BAFTA Cymru showing for Series Nine opener

Thursday, 27 August 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have announced a special preview of the forthcoming series premiere will be taking place in Cardiff on the 10th September; the event will see both The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar presented by BAFTA Cymru:

The Magician's Apprentice (Credit: BBC / David Venni)

BAFTA Cymru presents an exclusive preview of the new series of Doctor Who.

The two-part story stars Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Michelle Gomez and was filmed in Cardiff earlier this year. Directed by Hettie McDonald, Produced by Peter Bennet and written by Steven Moffat, this is the only screening of both episodes ahead of their transmission on BBC One in September.

The double-bill screening will be followed by a panel Q&A session with Peter, Jenna and Steven, joined by Executive Producer Brian Minchin. Hosted by broadcaster Jason Mohammad.

Please note tickets are only available through this site and we request that you do not contact the BAFTA Cymru office when tickets have all been sold.

Tickets available from 5pm on Thursday 27 August.

Tickets can be booked via the event page.

FILTER: - Cinema - Premiere Events - Series 9/35 - Special Events - UK

Bernice Summerfield to feature in 12th Doctor novel

Wednesday, 26 August 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

The character of Bernice Summerfield will be appearing in Big Bang Generation, a new Twelfth Doctor novel written by Gary Russell. Paul Cornell, the creator of the character tweeted earlier today: "I might as well say it. [Gary Russell's] forthcoming 12th Doctor novel Big Bang Generation features Prof. Bernice Summerfield!". The voice of the Big Finish character, Lisa Bowerman tweeted: "Does this make me canon?". The character first appeared in Cornell's 1992 novel Love and War, which was turned into a Big Finish audio play in 2012 and featured the voice of Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield. The character has been a regular fixture in Big Finish's output since 1998's Oh No It Isn't!, the very first Bernice Summerfield audio story. Bowerman will lend her voice to the audiobook version of Big Bang Generation.

Doctor Who: Big Bang Generation
Written by Gary Russell
Read by Lisa Bowerman
Release date: 8 September 2015 (Paperback Book) (available for pre-order)
1 October 2015 (Audiobook) (available for pre-order)

“I'm an archaeologist, but probably not the one you were expecting.”

Christmas 2015, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Imagine everyone's surprise when a time portal opens up in Sydney Cove. Imagine their shock as a massive pyramid now sits beside the Harbour Bridge, inconveniently blocking Port Jackson and glowing with energy. Imagine their fear as Cyrrus 'the mobster' Globb, Professor Horace Jaanson and an alien assassin called Kik arrive to claim the glowing pyramid. Finally imagine everyone's dismay when they are followed by a bunch of con artists out to spring their greatest grift yet.

This gang consists of Legs (the sexy comedian), Dog Boy (providing protection and firepower), Shortie (handling logistics), Da Trowel (in charge of excavation and history) and their leader, Doc (busy making sure the universe isn't destroyed in an explosion that makes the Big Bang look like a damp squib).

And when someone accidentally reawakens The Ancients of the Universe - which, Doc reckons, wasn't the wisest or best-judged of actions – things get a whole lot more complicated…

FILTER: - Big Finish - Books - Merchandise - Twelfth Doctor

UK to get individual Series 1-4 Blu-ray sets

Wednesday, 26 August 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

BBC Worldwide are releasing individual Blu-ray sets for Series 1-4 of Doctor Who in the UK on 31 August 2015. The discs, upscaled to 1080i HD originally formed part of the Series 1-7 box set in 2013. Australia have had the individual Series 1-4 Region B sets since 2013.

Doctor Who News has been informed that the new 1-4 releases are identical in specifications as the 1-7 set. This means the discs will play at 24fps instead of the native 25fps.

Doctor Who - The Complete First Series (Credit: BBC Worldwide / 2entertain)

Doctor Who - The Complete First Series
Region B Blu-ray
Release date: 31 August 2015 (available for pre-order)

All 13 episodes from the first series of the relaunched sci-fi adventure drama, written by Russell T. Davies and starring Christopher Eccleston as the legendary Time Lord.

In this series, the Doctor meets new companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) while saving her from the living-plastic Nestene Consciousness, before taking her on adventures through time and space, where she meets Charles Dickens (Simon Callow), tries to save her father from dying when she was a child, and helps the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) battle the evil Daleks and save the world.

The episodes are: 'Rose', 'The End of the World', 'The Unquiet Dead', 'Aliens of London', 'World War Three', 'Dalek', 'The Long Game', 'Father's Day', 'The Empty Child', 'The Doctor Dances', 'Boom Town', 'Bad Wolf' and 'The Parting of the Ways'.

Doctor Who - The Complete Second Series (Credit: BBC Worldwide / 2entertain)

Doctor Who - The Complete Second Series
Region B Blu-ray
Release date: 31 August 2015 (available for pre-order)

All 14 episodes from the second series of the relaunched sci-fi adventure drama, starring David Tennant as the latest incarnation of the legendary Time Lord.

In this series, the tenth Doctor takes companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) to New Earth and struggles to overcome the effects of regeneration. In the opening Christmas episode London is deluged by Santa Claus impersonators and Christmas trees intent on malice. Mankind is threatened by a planetary invasion and there's only the Prime Minister to battle it out.

The episodes are: 'The Christmas Invasion', 'New Earth', 'Tooth and Claw', 'School Reunion', 'The Girl in the Fireplace', 'Rise of the Cybermen', 'The Age of Steel', 'The Idiot's Lantern', 'The Impossible Planet', 'The Satan Pit', 'Love and Monsters', 'Fear Her', 'Army of Ghosts' and 'Doomsday'.

Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series (Credit: BBC Worldwide / 2entertain)

Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series
Region B Blu-ray
Release date: 31 August 2015 (available for pre-order)

All 14 episodes from the third series of the relaunched sci-fi adventure drama, starring David Tennant as the latest incarnation of the legendary Time Lord.

In this series, the Doctor is joined by new companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) as he encounters old enemies including the Daleks and the Master (Derek Jacobi).

The episodes are: 'The Runaway Bride', 'Smith and Jones', 'The Shakespeare Code', 'Gridlock', 'Daleks in Manhattan', 'Evolution of the Daleks', 'The Lazarus Experiment', '42', 'Human Nature', 'The Family of Blood', 'Blink', 'Utopia', 'The Sound of Drums' and 'Last of the Timelords'.

Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth Series (Credit: BBC Worldwide / 2entertain)

Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth Series
Region B Blu-ray
Release date: 31 August 2015 (available for pre-order)

All 14 episodes from the fourth series of the relaunched sci-fi adventure drama, starring David Tennant as the latest incarnation of the legendary Time Lord.

In this series, the Doctor is joined by new companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) as the pair venture through time and space, visiting ancient Pompeii and the planet of the Ood while also meeting the mysterious River Song (Alex Kingston).

The episodes are: 'Voyage of the Damned', 'Partners in Crime', 'The Fires of Pompeii', 'Planet of the Ood', 'The Sontaran Stratagem', 'The Poison Sky', 'The Doctor's Daughter', 'The Unicorn and the Wasp', 'Silence in the Library', 'Forest of the Dead', 'Midnight', 'Turn Left', 'The Stolen Earth' and 'Journey's End'.

FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Doctor Who - Merchandise - Ninth Doctor - Series 1/27 - Series 2/28

Five Bafta Cymru Nominations

Wednesday, 26 August 2015 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who has been nominated in five categories in the 2015 BAFTA Cymru Awards, although missing out in the main Best Drama Category.

Peter Capaldi is nominated as Best Actor for his performance in Dark Water, while Jenna Coleman earns her nomination for Best Actress for her emotionally charged performance in Kill the Moon.

Nominated for Best Editing is Will Oswald, again for Dark Water. Oswald has been an editor on the series since 2007 and has won BAFTA Wales awards for editing in 2002 and 2009.

The production team have also been nominated for Best Special and Visual Effects for Last Christmas while the new title sequence earns a nomination for Best Titles and Graphic Identity.

The awards honour excellence in broadcasting and production within film and television in Wales. The winners will be announced on Sunday 27 September at the St David’s Hall, Cardiff.

ACTOR sponsored by Audi

RICHARD HARRINGTON as DCI Tom Mathias in Y Gwyll/Hinterland – Fiction Factory / S4C
PETER CAPALDI as the Doctor in Doctor Who: Dark Water – BBC Wales / BBC One
RHYS IFANS as Captain Cat in Dan y Wenallt – fFatti fFilms / S4C

ACTRESS

JENNA COLEMAN as Clara Oswald in Doctor Who: Kill the Moon – BBC Wales / BBC One
MALI HARRIES as DI Mared Rhys in Y Gwyll/Hinterland – Fiction Factory / S4C
RHIAN MORGAN as Gwen Lloyd in Gwaith/Cartref – Fiction Factory / S4C

EDITING sponsored by Gorilla

JOHN RICHARDS for Da Vinci’s Demons - Adjacent Productions/Phantom Four Films / FOX
WILL OSWALD for Doctor Who: Dark Water – BBC Wales / BBC One
JOHN RICHARDS for Jack to a King: The Swansea Story – YJB Films Ltd

SPECIAL AND VISUAL EFFECTS sponsored by University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Bait Studios for A Poet in New York - BBC Cymru Wales/Modern Television / BBC Two
PRODUCTION TEAM for Da Vinci’s Demons - Adjacent Productions, Phantom Four Films / FOX
PRODUCTION TEAM for Doctor Who: Last Christmas – BBC Wales / BBC One

TITLES AND GRAPHIC IDENTITY sponsored by AGFX

PRODUCTION TEAM for Doctor Who: Deep Breath – BBC Wales / BBC One
BAIT STUDIO for Jack to a King: The Swansea Story – YJB Films Ltd
SARAH BREESE for Y Gwyll/Hinterland – Fiction Factory / S4C

FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Jenna Coleman - Peter Capaldi

Lethbridge-Stewart: exclusive pre-order release

Wednesday, 26 August 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books have announced an exclusive release for those who pre-order the next book in their Lethbridge-Stewart series, The Schizoid Earth:

Lethbridge-Stewart: Legacies (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

Legacies
Written by Norma Ashley

Random chance. That’s all it takes to change everything. What would happen had Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart and the Doctor failed to stop the Great Intelligence?

A free 34-page story exclusive for those who pre-order The Schizoid Earth directly from Candy Jar Books. The offer ends September 24th 2015, and only applies to pre-orders for the paperback. The Schizoid Earth by David A McIntee is released on September 25th 2015.

FILTER: - Books - Candy Jar Books - Lethbridge-Stewart

Lost from the Archive - News

Tuesday, 25 August 2015 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann

Sue Malden interviewed on Amazing Luck Stories, 10 Feb 1999 (Credit: BBC)

The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Discussion Group on Facebook asked its members to post questions to Sue Malden, former and first ever Television Archive Selector at the BBC. Sue was responsible for saving a lot of early Doctor Who episodes from destruction. In the Q&A published yesterday, Sue gave a lot of previously unknown insight into the story of why and how the BBC destroyed the material and what it would have taken to rescue it.

There was a loan record set up for the Daleks Master Plan episode, it was sent to the Blue Peter film editor in October 1973 and it was logged that the print never came back to the Library. The Tenth Planet episode was not originally logged on Infax/FLOL which implies that it was accessed from Enterprises at Villiers House, as with certain other clips that survive from missing episodes of Dr Who.

Read the full Q&A here.

Another development on the topic of missing Doctor Who episodes is the announcement of Philip Morris attending the Pandorica Convention. Philip is the owner of Television International Enterprises Archives Ltd (TIEA) and is known for discovering nine Troughton episodes in 2013. This will be his first appearance on an unofficial convention. The Pandorica 2015 will be held in Bristol from 25th to 27th September 2015.

FILTER: -

Competition Roundup

Monday, 24 August 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Doctor Who News have a number of prizes courtesy of BBC Books and BBC Audio available to win in competitions, as detailed below! In order to enter, please send your answer along with your name, address and where you saw the competition to the respective email address - please note whether the competition is worldwide or UK only. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

The closing date for all competitions will be Sunday 6th September.

Doctor Who and The Ark in Space (BBC Audio)
The audiobook of the Target novelisation, originally written by Ian Marter and read by Jon Culshaw.

Name the insect-like race that have infested the Ark, as described by Ian Marter in the original Target novelisation.

Send your answer to comp-thearkincd@doctorwhonews.net with your details as mentioned at the top using the subject line "Noah's Ark". Open worldwide.

The Drosten's Curse (BBC Books)
An original fourth Doctor novel written by A.L. Kennedy

Name the original story by the author upon which The Drosten's Curse is based.

Send your answer to comp-drostenbook@doctorwhonews.net with your details as mentioned at the top using the subject line "Don't go into the bunker...". Open to UK readers only.

The Drosten's Curse (BBC Audio)
The audiobook of A.L. Kennedy's novel, read by Clare Corbett

Amongst the several Doctor Who books read by Clare Corbett, name a book which also featured on screen within an actual episode of the series.

Send your answer to comp-drostencd@doctorwhonews.net with your details as mentioned at the top using the subject line "Fetch!". Open worldwide.

Human Nature (BBC Audio)
The audiobook of the original Virgin New Adventures novel by Paul Cornell, read by Lisa Bowerman

Name the alien antagonists that are hunting for the Doctor in the novel.

Send your answer to comp-humannaturecd@doctorwhonews.net with your details as mentioned at the top using the subject line "Mr Smith, you're needed!". Open worldwide.

The Gods Of Winter (BBC Audio)
An original audio adventure by James Goss, read by Clare Higgins

What does the Doctor and Clara's initial mission for Diana Winter involve?

Send your answer to comp-godsofwintercd@doctorwhonews.net with your details as mentioned at the top using the subject line "When Winter calls". Open worldwide.

The Glamour Chronicles (Royal Blood, Deep T:me, Big Bang Generation) (BBC Books)
Three new novels featuring the twelfth Doctor and Clara (prize bundle)

Name another BBC Book to feature Glamour.

Send your answer to comp-glamourbooks@doctorwhonews.net with your details as mentioned at the top using the subject line "When Winter calls". Open to UK readers only.

Competition Prizes (Credit: BBC Books/BBC Audio)

FILTER: - BBC Audio - Books - Competitions

New York Symphonic Spectacular shows cancelled

Monday, 24 August 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

The two Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular shows set for New York have been cancelled. The shows were scheduled for 7 October 2015 at Barclays Center in New York and were to be hosted by Michelle Gomez.

An email was sent to ticket holders with the following message:

Vision Nine regrets to announce that the two Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular shows scheduled for October 7 at Barclays Center have been cancelled.

All Ticketmaster online and phone orders will automatically be refunded. Remaining refunds will be available at point of purchase.

We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to see you at a future event at Barclays Center.

A message on the Barclays Center website states: "there are no plans to reschedule them at this time."

(with thanks to Geekboypress)

FILTER: - Music - Special Events - USA

DWM and DWA drop in latest circulation figures

Monday, 24 August 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

The latest circulation figures for publications have been released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the January to June 2015 period, which indicates that Doctor Who Magazine has taken a significant knock on its circulation. The report revealed the magazine has dropped 23.2% of readers since the July to December 2014 period. Doctor Who Adventures changed publisher during the Jan-Jun 2015 period. The last issue under Immediate Media (#363, 25 March 2015) the total circulation was 24,441, while Issue 1 (23rd April 2015) under Panini was 19,873. Between July and December 2014 the magazine dropped 2.09% of its circulation.

The full breakdowns can be found by clicking on the relevant linked publication certificate below.

Jul-Dec 2009

Jan-Jun 2010

Jul-Dec 2010

Jan-Jun 2011

Jul-Dec 2011

Jan-Jun 2012

Jul-Dec 2012

Jan-Jun 2013

Jul-Dec 2013

Jan-Jun 2014

Jul-Dec 2014

Jan-Jun 2015

Doctor Who Magazine

29,000

35,374 (+22%)

33,554 (-5.1%)

30,682 (-8.6%)

30,614 (-0.2%)

27,089 (-11.5%)

28,743 (+6.1%)

31,692 (+10.3%)

36,151 (+14.1%)

33,538 (-7.2%)

33,419 (-0.4%)

25,663 (-23.2%)

Doctor Who Adventures

44,664

53,559 (+20%)

56,648 (+5.8%)

50,013 (-11.7%)

48,470 (-3.1%)

31,903 (-34.2%)

31,935 (+0.1%)

24,497 (-23.3%)

28,443 (+16.1%)

19,966 (-29.8%)

20,944 (+4.9%)

20,506 (-2.09%)

All figures are from the Audit Bureau of Circulations apart from the Jul-Dec 2009 figure for DWM, which is an estimate provided by DWM and included for comparison purposes.
ABC figures for DWM only started being calculated in 2010. Percentages shown are the change on the previous six months.

DWM's editor, Tom Spilsbury, told Doctor Who News:

Doctor Who Magazine has endured a bit of a decline since the last round of ABC figures, although we're not too disheartened. The first half of 2015 has been a relatively quiet time on the Doctor Who front, and so it's good to see that there are 25,000 loyal DWM readers who like to regularly pick up the magazine even when the show isn't on air, and we're looking backwards to older Doctors and earlier eras. After all, we're still the Number One best-selling sci-fi-themed magazine in the UK, which is a pretty incredible fact when you think about it!

FILTER: - Circulation - DWA - DWM - Magazines

Germany: Pandastorm Pictures changes DVD release schedule

Monday, 24 August 2015 - Reported by Pascal Salzmann

Pandastorm Pictures (Credit: Pandastorm Pictures)

German DVD distributor Pandastorm Pictures sent out a newsletter today announcing changes to the DVD format and to the release schedule.

Instead of the previously reported two volumes of Sixth Doctor adventures (containing Season 22 plus The Twin Dilemma and Season 23), Pandastorm is going to release three sets now, splitting Season 22 in two parts.

Here is the complete newsletter, translated from German:

Dear Doctor Who fans,
while many of you are still waiting in excitement for the release of The Five Doctors this week, we are currently working on the releases of the sixth Doctor. The first volume will be out on 27th November 2015.

We originally planned to release the dubbed episodes of the sixth Doctor in two volumes. At the time we didn't know that the included bonus features of Volume 1 would make it 10 DVD's instead of the planned 7 DVD's. Because of very expensive authoring, post-production and production of this set, we would have to increase the price - which would lead to lower sales in the retail stores.

That is why we decided to produce a 5-disc-set for Volume 1, making it three volumes instead of two. We hope you understand.

This is the new release schedule:

Release

Discs

Content

Release date

Sechster Doktor – Volume 1

5 DVD's

Zweimal Einstein (The Twin Dilemma)
Angriff der Kybermänner (Attack of the Cybermen)
Revolte auf Varos (Vengeance on Varos)
Die Rache des Meisters (The Mark of the Rani)

27th Nov 2015

Sechster Doktor – Volume 2

5 DVD's

Androiden in Sevilla (The Two Doctors)
Das Amulett (Timelash)
Planet der Toten (Revelation of the Daleks)

26th Feb 2016

Sechster Doktor – Volume 3

tba

Season 23

27th May 2016

Pandastorm's current release Fünf Doktoren (The Five Doctors) will be out this week on 28th August 2015 and can be pre-ordered via Amazon Germany.

FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Germany - Pandastorm - Sixth Doctor

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