Bedford Who Charity ConBookmark and Share

Saturday, 13 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus
The second Bedford Who Charity Con takes place in April, and the organisers are offering a discount to anyone who reads about the convention on Doctor Who News.

The event raises money for Bedford Foodbank, a local charity providing emergency food for people in crisis. Each month, some 500 children and adults are fed who would otherwise go hungry.

This year's event takes place on Saturday 23rd April 2016, with confirmed guests including Katy Manning, Deborah Watling, Sophie Aldred and John Leeson.

Tickets are £40 for adults; £20 for 14 - 18 year olds and full-time students; and £15 for under-14s. Concessions and family tickets are also available. However if you mention that you read about the event on Doctor Who News, you’ll receive a 10% discount on the price. Further details on the convention’s website and Facebook Page.




FILTER: - Conventions

DWM Increases CirculationBookmark and Share

Friday, 12 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine has increased its circulation according to figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

In the period July to December 2015 the magazine had an official certified circulation of 26,514 copies, up from 25,663 in the previous six month period. The figure is good news for the magazine which has arrested a steady decline in circulation since the peak of 36,000 in the second half of 2013.

Not such good news for Doctor Who Adventures which now has a certified circulation of 17,710, down from 20,506 in the previous six months. The magazine was transferred to Panini during the first part of 2015.




FILTER: - DWA - DWM

Doctors Supporting DoctorsBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 10 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus
Peter Capaldi in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake)Peter Capaldi and Sir John Hurt have both lent their support to the #WearYourNHS campaign, set up to raise awareness of the issues and challenges facing the NHS at present.

The actors are pictured wearing a 'Support Junior Doctors' tshirt, designed by fashion icon Dame Vivienne Westwood. The #WearYourNHS Campaign, spearheaded by Dr Lauren Gavaghan, a Senior Registrar in Psychiatry in London, was started as a means to open up the issue of the Junior Doctors Contract negotiations to the public.

Junior Doctors, working for the NHS in England, have today been taking part in their second one day strike, in protest at changes proposed to their contracts by the Government. The management insist the changes are needed to provide a seven day health service in the future. The Junior Doctors are worried that the changes will spread overworked staff even more thinly and jeopardize patient health.

The #WearYourNHS campaign is a play on the words We Are Your NHS. Gavaghan wanted to encourage people to start thinking about the NHS as they might a shirt worn on their backs, something they may take for granted and only miss if it were gone one day.

This latest stage of the campaign sees Capaldi taking part in a session with photographer Sarah Sheldrake. The pictures show THE Dr and 20 ‘Junior’ Doctors, all from a range of medical specialities including A&E/Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatric Anaesthetics, GP, Rheumatology, Acute General Medicine, Intensive Care, and Psychiatry, some senior in their specialities.

On why he was supporting Junior Doctors, Capaldi just said
It’s a Matter of Trust
The Twelfth Doctor was joined by the War Doctor in the photoshoot, with veteran actor Sir John Hurt taking part. Hurt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015, and is now doing well following treatment. On why he chose to support Junior Doctors he said
The most important thing is that they (doctors) are not to be mistrusted. They do not do this for fun. (go on strike). It is about medicine. Medicine shouldn’t be anything to do with politics at all. Politics should be bending over backwards to support medicine.
Speaking as to why she organised the campaign, Dr Lauren Gavaghan said
The photoshoot with Peter Capaldi and 20 Junior Doctors was to highlight some of our struggles. We feel as though we are up against a well-oiled propaganda machine, and that much of the time we are silenced, gagged and prevented from speaking in more than mere sound bites.

The photographs also illustrate something of what it is like to be silenced, to be gagged, with some of the doctors seen wearing surgical masks to demonstrate this point. Some have their hands tied with stethoscopes, in an effort to show the pain involved in feeling as though ones hands are literally tied, whilst the government continues to peddle lies.
Full details on the campaign website

Peter Capaldi and Junior Doctors in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake) Peter Capaldi in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake) Peter Capaldi in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake) Peter Capaldi in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake)
Peter Capaldi in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake) Peter Capaldi in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake) Sir John Hurt in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake) Sir John Hurt in Dame Vivienne Westwood designed Support Junior Doctors tshirt (Credit: Sarah Sheldrake)




FILTER: - John Hurt - Peter Capaldi

Doctor Who Digital Pinball Table - Fully FundedBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 9 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus

The kickstarter project to help recreate the 1990's Doctor Who Pinball Table in digital form, has reached its target.

With three days to go the project has raised over $56,000, enough to purchase the the licences to allow Farsight studios to recreate the famous 1992 Doctor Who Pinball Table for Consoles and Mobile devices.

In addition the makers have announced that, as well as recreating the classic Doctor Who table, they intend to develop an modern version of the table, featuring the latest doctors and new material from the show.

New tiers have been added to the Kickstarter campaign that include early access to this new version of the table.

The campaign closes on Saturday.

For full details see the project's Kickstarter page.




FILTER: - Games

New Tenth and Twelfth Doctor ComicsBookmark and Share

Monday, 8 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus
This week sees Titan release brand new comics from The Tenth Doctor and the Twelfth Doctor.

DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artist: Elena Casagrande
Colourist: Arianna Florean
Letterer: Comicraft
Cover A: Alice X Zhang / Cover B: Photo cover by Will Brooks

The Doctor and Gabby are still caught between two factions as modern humanity is born. Neanderthals and Cro Magnons clash, and their actions will shape the direction taken by humankind in the millennia to come! Plus: Cindy discovers an alarming secret back in NYC... and in deep space, Anubis grows impatient!
DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.6 (Credit: Titan)


DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2

Writer: Robbie Morrison
Artist: Rachael Stott
Colourist: Ivan Nunes
Letterer: Comicraft
Cover A: Alex Ronald / Cover B: Photo cover by Will Brooks / Cover C: Rachel Stott

CLARA OSWALD AND THE SCHOOL OF DEATH.

The gothic, sprawling Ravenscaur is the top private school in the UK, educator of the children of royalty, politicians and celebrities, and epicentre of generations of power and influence. When an old friend of Clara’s dies at the school under mysterious circumstances, she and the Doctor go undercover to investigate...
DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #2.2 (Credit: Titan)


Both comics are on sale Wednesday 10th February 2016.




FILTER: - Comics - Tenth Doctor - Twelfth Doctor

Share The OrangeBookmark and Share

Sunday, 7 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus
Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston fronts the latest campaign from Alzheimer’s Research UK #sharetheorange.

The project features stop motion animation from award winning studio Aardman, to demonstrate how the diseases that cause dementia, most commonly Alzheimer’s, physically attack the brain. Through damage caused by the disease, the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s can weigh around 140 grams less than a healthy brain – about the weight of an orange.

Eccleston, whose father Ronnie died with vascular dementia following a 14-year battle with the disease, said
We have to think differently about dementia. We have to stop believing dementia is an inevitability; something that simply happens to us all as we grow older. If we don’t, we’re never going to truly fight it.

Dementia is caused by diseases and diseases can be beaten. We’ve tamed diseases like cancer and heart disease and a diagnosis of either is no longer a certain death sentence. People with dementia deserve this same hope. This film aims to show that dementia is caused by physical processes that scientists can put a stop to.

While scientists fight dementia in the lab, by sharing the film anyone can fight the misunderstanding and fatalism that surrounds dementia in our society.




FILTER: - Christopher Eccleston

Steven Moffat receives his OBEBookmark and Share

Thursday, 4 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus
Steven MoffatDoctor Who Executive Producer Steven Moffat has been presented with his OBE for services to drama.

The award, announced in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours list, was presented to the writer by The Prince of Wales at a ceremony held at the Queen's London Residence, Buckingham Palace. It makes Moffat an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Steven Moffat told the Scottish Daily Record he was delighted to recieve the award
It was very thrilling and formal and slightly, slightly, just very slightly, like being back at school. But nicer because everyone got a prize.

Talking to other people before I came in, I kind of feel everyone's here for a better reason than me. I've got not one, but two dream jobs so to get this lovely thing for already indulging myself in public, seems like an excess of good fortune.
He said it will be sad to leave Doctor Who, but exciting to do something new.
Ahead of me this year I have 14 Doctor Who and 3 Sherlock films, so the last thing I am doing is contemplating work beyond that.... The reason you end up leaving Doctor Who, much as we all love it, is because it's all year round. It's a really tough gig
The interview indicates Steven Moffat's last Doctor Who episode will be the 2017 Christmas special.

Full interview here.




FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Steven Moffat

Doctor Who Magazine - 496Bookmark and Share

Thursday, 4 February 2016 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine 496 (Credit: Panini)Issue 496 of Doctor Who Magazine exclusively interviews Sir John Hurt, who played the mysterious incarnation of the Doctor in 2013's 50th Anniversary Special The Day of the Doctor – and asks him about his return in his brand new Doctor Who audio series.

What was John’s first reaction when he was offered the part of the Doctor’s secret incarnation?
Well, I said, ‘Doctor Who? I don’t think that’s really my sort of stuff.’ But my wife was listening, and when she heard that it was the 50th anniversary, she said, ‘You’ve got to be f***ing joking! You’re doing it! So I’ve really for her to thank. I’m really pleased I did it, because it opened up a whole new era for me. A whole new era.
On returning to the role for Big Finish's audio adventures, Hurt explains:
I was often asked, ‘Are you going to do anymore? And I said, ‘Well, I don’t think so. I’m not ruling it out, but unless somebody comes up with a real stonker of an idea that would involve him again… But the thing is that you can’t plan careers. You think, ‘That’s the way to play it’, but it’s not necessarily the case at all. If you follow your nose, that’s often the way to play it. And that’s exactly how I feel about this. I mean, I really have enjoyed every second of it. I mean it.
ALSO INSIDE ISSUE 496...
  • ASK STEVEN MOFFAT Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers questions about some of the show's most recent episodes...
  • THE WAR DOCTOR ON AUDIO
  • The writers of the exciting new audio series chat about writing for the Doctor's most dangerous incarnation.
  • A TRIBUTE TO ANTHONY READ
  • Doctor Who Magazine pays tribute to the late Doctor Who writer and script editor, who died in 2015, with contributions from his colleagues and previously unpublished quotes from interviews conducted in 1990 and 2008.
  • PIXEL POWER
  • Following the recent success of Lego Dimensions and Doctor Who Legacy, we uncover three decades’ worth of Doctor Who videogame projects.
  • NEVER FORGET?
  • The Time Team continue their quest to watch every episode of Doctor Who in order with Matt Smith’s second story, The Beast Below.
  • WELCOME MY DEMONS
  • This issue’s Fact of Fiction delves into the world of King John and Magna Carta in the 1983 Fifth Doctor story The King’s Demons.
  • A TRIP TO THE THEATRE
  • The Doctor meets his old friend Harry Houdini and encounters some trouble at the theatre in a brand-new comic strip adventure, Theatre of Mind, written and illustrated by Roger Langridge.
  • STAR WARS vs DOCTOR WHO
  • Jacqueline Rayner wonders if it’s possible to enjoy Star Wars: The Force Awakens without feeling like you’re cheating on Doctor Who, in her regular column, Relative Dimensions.
  • COMING SOON
DWM previews all the latest Doctor Who CD and book releases.

PLUS! All the latest official news, reviews, competitions and The DWM Crossword.

Doctor Who Magazine 496 is on sale from Thursday 4 February 2016, price £4.99.




FILTER: - DWM

Lethbridge-Stewart arrives on audioBookmark and Share

Monday, 1 February 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Lethbridge-Stewart: The Forgotten Son (audiobook) (Credit: Fantom Films/Candy Jar Books)
Lethbridge-Stewart: The Schizoid Earth (audiobook) (Credit: Fantom Films/Candy Jar Books)
Lethbridge-Stewart: Beast of Fang Rock (audiobook) (Credit: Fantom Films/Candy Jar Books)
Lethbridge-Stewart: Mutually Assured Domination (audiobook) (Credit: Fantom Films/Candy Jar Books)
Candy Jar Books and Fantom Films have announced a partnership to release the first four adventures of Lethbridge-Stewart as audiobooks.

The unabridged stories are to be read by Terry Molloy, an actor/voice-artist well known to Doctor Who as the embodiment of Dalek creator Davros for some 32 years! Paul WT Ballard, director of the audio range at Fantom Films, said:
Terry has done a brilliant job in bringing these stories to life, adding a whole new dimension to them with his skilful renditions.

Shaun Russell, Head of Publishing at Candy Jar Books, said:
People have really been excited about the range, and have continually asked for audio versions of the titles. This was something we’ve always wanted to do, so when Fantom Films got in touch we jumped at the opportunity. It’s a great pleasure to finally be able to announce this new avenue for the series. I am thrilled that Terry Molloy’s narration/performance really reflects the vision the writers had for the characters. We couldn’t be happier with the result.

Andy Frankham-Allen, editor of the Lethbridge-Stewart range and author of the first book, The Forgotten Son, added:
The fans asked, and we listened! It’s a real delight to hear Terry Molloy bring the book, and indeed the characters, to life. Even though I wrote the first book, I found myself listening and wondering what was going to happen next. Such is the power of Terry’s rich performance.

The Forgotten Son is released in February; this will be followed by The Schizoid Earth by David A McIntee in March, with Beast of Fang Rock by Andy Frankham-Allen and Mutually Assured Domination by Nick Walters released in June and July respectively.

All audiobooks are now available for pre-order directly from Fantom Films, which can be purchased individually or as a bundle of all four titles. A sample of the first audiobook will shortly be made available from the Fantom Publishing Soundcloud page.

The original books are also still available to purchase via Candy Jar Books, with the fifth, Moon Blink by Sadie Miller, due to be published in April.





FILTER: - Audio - Books - Candy Jar Books - Fantom

BBC Books updateBookmark and Share

Monday, 1 February 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Books have announced its plans for Doctor Who publications over the coming months:

BBC Books (Credit: BBC/Random House)To celebrate the return of Alex Kingston’s popular character in the recent Christmas special, BBC Books will publish The Legends of Song: a collection of stories from River Song’s diary, and the first full-length book featuring River to be published by BBC Books. It will be released in e-format in February, followed by a hardback edition in June.

The Whoniverse: The Untold History of the Worlds of Doctor Who will be published in October. It is "a never-before-seen history of the Human Race", including "untold histories of other planets and lifeforms". The book will be packed with full-colour illustrations, maps, charts and photography.

The 10th doctor, David Tennant, reappears in Jenny Colgan’s latest novel In the Blood, due May. Tying in with audio innovations from Big Finish, BBC Books hopes the book will allow fans to "enjoy Tennant’s comeback" in as many formats as possible.

A host of Doctor Who figures, facts, dates and stats will meanwhile be uncovered in Doctor Who: 365 Days of Memorable Moments and Impossible Things, to be released in March. It is described as "a beautifully finished, day-by-day assortment of drama, humour, fright and fun from over 50 years of the shows history". Whographica, released in September, also features visualisations and infographics that explore the universe of the show "for new and long-term fans".

Lastly, BBC Books is publishing Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook in August. The "fun, family-oriented cookbook" is packed full of simple, achievable recipes that are both savoury and sweet - ranging from "Gingerbread Doctors" to a "Pandorica to a Dalek Cake".




FILTER: - BBC - Books