Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror - Pictures

Wednesday, 15 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has released new pictures from the upcoming episode of Doctor Who - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror.

The story is written by Nina Metivier and directed by Nida Manzoor, both making their debut on Doctor Who.

Written by Nina Metivier
Directed by Nida Manzoor
Starring Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill.

Guest starring Goran Višnjić and Robert Glenister.

1903. Who or what is sabotaging Nikola Tesla's generator plant at Niagara Falls? And has this maverick inventor really received a message from Mars?

The episode can be seen on BBC One at 7.10pm next Sunday. North American viewers can see it at 8pm ET, while in Australia the episode debut's is on Thursday at 8pm. In New Zealand, it can be seen at 9am, Monday morning, just a couple of hours after the UK showing.

Full broadcast details can be found here, and ongoing adventures of the Doctor can be found via This Week in Doctor Who.

COMING SOON | Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

FILTER: - Production - Series 12/38 - Thirteenth Doctor

Season 14 Bluray release

Tuesday, 14 January 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC Studios have announced that Season 14 will be the next instalment in the DOCTOR WHO: THE COLLECTION Blu-ray range, now available to pre-order from Amazon:

Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 14 (pack shot) (Credit: BBC Studios)

Doctor Who fans will be delighted to hear that BBC Studios is releasing Season 14 on Blu-Ray. Tom Baker’s third series as the Doctor will debut on Monday 20th April, and is available to pre-order now.

Doctor Who – The Collection: Season 14:

THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA
THE HAND OF FEAR
THE DEADLY ASSASSIN
THE FACE OF EVIL
THE ROBOTS OF DEATH
THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG

In 1976, Doctor Who took a dramatic new turn, electrifying audiences with changes in format, companion and appearance of the TARDIS. Season 14 saw the departure of the Doctor’s long-term companion Sarah Jane Smith, and the introduction of Leela. The season contains some of Tom Baker’s most iconic serials, with intrepid investigations in Victorian London, deadly robots in a murderous whodunit, a return to the Doctor’s homeworld, and one of the saddest goodbyes in Doctor
Who history.

Producer Phillip Hinchliffe led Doctor Who through a creative high, joined by Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Louise Jameson as the Doctor’s captivating new companion Leela and guests stars Tim Pigott-Smith, Stephen Thorne, Peter Pratt, Pamela Salem, David Collings, Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter.

With all episodes newly remastered from the best available sources, this Blu-ray box set also contains extensive and exclusive special features which include:

Immersive 5.1 surround sound - The Deadly Assassin
Brand new audio commentaries - Tom Baker and Matthew Sweet on selected episodes of The Face of Evil and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.
Behind the Sofa - New episodes with Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Philip Hinchcliffe, plus companions Sophie Aldred and Peter Purves.
Our Sarah Jane – Elisabeth Sladen Tribute - A feature-length look at the life and career of Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen.
Whose Doctor Who Revisited - Toby Hadoke meets the producers and grown-up stars of the very first Who Documentary.
In Conversation - Matthew Sweet chats to producer Philip Hinchcliffe.
Blu-Ray trailer - Louise Jameson has trouble with her new home assistant.
Brand new interviews
Rare archive material
Convention footage
HD photo galleries
Scripts, costume designs, rare BBC production files and other gems from our PDF archive

The eight-disc box set also includes hours of extensive special features previously released on DVD.

Season 14 Announcement Trailer on YouTube

FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Season 14 - Tom Baker

Spyfall - Official Ratings

Monday, 13 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

Spyfall: Ada Lovelace (Sylvie Briggs), Charles Babbage (Mark Dexter), The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) (Credit: BBC Studios (Ben Blackall))

The first episode of the new season of Doctor Who, Spyfall, had an official rating of 6.89 million viewers, according to figures released by the Broadcasting Research Audience Board, BARB. The conclusion of the story, shown four days later on BBC One had 6.07 million viewers.

The ratings were considerably higher than the initial overnight figure and makes the two episodes the 4th and 6th most watched on BBC Television for the week and the 8th and 16th across all television.

For Spyfall, Part One 6.70 million watched the episode on a conventional TV set. However the BARB 4-Screen Dashboard shows that an additional 101,000 watched on their PC, 49,000 watched on a Tablet device and 27,000 watched on a smartphone.

For Spyfall, Part Two 5.91 million watched the episode on a conventional TV set with an additional 85,000 watched on their PC, 46,000 watched on a Tablet device and 34,000 watched on a smartphone.

The ratings are down on the opening years of last season but are scoring higher than Series 10

Top for the week was the New Year Fireworks on BBC One getting 10.84 million watching, 2 million down on last year.

Each episode of Skyfall had an Appreciation Index score of 82

FILTER: - Ratings - Series 12/38 - UK

Orphan 55 - Overnight Viewing Figures

Monday, 13 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

Orphan 55: Graham (Bradley Walsh) (Credit: BBC Studios (Ben Blackall))

Doctor Who Orphan 55, was watched by 4.19 million viewers in the UK yesterday according to unofficial overnight figures.

The rating, representing 20.9% of the total viewing audience made Doctor Who the fifth most popular show on British Television yesterday. Doctor Who was beaten by its ITV opposition, Dancing on Ice, which had 4.51 million viewers.

Top for the day was Call the Midwife, with 6.24 million viewers. Countryfile, the lead into Doctor Who, had 5.13 million. The drama The Trial of Christine Keeler had 3.67 million watching.

The overnight figure counts those who watched the show yesterday. Final figures, released next Monday, will include those who recorded the programme and watched it later and are likely to be substantially higher.

FILTER: - Ratings - Series 12/38 - UK

John Griffiths 1931-2020

Sunday, 12 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

John Griffiths with John Nathan Turner (Credit: Stephen Cranford)

The Film Editor John Griffiths has died at the age of 89.

John Griffiths was a member of the team responsible for the first-ever piece of Doctor Who screened, the original opening title sequence.

In 1963 Griffiths was working for the BBC at Ealing film studios when he was introduced to Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein, Doctor Who's first producer and director. They gave him the raw material of a recent studio session where they had filmed the output of an electronic camera looking at its own viewfinder and asked him to edit the material to provide a new title sequence for their new TV Series Dr. Who.

The sequence Griffiths produced, when combined with the music composed by Ron Grainer and realized by Delia Derbyshire, became one of the most iconic title sequences in television history, heralding the beginning of each episode for the next three years.

As film editor, John Griffiths also worked on the 1964 story The Dalek Invasion of Earth, editing the famous footage of the Daleks patrolling a deserted London. As production editor, he worked on the Third Doctor story The Mind of Evil, appearing in front of the camera as an extra in the story.

After retiring from the BBC John Griffiths retired to Worthing. He died on Thursday 9th January.

The Original 1963 Titles | Doctor Who

FILTER: - Obituary

The Celestial Toyroom Annual 2020

Saturday, 11 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

Celestial Toyroom 2020 Annual (Credit: DWAS)

The Doctor Who Appreciation Society has made The Celestial Toyroom Annual 2020 available for download, free-of-charge to all fans.

This is the fourth CT Annual and on this occasion celebrates the era of the third Doctor. There are over 100 pages celebrating the Jon Pertwee era from "Spearhead from Space" to "Planet of the Spiders" and more.

A limited run hardback copy will be available in the coming weeks which will help to raise money for 'Save the Children' in memory of Terrance Dicks.

To view please click here

In addition the Doctor Who Appreciation Society and the Derby-based Whoovers are holding a one-day event on Sunday 15th March 2020 to celebrate the life and work of Terrance Dicks.

The event, organized in partnership with the Dicks family will raise funds for ‘Save the Children’ which was supported by Terrance for many years.

Guests include; Katy Manning, Frazer Hines, Nicholas Briggs, Paul Cornell, Jon Culshaw, Peter Darvill-Evans, Toby Hadoke, Marcus Hearn, Rebecca Levene, Steven Moffat, Nigel Robinson, Edward Russell, Gary Russell

The venue is The Cinema Museum in London SE11. Tickets are £40 plus booking fee and are available directly from Eventbrite.

FILTER: - DWAS

Series 12 Episode Titles Confirmed

Thursday, 9 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

Orphan 55: The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) (Credit: BBC Studios (Ben Blackall))

The titles of the next four episodes of Doctor Who have been confirmed in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine.

Episode Three: Orphan 55

Written by Ed Hime
Directed by Lee Haven Jones

Exhausted and wrung out, the Doctor and her friends embark on a much-needed holiday. But it's not the relaxing break they hoped for..

Orphan 55 is written by Ed Hime and directed by Lee Haven Jones. The episode was partly filmed on location in Tenerife. It features actors Col Farrell and Julia Elizabeth Fogle.

Episode Four: Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

Written by Nina Metivier
Directed by Nida Manzoor

Inventor Nikola Tesla is at war with his rival Thomas Edison. However, there is an even greater threat in their midst.

In Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror we are taken back to 20th Century New York.

The first script by Nina Metivier for the series continues the recent habit of the Doctor meeting famous characters from history. This time it is the scientist best known for his contributions to the design of the alternating current electricity supply system. Telsar is played by Croatian actor Goran Višnjić, best known for appearing in ER. His great rival Thomas Edison is played by Robert Glenister, who last appeared in Doctor Who in 1984 playing Salateen in the fifth Doctor's final story The Caves of Androzani.

It is directed by Nida Manzoor making her debut on the series

Episode Five: Fugitive of the Judoon

Written by Vinay Patel
Directed by Nida Manzoor

Stomping their way into present day Gloucester the Judoon are on the hunt for someone on the run. Who is this fugitive? And why are these alien mercenaries after them?

The return of everybody's favourite intergalactic policemen is in Fugitive of the Judoon.

This is Vinay Patel's second episode for the series after last season's Demons Of The Punjab. It is also directed by Nida Manzoor, and guest star's Neil Stuke and Jo Martin.

Episode Six: Praxeus

Written by Pete McTighe
Directed by Jamie Magnus Stone

The Doctor and her friends split up to investigate multiple mysteries across planet Earth. What will they find will threaten all of humanity...

Written by Pete McTighe who penned Kerblam! for the last series.

It is directed by Jamie Magnus Stone who was responsible for the acclaimed first episode of this series Spyfall, and guest stars include Matthew McNulty and Joana Borja. The majority of the episode was filmed in South Africa.

FILTER: - Series 12/38 - Thirteenth Doctor

Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 547

Thursday, 9 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, Number 547, is published today and includes an exclusive interview with Bradley Walsh, who plays Graham in the new series of Doctor Who.

Also in the magazine

The second part of an exclusive, in-depth interview with showrunner Chris Chibnall.
Interviews with the new writers of Series 12
Exclusive previews of the next four episodes.
The untold story of Denis Alan Print, the Doctor Who merchandise company co-owned by Tom Baker.
Doctor Who’s top ten Master reveals.
Behind the scenes at the OFFSTAGE Theatre Group, whose Doctor Who plays and comedy sketches were popular at conventions from 2003 to 2013.
The Fact of Fiction begins an epic exploration of The Daleks’ Master Plan.
Part Five of Mistress of Chaos, a new comic-strip adventure featuring the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends.
The answers to DWM’s Christmas Quiz.
Reviews of the Season 26 Blu-ray box set and the new vinyl edition of The Web Planet.
Big Finish previews and reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, The Blogs of Doom and much more.

On sale from Thursday 9 January 2020£5.99 (UK)

DWM 547 is also available as a strictly limited Deluxe Edition, exclusive to WH Smith and store.panini.co.uk priced £9.99.

In addition to the latest issue of DWM, the Deluxe Edition includes:

An exclusive 76-minute music CD, featuring 22 classic and rare tracks from 1963 to 1989.
A 32-page supplement, comprising classic comic-strip stories featuring the Master.
A giant double-sided poster.
A Series 12 art card.
Three Big Finish audio dramas to download.
Big Finish stickers.

FILTER: - DWM - Series 12/38

Thirteenth Doctor #1 Special Variant Cover

Wednesday, 8 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

A special variant Cover has been created for the latest Doctor Who Comic, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor S2 #1, which will raise money to help those fighting the Australian Wildfires.

The cover variant is by Stewart McKenny with colour by John Law, and is available exclusively through Comics Etc, one of Australia's leading comic book retailers. It is limited to 500 copies worldwide.

Stewart McKenny has been described as one of Australia's most prolifically published comic book artists. He has worked on Star Wars comics, including Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, as well as working on Captain America. His British small press work includes contributions to FutureQuake.

McKenny revealed the news on his Facebook page.

I've been a huge fan of Doctor Who ever since I was a kid (Tom Baker was my first Doctor) - and the opportunity to create official Doctor Who artwork is something that's always been on my Bucket List! What's more, this issue really does have it all - David Tennant, Jodie Whittaker, Autons AND Weeping Angels, in a reimagining of one of my favourite episodes ever - 'Blink'!

Comics Etc is donating $5 to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service for each copy purchased of this variant comic.

Wendy and I are constantly overwhelmed by the support that you guys give us, and we're really hoping that you can get behind this comic. We're hoping that every cent donated through the sales of this comic will, in some way, make a difference, and bring some hope, to the country during this desperate time - and what is Doctor Who if not a symbol of hope?

FILTER: - Comics - Thirteenth Doctor

Doctor Who Magazine Special 54

Wednesday, 8 January 2020 - Reported by Marcus

The latest Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition is out now.

Highlights include:

An in-depth interview with Doctor Who’s executive producer Matt Strevens.
Jodie Whittaker on her second year as the Doctor.
Mandip Gill, aka Yaz, answers questions from the TARDIS tin.
Shaun Dooley and Jodie Whittaker recall the making of the charity album Got it Covered.
Terrance Dicks’ widow, Elsa, and his former Target Books editor, Brenda Gardner, pay tribute to the much-loved writer.
Twenty years since its original broadcast, Steven Moffat remembers The Curse of Fatal Death.
Highlights of the Series 12 press day.
Inside the popular YouTube series Terry Nation Army.
Digital artist Sophie Cowdrey discusses her work.
The past, present and future of the Doctor Who Blu-ray collection.
Behind the scenes of the Doctor Who Figurine Collection.
The 20 landmark Doctor Who audio releases from Big Finish.
A look back at the 2019 production of Mission to the Unknown.
Reviews of the final two Doctor Who: Infinity games and the new independent drama Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor.
Tributes to Doctor Who luminaries who passed away in 2019.

On sale from Thursday 2 January 2020 £6.99 (UK), $13.99 (US)

FILTER: - DWM - Thirteenth Doctor

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