It is with great sadness that GNR has learnt this evening that writer Philip Martin passed away two weeks ago on Sunday 13th of December 2020.
His funeral was held on Christmas Eve.
Philip Martin (born 1938 in Liverpool) is an English television screenwriter. He created the BBC television drama series Gangsters in the 1970s and later wrote two television serials for Doctor Whoduring Colin Baker’s tenure as the Sixth Doctor in the 1980s.
His early work included regular series such as Z-Cars in the late 1960s/early 1970s, but his most famous work is the postmodern television series Gangsters. This was an examination of race seen through an increasingly surreal vision of Birmingham’s criminal underworld. Beginning as an acclaimed one-off edition of Play for Today in 1975, it was followed by two series of 6 episodes each in 1976 and 1978. Martin appeared in the series in several roles, including as himself.
His later work includes Tandoori Nights (1985), Star Cops (1987), Virtual Murder (1992), several episodes of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Luifel & Luifel (2001).
Doctor Who
He wrote the Doctor Who serials “Vengeance on Varos“ (1985) and “The Trial of a Time Lord”: “Mindwarp”(1986). He also wrote a script called “Mission to Magnus“ which featured the character Sil from his previous televised serials. That script was never filmed when the show was put on hiatus in 1985. A novelised version of the script written by Martin was released by Target Books in 1990, and a Big Finish audio drama based on the serial was released in December 2009. He also wrote a Doctor Who gamebook called “Invasion of the Ormazoids“ (1986) as part of the Make your own adventure with Doctor Who range.
His most recent contribution to the series were “The Creed of the Kromon“ (2004) and “Antidote to Oblivion“ (2013), as Big Finish audio releases. Recently, he has revisited the character of Sil for Reeltime Pictures Ltd., “Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor” (2019), which has received much critical acclaim – winning over 50 awards.
Doctor Who Christmas special to be offered in 4K HDR on iPlayer
The BBC is to screen Doctor Who’s Christmas special in 4K resolution and high dynamic range (HDR) colour via iPlayer.
When the programme is broadcast, viewers will be prompted to switch to the higher quality streamed version by pressing the red button.
US video platforms including Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video commonly offer content in this format.
But it is more rare on the BBC and Sky.
To take advantage of the facility, households will need a compatible TV and a relatively fast internet connection.
More vivid
Ultra-High Definition (UHD) – the other name given to 4K – delivers four times as many pixels as regular 1080p high-definition (HD) video.
The benefits are that images can appear sharper and more detailed, although this is not always apparent if the screen is not large enough or viewers are sitting too far away.
For many people it is HDR that delivers the most notable difference.
Pictures typically appear to be more vivid and colourful.
It takes advantage of the fact screens can go brighter and/or darker than they used to be able to, providing a greater dynamic range.
As a result, the shadows of an image can be made less murky while the highlights – including sparks from special effects – can have more impact.
It has subsequently offered a limited range of full-length programmes including Dynasties; His Dark Materials; and Dracula, as well as sport including Wimbledon and Fifa World Cup 2018 matches.
But despite pioneering related technologies – such as developing the hybrid-log gamma format used to stream live action simultaneously in both HDR and normal TV – it has been resistant to deploy it widely.
This had led to odd situations such as Peaky Blinders being offered in HDR on the UK’s Netflix service but only Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) on iPlayer.
The BBC is, however, also providing further shows in 4K HDR over the coming days including:
the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast
the drama series Black Narcissus
the natural history documentaries Meerkat: A Dynasties Special, and A Perfect Planet
A spokesman for the corporation added that there would be further content in the new year.
The older bronze Daleks will apparently be making an appearance in the upcoming special despite the introduction of a brand new design.
Doctor Who has confirmed the return of the bronze Daleks with a first-look image from the Doctor Who Christmas special.
While many fans will know that the infamous Doctor Who villains are getting a big make-over for the upcoming special, it looks as though this older model (first introduced in 2005) will also be making an appearance – or at least a cameo.
The show posted a photo of Captain Jack Harness (John Barrowman) and a bronze Dalek on Twitter yesterday, with the caption: “Captain Jack faces the Daleks once again! Get ready for the New Year’s Day special, Revolution of the Daleks.”
While a number of the older Daleks were spotted on Clifton Suspension Bridge during filming last year, this teaser from the long-running BBC show seems to confirm their appearance in the New Year’s Day episode alongside the brand new Daleks, which are sleeker, sturdier and complete with new, glowing layers.
But perhaps we should have expected this doubling up. Speaking to RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview about Doctor Who’s new Dalek design, showrunner Chris Chibnall said that, while the new Daleks are deliberately different to those we’ve seen before, they don’t completely replace their predecessors.
“You’re never replacing what’s gone before, you’re just adding a new variant,” he said. “You’re just adding to the line of different things that have been done with those, so it wasn’t like we were saying, ‘These will replace the bronze Daleks,’ it’s just this story is about these black and red Daleks which light up at night and do all sorts of things.
“So I think that gives you a little bit more freedom,” he added. “You’re not saying forget all the Daleks you’ve seen before…you’re just saying in this story [it’s these new ones].”
And, apparently, the old ones as well. Sounds like we’re in for quite the Dalek crossover…
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks comes to BBC One at 6:45pm on New Year’s Day.
Packed with all-new content and previously unseen images, Doctor Who Magazine’s 2021 Yearbook is the essential guide to an extraordinary year.
Highlights include:
Exclusive interviews with Jodie Whittaker (the Doctor), John Barrowman (Captain Jack), Mandip Gill (Yaz) and Tosin Cole (Ryan); guest stars Laura Fraser (Kane in Orphan 55), Anjli Mohindra (Queen Skithra in Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror) and Warren Brown and Matthew McNulty (Jake and Adam in Praxeus); plus writers Ed Hime (Orphan 55) and Maxine Alderton (The Haunting of Villa Diodati).
Analyses of all the episodes from the 2020 series.
The inside story of the new YouTube serial Daleks!
Behind the scenes of the Radiophonic Workshop’s latest project.
Tributes to the Doctor Who luminaries who passed away during 2020.
… and much more!
DWM Special Edition 56: The 2021 Yearbook is on sale from Wednesday 16 December at WH Smith, selected supermarkets and online from store.panini.co.uk priced £6.99. A digital edition is also available, priced £5.99 from pocketmags.com
Demon Records presents the thrilling narrated TV soundtrack of this vintage four-part adventure, Horror of Fang Rock, starring Tom Baker as the Doctor and Lousie Jameson as Leela.
A remote lighthouse in the early 1900s is the scene of this suspenseful adventure for the Doctor and Leela, when a light in the sky and a sudden dense fog are the preludes to a night of terror. With a lighthouse keeper dead, Old Reuben fears the legendary Beast of Fang Rock has returned. A shipwreck brings others in search of shelter, but nobody’s safety can be guaranteed.
The Doctor must use all his ingenuity if he and Leela are to survive…
Presented across 2 x 140g vinyl discs in Rutan Blob green, this 1977 TV soundtrack is narrated by Louise Jameson, who plays Leela in the story.
The supporting cast includes Colin Douglas, John Abbott, Alan Rowe, Sean Caffrey and Annette Woollett. Incidental music is composed by Dudley Simpson, and the familiar strains of the Doctor Who theme are courtesy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The coloured vinyl LPs are presented in a fully illustrated gatefold sleeve showing cast and credits, and inner bags featuring complete episode billings.
You can pre-order Horror of Fang Rock on vinyl now, ahead of its release on February 19th, 2021
Christopher Eccleston’s return is officially underway!
The Ninth Doctor is about to enter the Sphere of Freedom.
Christopher Eccleston’s return to Doctor Who might have been announced back in August, but it’s still rather exciting to get our first confirmation that the Ninth Doctor’s big comeback is actually, properly, officially happening.
That moment has now arrived, with Eccleston proudly displaying a copy of a script from audio drama producers Big Finish in a new Instagram post, which they later shared on Twitter.
Eccleston’s post came without a caption – not even a token “Fantastic!” – but eagle-eyed fans have been able to spot some details about the story he’s recording from the script page on show.
As it stands, it appears that the first volume of the upcoming Ninth Doctor Adventures bears the subtitle ‘Ravengers’, with the first story (written by Nicholas Briggs) being called ‘Sphere of Freedom’.
The page also reveals details of a character who appears in the story alongside the Ninth Doctor, a skilled chef from the Sphere of Freedom enlisted by the Time Lord to stop a dastardly plan.
Each of the four volumes in Big Finish’s Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures will be released as a 4-disc collector’s edition box set or download containing three brand-new full cast audio adventures, plus a selection of behind-the-scenes extras.
Doctor Who fans worldwide can now pre-order all four volumes, which are available in three formats – collector’s edition CD, digital download or limited edition gatefold triple LP vinyl (limited to a pressing of 1000 per volume) – exclusively from the Big Finish website.
In a quote released back in August, when news of his return to Doctor Who after 15 years away first broke, Eccleston said:
“It will be exciting to revisit the Ninth Doctor’s world, bringing back to life a character I love playing.”
Eccleston was Doctor Who’s leading man when the series made its grand relaunch in 2005. He departed the show after an initial series of 13 episodes.
Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures – Volume One will be released in May 2021.
JODIE WHITTAKER, JOHN BARROWMAN & CHRIS CHIBNALL PREVIEW REVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS
Highlights of the new issue include:
An exclusive preview of the New Year’s Day Special, featuring contributions from Jodie Whittaker, John Barrowman, Chris Noth, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Chris Chibnall, director Lee Haven Jones and costume designer Ray Holman.
The latest from showrunner Chris Chibnall in his Production Notes.
A behind-the-scenes look at the trailer for the Season 8 Blu-ray box set, with writer and director Pete McTighe, Katy Manning and Stewart Bevan.
Christmas with the Doctor – a fresh look at stories that were broadcast during the festive period between 1963 and 1989.
What did missing 1965 episode The Feast of Steven actually look like? DWM’s CGI recreation offers some clues.
The strange story of the 1964 record I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas with a Dalek.
Interviews with the team behind the immersive theatre experience Time Fracture.
The final instalment of a two-part article exploring David Whitaker’s influence on the Daleks.
The Fact of Fiction analyses the 2014 Festive Special Last Christmas.
Apocrypha rediscovers the bizarre 1965 comic strip A Christmas Story.
The DWM Christmas Quiz!
The first part of The White Dragon, a new comic-strip adventure for the Thirteenth Doctor.
Previews and reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser, The Blogs of Doom and more.
PLUS a giant, double-sided poster!
Doctor Who Magazine Issue 559 is on sale from Thursday 10 December £6.99 (UK)
The festive season is upon us! Whilst you’re waiting for the return of the Doctor on New Year’s Day, here are some perfect gifts for the Doctor Who fan in your life.
Get a collection of short stories
During challenging months of global uncertainty and isolation, the Doctor and the TARDIS has remained a dream that drew many – allowing them to roam the cosmos in search of distraction, reassurance and adventure. This very special short story collection brings these epic tales together, along with three brand new stories and beautiful illustrations in support of BBC Children in Need.
Get cosy with Corgi’s official Thirteenth Doctor scarf, or get ready for the Doctor’s favourite pastime ( a LOT of running!) with some socks. They’re perfect for filling stockings at Christmas time, and you can wow your fellow Doctor Who fans.
Lose yourself in a brand-new adventure for the Tenth Doctor and the Daleks in Defender of the Daleks This comic collection, part of the multi-platform story Time Lord Victorious, is a perfect adventure for comic fans or to those new to Doctor Who comic adventures, with a special cameo…
Order the Defender of the Daleks comic collection digitally via Comixology (UK and US) or physically via Forbidden Planet
Save the universe from your own home
Are you ready to take on this intergalactic space adventure, meet assistance hologram penguins, crack Dalek codes and help the Doctor by unscrambling data being sent to the planetoid’s core? This new play-at-home game is a 1-hour experience, suitable for 2 to 6 players aged 8+. The game can be played within households or via video chat so is perfect for friends, family members or colleagues looking to connect.
If you’re in the UK, you can order the play at home game The Hollow Planethere
Re-live the Eleventh Doctor’s final series on Blu-ray
Meet the Impossible girl and say goodbye to the Ponds! Series 7 is the final full series of adventures with Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. This series also said farewell to Amy Pond and Rory Williams, played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, and introduced Clara Oswald, played by Jenna Coleman.
If you want to get lost in another universe, then load up your headsets and fly the TARDIS for yourself! The Edge of Time is the first virtual reality game experience, allowing you to use a sonic screwdriver, avoid the Weeping Angels, take on the Daleks, fly the TARDIS and help the Doctor save the universe, all in the comfort of your own home. It also contains an update for Time Lord Victorious, which means you can collect mysterious relics from the Dark Times throughout the game and experience the Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS like never before!
The Tenth Doctor and new companion Brian, the Ood Assassin, travel to the planet Magnox in this new Time Lord Victorious story, and it’s available on CD and digital, or vinyl for the audio-obsessed! The Minds of Magnox is written by Darren Jones and narrated by actor and impressionist Jacob Dudman – perfect for audio fans who want a chapter of this multi-platform story!
Get a family reunion with the Seventh Doctor, Ace and the Brigadier in an audio drama
Something haunts the peak of Ben MacDui. Something with heavy footsteps, striking terror in the hearts of those who sense it. With climbers going missing, retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart visits Scotland to investigate. But when some old friends join his ascent, he worries that they will make things even more dangerous.
This audio drama from Big Finish Productions has Sylvester McCoy playing the Seventh Doctor, Sophie Aldred playing Ace and Jon Culshaw playing the Brigadier.
Order the audio drama The Grey Man of the Mountainhere
Plan ahead for 2021 with a calendar!
Whether you want to be part of the fam, or remember when Doctor Who first aired on our screens, there’s a great selection of calendars to adorn the walls of your own personal TARDIS!
Beneath the streets of London, a gateway is opening, time as we know it is collapsing, and the fate of our world hangs in the balance! Will you step up to the challenge? This immersive adventure allows YOU to step inside a Doctor Who story live, and no one trip will ever be the same! You can pre-order tickets for Time Fracture – the Immersive Doctor Who adventure ahead of the show’s London run in April 2021.
Order tickets for the Immersive Theatrical Adventure, Time Fracturehere
Fans can now collect digital versions of their favourite Doctor Who characters for the very first time, in the form of Doctor Who: Worlds Apart trading cards!
This must-have collection from BBC Studios and Reality Gaming Group includes over 200 digital trading cards based on characters, scenes and objects drawn from the entire 57-year history of Doctor Who.
There are four different packs for fans to purchase, each containing between five and ten limited-edition cards with beautifully hand drawn images. Fans can also collect 13 different cosmetic card frames.
As with physical trading cards, some will be rarer than others, for example, the TARDIS will be rarer than the Silurian. Collectors will be able to trade their cards in the marketplace launching early next year, giving fans another opportunity to trade their favourite character with other collectors.
Each card is secured and protected on the blockchain, which means there can be no copies or disputes about ownership.
From next year collectors will be able use their cards to go head-to-head with friends in turn-based contests in the Doctor Who: Worlds Apart card game, a free-to-play tactical card game which will be released for PC in 2021.
The game will be action-packed, with battles fought on digital tabletop boards depicting recognisable locations from Doctor Who. Collectors will play a Time Lord, strategically outsmarting their opponents by building decks that are able to combat a wide variety of tactics.
Morten Rongaard, Co-Founder of Reality Gaming Group, said:
“We are tremendously excited to be working with BBC Studios to bring Doctor Who’s huge global community an exciting new digital experience based on a pastime we all know and love – trading cards. The cards used in Doctor Who: Worlds Apart are both functional and collectible, so fans can actually own a piece of the game while they play.”
John Kavanagh, Licensing Manager, Gaming and Interactive, BBC Studios, said:
“We’ve worked closely with Reality Gaming Group to deliver a fantastic opportunity to collect and own these beautiful cards and use them in a unique game experience.”
Digital card packs are available to buy from today on the Doctor Who: Worlds Apartwebsite.
The Eighth Doctor is trapped with Daleks, the Seventh Doctor, Ace and the Brigadier are reunited, the Robots of Kaldor return!
December sees the release of a range of brand-new audio adventures from Big Finish. Here’s a roundup of what’s available to buy on CD and download this month.
The third Time Lord Victorious adventure for the Eighth Doctor
The fallout of the great battle. Outnumbered and alone, on a Dalek time-ship careering through the vortex, the Doctor must use all his cunning to survive. As the saucer disintegrates around them, the Doctor is trapped with a crew of increasingly desperate Daleks. Or are the Daleks trapped with him?
You can get Time Lord Victorious – Mutually Assured Destructionhere
The Fourth Doctor battles a lone Dalek
There are 10,000 humans in stasis aboard Starship Future. Ten thousand humans expecting to wake up on a distant planet, their new home. But twenty years into their journey, Starship Future takes on board fuel – and something else. Something that’s been waiting, frozen in space, for a very long time.
You can get Time Lord Victorious – Genetics of the Dalekshere
The Seventh Doctor, Ace and the Brigadier sneak a peak
Something haunts the peak of Ben MacDui. Something with heavy footsteps, striking terror in the hearts of those who sense it. With climbers going missing, retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart visits Scotland to investigate. But when some old friends join his ascent, he worries that they will make things even more dangerous.
It’s 1793 and the Reign of Terror is slicing through the elite of Paris – but not if the Scarlet Pimpernel has anything to do with it! With a very British pluck, and daring bravado, he rescues French aristocrats from Madame Guillotine’s embrace. But who hides beneath the Pimpernel’s mask? And isn’t the Scarlet Pimpernel just a fictional character?
More adventures on the planet of The Robots of Death
In the third of the Robots quadrilogy, Poul has returned to Kaldor City, and Toos is doing her best to help his recovery. Liv and Tula Chenka are investigating the Sons of Kaldor, and getting closer to the survivors of Storm Mine four.
Neve McIntosh narrates this Tenth Doctor adventure
The Time Agency has been meddling with time ever since its inception. Of all the days in history, today is a day that will define the agency forever. Today is the day of their greatest achievement. Today is the day they removed an entire galaxy from the timeline. Today is the day the Doctor’s shutting them down.
Winner of the The Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip Opportunity 2020
On Skaz, speaking costs money. Aymius Todd is trapped in a police interrogation. They want to know about his links to the Garrulous Liberation, and his encounter with a man called the Doctor. But, Aymius is running out of words, and if he can’t afford to finish his story, then he’ll never be able to speak again.
An anthology of festive tales featuring Bernice Summerfield
No matter what you call it on your home planet, this magical holiday at the end of the year, when the nights are dark, and the lights are sparkly, is the perfect time for telling stories… And who doesn’t have a tale or two to tell about Christmas? Certainly not Benny. These ten stories are collected from all across Benny’s eventful life, from St Oscar’s to the Braxiatel Collection, to Legion and even in the Unbound Universe…
You can get Bernice Summerfield – The Christmas Collectionhere
All stories are initially available exclusively from the Big Finish website in December.
