Big Finish is to make a second series of Doctor Who audio spin-off Counter-Measures, it has announced.

The first series of four dramas is now available on CD and download and sees Simon Williams as Group Captain Gilmore, Pamela Salem as Rachel Jensen, and Karen Gledhill as Allison Williams reprising their roles from Remembrance of the Daleks. They are joined by Hugh Ross as Toby Kinsella.

Counter-Measures is set in 1964 and centres on the titular specialist organisation that is charged with investigating strange phenomena and dangerous new science.

The hour-long episodes have been written by Paul Finch, Matt Fitton, Ian Potter, and Justin Richards. The series is produced by David Richardson, script-edited by John Dorney, and directed by Ken Bentley.

The five-disc box set also includes an hour-long documentary that goes behind the scenes with the cast and crew.

Richardson said: Series 2 - again comprising four episodes - will be released in July 2013 and is available for pre-order at a discount price.

The universal remote control based on the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver will be available to buy in the UK from Friday 31st August, the BBC announced today.

As previously reported, the device, pictured here from the side and front, has been developed by BBC Worldwide in conjunction with The Wand Company.

The high-quality metal replica of the Mark VII sonic screwdriver is a gesture-based remote control that uses infra-red technology to manipulate almost all home-entertainment systems - from TVs and iPod docks to DVD/Blu-ray players and beyond.

With a green flashing tip and four modes – including a practice mode – and three memory banks, a total of 39 commands can be stored, giving users the option of operating multiple home-entertainment devices.

The sonic screwdriver universal remote control works via a series of 13 short gestures, such as rotating, flicking, or tapping, and a guided set-up procedure uses spoken prompts to match gestures to commands learnt from existing remote controls. In addition, the FX operational mode has a range of authentic vintage Doctor Who sound effects, while an in-built security setting comprising a three-digit PIN will prevent unauthorised use of the device.

UPDATE (7pm): A BBC spokeswoman told Doctor Who News that the remote control will be available to pre-order in the UK from the BBC Shop (coming soon), Firebox, and Forbidden Planet. DWN understands that the product will be available in the USA via the BBC America Shop and ThinkGeek from September.

Big Finish have announced their traditional Christmas special release for their regular Doctor Who subscribers. Night of the Stormcrow will feature Tom Baker and Louise Jameson as the Doctor and Leela, with guest cast including Ann Bell (who starred with Jameson in BBC's Tenko) as Professor Gesima Cazalet and Chase Masterson (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as Peggy Brooks.

Producer David Richardson said:

Night of the Stormcrow will be free to all subscribers to the main Doctor Who range whose subscription includes the December release 1001 Nights. It may also be requested by 12-release CD or download by main range subscribers as a free bonus story. It will be available to buy from December 2013.


Subscriptions to the range can be found via Big Finish website.

The Wand Company is working with BBC Worldwide to develop an Eleventh Doctor-styled Sonic Screwdriver Universal Remote Control. The gesture-based remote will be able to be used on entertainment systems such as: televisions, DVD/Blue-ray players, and IPod docks. With gesture recognition technology, the device will be able to store up to thirty-nine remote control codes.

Company co-founder Chris Bernardo says of the product:

For more information on this product please visit Licensing.biz

A classic-era Doctor Who story and a new novel are getting the spoken-word treatment from AudioGo, which is also releasing its fifth and final compendium of lost TV episodes.

The Aztecs, read by William Russell, and The Wheel of Ice, read by David Troughton, join The Lost TV Episodes Collection 5 (1967-1969) in AudioGo's August release schedule.

The audiobook also boasts original sound design.

The Wheel of Ice is also being published in hardback on the same day and can be pre-ordered here.

A company specialising in merchandise for female fans have been granted a licence by BBC Worldwide to produce a range of official t-shirts themed around Doctor Who. Her Universe aims to feature images, characters and phrases from the Doctor Who universe all with fashion-forward designs for girls to look "Geek Chic", and launches the range on 11th July with three designs themed around River Song's high heels, Amy's experience with the TARDIS, and Van Gogh's painting of the 'cracked' TARDIS.

Ashley Eckstein, founder of Her Universe, said:

Items from the Doctor Who Fangirl Fashion Collection can be ordered from the Her Universe website, and will also be available from US national retail outlets.

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine - published tomorrow - looks at the growing pains of a TV legend in a major feature on the development of the programme at seven-year intervals, as it approaches 49 Up.

It examines the moments that defined the show, including the adolescence that brought major format changes, the teenage years with Doctor Who in rude health, its incredibly successful return to television in 2005 – and asks what the next seven years may hold in store . . .

Also in this issue:

• Chibnall's Choice: Scriptwriter Chris Chibnall drops hints about his two new scripts for the next series of Doctor Who – and how writing for the show is unlike writing anything else – in Production Notes.
  
• You're Hired! Long-serving Doctor Who casting director Andy Pryor talks exclusively to DWM about his hand in casting three different Doctors, the joy of working on every single episode of Doctor Who since 2005 – and whom he has cast for the next series . . .
  
• Echoes of the Past: Doctor Who celebrated a landmark birthday but the monsters were conspicuous by their absence. Was that necessarily a bad thing? Find out as Countdown To 50 revisits 1983 and Series 20.
  
• Honour Amongst Thieves: Amy's been hijacked by the best thief in town, while the Doctor and Rory have fallen in with the wrong crowd. But what is the secret of the Ziggurat hanging above Cornucopia? Find out in the second part of The Cornucopia Caper, the latest comic strip adventure written by Scott Gray with art by Dan McDaid.
  
• Genesis of Dalek: The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler encounter a lone Dalek deep within a Utah bunker – but Skaro's finest very nearly didn't make the party. Dalek, 2005's triumphant return for the Doctor's deadliest enemy, is given The Fact of Fiction treatment, with detailed commentary on all 11 drafts of writer Robert Shearman's script and exclusive new revelations from the writer himself!
  
• Details, Details: If you don't read the Production Subtitles on the Doctor Who DVDs then now is the time to start! Subtitles writer and TV Dalek Nicholas Pegg reveals the arcane secrets of compiling a treasure trove of Doctor Who facts and figures in Infomania.
  
• Monster vs Monster: Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Silurians, and Macra – they've all returned to battle the Doctor since Doctor Who's comeback in 2005. But what classic creatures are we desperate to see next? Toby Hadoke wants a return for those green giants the Ice Warriors, while Johnny Candon goes Underground to shout out for the Great Intelligence's Yeti. Who will triumph in this monster Battle of Wits ?
  
• Sympathy For The Devil? The Time Team – Chris, Emma, Michael, and Will – have a devil of a time while watching The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. But what will the Team make of this terrifying adventure for the Tenth Doctor and Rose?
  
• And The Winners Are: The votes are in! See which books, audios, and DVDs are hits with the readers of DWM in the results of the latest Merchandise Poll, and discover how your favourites fared.
  
• Suited And Booted! The Watcher takes another flick through the pages of the Stockbridge English Dictionary, stares down The Six Faces of Delusion, highlights another masterclass in the dramatic art from a Supporting Artist of the Month, and reaches number 20 in A History of Doctor Who in 100 Objects – the Doctor's Impact Suit. It might not be as implausible as it seems . . . as Wotcha explains!
  

Plus all the latest official news, TV and merchandise reviews, previews, competitions, and a prize-winning crossword.

A Dalek graphic novel plus a non-fiction title looking at the Doctor Who universe are to be brought out by BBC Books later this year.

The Dalek Project by Justin Richards and Mike Collins will be published on Thursday 6th September, and Albert DePetrillo, senior editorial director for BBC Books, said:
Three weeks later, on Thursday 27th September, A History of the Universe in 100 Objects by James Goss and Steve Tribe hits the bookstores, and DePetrillo commented:

A guide to the first 15 years of Doctor Who in comic-strip form is to be published later this year.

Written by Paul Scoones and published by Telos, The Comic Strip Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who in Comics: 1964 - 1979 will chronicle the format from its origin in TV Comic to just before the ongoing strip was launched as a regular feature in Doctor Who Weekly. During this time, more than 200 stories were published in TV Comic, Countdown, TV Action, TV Century 21, the Doctor Who annuals, and the Dalek books.
The A5 book will be approximately 500 pages long, including an eight-page colour section.

Scheduled for publication on Sunday 30th September 2012, it is available to pre-order.

At the moment, it is only being offered in paperback. However, David J Howe, of Telos Publishing, has said that a hardback run may be produced if there is enough demand for it - equating to roughly 100 people interested in buying one - in which case purchasers will be given the opportunity to upgrade pre-orders.

Scoones said that this book was the first of what would most likely be a number of volumes covering the comic-strip history of Doctor Who.

Big Finish continues its month of special offers this weekend with a celebration of the popular duo Jago and Litefoot; both their first audio appearance in The Companion Chronicles: The Mahogany Murderers and the first complete series of adventures are available at a reduced price between now and 8:00am 18th June.

This is followed by a celebration of The Celestial Toymaker, with the character featuring in The Lost Stories: The Nightmare Fair, The Magic Mousetrap, and The Companion Chronicles: Solitaire; the three stories are available to purchase separately or in a special bundle deal between 6:00pm 17th June and 8:00am 20th June.

Sara Kingdom (as played by Jean Marsh) is the focus of the next offer, with Home Truths, The Drowned World and The Guardian of the Solar System available on offer between 6:00pm 19th June and 8:00am 22nd June.

Finally, Doctor Who: Short Trips volumes one, two, three and four will be on special offer between 6:00pm 25th June and 8:00am 28th June. The series features tales read by William Russell, David Troughton, Katy Manning, Louise Jameson, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sophie Aldred and India Fisher.


Note: All times are cited in BST