Moffat discusses Movie developments

Thursday, 15 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Steven Moffat was a guest (alongside Matt Smith!) this afternoon on BBC Radio 5 Live's Richard Bacon Show, during which the question of the potential "reboot" film being made came up; he responded:

David (Yates) was talking a little out of turn, there; a very, very brilliant director but no the film as described by him, of course we're not going to do that - a film that contradicts the television series, it would be a heathen thing to do ... I would be 'beheaded' to do such a thing!

It would be wonderful to do a Doctor Who film, but when and if we did - and hopefully we will be doing it - it will be very much an offshoot of the television series and we'll be part of it, and it will star the television Doctor, of course - anything else would be heresy!

The complete interview with Matt and Steven - which covers the first hour of the programme - can be heard on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.

You can also watch a video of the interview in which Matt discusses how Doctor Who got him into science.

Matt Smith discusses science, Richard Bacon show, via the BBC Radio 5 Live site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

Meanwhile, the Express suggests that David Tennant is set to return to the role of the Doctor for the movie:

Tennant, who has proved fans' most popular Doctor during the programme’s modern era, is set to make a "cameo appearance" in the new movie with recent Harry Potter director David Yates at the helm.

"It's felt it would be very fitting to have David involved after everything he’s done for the show," said an insider.

FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Matt Smith - Movies - David Tennant

Series Seven developments

Thursday, 15 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have reported some news about developments in the next series of Doctor Who, as revealed at tonight's press screening of The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe.

The following may be considered a spoiler for the next series, and appeared on the official BBC Doctor Who Twitter feed:

Steven Moffat has announced that next series will see the "final days" of the Doctor's current TARDIS co-travellers Amy and Rory, teasing that he will have a new friend soon ...

More details are expected to be announced tomorrow (Friday).

FILTER: - Production - Series 7/33

People Roundup

Thursday, 15 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Karen Gillan considers what she'd like to do in the future: "I want to do more theatre. I want to do more stage. I have a real passion for it. I want to do it as much as screen stuff, in all honesty, so that would be really amazing. Maybe something on Broadway. I'd love to do that. Not a musical, maybe like a play on Broadway. I genuinely just want to do good work. I'm interested in character, whether that’s in a play or a film or an indie film." [Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec 2011]

In the immediate future, however, the actress can be heard early next year narrating Scottish Passport 2012, a new STV series which will see a host of celebrities travel to a range of holiday locations across the world, including South Africa, Taiwan, Morocco and Ibiza. [4 Traders, 15 Dec 2011]

Meanwhile, the BBC have released a publicity photo for We'll Take Manhattan, the drama starring Karen Gillan as Jean Shrimpton and Aneurin Barnard as photographer David Bailey.

Matt Smith was a guest at 11 Downing Street for a special Christmas party arranged by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne for forty terminally ill children, which included face-painting, balloon animals and games. [Daily Mail, 15 Dec 2011]

Holly Earl (Lily, The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe) talks about working with her co-stars: "How lucky am I getting to work with Claire Skinner? She is just so lovely. She's so funny as well; we had a good laugh on set. I’d seen a few episodes of Outnumbered, I think it's hilarious, luckily I wasn’t too star struck when I first met her. Oh, Matt Smith is so much fun, I'm so lucky! He's just got so much energy; he always brings out the best in you every take. His energy makes him such a good Doctor. Even in between takes he was so much fun, he was a dream to work with. He was really welcoming. Little Maurice (Cole) is like my brother now, he’s such a character. He's so talented and so mature for his age. He's got wisdom far beyond his years! Even when we first met we felt like a family and all had a connection." [Cultbox, 15 Dec 2011]

Alexander Armstrong has launched a £1m appeal to safeguard the future of the Lit & Phil in Newcastle, the largest independent library outside of London of which he is president. "I'm quite fanatical about this place because this is one of the reasons why the North East has taken off as a huge centre, philosophically and scientifically. There are so many fabulous things about this place, it was a very important centre for scientific research. That's the philosophical side of it because they didn't really call it science in those days, it was natural philosophy." [Journal Live, 15 Dec 2011]

FILTER: - People - Karen Gillan - Matt Smith

The Dæmons DVD Release

Thursday, 15 December 2011 - Reported by Marcus

The 1971 story The Dæmons has been confirmed for DVD release at the end of March.

The five part story stars the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee in one of the stories most loved by fans and production staff alike, with Jon Pertwee often naming it as his favorite Doctor Who story.

The Doctor is joined by Katy Manning playing Jo Grant as well as UNIT regulars Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin and John Levene with Roger Delgado appearing as the main villan of the piece.

Christopher Barry directed the story which was written by Barry Letts and Robert Sloman

The story was originally screened between 22nd May and 19th June in 1971, where it brought to an end the eighth season of the show. Its popularity saw it repeated the following Christmas in an omnibus form. It received a further repeat in 1992 when restored versions of each episode were repeated on BBC2 on consecutive Fridays.

Extras on the disc include:

The Devil Rides Out - A documentary on the making of the story. (29 mins)
Episode One Colourisation Test. (25 mins)
Tomorrow's World Extract (5 mins)
The BBC's Dr Who - On Location - At Aldbourne (7 Min)
Photo Gallery (6 Min)
Remembering Barry Letts. Feature on the much loved Doctor Who Producer. (33 mins)

The DVD is released in the UK on 26th March and around the world shortly afterwards.

Full Release Guide

FILTER: - Jon Pertwee - Blu-ray/DVD

Merchandise roundup

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward

This merchandise roundup includes character sets from The Caves Of Androzani, The Keeper Of Traken and Image Of The Fendahl. There are also some more costume t-shirts. The First, Second, Third, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors get t-shirts while the Ninth Doctor waits for his to complete the set.

The Caves Of Androzani
Released: 23rd December 2011
Pre-order from Forbidden Planet

Contents:
1 x Peri in Blouse
1 x Sharaz Jek with Alternate head (not shown)
1 x Android Head Accessory.

The Keeper Of Traken
Released: 23rd December 2011
Pre-order from Forbidden Planet

Contents:
1 x The Fourth Doctor in Waistcoat action figure.
1 x The Master Decayed action figure.
1 x The Melkur Statue action figure.
1 x Master’s TARDIS as a Grandfather Clock
1 x Source Manipulator Sphere accessory.

Image Of The Fendahl
Released: 23rd December 2011
Pre-order from Forbidden Planet

Contents:
1x Leela figure
1 x Fendhaleen adult
1 x Fendhaleen infant
1 x Skull
1 x Stand

Costume T-shirts (Forbidden Planet Exclusives)
Get started in the fashion stakes with this fantastic Forbidden Planet Exclusive T-Shirt designed to commemorate the Timelord's iconic outfit!

The First Doctor: Now you can share the First Doctor's unique style from a time long before big scarves, cat badges and question mark lapels with this great printed tee!
The Second Doctor: Long before his 11th incarnation announced they were cool, the Second Doctor was already rocking a bowtie! (Release date: 20 December 2011)
The Third Doctor: Step out in style, just like the suave and dapper Third Doctor, with this great tee featuring his much loved bow tie, frilled shirt and smoking jacket!
The Eighth Doctor: His look was certainly unique, unlike his predecessors slightly 'wacky' style, the Eighth Doctor chose to wear a stolen Wild Bill Hickok costume which made him look like a Victorian gentleman. (Release date: 20 December 2011)
The tenth Doctor: Step out in style, just like the extrovert and cheeky 10th Doctor, with this great tee featuring his very stylish overcoat, suit, shirt 'n tie! (Release date: 20 December 2011)
The Eleventh Doctor: After stealing clothes from the Royal Leadworth Hospital lockers, the newly regenerated Eleventh Doctor faced down the Atraxi in his new outfit featuring his now iconic bow-tie and tweed jacket.

Masterpiece Collection Maxi Busts
8" Polystone maxi-busts

These beautifully-sculpted 8" maxi-busts capture Peter Davisons's fifth Doctor in his edwardian cricketeer's outfit (Release date: 25 April 2012) and Louise Jameson's barbarian companion Leela. (Release date: 01 March 2012).

Retro Action Figures
Reminiscent of the best-selling action figures of the 1970s and 1980s, Bif Bang Pow!'s amazing Doctor Who figures stand 8" tall and feature episode-specific fabric clothing, in addition to multiple points of articulation.

The Fourth Doctor: Released: 20th December 2011 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]
The Master: [Released: 20th December 2011 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]
Leela: [Released: 1st March 2012 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]
Styre: [Released: 20th December 2011 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]
Scaroth: [Released: 25th March 2012 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]
Sutekh: [Released: 1st March 2012 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]
Morbius: [Released: 25th March 2012 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]
Cyber Leader: [Released: 20th December 2011 | Pre-order from Forbidden Planet]

FILTER: - Merchandise

The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe: three preview clips

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have released three preview clips for the Christmas Special, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, which will no doubt be seen several times throughout the lead-up to Christmas Day on various television promotions!

Preview One, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

Preview Two, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

Preview Three, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

In addition, as well as an earlier video of Matt Smith discussing the Christmas Special, the BBC's Doctor Who Adventure Calendar has also included one of producer Marcus Wilson discussing the Special, and a special Merry Christmas message from the cast and crew.

Matt Smith, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

Marcus Wilson, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

Merry Christmas from the Cast and Crew, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

FILTER: - Specials - Online

Big Finish: Jago and Litefoot reunited with the Doctor!

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have announced that the Doctor is to meet up with his old acquaintances Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot!

The company has confirmed that Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter will once again reprise the Victorian investigative duo alongside Tom Baker as The Doctor and Mary Tamm as Romana in The Justice of Jalxar.

The adventure is written by John Dorney and will form part of the second season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, to be released in 2013.

Meanwhile, Season One of The Fourth Doctor Adventures begins next month with Destination: Nerva, featuring Louise Jameson as Leela - it is available for pre-order from Big Finish.

(with thanks to David Richardson/Big Finish)

FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker - Big Finish

DWM Companion: The Eleventh Doctor (Vol 4)

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Details for the fourth Doctor Who Companion volume covering the adventures of the Eleventh Doctor have been released by Doctor Who Magazine. This edition picks up from the last volume, covering the episodes from The Rebel Flesh through to The Girl Who Waited, plus the special introduction to the National Television Awards.

The magazine will be published on 15th December 2011.

The Doctor Who Companion
The Eleventh Doctor
Volume Four

Your complete guide to the award-winning BBC One series!
Written and researched by Andrew Pixley.

The 2011 season of Doctor Who began in the most dramatic way possible – by killing off the Doctor in the first episode! Unaware of his ultimate fate, the Doctor (Matt Smith) was reunited with his friends, newlyweds Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory Pond (Arthur Darvill) and together they embarked on an incredible series of adventures in time and space. Their journey took them from the acid mines in the future to the empty world of Apalapucia, and saw encounters with Headless Monks, Handbots, living dolls... and even Adolf Hitler!

Now, Doctor Who Magazine takes you behind the scenes of these astonishing episodes with an in-depth episode guide – including original storylines, deleted scenes, media appearances, ratings information and hundreds of facts about the day-to-day life of the making of Doctor Who – all illustrated with gorgeous, never-before-seen photographs. This collectors’ edition examines The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People, A Good Man Goes to War, Let’s Kill Hitler, Night Terrors and The Girl Who Waited, as well as the specially-made Doctor Who sequence that introduced the National Television Awards.

This is your essential guide to the worlds of Doctor Who.
Get ready to discover a wealth of information – and remember, silence will fall..

FILTER: - DWM

Doctor Who Magazine 442

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The new Doctor Who Magazine (out 15th December) previews The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, and goes behind-the-scenes to see the episode brought to life by the cast and crew, including Matt Smith who said:

This is one of my favourite Doctor Who episodes ever, for a number of reasons: the scale of it, the tone of it, the Doctor at Christmas… It’s him at his best. He’s on his finest form.

Also this issue:

Docteur Qui - He was scared of the Sea Devils and performs a Belgian jazz version of the Doctor Who theme tune as part of his act. Life-long fan Bill Bailey tells DWM that it’s a dream come true to be playing Commander Droxil in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.
Time Lord Land Lord - Tenth Doctor, David Tennant was once her lodger, now she’s an armour-clad soldier in the Christmas Special. DWM talks to Arabella Weir about playing Billis.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - Nine-year-old Maurice Cole, who plays young Cyril Arwell in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, tells DWM all about living out a Christmas fantasy with the Doctor – but he still has to find time to do his homework.
Christmas Holly - Teenage Lily Arwell gets a Christmas that she will never forget when she meets the Doctor in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. Actress Holly Earl talks to DWM about confronting monsters and keeping secrets.
Chocks Away! He was the voice of Mr Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures but now he’s in front of the cameras as RAF pilot Reg Arwell in the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Alexander Armstrong takes flight with DWM.
You're asking the Questions ... Doctor Who showrunner, Steven Moffat turns over his regular Production Notes this issue to answer some of the burning questions put to him – via Twitter – by you, the readers!
Yuletide Who - How many Doctor Who Christmas Specials have there been? More than you might think, as the Watcher points out in his festive Watcher's Guide to Christmas!
Looking Back - It’s the final issue of 2011 and DWM takes a moment to look back at the events – both happy and sad – that have come our way in The DWM Review Of 2011.
Yonder the Yeti... Alan Barnes wraps up warm for a Tibetan escapade as he scrutinises the 1967 story, The Abominable Snowmen in Fact of Fiction.
I'm Asking the Questions... The Watcher is back to tax your brains once more with his annual, fiendishly festive Christmas Quiz!
13 – Lucky For Some! DWM’s COUNTDOWN TO 50 reaches Series Thirteen and sees the last remnants of the past being cast off to make way for a new, darker and more frightening version of Doctor Who.
In With The New! The Time Team relive Christmas past! Emma, Michael, Chris and Will say ‘Hello’ to the Tenth Doctor as he makes his début in The Christmas Invasion and defends the world against the alien Sycorax.
New For Old? Is it right to recast old Doctors with new actors? Or can no-one ever replace the originals? Toby Hadoke and Johnny Candon once again find themselves at loggerheads as they each fight their corner in A Battle of Wits.
Beware of Greeks... The Doctor, Amy and Rory come over all classical when they take a trip ancient Greece. But it’s not long before they feel the wrath of the gods, in the first part of a brand new comic-strip adventure, The Chains of Olympus by Scott Gray, with art by Mike Collins.
Top Of The Pops! It's that time again! DWM invites you to cast your vote for your favourite episodes, CDs, books, DVDs and DWM features in the annual DWM Season Survey.

PLUS! Three free collectable art cards, all the latest official news, TV and merchandise reviews, previews, competitions, a prize-winning crossword and much, much more!

The magazine's cover reflects one of the earliest covers to feature on the television listings magazine The Radio Times. DWM's editor Tom Spilsbury said:

We felt that such a pastiche suited the retro setting of this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special – particularly as we were able to recast the mother and her two children with the characters in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. It’s our tribute to the Radio Times Christmas covers of old!"

The two covers can be seen side-by-side on the Radio Times website.

FILTER: - DWM

People Roundup

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

David Tennant is to narrate an hour long show dedicated to everybody's favourite ogre; Shrek: Once Upon A Time will see the actor reveal how "an ogre with a Scottish accent single-handedly changed the face of animation". The show will be broadcast on BBC3 on 23rd December and repeated on the 29th. [Teen Now, 13 Dec 2011]

John Barrowman is urging people to carry a donor card - the actor is one of a number of celebrities backing the For Cole campaign: "Get signed up and save a life. Everyone should be on it. I've carried a donor card for years. It's so easy to do now online or even by text." [Scottish Sun, 14 Dec 2011]

The actor also revealed that his favourite Christmas movie is 2003's Elf. [Digital Spy via YouTube, 13 Dec 2011]

Simon Callow (Charles Dickens, The Unquiet Dead/The Wedding of River Song) will be performing excerpts from his new book Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World in Portsmouth on Tuesday 7th February 2012 - exactly 200 years after the birth of the author in the self-same city. The performance takes place at the New Theatre Royal, which has previously staged semi-professional productions of Fury From The Deep, The Evil of the Daleks, and The Dalek Masterplan (based on The Daleks' Master Plan). [reported by John Bowman, 12 Dec 2011]

Neil Gaiman (writer, The Doctor's Wife is to appear on BBC America's Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!: Royal Pain in the News, which will be broadcast on 23rd December. The writer also reveals his favourite moments from the last series of Doctor Who during a behind-the-scenes video. [BBC America, 13 Dec 2011]

Naomi Alderman (writer, Borrowed Time) talks about the Doctor and the influence of religion: "In fact, there has been some portrayal of actual religion, including a positive portrayal of Buddhism in Planet of the Spiders. But I suspect that the answer is that the UK is a fundamentally not-very-religious country, and that Doctor Who accurately represents our suspicions and our non-confrontational but deep-rooted agnosticism. To go back in history and have the Doctor ‘prove’ that Moses, Jesus and Mohammed didn’t exist would clearly be offensive and far too confrontational for British people. But to have him meet the ‘prophet’ or ‘god’ of an imaginary civilization and find that they are either misguided or plain manipulative I think is a way of saying what - dare I say it? - most British people quietly think about religion: that it’s fine as long as it’s comforting, but shouldn’t be taken too seriously or followed blindly. The Doctor is an atheist hero." [Jewish Journal, 13 Dec 2011]

FILTER: - People - David Tennant - John Barrowman

Previous 10 Stories

Moffat discusses Movie developments

Series Seven developments

People Roundup

The Dæmons DVD Release

Merchandise roundup

The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe: three preview clips

Big Finish: Jago and Litefoot reunited with the Doctor!

DWM Companion: The Eleventh Doctor (Vol 4)

Doctor Who Magazine 442

People Roundup

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