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Month: January 2018

Twice Upon A Time proves to be iPlayer hit

Twice Upon A Time proves to be iPlayer hit

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Twice Upon A Time

UPDATE: Further to the story below, it’s now been revealed that Doctor Who has added 1.045m viewers to its tally courtesy of iPlayer up to and including December 31st. Twice Upon A Time is still available on the service for another week or two as well.  Proved to be quite the ratings success in the end, Peter Capaldi’s farewell and Jodie Whittaker’s “brilliant”.

Here’s the top 10 iPlayer chart for the end of December…

EARLIER STORY

Former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat had to do battle aplenty with ratings stories during his time on the show, that came to an end with Twice Upon A Time on Christmas day. Moffat continually argued – rightly – that overnight ratings mattered less and less, given the changing ways that people watched television. And the ratings for his final Doctor Who story have proven that.

After seven days, the show has added 2.2 million viewers in the UK to the total who watched it on Christmas Day. Just over 5.7m watched on December 25th, and after a week, the total rating is at 7.92m. Given that the episode will be on iPlayer for a further three weeks, that means that Twice Upon A Time is going to surpass 8 million viewers in the UK alone.

To give the number some context, it’s the highest number at this stage for a Doctor Who Christmas special since 2014’s Last Christmas.

Doctor Who will, of course, return in the autumn.

The decision to use Jodie Whittaker’s Yorkshire accent

The decision to use Jodie Whittaker’s Yorkshire accent

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The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine goes on sale this week, and in it, Jodie Whittaker has been chatting about her take on the Doctor, introduced on Christmas Day. She gets the cover of the magazine too, and rightly so.

In particular, she’s been chatting about her Doctor using her Yorkshire accent, a decision that seemed very matter of fact.

“All the Doctors’ voices have been different”, Whittaker said. “There have been various dialects and I knew coming into it that there wasn’t a rule that you had to speak in a certain way. I auditioned in my accent and at no point did anyone say to do anything different”.

“In fact, they said ‘use your own voice’”.

And that’s exactly what Jodie Whittaker did. She goes on to say in the magazine that she would have been comfortable doing different accents too if that was what was required for the role. But it was never a problem. “In a strange way I don’t know how much of an actual decision it was … I think it happened before I was even cast!”, Whittaker said of the Doctor’s new Yorkshire accent!

Find more on Doctor Who Magazine here. The issue goes on sale from Thursday.

New petition wants the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular back

New petition wants the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular back

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In recent times, the music of Doctor Who has taken to live venues as part of the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular. We’ve seen – and heard! – Doctor Who Proms, Doctor Who concerts, and the chance to enjoy the music from the programme played by a big orchestra.

That said, since the last tour finished in 2015, that’s been it, aside from a one-off event as part of Doctor Who series 10. And it seems as though there are no plans right now for more Doctor Who concerts.

Thus, one fan has decided to try and do something about it. Neil Vadgama has set up a petition to try and demonstrate the interest in the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular to the BBC, and it needs your support! You can find it over at Change.org, with the specific link to the petition being this one.

It’s a long shot, certainly, and with a reported change in composer on Doctor Who it may be that future live music events wait for series 11 to debut. But worth a try, right?

Doctor Who takes place ‘under your bed not outer space’ says Steven Moffat

Doctor Who takes place ‘under your bed not outer space’ says Steven Moffat

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Doctor Who: The Fan Show has released the first of three very special episodes which sit down with former showrunner Steven Moffat and take an in-depth look on his time on the series.

Watch the first instalment of an exclusive three-part interview with Steven in the player below.

During the interview, Moffat discusses his inspiration for writing and how he sees the world of Doctor Who through the eyes of children. The writer says:

“When you talk about Doctor Who, it’s from the angle of the nursery, it’s what scared you as a child. The way in which a child populates the ordinary world around them, not just with horrors but with wonder and excitement. They see old people as wise and fascinating. They see cracks in the wall as portals to other worlds. They see statues as people coming to get them.

They see magic and mystery and horror and joy everywhere. Which, in a way, is how the Doctor looks at the universe. It’s also the key to writing the show.

Because Doctor Who, properly, doesn’t take place in outer space like Star Trek and Star Wars.

It takes place under your bed, the back of your hall cupboard, at your school, in the forest you have to walk through on your way home – that’s where Doctor Who lives.”

Steven also discusses 1999 Comic Relief special The Curse of Fatal Death and his days on writing for Doctor Who before becoming showrunner.

You can listen to an extended podcast version, featuring material not included in the video, in the player below.

DWM SPECIAL 48 – THE 2018 YEARBOOK

DWM SPECIAL 48 – THE 2018 YEARBOOK

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DWM SPECIAL 48 – THE 2018 YEARBOOK

At the end of 2017 a remarkable chapter in the history of Doctor Who draw to a close. Two incarnations of the Time Lord overcame an existential threat… before the arrival of the Thirteenth Doctor heralded a bold new era for the programme.

The latest Special Edition of Doctor Who Magazine is a unique celebration of the Twelfth Doctor’s final adventures, from The Return of Doctor Mysterio through to Twice Upon a Time. Packed full of all-new features and previously unseen images, this is the essential guide to the year in Doctor Who.

Highlights include exclusive new interviews with:

Joe Browning, Jimmy Mann, Gary Pollard and Kate Walshe (Millennium FX)
Ysanne Churchman (the voice of Alpha Centauri in Empress of Mars)
Matthew Clark (graphic designer, 2017 series)
Rachel Denning (Erica in The Pyramid at the End of the World)
Mark Gatiss (Captain Lethbridge-Stewart in Twice Upon a Time)
Stephanie Hyam (Heather in The Pilot and The Doctor Falls)
Adele Lynch (Iraxxa in Empress of Mars)
Rove McManus (host of Australian show Whovians)
Rachel Talalay (director of three episodes in the 2017 series)
Alexandra Tynan (designer of the original Cybermen)

Editor Marcus Hearn says: “The latest Yearbook is out a little later than usual, because we wanted to complete our coverage of the Twelfth Doctor’s stories by including Twice Upon a Time. This issue covers more episodes than any previous Yearbooks, but there are many other fantastic articles in there too. We hope this is a great souvenir of an incredible era.”

The Doctor Who Magazine Yearbook 2018 is on sale now at WH Smith and all good newsagents, price £5.99.

New look at Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who costume

New look at Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who costume

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Jodie Whittaker on the cover of Doctor Who Magazine

A few months ago, the first look at Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who costume was revealed and it’s fair to say there was a lot to digest in it.

But it wasn’t until later that we learned one crucial detail wasn’t as it seemed, with the new Thirteenth Doctor’s coat actually a shade of light blue rather than the brown or beige it appears in the official photo.

Now, a new photos of the current Time Lord’s outfit have emerged on Twitter as part of an upcoming feature in the official Doctor Magazine that show Whittaker in all her glory – and as rumoured, her coat IS blue after all.

https://twitter.com/GirlyLetters/status/950022373738254336

Apart from that, there’ not much to glean from these photos, but it’s another step forward in the exciting march towards Whittaker’s first Doctor Who series this autumn. We can hardly wait to see her in action.

 Doctor Who Magazine’s latest issue will be on sale from Thursday 11thJanuary, and will include interviews with Jodie Whittaker and new showrunner Chris Chibnall.
NABIL SHABAN INTERVIEWED FOR MYTH MAKERS!

NABIL SHABAN INTERVIEWED FOR MYTH MAKERS!

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Keith Barnfather with actor NABIL SHABAN

Keith Barnfather has just spent two days with actor NABIL SHABAN, who played the marvellously evil SIL in DOCTOR WHO, recording an interview for a future MYTH MAKERS release.

Filmed at NABIL’S wilderness hideaway, it’s a fascinating chat about NABIL’S life and career with emphasis on DOCTOR WHO.

Release date TBC.

LETHBRIDGE-STEWART TWO FREE SHORT STORIES

LETHBRIDGE-STEWART TWO FREE SHORT STORIES

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Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce two new free Lethbridge-Stewart short stories!

What’s Past is Prologue by David A McIntee, and The Note by Andy Frankham-Allen were released over the festive period to subscribers of the Lethbridge-Stewart series, and are now available to the general public.

The two stories are connected by a Lethbridge-Stewart family secret which has its origins in 1902 and is not revealed until 1945. Both stories focus on the relationship between the original Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, the British Intelligence operative from the early twentieth century, after whom the Brigadier was named, and his brother, Archie.

Range Editor and author, Andy Frankham-Allen explains: “This story plays with family secrets, adding further depth to the Lethbridge-Stewart legacy. So, now we have a story set in 1917 that sets up the secret from 1902, and a story set in 1945 which reveals what really did, or did not, happen.”

Not only do the stories feature the Brigadier’s namesake, but also takes a deeper look into the life of his father, Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

What’s Past is Prologue and The Note are now available for free download at the Candy Jar Books website at: http://www.candy-jar.co.uk/books/deals.html

Series 11 filming heading to South Africa

Series 11 filming heading to South Africa

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After its Christmas break, production is set to begin again on Doctor Who series 11, starring Jodie Whittaker, imminently. And it look likes the year is kicking off with a location shoot, with filming work apparently already underway around Cape Town.

Reports having been coming in on Twitter suggesting that crew for Doctor Who have been in place in Cape Town, South Africa since just before Christmas. And that the cast are now in the city too, for filming on a thus-far mystery episode. The excellent Girly Letters Twitter feed has been collating many of the reports, such as this one…

https://twitter.com/GirlyLetters/status/948939380550488064

Inevitably, there’s still a veil of secrecy over it all. It’s fair to assume that the Doctor Who team haven’t flown all the way to South Africa to film in a studio, though, so expect a location snap or two to pop up over the coming days.

Sarah Dollard on why she’s not writing for series 11

Sarah Dollard on why she’s not writing for series 11

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Doctor Who logo

Sarah Dollard’s first episode writing for Doctor Who was a significant one, as she penned the last full episode featuring Jenna Coleman’s Clara, Face The Raven. She then followed that up with series 10’s Thin Ice. But in a new interview, she’s confirmed that she won’t be returning for the next series.

“I won’t be on S11 due to workload/schedule clashes in the past year”, she told Rogues Portal. But she did hold the door open to returning for Doctor Who in the future. “I had a really great chat with Chris [Chibnall, new showrunner] about his plans. So hopefully I’ve left the door open for a possible return in the future. It would be an honour to work with him and write for Thirteen”.

It’s believed that Chibnall is the only writer to have written for the show before who will be penning episodes for series 11, although that’s not been confirmed as of yet.