It’s fair to say that Alex Kingston’s River Song has hung out with an impressive array of Doctors in her time, adventuring with Matt Smith, David Tennant and Peter Capaldi in the Doctor Who TV series and teaming up with Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Peter Davison for a series of Big Finish Audio Adventures (the episodes with Davison and Kingston will be released next year).

But now the time-travelling Doctor’s wife is set to team up with perhaps the most iconic Doctor of all for an audio story – the fourth incarnation portrayed by Tom Baker, whose long scarf, sonorous voice and love of jellybabies made the character (and series) iconic around the world and ensured Doctor Who’s popularity for decades to come.

Baker and Kingston will record the stories (which take place in a different point in River’s timestream than when she met the other Doctors) for the fourth series of ongoing collection The Diary of River Song, following adventures with the Eighth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors in series one and two.

At the moment there are no more details of Kingston and Baker’s adventures, as there’s still a whole third series of River Song diary entries to go before series four comes over the horizon.

Still, there’s plenty to look forward to in THAT four-part series as well, as River meets the Fifth Doctor for the first time and battles modern series foe Madame Kovarian (a returning Frances Barber) in a collection of adventures previously announced in September.

And bundled with the Tom Baker news, Big Finish have revealed some more details of those Peter Davison episodes, which can be read below.

When River Song goes shopping for a whole load of unclaimed loyalty points, she uncovers secrets linked to her tangled past.

The Doctor arrives, and the mystery deepens. He is already exploring the universe with another companion – someone River knows nothing about.

Madame Kovarian has been busy, and this time she will not accept failure…

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3.1 – The Lady in the Lake by Nev Fountain

On Terminus Prime, clients choose their own means of demise. Something exciting, meaningful, or heroic to end it all.

But when River discovers that there are repeat customers, she knows something more is going on.

She begins to uncover a cult with worrying abilities. Its members can apparently cheat death, and that’s not all they have in common with River…

3.2 – A Requiem for the Doctor by Jac Rayner

River has joined the Doctor and his friend Brooke on their travels, and they stop off in 18th century Vienna.

Brooke thinks history is dull. Until people start dying.

Mozart’s legacy is not just his music. River has more than one mystery to solve before a killer is let loose on the people of Vienna – and on the Doctor.

3.3 – My Dinner with Andrew by John Dorney

Welcome, Mesdames et Messieurs, to The Bumptious Gastropod.

The most exclusive, most discreet dining experience outside the universe. For the restaurant exists beyond spacetime itself, and the usual rules of causality do not apply. Anything could happen.

It is here that the Doctor has a date. With River Song. And with death.

3.4 – The Furies by Matt Fitton

Stories of the Furies abound across the cosmos: vengeful spirits hounding guilty souls to death. Madame Kovarian taught them to a child raised in fear, trained to kill, and placed inside a spacesuit.

Kovarian knows the universe’s greatest threat. The Doctor must be eliminated. An assassin was created for that purpose.

But if Melody Pond has failed, Kovarian will simply have to try again…

The Diary of River Song 3 will be released in January 2018

In all the excitement about Jodie Whittaker’s upcoming debut as the Thirteenth Doctor this Christmas it’s easy to forget that we have so much to enjoy before her first scene, with a whole hour-long episode written by departing showrunner Steven Moffat set to unite Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor with his very first incarnation (played by David Bradley in imitation of William Hartnell’s original 1960s performance).

And now Bradley has shed some new light on what fans can expect from the upcoming Twice Upon a Time, which apparently sees both version of the Time Lord on a very similar emotional journey.

“It brings together these two Doctors, who are both going through a personal crisis about [whether they should be] regenerating, or just ending it all there,” Bradley told the crowd at MCM Comic-con, where he appeared this weekend.

“And they’re both on this parallel journey of doubt and fear and everything.”

And apparently this inner turmoil manifests itself as some tension between the two men, partly because of the First Doctor’s slightly outdated attitudes (as previously hinted by Bradley in an earlier comic-con appearance).

“There’s a bit of conflict between them – ‘I’m the Doctor,’ ‘No I’m the Doctor,’ ‘No I’m the Doctor!’ and so on,” Bradley said.

“And the kind of contrast in what Hartnell’s Doctor brings coming from the early 60s, and Peter’s Doctor, who’s, shall we say a bit more politically correct than the Hartnell version. There’s a bit of conflict there. But hopefully it’ll be funny as well.

“There’s this tension between them, but I think throughout the story a growing realisation that… ‘Hang on, we’re the same person! What’s this about?’”

And as Bradley went on to explain, this more positive interaction between the Doctors was reflective of his own experience with working alongside incumbent Doctor Capaldi, who made an effort to make Bradley feel welcome on set.

“There’s a kind of mutual respect, I like to think, which grows through the story,” Bradley said of the two Doctors. “Reflected in Peter and I’s relationship – we just got on right from the word go. He made me feel so welcome.

“The first read-through was about 30 people sitting round the table, then another 20 sitting on the outer circle, all the BBC heads of department, all the cast, all the directors and costume, makeup.

“And I thought ‘My God, this is quite big, you know?’ It could have been intimidating, but Peter set next to me and he made me feel really at home right from the word go.

“We had a great time together, and it was a great experience,” Bradley concluded. “I hope it won’t be the last time we’ll work together.”

And who knows? If Capaldi could be persuaded to join Bradley, Whittaker and other stars for another multi-Doctor special in the future, maybe they just might join forces once more. We’re pretty sure Mr Bradley would be up for it, anyway.

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this Christmas

The news that Jodie Whittaker had been cast as Doctor Who’s next lead swept round the world this summer, with the first female Doctor making headlines and charging conversations across the globe.

However, one fairly important figure from the sci-fi series’ past had actually missed the news entirely, with former Who star Bernard Cribbins (who played Wilfred Mott, grandfather to Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble from 2007-2010) revealing at an MCM London comic-con panel earlier today that he was none the wiser about the next Doctor.

“The next Doctor Who? I haven’t heard anything about this,” Cribbins told the crowd. “Truly, I didn’t know anything about it. I thought they were going to have a lady, weren’t they?

“They are having one? You see I’m out of touch with it really.”

Still, after learning of Whittaker’s involvement Cribbins was full of praise, suggesting (as many others have before him) that the advent of a female Doctor can help reinvent the series for a new generation.

“I think it’s good – I think it’s great that a lady’s gonna do it,” the 88-year-old said. “I really do.

“Because we’ve had a lot of gentlemen and they’ve all been successful, but you know – I think a lady might give it another kick again. Great. Super.”

And in fact, Cribbins was so keen on the idea that he thought it might even be a way to get his character Wilf back in the action…

“He was a very caring, kind, compassionate man, you know,” Cribbins said of Wilf, who appeared sporadically in the series before becoming a full companion for David Tennant’s final two-part episode The End of Time. “I loved him, he was great.

“I’d love to do Wilf again. Somebody have a word, I’ll be on to look after that young lady who’s about to start!”

Alas, it seems like Jodie Whittaker’s Tardis is quite full already, but you never know – MAYBE they could squeeze Wilf in for a quick reunion.

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this Christmas

This December’s Doctor Who Christmas Special is set to be just that – special – with all sorts of massive landmark moments set to turn up in Twice Upon a Time.

Featuring the return of Pearl Mackie’s companion Bill Potts, the return of the very first incarnation of time-travelling alien the Doctor (originally played by William Hartnell), star Peter Capaldi’s exit from the series AND sneaky cameos from writers of the series, the episode will also serve as the introduction to Jodie Whittaker’s new Thirteenth Doctor, one of the most significant TV moments this year and something eagerly awaited by fans the world over.

And as it turns out, one of the stars of the episode is just as excited for Whittaker’s debut as any rabid Whovian…

“As soon as I heard she was doing it I was really very surprised,” David Bradley, who plays Hartnell’s First Doctor in the special (alongside Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth incarnation) told press at MCM Comic- con London of his former Broadchurch co-star’s new success.

“But happily surprised, because I know that she’s got this great depth as an actress, anyone who saw Broadchurch saw the range that she had.

“And not only that, just hanging out with her you realise what fun she is, and she’s always up for a laugh. So she’s got everything needed for playing the part. I think she’ll be absolutely brilliant. So I was very excited when I saw she was doing it.”

And later, at a panel where he answered questions from fans, Bradley was even more effusive about his fellow Time Lord, citing Whittaker’s “wicked” sense of humour and acting ability as reasons she’ll make a great Doctor.

“To me it seemed like a natural progression,” Bradley told the crowd.

“I’m glad they’ve chosen Jodie, because not only is she a brilliant actress with all sorts of emotional resources at her command, but also because she’s great fun offscreen and on.

“She’s got a wicked sense of humour, and I think it’s a perfect combo to play the Doctor. Because it requires someone with great range, which she’s got.”

Sadly, though, Bradley admitted he hadn’t had the chance to see Whittaker’s new Doctor in action just yet despite co-starring in an episode with her– though he was still very excited to see the latest addition to the long-running sci-fi series.

“Our paths didn’t cross,” he explained.

“Unfortunately when we finished filming the Christmas Special, I don’t think it’d been quite announced then.

“They filmed her separately to appear at the end of our episode. So I’m looking forward to seeing that.”

You and us both, David. You and us both.

Doctor Who will return to BBC1 this Christmas

Doctor Who fans around the world where delighted when it was revealed this summer that David Bradley was returning to the sci-fi franchise, the veteran actor stepping back into the costume of the First Doctor (having previously played the character’s original actor William Hartnell in 2013) for upcoming Christmas special Twice Upon a Time.

And now it turns out that Bradley is keen to keep on coming back to the Whoniverse, with the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter star telling RadioTimes.com of his fervent desire for more Tardis trips in the future even after the festive episode airs this December.

“If they asked me, yes, I’d bite their hand off,” Bradley told us behind the scenes at MCM London comic-con, where he was appearing with Adventure in Space and Time co-star Claudia Grant.

“I think it would be fun. So far, I’m very happy to have been involved in both [Doctor Who and An Adventure in Space of Time].

“It’s quite something, you never expect in your career – something you watched when you were young and never imagined you’d be involved in something so iconic. As I say, it’s a late treat!

“If someone wanted to do that, I’d be very interested, yeah,” he concluded. “Of course.”

Later, while speaking at a panel to fans of the show Bradley revealed the reason for his desire to keep up the Tardis-piloting, citing his recent weeks filming Twice Upon a Time as one of the most rewarding acting jobs he’d ever had in his long and storied career.

“The Christmas special is something I’ll treasure,” he told the crowd.

“I haven’t even seen it yet, so I don’t even know if it works or not. But the trailer looks quite promising I think!”

And given his admitted impatience to see new Doctor Jodie Whittaker in action, we’re betting Bradley will find plenty to keep enjoying this Christmas – even if he doesn’t get the chance to come back again himself.

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this Christmas

Doctor Who series 11 starts filming in the next few weeks, with Jodie Whittaker’s first stories as the new Doctor going  before the camera. And now we know who’s going to be directing them.

Jamie Childs, who has helmed episodes of Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Vera, Poldark and Next Of Kin, is the man set to direct block one of episodes on the new Doctor Who. That’s likely to involve two stories, although just because they’re filmed in block one, it doesn’t mean that they’ll be transmitted in order.

We don’t yet know what the exact episodes are, and who has written them (although you get no prizes for suspecting that Chris Chibnall has penned the series opener!) As we hear more, we’ll let you know…

The director of the opening block is @jamierosschilds pic.twitter.com/YDUXqHZkFo

— Ruther (@Ruther2) October 26, 2017