jacqueline Rayner
Wooden Heart by Martin Day
Forever Autumn by Mark Morris
Wetworld by Mark Michalowski
Sick Building by Paul Magrs
The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier
Peacemaker by James Swallow

Freema Agyeman (who played companion Martha Jones), Reggie Yates (Martha’s brother Leo), Adjoah Andoh (Martha’s mother Francine) and Will Thorp (Toby from 2006’s The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit) are the readers of these eight original novels featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha, as played on television by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman.

Duration: 18 hours (approx).

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Tenth Doctor Novels

Doctor Who and the Web of Fear

By Terrance Dicks

For 40 Years the Yeti had been quiet, a collector’s item in a museum. Then, without warning, it awoke and savagely murdered. At about the same time, patches of mist began to appear in Central London. People who lingered in the mist were found dead, their faces smothered in cobwebs. The cobweb seeped down, penetrating the Underground System. Slowly it spread…

When the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive, they find not just one Yeti but hordes, roaming the misty streets and cobwebbed tunnels, killing everyone in their path. London has been gripped tight in a Web of Fear…

This is an unabridged reading from David Troughton, who has starred in a numerous Doctor Who episodes over the years including 1972’s The Curse of Peladon and 2008’s Midnight. David is also the son of Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton.

Duration: 4 hours (approx).

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Doctor Who and the Web of Fear

Both titles are available now.

‘Dr. Men’ figurines coming in the Autumn!

2 August 2017 admin Comments 0 Comment

Fans who have been enjoying the fantastic Doctor Who Mr. Men mashup book series are in for a very special treat with the announcement of the Dr. Men figurine range!

Today it was announced that this autumn will see the release of the first four figurines in the range: Dr. First, Dr. Fourth, Dr. Eleventh and Dr. Twelfth.

The figurines mirror characters in the Dr. Men book series, published by Penguin Random House, and sees Doctor Who and The World of Hargreaves in a brand mashup bringing to life Doctor Who characters in the distinctive story-telling and illustrative style of Roger Hargreaves.

And just how cute do they look!

Dr. First Dr. Fourth Dr. Eleventh Dr. Twelfth

Fans will be able to purchase Dr. Twelfth in time for Peter Capaldi’s final appearance in the Doctor Who 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon A Time.

So far, four Dr. Men books have been published, the aforementioned titles above, whilst August will see the release of Dr. Second, Dr. Seventh, Dr. Eighth, and Dr. Ninth.

The Dr. Men figurines are scheduled for Autumn 2017 with an RRP of £9.99.

Potential Spoiler Alert! Will we see the First Doctor regenerate into the Second in the Christmas special?

2 August 2017 admin Comments 0 Comment

Will we see the First Doctor regenerate into the Second in the Doctor Who Christmas special – and who will play him? — Polly and The First Doctor!

David Bradley is no stranger to Doctor Who. In 2012 episode Dinosaurs on a Spaceship he played ruthless merchant Solomon and a year later, for the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations, he starred as William Hartnell, the First Doctor, in An Adventure in Space and Time, Mark Gatiss’s drama about the genesis of the show.

But now Bradley can legitimately “join the ranks of the legends”, having appeared as the actual Doctor in actual Doctor Who, popping up at the end of the series ten finale and set to appear alongside Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi in his last ever adventure this Christmas.

“It’s something that I never imagined when I did my Dinosaurs on a Spaceship about five years ago,” said Bradley, speaking at London Film & Comic Con at the end of July. “I thought ‘wow, that’s the Tardis, wow, that’s the police box, well this is my Doctor Who experience and that’s gonna be it but that will be fine’. And then eventually Space and Time came up, but after that I still couldn’t call myself the Doctor – I was William Hartnell and his version of the Doctor – but I was told that [after the Christmas special] I can now join the ranks of the legends.”

But could another actor also be joining those legends in the Christmas special? We know Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor will regenerate in the episode but based on what we’ve seen in the trailer, so could Bradley’s.

Although unconfirmed, everything points to the initial setting for the episode being the South Pole in 1986, the scene of Hartnell’s last outing, The Tenth Planet. The First Doctor’s speech at the start of the trailer is from that story, the blizzard conditions fit, it features companion Polly, and the title, Twice Upon a Time, sounds very much as if it could hint at a return to a moment the Doctor has lived through before. Add to that the fact that the trailer shows that telltale golden glow emanating from the First Doctor’s hands and it looks as if we’re in for the show’s first double regeneration.

Of course, that glimpse could be as much as we’ll ever see – perhaps we leave the First Doctor at that point. But if so, why blow it in the trailer?

And if we do see it through to its conclusion, that means a new (or perhaps old) face for the Doctor.

So who could it be?

Gatiss’s League of Gentlemen co-star Reece Shearsmith played Second Doctor Patrick Troughton in a brief appearance in Space and Time, so does that mean he’ll follow Bradley into Who canon? I don’t think so, and I hope not.

Bradley earned his place on Doctor Who partly because he looks a lot like Hartnell did at that age and partly thanks to an uncanny performance as the Doctor in An Adventure in Space and Time (during the Comic Con session he was asked to read the First Doctor’s farewell speech again and was so bang on that it sent shivers down my spine).

I’m not criticising Shearsmith’s performance (there wasn’t enough to criticise) but he looks nothing like Troughton. He lacks the hawklike features, and his relatively slight frame in an oversized jacket, along with that unconvincing mop-top wig, combined to make him look more like a clown than a Doctor.

Beyond that, though, transferring one actor from a drama about Doctor Who to the show itself is just about acceptable, but doing it with two feels like smashing the fourth wall to bits and I have a feeling that’s a sentiment departing showrunner Steven Moffat might share.

So if we do see the Second Doctor, I don’t think it will be Shearsmith.

On one hand, the prospect of having a new actor play Troughton’s Doctor is quite exciting, even if it would set a record for the shortest stint ever as the Time Lord (unless series eleven is going to take a very unusual turn and follow the adventures of both the Thirteenth and Second Doctors – ha! I wonder if that would placate the fans who are still struggling to accept a woman in the role).

Patrick Troughton’s actor son Michael would no doubt be happy to pay tribute to his dad in a one-off appearance, and he certainly has Patrick’s nose and mouth, even if he is fuller-faced. Could he step in?

More likely, it seems to me, we’ll glimpse the real Troughton’s face surrounded by regeneration energy as Bradley changes – much as we did when John Hurt’s War Doctor became Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth.

That’s easy enough to do with CGI these days – Eccleston wasn’t involved in The Day of the Doctor, they just used old footage. Hell, maybe the BBC will even up the budget for Moffat and Capaldi’s last episode (after all, it is Christmas) and give us a few moments of Troughton in action, post-regeneration.

When I asked David Bradley about all of this, he was understandably guarded. “As far as I know you don’t see anything like that,” was his initial reaction, but he quickly followed it up by suggesting there could be something to hide, even if it’s not Reece Shearsmith. “I mean, I don’t know what’s a spoiler,” he said. “Even if I knew I couldn’t really say. But I never saw Reece.”

Of course, two Doctors don’t need to be in the same room in order to shoot a regeneration scene – by all accounts, Peter Capaldi filmed his departure long before Jodie Whittaker shot her arrival (if she’s even done it yet) – so there’s no reason that Bradley would have seen Shearsmith anyway. But I want to believe he’s not involved so that’s what I’m going to read into Bradley’s words.

As for how much of the First Doctor’s regeneration we’ll get to see, well it would seem strange if an adventure that looks set to recreate scenes from Hartnell’s final episode (which currently remains lost) did not include the most significant moment in Doctor Who history – the introduction of the very idea, regeneration, that means the show is still going half a century later.

There would be a pleasing symmetry to it, too. Two Doctors, the first and the latest, two regenerations, two departures – for Capaldi and Bradley – and a neat signing off for Steven Moffat, creating yet another of the big moments that have become a mark of his time in charge of Doctor Who, in an episode that increasingly looks as if it is going to be chock full of them.

Captain Jack and Gwen are back for Torchwood Series 5 from Big Finish

2 August 2017 admin Comments 0 Comment

Big Finish

As always, Big Finish have some big stories for Whovians and in August you can find a Third Doctor boxset, stories for the Fourth and Seventh Doctors, and the return of Torchwood in a brand new series!

Check out all the details and artwork below.

THE THIRD DOCTOR ADVENTURES VOLUME 3

THE THIRD DOCTOR ADVENTURES VOLUME 3

The Conquest of Far by Nicholas Briggs
Earth Alliance, the future… Fleet commanders receive their orders from the President of Earth. Operation Far is ‘go’. As soon as the planets are suitably aligned, the attack will go ahead.

The Doctor and Jo arrive on the planet Far. The Doctor wants to attend the grand opening of one of the human race’s greatest achievements. A huge Hyper Gateway built to make travel around Earth’s great empire more convenient, bringing relief to many starving outer colonies.

But they land in the wrong time period, long after the Gateway has been in service, and the Daleks have conquered Far! It’s the middle of a war and a deadly game is underway. When everyone has an agenda, betrayal can happen at any time, from any side. The endgame is approaching and maybe this time no one will survive.

Storm of the Horofax by Andrew Smith
During a North Sea military exercise, the crew of the destroyer HMS Nemesis detect what they suspect is a submarine following them. But it’s actually a futuristic ship with an alien occupant, Arianda.

The Doctor and UNIT are called in, but things are already running out of control. The damaged craft is leaking particles and contaminating the Nemesis with time disruption. But that’s not the biggest problem. For Arianda is being followed by the warships of the Horofax, who have picked precisely this moment to invade. Soon the destruction of humanity’s future will begin.

The Third Doctor Adventures Volume 3 is a 5 CD set starring: Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Tim Treloar (as The Third Doctor), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks), and many more. This title goes on general release from August 31, 2017.

Order from Big Finish ««here»»

THE SKIN OF THE SLEEK

THE SKIN OF THE SLEEK

On the planet Funderell you can walk on the ocean. The surface holds you when you move, but if you stand still, you sink. Lights shift in the fathoms and great shapes move beneath your feet – schools of giant electric eels known as Sleeks.

There is no solid land and the only locals are the Wavewalkers, hunters who live in floating villages. But recently some strangers have arrived, pursuing their own distinct agenda. When the Doctor and Romana lose the TARDIS to the deep, they need help. Which makes finding a fellow Time Lord on the planet very useful. The fact that Time Lord is Sartia, an old friend of Romana’s, is even better!

But this is a planet of secrets. Be careful when you explore its depths. You may just drown. The adventure continues in Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Thief Who Stole Time

The Skin Of The Sleek is a 1 CD set starring: Tom Baker (The Fourth Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), and many more. This title goes on general release from Sept 30, 2017.

Order from Big Finish ««here»»

THE BLOOD FURNACE

THE BLOOD FURNACE

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Ace and Mel to a recently reopened shipyard in Merseyside. It’s 1991, the hardest of times – but now they’re shipbuilding once again, thanks to the yard’s new owners, the Dark Alloy Corporation. A miracle of job creation – but is it too good to be true?

While the Doctor and Ace go in search of an alien assassin at loose in the yard, Stuart Dale, discoverer of the near-magical Dark Alloy material, has an extraordinary proposition to make to his old college friend, Mel.

But who is the Corporation’s mysterious client? Who does she really represent? And what’s the secret of the Blood Furnace? Seeking answers, the Doctor and friends are about to find themselves in very deep water…

The Blood Furnace is a 2 CD set starring: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Bonnie Langford (Mel Bush), and many more. This title goes on general release from Sept 30, 2017.

Order from Big Finish ««here»»

SHORT TRIPS – THE BRITISH INVASION

SHORT TRIPS – THE BRITISH INVASION

A huge metal dome sits by the side of the river Thames, within it is a device that might change the entire future of humanity. The Doctor, Zoe and Jamie embark on a small act of kindness but the TARDIS seems oddly unwilling to help. It’s as if it knows the truth. There is something waiting here, something adaptable and cunning, gathering its strength to conquer the stars.

Short Trips – The British Invasion is narrated by Wendy Padbury (who played Second Doctor companion Zoe) and will only be published as a digital download.

Order from Big Finish ««here»»

TORCHWOOD - THE DYING ROOM

TORCHWOOD – THE DYING ROOM

“In this room everyone learns the truth. And neither of us will be quite the same when we leave.”

Paris, 1940s. The German-occupied city is in a state of turmoil – a plague ravages the streets, turning people into deformed monsters.

The city’s finest hotel is under siege. SS interrogator Grau has come here to find out the truth. Grau has one night to cure the plague and to unmask the mysterious Madame Berber and who she’s really working for. Herr Grau knows all about Project Hermod. And now he’s going to find out all about Torchwood.

The Dying Room is a 1 CD set starring: Simon Russell Beale, Emma Cunniffe, and many more. This title goes on general release from October 31, 2017.

Order from Big Finish ««here»»

PLEASE NOTE: Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners

ALIENS AMONG US PART 1

TORCHWOOD – ALIENS AMONG US PART 1

Big Finish picks up the events after 2011’s television series Miracle Day with Torchwood: Aliens Among Us…

Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper have restarted Torchwood. But it’s in a very different Cardiff. Something terrible’s happened to the city. With every day getting darker, will Torchwood need to adopt a whole new approach?

1. Changes Everything by James Goss
Tyler Steele has washed up in Cardiff looking for a fresh start. A disgraced journalist, he’s looking into the Red Doors movement – are they really behind the terrorist attacks on immigrants? Who is stirring up the racism and hatred in the city, and what does outsourcing contractor 3Sol have to do with it?

2. Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy by James Goss
Has Cardiff really been invaded by aliens? Tyler thinks he’s found a lead – the daughter of the mysterious Ro-Jedda is getting married and has booked a private party. If Torchwood can infiltrate it, there’s a chance they’ll end up closer to the truth. Free bar, canapes, and the chance to find out what’s really going on. What could possibly go wrong?

3. Orr by Juno Dawson
Vincent Parry is the most successful property developer in Cardiff. A while ago he made an agreement with the mysterious Ro-Jedda, and it is an arrangement he has come to bitterly regret. Something has to be done – but it’s going to cost him everything he loves. With time running out for Cardiff, Torchwood encounter an alien who knows them only too well.

4. Superiority Complex by A K Benedict
Poverty and homelessness are on the rise in Cardiff. The streets are full of the desperate and the dispossessed. So, of course, it’s the right time to open a 7-star luxury, all-inclusive hotel. And, naturally, the hotel is for aliens only. As the humans stand outside the gates and look hungrily in, there’s one thing that makes them smile. Someone is murdering the guests.

Aliens Among Us Part 1 is a 4 CD set starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen, and many more. This title goes on general release from October 31, 2017.

Order from Big Finish ««here»»

PLEASE NOTE: Torchwood contains adult material and is not suitable for younger listeners.

All titles are initially available exclusively from the Big Finish website in August.

An unexpected event in the Christmas special left David Bradley and Peter Capaldi “almost blubbing”

1 August 2017 admin Comments 0 Comment

An unexpected event in the Doctor Who Christmas special left David Bradley and Peter Capaldi “almost blubbing” — Doctors Twelve and One!

What could David Bradley be talking about? In a session at the London Film and Comic Con, the actor who plays the First Doctor in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special talked about a scene from the episode that he says left both himself and departing Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi close to tears – and that somehow came as a surprise to them.

It apparently involves some unexpected events that took place around them as they were filming, which seems pretty unprecedented in the world of scripted TV, and makes it sound as if they deliberately had a surprise sprung on them.

What it might be who can say, but the fact that the special is likely to end with Capaldi’s farewell and regeneration and perhaps Bradley’s as well means something emotional isn’t too much of a surprise – but the fact that they didn’t know it was coming certainly is.

What can it all mean? Here’s what happened in David Bradley’s own words, so you can judge for yourselves…

“There’s an event towards the end of [the Christmas special] that happens and when it happened, well, we just did a take and neither Peter nor I expected it.

“There was no CGI involved, it was all happening and we were both almost blubbing by the time that the take ended. I can’t say, I’m not going to say, what it was but it was quite an event and we weren’t prepared for all the things that were going to be going on around us as we were doing our dialogue.

“And as I say to you, we got quite lumpy. They’ve kept that out of the trailer but it takes it all to another dimension…”

A multi-Doctor episode, a regeneration, the introduction of the first female Doctor, a farewell to Peter Capaldi – and now this. It’s pretty clear this is going to be a very special episode of Doctor Who – and it’s going to get emotional…

David Bradley was speaking at the London Film & Comic Con

Doctor Who Figurine Collection Special – The Yeti

1 August 2017 admin Comments 0 Comment

The Yeti

The next special from the Doctor Who Figurine Collection is a Yeti as it appears in the 1968 Second Doctor adventure The Web of Fear. This edition is available from August 2017.

Purchase here.

In the tale, the Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton) and his companions, Victoria and Jamie, arrive in a deserted London. Investigating, they are met by the military and discover that it’s none other than the Yeti who have caused the city to be evacuated. The Doctor must pit his wits against the Great Intelligence once more, knowing that there is also a traitor in their midst.

With the Intelligence always at least one step ahead, guiding events and people, can the Doctor and his friends free themselves of this web of fear…?

Yeti

This lovingly sculpted, hand-painted classic monster stands approximately 120mm tall and comes complete with a fully illustrated magazine which covers the making of The Web of Fear, the story of long-running companion Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and the Doctor’s many encounters with UNIT.

For more details on the Doctor Who Figurine, visit the site here