Who Cares Auction

Sunday, 29 June 2014 - Reported by Marcus

Tenth Planet Events are holding a special event and auction to raise money for Denville Hall, a home for elderly members of the theatrical profession.

Items in the auction range from several signed Big Finish scripts and Doctor Who posters through to a a private dinner for ten with Lalla Ward and her husband Richard Dawkins, and the chance to spend a day with Big Finish.

The Auction is now available online until midnight (BST) on August 8th 2014.

FILTER: - Special Events - Charities - Big Finish

Tour update, USA/Australia transmissions confirmed for August

Wednesday, 11 June 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Following on from the World Tour announcement yesterday, both BBC America and ABC have reported via their press releases that Doctor Who will air in the United States and Australia respectively in August, with the former confirming that it will broadcast on the same air date (to be announced) as the United Kingdom.

Speaking of the tour, BBC America's SVP for Programming Richard De Croce said:

It’s a new beginning for one of the most popular series in the world and we couldn’t be more excited to have the Twelfth Doctor live in New York to promote the long awaited return of Doctor Who on BBC AMERICA. It’s going to be epic.

ABC's Head of Programming Brendan Dahill said:

ABC TV has always been the Australian home for The Doctor. Our audiences love him and embrace the series which was evident with the success of the recent 50th anniversary celebrations, which broadcast on ABC TV and iview. We look forward to welcoming Peter and Jenna down under.

Amanda Hill, Chief Brands Officer at BBC Worldwide said:

We were so bowled over by the global reaction to the 50th episode last year that we thought what better way to introduce the new Doctor than to take the team around the globe. Doctor Who encompasses British creativity at its best and we’re passionate about it being on the world stage. This tour is something normally reserved for Hollywood blockbusters but with Doctor Who it appears you can do anything you dream of and continue to challenge what’s perceived as the norm in TV.

FILTER: - Special Events - USA - Series 8/34 - Australia

Doctor Who - The World Tour

Tuesday, 10 June 2014 - Reported by Marcus

Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are to embark on a World Tour, promoting the upcoming series of Doctor Who, which hits screens this August.

Fans in the UK will have a chance to see the couple at exclusive events in Cardiff and London on 7 August before they jet off, alongside showrunner Steven Moffat, visiting seven cities across five continents in 12 days to take part in a series of media and fan engagements

Peter Capaldi, speaking ahead of the tour, said:

It’s fantastic that so many people across the world love Doctor Who. After eight months solid filming deep in the world of monsters, Jenna and I are thrilled to be heading for the Planet of Fans.

Executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat added:

I've always thought we'd all be a lot safer if the Doctor conquered the world, instead of the Daleks. Now with Jenna and Peter leading the charge, it looks like it's going to happen. I'll be bringing up the rear to handle the exposition scenes, and maybe carry some bags.

The tour marks the largest ever promotional undertaking in Doctor Who’s 50-year history and will take in Seoul (South Korea), Sydney (Australia) before hitting New York (US) on August 14. It continues to Mexico City (Mexico) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) where the tour ends on August 19th.

More details of the itinerary will be available soon at www.doctorwho.tv/worldtour as well as reports from the tour as it happens, which fans everywhere will be able to enjoy across social and digital platforms.

BBC Worldwide’s ambition for the brand has grown considerably since the global success of the 50th Anniversary which saw the special episode The Day Of The Doctor broadcast simultaneously in 98 countries and in over 1500 cinemas across the world, setting a new record for event cinema in its first three days on general release.

FILTER: - Special Events - USA - Australia - USA - UK - South Korea - Mexico - Brazil

Official Doctor Who Walking Tours return

Friday, 6 June 2014 - Reported by Marcus

The Doctor Who Walking Tours, run by the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff are back for the 2014 season.

The tours operate every Friday/Saturday/Sunday from Saturday 14th June until Sunday 20th July.

The tour was created by Doctor Who novelist Gary Russell. It lasts roughly an hour and visits over thirty-one locations featured in the filming of the show, including: the building where the Weeping Angels watched Sally Sparrow and the Police Station in the Blink episode; the American diner River Song, Amy and Rory met the Doctor inside within The Impossible Astronaut episode, and the Wales Millennium Centre, where episodes including: The Girl Who Waited, The Sound of Drums, and Vincent and the Doctor were all filmed.

Tickets for the official Doctor Who Walking Tours will be on sale from 12pm on Wednesday 11th June with further dates to be announced in the next couple of weeks.

FILTER: - Special Events

US Cinema outing for Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel

Thursday, 15 May 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC Worldwide and Fathom Events have announced a cinematic presentation of Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel as part of a two-evening celebration of David Tennant in the United States. The special, 'theatrical cut' of the story will be shown in some 620 cinema locations across the USA on Monday 16th June, with tickets also including the Tennant-narrated documentary Wings-3D the following evening.

Soumya Sriraman, EVP of Licensing and Home Entertainment for BBC Worldwide North America, said:

Once again we are bringing Doctor Who to theaters to give fans a new way to experience the Tenth Doctor - David Tennant, and we are making it extra special with a two-night theatrical event for Tennant fans across the country. From the finest in science fiction to the best of natural history, there will be something for everyone to enjoy- all on the same ticket.

Dan Diamond, senior vice president of Fathom Events, said:

Fans of all types come out in full force to experience the Infamous Doctor Who in our cinema events. We're sure that this special two-night event featuring the incomparable David Tennant will offer them a unique opportunity they won't want to miss.

Tickets go on sale this morning in the United States and are available from local cinemas and the Fathom Events website.

FILTER: - Special Events - USA - David Tennant

DWM remembers the Seventh Doctor's era

Wednesday, 30 April 2014 - Reported by John Bowman

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine harks back to the Seventh Doctor's era as former script editor Andrew Cartmel examines how the series was reinvented for a new generation.

In issue 473, published tomorrow, Cartmel catches up with the writers that he employed, with Stephen Wyatt, Malcolm Kohll and Ian Briggs revealing what it was like to write for the show and discussing how they feel their stories paved the way for the modern reinvention of the programme. Briggs says:

I think it's fantastic. Russell T Davies' approach was a vivid reimagining, taking the basic principles and doing them in a way TV is now made instead of just continuing from the 1980s... That's the great achievement of Russell T Davies – and Steven Moffat, since he took over. Stylistically in both senses, technical style and storytelling style, the show is bang up to date.

Also in the new edition:

Producer Marcus Wilson looks back at his work on Doctor Who, including The Time of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor
Showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers' questions
DWM pays tribute to the life and times of the late Christopher Barry, one of Doctor Who's most prolific directors
Clive Doig talks to Toby Hadoke about working on the earliest episodes of Doctor Who
The Fact of Fiction takes a detailed look at the 1969 Ice Warriors adventure The Seeds of Death
The Doctor and Clara's latest comic-strip adventure - The Blood of Azrael - continues
The Time Team watch the Tenth Doctor meet an old friend - and some even older enemies - in The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky
Jacqueline Rayner sees Doctor Who's special effects in a whole new light in Relative Dimensions
The Watcher exposes the remarkable relationship between Doctor Who and the Eurovision Song Contest in Wotcha!
Reviews of the latest DVDs, CDs and books
Competitions, puzzles and more

FILTER: - Seventh Doctor - Magazines - DWM

Fifty years of Doctor Who in comics to be celebrated

Saturday, 26 April 2014 - Reported by John Bowman

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is to mark 50 years of Doctor Who in comic-strip form this year as part of its line-up of events.

The festival is taking place at various venues in Kendal, Cumbria, from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th October, and with Doctor Who believed to be the longest-running licensed science fiction comic strip globally, it will be paying tribute to this format.

The first Doctor Who comic strip appeared in issue 674 of TV Comic, cover dated 14th November 1964, with the adventure The Klepton Parasites that unfolded over ten weeks (although a spoof, called Doctor What And His Time Clock and featuring a William Hartnell lookalike, appeared in Boys' World between 30th May and 3rd October 1964).

Doctor Who would go on to appear in - take a deep breath, folks! - Countdown, Countdown for TV Action!, TV Action in Countdown, TV Action + Countdown, TV Action, TV Comic Plus TV Action, TV Comic Plus Tom and Jerry Weekly, Mighty Midget Doctor Who Comic, Mighty TV Comic, and TV Comic With Target before its move to Doctor Who Weekly in 1979, with DWW eventually becoming Doctor Who Magazine. It is also in comic-strip form now in the UK in Doctor Who Adventures, which began in 2006, and has been published as a comic strip in the USA by IDW, with Titan recently picking up the licence.

Dez Skinn - the first editor of Doctor Who Weekly - will be giving an insight into the publication's evolution, including meeting with the BBC and touring the country with Tom Baker, in The First Doctor of Doctor Who at the town library on Friday 17th October at 7pm - the exact 35th anniversary of the cover date of the first edition of DWW.

Also on the festival programme is Doctor Who: 50 Years in 50 Minutes on Saturday 18th October, which is being held at the library as well. Starting at 5.30pm, this will have a panel, hosted by former DWM editor John Freeman, that will comprise artists Mike Collins and Martin Geraghty plus writers Scott Gray, Nick Abadzis and Robbie Morrison.

Others appearing at the festival who have a Doctor Who connection will be the artists Dave Gibbons, Mark Buckingham and Gary Erskine plus cartoonist Kev F Sutherland.

With Thanks To Tony Clark

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Special Events - Comics

Two tickets to the BAFTA TV Awards to be won

Tuesday, 22 April 2014 - Reported by John Bowman

BAFTA has launched a competition in which somebody can win two tickets to this year's TV Awards by submitting a caption for a photo that includes a Dalek.

As reported earlier this month, An Adventure In Space and Time - the BBC Two drama by Mark Gatiss centring on the genesis of Doctor Who - is in the running for the title of Best Single Drama at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, while the 50th-anniversary special The Day of the Doctor is up for the Radio Times Audience Award, with the winner of the latter to be decided by a public vote. The victors will be revealed on the BAFTA website, its Facebook page and Twitter feed as they are announced, while exclusive footage will be available on BAFTA's YouTube channel, with the ceremony also being shown on BBC One.

The awards are being held at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, on Sunday 18th May, and for your chance to win two tickets to the star-studded event, simply submit to BAFTA a witty and inventive caption for the picture below, which shows a Dalek behind food writer and broadcaster Mary Berry at last year's TV awards ceremony, held at the Royal Festival Hall.

Picture: BAFTA/Jonny Birch. Reproduced with the permission of BAFTA.

Entries can be tweeted to BAFTA using the hashtag #BAFTAComp or sent in via its Facebook page or via the comments section on the competition announcement page.

The deadline is midday BST on Tuesday 29th April, and all entrants must be aged 18 or above. The full terms and conditions are available here.

Meanwhile, votes for the Radio Times Audience Award can be cast via the voting page. The deadline is midday BST on Thursday 15th May. A valid e-mail address must be given for the vote to count, and only one vote per person is allowed. Duplicate votes from the same person will not be counted.

FILTER: - Special Events - WHO50 - Competitions - Awards/Nominations

2014 Hugo Nominations

Sunday, 20 April 2014 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who dominates the nominations for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Programme in the 2014 Hugo Awards.

Not only are the two episodes The Day of the Doctor and The Name of the Doctor nominated, but so is the docu-drama based on the origins of the show, An Adventure in Space and Time, and the spoof anniversary drama featuring Doctors 5, 6, 7 and 8, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

Doctor Who's head writer and executive producer, Steven Moffat, said:

For Doctor Who to receive three Hugo nominations in its anniversary year is completely thrilling. We are all over the moon. I'm particularly pleased about The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot as that was my acting debut. I remain available for any parts requiring a black jumper and slightly unrealistic hair.

Nominations Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

An Adventure in Space and Time, written by Mark Gatiss, directed by Terry McDonough (BBC Television)
Doctor Who: "The Day of the Doctor", written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Television)
Doctor Who: "The Name of the Doctor", written by Steven Moffat, directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Televison)
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, written & directed by Peter Davison (BBC Television)
Game of Thrones: "The Rains of Castamere", written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, directed by David Nutter (HBO Entertainment in association with Bighead, Littlehead; Television 360; Startling Television and Generator Productions)
Orphan Black: "Variations under Domestication" written by Will Pascoe, directed by John Fawcett (Temple Street Productions; Space/BBC America)

Doctor Who has been nominated for a Hugo most years since the series returned in 2005. Previous winners include Neil Gaiman for The Doctor's Wife, Steven Moffat for The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, and The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang and Russell T Davies and Phil Ford for The Waters of Mars. Last year, despite being nominated for three episodes, the show lost out to Game of Thrones when the awards were announced.

Also nominated this year is Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It, edited by Sigrid Ellis & Michael Damian Thomas and published by Mad Norwegian Press, in the Best Related Work category, while The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who, written by Paul Cornell and illustrated by Jimmy Broxton, has been nominated for Best Graphic Novel.

Also nominated, in the Best Fancast category, is the podcast Verity!, named after Doctor Who's first producer and billed as Six Smart Women Discussing Doctor Who. The podcast is the first Doctor Who podcast to be nominated for the award. The producers told Doctor Who News: "We are thrilled to be nominated for our work during the anniversary year."

The 2014 awards will be presented at Loncon 3 - the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention - to be held at ExCeL in London between Thursday 14th and Monday 18th August, with the awards themselves being presented on Sunday 17th August.

FILTER: - WHO50 - Eleventh Doctor - Awards/Nominations

Horror Channel 'Who on Horror' Full Spring Schedule

Tuesday, 15 April 2014 - Reported by Melad Moshiri

Horror Channel's Who on Horror schedule in the UK has been released with classic Doctor Who episodes airing from Good Friday. The run will commence with the very first episode of Who in its original four parts on the Friday at 7pm before the Who on Horror themed weekend featuring stories from each of the first seven Doctors begins.

11am - An Unearthly Child (Four Parts, Repeat)
From the misty November nights of London 1963 to the arid caves of Earth 100,000 BC, this is our very first encounter with the mysterious time traveller (William Hartnell), who kidnaps teachers Ian (William Russell) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), and, along with his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), travels back in the distant past to confront caveman as they discover the power of fire.

1:20pm - The Mind Robber (Four Parts)
Trapped in a world outside of space and time, the second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) along with his companions, Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury), find themselves facing a world of fiction inhabited by unicorns, Medusa, and Gulliver. They seem to be writing their own story but will the mysterious storytelling Master of the realm allow them a happy ending?

3:45pm - Terror of the Autons (Four Parts)
If the 70s was an age of plastic then what would happen if it turned against us? The Doctor (Jon Pertwee), now exiled to Earth in his third incarnation, confronts killer dolls, deadly daffodils, telephone cables that strangle and inflatable chairs that suffocate. A second appearance for the returning enemy the Autons, this also introduces new assistant Jo Grant (Katy Manning) and rogue Time Lord, The Master (Roger Delgado). It also finds a new nemesis in Mary Whitehouse.

6pm - The Brain of Morbius (Parts One and Two)
Our jellybaby-loving Time Lord ventures into Frankenstein territory as The fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) arrive on the stormy planet of Karn where they find themselves caught between the immortal Sisterhood, who are guardians of the precious elixir of life and the fanatical surgeon, Solon, who’s trying to create new life from dead aliens to house the brain of criminal Time Lord, Morbius.

11am - The Brain of Morbius (Parts Three and Four)
Continuation from Saturday night, the last two episodes of this ‘Frankenstein’ story as The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) find themselves caught between the immortal Sisterhood and the fanatical surgeon, Solon, who’s trying to create new life from dead aliens to house the brain of criminal Time Lord, Morbius.

12:10pm - The Caves of Androzani (Four Parts)
Frequently voted by fans as the best story of the whole classic series, this also marks the end of Peter Davison’s time as he regenerates into Colin Baker. A real actioner which finds the Fifth Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) caught up in a war between a corrupt corporation, smugglers and masked outlaw Sharaz Jek , all fighting for control of spectrox, an invaluable but toxic substance mined on Androzani Minor that when refined, can slow ageing.

2:30pm - Attack of the Cybermen (Four Parts)
Travelling from their own future, the Cybermen stalk London in 1985 to perfect a plan for Halley’s Comet to crash into the Earth, saving their own planet Mondas from destruction. The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri colourfully attempt to thwart their plans, save the cold-thriving Cryons, natives of Cyber-controlled Telos and maybe finally fix the TARDIS’s chameleon circuits.

4:50pm - Remembrance of the Daleks (Four Parts)
It’s back to November 1963 as the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) returns with Ace (Sophie Aldred) to Coal Hill School, He’s determined to complete unfinished business but if he hadn’t forgotten the Hand of Omega, then it’s inevitable the Daleks would remember too and they’re determined to outwit their greatest enemy and proved that they can climb stairs.

After the special weekend, episodes settle into a weekday showing from Monday after, with a story each from the First, Second and Third Doctor for the rest of April.

Monday 21st April

10am - The Daleks (Parts One and Two)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Having survived their first adventure together, the TARDIS team land on Skaro, a planet devastated by nuclear war. Is anyone left alive? Contaminated by radioactive poisoning, they encounter the pacifist race of Thals and a number of hidden perils, but the greatest threat waits in the impressive citadel. They’re set to come face to eye-stalk for the first time with those exterminating pepperpots, the Daleks. A legend is born and our Saturday nights will never be the same again.

Tuesday 22nd April

10am - The Daleks (Parts Three and Four)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure in which the TARDIS team come face-to-face with the Daleks for the first time.

Wednesday 23rd April

10am - The Daleks - (Parts Five and Six)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure in which the TARDIS team come face-to-face with the Daleks for the first time.

Thursday 24th April

10am - The Daleks (Part Seven)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Finale to adventure in which the TARDIS team come face-to-face with the Daleks for the first time.

10:35am - The Seeds of Death (Part One)
Repeated at 3:45pm and 7:50pm
Earth in the 21st Century and instantaneous travel is now possible thanks to the T-Mat based on the Moon. However, when the Doctor arrives with Jamie and Zoe, the machine has broken down and strange alien seeds have been discovered which explode with a lethal fungus threatening to wipe out life. It’s all part of the plan to take over the planet by the Martian reptilian race, the Ice Warriors.

Friday 25th April

10am - The Seeds of Death - (Parts Two and Three)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where the Ice Warriors are threatening to wipe out life with a lethal fungus.

Monday 28th April

10am - The Seeds of Death - (Parts Four and Five)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where the Ice Warriors are threatening to wipe out life with a lethal fungus.

Tuesday 29th April

10am - The Seeds of Death (Part Six)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Finale to adventure where the Ice Warriors are threatening to wipe out life with a lethal fungus.
10:35am - The Daemons (Part One)
Repeated at 3:45pm and 8:45pm
Excavations at an ancient burial mound unleash an ancient evil. There’s darker magic at work in the quiet village of Devil’s End, and the new vicar seems to have a Master plan under his cassock as rogue Time Lord joins forces with Azal, last of the star-spanning Daemons. With the help of UNIT and Jo Grant, The Doctor fights to stop May Day from becoming the last day for mankind.

Wednesday 30th April

10am - The Daemons - (Parts Two and Three)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) fights to stop May Day becoming the last day for mankind.

Thursday 1st May

10am - The Daemons - (Parts Four and Five)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) fights to stop May Day becoming the last day for mankind.

Friday 2nd May

10am - The Sea Devils - (Parts One and Two)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
The Doctor pays the Master a visit in an island prison around which a number of ships have mysteriously sunk. While the Doctor and Jo are trapped on the fort by a Sea Devil, the Master steals some electronic components.

Monday 5th May

10am - The Sea Devils - (Parts Three and Four)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Trenchard holds the Doctor captive while the Master attempts to make contact with the Sea Devils. After the Sea Devils attack the island prison and rescue the Master, the Doctor must venture underwater in pursuit.

Tuesday 6th May

10am - The Sea Devils - (Parts Five and Six)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
While the Doctor tries to make peace with the Sea Devils in the their underwater colony, the navy launch an attack on the base! When the Sea Devils take over the naval base, the Doctor is forced to work with the Master to revive the creatures' colony.

Wednesday 7th May

10am - The Three Doctors - (Parts One and Two)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Three incarnations of the Doctor join forces to face the evil Omega in a universe of antimatter. The Third Doctor and Jo find themselves on an artificial world inside a black hole.

Thursday 7th May

10am - The Three Doctors - (Parts Three and Four)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
The Time Lord Omega reveals himself to the third Doctor along with his plan for vengeance. The Doctors discover a secret about Omega that gives them an advantage in ending his deadly plot.

The full and future schedule can be found via This Week in Doctor Who.

Idents and commercials have been created depicting the cell animation advertised while billboards and posters promoting the campaign have been seen in London.

Long Trailer | Short Trailer | Dalek Blipvert | Cyberman Blipvert

The arrival of Doctor Who on the Horror Channel reflects the science-fiction, action and fantasy genres seen on the channel's available line-up, including Xena: Warrior Princess, Wonder Woman and The Twilight Zone.

Director of Programming Alina Florea commented on the latest signing in a press release:

Doctor Who is an iconic series and we are proud and excited to welcome this giant of British television to our channel. The line-up will include some of the most revered from seven classic Doctors – stories that terrified, thrilled and captured the imagination of children and adults through the decades. Doctor Who joins a long line of well-loved classic series we have endeavoured to showcase on Horror Channel over the last few years.

A special press launch took place yesterday at The Ivy in Leicester Square in the presence of the Fourth Doctor himself, Tom Baker. Doctor Who News was invited to the launch and a report of the day will be available soon.

UPDATE - 18th APRIL: Our report of the press launch, including pictures, can now be read here.

FILTER: - Sixth Doctor - UK - Third Doctor - Seventh Doctor - Second Doctor - First Doctor - Class

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