An exciting sneak peek of the Twelfth Doctor’s final adventure, Twice Upon a Time, this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special starring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, David Bradley as the First Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and Mark Gatiss as the Captain.
The next title in the Reeltime Pictures series of DVDs will be MONSTERS!
More information later, but it will feature the documentary I WAS A DOCTOR WHO MONSTER! plus FIVE associated MYTH MAKERS interviews (with monster men and women from the programme.
Talking about The Case of the Missing Fairy, Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen says: “When Shaun told me he wanted a Christmas story, I groaned and said, ‘well, I don’t have time to write one,’ but then I re-thought and realised that I may have a man who did. So I turned to a young writer I know who wanted to write for the series. Enter Steven Walton. He jumped on board with barely a second’s hesitation, and I then tasked him with sending me a few ideas set within the period that Lethbridge-Stewart served as maths teacher in Brendon School, a period of his life we’ve not really touched upon yet. Steve sent me a few ideas, but that one that appealed to me the most was the whimsical notion of Lethbridge-Stewart investigating the disappearance of a Christmas tree fairy.”
Steven Walton says: “I’ve always considered the Brigadier to be the Doctor’s Watson, but as this range has him in the lead role I thought why not make him Sherlock Holmes? Set in a time when he can’t remember the Doctor, the story focuses on those mini adventures in his everyday life. And what a better time to do a silly but fun detective story than at Christmas.”
Shaun Russell, head of publishing at Candy Jar, says: “Our seasonal short stories have become something of a tradition, and it was important to me that this year be no different. Steven had produced a lovely, and amusing, little ditty for Christmas, and in quick time, too. Perfect reading after a hearty Christmas dinner!”
The Case of the Missing Fairy will be available for free on the Candy Jar website over Christmas.
Candy Jar also has a Christmas sale on at the moment, covering many of their varied titles, including several Lethbridge-Stewart titles. Perfect for Christmas presents!
A limited edition range of series five novels will be available early 2018, beginning with A Very Private Haunting by Sharon Bidwell. And later in the year the novella range continues with The Lost Skin by Andy Frankham-Allen. Pre-order here:
Recently Candy Jar Books announced that, for the forseable future, there will be no new editions of The HAVOC Files. Editor Andy Frankham-Allen issues this statement those who submitted story ideas through this year’s open submisson window: “There are several logistic and legal reasons behind our decision, however, please note we are not cancelling the range, just resting it for the forseeable future. So to anybody who submitted a story idea to us, please be aware that there are two options open to you; you can either retain your idea and repurpose it for other use, or you can allow us to hold on to it and look at it again if/when we do another HAVOC Files release.
Earlier this week, the cast and crew of Doctor Who gathered for the official press launch of this year’s emotional Christmas special, Twice Upon A Time. But not everyone was there. Director Rachel Talalay is working on another project in the US at the moment. And Peter Capaldi? He was in Scotland, and unable to attend.
Instead, though, he sent a farewell message to Doctor Who, that was read out by Jo Whiley on the night. And it reads as follows…
“I’m really sorry I can’t be with you tonight. I’d like to thank all my friends on Doctor Whofor sharing their good humour, talent and life with me over the last four years. And particularly, Steven Moffat, who has brought so much to Doctor Who, even more than might be realised today, but will be seen clearly in the future.
I’d like to thank everyone who loves the show for sharing it with me, and sharing the boundless generosity of spirit that it embodies. I wish Jodie and the new TARDIS team all the best for the future, and the past, and everything inbetween, and look forward to watching them journey to new and wonderful places.
For me, it’s been an amazing trip. I went to the end of time, I met fantastical creatures – and I blew them up. But now it’s over. Time I was off”
We’re going to miss that man. Twice Upon A Time screens on Christmas Day, on BBC One, at 5.30pm.
THE LATEST ISSUE OF DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE INCLUDES A FREE THIRTEENTH DOCTOR POSTER/TWELFTH DOCTOR WALLCHART AND A REVEALING PREVIEW OF THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!
Also in this issue…
PEARL MACKIE
Pearl talks to DWM about saying goodbye to companion Bill Potts.
MARK GATISS
An interview with Mark Gatiss, who plays the Captain in the 2017 Christmas Special.
STEVEN MOFFAT Doctor Who’s outgoing showrunner previews his final story, Twice Upon a Time.
EARL CAMERON
Actor Earl Cameron – 100 years old this year! – recalls playing astronaut Glyn Williams in the 1966 story The Tenth Planet.
PHILIP HINCHCLIFFE
The legendary Doctor Who producer explains how the series’ feature-length omnibus repeats were created in the 1970s.
PADDY RUSSELL
A tribute to the late Paddy Russell, Doctor Who’s first female director and one of British television’s pioneers.
INSIDE SHADA
The team behind the new version of Shada reveal how Douglas Adams’ ‘lost’ 1979 story was finally completed.
DANIEL HILL AND OLIVIA BAZALGETTE
Actor Daniel Hill and production assistant Olivia Bazalgette tell DWM how the filming of Shada marked the beginning of their long relationship.
SHADA ON LOCATION
Memories of the making of Shada from special effects assistant Steve Cambden, along with rare and
previously unseen images from the 1979 location shoot.
THE FACT OF FICTION
This issue’s festive Fact of Fiction explores the 2011 Christmas Special The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.
THE PHANTOM PIPER
Part Two of the Doctor and Bill’s latest comic strip adventure, written by Scott Gray and illustrated by Martin Geraghty.
PLUS… The Blogs of Doom, previews, book and audio reviews, news, the DWM Christmas Quiz and prize-winning competitions!
Doctor Who Magazine 520 is on sale from Thursday 14 December, price £5.99.
You may just recall that back in March – the 24th to be precise – a very special lot came up at the Red Nose Day raffle. Six places at breakfast with no less than seven former Doctors (and no we don’t mean the medical type).
Doctor Who stars Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi – Doctors Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Ten, Eleven and Twelve – all pledged their time to take part, and now it’s actually happening.
And Emma Freud, wife of Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis, is live-tweeting the whole thing…
I have some very very very very exciting news. If you like doctor who….. #rednoseday
Peter Capaldi isn't in England, but he IS with us for the #RNDbreakfastofdoctors …. he beamed in to the head of a mannequin of his Dr Who costume, VIA SPACE. Typical Doctor. pic.twitter.com/eEFlGNmaPW
7 Doctors, 2 Companions, 1 Moffat, a Curtis, 6 raffle winners, 15 Bacon Rolls, and over £600,000 raised for @rednoseday projects. One hell of a morning. #RNDbreakfastofdoctorspic.twitter.com/DEzOLYD3XN
How do you get 7 Doctor Whos to meet for breakfast? Make $800k for @rednoseday projects by raffling 6 seats at the table, and they magically appear. #RNDbreakfastofdoctorspic.twitter.com/l2ClEGQpWn
Greatest breakfast of my life. Never had a meal which has transformed so many thousands of lives. Thank you excellent Doctors, noble companions, @omaze and @GivergyUK for raising £600k for @rednoseday projects. My heroes. #RNDbreakfastofdoctorspic.twitter.com/5EZKauqzoO
Also MASSIVE thanks to Twitter – without this magical platform I wouldn't have been able to contact half the people in this photo. Or raised the £600k. Or known how to make it happen. #RNDbreakfastofdoctorspic.twitter.com/75Azztlepe
A demob happy Steven Moffat took the opportunity at this week’s Doctor Who Christmas special screening to say what he really thinks about the sci-fi show he has helmed for the last nine years.
At the Q&A that followed the episode, the departing showrunner gave an impassioned off-the-cuff speech setting out just why he believes Doctor Who is the greatest television show ever made. And if you’re a fan, it may just make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck…
“It’s worth saying, because I don’t think it’s ever said enough… the reason Doctor Who is as successful – I mean humanly successful – for so long in such an enduring way – and I’m just gonna say it because I don’t ever say it, but now I’m leaving I’ll say it – it is actually the greatest television show ever made.
“I’m gonna prove it to you. There are probably press here who are ‘No, it’s The Wire’. It’s not The Wire. It’s not I Claudius. It’s not The Office. It’s not even Blue Planet. It’s Doctor Who and I’m gonna prove to whoever is doubting me the hardest that they’re wrong to doubt me.
“How do you measure greatness? Do you measure it by ratings? Do you measure it by reviews? Christ no, of course you don’t.
“Do you measure it by perfection? Is Doctor Who perfect every week? No, it’s not. It really isn’t. It can’t be. Because every episode of Doctor Who is an experiment, and if you experiment every single week, sometimes you get a faceful of soot and you’re blinking the smoke away and you look a bit ridiculous. That happens. Perfection is the refinement of boredom, it’s doing the same thing all the time perfectly. Doctor Who, by always being different, can never be perfect.
“But yes, how do we measure its greatness?
“There are people who became writers because of Doctor Who. Loads of them.
“There are people who became artists because of Doctor Who.
“There are people who became actors because of Doctor Who. Two of them have played the Doctor.
“There are people, believe it or not, who become scientists because of Doctor Who. That seems improbable given we said the moon was an egg, you’d think they’d have a problem with it.
“But people become scientists, people change their view of the world and what they’re capable of, because of a silly show about a man who travels around in time and space in a police box.
“So, never mind the reviews. Never mind anything. Never mind the ratings. Never mind any of that.
“Count the scientists, the musicians, the scholars, the writers, the directors, the actors, who became what they are because of this show.
“Count, as you might say, the hearts that beat a little faster because of Doctor Who.
“I do not even know what is in second place, but without doubt, and by that most important measure, Doctor Who is the greatest television show ever made.”
Christmas special is the perfect swan song for Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat says Metro
This year’s Doctor Who Christmas special is the most eagerly anticipated in years thanks to Peter Capaldi’s regeneration into Jodie Whittaker. And after we here at Metro.co.uk got a sneak preview of the episode at the Science Museum in London, we can assure you that it’s well worth the wait.
An audience at the IMAX at the Science Museum was given a screening of Twice Upon A Time last night, with one element craftily sliced off the end – Jodie Whittaker’s first appearance. Steven Moffat announced that due to the judgement of ‘our overlord Chris Chibnall’, even fans seeing the rest of the episode would have to tune in on Christmas Day for the first appearance of the female Doctor. So even if we wanted to spoil the Doctor’s regeneration for you, we couldn’t. But have no fear – we won’t spoil anything for you here. Not just because the BBC would eviscerate us if we did, but because it would be a darn shame.
Twice Upon A Time is the perfect swan song for both Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat. While the plots in recent series of Doctor Who have been chequered, this very special special has all the hallmarks of a Doctor Who classic.
Humour, surprises, nostalgia, festive flair, and a hell of a lot of emotion. Seriously, we’d have the Kleenex handy alongside your Quality Street. There’s even some exceptional easter eggs thrown in which will have diehard Who fans squealing when they are revealed. What we can tell you about the plot is what has already been revealed – Capaldi’s Doctor comes face to face with his first incarnation, played by David Bradley, as both Doctors struggle to accept their regenerations. Also in the mix is a mysterious Captain, played by Mark Gatiss, who we meet as he is pointing a gun at an enemy soldier – played by Doctor Who writer Toby Whithouse – in the trenches; and Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie.
That’s as much as we can say without risking the aforementioned evisceration, but trust us – how these characters come together will not disappoint. Mark Gatiss, a lifelong Doctor Who superfan, is brilliant as the Captain, weaving himself into the storyline perfectly. Meanwhile, David Bradley – who previously played William Hartnell in An Adventure In Space And Time – is a delight.
With the episode using old footage of Hartnell to link to the present episode, we’re reminded of how far back Doctor Who went, which is lampooned in the various sexist comments spouted by the first Doctor – seemingly a nod to all of the angry folks protesting the Doctor now being a woman. However, this is Capaldi’s episode. As the Doctor’s final battle was wrapped up in The Doctor Falls, the Christmas special can simply focus on Capaldi’s acting. His comedy timing shines through brilliantly, with his back and forth with Bradley a standout moment. And when it comes time for him to regenerate, we can promise you there won’t be a dry eye in the house.
Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall are bound to usher in a hugely exciting, revolutionary and amazing era of Doctor Who. But after watching Twice Upon A Time, you will definitely feel a twinge at the departure of Capaldi and Moffat. Twice Upon A Time, the Doctor Who Christmas special, airs on Christmas Day at 5.30pm on BBC One.
Strictly star Susan Calman has written a new Doctor Who story
Just last month Susan Calman revealed it was her “burning ambition” to be in Doctor Who. Now she’s a step closer to realising her dream after making her first foray into the Whoniverse with a brand new short story.
The comedian – and, now, dancer – has penned a tale for a brand new collection due for release in March. The book, titled Doctor Who: The Day She Saved the Doctor, contains four stories written by Jenny Colgan, Jacqueline Rayner, Dorothy Koomson and Calman.
The all-female team of writers have created “a celebration of the Doctor’s fantastic female friends, packed with heroic action and heart for fans of all age”.
The four stories from the Tardis feature previous companions Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper), Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).
So chuffed to have written for this Doctor Who book. Out next March. https://t.co/YRprqVC7qN
Calman has worked as a comedian for a number of years but found a new band of supporters during her participation in the current series of Strictly Come Dancing.
She had said after her elimination from the competition: “Now I’ve been on Strictly this is the one burning ambition I have left. To be the Doctor. Or be in Doctor Who. Or, to be honest, just be allowed anywhere near Doctor Who in any way.”
The short story anthology comes as Jodie Whittaker is set to be introduced as the new Doctor – the first female incarnation in the show’s 53-year history. She will take over the Tardis from Peter Capaldi in a Christmas Day special.
Steven Moffat on Thirteenth Doctor: Jodie Whittaker ‘put a smile on my face immediately’
Doctor Who Magazine issue 520 (out Dec 14) features an in-depth and exclusive interview with outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat.
Steven, who leaves his post as Doctor Who boss this month, chatted with DWM about his very last story, the 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon A Time. This was also be the final outing for Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and will see the debut of the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker.
From Doctor Who Magazine 520:
“I must be honest, everyone’s watching for the last minute,” chuckles Steven, “and people are going to absolutely love Jodie. Then they’ll notice that, at the same time, they miss Peter, but it’s not like it’ll be a grieving process. Or rather, with a new Doctor, it’s always grieving and falling in love simultaneously.”
Discussing the handover to his successor Chris Chibnall, whose first series in charge airs in 2018, Moffat admits the process was emotional:
“It’s an odd feeling. It’s just weird. You suddenly realise that the new guy, the new showrunner, has to come barreling through the door and take over. It’s a slightly bewildering feeling. But it’s an amazing process.”
Although Steven wasn’t on set for filming on Jodie’s first scene as the Thirteenth Doctor, he has seen the finished product. He told DWM:
“It’s slightly strange and very, very good. Jodie put a smile on my face immediately. She was funny from the off. I thought that was great.”
You can read the full interview with Steven Moffat and Bill actress Pearl Mackie in the latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine along with a Christmas Special preview and much, much more.
Doctor Who Magazine 520 is on sale from Dec 14, 2017.