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Month: December 2023

UNIT: THE VAUGHN IDENTITY

UNIT: THE VAUGHN IDENTITY

The Vaughn Identity

2024 will see the launch of Candy Jar’s UNIT range with a series of original novels. The first book, The Vaughn Identity, is written by the range editor, Tim Gambrell, and picks up where the TV story The Invasion left off.

Tim says:

“There’s a lot left open at the end of The Invasion. Tobias Vaughn’s story – and the whole International Electromatics set-up – is very layered and detailed. We see repeatedly in Doctor Who that once the main threat is dealt with the Doctor is quick to leave”.

This new series of books now squarely focuses on UNIT and explores the fall-out from The Invasion, both on a personal and national level, and how the story would have been spun by the government and the press. As the title suggests, the story looks into the background of Tobias Vaughn.

Tim continues:

“As a character, he was in a class of his own – due very much to Kevin Stoney’s bravura performance, but also because of Derrick Sherwin’s script and Douglas Camfield’s direction. We know Vaughn was killed at the end of The Invasion, and left hanging over the railings. I wanted to find a way to get more from the character without pretending that he hadn’t really died on screen, which would have felt like a cop-out. I also wanted to work purely within the situations and concepts that Derrick Sherwin had created, to give my story the sense that it was finishing off, or tidying up any strands left hanging loose after the TV story had concluded.”

But as well as looking back to The Invasion, The Vaughn Identity also looks forward to the series of books that will follow.

Tim takes up the story again:

“We’ve got a wider cast of UNIT regulars to take our books forward. Readers have already been introduced to many of them in the two UNIT Files short story collections (Operation Wildcat, 2022, and Operation Fall-Out, 2023) but The Vaughn Identity allows us to see how they were impacted by the events of The Invasion, making it more of a shared experience. As the first novel of the range, it’s important to introduce and involve new regular characters in the action and the storyline and not simply as an info-dump roll call.”

Some other familiar faces are also appearing, besides the Brigadier and his TV team. “There are a few minor nods to the Lethbridge-Stewart range,’ Tim explains, ‘but nothing that would faze new readers. We want this to be a jumping-on point, a fresh start whilst also quietly acknowledging the achievement of the previous range.”

There will be another short Benton Files book, free with the hardback of The Vaughn Identity. More details of that will be available nearer the time.

Blurb for the The Vaughn Identity

DOCTOR WHO: CHRISTMAS OVERNIGHT RATINGS REVEALED

DOCTOR WHO: CHRISTMAS OVERNIGHT RATINGS REVEALED

Watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special trailer for The Church on Ruby Road
Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road

As the Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, takes over the TARDIS for his first epic adventure he will be joined by Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, as she makes her debut as the Doctor’s companion.

The episode sees the Doctor come face-to-face with the mythical and mysterious goblins as his life collides with Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.

Overnight figures, released by BARB and made public by BBC News corespondent Lizo Mzimba, show that The Church On Ruby Road was watched by an average audience of 4.73m on BBC One. It was the 3rd most watched show of the day across all channels, only behind The King and Strictly.

The top 10 lineup for Christmas Day 2023 was:

1 The King 7.48m

2 Strictly 5.29m

3 Doctor Who 4.73m

4 Ghosts 4.43m

5 Call The Midwife 4.39m

6 Michael McIntyre 4.17m

7 EastEnders 3.58m

8 Toy Story 4 – 3.46m

9 The 1% Club 3.36m

10 Tabby McTat 3.35m

The official 7 day consolidated ratings will be available early in the new year.

New Doctor Who trailer teases what’s to come in 2024

New Doctor Who trailer teases what’s to come in 2024

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa's sonic screwdriver has meaningful message

An explosive new trailer for the new season of Doctor Who gives a glimpse of what’s in store when the TARDIS lands in May 2024.

With Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, alongside Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday, they will face new monsters as they head off in the TARDIS for many out of this world adventures.

The new season will also see an all star line up including returnees Yasmin Finney and Bonnie Langford who will reprise their roles as Rose Noble and Mel Bush. As well as introducing Jinkx Monsoon as the Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet, Jonathan Groff in a mysterious key role, Indira Varma as the Duchess, and Lenny Rush as Morris, to name just a few…

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer in May 2024 for the UK and Disney+ for the rest of the world.

Richard Franklin: 1936-2023

Richard Franklin: 1936-2023

Cpt. Mike Yates | Wiki | Doctor Who Amino
Richard Franklin as Capt Mike Yates.

GNR is very sad to report the passing of one of the Doctor Who greats Richard Franklin who played U.N.I.T officer Captain Mike Yates in Doctor Who between 1971-1974.

Richard Kimber Franklin (15 January 1936 – 25 December 2023) was an English actor, writer, director and political activist. Principally a stage actor, he also appeared as a regular character in several high-profile British television programmes, including Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm, and he portrayed Captain Mike Yates of UNIT in Doctor Who from 1971 until 1974, returning to the role on a number of occasions both on television and in Doctor Who spin-off media.

Franklin was a dramatist and the author of the book Forest Wisdom: Radical Reform of Democracy and the Welfare State, which reflected his political views and activism. He also wrote novels based in the Whoniverse. Franklin stood as a candidate for the UK Parliament for several parties and founded the Silent Majority Party.

Richard Kimber Franklin was born in Marylebone, London on 15 January 1936 was educated at Westminster School, and read PPE before going on to complete an MA in Modern History at Christ Church, Oxford. During National Service he was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets (Rifle Brigade) and was a captain in Queen Victoria’s Rifles. Prior to embarking on an acting career, he spent three years at the advertising agency Hobson and Grey as an assistant account executive, assistant producer and scriptwriter.

Franklin trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he won the Jenny Laird prize.

Immediately after graduating from RADA, Franklin spent six years in repertory theatre, beginning at the Century Theatre under the directorship of Heinz Bernard. He then spent two years at Birmingham Rep under Peter Dews, a season at Bristol Old Vic under Val May, before moving to Ipswich where in addition to acting he also held an associate directorship.

Franklin appeared in a number of productions in London’s West End. In 1967 he played the role of Corin in As You Like It at the Vaudeville Theatre, alongside Brian Cox as Orlando. In 1978 he took over the lead role in Same Time, Next Year from Michael Crawford. His latest activity was understudying the part of Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre, playing the role on a number of occasions. Other theatre acting work included Macbeth (RSC), The Rocky Horror Show (as the Narrator), The Spider’s Web (UK Tour for Ian Dickens), Romeo and Juliet (UK Tour with Sean Maguire), The Importance of Being Earnest (English Speaking Theatre, Frankfurt).

A prolific dramatist, a number of Franklin’s plays have been produced professionally. These include:

  • The Trial of Johnny Bull (Ipswich Theatre)
  • Dr Weird and the Amazing Box (Renaissance Theatre)
  • The Cage (Edinburgh) Winner, Spirit of the Fringe award
  • Shakespeare was a Hunchback (Edinburgh). The play was later used as the basis for the ITV production The Trial of Richard III
  • Poison (London Charterhouse)
  • Luck of the Draw (premiered at London Charterhouse in 2014, prior to a small-scale National Tour.)
  • Shakespeare by Shaggers (Brighton Fringe)

Franklin had a long association with the British pantomime tradition, having appeared in eighteen different productions. His last pantomime role was the Emperor of China in Aladdin at the New Victoria Theatre, during First Family Entertainment’s 2014–15 season. Franklin continued to produce new work, the last of which is The Luck of the Draw, a drama based on his uncle’s private diaries and the experiences of a Tommy in the First World War.

As a director, Franklin held an associate directorship at Ipswich. He directed seasons at Swansea Grand and Chesterfield Civic, and was artistic director of Renaissance Theatre in Stockholm. He directed at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, as well as a number of London, Edinburgh and Brighton Fringe productions including his own Luck of the Draw, and Shakespeare by Shaggers.

Franklin first came to television prominence in 1969 as Joe Townsend in Crossroads, appearing in thirty-six episodes. Over the course of a long television career he has appeared in a number of well-known British programmes including Blake’s 7Dixon of Dock GreenThe SaintUp Your Junction, Going for a Song, The Millicent Martin ShowLittle WomenThe Pathfinders, Catherine Cookson’s The Gambling Man, Heartbeat, and Emmerdale Farm.

Doctor Who:

Franklin first appeared in Doctor Who in the role of Mike Yates, a captain in the fictional military organisation U.N.I.T, in the serial Terror of the Autons” (1971), which was the opening story of Jon Pertwee’s second season in the role of the Third Doctor. He continued as a series regular until the serial Planet of the Spiders” (1974), which also marked the end of Pertwee’s tenure as the title character.

Franklin maintained his association with Doctor Who and appeared regularly at conventions, and in spin-off and documentary productions. He recreated Captain Mike Yates on television twice, for the Twentieth Anniversary special The Five Doctors” (1983) and also the Thirtieth Anniversary 3-D Special for Children In Need Dimensions In Time (1993). A photograph of Franklin in role as Yates appeared on screen in the fiftieth anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor” (2013). He also appeared in the role on numerous occasions in audio plays for both Big Finish Productions and the BBC, which included appearing alongside the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.

In 2002 Franklin wrote The Killing Stone, a novel featuring Yates as the main character. It was initially released as an audio book, read by the author, before publication by Fantom Films in 2013 under the title Operation H.A.T.E. The rewritten version of the book removed all named references to Doctor Who characters and replaced them with unambiguous equivalents in order to avoid infringing copyright. Franklin also recorded a short cameo, as himself for the live Doctor Who podcast stage show, 50 Years of Doctor Who: Preachrs Podcast Live 2. He appeared in this alongside a mix of modern and classic Doctor Who actors, including Nicholas Briggs, Peter Davison, Simon Fisher Becker and Terry Molloy.

Franklin collaborated with the director Julian Doyle on two films: Chemical Wedding (2008), about the occultist Aleister Crowley, and Twilight of the Gods (2013), in which he portrayed the German composer Richard Wagner. In 2016, he played Sirro Argonne, one of the Death Star engineers in the Star Wars film Rogue One.

In addition to his numerous appearances in Doctor Who audio dramas, including the audiobook Last of the Gaderene by Mark Gatiss, Franklin’s audio credits include two years at BBC radio drama; Sapphire and Steel: The Surest Poison (Big Finish); Harrison Howell in the BBC Radio 2 production of Kiss Me Kate (1996); USA Family Radio; and his own World War I docudrama Luck of the Draw. He also played Davros’ father, Nasgard, in the Big Finish audio drama miniseries I, Davros.

In 2009 Franklin starred in “The First Days of Spring” for the band Noah and the Whale.

Franklin worked as a theatre critic, and published a number of reviews for the Edinburgh Evening News and fringereview.co.uk.

Doctor Who has another Christmas gift for you

Doctor Who has another Christmas gift for you

Doctor Who is the gift that keeps on giving this Christmas, as viewers will be treated to a first look at the Fifteenth Doctor’s new season following their debut on Christmas Day.

Doctor Who’s Christmas Special, The Church on Ruby Road is the first full episode featuring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday. The episode will air at 5.55pm on BBC One and iPlayer on Christmas Day and straight after viewers will be given an extra Christmas gift as a new trailer teases what’s to come when Doctor Who returns next year.

Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as the Fifteenth Doctor will land in 2024.

The new trailer will play out on BBC One after The Church on Ruby Road airs on Christmas Day and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

Doctor Who: The Giggle – Consolidated Rating

Doctor Who: The Giggle – Consolidated Rating

Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials concluded on BBC One with the bi-generation of David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor and the debut of Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor.

Overnight figures, released by BARB and made public by BBC News correspondent Lizo Mzimba, show that The Giggle had an average audience of 4.62m from 6:30pm on BBC One.

This figure made Doctor Who the 3rd most-watched programme of the day across all channels, behind Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. This figure is UK only and does not include iPlayer viewers.
 
Consolidated figures, which include those who watched on iPlayer and on devices, showed that The Giggle has consolidated to 6,848,000m on BBC One. Despite a drop from previous episodes, Doctor Who remains the most watched drama of the week across all channels and streaming services, and also the third most watched title of the week.
 
Rare Doctor Who photographs discovered after 53 years!

Rare Doctor Who photographs discovered after 53 years!

RT 1970 Doctor Who Mind of Evil 4
Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Roger Delgado as the Master in The Mind of Evil. (Photographed in 1970 by Don Smith © Radio Times Archive)

The Radio Times has reported finding a set of 25 black-and-white negatives within the personal files of Radio Times staff photographer the late, great Don Smith.

Never catalogued, never scanned nor printed before, they had lain forgotten since he took them in December 1970. Broadcasting historian Steve Arnold stumbled upon them while helping to sort through Don’s collection after his death last year.

During a career that began in the 1950s – much of it working for Radio Times – Don had preserved thousands of unused photos.
 
“He hated seeing anything go into a skip so took it upon himself to become a sort of archive of the unwanted,” says Steve, who became friends with Don and visited him in hospital the day he died.

Calling at Don’s house in the weeks that followed…

Steve encountered “stacks of material. I’d promised I’d help him but the task was monumental and I’m grateful to Don’s family that they trusted me to get on with it. The sheer volumes meant I couldn’t stop and fully comprehend what was there, although it was obvious there were long-lost Doctor Who images passing through my hands and into boxes to deal with later.”

The pictures were taken on Saturday 5th December 1970 on the set of a story called The Mind of Evil, in Studio 6 at BBC Television Centre in London. It was the recording day for Episodes Three and Four, which were subsequently broadcast in February 1971.

RT 1970 Doctor Who Mind of Evil 1
Katy Manning as Jo Grant and Jon Pertwee as the Doctor under attack from the Keller Machine in The Mind of Evil. (Photographed in 1970 by Don Smith © Radio Times Archive)

Jon Pertwee was into his second year as the third Doctor, Katy Manning played his plucky companion Jo Grant, and together they were tackling the latest diabolical scheme of the Master (Roger Delgado). He had seized control of a men’s prison with the Keller Machine, which housed an alien parasite feeding on criminal impulses.

RT 1970 Doctor Who Mind of Evil 7
Roger Delgado as the Master in The Mind of Evil. (Photographed in 1970 by Don Smith © Radio Times Archive)

Katy is delighted to see the pictures for the first time 53 years later.

“Back in my day they didn’t take a lot of studio shots that we ever saw, so seeing these now is absolutely wonderful. I think they’re extraordinary.”

They’re particularly luminous because they were taken on the higher-quality, two-and-a-quarter-inch-square film, sometimes called “medium format”, which by the early ‘70s Don Smith had been moving away from, in favour of 35mm film.

RT 1970 Doctor Who Mind of Evil 3
Katy Manning as Jo Grant in The Mind of Evil. (Photographed in 1970 by Don Smith © Radio Times Archive)

“The Mind of Evil was only my second story – after Terror of the Autons – and a slightly different one for Jo,” says Katy. “She got to take on a whole prison full of blokes and show that she was made of tough stuff. People often forget that Jo was quite handy when necessary and was already starting to show her colours. It was a great story to have Roger in as well.”

The Doctor and Jo may have been bitterly opposed to the Master on screen but relations were very different off camera. “We all got on frightfully well, and by this point we’d also been to Roger’s house for dinner so we were all bonding, which became so apparent through the three years we worked together. We always discussed how we were going to do something and worked hard to make Doctor Who an incredibly strong show.”

RT 1970 Doctor Who Mind of Evil 2
Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Roger Delgado as the Master in The Mind of Evil. (Photographed in 1970 by Don Smith © Radio Times Archive)

She looks back on that formative period with immense fondness.

“Right from the start, Jon, Roger and I formed such a strong bond. They were mentors to me. I’d had very little television experience so was like a little sponge sucking everything up. I learnt from Roger especially a lot about the art of television acting, and from Jon I was already hearing the most wonderful stories about the entertainment business.

“I soon realised that I was in a very safe and happy place with people who were going to teach me so much but also seemed to warm to me. I adored them all. And I love Jon’s hair in these photos, that length. He was already going to my hairdresser!”

RT 1970 Doctor Who Mind of Evil 6
Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Roger Delgado as the Master in The Mind of Evil. (Photographed in 1970 by Don Smith © Radio Times Archive)

Jo Grant became the first long-running female companion, staying three years and winning the hearts of millions. Katy left in 1973, but the magic of Doctor Who has never left her.

RT 1970 Doctor Who Mind of Evil 5
Katy Manning as Jo Grant in The Mind of Evil. (Photographed in 1970 by Don Smith © Radio Times Archive)

She adores her association with the show and has returned to the role many times. Now Jo Jones, she has featured in dozens of Big Finish audio dramas, in The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2010 and, in more recent times, in films shot especially for the BBC’s Doctor Who Blu-ray box sets. Last year, there was a surprise cameo in The Power of the Doctor, which she describes as “a tiny little ‘Hello, is that Jo?!’ in the 59th”.

How does it feel still being associated with the programme 50 years later?

“I’ve grown into Jo Jones. So it’s the same character but she’s had an enormous life that’s now arced into the loss of her husband Cliff. You’d never have imagined back then in 1971 that all this would happen for this wonderfully wacky, clumsy, naïve person.”

Just this year, Katy was back filming her own moving edition of Tales from the TARDIS. It brings us up to date with Jo, now a grandmother and a widow reflecting on love and loss. “It was very emotional for me,” says Katy, whose Doctor Who co-stars and friends died many years ago.

“I felt a flash of ‘double memory’ as both Jo and myself of some of the people that I had truly loved in my life.”

She even wore one of the Doctor’s original jackets, now owned by writer/actor/fan Mark Gatiss.

“It still feels Jon, it almost smells Jon – it’s filled with Pertwee!” says Katy. “I’d nestled under it on so many cold locations. Whenever someone has a velvet jacket on now, I get butterflies in my stomach. Velvet hugs!”


All of Katy Manning’s Doctor Who episodes are now on iPlayer, as is her 2023 return as Jo in Tales of the TARDIS.

Doctor Who Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray

Doctor Who Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray

The Doctor Who Christmas special will be available for fans to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray from December 15th.

Fans can add this year’s festive episode, THE CHURCH ON RUBY ROAD, to their at-home collection following it airing on Christmas Day.

THE CHURCH ON RUBY ROAD will see the Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa take control of the TARDIS and meet new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, for the first time.

Long ago on Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, stolen babies, goblins and perhaps the secret of her birth…

Little is known about Ruby Sunday as she was abandoned on Christmas Eve as a baby. Now living with her mum, Carla and grandmother, Cherry her world is about to be turned upside down when she encounters the Doctor and the two set off on their first adventure together.

Alongside Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson is Davina McCall who will be playing herself as she joins the cast alongside Michelle Greenidge as Ruby’s mum Carla, Angela Wynter as Ruby’s grandmother Cherry and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood.

Doctor Who’s Christmas special, THE CHURCH ON RUBY ROAD, airs December 25th at 5.55pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and streams on Disney+ globally outside of the UK and Ireland.

PRE-ORDER THE CHURCH ON RUBY ROAD – This title will be released on February 12th 2024.

DVD

Blu-Ray


BBC Books to publish novelisation of ‘The Church on Ruby Road’

BBC Books to publish novelisation of ‘The Church on Ruby Road’

The Church on Ruby Road

Long ago on Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, stolen babies, goblins and perhaps the secret of her birth…

BBC Books have announced the Target novelisation of THE CHURCH ON RUBY ROAD, the first full adventure featuring the Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, and the introduction of his new best friend, Ruby Sunday played by Millie Gibson. Russell T Davies’ original script has been novelised by up-and-coming literary talent Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson.

Little is known about Ruby Sunday as she was abandoned on Christmas Eve as a baby. Now living with her mum, Carla and grandmother, Cherry her world is about to be turned upside when she encounters the Doctor and the two set off on their first adventure together…


Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is a science-fantasy author and co-founder of the organisation Impact of Omission, as featured in the Guardian, Huffpost, and the Channel 4 Documentary ‘Where’s My History?’ with footballer and anti-racism campaigner Troy Deeney. 

Winner of the inaugural Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award in 2020, now known as the Future Worlds Prize, her writing is invariably about Black people dismantling space empires, travelling through time, and saving the world – often simultaneously.


THE CHURCH ON RUBY ROAD by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is out in hardback on 25th January 2024.

It is available to pre-order here

THE LUCY WILSON MYSTERIES: 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS!

THE LUCY WILSON MYSTERIES: 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS!

Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce that twelve brand new Lucy Wilson festive short stories will be released for free in the run-up to Christmas.

The first Christmas-themed short story by Steven Walton is available to download right now. After this, a story will be released daily, with the concluding tale being released on Christmas Day.

Inspired by the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, the first story is entitled ‘Twelve Drummers Drumming’ and each subsequent story is named after, and is loosely linked, to one of the twelve days.

Head of publishing at Candy Jar, Shaun Russell, says:

“We like to give something back at Christmas as a thank you for the support our readers have given us throughout the year. In the last few years, we’ve had some brilliant Christmas stories from our regular writer Chris Lynch. And with his Lucy Wilson book, The Best Christmas Ever being released in all good retailers this Christmas (please go and buy a copy if you can), we thought we’d give someone else a chance to celebrate the upcoming festivities”.

Enter Steven Walton…’

Steven previously wrote a short story for the Lethbridge-Stewart series, which led to the commission of a full-length Lucy Wilson novel entitled The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Apocalypse Tomorrow, available exclusively via Candy Jar in the summer of 2023. Following its success, Apocalypse Tomorrow will be released officially through the Books Council of Wales, making it available at all good bookshops, in June 2024.

Publishing Co-ordinator at Candy Jar, Keren Williams, says:

“In my duties as part of the Lethbridge-Stewart and Lucy Wilson editorial team, I’ve found Steven to be a highly creative individual. It’s not easy writing twelve festive-themed short stories back-to-back, but Steven has succeeded and has even managed to bring the reader something different each day, which is a real triumph.”

And, with popular Beano artist Steve Beckett continuing at the helm of the series’ artwork, providing a front cover filled with Christmas chaos, this is a collection that won’t disappoint!

Available from the 14th of December until the 25th of December on the Candy Jar website. https://www.candy-jar.co.uk/books/thetwelvedaysofchristmas.html


Blurb for The Twelve Days of Christmas:

By now, Lucy Wilson shouldn’t have expected anything more than a holiday hamper full of monster mayhem at Christmas. But this time around, Lucy didn’t quite anticipate being attacked by her Christmas dinner.

Twelve festive stories featuring monsters in the pipes, a Christmas party gone wrong, and a trip around the world with Santa himself. Will Lucy be able to save the world just in time for the holidays?

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries is a Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off adventure and featured licensed characters created for Doctor Who by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln.