Delia Derbyshire Day

Friday, 10 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
A project to mark the 80th Anniversary year of Doctor Who legend and Electronic Music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, has won support from The Heritage Lottery Fund.

Delia Derbyshire Day has been awarded £42,600 ($53,000) to help organise a programme of activities and events to celebrate 80 years since the birth of the woman who realised the original Doctor Who Theme music, composed by Ron Grainer.

Highlights planned for the year include
  • 5 May 2017
  • Derbyshire's 80th Birthday – launch of a new website, short film about the Delia Derbyshire Archive and “Deliaphonic Soundbank” (an interactive web platform) public engagement activity
  • 10 June 2017
  • A Delia Derbyshire Day 2017 MCR at Band on the Wall – electronic music-making workshops for families and evening music/arts event, archive sharing, expert panel discussion/Q&A with special guests, live music/visual art performances.
  • 5 Aug 2017
  • DD Day touring event at Full Of Noises (FON) Festival in Barrow-in-Furness – participatory workshops for families and evening cultural heritage event with archive sharing, panel discussion/Q&A, live music/visual art performances.
  • Sept-Nov 2017
  • 8 week education project in 2 primary schools in Manchester including production of a short film about the Delia Derbyshire Archive by the young participants.
  • 5 Dec 2017
  • Delia Derbyshire Day and Digital Women’s Archive North (DWAN) symposium event at Anthony Burgess Foundation 6-9pm (time TBC) – with guest speakers, archive sharing and open forum discussion.
Project partners include the Delia Derbyshire Estate, John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, One Education Music, Full of Noises Festival, Digital Women’s Archive North and Band on the Wall.

Nathan Lee, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund North West said
We’re delighted to support this project to shine a light, not only the pioneering impact of Delia Derbyshire’s work, but also on this significant and fascinating part of John Rylands Library. Thanks to National Lottery players, Delia Derbyshire Day can share the musical roots of electronic music to a new generation.
You can follow Delia Derbyshire Day on their website or on twitter.




FILTER: - Music - People

Lethbridge-Stewart: Novellas for 2017

Thursday, 9 February 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Candy Jar Books have announced a new collection of three limited edition hardback novellas to join the Lethbridge-Stewart range for 2017.

Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell, said:
We’re very excited to announce these novellas, a way to tell stories that may not necessarily work as full-length works, giving us a chance to explore different corners of the Lethbridge-Stewart universe. We’re launching this new range with three very special releases, all with very specific goals.


The first of the novellas, The Life of Evans, is written by John Peel and is released in March. As the title suggests, the novella sees the return of a character featured in both television and the Lethbridge-Stewart books. Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen explained:
Lethbridge-Stewart: The Life Of Evans (Credit: Candy Jar Books)
I always had a plan to develop Evans beyond the obvious cliches of his television appearance, but it turned out to be one-too-many character arcs for the series. As such Evans disappeared after 2016’s The Grandfather Infestation. Fortunately, the idea of the novellas came along, and due to the popularity of Evans, I decided it made sense to explore Evans’ character arc in the first novella. John Peel was the obvious choice; he writes quickly, and works very well to spec, and since we’ve had a lot of readers ask for more Peel, it seemed the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. And, naturally, John nailed it.
Author John Peel added:
Part of the fun of writing this kind of story is inventing new menaces. This time I got to create two – only one of which was alien. Another part of the fun is doing terrible things to our favourite characters, and I certainly put poor old Evans through the wringer. I think he'll survive it.

The book also includes a bonus short story by Robert Mammone, called Time and Again. The story serves as a sequel to the 1985 Doctor Who television serial Timelash, and is a prequel to the forthcoming spin-off series, Travers & Wells, revealing more of the mystery that was first seen at the end of the novel, Times Squared. Travers & Wells will be a new novella series, echoing the novellas of HG Wells, such as The War of the Worlds.

Andy said:
I contacted Glen McCoy in 2016 about using the characters from his Doctor Who adventure, and after a lovely phone call with me explaining my ideas for the series, he was more than happy with what he called ‘a wicked imagination’. Once that was settled, it was just a case of finding the right person to launch the series, so I turned to Robert as I was very impressed with his speed and level of excellence when he wrote us a Halloween story last year.
Robert continued:
When Andy and I were chatting on Skype about the upcoming novellas it suddenly dawned on him we could set up the range with a prequel short story. I immediately said yes and then knuckled down to getting the ideas, themes and plot straight. I didn’t want the story to be a direct sequel to Timelash, but I did want to take elements from that story as a way of looking at how those who assume authority after toppling a dictatorship can end up aping some of the actions of those overthrown. And despite the melancholy tone, it was an exciting project to work on – be faithful to the source material, but broaden and deepen the themes to bring them up-to-date with 21st Century sensibilities. I hope everyone enjoys it and stays for the ride that is about to begin!


The Life Of Evans is followed in May by Day of the Intelligence by Andy Frankham-Allen; the release celebrates fifty years of the Great Intelligence, telling the official origin story, fully authorised by Haisman & Lincoln. Finally, The Flaming Soldier by Christopher Bryant is released in July, commemorating the World War II hero, Eileen Youghusband.


Each novella will be strictly limited to 400 copies, and can be pre-ordered separately or and a bundle at a dicounted price. Full details can be found via the Candy Jar website.




FILTER: - Books - Candy Jar Books - Lethbridge-Stewart

Doctor Who Magazine - Issue 509

Thursday, 9 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine - Issue 509 (Credit: Panini)The latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine talks to self-confessed Doctor Who fan Rufus Hound – Sam Swift the Quick in 2015’s The Woman Who Lived, and most recently the latest incarnation of the Meddling Monk for Big Finish – about how he enjoyed being part of something he personally loves so much…
All my anxiety dissipated within the first two hours of arriving. I have never worked with a crew that was more like a family. I have never worked alongside actors who took the work seriously, but themselves not terribly seriously, as was true of Maisie [Williams] and Peter [Capaldi], who I spent most of my time with. The director [Ed Bazalgette] was tremendous, the producer [Derek Ritchie] was brilliant. Everybody in make-up and costume were having a right old laugh. All the camera crew and whatever were offering up shots and angles, being creative and given license to be creative, license to turn in their best work.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE…
  • ASK STEVEN!
  • Doctor Who's showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers’ burning questions.
  • INDEFINABLE MAGIC
  • The weird world of the supernatural in the Doctor Who universe...
  • DOOM COALITION 4
  • The Eighth Doctor, River Song, the Meddling Monk and the Weeping Angels all feature in the brand new audio box set Doom Coalition 4!
  • RODNEY BENNETT TRIBUTE
  • DWM pays tribute to Rodney Bennett, the director who oversaw three very different productions during the early years of Tom Baker’s tenure as the Doctor.
  • DOORWAY TO HELL
  • The original Master is back! Find out what he's up to in Part Two of our brand-new comic strip, written by Mark Wright and illustrated by Staz Johnson.
  • THE MUTANTS
  • In this issue’s Fact of Fiction, the Third Doctor and Jo Grant are sent on a mission that will affect the evolution of an entire planet, as we take a look at this 1972 adventure.
  • THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT
  • Space 1969 awaits for the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song as the Time Team reach the 2011 season-opener in their mission to watch every episode of Doctor Who.
  • REVIEWS
  • DWM reviews the latest book, audio and DVD releases in the world of Doctor Who.
  • COMING SOON
  • Previews of all the latest Doctor Who CD and book releases.
PLUS! All the latest official news, competitions, the DWM crossword, and our annual survey poll.

Doctor Who Magazine 509 is on sale from Thursday 9 February, price £5.99.




FILTER: - DWM

Look Who's Back

Monday, 6 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has announced the return of an old aquantance of the Doctor in the upcoming series of Doctor Who



Series 10 starts on 15th April.




FILTER: - Series 10/36

Class - Consolidated Ratings

Monday, 6 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Class - Ep6 - Detained - April (SOPHIE HOPKINS), Matteusz (JORDAN RENZO), Ram (FADY ELSAYED), Tanya (VIVIAN OPARAH), Charlie (GREG AUSTIN) (Credit: BBC/Simon Ridgeway)Consolidated ratings are now available for episodes 5 and 6 of Class, shown on BBC One two weeks ago, which include details of those who recorded the programme and watched it within a week.

Episode 5, Brave-ish Heart, which was broadcast at 10.46pm, had a confirmed audience of 0.69 million viewers, a 6.4% share of the total TV audience. The channel average for the timeslot is of 1.85 million. The figure is slightly higher than the initial overnight figure. The programme was beaten in the timeslot by BBC Two's Newsnight getting 0.74 million, however it outrated Through the Keyhole on ITV which had 0.56 million. An additional 0.21 million have accessed the episode on iPlayer since its release on BBC Three last October. The episode scored an AI of 78.

Episode 6, Detained, followed immediately afterward, starting at 11.33pm, and had a consolidated audience of 0.29 million watching, a share 4.4% of the audience. The channel average for the timeslot is 0.82 million. Episode 4 increased its audience by 40% over the initial figure. Around 195,000 have accessed the episode on iPlayer. The episode scored an AI of 79.




FILTER: - Class - Ratings - UK

Timeline to Series Eleven

Wednesday, 1 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Chris ChibnallBBC Sources have indicated that next year's series of Doctor Who, the first with the thirteenth Doctor, will be broadcast in the Autumn of 2018.

New showrunner Chris Chibnall is currently still working on season three of his ITV crime drama Broadchurch , which is currently being edited and will premiere in the UK on 27 February.

Chibnall told RadioTimes.com that he has not yet been able to fully dedicate himself to Doctor Who. After finishing work on Broadchurch he intends to take a holiday before launching into Doctor Who.

Chibnall will lead the team searching for the new Doctor, although the choice will need to be agreed by the BBC director of content Charlotte Moore and head of drama and former Doctor Who Executive Producer Piers Wenger. It is expected that a new Doctor will not be announced before the Autumn, with the new Doctor making their debut at the end of the 2017 Christmas Special.

Sources told RadioTimes that the first Chibnall series will begin filming at the start of 2018 for transmission in the Autumn.

Series 10 of Doctor Who, the last full series starring Peter Capaldi. is currently in production and will begin transmission on 15th April.




FILTER: - Chris Chibnall - series 11/37

Return of an old Foe

Wednesday, 1 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has announced the return of an old enemy of the Doctor in the upcoming series of Doctor Who



Series 10 starts on 15th April.




FILTER: - Series 10/36