Moments in Time - A Life Sacrificed

Friday, 4 December 2015 - Reported by Marcus

It was on Saturday 4th December 1965, exactly fifty years ago today, that Katarina sacrificed her life to save the Doctor, and became the first companion to die as a result of their travels with the Doctor.

It had been a very short stay in the TARDIS for the character, who only joined the team four weeks previously. Katarina had been a handmaiden of the prophetess Cassandra in the ancient city of Troy, when she met the Doctor. The character was intended as a replacement for Vicki, however it was soon realised that Katarina was so uneducated, so naive, that it was almost impossible to write for the character.

The decision was taken therefore, to write her out in the most spectacular way possible, and Katarina was destined to die in an airlock, sacrificing her life to stop the Doctor being blackmailed, and forced to return to the Daleks.

The character of Katarina was played by Devon born actress Adrienne Hill, in her first role for Television.

In 1986 she gave an interview to Doctor Who Magazine and talked about what it was like to join the series

I had lunch with Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves and they told me to expect the tight schedule and how to cope with Bill Hartnell. He was nice to me as I told him that this was my first television work and he took me under his wing to guide me. You really had to be on your toes with him, though, because he would often forget his lines and we couldn’t re-shoot things.

Hill also described filming her departure

My death was done on a trampoline, with the camera below us. I was jumping up and down to give the impression I was floating away through space. I was terribly proud of that.

Following her appearance in Doctor Who, Hill acted in several small roles, before moving to the Netherlands, and then America. She later returned to England where she retrained to be a drama teacher.

In 1985 she appeared alongside many other Doctor Who actors in the BBC Children in Need programme.

Adrienne Hill died of Cancer in 1997 at the age of 60.

FILTER: - Moments in Time

Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Auction

Friday, 4 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The traditional December Entertainment Memorabilia auction at Bonhams takes place on Thursday 10th December this year, and amidst the usual array of props, scripts, etc. from film and television are a number from Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Some of the highlights to bankrupt you this Christmas(!) include:

Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Dec 2015: Yeti homing device from The Web of Fear (Credit: Bonhams)

Lot 69: Web of Fear: an original prop yeti homing device

Doctor Who/Patrick Troughton, BBC, 1968

A hollow figure of stained mixed media resin, mounted on a base, accompanied by a black and white still [printed later] from the film showing the vendor in costume as a yeti, height - 11.5cm (4¾in)

Footnotes: The vendor acted on Doctor Who for many years in different roles, including as a yeti in the Web of Fear and was given this prop after filming had ended.

Estimated at £2000-3000 (US$3000-4500)

Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Dec 15 - Eggshell Proton Drive from The Creature From The Pit (Credit: Bonhams)

Lot 70: The Creature From The Pit: an original prop 'eggshell' photon drive

Doctor Who/Tom Baker, BBC, 1979

A hollow 'eggshell' of mixed media resin painted in mottled grey paint, with part of a computer mother board glued to the underneath, the underneath with grey paint to the edge signed and dated by Tom Baker in blue pen, an identical prop can be seen when the Doctor finds the fragment of 'eggshell' which is the 'creature's' space vehicle's photon drive; together with two dyeline copies of construction drawings for the set, the photon drive, 23 x 20 x 4cm (9 x 8 x 1½in) (3)

Footnotes: The vendor was the studio design assistant for these episodes.

Estimated at £1000-1500 (US$1500-2200)

Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Dec 15 - poster from The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (Credit: Bonhams)

Lot 73: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: two screen used prop circus posters

BBC, 1988

A mixed media of acrylic paint and pen on paper, the posters can be seen in the ticket booking area of the Psychic Circus, approximately 76 x 102cm (30 x 40in)

Footnotes: The vendor was the set designer for these episodes and commissioned the posters to be made.

Estimated at £500-700 (US$750-1000)

Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Dec 15 - Costumes worn by John Barrowman (Credit: Bonhams)

Lot 77: A collection of costumes for John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness

BBC, 2008-2009

Various single items including shirts (some soiled), trousers and accessories, with some duplicates, for episodes including Fragments, Exit Wounds, Day Four

Estimated at £500-700 (US$750-1000)

Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Dec 15 - Costumes worn by Elisabeth Sladen (Credit: Bonhams)

Lot 87: A large collection of costumes for Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith

BBC, 2007-2011,

Mostly part costumes, including several duplicates and five costumes for stunt doubles for episodes including Pilot, School Reunion, The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith, Prisoner of the Judoon, Death of the Doctor; together with various single costume pieces including tops, t-shirts and blouses, full list available on request

Estimated at £500-700 (US$750-1000)

Full list of related auction items

Lot	Description	Estimate
Doctor Who:
69	An original Yeti homing device from The Web of Fear	£2000-3000
70	Prop Eggshell Proton Drive from The Creature From The Pit	£1000-1500
71	Collection of scripts/construction drawings from Resurrection of the Daleks	£500-700
72	Camera script from Mysterious Planet and rehearsal script from The Five Doctors	£500-700
73	Circus posters from The Greatest Show in the Galaxy	£500-700
74	Scripts and production drawings from The Greatest Show in the Galaxy	£500-700
75	Scripts, designs and production paperwork from The Curse of Fenric	£500-700
76	Chemical bomb and construction paperwork from The Curse of Fenric	£500-700

Torchwood:
77	Collection of costumes as worn by John Barrowman (Jack)	£500-700
78	Collection of costumes as worn by Kai Owen (Rhys)	£300-500
79	Collection of costumes including as worn by Indira Varma (Suzie)	£400-600
80	Collection of costumes as worn by Eve Myles (Gwen)	£500-700
81	Collection of costumes including as worn by Nerys Hughes (Brenda)	£400-600
82	Collection of costumes as worn by Burn Gorman (Owen)	£400-600
83	Collection of costumes as worn by Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto)	£400-600

The Sarah Jane Adventures:
84	Collection of costumes as worn by Anjli Mohindra (Rani)	£500-700
85	Collection of costumes as worn by Daniel Anthony (Clyde)	£400-600
86	Collection of costumes as worn by Sinead Michael (Sky)	£400-600
87	Collection of costumes as worn by Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah)	£500-700
88	Collection of costumes including as worn by Julie Graham (Ruby)	£400-600
89	Collection of costumes as worn by Tommy Knight (Luke)	£300-500
90	Collection of Bubbleshock Factory costumes from Invasion of the Bane	£200-300

The full catalogue can be downloaded from the Bonhams website.

FILTER: - Auctions

Competition Roundup

Thursday, 3 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The following Doctor Who News competitions are currently available to enter, check each one for their closing date.

DWAS Membership

Christmas Card for 2015 (Credit: Doctor Who Appreciation Society)

The Doctor Who Appreciation Society are currently selling Doctor Who themed Christmas cards, and from now until the 10th December any readers of Doctor Who News who order cards from their website will be in with a chance to win a twelve month membership/renewal to the society.

You can order cards from DWAS here.

Festive Jumper

This festive season sees a number of official Doctor Who jumpers to keep warm: Numskull present a cyber-theme:

The Cybermen have deemed the deletion of Christmas necessary for the subjugation of the planet Earth. Now you can join the festive fight for the deletion with the Cybermen, or against with the Doctor with this Official BBC Doctor Who Cyberman knitted Christmas Jumper.

Cyberman Jumper from Numskull (Credit: Numskull)

To be in with a chance of winning a jumper courtest of Numskull, simply answer the following question:

In which year did the BBC run a festive campaign that featured a Cyberman playing Twister alongside the actors then portraying the Doctor assistant?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-jumper@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "A cosy Cyberman?" - don't forget to include the size you'd like to receive (dimensions can be found via the Numskull website). The competition is open worldwide, closing date 13th December 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Torchwood: Forgotten Lives

The third in Big Finish's new range of Torchwood adventures stars Eve Myles and Kai Owen:

It has been four years since the Miracle, and Gwen and Rhys's lives have gone back to normal, very normal. They're raising their daughter (they've got pictures they'd be only too happy to show you), they're living in a nice house, and they're almost on top of the laundry. Captain Jack Harkness has been missing from the world and their lives for a long time. But late one night the phone rings, and they're summoned to an isolated part of North Wales. The Bryn Offa Nursing Home contains a dark secret, an alien threat, and someone who really shouldn't be there. Gwen and Rhys are about to discover that Torchwood stays with you for the rest of your life.

Torchwood - Forgotten Lives (Credit: Big Finish)

To be in with a chance to win a digital download of the Torchwood audio adventure courtesy of Big Finish, simply answer the following question:

Eve Myles appeared in Doctor Who before her lead role in Torchwood: which story did she appear in and what was her character name?

Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-forgottenlives@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Did anybody order pizza?". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 6th December. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

BBC Audio: K9 & Company

The final classic novelisation adaptation for 2015 from BBC Audio is the spin-off adventure, K9 and Company:

In the sleepy village of Hazelbury Abbas, the Winter Solstice is fast drawing near. It is a time of deep mystery an ancient evil. Sarah Jane Smith, journalist and former companion to the Doctor, comes to the village to write her new book. For company she has Brendan, the young ward of Sarah's missing Aunt Lavinia. The Brendan too disappears, possible kidnapped by practitioners of Black Magic. Is he to be sacrificed to the goddess Hecate on the Solstice? Sarah is not alone in her search for Brendan, for the Doctor has sent her a very special companion: a robotic dog by the name of K9 ...

K9 & Company (audiobook) (Credit: BBC Audio)

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

Though the series would have been known as K9 & Company, what was the individual title used for the single Christmas episode that was broadcast?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-affirmative@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Affirmative, Mistress". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 13th December 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: The Winter Collection

To be in with a chance to win a set of the three audiobooks of "The Winter Collection" so far (The Gods of Winter, The House of Winter, The Sins of Winter), courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

The reader of the latest audiobook, Robin Soans, is one of the growing list of actors who have played roles in both the 20th and 21st Century versions of Doctor Who - name the stories/roles he has played (so far!)

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-winter@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "A Winter's Tale". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 13th December 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Pop Vinyl figures

Funko: Pop Vinyl Tenth Doctor (Credit: fun.com)

To be in with a chance to win a Funko Pop Vinyl figure courtesy of fun.com, simply answer the following question:

Name a story in which the Doctor is shrunken down to a much smaller size.

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-vinyl@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Don't get too big-headed" - don't forget to specify which figure you'd like to receive from the list below. The competition is open to readers in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand only, closing date 13th December 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Figures available Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth Doctors, Adipose, Cyberman or Dalek.

Lethbridge-Stewart Books

Lethbridge-Stewart: Mutually Assured Domination (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

In celebration of the success of the Lethbridge-Stewart series of books, we are delighted to be able to offer the set of four books published this year (The Forgotten Son, The Schizoid Earth, Beast of Fang Rock, and Mutually Assured Domination) plus associated short stories, courtesy of Candy Jar Books. To be in with a chance to win, simply answer the following question:

In relation to this series of books, what is the significance of the closing date of this competition?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-ls15@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "what happened next?". The competition is open worldwide, closing date: 16th December 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Predict the Ratings of Hell Bent

Predict how many viewers will watch this year's series finale! Full details here.

FILTER: - Competitions

Advent Calendar - Day Three

Thursday, 3 December 2015 - Reported by Willy Phantom

Clara's finished all her shopping but she cannot believe her eyes,
I don't think she was expecting to receive this Christmas surprise!

Willy Phantom, 3rd December 2015

FILTER: - Advent

The Husbands of River Song: new publicity images

Thursday, 3 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have released some promotional profile photos of characters who appear in this year's Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song. The images portray Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, Alex Kingston as River Song, Rowan Polonski as Remming and Phillip Rhys as Ramone.

FILTER: - Peter Capaldi - Publicity - Series Specials

Predict the Ratings for Hell Bent

Wednesday, 2 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Doctor Who: The Ten Christmas Specials (Credit: BBC Worldwide)

The series finale is almost upon us, and Doctor Who News is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a copy of The 10 Christmas Specials, a limited edition DVD boxed set featuring the ten previous Christmas Day specials of the modern series (sadly The Feast of Steven is not included!).

All you need to do is to guess the final consolidated viewing figure for Hell Bent, as reported by BARB to the nearest 10,000 viewers (i.e. two decimal places). This figure includes all those watching the episode within a week of broadcast.

Hell Bent is being broadcast in the UK on BBC One on Saturday at 8:00pm. As with most episodes this year, it will follow Strictly Come Dancing, and will be followed by Casualty. In opposition, ITV have The X Factor, whilst BBC Two is showing Snooker, Channel 4 is showing The World's Weirdest Weather, and Channel 5 has Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away.

To help place in perspective, the average consolidated rating this series so far has been 5.84 million viewers - all the the known consolidated figures can be found in the Related Articles below. At the time of writing the figure for last week's Heaven Sent has yet to be confirmed, but its overnight was reported as 4.51m, up 90,000 from the previous episode's overnight.

Entering The Competition

The Doctor counts how many are watching ... (Photo credit: BBC/Simon Ridgway)

The prize is number 20 in the limited edition run of The 10 Christmas Specials.

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

Your name and email address
Your country (full address will only be requested if you are a winner)
Your guess for the final consolidated viewing figure

The BARB figure is expected to be announced on Monday 14th December; the winner will be informed once the figure has been confirmed, and the prize dispatched to arrive before Christmas Day* so you can binge-watch all previous specials in anticipation of The Husbands of River Song!

[* in the UK, postage to other countries cannot be guaranteed to arrive beforehand]

The competition closes at 7.59pm (GMT), 5th December 2015
Only one entry will be accepted per person.
The competition is open worldwide but PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A REGION TWO DVD only

FILTER: - Competitions - Ratings

Media Guardian 100

Wednesday, 2 December 2015 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat continues his steady rise up through the ranks of the Media Guardian's top 100 most powerful people in UK Media.

The writer and producer comes in at number 76 in this years chart, a rise of eight places from the 2014 list. Moffat entered the chart in 2011 as number 92.

The list, which has been running since 2001, attempts to quantify the people with the most influence over the British media and is complied by a team of judges drawn from across the industry.

Moffat took over the BBC’s Doctor Who from Russell T Davies six years ago. His reinvention with Mark Gatiss of Sherlock Holmes, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, will return for a Victorian special this Christmas. Moffat has said Doctor Who, which returned in its modern incarnation in 2005, has at least another five years in it, possibly many more. But Moffat, who introduced Peter Capaldi as the new doctor last year, has questioned the feasibility of the BBC’s ambition to have a big screen Doctor Who.

Other BBC personnel listed include the current controller of BBC One, Charlotte Moore, at number 21, and the current Chief Executive of the BBC, Director General Tony Hall at number 6.

The head of the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, Tim Davie, and the man ultimately responsible for selling Doctor Who around the world, was number 35.

Actor James Cordon, who played Craig Owens in Doctor Who, and who now hosts The Late Late Show on CBS, is at number 50

The top three places in the list are taken once more by the heads of Google, Facebook and Apple respectively, with Mark Zukerberg coming out top.

FILTER: - Steven Moffat

Advent Calendar - Day Two

Wednesday, 2 December 2015 - Reported by Willy Phantom

The Doctor's brought along his guitar and as you all will see,
He'll soon have everyone rockin' around the Christmas tree!

Willy Phantom, 2nd December 2015

FILTER: - Advent

Doctor Who Adventures - Issue 9

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The latest edition of Doctor Who Adventures is published on Thursday 3rd December:

Christmas is coming early this year with issue 9 of Doctor Who Adventures, which is set to materialise in a newsagent near you on 3rd December!

AWESOME POSTER: This issue comes with a free hand painted mega poster of Skaro from Robot City’s Paul Collicutt.
THE MINISTRY OF TIME: Scream Street’s Tommy Donbavand scripts this issue’s comic strip, in which the TARDIS gets clamped for contravening several time and space laws as laid out by the Ministry of Time.
FESTIVE MAYHEM: Get ready for a look back at some of the Christmas dangers the Doctor has faced over the last ten years, before finding out if you’ve got what it takes to Save Christmas!
RIVER SONG’S CRAFT STUDIO: River shows you how to decorate your Christmas tree with some fiendish Snowmen Baubles.
UNIT ALIEN ARCHIVES: Delve into the UNIT Alien Archive and find out all about the duplicitous Leandro from Delta Leonis.
STRAX’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: This month, Strax takes you to Trenzalore, Zygor, Ember and Tiaanammat for some Christmas space exploration.
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS: And Christmas isn’t Christmas without a cool board game to play, and this time you can be River or the Doctor as you race through the night to Christmas morning facing all manner of dangers including the Sycorax, the Racnoss, Dream Crabs and Robot Angels.
THE PATERNOSTER GANG INVESTIGATES: Then get ready for a real Victorian mystery as James Peaty relates the tale of how the Paternoster Gang came up against the horrifying Dissolving Man!

Doctor Who Adventures #9 – Let the festivities begin!

Doctor Who Adventures Issue 9 - Cover (Credit: DWA)

Doctor Who Adventures Issue 9 - Dalek Poster (Credit: DWA)

Issue 9 comes with a Free Dalek Blaster and mega poster!

FILTER: - DWA

BBC One Christmas Idents: Sprout Boy

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC One Christmas Ident: Sprout Boy meets the Doctor (Credit: BBC)

This year's BBC One idents are based around a well-known icon of Christmas, the sprout. Launched after tonight's The One Show, a two minute video Sprout Boy introduces the eponymous star of the idents as he meets the characters of Christmas television - including the Doctor!

The video also features the voice of Peter Capaldi as the narrator.

In addition to Sprout Boy, a 40 second trailer for BBC One television over Christmas was also broadcast.

Sprout Boy
BBC One Trailer

Full details of the Christmas season can be found on the BBC website.

FILTER: - BBC

Previous 10 Stories

Moments in Time - A Life Sacrificed

Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Auction

Full list of related auction items

Competition Roundup

DWAS Membership

Festive Jumper

Torchwood: Forgotten Lives

BBC Audio: K9 & Company

BBC Audio: The Winter Collection

Pop Vinyl figures

Lethbridge-Stewart Books

Predict the Ratings of Hell Bent

Advent Calendar - Day Three

The Husbands of River Song: new publicity images

Predict the Ratings for Hell Bent

Entering The Competition

Media Guardian 100

Advent Calendar - Day Two

Doctor Who Adventures - Issue 9

BBC One Christmas Idents: Sprout Boy

Amazon Associate paid Link. Doctor Who News is supported by qualifying purchases.

This Week in Doctor Who

ARCHIVE

FILTER