Next Wednesday sees the release of Titan's comic featuring the Ninth Doctor as well as the latest in the Torchwood series by John and Carole Barrowman.

The previously announced Eleventh Doctor #2.15 has been delayed and will also be published next week.

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Ninth Doctor #8

Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Cris Bolson
Colourist: Colourist
A: Pasquale Qualano & Marcio Menys - B: Will Brooks Photo- C: Question No. 6

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Torchwood #4

Writer: Carole E. Barrowman, John Barrowman
Artist: Antonio Fuso
Cover A: Kelly Yates Cover B: Will Brooks Photo Cover C: Pasquale Qualano & Marcio Menys



All comics are released on Wednesday 21st December.

Christmas Day: a time of festive presents, festive food, and festive telly!

For us, of course, the placement of the annual Doctor Who Christmas Special in the schedules is always eagerly anticipated, with this year's episode slotted into the late afternoon/early evening slot of 5:45pm. Previous years have seen it as early as 5:15pm last year to 7:30pm in 2013, but this year it is (hopefully!) bolstered by two of the BBC's other highest rated programmes, The Great British Bake-Off beforehand and Strictly Come Dancing afterwards.

In terms of direct competition, ITV is serving up its traditional slice of country life in Emmerdale, and Sky One is premiering its heavily trailed The Last Dragonslayer; on other channels BBC2 has the 1976 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show (5:40pm), Channel 4 has We're Going On A Bear Hunt and the film Home Alone (from 6pm), Channel 5 has Singin' in the Rain and then a repeat of Britain's Favourite Christmas Songs (from 6:15pm).

As of today, the odds of Doctor Who making the top spot sits at 22/1; unsurprisingly, Mrs Brown's Boys leads the way, being it has been the most popular show three out of the last four years (only beaten into second place last year by the finale of Downton Abbey!).

               BBC1                                       ITV     
 3:00pm   16/1 The Queen                             40/1 The Queen
 3:10pm    9/1 Frozen                                46/1 The Lion King
 4:45pm    5/1 The Great Christmas Bake Off
 4:55pm                                                   ITV News
 5:15pm                                              66/1 You've Been Framed
 5:45pm   22/1 Doctor Who                            60/1 Emmerdale
 6:45pm    2/1 Strictly Come Dancing                 50/1 For the Love of Dogs
 7:45pm                                                   ITV News
 8:00pm    6/1 Call the Midwife                      25/1 Coronation Street
 9:00pm                                              25/1 Maigret's Dead Man
 9:30pm    8/1 Eastenders
10:30pm    2/1 Mrs Brown's Boys
11:00pm  100/1 The Best of Tracey Ullman's Show     100/1 Love Actually

Predict the Ratings Competition

It's also time for our 'legendary' Predict the Ratings competition, which this year will give readers the chance to win The Return of Doctor Mysterio on DVD/Bluray upon its release, plus a copy of the BBC Book The Whoniverse by Justin Richards and George Mann.


The ratings and positions for 2014 and 2015 are presented here for comparison - recent years have seen a decline in television viewing over Christmas Day, with none of the programmes achieving the heady heights of several years ago.

To enter our competition, please send the following details to comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net:

• Your name and preferred email address
• Your country of entry (full details will be requested only if you are the winner)
• Your guess at the final viewing figure to the nearest 10,000 (eg.9.99m)
• Your guess at the final position in the chart (eg. 1st) - this will only be used in the event of a tie-break

Terms and Conditions:

• The competition closes at 08:30 GMT, 26th December 2016.
• Only one entry will be accepted per person.
• The competition is open worldwide.
• BARB final figures are expected in early 2016; we will contact the winner once they have been published.

Superheroes around the World unite...

Of course it isn't just the United Kingdom that will enjoy the Doctor's latest adventure this festive period, as the episode will be broadcast in a number of countries within a couple of days of the British premiere:

The Return of Doctor Mysterio: known first broadcast details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sun 25 Dec 2016	5:45pm GMT
Middle East	BBC First	Sun 25 Dec 2016	8:45pm AST	(5:45pm GMT) simulcast!
Australia (online)	ABC iView	Mon 26 Dec 2016	5:45am AEDT	(6:45pm GMT)
Brazil	Syfy	Sun 25 Dec 2016	10:30pm BRST	(12:30am GMT)
United States of America	BBC America	Sun 25 Dec 2016	9:00pm EST	(2:00am GMT)
Canada	SPACE	Sun 25 Dec 2016	9:00pm EST	(2:00am GMT)
Latin America	Syfy	Sun 25 Dec 2016	10:00pm CST	(04:00am GMT)
New Zealand	Prime	Mon 26 Dec 2016	7:30pm NZDT	(6:30am GMT)
Australia	ABC	Mon 26 Dec 2016	7:30pm AEDT	(8:30am GMT) also on ABC ME
Finland	YLE TV2	Mon 26 Dec 2016	7:00pm EET	(5:00pm GMT)
South Africa	BBC First	Wed 27 Dec 2016	8:00pm SAST	(6:00pm GMT)
United Kingdom	BBC Two	Fri 30 Dec 2016	2:30am GMT	(British Sign Language)

As well as television, The Return of Doctor Mysterio will also get big screen outings in Australia (26th December), New Zealand (26th December), Denmark (26th and 28th December), Canada (26th and 28th December), and the United States (27th and 29th December).

Various channels will celebrate the series during the next couple of weeks. BBC America kick off a mammoth repeat run dominating the channel from Tuesday 20th December, showing the majority of episodes since David Tennant took over the role in the lead up to the Christmas Special (and also including the premiere broadcast of The Power of the Daleks in colour on Christmas Day!). On Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, BBC Prime in Latin America will show the two series starring Peter Capaldi, whilst Prime in New Zealand repeat the most recent series. On Christmas Day, SPACE in Canada will show preceeding Christmas adventures. BBC HD in Poland doesn't have Mysterio scheduled for the immediate future, but will be running through the Doctor's regular adventures from Rose on the 23rd December through to the New Year.

Readers can always keep up with the ongoing adventures of the Doctor (and pals!) via This Week in Doctor Who.

The BBC has confirmed thet the Doctor Who spin-off series will be shown on BBC One this January

The first episode can be seen on Monday 9th January at 10.45pm

Class has previously only been available in the UK via the BBC Three channel, which, since the 16th February this year, has only been available online.

No firm details are available for the number of viewers who have watched the series on BBC Three, but no episode has managed to make the Weekly BARB Top 50 list of downloaded programs, meaning less than around 60,000 watched the episode in the two days after release. It is believed the audience for each episode was between 20,000 and 60,000 viewers.

The BBC will be hoping for a much bigger audience for the BBC One showing, where the late night timeslot has an average of just over 2 million viewers.

The series is due to be shown on BBC America this spring

Eighth Doctor Paul McGann has teamed up with his brother, writer Mark McGann, to embark on a short film project based on Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s poem ‘Perplexed Music’.

McGann is to be directed by his brother in the film about the cycle of devoted love, loss and rebirth. It is hoped that the project, which is being funded by a Kickstarter campaign, will be filmed in the Spring of 2017 at various locations in Wiltshire, Cornwall and Somerset.

Mark McGann started writing the screenplay for Perplexed Music after being inspired by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s poem of the same name. It will explore the temporary madness, isolation, catharsis and new beginning experienced by a middle-aged man, played by Paul, as he battles for reason, stability and the strength to continue on his journey without his life companion.

Mark McGann said Speaking of the project Paul McGann said More details about the film can be found on Facebook or on the project's Kickstarter page. An interview with Mark McGann talking about the project can be found here

The latest issue of the fan magazine Whotopia has been released and is now available to download from the Whotopia website

In this issue

• IN CONVERSATION WITH PETER DAVISON
Roger Crow chats with Fifth Doctor Peter Davison on the set of his new movie
• THE DOCTOR IS NOT MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD
Jessica Chaleff explains quite to the contrary that the Doctor isn’t as old as you think
• THE STORIES THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: THE MCCOY ERA
Bob Furnell examines the unmade stories from Sylvester McCoy’s era
• OMEGA: THE LOST TIME LORD
Steve Traves considers one of the series’ more enigmatic villains
• UNDERAPPRECIATED MONSTERS & VILLIANS IN DOCTOR WHO
Jessica Chaleff points the spotlight at a sample of less-looked-for antagonists
• AN EVENING WITH MATTHEW WATERHOUSE
Paula Hammond reports on this special event with Matthew Waterhouse
• COLUMN: TARGET TRAWL
Nick Mellish continues his journey reading every single Target novel
• COLUMN: THE DOCTOR WHO SCHOLAR
This issue Jeremy examines Doctor Who as transmedia
• WHO YOU BUILD
Steve Traves explores more full-scale Doctor Who model making
• THE BLACK ARCHIVES: THE MASSACRE REVIEWED
Andrew Screen reviews one of the Black Archive books
• WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT…?
Whotopia interviews authors Will Hadcroft and Ian Wheeler
• COLUMN: THE AUDIO ARCHIVES
Andrew Screen continues his look at the works of Big Finish
• MASTER WHO PART 3: ANTHONY AINLEY
Dan Tessier details Anthony Ainley’s version of ‘The Master’
• POLARITY DAY: REMEMBERING JON PERTWEE
Paula Hammond attends this special DWAS event celebrating third Doctor Jon Pertwee
• CLASS REVIEWED
Jon Arnold turns his critical eye on the first few episodes of the latest Who spinoff
• THE BLACK ARCHIVES VOLUME 1-3
Andrew Screen takes a look at the series of books from Obverse Books
• COLUMN: THE CURATE’S EGG
With the end of an era looming, Richard Michaels fires off a defence of Steven Moffat

The magazine can be downloaded for free from whotopia.ca.

Back in October, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society unveiled a blue heritage plaque at New Wimbleon Theatre in London in honour of the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee. The Society has now produced 25 miniture versions which are available to purchase from their website, but have also put a special one up for auction which includes signatures from many of the guests who attended the event:


All proceeds from this auction will be paid into the Society's 'Plaque Fund', which raises money to pay for the plaque at New Wimbledon Theatre, The Dedication event, and for The Grand Order of Water Rats which Jon was an enthusiastic supporter of during his life.

The plaque is approx 30cm diameter and comes with rear fixing tape for wall display.

You can view and bid on the item via their auction page on Ebay.

The followong competitons are available to enter via Doctor Who News in December:





It's still possible to enter competitions to win Lethbridge-Stewart books and Warlord Games miniatures, closing date this Sunday.


Watch out for our annual Christmas Ratings competition, launching next week!

Lethbridge-Stewart Artwork Competition

Candy Jar Books are also running a competition for purchasers to win a piece Lethbridge-Stewart artwork by Richard Young. See their offers for more details.

The BBC has released a new trailer for the Christmas Special The Return of Doctor Mysterio

Peter Capaldi has donated a 72-page Doctor Who shooting script of his first Dalek story, Into the Dalek to a fund-raising auction taking place at Sotheby's next Tuesday 13th December.

The script, complete with a lavishly illustrated title page, is a complete one-off. The lot also includes two postcards inscribed ‘Best wishes from Peter Capaldi Doctor ?’.

It is part of over 40 original illustrations up for auction, by leading artists, designers, and musicians, including Quentin Blake, Brian Eno, Eric Clapton, Oliver Jeffers, Emma Chichester Clark, David Shrigley, Peter Brooks, Peter Blake, Paul Smith, and Margaret Howell.

The auction is to raise money for House of Illustration, the UK’s only public gallery devoted to illustration, based in King’s Cross in London. The registered charity receives no public funding, raising all the money from admissions, retail and fundraising. The gallery puts on exhibitions and events, promotes new illustration talent, commissions new art work and organises an illustrator led learning programme for schools, families, students and enthusiasts of all ages.

The auction starts at 2.30pm and you can bid in person, by phone or online. The works will be displayed to the public at Sotheby’s on Friday 9th – Monday 12th December.

The artworks can also be viewed online by going to Sotheby's Website and looking for lot number 287.

Mad Norwegian Press have published the second volume of Space Helmet for a Cow - The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who, and Doctor Who News is pleased to offer readers an exclusive extract from the book.

In Space Helmet for a Cow 2, award-winning writer Paul Kirkley (Doctor Who Magazine, Radio Times, SFX) continues his witty and irreverent history of Doctor Who, from the wilderness years of the 1990s – when the 30th anniversary special was so bad, it didn’t even go straight to video – to its triumphant 50th birthday celebrations, when every single person in the world sat down to watch Doctor Who together. (Except Christopher Eccleston, who was busy.)

From Hugo Award-winning publisher Mad Norwegian Press, it’s the book that answers such burning questions as: Did Benny and Bjorn from Abba really plan a Torchwood musical called Weevil Rock You? Which Doctors shared a bed? Did Blue Peter and Sad Tony eventually find love? How did David Tennant become his own son-in-law? And was there really a sequel to Carnival of Monsters at Wembley Arena, or did we dream it?

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Thanks to Mad Norwegian Press Doctor Who News is able to offer a free download of a complete section of the book, dealing with the years 1990-2003. At 25,000+ words, this is a comprehensive guide to Doctor Who’s “wilderness years” - with jokes - that also works as a standalone read in itself.



The full version of Space Helmet for a Cow 2: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who (1990-2013) can be purchased from Amazon. UK US CA DE