Talking Doctor Who will see Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor and who is now returning as the Fourteenth Doctor for the upcoming 60th anniversary specials, travel back through the BBC archives to tell the story of the classic era of Doctor Who.
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?
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
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!”
New Doctor Who theme unveiled for first time ahead of musical special
As if excitement for the upcoming Doctor Who episodes couldn’t grow any more, we now have our first taste of some of the music to come in the upcoming season.
A performance of the brand new Doctor Who theme has been shared on Twitter, which was recently branded to X.
It comes ahead of fans being treated to a special musical show that teases new and old songs aplenty in a one-off edition of Sunday Night is Music Night on BBC Radio 2 – Doctor Who @60: A Musical Celebration – on 15th October.
The theme, performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conducted by Alastair King as part of the show, is a mix of old and new tones, providing an entirely fresh experience for Doctor Who fans to mark a new era for the series.
Jo Whiley will helm the episode, which was recorded on Thursday 28th September at the home of BBC National Orchestra of Wales – Hoddinott Hall at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
As well as being an incredible insight into some of the musical numbers that have boosted our appreciation for the long-running sci-fi series, listeners will also be treated to a number of musical exclusives at the 60th anniversary concert.
The Jo Whiley BBC Radio 2 show was announced in September, teasing some of what’s to come as composer Murray Gold returns to lead the latest version of the Doctor Who theme music.
While the sounds of the show itself are enough to make us excited, fans will also be pleased to know that the concert was filmed for BBC iPlayer, with the special edition set to air at a later date.
And that’s not all for the Doctor Who-themed radio celebrations, as Radio 2’s My Life in a Mixtape is set to continue in the autumn.
The show will see Doctor Who actors share the music that has been the soundtrack to their lives, spanning their years from childhood through to now.
The makers of Doctor Who Magazine present their biggest-ever publication – a deluxe bookazine celebrating the 60th anniversary of the world’s longest-running science-fiction programme. This 224-page bookazine explores Doctor Who’s impact on its fans, the viewing public and popular culture across 60 chapters of all-new material. Presented in an exclusive slipcase and lavishly illustrated with hundreds of rare images. Packed full of exclusive contributions from some of the finest writers of the official Doctor Who Magazine, this is the essential souvenir of a television milestone.
Doctor Who: 60 Moments in Time is on sale from Thursday 9 November, RRP £19.99 from panini.co.uk and selected branches of WH Smith while stocks last.
Meet the Meep – Miriam Margolyes, who voices the Meep in the first 2023 Special The Star Beast, talks exclusively to DWM about her lunch with David Tennant, her affection for Tom Baker, and why she’s the Fourth Doctor’s companion who never was.
Noble intentions– Jacqueline King and Karl Collins – who play Donna’s mum, Sylvia Noble and her husband, Shaun Temple – on their imminent return to Doctor Who after 13 years.
Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies on important dates for your diary!
The Beast Unleashed – go behind the scenes on the brand-new making-of show Doctor Who Unleashed.
Star Makers– comic book legends Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons – and two of their biggest fans, Russell T Davies and David Tennant – tell us why it’s The Star Beast’s time to shine.
Drawn Upon a Spin Off… – episodes of Doctor Who have inspired everything from comics and novels to audio dramas and video games. But what about those times when the inspiration has gone the other way?
Memory Worm – The Worm deletes your past – and it’s loose! DWM continues to test Doctor Who contributors for signs of contact with the creature. This issue: Jamie actor Frazer Hines.
Production Diary – script editor Scott Handcock files his latest report, direct from Doctor Who’s HQ.
Effective Management – Matt Nathan, VFX editor on the forthcoming special episodes and the next series of Doctor Who, reveals how he manages the magic we see on screen.
“Nothing in the World Can Stop Me Now!” – with an animated reconstruction of 1967’s The Underwater Menace on the way, DWM reassesses at Joseph Furst’s baroque performance as Professor Zaroff.
Liberation of the Daleks Part Thirteen – the adventures of the Fourteenth Doctor continue in the epic comic-strip adventure written by Alan Barnes and illustrated by Lee Sullivan.
The Fact of Fictionunlocks the secrets of the Tenth Doctor and Donna’s first reunion episode, 2008’s Partners in Crime.
60 Objects, 60 Years – the latest instalment of the series that tells the story of one object from every year of Doctor Who’s history.
Gallifrey Guardian – all the latest official news.
Other Worlds – the essential guide to new stories in Doctor Who’s expanded universe.
Previews, reviews, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser and more.
Doctor Who Magazine Issue 596 is on sale Thursday 12 October from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £7.99 (UK).
Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £6.99.
60 Years of Doctor Who drops on BBC iPlayer alongside landmark online archive
I’m so excited for new viewers – imagine being 8 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!
RADIO 2 ANNOUNCE TWO-PART DOCUMENTARY FOR 60th ANNIVERSARY
Britain has changed immeasurably over the last 60 years, but ever since Radio 2 launched in 1967, it has existed in the same timeline as… The Doctor.
In part one of this two part documentary, Jo Whiley takes a trip through the Whoniverse to discover the amazing stories behind the rise and fall of a British institution.
Along the way she’ll hear how the changing attitudes of Britain have been reflected through the Tardis, in a tale that features Dalekmania, Dad’s Army, Mary Whitehouse, Ridley Scott, The Cybermen, Hans Zimmer, The Beatles and the JFK assassination.
As the Doctor and his companions are thrown into a world of sexism, racial tension and intrigue. Along the way we’ll hear new and archive interviews from Doctors and companions past and present.
Interviews include Peter Capaldi, Patrick Troughton, William Hartnell, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Sophie Aldred, Bonnie Langford, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Louise Jameson, Nick Briggs and show runner Russell T Davies.
In the concluding part of this documentary Jo Whiley finds out how despite being cancelled by the BBC, the combination of a rabid fan base, a drinks party and a forgotten BBC Sitcom combined to help bring one of Britain’s greatest cultural institutions back to our screens.
Along the way we’ll be hearing never before heard tales from the teams behind the hugely successful reboot including Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall.
Plus Doctors and companions past and present including Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jodie Whittaker, Christopher Eccleston, Peter Capaldi, Sophie Aldred, Bonnie Langford, Ncuti Gatwa, Sylvester McCoy, Matt Lucas, John Simm, Billie Piper and Kylie.
Radio 2 Celebrates Doctor Who At 60 airs 1am on Saturday 21st October and 12am on Sunday 22nd October.
Adventures in Type and Space is a charity bookazine published by Ten Acre Films exploring the title sequences of classic Doctor Who from 1963-1989, released to mark 50 years of the beloved ‘diamond’ logo.
Highlights include new in-depth interviews with Bernard Lodge (title designer 1963-1979), Peter Govey (special cameraman 1970-1979), Gareth Edwards (titles animator 1987-1989), along with contributions from Sid Sutton (title designer 1980-1986) and the family of Oliver Elmes (title designer 1987-1989).
Illustrated throughout with rare and unseen imagery, Adventures in Type and Space is a celebration of the artistry and ingenuity that went into creating Doctor Who’s extraordinary title sequences, told by the people who made them, and includes a foreword by Mark Gatiss.
Proceeds will benefit Unicef, Bernard Lodge’s chosen charity.
Created by Graham Kibble-White, Jack Kibble-White and Stuart Manning.
Format: 124 pages; full colour, 21cm x 21cm, perfect-bound
All pre-orders will be entered into a prize draw to win a one-of-kind print of the diamond logo, taken from the original metal-block master used to create the actual TV graphic, personally printed and signed by Bernard Lodge.
Help us make Weston-super-Mare a sea of colourful Doctor Who loveliness by learning to knit your own Doctor Who scarf and join us in knitting the longest ever community made Doctor Who scarf!
We’re so excited about our new exhibition – ‘ADVENTURES IN TIME AND SPACE – 60 YEARS OF DOCTOR WHO ART’, which runs from 21 October 2023 – 27 January 2024. We just want to wrap ourselves in Doctor Who fun, so we’ve decided to get knitting and you can join us too!
Grab one of our knitting starter packs from the museum shop (throughout the exhibition dates) and get going with your own scarf. You can even join us on one of our special knitting starter days (24/10/23 or 06/01/24), where there will be a team of knitting helpers ready to get you started and show you a basic stitch. There’s no charge to join this event and no need to book, you just need to purchase one of the starter packs and find an available helper in our Learning Space. Knitting is a great hobby for almost any age and you don’t need to know loads of complicated stitches; just one will enable you to make something to be proud of.
Ever wondered why the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) had such a long striped scarf? – The story goes that the costume designer gave a knitter a big bag of wool and asked her to knit a scarf. He thought she would choose what she liked from the bag, but instead she used up the whole lot and an iconic piece of Doctor Who fashion was created! Some sources say that first scarf was 20 feet long and we want to beat that by knitting our own longest ever jointly made Doctor Who scarf. We’ve already started the scarf and we will be adding to it over the whole run of the exhibition (up until January 2024). Once we’ve had some fun wrapping up various things in our awesome scarf we plan to chop it down into standard lengths and finish these off to go towards our ‘Warm Bundles Project’. We’ve been working with other community organisations to gather bundles (scarves, gloves, hats etc) that are given to homeless people. This means that our long scarf will go to a good cause.
Have you got any spare wool or needles at home? If you’d like to donate them to our project to help out with making this amazing creation then we’d be very grateful for them. Just email the museum FAO Katherine Bell (Learning and Events Officer).
If you’d like to know more information or arrange dropping off some wool or needles, just email museum@wsm-tc.gov.uk
Watch the Doctor and Donna together for the #DoctorDonnathon watchalong
Join Doctor Who fans across the world in watching the adventures of the Doctor and Donna together, plus an exciting competition for fans in the UK.
Allons-y! Ahead of the biggest reunion in time and space, let’s rewatch their adventures again.
A watchalong of Doctor Who adventures featuring the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble will be happening on Saturday 4th November 2023, starting at 9:45am UK time.
To celebrate the Doctor and Donna’s latest adventures in the 60th anniversary Doctor Who specials, there will be a watchalong of fourteen hours of their previous adventures. You will be able to watch along with all the episodes on BBC iPlayer in the UK, or for those around the world, find out where to watch here.
We will release a planned-out schedule (with breaks!) ahead of the day long watchalong on the Doctor Who website.
For those in the UK, you can also enter a competition to win tickets to an in-person screening of all the adventures at the Genesis cinema. To enter the competition and for terms and privacy notices please go here. This competition is open to UK residents only and entrants must be over 18. The competition closes on the 11th October 2023 23:59.
Ahead of the biggest reunion in time and space, let’s rewatch Doctor and Donna’s adventures again!
A watchalong of adventures with the Doctor and Donna will be happening on the 4th November 2023, starting 09:45am UK time, and we want fans all over the world to join in! pic.twitter.com/VI53Wq6uyP
(@Stef_Coburn) October 7, 2023
: THIS IS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE NEW DOCTOR WHO THEME TUNE!!! 
