Legacy for January

Thursday, 18 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Legacy BoxThe Legacy Box has now been confirmed to be the first DVD release for 2013, coming out in the UK(R2) on 7th January and in North America(R1) on the 8th. As previously reported, the two-disc boxed set will feature the 'lost' story Shada from Season 17 and the 30th Anniversary celebratory documentary More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS.

After months of speculation, the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed that the main version of Shada presented will be the 102 minute, 1992 VHS release, which included added effects, music, and linking narration by Tom Baker. Though no other R2 information has been released at present, the R1 details indicate that the set will also contain the re-interpreted version of Shada featuring Paul McGann that was produced by Big Finish and released as a Flash animation during the 40th Anniversary for (and still available from) the BBC's official Doctor Who website.

Shada (R1)Other features (R1 details) include a documentary on the troubled history of Shada's production, Taken Out of Time, a look at the story's locations in Now and Then, the first part of a feature on Doctor Who's first producer Verity Lambert in The Lambert Tapes - Part 1, memories of the Doctor's honorary companion in Remembering Nicholas Courtney, another companion profile with Doctor Who Stories - Peter Purves, plus Strike! Strike! Strike!, Being a Girl - Women in Doctor Who, and Those Deadly Divas.

Region 1 details thanks to TVShowsOnDVD




FILTER: - Tom Baker - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Big Finish: UNIT Dominion

Wednesday, 17 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Later this month Big Finish release Doctor Who – UNIT: Dominion, an epic five-disc box set that reunites the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) with his cat burglar companion Raine Creevy (Beth Chalmers) in a fight to save the universe. Joining the fray are Dr Elizabeth Klein (Tracey Childs), scientific advisor to UNIT, and a future incarnation of the Doctor (Alex Maqueen).

Producer David Richardson said:
UNIT: Dominion is a massive story. The script was enormous and we realized when we were making it that it’s actually the same length as The Invasion. But it needed to be that long to tell a tale of such scope, which crosses between multiple dimensions.

To count down to the release, Big Finish have released a number of digital postcards, such as the ones below which feature the Seventh Doctor, Raine, the Other Doctor, Sergeant Pete Wilson, the Nexus, the Skyheads and the Mind Leeches.


The boxed set can be pre-ordered on its own, or as part of a fifteen disc bundle from Big Finish with productions Love and War, Dark Eyes, Voyage to Venus and Voyage to the New.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Big Finish

Mary Tamm: Second Generation

Wednesday, 17 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Mary Tamm: Second Generation (temporary cover)Fantom Publishing have announced the publication of the second part of the actress Mary Tamm's autobiography. Second Generation continues on from the first volume, with the late actress imparting her personal recollections of playing Romana during her final three Doctor Who stories from Season 16.

Publisher Dexter O'Neill said:
We want to make this book the ultimate celebration of a wonderful person who we so sorely miss. We are presenting the entirety of her writings together with tributes and anecdotes from Mary's closest friends and colleagues.

The book is due to be published early next year, and will be available in both paperback and a limited edition hardback with additional photographs. Pre-order details can be found via the Fantom website.




FILTER: - People - Merchandise - Auto/Biography - Books

Doctor Who Magazine 453

Wednesday, 17 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
DWM 453The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine (out tomorrow) speaks to Karen Gillan about leaving Doctor Who after three years as the Doctor's companion:
I am so, so sad. I'm not going to lie. Leaving that show has to be one of the saddest experiences I've ever had. It was my life for, like, three years. That's going to take a while to go away. But also it's really exciting, because I get to go and do other things...

Also in this issue:
  • The First Lady of Time: DWM looks at the life and times of Mary Tamm, the actress who played the Fourth Doctor’s companion Romana, with never-before-seen photos and tributes from her friends and colleagues including Louise Jameson, John Leeson, and Anthony Read.
  • Matt's Missing Scene! Just how old is the Doctor nowadays? The clue’s in his hair, as showrunner Steven Moffat reveals, as he presents a missing scene from The Angels Take Manhattan – exclusively in Production Notes.
  • The Fear Factor: There have been some truly terrifying moments in Doctor Who's 49-year history... and, just in time for Halloween, DWM 453 celebrates the very best of them! Fear-merchants Philip Hinchcliffe and Terrance Dicks are on hand to give their expert opinion, so prepare to have your blood chilled and your spine tingled, with The A-Z Of Dread...
  • Rough Justice? DWM look back at the season that gave us the longest story ever, an evil future Doctor and Bonnie Langford, as The Trial of a Time Lord is put under the spotlight in Countdown To 50!
  • Daleks vs Cybermen! Witness the greatest battle in history as the Daleks and Cybermen come face to face with the Tenth Doctor and Rose in Torchwood HQ. It's Doomsday – and what will The Time Team make of it all...?
  • A Matter of Life and Death: It's one of the most controversial issues currently challenging fandom – the Doctor’s morality. Are there circumstances where it's acceptable for him to kill his enemies, or should this be avoided at all costs? Toby Hadoke and Johnny Candon argue the pros and cons in A Battle of Wits
  • Death in Prague: The Doctor, Amy and Rory encounter a legendary monster and terrifying creatures from another dimension in The Broken Man, the brand new comic strip written by Scott Gray and illustrated by Martin Geraghty.
  • The Secret Companion: Celebrate 20 years of Bernice Summerfield, as DWM talks to Paul Cornell, Lisa Bowerman, Jac Rayner, Gary Russell and Scott Handcock about one of the most enduring Doctor Who characters of all time.
  • Zap! The mysterious Watcher examines the Doctor’s little-known use of weaponry (including his ray-gun), challenges readers with The Six Faces of Delusion and champions another Supporting Artist of the Month, in Wotcha!
In addition, DWM catches up with former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies and chats exclusively with him about his brand new show – Wizards vs Aliens – and just why Doctor Who fans will want to watch...

PLUS! All the latest official news, the latest episodes, DVDs, books and CDs reviewed, sneak previews of forthcoming merchandise, a prize-winning crossword, FIVE fantastic competitions and much, much more!




FILTER: - Merchandise - Magazines - DWM

The Doctor Who Project

Tuesday, 16 October 2012 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor Who Project, the multiple award-winning Canadian Doctor Who fan fiction series, has just released the latest series of stories.

Season 38 is the latest in the continuing adventures of an alternate Doctor and his companions. Stories are published as part of an overall season that concentrates on delivering a collection of short stories that sees the Doctor facing new and original situations in time and space.

In the series the Tenth Doctor, and his companions Val Rossi and Tom Brooker, travel to pre-World War II Venice and discover an ancient mask that holds the key to a global holocaust; find adventure while investigating Cold War secrets in a lost vault hidden deep in the bowels of Mother Russia; are pitched into an encounter with an old foe from that vile cult, Section 13; visit the world of Proteus in a special two-part story from fan favourite John Gordon; and get a taste of the bizarre world of the paranormal when they visit Quarr Manor in a sleepy little backwater British village; and then everything comes to an end when they have to advert a catastrophe of global proportion.

Released over the next seven weeks, TDWP is available to readers from the TDWP Website in a PDF format with each featuring an original cover by some of Doctor Who fandom's most acclaimed artists.

THE MASK OF ANHUR by Robert Mammone
The discovery of a mask in an ancient burial tomb in western Asia unleashes an alien force that could engulf pre-WW2 Europe and the world in a genocidal holocaust. When the Doctor, Val and Tom arrive in Venice in 1938, they stumble across the surviving members of the archaeological team that unearthed the mask. Soon, they are caught up in a wild chase as darkness spreads across the city. Can they survive a night that promises to spread its terrible darkness across the world?

THE VAULT by Miles Reid-Lobotto
The Vault - a secret Russian installation, dating back to the Second World War. A research facility built deep into a mountain, dedicated to the collection and study of extra-terrestrial technology that crashes behind the Iron Curtain. Even to the Russian Government, it doesn't exist. Its existence covered up since all contact was lost back in the 1970s. On behalf of an old friend, the Doctor, Tom and Val accompany a U.N.I.T research team to find the Vault and explore it. What they find, deep underground are the remnants of some of the darkest days of the Cold War. Secrets are revealed, crimes are uncovered. Deep in the Vault, there is no way out and they are not alone and not all of their team are to be trusted. Deep in the Vault, something is waking up.

SECOND LIFE by Kyle Bastian
The Doctor thought he had everything under control. The cell was constructed to his design: quartz-sapphire laser bars, stasis field, time loop – all set up within in a reconstructed sector of the Time Lord's notorious prison planet of Shada. He thought that would hold her. But he was wrong – Bramahl has escaped and is out for blood. Along with Tom and Val, the Doctor must track down Bramahl, and their only clue is her successor from Section 13 – Tamara Scott. But her life as a companion was erased... wasn't it? An old friend's timely return may hold the key.

RED SHIFT by John Swogger
On the jungle world of Proteus, at the far edge of the galaxy, an archaeological expedition from the Hamilton Institute investigates an ancient tomb complex and its strange crystalline monument. But the Doctor, Tom and Val discover that there are more secrets on Proteus than those buried in the ground. What are the strange creatures that stalk the jungle after dark? Why have seven members of the expedition gone missing? And why can no one can remember them? As a devastating energy field begins to change the very world around them, Val and Tom become strangers to each other, and the Doctor uncovers a plot to steal the greatest prize of all.

BLUE SHIFT by John Swogger
On the ocean world of Proteus, at the far edge of the galaxy, an archaeological expedition from the Hamilton Institute investigates an ancient tomb complex and its strange crystalline monument. But the Doctor, Tom and Val discover that there are more secrets on Proteus than those buried in the ground. What are the creatures that stalk the shoreline after dark? Why have seven members of the expedition gone missing? And why can't the Doctor shake off the strange feeling that he's done all this before? It seems that on this ancient world, the past has not been properly buried - and when his own starts to catch up with him, the Doctor begins to suspect that it's all a question of memory...

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION by Jez Strickley
Travelling back to a quiet English backwater at the turn of the twentieth century, the Doctor decides to give Val and Tom a taste of the paranormal when they visit Quarr Manor, the location of a mysterious fire which saw the Georgian mansion burnt to the ground with not a trace of a survivor to be found. With just hours before the infamous fire is due to take place, the time travellers discover a sinister case of spontaneous human combustion in Quarr’s rooftop observatory, sparking fears that a supernatural force is at work. Soon a terrible dilemma faces the trio, as the Doctor begins to realise that Quarr’s fiery visitant is just one of the dreadful effects of a terrible space accident, which threatens to unleash a firestorm across the whole of the British Isles. Battling an anonymous threat which strikes without warning, the Doctor soon discovers that sometimes there is no good decision, as he faces the awful choice of sacrificing the few to save the many.

After a short 4 week break, TDWP will round the year off with the 2012 Christmas Special.

THE SNOW MAIDEN by Matthew James
"There is something in the atmosphere above Earth. You can’t see it or feel it, but it is waiting, counting the days, the hours… waiting for Christmas…" Professor Ruby Tranter was a senior scientist working for the government finding new ways for mankind to survive in the 29th century. Now they’ve retired her. She feels cheated and bitter. Her big regret is never having a child to love and which would inherit her work. Snow is falling inside the TARDIS. The Doctor realises someone is tampering with nature and sets off to stop them. Using illegal government research Ruby sets about making the perfect child in her laboratory and uses the snow to gather her data. Next day the snowmen built by the local children come to life and envelop them. The Doctor, Tom and Val must make Ruby stop her experiment so the real children can be freed. But there is a further consequence to Ruby's experiment even the Doctor did not expect.




FILTER: - Canada - Fan Productions

Matt Smith and Steven Moffat - Cemented

Friday, 12 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Matt Smith and Steven Moffat at the Doctor Who Experience. Photo: BBCThe Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff played host to two special guests today in the form of Matt Smith and Steven Moffat, who were there to have their hand prints immortalised in cement to become a permanent display within the exhibition.

Matt Smith said:
I'm honoured to have made my own little piece of Doctor Who history today. It’s a show with so much tradition over nearly 50 years, so to be the first Doctor to take part in something like this is really special.
Steven Moffat added:
I'm very excited and honoured to have my hands preserved forever. And quite relieved they came back out of the cement! I now know, for all my future crimes, that my fingerprints are readily and permanently available.

Several new exhibits have also been unveiled today, which include Oswin's dress and boots - as worn by new sidekick Jenna-Louise Coleman in Asylum of the Daleks - Solomon and Nefertiti's costumes from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, the Robots from the same story, and the chained Weeping Angel and Cherub Angels from The Angels Take Manhattan.

Matt added:
It's fantastic that the Doctor Who Experience has been given its very own purpose-built home here next to the studios and it feels like a bit of a spiritual home for Doctor Who. It's been great fun unveiling some of the Doctor's most fearsome adversaries from Series 7 and with the Christmas special and more episodes next year, there’ll be plenty more props to come down the line.




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Special Events - Matt Smith - Exhibitions

People Roundup (current series)

Friday, 12 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Note: this article includes items discussing future and potential future casting/plot points, and may be considered as spoilers.


Colm McCarthy, Farren Blackburn and Saul Metzstein. Photo: Colm McCarthy via TwitterFilming has now commenced on episode six, the first episode of next year's run of episodes; it is written by Steven Moffat and directed by Colm McCarthy, with Simon Dennis taking up the reins as Director of Photography. The episode is provisionally entitled The Bells of Saint John.

McCarthy recently posted a photo featuring himself with two of this year's other directors: "Directors UK Roath Lock branch meeting with Farren Blackburn and Saul Metzstein." [Colm McCarthy via Twitter, 28 Sep 2012]

Rumours over the possible appearance of previous companions for the 50th Anniversary continue, fuelled by the usual "insider" gossip: "Next year is massive for the show. They are going to be pulling out all the stops - the 50th anniversary show is set to feature stars from the past and present. There will be plenty of nods to the show's remarkable history and some old faces are likely to be reappearing. Karen and Billie are two of the Doctor's greatest companions and it's hoped they will be involved." Other names being bandied around include former Doctor David Tennant and the Doctor's original travelling companion Susan as played by Carole Ann Ford. [Express, 8 Oct 2012}

Downton Abbey actor Thomas Howes has his eye on being a future Doctor: "There are a lot of dream roles I'd love, like James Bond and Indiana Jones. But I'd never get a look in there. Doctor Who is probably the only one that I could play because he's quite quirky – and he regenerates, so he can be anyone. So one day, who knows, I might have a chance. I'd love to play that part." [The Sun, 6 Oct 2012]

When asked about possibly being the next Katherine Jenkins, actress Jaye Jacobs exclaimed that she'd love to sing in Doctor Who! [Daybreak, 10 Oct 2012]

(with thanks to Ruther)




FILTER: - Steven Moffat

Doctor Who goes UltraViolet

Friday, 12 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC UltraViolet LogoBBC Worldwide have announced that they are to utilise the new UltraViolet technology for future DVD and Blu-ray releases, with the Doctor Who: Series 7 Part 1 boxed set forming one of the initial releases to benefit.

UltraViolet is a new approach to help combat video piracy by enabling purchasers to "buy one, play anywhere" - a digital version of the item they have bought is also made available, which can then be played on up to twelve different devices, such as computers, mobiles and tablets, as well as streaming and download for online/offline viewing.

As well as Doctor Who, the initial range includes Top Gear Special Commission, Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild, Rollercoaster (John Bishop). To enable UltraViolet, BBC Worldwide have teamed up with content delivery provider Flixster to provide the digital copies.

Claude London, Digital Director for BBC Worldwide Consumer Products, said:
We're thrilled to be announcing our first UV-enabled DVDs and embrace this new era for home video - the UltraViolet era. We hope UV will empower consumers to build digital entertainment libraries and continue to enjoy BBC Worldwide releases either at home or on the move. We will continue to work as part of the UV consortium and with our supporting partner Flixster on further releases for early 2013.

Doctor Who: Series 7 Part 1 is available to pre-order in the UK on both DVD and Blu-Ray formats.




FILTER: - Merchandise - BBC Worldwide - Blu-ray/DVD

P.S.

Friday, 12 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have released a special scene that tells the tale of what happened to Brian Williams after the departure of his son Rory and wife Amy at the end of The Power of Three. The scene was written by Chris Chibnall but never recorded, and is presented now through the use of animated storyboards, featuring the voice of Arthur Darvill.

Executive Producer Caroline Skinner said:
We're delighted we can present this lovely scene written by Chris Chibnall. People took Rory's dad, Brian, to their hearts very quickly, so it's fitting we can give the character a degree of closure in this poignant piece.





FILTER: - Specials - Online - Series 7/33

The Eternity Clock released for PS Vita

Wednesday, 10 October 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
After several months delay, BBC Worldwide have finally launched Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock for the Sony PS Vita platform; the game is available to download now from the US and European PS Stores.

The Eternity Clock The Eternity Clock The Eternity Clock

BBC Worldwide's executive producer Simon Harris explained via the Playstation Blog how the Vita version improves on the original PlayStation release:
The PS Vita version of the game will have several new features that we’ve been working on the past few months. One example are the new PS Vita controls, which utilize the combination of the dual analog stick controls and PS Vita's touchscreen features, enabling players to switch between the more traditional controls and the ability to tap the screen to affect the action. All of the puzzle games within the game have been reworked to make full use of touchscreen controls as well.

We're also tapping into "near", PS Vita's geo-social service. Using "near", players can collect “Gallifreyan” medals while playing through the adventure and then drop them in a GPS location for other players to collect. Grow your collection while searching for other players’ medals!

We'll also support PS Vita's Cloud Save option for players who own Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock on both PS3 and PS Vita in the form of "Continuation Play." This enables you to save your game on one device and load it on the other, which means you can continue your adventure while you’re on the move with your PS Vita and then pick it back up from the same place at home on your PS3.

The game, featuring Matt Smith as the Doctor and Alex Kingston as River Song, was originally released for the Sony PS3 back in May, with Matt commenting on the experience:
I enjoyed working on the game. The people I worked with were very thorough, very detailed and very nice. It's a bit like doing Automated Dialogue Recording for a television project, where you re-record some lines after filming. It's a technique I've used before and one that I enjoy.

You've got to make the voiceover and the character on screen match somehow. Obviously you're not moving as you speak and so you've got to apply your voice to the movements of a motion captured character, which can take a couple of attempts sometimes. But it's a rewarding challenge.

Doing the motion capture was really interesting. It's something I've always been intrigued by and wanted to learn about; you get to add the voice and see it all come to fruition. Seeing yourself as a computerised character is one of those rare moments that only happens when you're involved in a show like Doctor Who.

A PC version of the game is still in development.


US: RFFH-7NNP-TECH, 3HJ2-68N5-26RK, CK8P-H9NK-24TC, KKNA-22NQ-ETRD, BH96-5MNB-7NEP
EU: RBPJ-THNA-H457, D4P7-84NT-C5HA, JMGQ-HCNT-DHL2, J6MT-EQN8-K4JG, K5P3-GHNG-6CFG


You can follow the official game feed on Twitter.





FILTER: - Games