The first season of Big Finish's Fourth Doctor adventures, is coming to BBC Radio 4 extra later this month.

The season starts with Destination Nerva, first released in January 2012, which reunites Tom Baker with his former companion Louise Jameson, in a story written and directed by Nicholas Briggs, and which sees the Doctor return to the location first seen in the 1975 story The Ark in Space

The series continues with The Renaissance Man, The Wrath Of The Iceni, Energy Of The Daleks, Trail Of The White Worm and The Oseidon Adventure.

Tom Baker previously revived the character of the Fourth Doctor in a series of stories for BBC Audiobooks, which were broadcast on Radio 4 extra in 2011. Since 2012 he has started in four seasons of Fourth Doctor stories for Big Finish, with a fifth Season planned for release next year.

The series begins on Radio 4 extra on Saturday 16th May at 6pm. Radio 4 extra can be heard globally on the BBC iPlayer.

BBC Books are to publish "the first official guide to the science of Doctor Who" this coming June, written by novelist Simon Guerrier and the Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, Dr Marek Kukula.


The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who is published in hardback and as an e-book from 4th June, and is available to pre-order from our Amazon Shop.

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, a global event which celebrates the amazing world of comic books.

The event takes place annually on the first Saturday in May, when participating comic book speciality shops around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops.

This year Titan, publishers of the Doctor Who Comic Books, are offering a special edition of Doctor Who comic for Free.

This special edition includes three all-new short stories featuring the Tenth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor and the Twelfth Doctor, written and drawn by the ongoing Doctor Who comics creative teams. There is also a sneak peek of the Top Secret Summer 2015 event. Be the first to get a hint of the epic that will shake the Doctor to his very core.

Doctor Who fans can pick up this free Comic Book Day edition of Doctor Who Comic from your local comic book store. To find your local store visit the Comic Shop Locator.

In addition Titan are offering a chance to win the ultimate Doctor Who Goody Bag.

All you need to do to be in with the chance of winning a bag full of​ ​Doctor Who comics, including rare collectible covers, signed items and​ ​merchandise, including SDCC and NYCC items, is send a picture of​ ​yourself holding up a copy of the FCBD Doctor Who edition outside your​ ​local comic store.

Entries can be submitted via Twitter and must include​ ​the Titan Comics Twitter handle @ComicsTitan.

One winner and their local store will be picked after the submission​ ​deadline: Midnight EDT, Saturday May 2 and both will receive a bundle.

You will need to follow @Comicstitan on Twitter to enable Titan to contact you should you win..

The BBC has confirmed Jemma Redgrave will be back in Series Nine of Doctor Who, reprising the role of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.

A video released by the Corperation reveals that the Brigadier's daughter will return in Episodes 7 and 8 of the upcoming series, which will shortly begin filming in Cardiff.


The character was first seen in the 2012 story The Power Of Three, before appearing in The Day of The Doctor and Death in Heaven.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who returning to our screens, Doctor Who News commissioned artist Deborah Taylor to draw a celebratory image involving all the Doctors from 2005 onwards. They are joined by their companions, including one who simply left a message for her "sweetie"...

Competition

We have an 18" by 24" print of the art work available to give away. In order to be in with a chance of winning, answer the following question:
Please send your answer along with your name and address to comp-artwork@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Fantastic!". The competition is open world-wide, closing date: 14th May 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Former showrunner Russell T Davies talks Sex Drugs and Rock & Roll in the latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine.

The man who brought Doctor Who back to TV in 2005 returns with an audio adaptation of his very first Doctor Who adventure, the 1996 novel Damaged Good. Davies tells DWM how the story influenced his reinvention of the TV series Also inside this issue

• Damaged Goods – The Audio Version
DWM talks to the cast of the new audio of Damaged Goods, including Sylvester McCoy, Yasmin Bannerman, Michelle Collins, Denise Black, Peter Barrett, Daniel Brocklebank, Richard Hope and the script-writer of the adaptation, Jonathan Morris.
• Carole Ann Ford Is Taken Back In Time
Carole Ann Ford reminisces about being the Doctor's very first companion, as she looks through fascinating scrapbooks containing rare and unique clippings that were compiled by the original producer of the series, Verity Lambert.
• Video Tasty
DWM reveals the history of how Doctor Who was brought to home video, and talks to the people responsible for the early releases. Plus, never-before-printed information on what the censors thought of the episodes...
• Barry Newbery Remembered
A tribute to the late Barry Newbery, the man who designed many classic Doctor Who stories during the 1960s and 70s.
• The Highlanders
Discover fascinating new facts about the 1966-67 Second Doctor adventure The Highlanders in The Fact of Fiction.
• Doctor Who Adventures
Go behind the scenes of the children's magazine Doctor Who Adventures, as DWM chats to editor Jason Quinn about his plans for the relaunched title.
• Blood and Ice
Clara sees double while the Doctor makes a chilling discovery! Blood and Ice – the brand new comic strip written by Jacqueline Rayner and illustrated by Martin Geraghty – continues...
• Steven Moffat Answers Your Questions
Steven Moffat answers readers’ questions, and talks about the casting of Game of Thrones star Masie Williams in Doctor Who.

PLUS! Reviews and previews; Relative Dimensions; Wotcha!; The DWM Crossword, prize-winning competitions, official news and more.

Doctor Who Magazine 486 is on sale from Thursday 30 April 2015, price £4.99.

BBC Worldwide North America has announced the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular is coming to New York later this year.

The a live show, which sold out when it premiered in Australia, and is touring the UK this spring, will be staged for the first time in the U.S. at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday October 7, 2015. The event, produced and presented by Vision Nine, will be one of the headline events of New York Super Week, which takes over the city October 5-11 in the lead-up to the main event New York Comic Con, taking place October 8-11 at the Javits Center.

The show will be hosted by actor Michelle Gomez who portrays Missy, the latest incarnation of the Doctor’s arch-nemesis the Master. She first appeared on-screen in 2014 and returns to Doctor Who in the new season scheduled to air on worldwide this autumn.

Michelle Gomez comments The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, which celebrates the world’s longest running science fiction TV series, features the captivating and award-winning music of Murray Gold who has composed for the series since 2005. The show will feature over 100 musicians and singers under the conducting baton of Ben Foster (conductor, The Theory of Everything). Fans can expect to see some of the Doctor’s most fearsome adversaries live on stage including Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, Whispermen, and more. The live performance will be accompanied by a big screen presentation of key moments and specially edited sequences from the past decade of Doctor Who.

Tickets will go on general sale via the venue box office and website at 10am on Friday, May 8, 2015, with prices starting at $50.50 per ticket.

David Schofield has been signed up to appear in the next series of Doctor Who.

Schofield is best known for playing King Alined in the BBC fantasy drama series Merlin. Other TV appearances include roles in Footballers' Wives, Holby City, Jekyll & Hyde and, most recently, as Police Sergeant Foley in Hugo Blick's The Shadow Line for BBC Two. Big Screen appearances include roles in An American Werewolf In London, The Last of the Mohicans, Anna Karenina and Gladiator as well as playing as Mr. Mercer in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Doctor Who Magazine reveals that Schofield will appear in episodes five and six of the new series, currently being filmed in Cardiff.

As reported last month, the episodes also feature Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams as well as comic Rufus Hound. The BBC have released a video of Hound at the script read through.

Showrunner Steven Moffat hinted to DWM that the role played by Williams is particularly significant saying she would "challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways".

BBC Worldwide have signed a deal to bring Doctor Who to the Indian channel FX.

All eight post 2005 series of the show will be screened starting 15th May 2015. The deal marks largest volume sale of the BBC series in the country. FX is owned by Star India Private Limited and is available in a million homes in the country.

Myleeta Aga, SVP and GM of BBC Worldwide in India said A Star India spokesperson commented: Brian Minchin, Executive Producer, Doctor Who says:

Doctor Who News has conducted another interview with a writer for one of the Titan Comics series; this time meeting Cavan Scott - who is behind the brand new Ninth Doctor mini-series.

Scott first experienced Doctor Who during the Tom Baker era, but it was the early version of Doctor Who Magazine (when Davison's version was contemporary) that saw him become a real fan. The regular comic strip in  'Doctor Who Monthly' was pivotal in his career path of being a major contributor to the comic strip medium. He has always regarded the iconic Daleks as the best adversary to the Doctor but also rates the Zygons (who have appeared both in the classic series, as well as the anniversary special 'The Day Of The Doctor').

Scott was already producing Adventure Time strips for Titan, when the new Doctor Who licence was granted to the company. He then approached editor Andrew James, who had read the reference book 'Who-ology' (co-written by Mark Wright and Cavan). 

I asked what he regarded the Ninth Doctor's greatest strengths and weaknesses: Other discussion centred on just how pleasing the hit success of Doctor Who in 2005 was. We also talked about the Ninth Doctor/ Rose/ Captain Jack dynamic that is a major focus point in the mini series, and how plot and character motivations were connected with the Time War and the universe now bereft of any Time Lords (barring of course the Doctor and the 'hidden' Master).

Scott also stated how he sees both fiction and non-fiction as story-telling processes that should somehow 'hook' the reader or viewer, and how the diversity in his projects keeps his creative energies going.

When asked about other programs he rates highly, he mentioned 'Star Trek', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel'. Ultimately though Doctor Who was the standout for its  'infinitely flexible' premise and scope.

Cavan Scott's Ninth Doctor mini-series has already seen release with Issue 1 available online or at all good comic book stores and newsagents.

Full Interview