Consider Yourself ... with Doctor Who!

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Steven Moffat has reported that the trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe is to be broadcast on BBC1 at 8:00pm tonight! This will be first appearance of a full trailer for the episode in this year's "Consider Yourself" Christmas theme, and will be shown between Eastenders and Holby City.

The trailer is also now available to watch online, and is a different version to the one seen during last month's Children in Need:


The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, BBC, via YouTube





FILTER: - Specials

Regional Roundup

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

United Kingdom

Aldbourne resident Mr. Beattie came up with a novel idea to tackle a litter problem on the village green by creating a TARDIS bin to make throwing litter away responsibly more interesting! "We threw some ideas about (with young litterers) and they came up with the idea of a Tardis. We involved some of the youngsters in the early stages and they helped with the drawings and with the painting. One person I know has suggested the next one could be a Dalek and has agreed to pay for the parts" [This is Wiltshire, 9 Dec 2011]

Pupils at Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CE Primary School in Shropshire got a surprise when a Dalek 'gatecrashed' their Christmas Fair! Headteacher Susan Blackburn said: "“The Dalek came into school and was fully functioning. It was very life-like. The children were asked to disarm it but it then escaped. The children have been so enthusiastic and the parents have been very supportive. A letter also went home in case children were anxious or distressed about the Dalek and all the children were told that it could not hurt them. But the week has been amazing and very dramatic." [Shropshire Star, 9 Dec 2011]

An army of festive Daleks are on display in Waterlooville, Portsmouth! Charlesworth Drive resident Ian Beazley dressed his own collection up for the season, and is very happy for people to have their photos taken with a small donation to Cancer Research. "Although I wasn’t a big Dr Who fan I found the Daleks fascinating. I used to hide behind the sofa terrified of them but although they scared me I wouldn’t turn the telly off. One year the Radio Times printed instructions on how to build one. I put them away and I remember thinking to myself, "I’m going to make one of those myself when I’m older". A few years ago I was medically retired and I had a go. It was so much fun I thought I’d have another go." [Portsmouth News, 10 Dec 2011]

The Devon hotel that former Doctor Who producer Graham Williams ran after leaving TV and up until his tragic death in a shooting accident in 1990 has been at the centre of a furore involving a stag's head. The head of the animal - believed to be the "Exmoor Emperor", the UK's largest wild land animal, which was shot in October 2010 during the rutting season - has been taken down from the hotel wall after phone and email threats were made. The hotel had been lent it about a month ago. [BBC News, 12 Dec 2011]

(additional reporting thanks to John Bowman)

United States

Javier Grillo-Marxuach, creator of The Middleman comic book series, has recently written a new story where his character meets the Doctor! The author talked about his love of the Doctor: "I became a fan in the late '70s. I grew up in Puerto Rico, where they ran the Tom Baker adventures as a strip at 7 on weekdays. They called the show "El Doctor Misterio." At the time, I probably missed a lot of the subtleties of the stories, but I fell in love with the iconography of the show: the scarf, the TARDIS, K-9, the companions, all those things. After my family moved to the States in the '80s, I continued to watch the show on PBS, and then devoured the movie with number eight. (I even worked with director Geoffrey Sax on my first pilot the year after the Fox TV film!) Suffice it to say, I was thrilled when the show came back in '05 and have been a die-hard ever since. I even cosplayed the Master at last year's Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention... do with that information what you must." [CNN Geek Out/KSAT, 7 Dec 2011]





FILTER: - Miscellaneous

Big Finish: Counter Measures update / December Sale

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
CoverMore details have now been released on the forthcoming Big Finish audio series Counter Measures.

The series stars Simon Williams as Group Captain Gilmore, Pamela Salem as Rachel Jenson and Karen Gledhill as Allison Williams, all of which reprise their roles first introduced back in 1988's Doctor Who adventure Remembrance of the Daleks. The team are re-assembled into the new specialist organisation Counter Measures in order to investigate strange phenomena and dangerous new science.


The first season is to be released in July 2012 as a boxed set comprising four stories:

Threshold
By Paul Finch

A missing scientist and ghostly phenomena bring Gilmore and Allison to a factory in Bermondsey, and the discovery of a science that should not exist. As Rachel Jensen returns to help them, a new future for Counter-Measures is set in motion...
Artificial Intelligence
By Matt Fitton

Investigating a suicide at the Sen-Gen Facility, the group discovers a new weapon in the Cold War – and Gilmore meets an old flame. Meanwhile Rachel discovers that she can’t trust anyone, not even the sound of her own voice...
The Pelage Project
By Ian Potter

A case of industrial pollution leads the group to the new industrial town Pelage, and a dangerous meeting with its leader Ken Temple. And deep within the plant it appears that an alien invasion is already underway...
State of Emergency
By Justin Richards

There are creatures from another dimension on the streets, and traitors in the halls of Westminster. When the government is in jeopardy, Rachel, Allison and Gilmore take on a faction staging a very un-British coup...



Big Finish have a sale on throughout December, with a number of discounts available on boxed sets and collections:
  • the three Doctor Who stageplays The Ultimate Adventure, Seven Keys to Doomsday and The Curse of the Daleks
  • all four series of Dalek Empire together
  • series one and two of Cyberman
  • a complete set of Doctor Who: Unbound
  • both seasons of Sarah Jane Smith
Visit the Big Finish website for the latest details on how to purchase the collections.




FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish

Theatre Roundup

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - Reported by Marcus
David Tennant The much acclaimed London production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate is now available to stream or download from Digital Theatre.

The production, which ran to full houses at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End, breaking all previous Box Office records for the theatre, was directed by Josie Rourke and saw David Tennant play Benedict with Catherine Tate as Beatrice.

48 hour rental costs £5.99, or you can download the play for £8.99 (£10.99 HD)



Simon Callow, who played Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead and 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).




FILTER: - People - Catherine Tate - David Tennant

BBC America Giveaway

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - Reported by Marcus
This competition has now closed.

The winner was James Bolander, from Crescent City, California.

The correct answers were the name of the fictional lake in North America where the Eleventh Doctor lost his life was Lake Silencio, and the name of the lake where the scenes were filmed was Lake Powell AZ.


The BBC America shop is offering one lucky reader of the Doctor Who News Page a bumper giveaway package featuring merchandise from the series.

The store is inviting fans of their shows to consider BBCAmericaShop.com while looking for great gift ideas during this holiday season.

To help promote the merchandise they are offering prizes in a competition where the winner will receive the following: Doctor Who Series Six, Part One and Part Two, a Doctor Who Tardis Mini Set, Doctor Who Suit Shirt, Doctor Who Talking Pen, action figure and playset.

All you need to do is to tell us the name of the fictional lake in North America where the Eleventh Doctor lost his life and the name of the lake where the scenes were filmed.

To enter send you answers to bbcamerica-competition@doctorwhonews.net

Please note we can only accept entries from people living in the United States. Closing date is 26th December 2011.





FILTER: - BBC America - Competitions

Hornet's Nest on BBC Radio 4 Extra

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - Reported by Marcus
BBC Radio 4 Extra has begun broadcasting The Hornet's Nest, the BBC Audio Play which saw Tom Baker return to the role of the Doctor after nearly 30 years.

The series will be broadcast in 10 parts over the next two weeks and thanks to the BBC iPlayer it will be available globally for 7 days after each transmission. Each episode is first broadcast at 1800GMT and 0000GMT.

The series from BBC Audiobooks is written by Paul Magrs and also stars Richard Franklin as Mike Yates, Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey, Rula Lenska as the Hornet Queen and Stephen Thorne.



Doctor Who: Hornet's Nest – The Stuff of Nightmares

Responding to an advert apparently worded for him alone, Captain Mike Yates (retired) is reunited with a ghost from the past. But why has the Doctor, that mysterious traveller in Time and Space, sent for his former UNIT acquaintance?

Trapped by a horde of vicious creatures in an apparently innocuous English country cottage, the two old friends are on the brink of an enormous adventure.

As the Doctor relates his recent escapades, it becomes clear to Mike that they – and the Earth at large – are facing an enemy of unimaginable power and horrific intent. The nightmare is only just beginning.


Hornet's News will be followed by the BBC Audiobook version of Pyramids of Mars, read by Tom Baker.




FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker - Broadcasting

Two Doctor Who episodes recovered!

Sunday, 11 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster


The BBC revealed today that two complete episodes of Doctor Who have been returned to the BBC Archives.

Firstly, the complete third episode of the William Hartnell story Galaxy 4, Air Lock has been recovered - prior to this only a short segment from the first episode remained in the archive with no telesnaps taken to show how the third episode and its characters would have looked.

Clip from Air Lock, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)

Secondly, the complete second episode of Patrick Troughton's third story The Underwater Menace has also been recovered - making this the earliest complete episode for the Second Doctor to now exist in the Archives (alongside the existing episode three).

Clip from The Underwater Menace episode 2, via the BBC Doctor Who site (may not play outside United Kingdom)


Both episodes were found via former TVS engineer Terry Burnett, who bought them at a school fête in Marchwood, Southampton back in the 1980s! Restoration Team member Ralph Montagu told the Radio Times how they came to his attention:
I occasionally meet up with a group of film collectors and retired TV engineers at a café in Hampshire. A few months ago I spoke to Terry Burnett, who used to be an engineer at TVS [the former ITV franchise based in Southampton]. Somehow Doctor Who was mentioned in passing, and Terry said, ‘Oh, actually I think I’ve got an old episode. I thought it was bound to be something we’ve got already,” says Ralph. “I tried not to get too excited, but he came back the next day and brought this spool with him. It had no label, so I had a look at the film leader and it said ‘Air Lock’. I thought, ‘What’s that?’ I checked online and saw that Air Lock was an episode of Galaxy 4 - a missing Hartnell serial. So then I got very excited.

(meeting with Terry a couple of weeks later) And he said, ‘Guess what I’ve got.’ It was another episode of Doctor Who! Again not labelled on the can, but it turned out to be The Underwater Menace part two.”

Read the full article at the Radio Times website.
 

Both episodes were shown this afternoon at the British Film Institute's Missing Believed Wiped event - the first time they've been seen in the United Kingdom since their original transmission! (Air Lock was originally seen on 25th September 1965, with The Underwater Menace episode two on 21st January 1967) Screen shots from the episodes may be seen in the BBC's Doctor Who Adventure Calendar Day 11.


News report from the BFI by Ed Stradling, via YouTube

The episodes will require restoration work before they can be commercially released, with film damage to be repaired and missing censored clips to be re-instated. An announcement will be made by 2|Entertain next year as to when they are likely to appear on DVD. Meanwhile, the previous existing material for both stories can be found on the Lost in Time DVD boxed set.


These are the first full episodes to have been recovered since the 1965 Daleks' Master Plan episode Day of Armageddon turned up back in 2004, and brings the total missing episodes tally to 106.

Time to search those attics for more episodes!





FILTER: - Special Events - William Hartnell - Classic Series - Patrick Troughton

People Roundup

Saturday, 10 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Matt Smith reflects on the cancellation of Doctor Who Confidential: "It's a pity as I think it's a show which can reinvent itself year on year and it's one of the biggest shows on BBC3. But I guess people come in and have new ideas and want to have their own fresh take on it but, hey, some you win, some you lose..." [What's on TV, 8 Dec 2011]

Arthur Darvill was on hand to open a new PlayPod in the playground at Whitehall Infant School, Walsall. Installed by charity Children's Scrapstore, the play area was made with the practical application of scrap material. The actor said: "“It’s simple-looking from the outside, but a world of magic and wonder within. Watching the children playing with all this stuff I wonder how we haven't thought of it before. It's fantastic to see the kids having so much fun with things that would otherwise be thrown away." [Birmingham Mail, 10 Dec 2011]

Elisabeth Sladen has featured in the Top Ten Actresses to trend during 2011 on the social communication network Twitter. The actress, who died in April, was the fifth most discussed of the year, with Elizabeth Taylor topping the trend category. [Twitter Year in Review: Hot Topics, Dec 2011]

John Barrowman has appeared in a video promoting pet travel with Virgin Atlantic, during which he talks about his three dogs and how he feels about the service provided by the airline. [Virgin Atlantic via YouTube, 8 Dec 2011]

Paul McGann will be the subject of In Conversation With ..., to take place at Liverpool's St George’s Hall Concert Room in February. The interview includes clips and photographs of the actor's life and work, and will also see his five favourite songs performed live on stage. The event is rounded off with a Q&A from the audience. McGann said: "I was thrilled to be asked, then bashful terror set in until my mate David Morrissey calmed me down and assured me, having done it himself, that you can’t actually die from talking about your life and work in a beautiful room surrounded by friends and family and your favourite music. Guess I will just have to trust him!" [Click Liverpool, 8 Dec 2011]




FILTER: - People - Arthur Darvill - Matt Smith - John Barrowman - Elisabeth Sladen - Paul McGann

Fan Production Roundup

Saturday, 10 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

TARDIS Base - Issue 2

The second issue of the free online fanzine TARDIS Base is now available to either view online, or offline via a PDF version.

In this issue:
  • DECK THE TARDIS - With Christmas just around the corner, we take a look at the up-comming special, along with a countdown of our favourite Christmas specials from the past 6 years. There is also going to be a special festive edition of Off The Shelf with all the perfect gifts for us Whovians.
  • RIVERS AND PONDS - With Series 6 over, we look at the second half of the series, as well as all the revelations regarding River Song.
  • JUSTIN RICHARDS - We interview the amazingly talented author, Justin Richards.
  • I THINK WE NEED A MIRACLE! - With the fourth series of Torchwood over, we take a look back at the 10 episodes and give you our official verdict. Hit or miss? Find out. (We also take a look at the web-based app spin-off, Web of Lies)
  • THE END OF SJA - After the recent series of The Sarah Jane Adventures ended, we thought it was only right to say goodbye to Doctor Who's much loved spin-off.
  • WHO'S IN THE APP STORE? - We give you the low-down on what apps are out there for Whovians in the appstore!
  • THE BEAST'S DICTIONARY - In this exclusive feature, Guy Lancaster gives you a humorous look at the alphabet, according to the world of Doctor Who.
  • FANDAMONIUM - In this BRAND NEW FEATURE, it's your chance to have your fandom seen by the Whoniverse. We're kicking off the feature with a special look at never-before-seen pictures of conventions from the 80s (featuring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Patrick Troughton and many more), as well as your costumes, drawings and creations.
PLUS!
All the latest news, The Notes, Planet of the Spiders in the The Vault, the Cybermen in the Monster Mash, and much more!

(with thanks to Ashley Mcloughlin)


Bandril and TOMTIT Issue 1

Two new fanzines are released together this weekend, and are available to pre-order from the Bandril blogsite.

BANDRIL Issue 1 (28 A4 Colour pages) features a brand new exclusive comic strip "Top of the Ponds" written and illustrated by David Carey, a review of Torchwood: Miracle Day, a review of Series 6 of Doctor Who, a "true-life" story called Looking for a chicken dinner, The Keys of Marinus comic strip by Paul Hanley, A look at the story of Regeneration, Love at first sight and Do you remember the first time? and all your latest communication in our Letterbox and much much less...

TOMTIT Issue 1 (24 A4 Colour pages) has an exclusive Ben Chatham story written by the legendary Sparacus called The Ghosts of Peversham Station, "All your planet are belong to us" is a story presented in the classic Doctor Who Annual format by Paul Hanley, an interview of UFO investigator Nick Pope by Richard Thomas, Are the right episodes lost? looking at the still missing 108 episodes of classic Doctor Who, A Love Letter to Character Options, TARDIS TV and much much less...

Both Issues will ship with a mystery FREE gift.
(with thanks to Scott Burditt)


FANWNAK Issue 2 - now free to read

FANWNAK has now been made available to read for free online - visit this link for more details.

(with thanks to Scott Burditt)


Panic Moon December Sale


During December the July and October editions of Panic Moon are available to buy at a reduced price, plus a discount on the next issue for January too - see the website for full details.


TARDIS Eruditorum


The acclaimed blog TARDIS Eruditorum, written by Philip Sandifer, has released a book version of its first set of essays, covering the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who story by story. TARDIS Eruditorum provides a comprehensive critical overview of Doctor Who that moves beyond received fan wisdom to tell the evolving story of one of the most important and remarkable pieces of popular culture ever created.

TARDIS Eruditorum has been hailed as “absolutely fascinating and hugely persuasive” by Robert Shearman, described as having “really serious and fascinating points to make about how television was made and viewed back in the 1960s” by Adventures with the Wife in Space, and characterized as “demented rubbish” by a random guy on the Internet.

The author, Philip Sandifer, holds a PhD in English focusing on film and media studies, and uses the blog to provide a complete reconceptualization of Doctor Who that acknowledges and takes seriously strands of thought and themes that have been marginalized by the fan orthodoxy represented in existing publications, revealing a show with startling and intriguing implications. Under his critical knife, Doctor Who becomes more than just a classic sci-fi show but a show that tells the story of an entire strain of mystical, avant-garde, and radical culture in Great Britain - a show that is quite literally about all of time and space, everything that ever happened, and everything that ever will.

This first volume covers every television story from An Unearthly Child to The Tenth Planet, and also includes fifteen essays on later books and audios set in the Hartnell era, other cultural events and television shows from the period, and on a variety of major topics raised by the Hartnell era. Among the topics raised in this volume are:
  • Whether The Celestial Toymaker - long one of the most beloved of Hartnell-era stories - is in fact an irredeemably racist mess.
  • How the epic The Daleks’ Masterplan is not, as often assumed, one twelve-part story but a sequence of four distinct stories that includes the preceding The Myth-Makers.
  • The way in which the Cybermen, as originally conceived, are not the clanking robots of later years but a terrifying challenge to the nature of humanity and society inspired as much by mysticism as by science.
  • The way in which the Daleks are not only brilliant monsters, but an outright attack on the very structure of the show.
The book is available to buy through Amazon.

(with thanks to Philip Sandifer)




FILTER: - Fan Productions

Odds on a Who Christmas (2011)

Saturday, 10 December 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Christmas has always been a traditional time for betting companies, with the odds of snow on Christmas Day a perennial favourite, the Christmas Number One (the X-Factor winner again? never!), and of course which programme will be most popular on television for the turkey-fuelled captive audience!

Doctor Who has been a feature of the Christmas line-up for the last six years and has always performed well: The Christmas Invasion (2005, 9.84m, 2nd); The Runaway Bride (2006, 9.35m, 5th); Voyage of the Damned (2007, 13.31m, 2nd); The Next Doctor (2008, 13.1m, 2nd); The End of Time (pt 1) (2009, 11.57m, 3rd) [arguably, it actually won the ratings battle with a combined BBC1/BBCHD audience of 12.04m, but this doesn't count for the bookies!]; and A Christmas Carol (2010, 12.11m, 3rd).

But what are the odds for this year ...

The Top Television Show for Christmas Day

With all the recent debate over what constitutes real ratings with current television viewing patterns, the bookies are stating that their payouts are based on the BARB overnight viewing figures and not the consolidated ones that come out in the new year.

As can be seen below, at this stage the top five shows are pretty much the same throughout, with just the likelihood of which will win out of Doctor Who, Eastenders, Downton Abbey, Coronation Street and The Gruffalo's Child.

                                           William Hill   Betfair   Oddsbet
comb 3:00 The Queens Speech 100/1 100/1
ITV1 6:00 Emmerdale 66/1 100/1
BBC1 6:30 The Gruffalo's Child 16/1 12/1 20/1
BBC1 7:00 Doctor Who 11/8 2/1 7/4
ITV1 7:00 All Stars Family Fortunes 80/1 150/1
BBC1 8:00 Strictly Come Dancing 25/1 28/1
ITV1 8:00 Coronation Street 25/1 12/1 20/1
BBC1 9:00 Eastenders evens 11/5 11/10
ITV1 9:00 Downton Abbey 9/2 11/2 11/4
BBC1 10:00 Absolutely Fabulous 25/1 25/1

OLBG have also provided a Top Christmas Day TV page which indicates the best odds given for a particular programme, and also what their tipsters think is most likely.

The Top DVD at Christmas

Paddy Power have provided odds on which DVD is likely to be the best seller for Christmas week, which sees Doctor Who: The Complete Series Six at joint second favourite alongside Cars 2 at 7/2. The current favourite for Christmas is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part two).

Competition Time!

Doctor Who News is pleased to once again invite our readers to guess the final consolidated rating for Doctor Who this Christmas - visit our Competitions Page for full details!




FILTER: - Betting/Odds