The latest editions from Obverse Books Black Archive looks at two very different stories from the First and Fourth Doctor

Black Archive #30: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Released 2 April 2019

Survivors of London, the Daleks are the masters of Earth. Surrender now and you will live.

The story of the Daleks’ return to Doctor Who in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) has been told in multiple media, but for this Black Archive, Jonathan Morris has had unparalleled access to the many variants of the scripts.

After 55 years, learn the identity of ‘The Waking Ally’, discover Milton Subotsky’s working draft of the second feature film, and find out why the iconic shot of the Daleks crossing Westminster Bridge doesn’t appear in the televised story… Author Jonathan Morris is one of the most prolific and long-standing contributors to Doctor Who Magazine, as well as writing five novels for BBC Books and over fifty stories for Big Finish.

RRP: £7.99 (£5.99 direct from Obverse)

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Black Archive #31: Warriors Gate

Released 2 May 2019

The shadow of my past and of your future.

Representative of Doctor Who at its most experimental, narratively and visually, Warriors’ Gate (1981) was the rich by-product of a producer seeking to modernise the series for the 1980s, a radio writer and novelist who had never written for television, and a film director with one television drama to his credit.

Examining television authorship in the 1980s, and using archive research and new interviews, this Black Archive traces the development of writer Stephen Gallagher’s scripts and their onscreen realisation by producer John Nathan-Turner, script editor Christopher Bidmead, and director Paul Joyce.

Similarly, it explores the story’s complex blend of absurd tragicomedy, quantum theory, randomness and entropy, within the context of British New Wave SF, the philosophy of science, modernist theatre, film and television, German Romantic painting, pop video, and the development of electronic video effects. Many ‘authors’ contributed to the transmitted version of Warriors’ Gate and the book also considers whether it can be claimed as the work of a single author given the collaborative nature of its troubled production.

RRP: £7.99 (£5.99 direct from Obverse)

Big Finish Productions are bringing back the First Doctor's Companion Katarina for a new set of Audio adventures

As well as the return of the companion, originally played in 1965 by the late Adrienne Hill, the Early Adventures stories this year will see classic Doctors colliding, quite literally.

Doctor Who – The Early Adventures, Series Six, will help celebrate 20 years of Doctor Who on audio, in association with BBC Studios.

Daughter of the Gods by David K Barnes is the first adventure in Series Six of Doctor Who – The Early Adventures to be released this year. This adventure will see the First Doctor and Second Doctor meeting, on a mission to alter the course of time forever. In Daughter of the Gods, Frazer Hines as the Second Doctor and Jamie, and Wendy Padbury as Zoe are reunited, continuing to travel the cosmos. But then they bump into someone they should really avoid.

Peter Purves returns as Steven Taylor and takes on the mantle of the First Doctor. Plus, joining him, in a Big Finish first, is Ajjaz Awad (Stones, Holby City), playing the lost companion Katarina.

Many may not recognise Katarina, as unfortunately, only one of the episodes which she starred in still exists, the rest having being lost to time over the last 50 years. However, the Trojan handmaiden Katarina makes a re-appearance, to celebrate Doctor Who on audio’s 20th anniversary.

David K Barnes tells us more about this unlikely resurrection, and how to write a story where Time Lords collide Big Finish Listeners may recognise David K Barnes from his other recent work in the Doctor Who Early Adventures range. Barnes wrote last year’s very popular story, The Dalek Occupation of Winter.

Also to be announced is the second story in Doctor Who - The Early Adventures Series Six. The Home Guard by Simon Guerrier features the Second Doctor and Jamie (both played by Frazer Hines) journeying together with Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben Jackson (Elliott Chapman) – but things are not all as they seem For the first time in Big Finish and Doctor Who history, the Second Doctor and his companions will be encountering the Master… Reprising his role as the first incarnation of the Master is James Dreyfus, who listeners will recognise from the December 2017 release, The First Doctor Adventures Volume One. He’s back, and more malevolent than ever.

Simon Guerrier told us more about this story These two adventures in the sixth series of Doctor Who – The Early Adventures will be released in November 2019, priced at £14.99 on CD or £10.99 on download individually. They are also available to purchase together in a bundle, priced at £26 on CD or £20 on download.

The soundtrack to The Daleks’ Master Plan, first seen in 1965, is to be released on Vinyl for the first time.

The release, from Demon Music Group, follows the recent popularity of similar releases of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and League of Gentlemen

The Daleks’ Master Plan, is a narrated full-cast TV soundtrack adventure. Starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor, in a battle against his archenemies, the Daleks.

The vinyl will be released on 15th February 2019 and is now available for pre-order. RRP £99.99.

Ben Stanley, Head of Product & Marketing, Demon Music Group, said
The release comes in two editions.

• Standard edition: 7LP x 12” Heavyweight Translucent Blue
• Amazon exclusive edition (limited to 1000 units): 7LP x 12” Heavyweight Splatter Vinyl

In this classic 12 part ‘lost’ adventure, first shown on TV from October 1965 to January 1966, the Daleks threaten to destroy the fabric of time itself. In their quest to control the Solar System, they have taken possession of the devastating Time Destructor. Determined to stop them, the Doctor steals the core of the weapon before he and his friends are pursued across time and space by his ruthless, powerful nemeses.

From the eerie sonics of Ron Grainer & Delia Derbyshire’s original theme tune and the familiar ‘wheezing, groaning’ of the TARDIS, to soundscapes illustrating the jungles of Kembel and alien spacecraft, the story is brought to life by the unique sounds produced by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop .

Written by Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner, this is the longest single Doctor Who adventure ever made for television. Linking narration is provided by Peter Purves (Steven) and the cast includes Kevin Stoney as Mavic Chen, Nicholas Courtney as Bret Vyon, Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom and Peter Butterworth as the Meddling Monk. The film recordings of all but three episodes of this story are lost from the BBC archives.

The prelude episode Mission to the Unknown is presented on its own single-sided disc with a unique Dalek (exclusive edition) or TARDIS (standard edition) etched reverse.

The BBC has released a preview of this year's Christmas Special, Twice Upon A Time

The First Doctor Enters The Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS

Issue 519 of Doctor Who Magazine has an exclusive interview with the new first doctor, David Bradley.

Four years ago he played William Hartnell in BBC Two’s An Adventure in Space and Time. Now David Bradley is returning as the First Doctor himself for this year’s Christmas Special Twice Upon a Time... ALSO IN THIS ISSUE…

• FRIGHT KNIGHT
Sir Derek Jacobi talks to DWM about bringing back his version of the Master for Big Finish’s new series of audio adventures.
• DEDICATED FOLLOWERS
DWM meets Jared Garfield and Lily Travers, the actors playing Ben and Polly in Twice Upon a Time.
• BEN ZEN
In a previously unpublished interview from 1997, Michael Craze reflects on the time he spent playing Ben Jackson in Doctor Who from 1966 to 1967.
• DOC MARTIN
In what turned out to be his final interview, Trevor Martin discusses playing the Doctor in the stage play Seven Keys to Doomsday. Elsewhere in this issue DWM pays tribute to his long career.
• DRESSING THE DOCTOR
Costume designer Hayley Nebauer explains how she created the First Doctor’s 2017 look.
• ANNUAL REPORT
BBC Audio is reviving stories from the Doctor Who annuals. Readers Peter Purves and Matthew Waterhouse are in the studio...
• 54 FIRST DATES
What’s so special about the 23rd of November? And what else has happened on Doctor Who’s big day? DWM investigates...
• THE PHANTOM PIPER
A brand-new comic strip adventure for the Doctor and Bill in part one of The Phantom Piper, written by Scott Gray and illustrated by Martin Geraghty.
• THE TIME TEAM
The Time Team continues its mission to watch every episode of Doctor Who with 2011’s The Almost People.
• THE FACT OF FICTION
Uncovering the details hidden in the 2007 episode The Lazarus Experiment.
• THE BLOGS OF DOOM
DWM’s brand-new column begins...

PLUS! Previews, book and audio reviews, news, prize-winning competitions and more.

Doctor Who Magazine 519 is on sale from Thursday 16 November, price £5.99.

Fantom have released two new commentaries in their Who Talk series, providing new insights into classic episodes of Doctor Who.

The first release is called Adventures in Time, and is a collection of Hartnell themed historical stories including episodes from The Aztecs, The Romans and The Crusade. It features Maureen O'Brien, who played Vicki alongside the First Doctor, who is joined by William Russell, Julian Glover, Petra Markham, George Little, Kay Patrick, Ian Cullen, Clive Doig, Brian Hodgson, all once again under the watchful eye of Toby Hadoke.

The second release is another classic from the Pertwee era, The Claws of Axos. Producer Paul W T Ballard explained why the story was chosen. A special edition bundle featuring both The Claws of Axos and Adventures in Time is available. Each set will come with the cover signed by an actor from each release, and Adventures in Time contains a disc featuring exclusive additional commentaries on The Crusade and The Time Meddler.

These CDs are limited and exclusively available via whotalk.co.uk

Both sets are now available, you can purchase them directly from Who Talk at a discounted price of £10.99 each (RRP £12.99) or via download priced £9.99. The special edition bundle will be available exclusively via this website priced £39.99.

Please note: These commentaries contain no BBC copyrighted elements and do not feature any audio from the episodes themselves.

Big Finish have announced that David Bradley will be reprising the role of the First Doctor in a new series of Audio plays.

Bradley will star as the First Doctor in this year’s BBC One Doctor Who Christmas Special alongside Peter Capaldi. Now Big Finish Productions, in arrangement with BBC Worldwide, are giving this reimagined First Doctor another chance to explore the cosmos.

Joining David Bradley are his co-stars from the Mark Gatiss Docu-drama on the origins of Doctor Who, An Adventure in Space and Time. Jamie Glover (Elizabeth, Waterloo Road, Holby City) plays Ian Chesterton, Jemma Powell (Alice in Wonderland, Angel, Foyle’s War) plays Barbara Wright, and Claudia Grant (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) plays Susan – the Doctor’s granddaughter and the original ‘Unearthly Child’.

Script editor and writer Matt Fitton said Executive producer Nicholas Briggs added Executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery said This series of adventures pays homage to the beginning years of Doctor Who, and each of the four episodes in each story will be given an individual title. Two of the four stories are historical, focusing on tales from Earth’s history pre-1963. Back in its first few years, Doctor Who was intended to be an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history, while still captivating the minds and imaginations of generations to come.

Not only will the Doctor be exploring our history, but he will also encounter strange new life forms – the Dalmari and the Ashtallans.

And in a Big Finish exclusive, the First Doctor will encounter his greatest foe, the first incarnation of fellow Time Lord, the Master, played by James Dreyfus.

Available in December, the stories in The First Doctor Adventures - Volume 1 consist of:

• 1.1 The Destination Wars by Matt Fitton
• 1.2 The Great White Hurricane by Guy Adams

And to follow in July 2018, Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures – Volume 2:

• 2.1 The Invention of Death by John Dorney
• 2.2 The Barbarians and the Samurai by Andrew Smith

Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures – Volume 1 is available for pre-order now at £23 on CD or £20 on download from Big Finish and will remain at this price until general release when it will be available for £35 on CD or £30 on download.

German company Polyband is going to release An Unearthly Child on DVD. It will be Volume 1 of a new range called The Classic Episodes and be released on 28th April 2017. 

The DVD will be identical to the UK version that was part of The Beginning boxed set, adding German subtitles to the features. Since the early serials have never been broadcast in Germany there is no German dubbing available for this story.

Polyband promotes the release with the following statement:

German: Ein nebeliger Abend, ein Polizist geht Streife in seinem Revier ... ein verlassener Schrottplatz ... und eine Polizei-Box, die geheimnisvoll surrt und brummt. Diese Bilder sind heute Kult. Sie sind die Anfänge einer Serie, die nun schon seit mehr als 50 Jahren produziert wird und Generationen von Zuschauern prägen sollte: DOCTOR WHO - AN UNEARTHLY CHILD ist der erste, aus 4 Teilen bestehende Handlungsbogen der Serie DOCTOR WHO und eröffnet die 1. Staffel. Die vier Folgen wurden erstmals zwischen dem 23. November und 14. Dezember 1963 ausgestrahlt. Mit brillantem Erzähltempo und erstaunlicher Überzeugungskraft lädt AN UNEARTHLY CHILD behutsam in die Welt von  DOCTOR WHO ein. Bereits wenige Minuten nachdem man die sichere Umgebung der Coal Hill Schule verlassen hat, befindet man sich mit dem ersten Doktor (William Hartnell) sowie seiner Enkelin Susan (Carole Ann Ford) inmitten der ersten Reise durch Zeit und Raum mithilfe einer blauen Polizei-Box, der legendären TARDIS.

English: A foggy evening, a poilce officer walks around in his area... a junkyard... and a Police Box that makes strange mysterious noises. These pictures are cult today. They are the beginning of a TV show which is in production for over 50 years now and has impressed many generations of viewers: DOCTOR WHO - AN UNEARTHLY CHILD is the first four part serial of DOCTOR WHO and is the opening to the very first season. These four episodes were first broadcast between 23rd November and 14th December 1963. Featuring a brilliant pace and impressive imagination AN UNEARTHLY CHILD introduces you well to the world of DOCTOR WHO. After only minutes of leaving the safe environment of Coal Hill School you find yourself with the first Doctor (William Hartnell) and his grandchild Susan (Carole Ann Ford) travelling through space and time with the blue Police Box, the famous TARDIS.

Fantom Publishing have released details on the next two releases in their Who Talk range of alternative audio commmentaries.

First up is the original television adventure, An Unearthly Child. Producer Paul W T Ballard explains:

The commentary features William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Jeremy Young (Kal), Waris Hussein (Director), Brian Hodgson (Special Sound) and Clive Doig (Vision Mixer), and is moderated by the omnipresent Toby Hadoke.

The second release celebrates the Cyber 60s, with Paul saying:

The set contains commentaries for the Patrick Troughton serials The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Wheel in Space and The Invasion. Moderated by both Paul and Toby, this release features Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Michael Kilgarriff (Cyber Controller), Sally Faulkner (Isobel), Sylvia James (Make-Up), Roger Bunce (Cameraman) and Marcia Wheeler (Assistant Floor Manager).


The company are also offering a special edition bundle featuring both commentaries: each set will be signed by an actor from each release as well as a both disc featuring additional commentaries on The Tenth Planet and The Moonbase. These CDs are very limited, and exclusively available via the Who Talk website.

Who Talk will return in 2017 with a full of schedule of alternative DVD Commentaries.

It was fifty years ago today, on Saturday 29th October 1966, that we bid farewell to the First Doctor.

At exactly 50 minutes and 47 seconds past five, 7.5 million viewers tuned into BBC 1 to hear the theme music ring out and the last William Hartnell episode begin. 24 minutes later it was all over. We had a new Doctor.

William Hartnell had appeared in 127 episodes of Doctor Who, appearing in 29 stories. He would return to the series in 1972, in four episodes of The Three Doctors. To date only one actor, Tom Baker, has appeared in more Doctor Who episodes than Hartnell, whose episodes, if played sequentially, would last for 2 days. 8 hours and 1 minute.

Fifty years on, William Hartnell's influence is still felt in the series, and in the character he created. His final episode has been lost, but one sequence survives. It is perhaps the most important sequence in the series history. The regeneration. With that one scene, the programme's future was guaranteed. The series could outlive its creators. Its immortality was assured.