Any Doctor Who fan worth the name has a pick for their favourite Doctor, with different incarnations of the Time Lord adventurer inspiring fierce loyalty in Whovians depending on their age, personality or (probably) fashion sense.
So it’s no surprise to learn that current series star Peter Capaldi has his own pick for the Doctor to beat all Doctors – even if his particular favourite might be a little unusual given that few have seen her onscreen at all…
“Jodie Whittaker!” Capaldi said when asked about his favourite Doctor at Portland’s Rose City Comic-Con, with his selection of the upcoming first female Doctor (taking over the Tardis keys from this December’s Christmas Special Twice Upon a Time) drawing cheers from the crowd – even as Capaldi admitted he hadn’t actually seen Thirteen in action yet (unlike departing showrunner Steven Moffat). We’re guessing he just has a good feeling about her.
Still, when Whittaker does take over Capaldi made it clear that she’ll be taking on a role and a half, with the Scottish actor waxing lyrical about the joys of being a part of the BBC sci-fi series later in the panel.
“It’s just an amazing experience, because all the time you are the Doctor you are the centre of all this attention, this warmth and so to have that in your life is extraordinary,” Capaldi told the crowd.
“I feel it’s just a very, very special privilege and position to be in. It’s life-changing. It’s wonderful to be the Doctor. You are Doctor Who – for a while.”
Companion Pearl Mackie (who returns as Bill Potts this Christmas and joined Capaldi onstage) added: “It’s so amazing.
“And I think one of the best parts of it is that every episode is kind of a different genre, while still having monsters and things like that. It’s just wonderful.
“One day you’re on a different planet fighting emoji robots, the next day you’re in a full Victorian period costume on ice.
“It’s insane. Every day was so different, and so new. It’s basically the best show on TV.”
We’re sure many fans would be inclined to agree – though that didn’t stop the crowd at the panel also asking the pair which OTHER shows they’d like to see crossing over into the Doctor Who panel, with Mackie suggesting Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Capaldi going for something a little more deadly.
“Well I’d like to see Game of Thrones,” he said. “I think the Doctor would be like ‘White Walkers? What White Walkers? Where are they, these White Walkers? Point me at the White Walkers.’”
Sounds like just the thing to finally stop the Night King in his tracks. Hopefully Capaldi’s new favourite and the Doctor Who writers are taking notes for season 11…
What does ‘Dalek’ rhyme with? How do you draw the curtain at the end of the universe? Join us for an adventure in rhyme and space with former Doctor Who writer and executive producer Russell T Davies and author James Goss, as we celebrate the release of the first book of Time Lord verse Now We Are Six Hundred.
Russell and James have a lifelong love of Doctor Who – Russell revived the series in 2005, and James has adapted the work of Douglas Adams. They’ve now found a whole new way of looking at the Doctor, in this charmingly-illustrated collection of funny and whimsical poetry.
Russell and James will be joined by the presenter of hit YouTube series Doctor Who: The Fan Show, Christel Dee, as they discuss poetry, Daleks, Cybermen and all things close to a Who fan’s heart(s).
Tickets: £9 per ticket or £15 including the book. Venue: The Auditorium at Foyles, Level 6, 107 Charing Cross Road
Please note, no physical tickets will be issued (to save the trees!). Your email confirmation is proof of booking.
The Final Day Of The Doctor Who Experience – Exclusive Report!
Doctor Who fans gather for the final day of The Doctor Who Experience.
Today, Saturday the 9th of September 2017, was the day all Doctor Who fans secretly wished wouldn’t arrive, the final day of The Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay, South Wales. The Gallifreyan Newsroom attended, together with three very good friends to bid it a fond farewell.
A sad day? Well, yes, but also a day of celebration for an attraction that has become very much a Mecca for Doctor Who fans from right across the country and far beyond too.
Today, as you can imagine was a sell-out. It was packed with Dr Who fans of all ages from all corners of the United Kingdom. I even met two fans from Russia, who just had to be a part of this wonderful attraction on its final day, certainly nobody could accuse Doctor Who fans of not being faithful, dedicated and loyal!
Us Doctor Who fans love nothing more than to express our loyalty to the series, some take to cosplay, (and there were some wonderful examples of that today!) some just love meeting new friends and chatting but we all share a commonality, we are all fans no matter how old or young, whether we have been watching the show for years or not, it doesn’t matter, whilst we are together we all share a command understanding, our love for the series and there is something quite wonderful about that! In a word where division and hatred seems upper most, to come together in the spirit of love and optimism should be savoured and celebrated and long may it continue!
The atmosphere for this final day was just magical and the exhibition was, as always chock full of wonderful sets and costumes that represented all areas of the programme, from its earliest times right up to and including the latest series (10)
A scene featuring The Ice Warriors from The Empress of Mars – Series 10 (2017)
No on screen stars of the series were present but there was a good selection of creatives from behind the scenes in attendance including Neill Gorton, Mike Tucker, Howard Burden (Costume Designer)
The Doctor Who costume designersModel maker Mike Tucker talks to a David Tennant look-a-like!
Also from behind the scenes we were entertained by voice artist and Big Finish supremo Nicholas Briggs, who gave us a fascinating presentation on Dalek / Cybermen voices, he even brought along his ring modular to demonstrate his vocal talents much to the delight of the audience. He also gave anyone brave enough the opportunity to come forward and speak into the ring modulator microphone and thus speak like a Dalek. Nick was, as always, very entertaining and paid tribute to the original voices of the Daleks, Peter Hawkins and David Graham, who set the standard for everyone who came after.
Nicholas Briggs talks Dalek voices.Voice artist and Big Finish supremo Nicholas Briggs.
Also on hand and dressed in a very fetching Time-Lord robe was Dr Who super fan Andrew Beech. The Gallifreyan Newsroom plucked up the courage and asked the costume designers, “Of all the Dr Who costumes that have ever been, was there one that you would have liked to have designed yourselves?” Two answers came back, one was the dolls from the story “Night Terrors” (2011) and the other notable monster they praised were The Draconians from the Jon Pertwee era (Frontier in Space) 1973.
Doctor Who super fan Andrew Beech dressed in Time-lord robes.
It was just wonderful to wander down memory lane, just one more time, looking at all the marvellous sets and costumes and we hope you will enjoy some of the best images we have included for you on this page.
The original TARDIS set from 1963.A Mondasian Cyberman enters The TARDIS!Two TARDIS’s to the left the 1980’s vintage and central from the 1960’sThe TARDIS console room early 1980s (Pre The Five Doctors)The TARDIS console room from The Five Doctors onwards (1983-1989)A Dalek cerca 1963The Mire (left) from The Girl Who Died (2015) A Zygon (right) from The Zygon Invasion / Inversion (2015)A Sea Devil from Warriors of the Deep (1984) A Cheetah Person from Survival (1989)From left to right: A Silurian, A Sycorax, The Hath, A Sontaran, A ScarcrowThe restored Morbius monster from The Brain of Morbius (1975)From left to right: A Ice Warrior, A Sontaran, The Giant Robot (K1) A Zygon, A TetrapA montage of The Doctor’s costumesSome more of the famous Doctor costumes.The War Doctor’s TARDIS from The Day of the Doctor (2013)The TARDIS as featured in Face The Raven (2015)A montage of Doctor Who costumes.The Daleks!A Doctor Who fan meets a Silurian!The newly restored Yeti costume from The Abominable Snowmen (1967)A Doctor Who fan meets K9!Andrew Beech outside The Doctor Who Experience after close-down on the final day!
During our very busy day I got talking to Danny Hargreaves, who is the Special effects supervisor on Doctor Who. He confirmed that the new series of Doctor Who will start filming in the next month or so, certainly before Christmas, however there is no news as yet to when it will transmit, but he did indicate that the autumn of 2018 would be likely. When pressed for news on whether a new site had been found to re-house The Doctor Who Experience the answer was a no, not yet, so any news you might have heard is very much speculation, nothing is likely to happen for at least a year and possibly longer, however when there is confirmation it will be communicated through the usual channels, Twitter, Facebook and so forth, so stay tuned!
As the clock ticked ever nearer towards closing time there was a palpable feeling that “something” was going to happen, despite the officials telling everyone to “move along, there is nothing to see here!.. However, Doctor Who are an instinctive lot, so we didn’t believe a word of it, and sure enough our feelings were well founded a “thing” was about to occour”
Around 4.30pm the ominous sound of The Cloister Bell rang out and then a voice, stating that the museum systems have been breached, “it is coming, it has come”……
“The museum time space visualizer is emitting a signal, this signal is a warning, a warning of a catastrophic time event! A phisher in space and time, the Cardiff time rift has remerged! The museums data banks have many entry logs of time activity associated with its existence. The last entry records it as having closed, but the rift is opening again, here, now!”
“These are the last moments of The Gallifrey Museum, its transdimensional gateway cannot be closed in time, it will be dragged into the rift. “We cannot stop this, but the museums visitors must be saved, the humans still here, under our protection! There are records in the museums archives which have chronicled the events of enough energy being created to eject the humans out of harm’s way, away from this time event before the rift closes and takes the museum with it!
To create this energy we need time crystals and the humans own memory imprints. We have so very little time, our future hangs in the balance!
[There was then a command to hold your passes up, and a huge explosion took place!]
[The voice continued….]
“Our actions have opened the heart of the TARDIS, while it remains open, our protection, our safe passage from here, from The Doctor Who Experience is assured! But wait, there is one final message in our data banks, once final signal!”
[Queue a final message from The Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi who appeared on a video screen.]
“Hello, The Doctor Who Experience. I’ve had the Doctor Who Experience and it’s very very special, I’ve also been at The Doctor Who Experience many times and always loved it. It such a warm friendly place and apart from that, it’s got all these fabulous exhibits, all these bit and pieces that I just want to touch and play with and wear! In fact I have worn them, I wonder if I could have them back, would that be possible?.”
“It’s incredible to be in the streets of Cardiff and to hear someone who comes from China or someone who comes from Russia or someone who comes from America saying, “can you direct me to The Doctor Who Experience”? “And that’s actually happened! But people do come from all over the world to come and visit The Doctor Who Experience and that’s a great example of how successful it has been!”
“I’m sorry it closing, I’m sorry I’m not there, please have a wonderful, wonderful time and take the spirit of Doctor Who and The Doctor Who Experience wherever you go! Are you experienced? I am, you should be too!
[There was then a huge round of applause for Peter Capaldi as the screen faded to black.]
The sound of the TARDIS dematerialising was then heard followed by the cloister bell fading into nothing”!
Once outside The Doctor Who Experience there were hordes of people just congregating around the entrance, just taking that one last look before the doors closed for the final time. Only Doctor Who fans would spontaneously applauded a set of doors closing, but it felt the right and proper thing to do. This was our way of saying thank you, thank you to The Doctor Who Experience for the past five years!
“It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for!”
This way to The Doctor Who Experience (no longer!)
There was a wedding proposal on the final opening day of the Doctor Who Experience
Saturday 9th of September marked a sad day for Doctor Who fans as the Doctor Who Experience closed its doors for the final time.
But a surprise proposal made the ending of the city landmark a truly magical event.
The sci-fi experience has been based at the heart of Cardiff Bay for the past five years, attracting thousands of fans to walk the same streets as the likes of Peter Capaldi, Matt Smith and David Tennant.
Tickets sold out for the last day of opening, with fans of the hit BBC television show taking part in a host of activities – including interactive exhibitions, and taking on a room full of terrifying Weeping Angels.
Daniel Green asked his girlfriend of three years, Annabel Hobbs, to marry him inside of the TARDIS.
The 26-year-old was instigated into the crazy fandom of Doctor Who by Annabel, who grew up watching the television show with her family.
“I am over the moon!” The 24-year-old said, “I am still really surprised. What has made it so emotional is the fact that the exhibition is closing today.
“This is definitely the top place that he could have proposed to me. He has done a good job.”
The Essex couple travelled down to see the exhibition for the first time in October 2016, after Annabel successfully managed to “bully” Daniel into going along with her.
(Image: Peter Bolter)
“I wasn’t a big fan of the show before,” Daniel explained, “But seeing all of the props got me much more excited about it and now I enjoy it.
“The proposal has been planned for a long time and it has been so hard to keep it a secret, but I am relieved that she said yes and loves the ring.
“She’s very passionate about Doctor Who – that’s how I would describe it! She would like to think she’s an expert.”
So is a Doctor Who wedding now on the cards?
Annabel said: “We have had brief discussions about having some Doctor Who inspired decorations – but I don’t think I could convince Daniel to wear the attire!”
Other visitors came away from the experience feeling disappointed at the site’s closure.
(Image: Peter Bolter)
One Twitter user, Sarah-Jane Pealing said: “This breaks my heart. I came [to the Doctor Who Experience] regularly, especially since I’ve based my Costume A-Level on Dr Who. Devastated. No chance of re-opening?”
This breaks my heart. I came regularly, especially since I've based my Costume A Level on Dr Who.. Devastated. No chance of reopening?
The popular attraction has been phased out because its sub-lease from the Cardiff Council has drawn to an end. It closed officially at 5pm on Saturday, September 9.
The BBC’s official line at the moment is: “News of how we are planning further ways of taking Doctor Who directly to our audience, and how we are using the filming locations to continue the commercial presence of Doctor Who in Cardiff, will be communicated in due course.”
(Image: Peter Bolter)
What’s On Reporter Josh Knapman, who is a huge Doctor Who fan, wrote a piece on why the closure is such a shame for Cardiff.
He said: “The experience offered a tourist destination to the city that fans far and wide would come to see, especially after Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor seemed to increase the US audience numbers.
“It really put Cardiff – and Wales on the map – and had fans booking hotel rooms, spending money in our shops, eating in our restaurants, visiting other attractions and generally spreading the word about Cardiff being a great tourist destination.”
Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce its latest free pdf-only short story, The Cruel Oil by Harry Draper. This can be downloaded from the Candy Jar website.
Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen introduces the story: “The Cruel Oil is a result of our recent short story open submission window. It was a simple but intruiging pitch; When disaster occurs at a North Sea platform, and dead bodies preserved in tar from the spillage begin to disappear from their morgues, Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers discover just how cruel the oil of Earth can be… Upon reading the full outline I just knew it contained a ‘classic era’ feel, and would be better suited to Anne Travers and Bill Bishop. Which led me to another idea…”
At only twenty years of age, Harry Draper is one of the youngest authors to write from Lethbridge-Stewart range. Originally from Bristol, he nows lives in Ormskirk, west Lancashire, and explains a little of his long-standing desire to write some Doctor Who related material: “Just over ten years ago, I read my first Doctor Who book in my local Waterstones. Naturally, having failed to grow up all this time later, I leapt at the opportunity to submit a pitch to the Lethbridge-Stewart short story opportunity. When Andy suggested the idea of depicting Anne Travers and Bill Bishop’s first date, and Anne coming to terms with her father’s death, I knew then we had a story worth telling. Now, at long last, it has materialised! And no one is safe from the Silhouettes. Here’s to never quite growing up.”
The Cruel Oil is set shortly before the novel, The Dreamer’s Lament, released last month. Dating is never straight forward when you work for the Corps, especially for the ever-inqusitive Anne Travers. It will be released in our paperback short story collection, HAVOC Files 4, which is still available for pre-order direct from the Candy Jar store for £8.99:
Also out now, for only one month, preview copies of the new Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off, The Lucy Wilson Mysteries. The start of a new series of adventures focusing on Lethbridge-Stewart granddaughter, who carries on his legacy from the small Welsh coastal town of Ogmore-by-Sea. The book is released commercially early 2018, but a very limited number of preview copies can now be ordered only from the Candy Jar store until the end of September, for only £7.99:
Candy Jar Books is offering an exciting new opportunity for aspiring writers. Launching at Candy Jar Book Festival in Cardiff, writers can submit a short story based on the Doctor Who character – Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
These stories will be included in a book to be released early next year.
The overall winner will be offered the chance to pen their very own Lethbridge-Stewart book, and work alongside range editor and creative director of the Haisman estate Andy Frankham-Allen and will also receive a Kindle Fire to read it on. Both the winner and runner-up will receive all the Lethbridge-Stewart novels from 2018. All winning entries will see their stories published in book form in 2018.
The South Wales Short Story Competition will be accepting submissions from 17th August. Entrants are permitted to submit up to two short stories of no more than 3000 words. The competition is open to all unpublished writers across the UK.
All submissions must be received by end of September. The competition is £5 to enter per story. The terms and conditions, such as copyright restrictions, will be emailed once the entrant has paid. Candy Jar Books is offering an exciting new opportunity for aspiring writers. Launching at Candy Jar Book Festival in Cardiff, writers can submit a short story based on the Doctor Who character – Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
These stories will be included in a book to be released early next year.
The overall winner will be offered the chance to pen their very own Lethbridge-Stewart book, and work alongside range editor and creative director of the Haisman estate Andy Frankham-Allen and will also receive a Kindle Fire to read it on. Both the winner and runner-up will receive all the Lethbridge-Stewart novels from 2018. All winning entries will see their stories published in book form in 2018.
The South Wales Short Story Competition will be accepting submissions from 17th August. Entrants are permitted to submit up to two short stories of no more than 3000 words. The competition is open to all unpublished writers across the UK.
All submissions must be received by end of September. The competition is £5 to enter per story. The terms and conditions, such as copyright restrictions, will be emailed once the entrant has paid.
BBC3 confirms Doctor Who spin-off Class has been axed after one series
The BBC has officially confirmed that its Doctor Who spin off Class will not be returning for another series.
The drama, written by Young Adult author Patrick Ness, attracted lukewarm reviews when it was shown on BBC3 and in a late night slot on BBC1. Ness has already said he wasn’t writing any more episodes.
However the show had not formally been decommissioned – until today that is, when hopes that the series could continue were finally dashed by BBC3 controller Damian Kavanagh. Asked by RadioTimes.com whether it would be coming back, Kavanagh said, “No, no.”“There was nothing wrong with it,” he added.
“I thought Patrick did a great job, he explored an amazing world. In honesty it didn’t really land for us on BBC3; some shows don’t and I have to make decisions about what we’re going to do from a drama point of view, and what we did after Class was Clique which worked really well for us.”
The drama centred around Coal Hill School, the modern-day incarnation of the educational establishment which featured in the first episode of Doctor Who, and which has been a location in a number of subsequent stories.
Peter Capaldi’s Doctor appeared in episode one of the show to explain to the classmates their important role in protecting Earth due to a tear in the universe located at the school.
The main characters included Ram, April (Sophie Hopkins), Tanya (Vivian Oparah) Charlie (Greg Austin) and alien teacher Miss Quill (Katherine Kelly).
COMING IN 2018: DOUGLAS ADAMS’ ‘DOCTOR WHO AND THE KRIKKITMEN’!
Next year sees the publication of Doctor Who And The Krikkitmen, a long-lost story featuring the Fourth Doctor and Romana from the iconic writer Douglas Adams.
Doctor Who And The Krikkitmen is a novel based on a recently discovered treatment and extensive notes found in the Douglas Adams archive in Cambridge. The novelisation comes from Doctor Who author, James Goss (City of Death, The Pirate Planet).
A truly ‘lost’ adventure and with legendary status among fans, this is a work by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author that no-one has ever read… We have the details and artwork below.
DOCTOR WHO AND THE KRIKKITMEN
Intergalactic war? That’s just not cricket … or is it?
The Doctor promised Romana the end of the universe, so she’s less than impressed when what she gets is a cricket match. But play is soon interrupted by eleven figures in white uniforms and peaked skull helmets, wielding bat-shaped weapons that fire lethal bolts of light into the screaming crowd.
The Krikkitmen are back.
Millions of years ago, the people of Krikkit learned they were not alone in the universe, and promptly launched a xenophobic crusade to wipe out all other life-forms. After a long and bloody conflict, the Time Lords imprisoned Krikkit within an envelope of Slow Time, a prison that could only be opened with the Wicket Gate key, a device that resembles – to human eyes, at least – an oversized set of cricket stumps…
From Earth to Gallifrey, from Bethselamin to Devalin, from Krikkit to Mareeve II to the far edge of infinity, the Doctor and Romana are tugged into a pan-galactic conga with fate as they rush to stop the Krikkitmen gaining all five pieces of the key. If they fail, the entire cosmos faces a fiery retribution that will leave nothing but ashes…
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Douglas Adams is best known as the creator of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which started life as a BBC Radio 4 series. The book went on to be a No. 1 bestseller. He followed this success with The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980); Life, The Universe and Everything (1982); So Long and Thanks for all the Fish (1984); Mostly Harmless (1992) and many more. He sold over 15 million books in the UK, the US and Australia. Douglas died unexpectedly in May 2001 at the age of 49.
James Goss is the author of the novelisation of Douglas Adams’ City of Death and The Pirate Planet, as well as several other Doctor Who books. While at the BBC, James produced an adaptation of Shada, an unfinished Douglas Adams Doctor Who story, and Dirk is his award-winning stage adaptation of Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. He won Best Audiobook 2010 for Doctor Who: Dead Air, featuring the Tenth Doctor.
Doctor Who And The Krikkitmen is available from January 18, 2018 – pre-order here.
CELEBRATING SYLVESTER MCCOY: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Today is the 30th anniversary of Sylvester McCoy’s first appearance as the Seventh Doctor in 1987’s Time and the Rani.
We asked Doctor Who Big Finish writer and BAFTA-nominated documentarian Chris Chapman to talk about his love for Doctor number seven.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
By Chris Chapman
When I was 7 years old, Doctor Who was massive. All the kids I knew watched it. We were all terrified by the monsters – the Daleks, the Cybermen, those ones that came out of the sea – and we would play out their battles with our hero, the Doctor, in the school playground. Doctor Who seemed like the biggest thing on telly, and if that was true, then the biggest star on the box had to be Sylvester McCoy.
It was only when I got a little older that I realised the horrifying truth. For most British television viewers, the McCoy era of Doctor Who simply did not happen. It was not a thing. Nobody cared.
As a teenager, I got my hands on geeky Doctor Who literature for the first time, and found to my surprise that the ratings for stories I had loved across the McCoy era were among the lowest Doctor Who had ever received. On top of that, the public seemed to think that my hero Sylvester was a joke, that the terrifying Kandyman (from The Happiness Patrol) was one of the most embarrassing thing ever seen on television and that the programme was ‘tired’ and ready to be put out of its misery. Which, in 1989, through no choice of its own, it was.
None of this made any sense! Had everyone been watching a different television show? I felt like I’d been taking crazy pills! How had they missed the wet-the-bed terrors of the Chief Clown (The Greatest Show in the Galaxy), or that time the Brigadier shot the Destroyer (Battlefield) or that awesome bit when the Dalek went up the bloody stairs (Remembrance of the Daleks)!
But no, people were still making jokes about the Daleks and stairs. I couldn’t understand it. And then it dawned on me. The public didn’t hate the McCoy era. They had just missed it. They were busy watching Coronation Street (ITV’s long-running soap, up against the Doctor Who time slot). And it was their loss.
For a generation of primary school kids growing up in the late 80s, Doctor Who felt like the best thing on telly, because… well, it was. My classmates and I may have been living in a pro-McCoy bubble – but it was a very sensible bubble, because McCoy era Doctor Who was, and is, ruddy awesome.
Suddenly, after a few years of not knowing quite what to be, Doctor Who had a purpose, it had a spirit and a magic and it had a Blue Peter badge-wearing teenager blowing up things with a rocket launcher!
And it left a huge impression. For those late 80s kids, kids like me, Doctor Who meant as much as it had to the 7 year olds who watched Tom Baker in the mid-70s. They had jelly babies and Sarah Jane, we had the Kandyman and Ace.
You think I’ve got my nostalgia goggles on, right? Well, yes, and no. Any era of Who burns itself into the memories (and nightmares) of the seven year olds watching, but I’ve re-watched the 87-89 run many times since, and I still believe the same thing – it’s wicked.
Now, I’m not daft, those three years are not without faults – certainly nobody would claim that the McCoy era arrived fully formed. Season 24 is a show in (sometimes painful) transition – Time and the Rani is a hot mess written for a different Doctor; Paradise Towers has a script that gives the first hints of cleverness and big ideas to come, but almost ruins it with a terrible production; then Delta and the Bannermen comes along and suddenly Doctor Who is a child again – a 24 year old show entirely energised once more; season 24 ends with Dragonfire, which – by introducing new companion Ace (played by Sophie Aldred), moves the pieces into place for the real dawn of the McCoy era.
Doctor Who’s last two seasons – 25 and 26 – represent one of the most diverse, imaginative, mad runs the show has ever achieved, and you don’t have to be 7 years old to appreciate that.
When season 25 kicked off in 1988 with Remembrance of the Daleks, the show was suddenly full of great ideas and striking visuals again. We’d be acting out scenes in the playground – somebody would be Ace beating up the poor kid essaying ‘Dalek’ with her imaginary baseball bat, somebody would be the scary possessed girl, some lucky blighter would be the Special Weapons Dalek, and then, of course, somebody was the Doctor. But watching it now, it’s still a terrific script (by Rivers of London’s Ben Aaronovitch) and production – and we have a new double act of of leads in Sylvester and Sophie who genuinely seem to love each other’s company. That’s the bedrock of any classic Who era, whether that be Two and Jamie, Four and Sarah Jane or Ten and Donna.
Doctor Who had its confidence back. Nobody was watching, but it didn’t seem to care! In script editor Andrew Cartmel, you had someone drawing his inspiration from comic books of the time, like Watchmen. The programme gained a more character-driven form, particularly in the way Ace develops and grows up. There’s a real attempt, with stories like Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric and Survival, to flesh out and deepen the role of a Doctor Who ‘companion’. When Ace returns to her run-down home town in Survival and finds that all her old friends have vanished – it feels sad and real – totally alien to how Doctor Who might have done things in the past. It’s far closer to how the show returned in 2005.
As Sylvester settles into the role, we get a Doctor who mixes the best bits of the character and adds much that is unique to him. He can be ridiculous, charming, funny, mysterious, alien and ancient. He likes jazz, hates burnt toast and is probably planning to blow up your planet. Yes, watching him now, I prefer it when he doesn’t shout or roll his ‘R’s too much, but he is a fantastic Doctor. He is my Doctor.
The stories themselves could be satirical (The Happiness Patrol), surreal (The Greatest Show in the Galaxy) and action-packed (Battlefield). By the time they were making The Curse of Fenric, Doctor Who was not only attempting its first WW2 story, but marrying a multi-layered script with great production values. And Nicholas Parsons!
Also, I persist that the cliffhanger to Survival episode 2 – when Ace turns to reveal that she has become a reality-hopping cheetah person, and we know instantly that the Doctor will have to use his best friend to survive – is one of the most underrated and brilliant in the whole 50-odd year run.
And then it was gone. In 1989, after three years of unseen McCoy goodness, Doctor Who was killed off. It was at a creative peak it had rarely reached before, but nobody cared. Eight-year-old me patiently waited for a new season of Sylvester and Sophie – but it never came. Like young Amy Pond, I sat outside on my suitcase and my Doctor never came back. Well, not for a while anyway.
Today marks 30 years since the birth of this outstanding, underseen Doctor Who era. This makes me feel very old. But it also makes me want to watch Remembrance, or Greatest Show or Survival, right now. So I will. And remember what the fella said: somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we’ve got work to do!
With special thanks to Chris Chapman.
SEPTEMBER SEES EXCLUSIVE NEW AUDIO ADVENTURE FOR THE TWELFTH DOCTOR
This month’s Doctor Who audiobooks from the BBC give us an exclusive audio adventure for the Twelfth Doctor, and the final full television story for the Seventh Doctor.
Both releases are available now, check out the details and artwork below.
Death Among the Stars
By Steve Lyons
At Kennedy Space Centre, in 2060, the Doctor meets Amber Lewis. Both are there to observe the launch of Earth’s very first off-world colony ship, as it heads for Jupiter’s sixth moon. But to everyone’s surprise it seems that somebody has reached Europa before them. The figure is oddly familiar to the Doctor and Amber in particular…
So begins the adventure of a lifetime for Amber, as she journeys in the TARDIS to set foot on a distant moon. Events take a bizarre turn when she and the Doctor apparently witness celebrity figures wandering freely on the rocky surface. A sinister presence lurks behind the apparitions, and Amber is about to fall into its clutches.
An alien base, a stranded abductee and a group of sinister ‘Icemen’ all add up to trouble for the Doctor. Can he rescue his new friend and avert disaster on humanity’s new frontier?
Nicola Bryant, who played Sixth Doctor companion Peri, reads this original audiobook featuring the Twelfth Doctor as played by Peter Capaldi on television.
Duration: 70 mins (approx). Purchase here.
Survival
By Rona Munro
The Doctor brings Ace home to Perivale – but on a summer Sunday it seems the least lively place in the universe. All the members of Ace’s old gang have gone away — each one disappeared. What is killing the domestic pets of Perivale? Who are the horsemen whose hoofprints scar the recreation ground? Where have the missing persons been taken? Is the Doctor stepping into a well-prepared trap – and if so, can it be the work of the Doctor’s old adversary, the Master?
This is an unabridged reading from Lisa Bowerman (who played Karra in Survival) of this classic novelisation of the Seventh Doctor television serial starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. Writer Rona Munro also penned this year’s Twelfth Doctor television episode, The Eaters Of Light.
Duration: 4 hours (approx). Purchase here.
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Doctor Who’s Peter Capaldi had a VERY nerdy complaint about the return of the Mondasian Cybermen
The Doctor: Peter Capaldi from the series 10 finale.
We all know pretty well by now that Peter Capaldi is a massive Doctor Who fan, with the current Time Lord known for his membership of fan clubs, love of obscure classic series trivia and habit of writing letters to Radio Times about the sci-fi series decades before he was ever cast in it.
So when one of his favourite foes from the 1960s, the original design for the cyborg Cybermen known as the Mondasian Cybermen, was brought back for the two-part finale of the latest series, you’d expect Capaldi to be thrilled.
Instead, however, the actor apparently had a very nerdy complaint related to design differences in the new Mondasian Cybermen when compared to their 1960s counterparts, obsessively nitpicking in a manner that only further confirms his Whovian credentials.
“Steven and Peter both feel strongly about how they remember these things,” Rachel Talalay, who directed the two-part finale featuring the Cybermen, explained to the This Week in Time Travel podcast. “So they were both involved and had thoughts.
“Peter called me after the first Mondasian incident and said, ‘Why is it they have gloves on their hands, when one of the great things about them was that they had bare hands?’”
And if you look closely at photos of the two types of Cybermen, you can just about see he’s right – the original Mondasian Cybermen do indeed have some very human hands when compared to the surgical gloves of the new versions.
But as Talalay went on to explain, there was actually a very good reason for the change – and apparently, it all comes down to the fact that they had to turn companion Bill (aka Pearl Mackie) into a Cyberman for a large portion of the two-part episode.
“I explained that the Pearl Mondasian, we would have an issue with skin colour,” Talalay recalled.
“And therefore that given in the [original series] black-and-white version you couldn’t really tell if they had skintone gloves, it seemed like we could get a scarier feel and something more artificial by putting the gloves on them.
“But it was partially an issue because of skintone,” she concluded.
Talalay, who also revealed in the interview that they had to change the look of the partially converted “patient” Cybermen at the last minute due to their chest units looking like breasts, went on to discuss her interest in reviving parts of the classic series, which required some re-watching due to her lack of familiarity with the classic series.
“I didn’t live in the UK!” she said. “I was aware of it and we were there in the UK a couple of times. When I was 14, 15 and 16 we lived in the UK and I had a Tom Baker period. But I wasn’t weaned on it.
“So a lot of the passion of it has been to go back and actually learn the things [Capaldi and series showrunner Steven Moffat] grew up with. Because I had Star Trek growing up in America.”
Clearly, based on the triumph of World Enough and Time and the Doctor Falls, Talalay’s homework was time well spent.
