News – Page 2

Launch Date Set For Series 15!

22 February 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who is back on Saturday 12th April on BBC One and iPlayer and across the world on Disney +

The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) reunite alongside new companion played by Varada Sethu. Sethu made a surprise appearance in Season 1 as part of the cast of Boom.

The trailer released at Christmas gives a first look at the new series starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday. The Doctor meets Belinda Chandra and begins an epic quest to get her back to Earth.

But a mysterious force is stopping their return and the time-traveling TARDIS team must face great dangers, ferocious enemies and wilder terrors than ever before. Rose Ayling-Ellis MBE will be joining Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor for a thrilling and frightening adventure in the upcoming second season, which launches on Saturday 12th April on BBC One and iPlayer.

Juno Dawson is a Sunday Times best-selling novelist, screenwriter and journalist, whose books include the global bestsellers, This Book is Gay and Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. Her debut short film was The Birth of Venus and she created the first official Doctor Who scripted podcast, Doctor Who: Redacted.

Juno says:

“I started watching Doctor Who with my grandma when I was ten-years-old in the 1990s. From writing fan-fiction for an audience of one, to scripting the best TV show of all time is truly a dream come true. I can’t wait for fans and newcomers to see the new season.”

Inua Ellams is a writer and curator, whose published books of poetry include Candy Coated Unicorns & Converse All Stars and The Actual. His first play, The 14th Tale, was awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, and other plays include Barber Shop Chronicles, which played at the National Theatre, Three Sisters and The Half-God of Rainfall.

Inua says:

“For as long as I can remember television, I’ve been a Doctor Who fan. I started watching when I was 10 in Nigeria. The show invited me to dream, to live beyond my reality. Getting to write for the show felt like touching God; it was blasphemously humbling and exciting, and I can’t wait to share my story with the world.”

Pete McTighe is a writer and Executive Producer on the forthcoming spin-off The War Between The Land And The Sea. He has created, written or Exec’d dramas including The Pact (BBC), The Rising (Sky), A Discovery Of Witches (HBO), and Wentworth (Fox).

Pete says:

“The TARDIS is my home away from home, so it’s been a joy to step back inside, with Russell at the console and the incredible team at Bad Wolf hanging on for dear life. I love this show with all my heart, and am really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve with my next episode.”

Sharma Angel-Walfall originally hails from Manchester and won the inaugural Channel 4 New Writing Award that set her off on her screenwriting journey. She has been in a number of writers’ rooms, including Rapman’s Supacell (Netflix), Sally Wainwright’s The Ballad of Renegade Nell (Disney+), A Town Called Malice (Sky) and Noughts & Crosses (BBC). She was a writing consultant on Paul Abbott’s Wolfe (Sky) and wrote an episode of Sharon Hogan’s Dreamland for Sky (starring Lilly Allen and Freema Agyeman).

Sharma says:

“I am buzzing to be a part of such an iconic show! I am a massive Russell T Davies fan, so it is a dream come true to be able to work alongside him, especially on a show that I love. It’s a real privilege to be a part of the Doctor Who family. I have loved every minute!”

Russell T Davies, Showrunner says:

“Doctor Who takes its talent from a glittering galaxy of names, and these extraordinary writers span the skies. We’ve got old hands, new stars, voices from theatre, radio and literature, the whole works! It’s the most wild and exciting season of Doctor Who yet, and I can’t wait to unleash their brilliant work.”

Christopher Chung joins series 15

22 February 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

Best known as MI5 agent Roddy in Slow Horses, Christopher Chung is joining Doctor Who, meeting The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) for a thrilling adventure in the upcoming 15th season of Doctor Who, which will air this year.

Chung is an Australian actor making waves in the world of TV, film and theatre, most recently seen as the tech-savvy M15 agent Roddy Ho in spy thriller Slow Horses, where he’s been appearing alongside Gary Oldman since 2022. He has also recently starred as Fred in Steve McQueen’s Blitz. His West End credits include Kurt Kelly in Heathers: The Musical.

Russell T Davies, Showrunner says:

“I’m a huge fan of Slow Horses, and I was so excited to get Chris involved. He brings all of his strength and style and talent to one of the darkest, toughest episodes we’ve ever made. As for whether Cassio is an ally or an enemy of the Doctor, you’ll have to wait and see, but I can promise, it’s one hell of a meeting!”

Christopher Chung, says:

“I’m absolutely thrilled to step into Doctor Who as Cassio for series 15! This show is legendary, and getting to be part of this new era feels surreal. Working with Russell and Ncuti has been a dream! This episode is huge – packed with everything Who fans love: heart, adventure, and a touch of madness. I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s in store – it’s going to be iconic. Get ready!”

The series is produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC and Disney Branded Television, and will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and exclusively on Disney+ outside of the UK where available.

Fear Her returns to iPlayer

13 February 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

In the original episode, Edwards made a cameo appearance as himself, briefly presenting BBC News about the events in the episode, where people were vanishing due to the powers of a possessed young girl, Chloe Webber.

Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children back in July 2024, with it later decided that the former broadcaster would be given six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and would be required to complete a sex offender programme.

Now, the Doctor Who episode has been redubbed to remove any trace of Edwards, being replaced by actress Becky Wright, who has previously worked on the Doctor Who podcast series.

In terms of what has been changed within the episode, the main story of course remains the same, but certain pieces of dialogue have been changed.

Within the original episode, Edwards can be heard narrating coverage, saying:

“My God, what’s going on here? The crowd has just vanished, right in front of my eyes. It’s impossible. Bob, can we go to you in the box? Bob? Not you too?”

After the crisis is resolved, he is heard again saying:

“They’ve reappeared! It’s quite incredible. And a mystery man, we’ve no idea who he is, has picked up the flame. It’s more than heat and light, it’s hope and it’s courage and it’s love.”

Now, the lines have been replaced with:

“My God, what’s going on here? The crowd has vanished, they’re gone, everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone, right in front of my eyes, it’s impossible. Bob? Bob, can we join you in the box? Not you too Bob.”

As well as Wright narrating:

“Just look at this, utterly incredible scenes at the Olympic Stadium. 80,000 athletes and spectators, they disappeared, they’ve come back. They’ve returned, they’ve reappeared. It’s quite incredible.”

The episode now features the iPlayer disclaimer: “This programme has been edited since broadcast. There are a number of reasons why a programme may have been edited including legal, contractual or technical issues.”

Previously speaking on archive material, a BBC spokesperson told RadioTimes.com: “As you would expect we are actively considering the availability of our archive.

“While we don’t routinely delete content from the BBC archive as it is a matter of historical record, we do consider the continued use and re-use of material on a case-by-case basis.”

New voices join the TARDIS for Series 15

27 January 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

The TARDIS is getting ready to take viewers on another thrilling journey through time and space, with some new additions as the show announces the writers who have stepped on board for the upcoming series.

Writers

Juno Dawson is a #1 Sunday Times best-selling novelist, screenwriter and journalist, whose books include the global bestsellers, This Book is Gay and Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. Her debut short film was The Birth of Venus and she created the first official Doctor Who scripted podcast, Doctor Who: Redacted.

Juno says:

“I started watching Doctor Who with my grandma when I was ten-years-old in the 1990s. From writing fan-fiction for an audience of one, to scripting the best TV show of all time is truly a dream come true. I can’t wait for fans and newcomers to see the new season.”

Inua Ellams is a writer and curator, whose published books of poetry include Candy Coated Unicorns & Converse All Stars and The Actual. His first play, The 14th Tale, was awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, and other plays include Barber Shop Chronicles, which played at the National Theatre, Three Sisters and The Half-God of Rainfall.

Inua says:

“For as long as I can remember television, I’ve been a Doctor Who fan. I started watching when I was 10 in Nigeria. The show invited me to dream, to live beyond my reality. Getting to write for the show felt like touching God; it was blasphemously humbling and exciting, and I can’t wait to share my story with the world.”

Pete McTighe is a writer and Executive Producer on the forthcoming spin-off The War Between The Land And The Sea. He has created, written or Exec’d dramas including The Pact (BBC), The Rising (Sky), A Discovery Of Witches (HBO), and Wentworth (Fox).

Pete says:

“The TARDIS is my home away from home, so it’s been a joy to step back inside, with Russell at the console and the incredible team at Bad Wolf hanging on for dear life. I love this show with all my heart, and am really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve with my next episode.”

Sharma Angel-Walfall originally hails from Manchester and won the inaugural Channel 4 New Writing Award that set her off on her screenwriting journey. She has been in a number of writers’ rooms, including Rapman’s Supacell (Netflix), Sally Wainwright’s The Ballad of Renegade Nell (Disney+), A Town Called Malice (Sky) and Noughts & Crosses (BBC). She was a writing consultant on Paul Abbott’s Wolfe (Sky) and wrote an episode of Sharon Hogan’s Dreamland for Sky (starring Lilly Allen and Freema Agyeman).

Sharma says:

“I am buzzing to be a part of such an iconic show! I am a massive Russell T Davies fan, so it is a dream come true to be able to work alongside him, especially on a show that I love. It’s a real privilege to be a part of the Doctor Who family. I have loved every minute!”

Russell T Davies, Showrunner says:

“Doctor Who takes its talent from a glittering galaxy of names, and these extraordinary writers span the skies. We’ve got old hands, new stars, voices from theatre, radio and literature, the whole works! It’s the most wild and exciting season of Doctor Who yet, and I can’t wait to unleash their brilliant work.”

Russell T Davies is showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers are Joel Collins, Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter.

NEW WRITERS REVEALED FOR UPCOMING SERIES

21 January 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

According to agency listings, Sharma Walfall has co-written the third episode of series 15 which has the working title Five Miles Deep. Walfall has previously worked on TV series such as Renegade Nell, Noughts & Crosses and Supacell.

According to Doctor Who Filming Locations, Nigerian playwright and poet Inua Ellams has also joined the writing team for the upcoming series, writing Episode 5 of the new series which will be directed by Makalla McPherson.

The Twitter page has also reported that episodes 1, 2 and 4 of series 15 will be titled The Robot Revolution, Lux and Lucky Day respectively.

The BBC will announce the official episode titles and transmission details in due course.

JORDAN ADENE JOINS CAST FOR SERIES 15

21 January 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

Jordan Adene is the latest cast member revealed to be in series 15.

Doctor Who returns in 2025 with series 15, which will see The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) reunite alongside new companion played by Varada Sethu. Sethu made a surprise appearance in series 14 as part of the cast of Boom.

The teaser features a first-look at the new season starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday. The Doctor meets Belinda Chandra and begins an epic quest to get her back to Earth.

But a mysterious force is stopping their return and the time-traveling TARDIS team must face great dangers, ferocious enemies and wilder terrors than ever before. Jordan Adene is the latest cast member revealed to be in the series. Plus, Rose Ayling-Ellis MBE will be joining Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor for a thrilling and frightening adventure in the upcoming second season of Doctor Who, which will air in 2025.

Russell T Davies, Showrunner says:

“We always want guest actors on Doctor Who to have fun, but Rose takes it to a whole new level. She storms in with an astonishing performance of terror, anger and bravery in one of the most frightening episodes we’ve ever made.”

Varada joins the Whoniverse from a galaxy far, far away after starring in the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor. Now she straps in for another journey through time and space alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday.

Christopher Benjamin 1934 – 2025

15 January 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant: Day 4707 ... — Christopher Benjamin

Today we heard the very sad news of the passing of actor Christopher Benjamin aged 90. Many of our readers will fondly remember him for his appearances in Doctor Who playing Sir Keith Gold in “Inferno” (1970), Henry Gordon Jago in “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” (1977) and Colonel Hugh Curbishley in “The Unicorn and the Wasp” (2008).

Christopher Benjamin was an English actor with many stage and television credits since the 1960s.

He also provided the voice of Rowf in the animated film The Plague Dogs (1982). His radio acting career included two BBC Radio adaptations of Christopher Lee’s crime drama Colvil and Soames.

Benjamin was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England.

He has appeared regularly in TV and radio since 1965. He is well known for his roles in some of the UK’s biggest cult television programmes. This included playing the same character (“Potter”) in two Patrick McGoohan dramas, Danger Man and The Prisoner, fuelling speculation that they are possibly linked. He played the Old Man (boss of Philip Roath) in the Thames Television comedy by Peter Tilbury, It Takes a Worried Man (1981). He was also an occasional guest star in The Avengers and Doctor Who, making three appearances in each, mostly in comedy roles.

He also played recurring roles in several period dramas. He was Sir John Glutton, the regular adversary in the period family adventure series Dick Turpin, Channing in several episodes of the third series of When The Boat Comes In, and Prosper Profond in the acclaimed 1967 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga.

He reprised the role of Henry Gordon Jago, from the Doctor Who serial The Talons of Weng-Chiang in thirteen series of Jago and Litefoot audio plays, after a well received episode of the Big Finish Productions audio C.D. series Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles entitled The Mahogany Murderers. He acted alongside Trevor Baxter who played Professor George Litefoot. He was Sir William Lucas in the acclaimed 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice.

His few film roles include appearances in Ring of Bright Water (1969), Brief Encounter (1974), Hawk the Slayer (1980), The Tichborne Claimant (1998) and Angel (2007). His final screen appearance was in The Legend of Tarzan (2016).

Predominantly a stage actor, after six years in repertory theatres, Manchester, Salisbury and Bristol Old Vic (1958-1965) he has performed regularly over twenty years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has played Bottom five times, at Bristol Old Vic, Regents Park, Radio 3, the RSC (including a tour of Australia and New Zealand) and finally at Glyndebourne in The Fairy-Queen, before retiring from the stage in 2012.

His West End performances include How the Other Half Loves at the Duke of Yorks, A Voyage Round My Father at Wyndhams, The Clandestine Marriage at the Queens Theatre, Sweeney Todd at the Royal National Theatre, and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Saville (with Leonard Rossiter). He has also appeared in several plays at the Donmar, the Kings Head, Mermaid, etc. He has played Falstaff in rep at Salisbury, at Regents Park, and at the Globe in 2008 and after touring the US and UK in 2010.

Benjamin retired from acting and lived in Hampstead, London, with his wife, Anna Fox, an actress and writer.

Barbara Clegg 1926 – 2025

13 January 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

Barbara Clegg: The First Female Dr Who Writer

Clegg was born in Manchester, England on 1 March 1926. Her parents were Herbert Clegg and Ethel Moores, sister of Sir John Moores who founded the Littlewoods Empire and they ran an artificial flower making factory in Manchester. She spent her early years in Gatley.

After obtaining an English degree at Oxford University, Clegg decided to pursue a career in the theatre. Initial work as an understudy led to more substantial roles, most notably her turn as Cleopatra opposite Cyril Luckham’s Caesar at the Liverpool Playhouse. A high-profile tour of Australia with Katharine Hepburn followed, performing plays such as The Merchant of Venice, but by this point Clegg was looking to move into television, a medium where more money could be made with roles in Emergency Ward 10 and The Dream Maker. She then started writing scripts and in 1961 contributed seven scripts for the television soap opera Coronation Street.

After writing for several radio and television serials, including for Crossroads and a radio dramatisation of The Chrysalids, Clegg was asked to submit ideas for the science fiction television series Doctor Who in 1981. Her storyline, titled The Enlighteners, involved a space-bound race using anachronistic sailing ships. Doctor Who script editor Eric Saward decided to use Clegg’s story as the last part of a trilogy of three stories, known informally as the Black Guardian Trilogy, as it involved the return of the Black Guardian.

To integrate The Enlighteners into the trilogy, portions of the story were rewritten at the request of the production team and the Black and White Guardians replaced the originally planned “Enlighteners”. Since the title could no longer refer to those entities, the story was renamed Enlightenment. She was the first woman to write a serial for Doctor Who.

The serial was Barbara Clegg’s only commission for Doctor Who, other story line ideas being rejected by Saward, and later Andrew Cartmel. However one of those ideas, “Point of Entry”, was later written up as a full script by Marc Platt and released as part of Big Finish’s series of Doctor Who: The Lost Stories. Another “The Elite”, was released in 2011.

She wrote a book about the life of her uncle Sir John Moores, called The Man Who Made Littlewoods, which was published five weeks before his death in 1993.

Clegg died on 7 January 2025, at the age of 98.

CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO REMOVED FROM BRITBOX UK AND ITVX PREMIUM

8 January 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

Classic Doctor Who, which included episodes broadcast from when the series launched in 1963 until it was rested in 1989, has been removed by BritBox UK and ITVX (via Premium subscription).

An official reason has not been provided by BritBox at time of writing, though it’s thought that the streamer has lost the rights to keep the show on its platform. Meanwhile, the Classic Doctor Who episodes are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

Doctor Who Makes The Top Five On Christmas Day 2024

6 January 2025 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who - CultBox — Doctor Who: Joy To The World (2024)

The Doctor Who Christmas Special: “Joy To The World” has achieved an official rating (after 7 days and once BBC iPlayer data has been been taken into account) of 5.9 million which is an uplift of 1.8m from the initial overnight values and the highest rated episode since last years Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” which achieved 7.49m.

The final episode of Gavin & Stacey is the UK’s most-watched TV programme shown on Christmas Day in 23 years, new figures show. Official ratings for the sitcom’s 90-minute farewell, which was the centrepiece of BBC One’s 2024 festive schedules, are 19.1 million.

This is the biggest audience for a Christmas Day broadcast on UK television since the episode of Only Fools & Horses on December 25 2001, which attracted 21.3 million viewers.

The official 7 day consolidated ratings for Christmas Day 2024 are as follows:

Gavin & Stacey (BBC One, 9pm) 19.1 million
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (BBC One, 6.10pm) 16.3 million
Call the Midwife (BBC One, 8pm) 7.6 million
Doctor Who (BBC One, 5.10pm) 5.9 million
The King (BBC One, 3pm) 5.7 million
EastEnders (BBC One, 10.35pm) 5.6 million
EastEnders (BBC One, 7.30pm) 5.5 million
Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 3.55pm) 5.4 million
Tiddler (BBC One, 2.35pm) 4.7 million
Coronation Street (ITV, 7pm) 4.4 million