Children vote for the Doctor to appear on banknotes

Saturday, 20 December 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The Yorkshire Building Society undertook a survey in November to discover who children would like to see on new banknotes, with the favourite among the 2000 7-16 year olds wanting it to be the Doctor!

A quick trip in the TARDIS to the future would reveal that a new face has regenerated on to British banknotes, if the nation’s children had their way.

The Doctor has been chosen as the face of future currency in a survey of seven to 16-year-olds conducted by Yorkshire Building Society to mark its 150th anniversary.

The Time Lord from Gallifrey was the overwhelming favourite to be featured on the next banknote with one in six children (17%) selecting him. Mum and Dad were the next most popular choice with just over 10%, followed by Cheryl, One Direction and Wayne Rooney.

Other answers given for the survey of 2,000 children included Radio 1 breakfast DJ Nick Grimshaw, Winston Churchill, Stephen Hawking and Sherlock Holmes.

If the Doctor – who is currently played by Glasgow born actor Peter Capaldi - was to appear in his current incarnation on the note, he would be the third Scotsman to appear on a Bank of England note.

Eighteenth century economist Adam Smith became the first Scotsman to feature on an English banknote in March 2007 when he appeared on the new series of £20 notes issued by the Bank of England.

Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, James Watt, was the second to appear in 2011 on a new £50 note.

Tanya Jackson, Head of Corporate Affairs at Yorkshire Building Society, said:

The results from our survey show just how popular the iconic character of the Doctor is to children.

It is a happy coincidence that last year Doctor Who celebrated its own milestone anniversary with the programme reaching its 50th year and Yorkshire Building Society has also stood the test of time as we have been celebrating our 150th birthday this year.

In an alternative universe the Doctor has already had that privilege ... fake notes created for a scene in the 2006 Christmas Special The Runaway Bride where a cashpoint spewed out lots of money included the image of the tenth Doctor as played by David Tennant on the "£10" notes (with then-producer Phil Collinson adorning the "£20" notes).

Bank note featuring the 10th Doctor (Credit: BBC)

(with thanks to Yorkshire Building Society)

FILTER: - Miscellaneous

Predict the Ratings for Last Christmas

Friday, 19 December 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

As we enter the last few days before Christmas Day, the battle over which show will top the overnight ratings continue apace. Out of ten bookmakers currently offering odds on the winning programme, Doctor Who is currently fifth-placed at 11/1; Mrs Browns Boys is the favourite at the time of writing at 6/5, followed by Eastenders at 5/2, Miranda at 4/1 and The Queen's Speech at 6/1.

The full evening line-up for BBC1 and ITV show the following odds:

BBC1  5:00pm Strictly Come Dancing   35/1    ITV  5:20pm You've Been Framed                 100/1
BBC1  6:15pm Doctor Who              11/1    ITV  5:50pm Paul O'Grady For The Love Of Dogs  100/1
BBC1  7:15pm Miranda                  4/1    ITV  7:00pm Emmerdale                           96/1
BBC1  7:50pm Call The Midwife        19/1    ITV  8:00pm Coronation Street                   26/1
BBC1  9:00pm Eastenders               5/2    ITV  9:00pm Downton Abbey                       47/1
BBC1 10:05pm Mrs Browns Boys          6/5

The winning programme will be the one that achieves the highest BARB overnight rating.

The prizes for this competition have been updated.

Peter Capaldi as the Doctor (Credit: BBC/David Venni)

Another tradition at Christmas is our "Predict the Ratings" competition, and we are once again proud to be running the competition in association with Big Finish Productions, who this year offer a year's free subscription to their main range of Doctor Who audio adventures, now approaching its 200th story! Also this year we have a prize for the runner up of a copy of Jago and Litefoot 5 signed by its stars, Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter, plus three additional signed scripts from recent productions. In addition we will also include a copy of Last Christmas when released on DVD or Blu-ray for the winners.

The aim is to guess the final consolidated viewing figure, 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, but does not include those watching on iPlayer.

For comparison with previous years, you can view the final ratings for The Christmas Invasion, The Runaway Bride, Voyage of the Damned, The Next Doctor, The End of Time part one, A Christmas Carol, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, The Snowmen and The Time of the Doctor via This Week in Doctor Who.

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

Your name and preferred email address
Your country of entry (full details will be requested only if you are the winner)
Your guess at the final rating to the nearest 10,000 (eg. 15.31m)

Terms and Conditions:

The competition closes at 6:15pm GMT, 25th December 2014.
Only one entry will be accepted per person.
The competition is open worldwide.
BARB figures are expected around 10 days after transmission; we will contact the winner once they have been published.

FILTER: - Betting/Odds - Series Specials - UK

Doctor Who Extra: Last Christmas on the Red Button

Friday, 19 December 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

This year's Christmas Special, Last Christmas will be accompanied by a fourteen minute edition of Doctor Who Extra, available online after the story has broadcast like with Series Eight earlier this year. The behind-the-scenes documentary will also be made available on the BBC Red Button service, with the dates to the end of next week currently known:

Join Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Nick Frost as the cast and crew of Last Christmas reveal the inside story of the Twelfth Doctor's first seasonal special!

Christmas Day	7:10pm-10:25pm
Boxing Day	8:55pm-10:00pm
Saturday	Midnight-6:00am

More broadcasts are expected over the course of the weekend and following week.

FILTER: - Doctor Who Extra - Online - Series Specials

Advent Calendar - Day Nineteen

Friday, 19 December 2014 - Reported by Willy Phantom

Spotting the Boneless can be extremely hard,
They can hide anywhere - including a Christmas card!

FILTER: - Advent

Big Finish Character Joins Doctor Who - Legacy

Thursday, 18 December 2014 - Reported by Marcus

Tiny Rebel Games have announced that the Big Finish character Charley Pollard is today joining the online game Doctor Who Legacy.

Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, played by India Fisher, was a companion of the Eighth Doctor in the award winning audio series.

A new level featuring Charlotte Pollard as the Eighth Doctor’s ally in a new battle with a Sontaran spaceship, is released today.

To celebrate the arrival a livestream chat with Big Finish's Nicholas Briggs took place on Wednesday, and is available to watch here. Livestream players can use a special code, 9374-6962-9398-2687, to unlock coloured time fragments to help with leveling up Charley. The promo code can be redeemed by going in-game and selecting the options menu, then choosing the promo code tab and entering the key into the field.

Doctor Who: Legacy is currently available on Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Appstore and on Facebook.

FILTER: - Games - Legacy

Advent Calendar - Day Eighteen

Thursday, 18 December 2014 - Reported by Willy Phantom

It's Christmas morning and Perkins's face is full of glee,
He's found just what he wanted underneath his Christmas tree.

FILTER: - Advent

The Magician’s Apprentice

Thursday, 18 December 2014 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has revealed the title of the first episode of the next series of Doctor Who will be The Magician’s Apprentice.

The name was revealed by showrunner Steven Moffat at the press screening of Last Christmas held at the BFI in London last night.

The series, the thirty-fifth in the show's history, and the ninth since the series returned in 2005, begins filming in early January.

FILTER: - Filming Reports - Series 9/35

Minecraft: Doctor Who Wave 2

Wednesday, 17 December 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

A new set of Doctor Who-inspired skins will be available to purchase for the game Minecraft from tomorrow, featuring a range of characters from both the classic and modern series. As reported on the XBox website:

Doctor Who fans can add a new collection of Time Lords, companions and foes to their Doctor Who-inspired Minecraft universes with the Dec. 18 release of “Doctor Who Skins Volume II” for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and Minecraft: Xbox One Edition. “Doctor Who Skins Volume II” provides more than 50 new character skins, including the classic Seventh Doctor, Donna Noble, Captain Jack Harkness, monsters and Cybermen. With this skin pack, you can now finally pair K9 with The Tenth Doctor while building a home that is bigger on the inside.

The full set contains the following: the tenth Doctor; the tenth Doctor (Suit); the eighth Doctor; the seventh Doctor; the fifth Doctor; the third Doctor; the second Doctor; Donna Noble; Martha Jones; Captain Jack Harkness; Liz Shaw; Jamie McCrimmon; Ace; Jo Grant; Tegan Jovanka; Wilfred Mott; Mickey Smith; the Master (2007); Sontaran (2010); K9; Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart; Bannakaffalatta; Judoon; Sycorax; Cyberking/Miss Hartigan; Racnoss; Slitheen; The Beast; Rassilon; Heavenly Host; Scarecrow; Cybershade; Azal; Axon Monster; Omega; Alpha Centauri; Gell Guards; the Nimon; Sutekh; Sea Devil; Ood; Saturnynian (fish form); Cyberman (2012, non-Cybus); Cyberman (2013); Cyber-Lord; Cyberman (2006, Cybus); Black Cyberman (1980s); Cyberman (1980s); Cyberman (1970s); Cyberman (1960s v1); Cyberman (1960s v2)

The Skin Pack will be available to purchase worldwide by Minecraft players on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 via the XBox Store.

FILTER: - Games

Doctor Who Magazine - The 2015 Yearbook

Wednesday, 17 December 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The 2015 Yearbook (Credit: Doctor Who Magazine)

The latest Special Edition of Doctor Who Magazine reviews an incredible year for the programme, its spin-offs and licensed merchandise. Highlights include the magazine's first major interview with the show’s executive producer, Brian Minchin, in which he reflects on Peter Capaldi’s first year as the Doctor and looks forward to further adventures with the twelfth Doctor.

Editor Marcus Hearn said:

This is the Doctor Who Magazine almanac. We’ve taken a fresh look at every episode from Peter Capaldi’s first series, but we’ve also explored many other corners of the Doctor Who universe. For many fans, the television series is just part of a world that includes DVDs, Blu-rays, books, soundtrack albums, audio dramas and action figures. We’ve tried to reflect the last 12 months in all those different areas.

Also inside the 100 page issue:

Features on every episode in Peter Capaldi’s first series.
We speak to the team that accompanied Capaldi and Jenna Coleman on the Doctor Who World Tour.
Fourth Doctor Tom Baker discusses his return to television and audio Doctor Who.
Eighth Doctor Paul McGann reveals what he thinks about Capaldi’s Doctor.
Orchestrator and conductor Ben Foster previews the 2015 Symphonic Spectacular.
Inside the new ‘making of’ show, Doctor Who Extra.
Behind the scenes at the new Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff.
Interviews with some of the key players behind recent books, soundtracks, audio dramas, DVDs, Blu-rays and action figures.
Highlights from the year’s newspaper and magazine reviews of Doctor Who.
A round up of Doctor Who’s awards and honours from the last 12 months.
Detailed tributes to the Doctor Who luminaries who passed away in 2014.
...and much more!