October 2023

Dalek surprises British Airways customers at London Heathrow to celebrate 60th anniversary of Doctor Who

31 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

A Dalek in Terminal 5

British Airways customers were surprised to find a special out of this world guest, a Dalek, while travelling through Heathrow’s Terminal 5 on Friday 27th October 2023.

Much to the surprise of those waiting in the arrivals hall to meet loved ones, one of Doctor Who’s fearsome foes was seen keeping a watchful eye over British Airways’ arriving customers. The Dalek also mysteriously appeared in departures where confused customers snapped photos of one of the planet’s best-known villains checking in for a flight to Skaro, an extra-terrestrial destination that isn’t normally on British Airways’ route network.

The unscheduled arrival of the Dalek in British Airways’ home at Heathrow Terminal 5 marked the new partnership between British Airways and BBC Studios to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, which includes the launch of a dedicated Doctor Who in-flight entertainment channel, available for all the airline’s customers travelling on long-haul flights from November 1. The new channel features 13 acclaimed episodes of the longest running science fiction television series in the world.

A Dalek in Terminal 5

Calum Laming, British Airways’ Chief Customer Officer, said:

“We are really excited to be partnering with the BBC’s Doctor Who to create a dedicated channel on our inflight entertainment system, another fantastic British Original partnership that we know our customers will love. This year alone we have doubled the amount of content available on our in-flight entertainment, and we are committed to continue to bring the best, out of this world, entertainment to the skies.”

Sarah Bold, Head of Marketing, Scripted at BBC Studios, said:

“Doctor Who has been inspiring and entertaining audiences globally for an incredible 60 years and we couldn’t miss this opportunity to bring two iconic British brands together in style to celebrate. Travellers and subscribers will be able to enjoy a curated collection of content and the tie in will reach millions of people throughout the partnership.”

A Dalek in Terminal 5

The new Doctor Who inflight entertainment channel on board British Airways’ flights, to celebrate the 60th Anniversary, includes 13 different episodes from series 1-13. Alongside this customers can enjoy up to *80+ box sets such as AND JUST LIKE THAT Season 2, plus 15+ classic franchises, including BACK TO THE FUTURE and THE MATRIX, and over *700 pieces of audio, including BBC Prom’s 2023 Classics and UK true-crime podcast THEY WALK AMONG US. In November, customers can enjoy New Release movies such as SCRAPPER, a British Comedy/Drama, THE HAUNTED MANSION or MEG 2: THE TRENCH.

Doctor Who returns from November 25th on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney Plus in the rest of the world with three special episodes with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor to coincide with the 60th anniversary.

The Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will then take control of the TARDIS, with his first episode airing over the festive period in 2023. Ncuti Gatwa also features in British Airways’ latest safety video.

* On select flights only.

Welcome to The Whoniverse where every Doctor, every companion and hundreds of terrifying monsters live.

30 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

The word Whoniverse was invented by fans, so it’s time to give it official status. And Tales of the TARDIS is one of the greatest delights of my career – to see old Doctors and companions reunited, still fighting the good fight, is a perfect way to celebrate the Doctor’s 60th birthday!

— Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Showrunner

Reprising their roles as the Doctor and companions to go on a timey-wimey spin down memory lane in these unmissable adventures are; Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury, Katy Manning and Daniel Anthony, Peter Davison and Janet Fielding, Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, and Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred.

Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury (Image: Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)

Katy Manning and Daniel Anthony (Image: Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)

These Doctor Who legends step back into character to reflect on their adventures and in the process they discover something new, leaving viewers with a new insight into the story of each timeless pair.

Over six parts, each episode of Tales of the TARDIS features a different duo, with brand new scenes woven together with classic episodes to create a feature-length omnibus episode.

Peter Davison and Janet Fielding (Image: Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)

Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant (Image: Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)

With new scenes written by Showrunner Russell T Davies, and previous Doctor Who writers Phil Ford and Pete McTighe, Tales of the TARDIS allows fans to rediscover the stories they love whilst inviting new viewers to explore the vast mythology of the Doctor.

Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Showrunner says:

“The word Whoniverse was invented by fans, so it’s time to give it official status. And Tales of the TARDIS is one of the greatest delights of my career – to see old Doctors and companions reunited, still fighting the good fight, is a perfect way to celebrate the Doctor’s 60th birthday!”

Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred (Image: Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)

Dan McGolpin, Director of iPlayer and Channels adds:

“I’m delighted to welcome Tales of the TARDIS exclusively to BBC iPlayer, the home of Doctor Who, which is consistently one of our most popular programmes every single week of the year. Tales of the TARDIS will sit within The Whoniverse and features brand new and incredibly moving scenes with well-loved characters; it will be a fantastic starting point for a new generation to discover some of the most classic episodes and a joyous way for longstanding fans to catch up with old friends.”

Viewers can discover Tales Of The TARDIS when The Whoniverse launches on 1st November, with the extensive back catalogue of Doctor Who.

Tales of the TARDIS is produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios Productions for BBC iPlayer. Executive Produced by Russell T Davies, Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson and Joel Collins. It is produced by Scott Handcock and directed by Joshua M. G. Thomas. The episodes are written by Russell T Davies, Phil Ford, and Pete McTighe.

Imagine…Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me

27 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

Imagine…Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me follows one of Britain’s most celebrated TV writers as he prepares to once again return as showrunner of Doctor Who. Back in 2005 Davies was responsible for relaunching the action-adventure series after many years away from TV screens, few could have imagined the phenomenon it became. And now, in the programme’s 60th anniversary year, he’s back – with two Doctors and bigger ambitions.

imagine… goes behind the scenes at Cardiff’s Bad Wolf Studios to see the adventures of the time-travelling hero being filmed, touring the enormous sound stages and meeting Ncuti Gatwa, the Fifteenth Doctor, ahead of his eagerly anticipated tenure as the Time Lord, after the unexpected regeneration of David Tennant.

Doctor Who is just one of Russell T Davies’ many TV successes, and imagine… traces the evolution of his writing, from his beginnings at Granada, writing soaps such as Coronation Street, to finding his voice as a queer writer on Channel 4’s landmark gay series Queer As Folk and to more recent successes, including 2021’s critically acclaimed AIDS drama, It’s A Sin. The film will also feature interviews with David Tennant, Helena Bonham Carter, Olly Alexander, Sally Wainwright and Caitlin Moran.

The documentary airs Monday 18th December on BBC One.

Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials available to pre-order on Steelbook, DVD and Blu-ray

26 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

Quick Trailer Thoughts - 'Doctor Who' 60th Anniversary Specials ... — Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary Specials

Following the Fourteenth Doctor’s TV specials to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary, all three episodes will be available for Doctor Who fans to add to their home entertainment collection in December 2023.

The three-disc release, which includes exclusive additional content, will be available for fans to own on Steelbook, Blu-ray and DVD from 11th December with pre-orders available today.

As well as David Tennant starring as the Fourteenth Doctor and companion Catherine Tate returning as fan-favourite Donna Noble, other guest stars include Neil Patrick Harris, Yasmin Finney, Miriam Margoyles, Jemma Redgrave and many more.

The release will feature all three anniversary special episodes: THE STAR BEAST, WILD BLUE YONDER and THE GIGGLE.

Fans can pre-order the 60th anniversary DVD, Steelbook and Blu-ray through most online retailers.

Additional content Exclusive to the 60th Anniversary specials release:

Rachel Talalay’s Scene Breakdown
Chanya Button’s Scene Breakdown
Tom Kingsley’s Scene Breakdown

Special Features:

THE STAR BEAST Behind The Scenes
The Fourteenth Doctor Reveal
WILD BLUE YONDER Behind The Scenes
THE GIGGLE Behind The Scenes
THE GIGGLE In-vision Commentary
THE STAR BEAST In-vision Commentary
David and Catherine’s Flashbacks
Yasmin Finney Introduces Rose Noble
Designing the Fourteenth Doctor
Set Tour with Yasmin Finney
THE STAR BEAST – Behind The Scenes Trailer
WILD BLUE YONDER – Behind The Scenes Trailer
THE GIGGLE – Behind The Scenes Trailer
The Cast Introduce the Villains in WILD BLUE YONDER
Behind The Scenes Fun with David and Catherine
Video Diary with David Tennant’s Stand-in
TARDIS Set Tour with David Tennant and Phil Sims
Ruth Madeley Introduces Shirley Bingham
Neil Patrick Harris Introduces the Toymaker
Becoming the Toymaker
60th Specials Recap with David Tennant

PRE ORDER DVD HERE NOW:

PRE ORDER BLU-RAY HERE NOW:

The TARDIS is set to return to Saturday nights, landing at the heart(s) of the BBC One Schedule

25 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

It is time to mark your calendars, cancel any plans, and get your sonic screwdrivers at the ready as the TARDIS is set to return to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 25 November.

With David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate reprising her role as Donna Noble the popular duo will make their spectacular return to mark the show’s 60th anniversary with three special episodes running each Saturday from the 25th November.

Their time has come #DoctorWho returns on 25th November to BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ in the rest of the world. pic.twitter.com/umNq76AvOY

— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) October 25, 2023

Get set for three epic adventures starting with The Star Beast (25 November) where the Doctor and Donna will come face to face after all these years but just how, and why, is about to be revealed. Followed by Wild Blue Yonder (2 December) and The Giggle (9 December) viewers are about to go on an otherworldly adventure through space and time.

Joining David Tennant and Catherine Tate is a stellar cast including, Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble, Miriam Margolyes as the voice of the Meep, Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble, Karl Collins as Shaun Temple, Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne-Bingham, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart and Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, set to cause all kinds of mayhem. It’s going to be an unmissable cosmic adventure, all before Ncuti Gatwa gets the keys to the TARDIS over the festive season.

The first episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed will follow The Star Beast on Saturday 25 November.

After every new episode of Doctor Who, viewers can switch over to BBC Three or BBC iPlayer to watch the access all areas show that gives viewers an unmissable insight into the creation of Doctor Who.

Writers Kate Herron and Briony Redman Join Forces for Doctor Who

24 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who's New Companion Continues RTD's Perfect Season 14 Change

This is when I absolutely love my job. Working with the stellar talents of Kate and Briony makes my whole world bigger and brighter, and a lot more fun.

— Doctor Who Showrunner, Russell T Davies

The new series of Doctor Who will feature an episode co-written by writing duo Kate Herron and Briony Redman, which will air once Ncuti Gatwa takes control of the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor.

Both writers have made their mark as creatives, Kate as the Executive Producer and director of the entirety of series one of the popular Marvel Studio’s series LOKI, as well as directing on the critically acclaimed series SEX EDUCATION.

Briony is an actor, comedian and BAFTA Rocliffe winning writer, whose work includes the Welsh crime-comedy PONT BREC with Damian Evans, and the award-winning short film FORGET-ME-NOT, which screened across film festivals internationally.

Kate Herron

The pair have collaborated on a range of work together including their comic, THE STORKENING, as well as TV and film projects including the sci-fi MISS UNIVERSE and the acclaimed short film SMEAR.

Now they have teamed up once more to take viewers on an unforgettable adventure in the new series of Doctor Who.

Kate Herron said:

“Clearly I can’t get enough of time travel. It is an absolute honour to write for Russell and Ncuti. We had so much fun and can’t wait for you all to see it.”

Briony Redman

Briony Redman said:

“As a big fan of Doctor Who and Russell T Davies, it’s been a dream to write on this show.”

Doctor Who Showrunner, Russell T Davies said:

“This is when I absolutely love my job. Working with the stellar talents of Kate and Briony makes my whole world bigger and brighter, and a lot more fun. I was a huge fan of Loki and reached out to Kate to say so – she then introduced me to Briony, and it was all systems go! They’ve written a wonderful script which created unique challenges for cast and crew alike. The end result is gorgeous and thrilling and scary, and not like any other episode of Doctor Who.”

Doctor Who returns in November 2023 with three special episodes with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor to coincide with the 60th anniversary. Ncuti Gatwa’s first episode as the Fifteenth Doctor will then air over the festive period.

Doctor Who will premiere exclusively on the BBC for the UK and Ireland. Disney+ will be the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside of the UK and Ireland.

Missing stories animations to continue, more Hartnell likely

23 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who Galaxy 4 William Hartnell

Plans are afoot for more animated revamps of missing episodes following the release of The Underwater Menace.

As a result, numerous adventures of the First Doctor (played by William Hartnell) and the Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton) are either incomplete or missing in their entirety.

However, a number of these stories have been restored with new animated visuals accompanying the surviving soundtracks.

Speaking at a BFI screening of the latest animation, The Underwater Menace, executive producer Paul Hembury confirmed there are plans for more – indicating that the ambition is to complete the canon and cover off all of the missing stories.

“As long as there’s an audience out there who want to see them, then we will endeavour to continue,” Hembury said.

However, he cautioned:

“The DVD and Blu-ray market isn’t getting any bigger and it was a significant contributor to the financing that we used to make these, so it’s really incumbent upon us to say, ‘OK, if we’re going to be seeing less revenue from that source, we need to be able to replace it’ – and more, because our budgets have gone up pretty significantly. So we just need to be able to make it balance out.”

Despite confirming that at least one more animation is in the works, Hembury wouldn’t be drawn on which story was next on the slate, despite rumours that 1966 serial The Smugglers could be in the offing.

“I would love to be able to say yes – I can’t at this stage. We don’t have a five, 10-year plan to work through. We do them one at a time. “In all truth, I don’t know whether we’ll ever get to a situation where we’ve done every one. [But] there is something coming.”

Polly, Ben and the Doctor in Doctor Who: The Smugglers

Hembury and The Underwater Menace animation director AnneMarie Walsh did however touch on how they decide which lost stories to animate, explaining that the selection process is “quite complicated” with the length of the stories, the quality of the surviving audio, and animated challenges posed by the story all being taken into account.

Of the 14 stories to be animated since 2006, 11 have been stories featuring Troughton’s Second Doctor, though Hembury and Walsh hinted that fans can expect more restorations featuring William Hartnell as the First Doctor in future.

“If we can keep going, then we will be a little more diverse in terms of the stories we select,” said Hembury.

“We weren’t necessarily trying to complete the [Troughton] series, but it made sense to do that as long as the sound was good enough and the stories made sense within the budgets we had and everything else,” added Walsh.

“But that doesn’t mean that we’re only going to do Troughton stories, or we’re going to do all the Troughton stories first. We are open to whatever makes sense.”

Doctor Who: The Underwater Menace is available on Blu-ray and DVD from 13th November.

Set to Stun: Designing & Filming Sci-Fi in West London

21 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

Beyond the stars and behind the scenes… for nearly a century west London has been home to a hive of workshops and design studios that fed into some of the country’s most iconic Sci-Fi films and TV shows.

Our major new exhibition ‘Set to Stun’ will celebrate sci-fi film and television from the 1960s through to today, turning the camera onto the west London artisans, artists and crafts people who brought it all to life.

From laser beams to paranoid androids, exploring faraway planets to alien invasions – visitors will get to enjoy an engaging and interactive showcase of the sets, costumes, prosthetics, props, and artistic visualisations that went into British Sci-Fi classics, including Doctor Who, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Red Dwarf. We’ll also bring the story up to date with a motion capture interactive.

The exhibition will encompass informative and engaging content for enthusiasts and fun and fascination for families, with workshops for both adults and kids.

Event details

Dates: 20 October 2023 to 2 June 2024

Times: Closed Mondays, Tuesday – Sunday: 10am – 4.30pm

Location: Gunnersbury Park Museum

Booking: No booking required

Talking Doctor Who For The 60th Anniversary

19 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

The documentary will also include archive interviews from past Doctors, including the late William Hartnell, who played the First Doctor, through to Sylvester McCoy, who played the Seventh Doctor.

Tennant will also share some insights into what it’s like to be the Time Lord and how his experiences compare to his predecessors.

The hour-long programme is set to air on Wednesday 1st November.

It was recently revealed that much of Doctor Who’s classic series will be coming to BBC iPlayer for the first time in celebration of the show’s 60th anniversary.

More than 800 episodes will be available on iPlayer from 1st November – however, the BBC recently confirmed that the back catalogue won’t include the very first story, An Unearthly Child, due to a rights issue.

A spokesperson for the BBC said:

“This massive iPlayer back catalogue will be home to over 800 hours of Doctor Who content, making it the biggest ever collection of Doctor Who programming in one place but will not include the first four episodes as we do not have all the rights to those.”

A while back I cancelled the BBC's license to show (or use in any way) my late father's four (first ever) Doctor Who episodes, comprising 'The Tribe of Gum'.
NOW they offer me a pittance, to relicense them.
I sent them my counter-offer, instead.
Let's see how much they want them?

— Stef Anthony Coburn (@Stef_Coburn) October 7, 2023

Returning showrunner Russell T Davies had previously said:

“I’d like to thank the BBC for all the hard work to get this massive back catalogue under one roof, at long last.

“I’m so excited for new viewers – imagine being eight years old, spending winter afternoons exploring the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and beyond. And we’re determined this won’t be a dusty museum – we have exciting plans to bring the back catalogue to life, with much more to be revealed!”

Talking Doctor Who will air on BBC4 on 1st November at 19:30 GMT and repeated at 01:30 GMT 2nd November 2023

BBC Studios and Toshiba TV unveil partnership for Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary

19 October 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who continues to push boundaries and inspire generations of viewers and this event is a glorious celebration of the brands’ iconic heritage and exciting future!”

— Sarah Bold, Head of Brand and Marketing, Scripted at BBC Studios