The special guests for the BFI's celebratory screening of Remembrance of the Daleks next month have been announced.

The sell-out event, part of the BFI's Doctor Who At 50 season, is being held on Saturday 27th July at BFI Southbank to mark the Seventh Doctor's era and will see Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Ben Aaronovitch, Dick Mills, and Mike Tucker taking part in the question-and-answer panel.

The BFI is running a competition to win a pair of tickets to the screening, with a copy of the BFI book 100 Science Fiction Films - to be published on Friday 28th June - also going to the winner. Enter via this link. The contest closes on Friday 19th July. Terms and conditions apply.

August's event should have seen the Eighth Doctor's solo TV venture (so far) being shown on the big screen but instead the Ninth Doctor will be honoured that month, with a story screening and guest panel being held on Saturday 24th August.

BFI spokeswoman Liz Parkinson told Doctor Who News today: The date for the TV movie screening is yet to be announced, while the story to be shown from the Ninth Doctor's era, and the accompanying guests, will also be confirmed in due course.

Because of the overwhelming demand to attend the monthly screenings, a ballot system is being run to allocate tickets and priority booking for the Ninth Doctor event will take place, as previously, via the members' section.

BFI Champions can enter the ballot from Monday 1st July and members can enter from Tuesday 2nd July.

The ballot will close on Friday 5th July and be run over the weekend of 6th and 7th July, with all entrants to be notified on Monday 8th July if they have been successful or not. Any tickets reserved for Champions and members through the ballot will be held until 8.30pm on Friday 12th July, and any that are unclaimed by then will be released for public sale on Saturday 13th July.

Although all the screenings in the season so far have been immediate sell-outs, returns and stand-bys are a strong possibility, so if all else fails keep checking with the BFI!

Sunday 16th June sees the broadcast of the 1985 Colin Baker story, The Mark of the Rani on Australian and New Zealand television. The story is presented as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

The story screens at 4:20pm in both countries. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 17th June at 4:30am.

The UKTV billing describes The Mark of the Rani as follows:

In 19th century England, the Doctor finds himself facing two competing enemies: his old adversary, the Master, and the Rani, another Time Lord with a sinister plan.

The Mark of the Rani was first broadcast in Australia in 1986. New Zealand did not get to see it until 1989. The story was originally screened in Britain as two 45-minute episodes, but was first broadcast in Australia and New Zealand in four parts. UKTV will screen the two-episode version of the story.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. Colin Baker's sixth Doctor is the focus of the stories screened during June. Upcoming stories include The Two Doctors (23 June) and Revelation of the Daleks (30 June).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

Actors Frazer Hines and Tony Selby plus script editor and writer Eric Saward and visual effects designer Mike Kelt will be the special guests at the BFI screening of The Two Doctors.

The event, which takes place on Saturday 15th June to mark the Sixth Doctor's era, is the latest in the organisation's Doctor Who At 50 season and will start at 2pm.

The screenings have proved overwhelmingly popular, selling out as soon as tickets have been made available, although the BFI has introduced a ballot system to help make ticket allocation fairer.

Returns are always a possibility, though. As such, at the time of posting this news item four tickets were available via the event link. Stand-bys and other returns may also be available on the day.

The First Doctor's TARDIS console built for An Adventure In Space And Time - the forthcoming drama about Doctor Who's genesis - is to get its first public display at next month's Comic Con in Paris, the BBC announced today.

Writer Mark Gatiss will also be at the event, where he will take part in a panel session and will be signing autographs. In addition, clips from Doctor Who episodes Gatiss has written for and appeared in will be shown.

Other Doctor Who attractions at the Comic Con - the fifth to be held in France - will be a screening of Revenge of the Cybermen in French as well as a gallery display marking 50 years of the show.

After appearing at the French Comic Con, which runs from 4th to 7th July and is being held at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, the console will be installed at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff for the duration of the summer.

The 90-minute drama is due to be broadcast on BBC Two later this year, following a première at the BFI in London.

Sunday 9th June sees the broadcast of the 1985 Colin Baker story, Vengeance on Varos on Australian and New Zealand television. The story is presented as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

The story screens at 4:30pm in both countries. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 10th June at 4:45am.


The UKTV billing describes Vengeance on Varos as follows:

Seeking the rare mineral Zeiton-7 to repair his TARDIS, the Doctor arrives on Varos, a world where political prisoners & their guards are all subjected to sadistic tortures.

Vengeance on Varos was first broadcast in Australia in 1985. New Zealand did not get to see it until 1989. The story was originally screened in Britain as two 45-minute episodes, but was first broadcast in Australia and New Zealand in four parts. The UKTV transmission will feature the two-episode version of the story.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. Colin Baker's sixth Doctor is the focus of the stories screened during June. The remainder of the schedule includes: The Mark of the Rani (16 June), The Two Doctors (23 June), Revelation of the Daleks (30 June).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

(Note: An earlier version of this article reported that New Zealand would receive another showing of Attack of the Cybermen on 9th June. Although the story appeared on the UKTV schedule, it was not screened. Instead the episodes Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways were shown.)

The writer of the sixth in the Puffin Books series of e-books has been revealed as Richelle Mead, best-selling author of Vampire Academy, Bloodlines, and Age of X series.


Richelle Mead's love of fantasy and science-fiction began at an early age when her father read her Greek mythology and her brothers made her watch Flash Gordon. She went on to study folklore and religion at the University of Michigan, and, when not writing, Richelle spends her time drinking lots of coffee, keeping up with reality TV, and collecting 1980s T-shirts. Richelle lives with her family in Seattle in the USA.

Mead commented:

A video of the author will be released on YouTube by BBC Worldwide later in the month, with the book itself coming out on the 23rd June. You can also read an extract from the book via the Guardian.


The author can be found online via her website www.richellemead.com or on Twitter at @richellemead.

Sunday 2nd June sees the broadcast of the 1985 Colin Baker story, Attack of the Cybermen on Australian and New Zealand television. The story is presented as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

In New Zealand the story screens at 4:25pm and in Australia at 4:30pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 3rd June at 4:40am.

The UKTV billing describes Attack of the Cybermen as follows:

While trying to fix the TARDIS's chameleon circuit, the Sixth Doctor returns to Foreman's Yard on Totter's Lane in 1985, where he meets his old enemies the Cybermen.

Attack of the Cybermen was first broadcast in Australia in 1985. New Zealand did not get to see it until 1989. The story was originally screened in Britain as two 45-minute episodes, but was first broadcast in Australia and New Zealand in a four-part format. The UKTV transmission will feature the two-episode version of the story.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. The stories due to be screened during June all feature Colin Baker's sixth Doctor. The schedule includes: Vengeance on Varos (9 June), The Mark of the Rani (16 June), The Two Doctors (23 June), Revelation of the Daleks (30 June).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

AudioGo's next stage in the Destiny of the Doctor reaches the Sixth Doctor in June with he and companion Peri meeting Trouble in Paradise. Meanwhile, the latest audio adaptation of the Target novelisations sees the Third Doctor ahd Jo arriving on The Planet of the Daleks. Plus, two audio adaptations of recent BBC Books releases include the Eleventh Doctor once again encountering his greatest alien foe in The Dalek Generation, and the Third Doctor facing off against fellow Time Lord The Master in Harvest of Time.

Remembrance of the Daleks is the story that has been chosen to represent the Seventh Doctor's era for the BFI's Doctor Who At 50 season.

The four-parter, written by Ben Aaronovitch and directed by Andrew Morgan, originally aired in October 1988 and saw the Doctor return to Coal Hill School and the Totter's Lane junkyard first seen in the show's premier episode in 1963. It also continued the story arc of the civil war between rival Dalek factions and marked the last appearance of the Daleks and Davros in the original run of the show.

Remembrance will be getting its big-screen showing on Saturday 27th July at 2pm, with priority booking for tickets being subject to a ballot via the members' section.

BFI Champions can enter the ballot from Monday 3rd June and members can enter from Tuesday 4th June.

The ballot will close on Friday 7th June and be run over the weekend of 8th and 9th June, with all entrants to be notified on Monday 10th June if they have been successful or not. Any tickets reserved for Champions and members through the ballot will be held until 8.30pm on Friday 14th June, and any that are unclaimed by then will be released for public sale on Saturday 15th June.

Although all the celebratory screenings have been immediate sell-outs, returns and stand-bys are a strong possibility, so if all else fails do keep checking with the BFI!

Guests for the accompanying question-and-answer panel will be announced nearer the time.

UPDATE - SUNDAY 16th JUNE: The BFI has launched a competition to win a pair of tickets to the Remembrance screening, with a copy of the BFI book 100 Science Fiction Films - to be published on Friday 28th June - also going to the winner. Enter via this link. The competition closes on Friday 19th July. Travel is not included, and terms and conditions apply.

Sunday 26th May sees the broadcast of the last Peter Davison story, The Caves of Androzani on Australian and New Zealand television. The story is presented as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

In New Zealand the story screens at 4:10pm and in Australia at 4:20pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 27th May at 4:20am.


The UKTV billing describes The Caves of Androzani as follows:

Landing on the planet Androzani Minor, the Doctor & Peri develop lethal spectrox toxaemia poisoning. They search for a cure & become enmeshed in a decades-old feud.

The story was first broadcast in Australia in 1984. New Zealand did not get to see it until 1989. When it was first broadcast in both Australia and New Zealand the story had extensive censor cuts intended to reduce scenes of violence.

UKTV is showing stories each week throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. Next month shifts focus to Colin Baker's sixth Doctor. The schedule for June includes: Attack of the Cybermen (2 June), Vengeance on Varos (9 June), The Mark of the Rani (16 June), The Two Doctors (23 June), and Revelation of the Daleks (30 June).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.