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Month: November 2019

The Web Planet comes to audio!

The Web Planet comes to audio!

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The Vinyl Planet on vinyl from Demon Records

Published on pink vinyl by Demon Records, this First Doctor adventure comes to audio for the first time.

Demon Records have announced the release of Doctor Who The Web Planet on vinyl on the 13th December 2019. Starring the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki in one of the most weird and wonderful adventures of Doctor Who’s original run, this vintage 6-part adventure is reborn and available in audio form for the first time.

In The Web Planet, first shown on the BBC in February and March 1965, a strange magnetic force pulls the TARDIS down to the craterous surface of Vortis. The Doctor and his friends learn that the planet has been invaded and the parasitic Animus is slowly enveloping it in a web-like domain. The giant ant-like Zarbi are under its control, whilst the butterfly-like Menoptra are battling to reclaim their planet.

Written by Bill Strutton, this was the Doctor’s most exotic and lavish adventure when it was originally broadcast. The first episode of the serial was watched by 13.5 million viewers, the highest number for any Doctor Who episode of the Sixties.

For its transition to vinyl, the cast includes William Hartnell as the Doctor, William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara, Martin Jarvis as Hilio and Roslyn de Winter as Vrestin, plus linking narration provided by Maureen O’Brien, who also plays Vicki.

Accompanying the pink vinyl LPs are full episode billings, cast and credits, and eight illustrated panels to make a superb artwork montage. Presented across 3 heavyweight 180g pieces of pink vinyl, this narrated TV soundtrack evokes a classic Doctor Who adventure in all its aural magnificence.

DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE 545

DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE 545

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THE WORLD CUP OF THE DALEKS

Thirty-two Dalek stories battled for supremacy in our epic Twitter contest. Which is the fans’ favourite?

Highlights of this issue include:

  • A 16-page celebration of the Daleks, including the results of DWM’s online tournament.
  • An exclusive Series 12 update.
  • Writer and director Pete McTighe goes behind the scenes on The Promise, his new trailer for the Season 26 Blu-ray box set.
  • Sophie Aldred discusses her on-screen return as Ace.
  • Production designer Arwel Jones gives DWM a tour of the Thirteenth Doctor’s TARDIS.
  • The first part of an exclusive interview with former script editor Andrew Cartmel.
  • A preview of Tiny Rebel’s final Doctor Who: Infinity
  • The Fact of Fiction explores the 1973 story Carnival of Monsters.
  • The answers to last issue’s fiendishly difficult quiz about the first 40 years of DWM.
  • Part Three of Mistress of Chaos, a new comic-strip adventure featuring the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends.
  • The Blogs of Doom, audio and book reviews, previews, news, prize-winning competitions and much, much more! 

On sale from Thursday 14 November 2019 £5.99 (UK)

The Thirteenth Doctor comic special for Christmas

The Thirteenth Doctor comic special for Christmas

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Titan Comics has released a two-part Holiday Special for the Thirteenth Doctor, and part one is out now!

Can the Doctor save Christmas? Is Santa a man, a myth, or a Time Lord? Are chimneys bigger on the inside? Find out in this exciting new Thirteenth Doctor comic!

The Thirteenth Doctor Holiday Special - Doctor Who

Created by the stellar sci-fi team of Eisner-nominated writer Jody Houser and Shades of Magic artist Roberta Ingranata, Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor: Holiday Special sees the Thirteenth Doctor and her “fam” saving the universe from the most unlikely of villains…

The Thirteenth Doctor exclusive panel

Following on the story from the Thirteenth Doctor’s Free Comic Book Day 2019 adventure, the Time Lord and co visit an inter-galactic fair for some down time, only to realise that things aren’t all as they seem. Both their minds and the Tardis’s logs have been tampered with! In a bid to discover just what in Gallifrey’s name is going on, they encounter a mysterious festive figure involved in an audacious plot.

The Thirteenth Doctor Holiday Special #1 is on sale from November 13th and #2 will be in shops from December 18th.

The first issue, available now, has three collectible covers, with Claudia Caranfa designing beautiful artwork and Blair Shedd designing the Thirteenth Doctor as an action figure.

Claudia Caranfa

Photo cover

Blair Shedd

Announcing the Terrance Dicks World Cup!

Announcing the Terrance Dicks World Cup!

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BBC Books is to publish a hardback collection of Target novelisations by the late Terrance Dicks next year – and they need your help with the selection.

BBC Books will publish a commemorative single-volume Collected Works of the late Terrance Dicks in 2020. The lavish hardback will include some of the Doctor Who legend’s most popular titles from the Target range, a list to which he contributed over 60 books. How do you choose the best, though?

Target Novels

How does The Abominable Snowmen rate against Genesis of the Daleks? Do you leave out The Planet of the Spiders to make room for The Auton Invasion? What about The Three Doctors? With so many to choose from, BBC Books need some expert advice from the fans!

From Monday 18 November Doctor Who fans can vote on social media for their favourite works by Terrance Dicks to be included in the collection.

Terrance Dicks became Script Editor of Doctor Who in 1968, co-writing Patrick Troughton’s classic final serial, The War Games, and editing the show throughout the entire Jon Pertwee era to 1974.

He wrote many iconic episodes and serials for the show, including Tom Baker’s first episode as the Fourth Doctor, Robot; Horror at Fang Rock in 1977; State of Decay in 1980; and the 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors in 1983.

Many fans remember his contribution to the universe of Doctor Who through the Target novelisations, adaptations of classic television serials onto book form. In total, he novelised over sixty of them, and his books fill the shelves in many Doctor Who fans’ homes.

The World Cup of Terrance Dicks will take place over five days on the Doctor Who BBC Books Twitter account (@DWBBCBooks). 64 of Terrance’s Doctor Who novelisations will be sorted into 16 groups of 4, and each day fans can vote to get closer to a final winner. The book will then be based around the 10 novels that make it to the top of the tournament. Fans can keep track of the tournament through the hashtag #TerranceDicksWorldCup.

A full list of titles in their respective groups can be found below:

Group A

  • The Auton Invasion (1974)
  • Terror of the Autons (1975)
  • The Abominable Snowmen (1974)
  • An Unearthly Child (1981)

Group B

  • The Planet of the Spiders (1975)
  • The Planet of the Daleks (1976)
  • The Planet of Evil (1977)
  • Planet of Giants (1990)

Group C

  • The Destiny of the Daleks (1979)
  • The Day of the Daleks (1974)
  • The Genesis of the Daleks (1976)
  • Death to the Daleks (1978)

Group D

  • The Brain of Morbius (1977)
  • The Mind of Evil (1985)
  • The Face of Evil (1977)
  • The Hand of Fear (1979)

Group E

  • The Carnival of Monsters (1977)
  • The Time Monster (1985)
  • The Monster of Peladon (1980)
  • The Loch Ness Monster (1976)

Group F

  • The Three Doctors (1975)
  • The Five Doctors (1983)
  • Four to Doomsday (1983)
  • The Keeper of Traken (1982)

Group G

  • Ambassadors of Death (1987)
  • The Seeds of Death (1986)
  • The Robots of Death (1979)
  • The Smugglers (1988)

Group H

  • The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977)
  • The Claws of Axos (1977)
  • The Horns of Nimon (1980)
  • The Sun Makers (1982)

Group I

  • The Image of the Fendahl (1979)
  • The Invisible Enemy (1979)
  • The Faceless Ones (1986)
  • The Mutants (1977)

Group J

  • Kinda (1983)
  • Snakedance (1984)
  • The Giant Robot (1975)
  • The Androids of Tara (1980)

Group K

  • Arc of Infinity (1983)
  • The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet (1987)
  • The Wheel in Space (1988)
  • The Space Pirates (1990)

Group L

  • The Caves of Androzani (1984)
  • The Pyramids of Mars (1976)
  • The Stones of Blood (1980)
  • The Power of Kroll (1980)

Group M

  • The Revenge of the Cybermen (1976)
  • The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1977)
  • The Android Invasion (1978)
  • The Invasion of Time (1980)

Group N

  • The Horror of Fang Rock (1978)
  • The Nightmare of Eden (1980)
  • The Web of Fear (1976)
  • The State of Decay (1981)

Group O

  • The Time Warrior (1978)
  • Warriors of the Deep (1984)
  • The Armageddon Factor (1980)
  • The Krotons (1985)

Group P

  • The Deadly Assassin (1977)
  • Inferno (1984)
  • Underworld (1980)
  • Meglos (1983)

Keep an eye on the #TerranceDicksWorldCup on Twitter from Monday 18 November, and get voting!

Doctor Who series 12 writers and directors announced

Doctor Who series 12 writers and directors announced

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With the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, and her friends well on their way to landing back on our screens, the next series is set to welcome an exciting host of new directors and both new and returning writers.

Three new writers have jumped on board the TARDIS for series 12: Nina Metivier, Maxine Alderton and Charlene James.

Also making their debut in 2020 and joining ‘the fam’, are four new directors ready to travel through space and time: Nida Manzoor, Emma Sullivan, Jamie Magnus Stone and Lee Haven Jones.

In addition, three writers return from series 11: Vinay Patel (Demons Of The Punjab), Ed Hime (It Takes You Away), and Pete McTighe (Kerblam!)

Chris Chibnall, Showrunner, says:

“We’re thrilled that Doctor Who continues to attract some of the most the most exciting and dynamic talent working in television. Along with our returning faces, we’re excited to welcome new members to the Doctor Who family. The Doctor Who team is crammed with British television’s brightest writers and directors: We’ve adored working with them, and can’t wait to show you the explosive stuff they’ve created!”

Jodie Whittaker returns as the Thirteenth Doctor in early 2020 when Doctor Who makes an explosive return to screens for another action-packed series of thrilling adventures. Mandip Gill, Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole will all be reprising their roles alongside an exciting host of soon to be announced guest artists.

Directors

After graduating from the National Film and Television School, Emma Sullivan was named one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow. Her short film, After Tomorrow, was also nominated for a Palme d’Or at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, and won Best Short Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2009. She has also directed for the critically acclaimed dramas Call The Midwife and Silent Witness.

Nida Manzoor was named one of Broadcast Magazine’s Hot Shots back in 2015. Since then, she has gone on to direct the BBC comedy-drama Enterprice and has recently received an RTS nomination for her work. Nida is also currently writing and directing an original music comedy series for Channel 4 called Lady Parts.

Jamie Magnus Stone is a film director and animator who graduated from the National Film and Television School. Jamie created and directed the Bafta-nominated short Orbit Ever After and other recent work includes Tripped and The Last Dragon Slayer.

After studying at RADA, Lee Haven Jones has gone on to direct multiple episodes of hit dramas including The Bay, Vera and Shetland. Lee has won two Welsh Baftas for his work as a Director and his first feature film, Gwledd/Feast, will premier later in 2020.

Writers

Nina Metivier is the co-creator and co-writer of teen thriller series The A List (BBC/Netflix), and produced and wrote on the Bafta-winning TV series Dixi.

Maxine Alderton has written for CBBC’s The Worst Witch and ITV’s long running series Emmerdale, winning a Yorkshire RTS award for Best Writer for a special standalone episode about dementia, and has been nominated for a Writers’ Guild award twice.

Charlene James has previously written for the television show A Discovery Of Witches as well the award-winning theatre play, Cuttin’ It.

Pete McTighe is the originating writer of Wentworth, the female prison drama that screens worldwide on Netflix, and is currently Executive Producing and writing season two of A Discovery Of Witches for Sky/AMC/BadWolf.

Ed Hime was nominated for a Craft Bafta for his first episode of Skins, and won the Prix Italia for his radio play The Incomplete Recorded Works Of A Dead Body.

Vinay Patel’s television debut, Murdered By My Father, won the 2016 Royal Television Society Award for Best Single Drama and was nominated for three Baftas.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Time Comes to PS VR

Doctor Who: The Edge of Time Comes to PS VR

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Don’t blink — the Weeping Angels are closing in.

When presented with the opportunity to work with an expansive franchise such as Doctor Who, deciding where to begin can easily become a daunting task. After weeks of research involving copious amounts of reading and episode-watching (in fairness, it’s a serious perk of my job!), we presented three possible routes to take for this VR experience. On one end of the spectrum, a classic Who-focused concept involving fan-favorite characters, and the other end looking into the new show direction and incarnation of the Doctor. We all agreed on the latter and to fit in somewhere after series 11 but with some classic monsters along the way. One of these was a definite must-have…

The Weeping Angels – mysterious predators who move very quickly and silently towards their prey when unobserved, but become “quantum locked” and freeze when observed. Originally inspired by playground games such as Statues, Red Light Green Light, and Grandmother’s Footsteps, it’s perfect for the medium of VR, which uses a player’s head rotation and probably the only way you could actually get to experience their terror outside of the screen.

Video Player

 

We love the Angels episodes and they’re behind the reason we got to work on this project initially. In 2017, we invited the BBC into the studio to try an early concept demo of a VR experience we were working on. From there we started talking about Doctor Who and how well the show translated into this new medium. At its best, VR acts like a teleportation device allowing players to travel to distant worlds, faraway places and go on incredible adventures in space and time. It was obvious to us straight away in that meeting that Doctor Who would translate into a perfect VR title.

By chance, The Doctor Who Experience, a live attraction in Cardiff that documented the show’s 55-year history and exhibited many of its props, sets, and characters was about to close. We got talking about photogrammetry and next thing you know we were down in Cardiff creating a digital record of the whole experience. It’s all on a hard drive in our office.

With access to a wealth of incredible data, we couldn’t help ourselves and made a Weeping Angels demo in VR, and things just snowballed from there.

Video Player

 

One of the main challenges was how to balance the timings of looking away and how quickly the Angels advance in turn. In the show’s lore, they can move incredibly fast but in gameplay that can prove incredibly frustrating. There’s a balance between the distance they need to travel and the tension that ensues. We’re also playing with lighting just to add to the fear — if you’re suddenly dropped into darkness, they can change tactics and adjust their pathway.

On the other hand, if all you do is stand on a spot and stare at a statue, then you’re looking at the world’s longest standoff. This means we have to keep the player on their toes, making you interact with items that require you to change direction. Then it’s about the setup of the scene, the environment and the accompanying sound effects from the show to make it feel authentic. The Angel models themselves are based on the original outfits from the show’s costume archives which were scanned through photogrammetry techniques to match as closely as possible.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Time releases tomorrow on PS VR and we can’t wait for you to jump in the Tardis and take it for a spin.

The Doctor versus Ace in Doctor Who: Dark Universe

The Doctor versus Ace in Doctor Who: Dark Universe

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The Seventh Doctor faces off against one of the most dangerous Time Lords in the universe, the Eleven… but is Ace a friend or a foe?

Sylvester McCoy stars as the Seventh Doctor with Sophie Aldred as Ace and Mark Bonnar as the Eleven, in a brand new full-cast audio drama coming from Big Finish in January 2020.

Doctor Who Dark Universe

Dark Universe pits the Seventh Doctor against renegade Time Lord, the Eleven, and an old friend who might have become an enemy. Twenty years since she last saw him, Ace hasn’t forgotten the Doctor – but has she forgiven him?

The Eleven has a plan. A grand plan. An appalling plan. A plan that endangers all life in the cosmos.

With Ace working against him, the Doctor must rely on scheming Time Lord Cardinal Ollistra for help. The stage is set for an epic confrontation.

Because the Doctor has a plan to stop the Eleven. A grand plan. An appalling plan. A plan that endangers all life in the cosmos.

Whichever one of them wins, the Dark Universe won’t want to lose…

Mark Bonnar plays the Eleven, a Time Lord psychopath in his eleventh incarnation who retains the personalities of all his previous ones. This is his first meeting with the Seventh Doctor, and it looks like the Eleven has gained the confidence of a former companion.

Actor Sophie Aldred explains:

“We know that Ace is now the CEO of A Charitable Earth. Russell T Davies wrote a line in The Sarah Jane Adventures to say that she’d set up this charity. I reckon she wears a lot of suits, although I like to think she still wears Doc Martens! But we also know at the beginning that she’s pretty narked with the Doctor. He’s let her down one time too many.”

Is it the same Ace we saw gazing across the London skyline in the trailer for the Season 26 Blu-ray Collection…? Or has Ace taken a darker path?

Sophie continues:

“Ace has had many trajectories in Big Finish stories which is fantastic to play. As an actor I have to work out where we are in her timeline – this is a pretty complex story and it actually took me a while.”

Script Editor, Matt Fitton, explains more:

“In Dark Universe, Ace has been back on Earth a long while. She’s set up the charity and is travelling the world making speeches and raising money, but she has also hinted at a figure who manipulated her when she was younger. This is what the Eleven seizes on to ‘recruit’ her in his scheme against the Doctor.”

Sylvester McCoy adds:

“It’s quite intriguing really because we discover Ace after many years and it’s fascinating to see what she’s become. Now she’s a mature lady. When she’s in full swing, though, the young teenager comes back. You can hear it in her voice. It’s a wonderful role for Sophie to play.”

Doctor Who: Dark Universe will be released in January 2020 and is available for pre-order now from the Big Finish website here

Doctor Who Part of BBC Children In Need 2019

Doctor Who Part of BBC Children In Need 2019

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Jodie Whittaker posing for Children in Needs. Credit: BBC/Ray Burmiston/PA Wire.

The annual night of fundraising for Children in Need projects across the UK is back and bigger than ever with the always brilliant hosts Tess Daly, Ade Adepitan, Graham Norton and Mel Giedroyc.

There’ll be plenty of entertainment, including a trip to the country’s most famous ballroom for a Strictly special with the cast of EastEnders, a visit from Doctor Who, a Star Wars spectacular, the long-awaited return of Crackerjack to BBC One, Countryfile presenters as you’ve never seen them before and an extra special surprise from the England football team. Plus plenty of all-singing, all-dancing studio performances from West End shows Big and Circus 1903, the Children in Need choir sing live up and down the country, the One Show rickshaw finishes its epic journey in the studio, and lots of great music, including performances from Louis Tomlinson, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe.

As always, throughout the night there will be many films focusing on the incredible and inspiring stories of the brave children who are supported by some of the 3000+ Children in Need projects around the UK.

The fun doesn’t stop at 10pm, as over on BBC Two the Dragons circle around a dinner table for an extra special additional of I’ll Get This – but which one will end up paying the bill?

And don’t forget that donations can be made throughout the night by visiting bbc.co.uk/Pudsey, calling 0345 7 33 22 33. To donate £10 text the word DONATE to 70410, to donate £20 text DONATE to 70420 or to donate £30 text DONATE to 70430.