Toby Hits 100

Saturday, 27 December 2014 - Reported by Marcus
Toby Hadoke has completed the 100th Podcast in his quest to get anecdotes about every Doctor Who story broadcast during the show's first fifty years.

The actor and comedian, and the man behind the review Moths ate my Doctor Who Scarf, began his quest in January 2013 by interviewing special effects make-up artists Susan Moore and Steve Mansfield. Over the next 100 editions he has talked to a vast range of personal associated with the series in its long history, giving a real insight into the way the show was made and uncovering previously unheard stories.

The 100th edition was released on Christmas Day and reveals whether Hadoke was successful in his quest.

All The Podcasts are hosted by Big Finish and all are available to download for free from the Big Finish Website.

Everyone involved has given their time for nothing and listeners are invited to make donations to the interviewee's favourite charity.




FILTER: - Big Finish - Doctor Who - People

Best Sci-Fi Character of All Time

Wednesday, 24 December 2014 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor has been voted the Best Sci-Fi Character of All Time in a survey conducted by the British Film Institute

Thousands voted in the survey, which has been running since August, which saw the timelord top the list, just beating Ellen Ripley from the Alien saga by a mere 110 votes and out raking such icons as Darth Vader, Mr Spock and Fox Mulder.

The most popular companion was Rose Tyler who came in at number 44 on the list, closely followed by Donna Noble at 46 and Amy Pond at 69. Sarah Jane Smith, who had her own spin off series in the form of The Sarah Jane Adventures came in at number 65.

River Song came in at number 73 while the Doctor's nemesis, The Master was number 90.

Captain Jack Harkness was 13th in the list with his Torchwood colleague Ianto Jones making 19 and Gwen Cooper coming in at 87.

Only one Doctor Who Monster made the list, with The Daleks at number 32.

Characters from television rather than cinema were prefered, with characters originating on the small screen taking 61% of the vote. 22% of votes went for characters from the 1980s, 28% from the 1990s and 20% from the 2000s.

60% of votes were for male characters, with 33% for female, non-specific entities chalking up 6% and one character qualifying as both – following Michelle Gomez’ casting as the Master/Missy in this year’s series of Doctor Who.

The full list is on the BFI website.




FILTER: - Doctor Who

Doctor Who Guide

Monday, 22 December 2014 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor Who Guide, part of Doctor Who News, has recently been updated to include details of every Doctor Who episode ever shown.

The guide now contains full cast and crew lists, with each episode checked against transmitted credit lists and official BBC paperwork to include every actor, including extras, known to have appeared in the programme. Details of original transmission times and ratings are available, complete with a list of every known UK repeat of the show.

The guide also includes details of Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K-9 as well as a comprehensive guide to the many factual TV and Radio programmes dedicated to Doctor Who.

Over the coming year we hope to expand the guide to include descriptions for each character to have appeared in the series. We welcome submissions of a short biography about each role to the site. Simply pick a character from the main index for which the description in missing, and write a short guide to that character. Data should be verified and the text should be original. A name credit will be given to each submitted entry used on the site. Send submissions to guide@doctorwhonews.net
A reminder that Doctor Who News and the Doctor Who Guide is available as a iPhone/iPad App.

The free app gives users access to the complete archive of Doctor Who News stories, dating back to 1997, via the search option on the main news page.

The App is available free from the iTunes store.





An ad-free version of the app is also available for a small charge.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Editorial

Doctor Who Extra: Last Christmas on the Red Button

Friday, 19 December 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Peter Capaldi as the Doctor (Credit: BBC/David Venni)This year's Christmas Special, Last Christmas will be accompanied by a fourteen minute edition of Doctor Who Extra, available online after the story has broadcast like with Series Eight earlier this year. The behind-the-scenes documentary will also be made available on the BBC Red Button service, with the dates to the end of next week currently known:

Join Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Nick Frost as the cast and crew of Last Christmas reveal the inside story of the Twelfth Doctor's first seasonal special!

Christmas Day7:10pm-10:25pm
Boxing Day8:55pm-10:00pm
SaturdayMidnight-6:00am

More broadcasts are expected over the course of the weekend and following week.





FILTER: - Doctor Who Extra - Online - Series Specials

Doctor Who Extra: Death in Heaven on the Red Button

Friday, 7 November 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Missy and the Doctor (Credit: BBC/Adrian Rogers)The next edition of online behind-the-scenes show Doctor Who Extra, covering the finale of the current series Death in Heaven, is also available via digital television's Red Button service on BBC channels at the following times:

Saturday8:55pm-10:30pm
Sunday6:00pm-8:00pm
Monday3:30pm-5:00pm
ThursdayMidday-5:00pm
Friday4:00pm-9:00pm






FILTER: - Doctor Who Extra - Online - Series 8/34

Doctor Who nominated in People's Choice Awards 2015

Wednesday, 5 November 2014 - Reported by Alex F
Listen (Credit: BBC,  Ray Burmistan) Doctor Who has been nominated in the 2015 People's Choice Awards in the U.S.

The nominees were announced on Nov. 4 at a media event at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. Doctor Who was named to the Favorite Cable Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show category following an initial round of online voting. Fans are now invited to cast votes for this and many other TV, film and music categories in advance of the awards being presented during a live broadcast on CBS on Jan. 7, 2015.

Competition for Doctor Who in the category consists of American Horror Story, Game of Thrones, Outlander (based upon a series of novels whose creator has credited companion Jamie McCrimmon as an inspiration and which is reportedly to feature Frazer Hines in a guest role), and The Walking Dead. Last year, the category incorporated both network and cable series and was won by Beauty and the Beast. Doctor Who was previously nominated in similar categories for the 2008 and 2013 editions, but did not win (it was beaten by Stargate Atlantis in 2008 and Supernatural in 2013). This year, the award was split into network and cable categories (with Beauty and the Beast nominated in the network category). Appropriately, Doctor Who's nomination was announced by Karen Gillan's Selfie co-star, John Cho. (Selfie, which co-stars David Harewood, is also nominated in the Favorite New TV Comedy category.)

The original round of elimination voting had included Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman shortlisted for acting categories, but they did not make it through to the final round. David Tennant, however, received a nomination for Favorite Actor in a New TV Series for his work on Gracepoint.

Fans can cast their votes online by going to PeoplesChoice.com.




FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Doctor Who

Doctor Who wins Welsh BAFTA

Monday, 27 October 2014 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who has won a British Academy Cymru Award for its special effects.

The effects team collected the award for Best Special, Visual Effects and Graphics on Sunday in a ceremony at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

The Doctor Who Sound Team lost out in race for Best Sound, which went to Cardiff Singer of The World

The Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television went to Nerys Hughes who played Todd in the classic Doctor Who story Kinda.




FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Doctor Who - People

Official BBC Online Shop Launches in Australia and New Zealand

Friday, 5 September 2014 - Reported by Marcus
BBC Worldwide have today launched an official online shop in Australia and New Zealand.

Available are a range of over 2,000 clothing, homeware, merchandise, toys and DVD products from a host of popular BBC brands including Doctor Who, Sherlock, Top Gear, BBC Earth and CBeebies, are now available to purchase, including:
  • Doctor Who DVD’s, clothing, homeware, toys and gadgets, from Sonic Screwdrivers and Vortex Manipulators to TARDIS iPhone 5 covers and Cyberman mugs
  • The latest Top Gear DVD’s, books, clothing, and gift products, including all things ‘Stig’
  • Sherlock products previously unavailable in Australia and New Zealand, including ‘Highly Functioning Sociopath’ mugs and t-shirts
New and exclusive products will continue to be added to the site as soon as they become available. Other features of the site include free delivery on orders over $100, recommendations based on browsing and the opportunity to sign up for alerts on the latest products and offers.

The launch follows on from the success of the dedicated Doctor Who e-commerce shop in Australia last year, which marked the 50th anniversary of the show.Doctor Who and Sherlock fans in Sydney can also currently purchase a range of products at the Doctor Who pop-up shop, Shop 9.28A World Square Shopping Centre, 644 George St.

Elie Mansour, Head of Consumer Products, BBC Worldwide ANZ said
As a company we are looking to get ever closer to our consumers, and this site provides us with an advanced platform to take our content and products directly to them. The BBC and its brands are hugely popular across Australia and New Zealand, so we’re thrilled to be able to offer fans with the convenience of a dedicated online shop.
The shop can be found at bbcshop.com.au




FILTER: - Australia - Doctor Who - Merchandise - New Zealand

Doctor Who Extra: Red Button times

Friday, 22 August 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, with Jenna Coleman as Clara (Credit: BBC/Adrian Rogers)The new online behind-the-scenes programme Doctor Who Extra will also be available on British television via the BBC's Red Button service at the following times over the course of next week:

Sunday6:15pm-7:00pm
Tuesday5:00pm-8:00pm
Wednesday10:00am-4:00pm
Thursday5:00pm-9:00pm
Friday3:45pm-11:00pm
Saturday2:00am-6:00am

Doctor Who Extra will be available online via the BBC iPlayer.






FILTER: - Doctor Who Extra - Series 8/34 - UK

Doctor Who Extra

Wednesday, 20 August 2014 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has today announced Doctor Who Extra - a brand new series, exclusively on BBC iPlayer.

Doctor Who Extra will follow Peter Capaldi every step of the way throughout the creation of his first season as the Doctor. Over the course of 12 programmes it will trace the highs and lows of Doctor Who’s most ambitious run of episodes yet, getting the inside take on series 8 from the people who made it.

The Doctor Who Extra team had unparalleled access to stars including Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Samuel Anderson (series regular Danny Pink) plus guests Frank Skinner, Keeley Hawes, Michelle Gomez, Ben Miller, Foxes and many more. Writers, such as Lead Writer and Executive Producer Steven Moffat, and directors also contribute as they spill the beans on the on and off-screen drama.

Casual viewers will enjoy the fun, fast pace and lighter side of Doctor Who Extra but there’s plenty for fans, too, with a quick dip into the archive for every edition, reflecting on how Doctor Who’s history is echoed in this current series.

Doctor Who Extra is described as essential viewing for everyone who’s ever watched Doctor Who and wondered what it’s a like to be a part of the team that brings this global phenomena to our screens.

Doctor Who Extra is produced by BBC Cymru Wales and executive produced by Steven Moffat, Brian Minchin and Jo Pearce. Each 10 minute Doctor Who Extra episode will be available after that week’s Doctor Who episode on BBC One. It will also be available via the BBC's Red Button.




FILTER: - Doctor Who Extra - Series 8/34