The actor and playwright Trevor Baxter has died, aged 84.

Graduating from RADA in 1961, Baxter appeared in a variety of shows since his debut in the 1950s, chalking up credits in a number of well-known series such as Adam Adamant Lives!, Z Cars, Thriller, The New Avengers, George and Mildred, Rumpole of the Bailey, and in later years roles such as Lanyon in Jack The Ripper, Gordon Naylor in The Politician's Wife, and Dr Albrigtsen in Maelstrom. On the big screen, he appeared in films including Nutcracker, Parting Shots, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj.

However, for Doctor Who fans it is the pairing up with Christopher Benjamin to play Professor George Litefoot alongside Henry Gordon Jago that he will be remembered for. Created for the 1977 fourth Doctor tale The Talons of Weng-Chiang, the partnership proved popular and memorable, and though rumours of a spin-off television series never came to fruition at the time, the duo found new life through Big Finish with their own series of audio adventures. (You can read the Big Finish tribute here).

Louise Jameson played Leela alongside Baxter in The Talons of Weng-Chiang and today paid tribute to the actor. Off-screen, Baxter appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was also an accomplished playwright, with plays such as Edith Grove, The Undertaking, Ripping Them Off and Through A Glass Darkly. In 2003 he adapted Oscar Wilde's A Portrait of Dorian Gray for the stage, and in 2005 Wilde's short story Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.

Now the dust has settled on the announcement of the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the thirteenth Doctor, we can access reaction from around the world which has been pouring in.

Sixth Doctor Colin Baker was one of the first to express his delight, tweeting "Well I never the BBC really did do the right thing and let the Doctor be in touch with her feminine side. As a father of daughters - result!".

Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy also congratulated the actress "Congratulations Jodie Whittaker!!!!! One small step for Women, one Giant leap for Womenkind!!"

However the fifth Doctor Peter Davison called for an understanding of those resistant to change. "It might be more helpful to be encouraging, and not simply scornful, of fans who are uncertain about change.!!"

Past companions welcomed the change. Janet Fielding, who played Tegan in the 1980's, tweeting "I was zooming round in the #Tardis the yr #jodiewhittaker was born. Never thought then I'd ever see a female #Dr. V excited. Yipppeeeee" while Louise Jameson who played Leela in .the 1970's added "Congratulations to the brilliantly talented #jodiewhittaker Fabulous that we have a female doctor. Squeeeeeeee" . Katy Manning added "12 actors have given their superb magic touch to creating their Doctors & I feel 13 will be a corker good on you Chris Chibnall"

Alex Kingston, who plays River Song in the series, was being interviewed at a convention when the news was announced, and gave her reaction to the crowd. "Jodie Whittaker? Oh my goodness!. God, I’m always the damn cradlesnatcher!"

Press reaction is also overwhelmingly positive with the Telegraph saying the casting could be a boost for the show which has seen its audience decline in recent years. "Forget naysayers insisting that the 54-year-old show’s hero must be a man. Wave away cynics whining that this is “political correctness gone mad”. The casting of a woman will breathe new life into the sci-fi franchise, which has recently struggled in the ratings. Making Who history is a headline-grabbing way to begin arresting that decline. "

Variety also thinks it's about time a woman took on .the role. "Coming from one of the biggest media franchises on the planet, the news that the new “Doctor Who” is female is huge — and almost completely delightful. the fact that Jodie Whittaker has been named the Thirteenth Doctor is cause for celebration. Not only is Whittaker a fine actor — she was fantastic in “Broadchurch” and “Attack the Block” — her casting sends a message."

Time magazine thought it was about timey wimey we had a female Doctor "For many fans, it’s an exciting change that will make the show even more relatable. However, there will undoubtedly be some complaints from fans who can only envision the Doctor as a white male with a British accent. Just call it a miracle that the Doctor can still regenerate at all. In other words, as the Doctor said way back in the beginning, This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!”

Opinion is more split amongst fans with many taking to social media to express their disappointment with what they feel is an overly PC decision. However, the reaction of one young fan to the news, reported here on the Huffington Post, summed up the importance of the casting too many.

Finally, The British Prime Minister Theresa May, the second woman to hold that position, is said to be "pleased" that the next Doctor will be a woman, according to her official spokesman.

Following the news that she had been cast as the thirteenth, and first female Doctor, Jodie Whittaker has been taking about the role and her feelings on becoming the number one Time Lord

Including Australian time-shifted viewers, The Doctor Falls averaged 543,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 83,000 extra viewers it was the third highest time-shifted program of the day (the highest time-shifted program had 153,000 extra viewers) and the eleventh highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview or regional viewers.

The BBC has announced that the thirteenth Doctor will be announced on Sunday, directly after the end of the Wimbledon Men's Final.

The Wimbledon final begins at 2pm UK time (9am ET) and could last between 2 and over 5 hours.

Retro TV, America’s home to the most complete library of classic Doctor Who available on broadcast television, has acquired rights more serials from the classic era to add to its repertoire.

Matthew Golden, Vice President of Programming said

The additional serials include: “The Aztecs,” a First Doctor cautionary historical story of the dangers of changing the past; “Meglos,” featuring a cactus-like doppelganger of the Fourth Doctor; “Spearhead From Space,” the Third Doctor’s debut adventure and the first story of the series to be filmed and presented in color; and a trio of Second Doctor tales: “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” featuring the early incarnations of one of the Doctor’s most fearsome foes; “The Seeds of Death,” an eerie tale of the Second Doctor’s battle with the original inhabitants of Mars, the Ice Warriors; and “The War Games,” the epic 10-part saga that results in the Second Doctor’s regeneration.


Full listings for Doctor Who Broadcasts around the world can be found on This Week in Doctor Who and on twitter.

Tom Spilsbury, the long-standing editor of Doctor Who Magazine, is to leave the magazine after ten years at the helm to be replaced by current contributor to the magazine Marcus Hearn

Spilsbury has been editor of the magazine since August 2007, taking over with Issue 387. He will leave the magazine after the publication of the next issue, number 515. He is the longest serving editor of the Magazine, launched in October 1979 as Doctor Who Weekly.

Under Spilsbury's editorship, the Magazine reached a peak of over 35,000 copies, selling more copies than at any time since the mid-eighties. In May 2012, he accepted the Eagle Award for Favourite British Comicbook for the Magazine and in May 2016, he accepted the certificate from the Guinness Book of Records for the longest-running magazine based on a TV series.

Tom Spilsbury talked about his departure. The editorship will be taken by Marcus Hearn, a long term contributer, who previously co-edited the title in the 1990s. He has recently been the editor of the DWM Special Editions and the spin-off title The Essential Doctor Who.

Hearn has been writing about popular culture since the early 1990s. He wrote the book celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who, The Vault. He is co-author of The Hammer Story, the company's official history and wrote the Sunday Times bestseller Star Wars: Attack of the Clones ­- The Illustrated Companion,

Marcus Hearn said: Mike Riddell, Managing Director of Panini UK added:

Further details are now available on the Audience reaction to Series 10 of Doctor Who.

Once again there was a marked difference between different age groups in the reaction to each episode, with the 16-34 ages group generally enjoying each episode more than older viewers.

The most marked difference was in the reaction to Episode 11, World Enough and Time, where 16-34 years olds gave it an AI score of 89, those between 35-54 scored 85 while those above 55 scored it as 82.

World Enough and Time was the most popular episode with the 16-34 group, while they enjoyed The Lie Of The Land least giving it a score of 81.

The 35-54 age group had a smaller range in values scoring 85 for their top episodes (Thin Ice, Knock Knock, Oxygen, World Enough And Time) and 82 for their least favourite ones (The Pilot, The Pyramid At The End Of The World, The Eaters Of Light).

Meanwhile among the over 55's the range was even smaller with 6 episodes scoring the top score of 82, 3 scoring 81 and 3 scoring 80.

There was also a difference between the sexes with women generally scoring slightly higher than men. The exception was World Enough And Time which scored 85 amongst men and 84 amongst women. This was the men's favourite episode while women scored it equal to Smile, Thin Ice and The Doctor Falls

The men's least favourite episode was The Eaters Of Light while the women liked least Extremis, The Lie Of The Land and The Eaters Of Light.

Over 50% found the episodes all high quailty, and the programme also scored high as being fresh and new. The rating for It was memorable had a sharp peak for the final two episodes.

This Wednesday, July 12, sees a brand-new arc from Titan in the continuing comic adventures with the Ninth Doctor.

Doctor Who: Ninth Doctor #14

Writer: Doctor Who: Ninth Doctor #14 (Credit: Titan)
Artist: Cris Bolson, Adriana Melo
Cover A: Simon Myers ​cover B: Photo – Will Brooks Cover C: Arianna Florean​​​