Lethbridge-Stewart: Blue Blood

Tuesday, 15 February 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books ihas announced the final book in its penultimate series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels:

Blue Blood

Written by Chris Thomas

Cover art by Paul Cooke

People go missing every day. It’s an unfortunate part of life, and tragic for the families involved. But when bodies of the missing start turning up, as if ripped apart by wild animals, the Fifth Operational Corps is called in to investigate.

Sergeant Major Samson Ware and Captain Bill Bishop head to Newcastle, after a spike in the missing persons’ reports, and form an alliance with young photographer Gary Merrin in an effort to uncover the truth.

Meanwhile, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers try to find the recently returned Professor Ted Travers, who himself seems to have disappeared. Their investigations lead them to a World War II veteran, who is a shadow of his former self.

How are the disappearances linked to an experiment from the past? And just what is the connection with the missing Professor Travers?

Blue Blood is the first Lethbridge-Stewart novel by Chris Thomas, who previously wrote Vampires of the Night for The HAVOC Files 2: Special Edition. Born in Perth, Western Australia, Chris is a writer, actor, journalist and broadcaster. His writing includes the novel Journo's Diary for defunct publisher Metropolis Ink, the Doctor Who short story One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (published in Short Trips: Defining Patterns), the plays Which One?, Reality Matters, and Appetite for Destruction.

Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:

I enjoyed Chris’ short story at the time, and was amused to find he originally ended it in the ‘present’, setting up a sequel. A common thing among new authors – trying to set up some future work for themselves. I remember removing that end scene and telling Chris that if we’re gonna do a sequel, let’s do one properly instead of simply setting it up. Also, by removing the set-up in the short story, we leave things open for new ideas to develop in the meantime.

Chris said:

After Candy Jar Books released my short story in late 2019, Andy got in touch when he was mapping out the latest Lethbridge-Stewart series and asked if I would like to submit a pitch for one of the stories. Vampires of the Night featured Professor Travers and was set during World War II, and I originally had a short scene thirty-odd years later with Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne, discovering something that hadn’t been quite resolved at the end of the story. The scene got cut but, about six hours after I got the initial email from Andy about the novel pitch, I think we had both reached the same conclusion – he followed up, asking if I wanted to do the sequel I had previously hinted at.

As the final book in the penultimate series, this book serves a bit as a preamble to the final days of the Fifth Operational Corps. Chris continued:

Given the United Nations is a global organisation, I wanted to create a problem that had its focus in the UK but was also happening around the world. Being an Aussie, I did throw in a couple of things from Down Under, but the core of the story is set in England’s north, so the focus remains on the Lethbridge-Stewart characters with sojourns to other countries to show similar things happening elsewhere.

Andy added:

It’s all about laying the foundations for the end of the series, as the band finally starts to break up (in a very dramatic sense), which the final series will build upon as things on the international stage start to become even more precarious. But Blue Blood does much more than that; it tells an exciting story, a bit of a mystery, introducing some fun new characters to the LSverse and, eagle-eyed observers will notice, a nice link back to a popular Doctor Who story from 1989.”

The cover is by postman and popular part-time artist Paul Cooke, back for his fourth Lethbridge-Stewart novel cover:

When I got the brief, I decided to produce an atmospheric piece, but one that was still vibrant and colourful. I went for bright sidelights and a sunset rather than night sky, and pushing the colour on the radio telescope in a non-realist but striking way (I hope!).

It was really important to me to get Samson right on this cover. I really like his character and I wanted to create a good portrait. One of the things Candy Jar have been really successful with is introducing strong (I hate this term) minority characters but treating them in a realistic period-way without denigrating them or making them in any way ‘token’. I hope I’ve done Samson justice.

It was fun creating the other characters, too. The female character had to be fairly scary without being too gory and not falling into the titillation trap with the tears in the dress. Merrin had to look alarmed without becoming a caricature, so I hope I struck the right balance. An enjoyable commission and I’m really looking forward to the book.

The book is available to pre-order from Candy Jar Books, and is part of the Season 8 six book bundle for subcribers.

The final series of Lethbridge-Stewart will be split in two parts over 2022, beginning with three novels; Spheres of Influence by Violet Addison & David N Smith, The Most Haunted Man by Sarah Groenewegen, and Legacy of the Dominator by Nick Walters.

FILTER: - Candy Jar Books - Books - Lethbridge-Stewart

Classic Doctor Who back on the airwaves

Monday, 14 February 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

20th Century Doctor Who returns to free-to-air television this week as Forces TV features a selection of colour adventures for the Doctor.

The series kicks off this Tuesday with Spearhead From Space , following a daily pattern of 7:55am, 1:25pm and 8:15pm, and then a weekend catchup from 11:25am. Next up will be The Dæmons and then Genesis of the Daleks; other stories in the run include City of Death, Kinda, Vengeance on Varos and Remembrance of the Daleks.

Forces TV is available to watch in the UK over the air on Freeview 96 and Freesat 165, and via digital broadcasters Virgin 274 and Sky 181.

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Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 574

Wednesday, 2 February 2022 - Reported by Marcus

In this month's Doctor Who Magazine, Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford and Russell T Davies reveal the next chapter for the sixth Doctor

Highlights of the new issue include:

An exclusive preview of Mind of the Hodiac (Russell T Davies’ first Doctor Who script) ahead of its Big Finish release, with contributions from Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, Russell, Scott Handcock and Emily Cook.
The first installment of a two-part interview with Doctor Who’s outgoing executive producer Matt Strevens.
Visual effects designer Ben Pickles describes his contributions to the Thirteenth Doctor’s era.
Zodiak VFX’s Tamsie Thomas and Myfanwy Harris talk about their award-winning work on Doctor Who.
A tribute to Doctor Who director Michael Ferguson, who passed away in October.
The inside story of how the BBC paved the way for Doctor Who’s long-awaited return in 2005.
Pianist Jess Jurkovic discusses his YouTube project ‘Dudley Simpson IS Doctor Who’.
Collectivity investigates the increasingly sophisticated world of trading cards.
Apocrypha revisits Invasion of the Daleks, a seminal comic strip from 1964’s The Dalek Book.
The Fact of Fiction looks at the 1965 story The Romans.
Public Image analyses the ratings for Eve of the Daleks.
The first part of Hydra’s Gate, a new comic-strip story for the Doctor, Yaz and Dan.
Previews, reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser, Sufficient Data and more.

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 574 is on sale from panini.co.uk and WH Smith from Thursday 3 February priced £6.99 (UK). Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £4.99.

FILTER: - DWM - Sixth Doctor

Doctor Who features in most loved BBC Shows of all time

Saturday, 29 January 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

As part of the BBC Centenary celebrations, The One Show conducted a viewer poll to discover the most loved BBC TV shows of all time. The results were announced live on Friday evening, revealing Doctor Who to be the second-favourite show in the Corporation's history, only beaten by the ever popular Only Fools and Horses.

The poll featured some 50 programmes showcasing a variety of genre from throughout the BBC's history, as chosen by a panel of experts which included Sara Wallis, Mirror TV Columnist, David Butcher, Radio Times’ Choices Editor, Dick Fiddy, BFI Archive TV Programmer and Hanna Flint, Freelance Critic and MTV Movies Host.

The full Top 20 programmes are:

Only Fools and Horses
Doctor Who
Strictly Come Dancing
Line of Duty
Call the Midwife
Gavin and Stacey
Fawlty Towers
Blackadder
The Morecambe and Wise Show
The Vicar of Dibley
Dad's Army
Planet Earth I and II
Killing Eve
Dinnerladiers
Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister
Sherlock
The Good Life
Top of the Pops
The Royle Family
Blue Peter

The One Show presenter Alex Jones said:

It’s been a joy to look back and celebrate some classic TV shows from the BBC’s history as part of BBC 100. There’s been an absolutely huge response from our lovely viewers and though we couldn’t fit everything onto the list, our viewers have shown so much love for these classic shows that have connected with them across generations.

The full programme, including articles on many of the shows in the poll and guide through some of the objects illustrating the BBC's history, will be available via the BBC iPlayer for the next four weeks.

FILTER: - BBC - Doctor Who - Awards/Nominations

Spencer Chapman 1939-2022

Monday, 24 January 2022 - Reported by Marcus

The designer Spencer Chapman has died at the age of 84.

Spencer Chapman worked on several early episodes of Doctor Who.

His first story was the 1964 First Doctor story The Dalek Invasion of Earth, recorded at the BBC Riverside studios at Hammersmith in London. The original designer of the Daleks Raymond Cusick was not available for the sequel leaving Chapman, a relatively new designer to pick up the reins.

In 2016 he spoke to Toby Hadoke for his Who's Round series

I enjoyed every moment of it. I was lucky to be working in such a large studio. The biggest thing was the flying saucer. Like all best BBC designers, with sellotape and sticky plaster, I created what I thought was a flying saucer.

Part of the story was filmed on location in central London, with Daleks crossing Westminster Bridge and traveling down Whitehall.

I designed a little shape which I said was the Daleks logo and went around with white boot polish sticking it on various objects in Trafalgar Square until I was stopped by the police. I said I would wipe it off if they would let us film it first.

Chapman returned to the series a few months later, working on the story The Space Museum.

Chapman has a long career with BBC Television designing several episodes of The Forsyth Saga. He also worked on Vanity Fair, Roads to Freedom, Z Cars, Roadshow Disco, Private Schulz, Alice in Wonderland and Anything More Would Be Greedy

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New Target Books Announced

Monday, 24 January 2022 - Reported by Marcus

BBC Books has announced that it will be expanding the Doctor Who Target range with five new titles in Summer 2022, all published on 14th July 2021, each with newly commissioned cover artwork by Anthony Dry.

Penned by the original scriptwriter the late David Fisher and adapted from his new 2011 and 2014 audio novelisations, The Stones of Blood, and The Androids of Tara are now being released as two Target books. The original Target versions, published in the 1970s, were written by former Doctor Who script editor Terrance Dicks.

These will be accompanied by a Target edition of The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran, as well as The Eaters of Light by Rona Munro and The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness.

For Doctor Who fans, the range of novelisations published by Target Books in the 1970s and 1980s holds a special place. There was a novel published for almost every Doctor Who serial between 1963 and 1989, with five notable exceptions.

Since 2012, BBC Books has been successfully reissuing these classic paperbacks and expanding the Target range to include all-new novelisations of modern-era Doctor Who episodes. These latest additions to the collection, all by the original writers of the TV episodes, will help Target fans complete their classic and modern-era collections.

The Stones of Blood by David Fisher - An ancient stone circle becomes a battleground as the Fourth Doctor must outwit the deadliest alien criminal this side of hyperspace.
The Androids of Tara by David Fisher - The Fourth Doctor and Romana’s search for the fourth segment of the all-powerful Key to Time leads them to the planet Tara.
The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran - It is AD 79, and the Tenth Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii on the eve of the town’s destruction. Mount Vesuvius is ready to erupt and bury its surroundings in molten lava, just as history dictates. Or is it?
The Eaters of Light by Rona Munro - The Twelfth Doctor takes Bill and Nardole back to 2nd century Scotland to learn the fate of the ‘lost’ Ninth Legion of the Imperial Roman Army. 5,000 soldiers vanished without explanation - how?
The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness - It took three Doctors to broker a fragile peace between Zygons and Humans. Now the Twelfth Doctor must face the fallout alone. With his allies compromised and his companion believed dead, can he stop the world from plunging into war?

James Moran said:

I’ve been watching Doctor Who and reading the Target books for as long as I can remember. The books were an essential part of my childhood, examining the amazing cover art, and “seeing” stories that aired before I was born. I loved learning new words from them, like “capacious”, and am beyond thrilled to become part of this publishing legend!

Rona Munro said:

It’s wonderful to have another chance to revisit the ideas of my last Doctor Who story, Eaters of Light, they are ideas that have been with me for a very long time and Doctor Who, as always, proved to be the largest and most exciting world in which to realise them.

Peter Harness said:

Like many, many others, I learned to read and to love books by reading Target novelisations. The Saturday afternoon journey to Garland’s bookshop in Bridlington to see if any new Doctor Who stories had materialised on their shelves. Scouring markets and second-hand shops in hope of finding an old copy of Doctor Who and the Sea Devils. Desperately pestering my poor cousin until he finally lent me his copy of Doctor Who and The Doomsday Weapon. Making my Grandad read me The Enemy of the World when he would’ve much preferred to fall asleep with the newspaper. There is a sense of magic and excitement about Target books which has stayed with me my whole life. And I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it feels to be writing my own Target book of one of my own Doctor Who stories.

FILTER: - Target - BBC Books

Season 22 Boxset Announced

Thursday, 20 January 2022 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has announced that Season 22 of Doctor Who will be available on Blu-ray as the next box-set release.

Season 22 was the first full series starring the Sixth Doctor Colin Baker and companion Peri played by Nicola Bryant

The season saw them face off against a host of classic monsters and villains, including Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Davros (Terry Molloy) and The Master (Anthony Ainley) – as well as introducing a new female nemesis The Rani (Kate O’Mara) and the villainous slug-like Sil (Nabil Shaban).

The season also featured the return of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and his companion Jamie played by Frazer Hines.

With all episodes newly remastered from the best available sources, this Blu-ray box set also contains extensive and exclusive Special Features including:

Brand New Documentaries: Including a Making-Of documentary for The Two Doctors, and a nostalgic trip back for Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant to Season 22’s filming locations.
In Conversation: Not one but THREE insightful feature-length interviews, with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and a surprise guest.
Behind The Sofa: New episodes with actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Sylvester McCoy and Wendy Padbury.
Extended Episodes: Including Vengeance On Varos, The Two Doctors (Part One) and Revelation Of The Daleks (Part One).
A Fix With Sontarans: The Doctor and Tegan battle the Sontarans in this special mini-episode.
Updated Special Effects: View Timelash with optional new effects
Exclusive New Audio Commentaries: With Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Alexei Sayle & Terry Molloy on Revelation Of The Daleks and Colin Baker, Janet Fielding & Gareth Jenkins on A Fix With Sontarans.
Immersive 5.1 Surround Sound: On Attack Of The Cybermen, Vengeance On Varos and Revelation Of The Daleks.
The Eternal Mystery: A brand new mini-episode of classic Doctor Who.
Studio Footage: Rare behind-the-scenes material from Vengeance On Varos, The Two Doctors, Timelash and Revelation Of The Daleks.
Convention Footage: Featuring actors Colin Baker and Jacqueline Pearce alongside producer John Nathan-Turner.
Rare Gems From The Archives: BBC archive material including The Colin Baker Years, plus content covering the promotion of the season and the controversial hiatus.
Radio Serial: Slipback, a six-part radio adventure.
HD Photo Galleries: Including many previously unseen images.
Info Text: Behind-the-scenes information and trivia on every episode.
Scripts, Costume Designs, Rare BBC Production Files and other rarities from the PDF Archive

The eight-disc box set also includes hours of special features previously released on DVD.

A specially shot announcement trailer has debuted on the Doctor Who YouTube channel, written by new series contributor Pete McTighe (Kerblam! and Praxeus) and featuring Nicola Bryant back as Peri.

The Eternal Mystery | The Collection: Season 22 Announcement Trailer

The box-set can be pre-ordered on Amazon

FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Season 22 - Sixth Doctor

Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 573

Wednesday, 5 January 2022 - Reported by Marcus

This month's Doctor Who Magazine investigates how digital technology transformed Doctor Who.

Highlights of the new issue include:

DWM charts the history of digital effects in Doctor Who from the 1970s to the most recent episodes.
Dave Bannister and Andrew Robertson from VFX company DNEG describe their contributions to Flux.
Digital matte artist Jim McCarthy discusses his work on Doctor Who in the 1980s.
Interviews with the people who brought us some of the first Doctor Who computer games.
The second installment of a two-part feature in which Ray Holman explains the background to his costume designs for Series 13.
An interview with Frances White, who played Cassandra in 1965’s The Myth Makers.
Composer Segun Akinola discusses the musical juxtaposition of romance and Daleks in the New Year’s Day Special.
Tributes to renowned Target cover artist Chris Achilléos, who died on 6 December, and writer Bob Baker, who died away on 2 November.
The Fact of Fiction revisits 2010’s The Beast Below.
Public Image analyses the ratings for Flux.
The Doctor Who Magazine Christmas Quiz answers.
Previews, reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser and more.

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 573 is on sale from panini.co.uk and WH Smith from Thursday 6 Januarypriced £5.99 (UK).

Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £4.99.

FILTER: - DWM

EVE Online x Doctor Who Crossover Event

Wednesday, 5 January 2022 - Reported by Marcus

CCP Games and BBC Studios have announced an original crossover event between Doctor Who and the free-to-play deep space-faring MMO EVE Online.

Universes will collide as Capsuleers and Doctor Who fans face the Daleks together in massive space battles in EVE Online x Doctor Who starting 13 January until 1 February.

EVE Online is a free-to-play, community-driven spaceship MMO game where players can choose their own path among the stars from countless options, developed by CCP Games in Reykjavik.

The game first launched in 2003 and has since gained recognition for its scale, complexity, and the world record-breaking exploits of its online community. EVE Online is one of the most critically acclaimed MMORPG intellectual properties (IPs) in time and space, and one of the most extensive works of science fiction in the world.

Bergur Finnbogason, EVE Online’s Creative Director said

2022 will be off to an (inter)stellar start with EVE Online x Doctor Who, We are always pushing the boundaries of what is possible in EVE Online. Collaborating with BBC Studios gives us the opportunity to pay homage to an iconic series that has inspired us at CCP. We hope you’ll join us in New Eden on January 13 to see what happens when galaxies collide!

Kevin Jorge, Senior Producer at BBC Studios added

EVE Online x Doctor Who not only brings two iconic universes together, but also the passionate Whovians with the just-as-passionate pilots of New Eden. By bringing the fanbases together, the already massive battles of EVE Online are sure to become even more explosive. Only time will tell if New Eden’s fiercest pilots have what it takes to challenge the might of the Daleks.

EVE Online x Doctor Who introduces new, Gallifrey-themed space where players will search for artifacts from Doctor Who’s Great Time War. The artifacts will provide players with clues to track down the Daleks and face them in an interstellar battle of the ages. Players who survive the fight will reap unique rewards that they can take back to New Eden. Additionally, a login campaign with skill points and Doctor Who-themed items will be available to all players throughout the duration of the event.

EVE Online can be downloaded for free by visiting eveonline.com

FILTER: - Games

Eve of the Daleks - Appreciation Index

Tuesday, 4 January 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Eve of the Daleks - Dalek (Credit: BBC/James Pardon)

Eve Of The Daleks achieved an Audience Appreciation Index score of 77.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The score, out of a hundred, is compiled by a specially selected panel of around 5,000 people who go online and rate and comment on programmes.

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Series 13(39) - Ratings

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