This week sees Titan release three new comics featuring The Ninth, Tenth and Twelfth Doctors.







On Sale Wednesday 25th May 2016

BBC Wales is looking for floor runners to work on the next series of Doctor Who based in Cardiff.

The jobs are offered as a 10 month, full-time contract. Applicants must have previous drama experience. They need to be able to cover for the 3rd Assistant Director as required, and demonstrate they have the stamina required for the job.

Floor runners work on the set, supporting the 3rd Assistant Director. They co-ordinate with the production office for the distribution of packages, scripts, re-writes etc to the cast and crew on the floor. They provide hospitality for crew and artists (tea/coffee making) along with undertaking the transport of crew and artists as required. They assist the Assistant Director team in cueing artists and locking off filming areas and act as a first point of contact for a range of both internal and external callers and visitors.

Applications close on 25th May and can be made via the BBC Careers Website

BBC Wales are also looking for a Principal Double Bass (No.2), to work with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

The BBC have announced the death former Senior Camera Operator, Alec Wheal, at the age of 81

Alec Wheal worked on at least 159 episodes of Doctor Who, mainly as Senior Camerman, or as it was later known, Camera Supervisor.

The Camera Supervisor led the team of five or six camera operators, during the studio recordings of classic era Doctor Who. The role was important as Studio Camera Operators had only the studio day to absorb the director's camera script and instructions, before recording each Doctor Who episode in the evening.

They would work closely with the Director to make sure the required shots and effects could be recorded during each studio recording session. Each recording had a strict 10pm cut off and any mistakes would lead to shots being missed or expensive overruns.

Alec Wheal led the Camera teams on most Doctor Who stories from Destiny of the Daleks in 1979 right through to The Greatest Show in the Galaxy in 1988.

Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison paid tribute. As well as Doctor Who, Wheal worked on programmes such as EastEnders, Last of the Summer Wine, Just Good Friends, The Tripods, Black Adder, Grange Hill and Fanny by Gaslight.

Originally envisaged as an ongoing serial, the first three years of Doctor Who rolled on from episode to episode, each individually titled with no 'umbrella' name to associate discrete stories, just an overall theme that changed every few episodes or so, and often linked through cliff-hangers (quite literally in the case of Desperate Measures) or where a plot might suddenly catch the audience by surprise (such as at the end of The Plague).

However, after some 118 episodes new producer Innes Lloyd decided to revitalise the series, seeing the following episode to be broadcast adopt an overall name, and supporting cast disbanded over the next several weeks (not to mention a Doctor himself not that long thereafter!). And so, fifty years ago today saw the transmission of The O.K. Corral, the end of individual episode titles and the beginning of a controversy that fans still argue about today:

What should we call these discrete adventures of Doctor Who?

It wasn't until the 1970s that an emerging organised fandom would start to discuss their memories of long-since unseen adventures, and what they should be called - a common name would of course make sense so we would know we're talking about the same thing (would "the one with the Daleks invading Earth" or "the one with Napoleon in" ever catch on?). The Tenth Anniversary special edition of the Radio Times gave a first stab at this, though that tended to use the first episode of the serial as the name. Then, the revised The Making of Doctor Who book by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke published by Target provided another list of the stories, with many more familiar titles but some still a little different to what sits on DVD shelves of fans today (anyone watching The French Revolution tonight?). However, it was the publication by Target of the first edition of The Doctor Who Programme Guide by Jean and Randy L'Officier in 1981 that solidified a naming scheme that became 'universal' in fan usage and is still recognisable across the BBC brand to this day.

By the 1990s, however, the established names were beginning to be challenged by researchers who now had access to BBC records, uncovering a wealth of documentation that were to reveal titles used by the contemporary production teams and BBC Enterprises for promotion overseas. Some were quite trivial amendments - The Dalek Masterplan is now considered The Daleks' Master Plan (even within the BBC's online Doctor Who section), and The Massacre has become a rather more wordy The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve. Others aren't generally used - "Doctor Who and ..."  has never taken on (except in the cast of a certain early Pertwee serial!), and only the 'hardened fan' ever refers to Mission to the Unknown as Dalek Cutaway! It's the naming of the first three serials, however, that remains the most hotly contested ...

The Radio Times Tenth Anniversary special and The Making of Doctor Who originally used An Unearthly Child, The Dead Planet and The Edge of Destruction; then the Doctor Who Programme Guide and the Radio Times Twentieth Anniversary special utilised The Daleks for the second serial; when The Sixties was published in 1992, the first three serials were now referred to as 100,000BC, The Daleks, and Inside the Spaceship, but by the time the same authors published The First Doctor Handbook in 1994 the second serial had become The Mutants. These last three names are the ones adopted by the official Doctor Who Magazine (and also used on the covers of The Complete History series of books) - though the names often include an "aka" to the "common name" that everybody is more familiar with!

(Interestingly, narration scripts for the fourth serial referred to it as Journey to Cathay - this might have ended up as another debate, but fortunately director Waris Hussein re-iterated in Doctor Who Magazine last year that the production team considered it as obscure a title to viewers as the one they ultimately decided to use, Marco Polo!)

Does the name used really matter, though?** In the case of the second serial this is certainly an issue as, without context, the person mentioning it might mean the Jon Pertwee story that happens to officially hold that name on-screen. So perhaps The Daleks makes more sense - until one thinks of the episode that officially holds that name within The Dalek Invasion of Earth! In the latter case, however, most will accept the story name as the main identifier (another example of a name clash occurs between Inferno the episode and Inferno the story!)

At least Innes Lloyd's team alleviated fans' heated naming debates by introducing serial names ... unless you count the title of the aforementioned Pertwee ending in Silurians (though that isn't too disimilar to the original Next Episode caption for The Savages), or the on-screen title of the first episode of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. [Doctor Who and The Silurian title][Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part One title]

Of course this isn't the end of the debate, as the 'father' of modern Doctor Who, Russell T Davies fully knew when he re-ignited such discourse through his first two-parter of the returning series, the individually named Aliens of London and World War Three.

The composition of what constitutes a story itself is also something that isn't without debate. Colin Baker's last season is one such example: is it one long story or four individual, connected adventures? Again, the modern series offers up such conundrums, with one often-cited example series three's Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords: a three-parter or a single/two-parter? It isn't too surprising that the two latter examples have been interpreted differently depending on which story milestone is being marked! Can this be taken too far, however: the very first serial is sometimes described as being two stories, the An Unearthly Child introduction and then a three-part 100,000BC (or The Tribe of Gum as the Doctor Who Programme Guide indicated), with the rolling series cited as a valid reason for such an interpretation.

Ultimately, of course, it is entirely up our readers as to whether they prefer one title to another - indeed, searching the Internet can often find alternatively titled covers to those used by the BBC in order to grace those DVD shelves!


Little did Verity Lambert and team know what they would be unleashing upon fandom when those originals serials went out 'nameless', but at least after the closing credits of The O.K. Corral we would have a - fairly - consistent naming scheme for the rest of the Doctor's 20th Century adventures!




** The answer is "of course it matters", otherwise we wouldn't be the fans we are!

Fantom Publishing have announced two new releases of Who Talk, a series of new independent commentaries for Doctor Who episodes.


The commentaries are available to pre-order individually and as a special combined offer, on CD or via download. Full details can be found at the Who Talk website.


Please note: these commentaries contain no BBC copyrighted elements and do not feature audio from the episodes themselves - these are designed to be played alongside the official DVD releases.

It was twenty years ago today, on Monday 20th May 1996, that we lost the irrepressible, the inspirational, the uniquely talented man that was Jon Pertwee.

John Devon Roland Pertwee was born in July 1919 in London, a few months after the end of World War One. He joined a long established theatrical family, the son of the actor and playwright Roland.

Pertwee had a varied education after being expelled from a number of minor public schools. From the start his firm convictions and refusal to bow to authority, created friction with those in power and forced his premature departure. The same happened when he trained as an actor where, at RADA, despite rave reviews from a visiting Noel Coward, he was eventually dismissed for refusing to play a Greek wind.

In 1939 war broke out and Pertwee joined the Royal Navy. He was a member of the crew of HMS Hood, escorting Russian Convoys, transferring off the ship just three days before it was sunk with the loss of all but 3 hands. Joining Navel Intelligence he was thrust into the world of espionage, working alongside James Bond creator Ian Fleming and reporting directly to the Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The full extent of his top secret work was not revealed until an interview was published long after his death. Post war he began making a career as a jobbing stage actor and Radio Comedian. His talent for accents gained him a role in Waterlogged Spa playing an ancient postman. His success was rapid and by 1948 he was being billed as The Most Versatile Voice in Radio. His longest running role was as Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark, which he played from 1959-1977.

Small roles in feature films followed, including parts in four Carry On films, as well as a burgeoning stage career. He appeared in the 1963 London production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and on Broadway in There's a Girl in My Soup

In 1967 he was offered the role of Captain Mainwaring in the BBC Comedy Dad's Army, a role he turned down.

The role that would define him came in 1970 when he was offered the role of the Third Doctor. He was second choice for the role, behind Oliver! actor Ron Moody, but it was a role he embraced and made his own. Initially unsure how to play the role he was advised to play it as himself. "Who the hell is that?" he exclaimed.

Pertwee's era redefined the show, with the inclusion of UNIT as a regular part of the narrative. The bond formed between the main players was obvious on screen and for many it would be regarded as the golden age of the drama. The team chemistry between Pertwee, Manning, Courtney, Franklin, Levene and Delgado, led by the production team of Letts and Dicks, created a warm family feeling to the programme and ratings grew after declining towards the end of the second Doctor's era.

The team began to break up towards the end of 1973. Katy Manning decided to move on and was replaced by actress April Walker. Pertwee objected, feeling the chemistry was wrong and Walker was replaced by the more acceptable Elisabeth Sladen who developed a strong bond with Pertwee. By far the biggest loss was the death of Roger Delgado, who was killed in a car crash while filming in Turkey. The loss of his friend affected Pertwee deeply and when producer Barry Letts and Scripts Editor Terrance Dicks announced they were also leaving, he decided to call it a day. He had appeared in 128 episodes of the series, over 52 hours of television.

Post Who Pertwee charmed a new audience, playing the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge in the Southern TV series as well as educating a nations youth in the correct way to cross the road as the voice of the Green Cross Code.

In 1983 he returned to the role of the Doctor in the 20th Anniversary special The Five Doctors. In 1989 he toured the UK in the stage play Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure and three years later performed in two BBC Radio Drama's, The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space.

Jon Pertwee was active on the early convention scene, appearing at events on both sides of the Atlantic. He persuaded his old friend Patrick Troughton to attend and their mock feud entertained fans around the world, although it left Terry Wogan perplexed when he tried in on Children In Need. He was the first Honorary President of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society.

Pertwee died in the USA in 1996 at the age of 76. His death was shocking as he was so full of life, so irrepressible, so irreplaceable. He was survived by his wife Ingeborg Rhoesa, his son Sean Pertwee, and his daughter Dariel Pertwee.

The mark Jon Pertwee made on the series can never be over estimated and his legacy will live on as long as Doctor Who is remembered. Twenty years on we marvel at the wonderful, inspirational, immense talent that was Jon Pertwee and thank him for being part of our lives.

Voting is now open in the final round to select the readers favourite cover of Doctor Who Magazine from the last 499 issues.

The Magazine celebrates its five hundredth edition next week, and the publishers are conducting a poll to find the fans favourite cover of the magazine which launched as Doctor Who Weekly in 1979

The fifty finalists have been selected, by fans voting for their five favourite issues from each block of 50 issues. The 50 finalists have now been announced and readers are invited to select their top five covers of all time.

Voting will end at midnight on Sunday night (UK Time) and the results announced next week.

The fifty finalists can be found here.

BBC Worldwide North America and Titan Comics have announced the return of the Third Doctor, along with sidekick Jo Grant, in comic form this August.

This brand-new five-part comic series, written by fan-favorite Doctor Who scribe Paul Cornell (Wolverine, Action Comics, The Severed Streets), stars the Third Doctor, as played by Jon Pertwee, alongside companions Jo Grant (Katy Manning) and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) in classic Doctor Who action.

Hitting stores and digital platforms on August 31st, Doctor Who: The Third Doctor expands Titan Comics’ hugely popular and critically acclaimed Doctor Who comics, which already include adventures from the Fourth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors.

Fresh off last year’s epic smash-hit, Four Doctors, Paul Cornell teams up with artist Christopher Jones (Young Justice, Marvel’s Avengers) to bring unexpected twists and turns to the lives of the Third Doctor and his companions in an all-new story, “The Heralds Of Destruction.”

Actor Jon Pertwee starred as the Third Doctor in 128 episodes from 1970 to 1974. Pertwee's portrayal of the Doctor was a suave, dapper, and technologically oriented man of action, who spent his time stranded on Earth, working with the international military group UNIT. The debut issue comes with five variant covers to collect: three art covers by artists Josh Burns, Simon Myers, and Paul McCaffrey, a photo cover, and a blank sketch cover.

This week sees Titan release a new comic featuring The Eleventh Doctor



On Sale Wednesday 18th May 2016

Today sees Big Finish release the first trilogy of their all-new adventures featuring the tenth Doctor and Donna, as played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate. The three stories will be available exclusively from the Big Finish website for the next few months, before going on general release at the end of August.



The three adventures are also available as an exclusive boxed set, The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Volume One from Big Finish, which will be released as a limited 4-disc edition of 5000.

As well as the stories themselves, the box includes exclusive artwork, photography, articles, a one-hour documentary featuring interviews with the stars and production team, plus a bonus documentary examining the worlds of Doctor Who at Big Finish.



You can read our review of the release here.