Dual Planet to release incidental music by Eric Siday and Don Harper

Wednesday, 21 May 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Dual Planet are to release two albums which include music that featured in Doctor Who during the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton eras:

Eric Siday: The Ultra Sonic Perception (Credit: Dual Planet)The Ultra Sonic Perception
Eric Siday

A compilation of electro-acoustic and early electronic music. Compiled from series of rare electronic 78rpm 10”s, featuring music used in the 1960s Doctor Who TV Series.

Considered to be one of the pioneers of Psychoacoustics, Eric Siday is also acknowledged as a key name in the growth of 20th century electronic music. An important figure in the development of the Moog Synthesizer, Siday’s compositions were a testing ground for Bob Moog ideas, in turn shaping the technical advancement of the instrument. An early experimenter of Musique Concrete and extended technique he inaugurated these concepts into the world of television scoring and advertising. Slightly pre-dating Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire’s ground-breaking composition for the Doctor Who theme, he begun experimenting with electronics in soundtracks as early as 1960 carrying through to the 1970s where he created inspired electronic ‘sound logos’ for various entertainment companies such as CBS, ABC and Columbia.

Pulling together a clutch of eerie atomic-age miniatures drawn from a series of rare 10” 78rpm library discs, this compilation explores Siday’s scientific study of sound, a concept he branded ‘The Ultra Sonic Perception’. Partially used as the soundtrack to the early 1960s Doctor Who TV series, this document is an amazing insight into the early electronic music used in television as well as a showcase of the pioneering techniques used by this forward thinking composer.

  1. Ultimate
  2. Moonscape
  3. Galaxy
  4. Suspended Animation
  5. The Power Planet
  6. The Machines
  7. The Concerto To The Stars
  8. Telecommunications
  9. Telecommunications 2
  10. The Laboratory
  11. Pavane
  12. Pizzicato Piano
  13. Challenge Of Space
  14. Space Drift
  15. Meteors
  16. Stars
  17. Comet
  18. Transmutations 1
  19. Transmutations 2
  20. Transmutations 3
  21. Sidereal Vibrations
  22. Plenipoteniary
  23. Chromatic Aberration
  24. Fallout
  25. Fallout Aftermath
  26. Eclipse
Don Harper: Cold Worlds (Credit: Dual Planet)Cold Worlds
Don Harper

A previously unreleased Doctor Who score mastered from the original tapes. Includes additional electronic tracks from Don Harper’s catalogue and music featured in George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.

A collection of Horror-Electronics, supernatural soundscapes and sinister library muzak from Australian composer Don Harper. Centring on a previously unreleased score for the 1968 Doctor Who series The Invasion (a dark otherworldly sci-fi jazz suite) Cold Worlds is also a focus on the electronic music of this largely unsung composer. Like many Australian film composers (Ron Grainer, Dudley Simpson, Don Banks) Don Harper based himself in the UK during the 1960s and subsequently found employment at the BBC and other British film and library companies.

Probably best known for his BBC scores for World of Sport, Sexton Blake and The inside Man, Harper also immersed himself in the world of electronics. Acknowledged as a virtuoso jazz violinist, he notably produced a 1974 electronic/altered jazz session for Lansdowne Studios titled Homo Electronicus (featuring Norma Winstone and other progressive UK jazz musicians). In addition to cutting a number of library sessions for Joseph Weinburger’s Impress label, in which several tracks were later famously sampled by MF Doom, he also co-wrote the music (alongside Delia Derbyshire and David Vorhaus) for the essential Radiophonic KPM recording Electrosonic. Also, featured on this compilation are his nightmarish cues used in George Romero’s cult zombie classic Dawn of the Dead.

  1. Doctor Who Theme
  2. Nightmare
  3. Moving Shadows
  4. Dank Earth
  5. Cold Worlds
  6. Psychosis
  7. Sinister Stranger
  8. Twisted Mind
  9. Troubled Mind – Torment

Note: the tracks are a re-recording of the score made by Harper for the de Wolfe music library. Aside from the Doctor Who theme, the tracks from The Invasion included on this album are separate cues to those included in Silva Screen's 50th Anniversary Collection.

The albums will be released in both vinyl and CD formats, and can be ordered from their website. Some sample tracks can be heard via their Soundcloud page.


Thanks to Dual Planet we have five prizes up for grabs. In order to be in with a chance of winning, answer the following question:
Name a Doctor Who story which features music from Eric Siday’s "Ultra Sonic Perception".
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition to comp-dual@doctorwhonews.net with the Subject "Space Age". The competition is open world-wide and the winners will be able to choose which composer and format (Vinyl or CD) to receive (please specify in your entry). Only one entry per household will be accepted. Closing date: 31st May 2014.




FILTER: - Music - Second Doctor - Competitions - First Doctor

Horror Channel 'Who on Horror' Full Spring Schedule

Tuesday, 15 April 2014 - Reported by Melad Moshiri
Horror Channel - Classic Doctors Logo (Credit: Horror Channel)
Horror Channel's Who on Horror schedule in the UK has been released with classic Doctor Who episodes airing from Good Friday. The run will commence with the very first episode of Who in its original four parts on the Friday at 7pm before the Who on Horror themed weekend featuring stories from each of the first seven Doctors begins.

11am - An Unearthly Child (Four Parts, Repeat)
From the misty November nights of London 1963 to the arid caves of Earth 100,000 BC, this is our very first encounter with the mysterious time traveller (William Hartnell), who kidnaps teachers Ian (William Russell) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), and, along with his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), travels back in the distant past to confront caveman as they discover the power of fire.

1:20pm - The Mind Robber (Four Parts)
Trapped in a world outside of space and time, the second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) along with his companions, Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury), find themselves facing a world of fiction inhabited by unicorns, Medusa, and Gulliver. They seem to be writing their own story but will the mysterious storytelling Master of the realm allow them a happy ending?

3:45pm - Terror of the Autons (Four Parts)
If the 70s was an age of plastic then what would happen if it turned against us? The Doctor (Jon Pertwee), now exiled to Earth in his third incarnation, confronts killer dolls, deadly daffodils, telephone cables that strangle and inflatable chairs that suffocate. A second appearance for the returning enemy the Autons, this also introduces new assistant Jo Grant (Katy Manning) and rogue Time Lord, The Master (Roger Delgado). It also finds a new nemesis in Mary Whitehouse.

6pm - The Brain of Morbius (Parts One and Two)
Our jellybaby-loving Time Lord ventures into Frankenstein territory as The fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) arrive on the stormy planet of Karn where they find themselves caught between the immortal Sisterhood, who are guardians of the precious elixir of life and the fanatical surgeon, Solon, who’s trying to create new life from dead aliens to house the brain of criminal Time Lord, Morbius.
11am - The Brain of Morbius (Parts Three and Four)
Continuation from Saturday night, the last two episodes of this ‘Frankenstein’ story as The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) find themselves caught between the immortal Sisterhood and the fanatical surgeon, Solon, who’s trying to create new life from dead aliens to house the brain of criminal Time Lord, Morbius.

12:10pm - The Caves of Androzani (Four Parts)
Frequently voted by fans as the best story of the whole classic series, this also marks the end of Peter Davison’s time as he regenerates into Colin Baker. A real actioner which finds the Fifth Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) caught up in a war between a corrupt corporation, smugglers and masked outlaw Sharaz Jek , all fighting for control of spectrox, an invaluable but toxic substance mined on Androzani Minor that when refined, can slow ageing.

2:30pm - Attack of the Cybermen (Four Parts)
Travelling from their own future, the Cybermen stalk London in 1985 to perfect a plan for Halley’s Comet to crash into the Earth, saving their own planet Mondas from destruction. The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri colourfully attempt to thwart their plans, save the cold-thriving Cryons, natives of Cyber-controlled Telos and maybe finally fix the TARDIS’s chameleon circuits.

4:50pm - Remembrance of the Daleks (Four Parts)
It’s back to November 1963 as the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) returns with Ace (Sophie Aldred) to Coal Hill School, He’s determined to complete unfinished business but if he hadn’t forgotten the Hand of Omega, then it’s inevitable the Daleks would remember too and they’re determined to outwit their greatest enemy and proved that they can climb stairs.

After the special weekend, episodes settle into a weekday showing from Monday after, with a story each from the First, Second and Third Doctor for the rest of April.

Monday 21st April

10am - The Daleks (Parts One and Two)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Having survived their first adventure together, the TARDIS team land on Skaro, a planet devastated by nuclear war. Is anyone left alive? Contaminated by radioactive poisoning, they encounter the pacifist race of Thals and a number of hidden perils, but the greatest threat waits in the impressive citadel. They’re set to come face to eye-stalk for the first time with those exterminating pepperpots, the Daleks. A legend is born and our Saturday nights will never be the same again.
Tuesday 22nd April

10am - The Daleks (Parts Three and Four)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure in which the TARDIS team come face-to-face with the Daleks for the first time.
Wednesday 23rd April

10am - The Daleks - (Parts Five and Six)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure in which the TARDIS team come face-to-face with the Daleks for the first time.
Thursday 24th April

10am - The Daleks (Part Seven)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Finale to adventure in which the TARDIS team come face-to-face with the Daleks for the first time.

10:35am - The Seeds of Death (Part One)
Repeated at 3:45pm and 7:50pm
Earth in the 21st Century and instantaneous travel is now possible thanks to the T-Mat based on the Moon. However, when the Doctor arrives with Jamie and Zoe, the machine has broken down and strange alien seeds have been discovered which explode with a lethal fungus threatening to wipe out life. It’s all part of the plan to take over the planet by the Martian reptilian race, the Ice Warriors.
Friday 25th April

10am - The Seeds of Death - (Parts Two and Three)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where the Ice Warriors are threatening to wipe out life with a lethal fungus.
Monday 28th April

10am - The Seeds of Death - (Parts Four and Five)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where the Ice Warriors are threatening to wipe out life with a lethal fungus.
Tuesday 29th April

10am - The Seeds of Death (Part Six)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Finale to adventure where the Ice Warriors are threatening to wipe out life with a lethal fungus.
10:35am - The Daemons (Part One)
Repeated at 3:45pm and 8:45pm
Excavations at an ancient burial mound unleash an ancient evil. There’s darker magic at work in the quiet village of Devil’s End, and the new vicar seems to have a Master plan under his cassock as rogue Time Lord joins forces with Azal, last of the star-spanning Daemons. With the help of UNIT and Jo Grant, The Doctor fights to stop May Day from becoming the last day for mankind.
Wednesday 30th April

10am - The Daemons - (Parts Two and Three)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) fights to stop May Day becoming the last day for mankind.
Thursday 1st May

10am - The Daemons - (Parts Four and Five)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Continuation of adventure where The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) fights to stop May Day becoming the last day for mankind.
Friday 2nd May

10am - The Sea Devils - (Parts One and Two)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
The Doctor pays the Master a visit in an island prison around which a number of ships have mysteriously sunk. While the Doctor and Jo are trapped on the fort by a Sea Devil, the Master steals some electronic components.
Monday 5th May

10am - The Sea Devils - (Parts Three and Four)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Trenchard holds the Doctor captive while the Master attempts to make contact with the Sea Devils. After the Sea Devils attack the island prison and rescue the Master, the Doctor must venture underwater in pursuit.
Tuesday 6th May

10am - The Sea Devils - (Parts Five and Six)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
While the Doctor tries to make peace with the Sea Devils in the their underwater colony, the navy launch an attack on the base! When the Sea Devils take over the naval base, the Doctor is forced to work with the Master to revive the creatures' colony.
Wednesday 7th May

10am - The Three Doctors - (Parts One and Two)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
Three incarnations of the Doctor join forces to face the evil Omega in a universe of antimatter. The Third Doctor and Jo find themselves on an artificial world inside a black hole.
Thursday 7th May

10am - The Three Doctors - (Parts Three and Four)
Repeated at 3:10pm and 7:50pm
The Time Lord Omega reveals himself to the third Doctor along with his plan for vengeance. The Doctors discover a secret about Omega that gives them an advantage in ending his deadly plot.

The full and future schedule can be found via This Week in Doctor Who.

Idents and commercials have been created depicting the cell animation advertised while billboards and posters promoting the campaign have been seen in London.


The arrival of Doctor Who on the Horror Channel reflects the science-fiction, action and fantasy genres seen on the channel's available line-up, including Xena: Warrior Princess, Wonder Woman and The Twilight Zone.

Director of Programming Alina Florea commented on the latest signing in a press release:
Doctor Who is an iconic series and we are proud and excited to welcome this giant of British television to our channel. The line-up will include some of the most revered from seven classic Doctors – stories that terrified, thrilled and captured the imagination of children and adults through the decades. Doctor Who joins a long line of well-loved classic series we have endeavoured to showcase on Horror Channel over the last few years.
A special press launch took place yesterday at The Ivy in Leicester Square in the presence of the Fourth Doctor himself, Tom Baker. Doctor Who News was invited to the launch and a report of the day will be available soon.

UPDATE - 18th APRIL: Our report of the press launch, including pictures, can now be read here.




FILTER: - Sixth Doctor - UK - Third Doctor - Seventh Doctor - Second Doctor - First Doctor - Class

Steven Moffat in praise of Remembrance of the Daleks

Wednesday, 18 December 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
With the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of the Daleks on TV screens fast approaching, a video tribute by Doctor Who's current showrunner Steven Moffat to their last story during the classic era - Remembrance of the Daleks - was posted today by the BBC on the programme's official site.

In the piece, he says of the 1988 four-parter:
Terrific script, terrific, pacy, very modern, very of-its-time script, very, very well directed and with one of the best spaceship landings we've had in Doctor Who. Back in the day when they had no CGI, when they barely had post-production, a spaceship landing in a school playground . . . they did it superbly. Genius! And a superlative story.
Moffat's comments were recorded last year as part of a mini series in which he talked about the Daleks in general to publicise their return in Asylum of the Daleks and, in subsequent video posts, looked at what he considered to be the best and most significant Dalek adventures.





FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Online - Seventh Doctor - Second Doctor - First Doctor - Classic Series

Week of Specials on Radio Four Extra

Saturday, 16 November 2013 - Reported by Marcus
Today BBC Radio Four Extra begins a week of celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who with a reading of the very first Doctor Who novelisation.

Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks was first published in 1964, adapted by the series' script editor David Whitaker from the first Dalek story written by Terry Nation. The story was republished by Target Books in 1973, kicking off the range which would introduce a generation of fans born in the sixties and seventies to the eras of the first and second Doctors.

The story, intended to work as a standalone, is told from the viewpoint of Ian Chesterton and has a very different meeting between the Doctor and his future companions than that of the television series.

The Audiogo recording is read by William Russell, who played Ian in the TV series. The broadcast begins at 1800 GMT on Saturday with the first two episodes. The full adaptation is broadcast between 0000 GMT and 0430 GMT on Sunday.

The broadcast kicks off a week of Doctor Who programming on the station. Radio Four Extra can be heard worldwide via the BBC Website.
  • Sunday - Protect and Survive - 1800 GMT & 0000 GMT
  • In this drama the Seventh Doctor (played by Sylvester McCoy) and his young companions Hex and Ace are plunged into the late '80s, where history has gone terrifyingly wrong, with the world trembling on the brink of a final terrible war.
  • Monday - Fanfare for the Common Men - 1800 GMT & 0000 GMT
  • A four-part drama featuring the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison). The Doctor's young companion Nyssa is unfamiliar with the Earth's musical heritage, but in a trip back to the '60s the Beatles are nowhere to be seen and their role has been taken by the Common Men.
  • Tuesday - A Thousand Tiny Wings - 1800 GMT & 0000 GMT
  • A full-cast audio drama in which the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) arrives in a remote homestead during the period of Kenyan independence in December 1963 and is reunited with an old acquaintance – an ex-Nazi called Klein.
  • Wednesday - Farewell Great Macedon - 1800 GMT & 0000 GMT
  • Based on an unproduced television script and brought to life through a combination of performance and narration. The original team of the First Doctor and companions Ian, Barbara and Susan step out from the TARDIS into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and meet Alexander the Great.
  • Thursday - Human Resources - 1800 GMT & 0000 GMT
  • A full-cast drama featuring the Eighth Doctor (played by Paul McGann). The two-part story explains the on-going mystery of Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith), paired off with the Doctor in a witness protection programme.
  • Friday - The Dalek Invasion of Earth - 1800 GMT & 0000 GMT
  • A reading by William Russell (Ian Chesterton in the original TV serial on which the story is based). This is one of the classic Doctor Who stories featuring the First Doctor and set in an occupied Britain.
  • Saturday - Doctor Who special – Who Made Who - 0900 GMT & 1600 GMT
  • Tracy-Ann Oberman is the guide on a journey back to a time before Time Lords. Interviewees include Doctor Who writers Charlie Higson and Al Hennen and William Hartnell's grand-daughter Jessica Carney. Featured programmes include The Reunion, which gathers the original 1963 cast, and Whatever Happened to . . . Susan Foreman? which tries to solve the mystery of the Doctor's original travelling companion, his grand-daughter.
  • Sunday - Lucie Miller - 0000 GMT
  • An Eighth Doctor adventure starring Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith and Graeme Garden.
  • Monday - To the Death - 0000 GMT
  • The Time Lord calls on friends, family and the Monk to help overthrow the Dalek occupation of Earth. This Eighth Doctor adventure stars Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith and Graeme Garden.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Eighth Doctor - Seventh Doctor - First Doctor - Radio - Fifth Doctor

Big Finish: September releases

Friday, 27 September 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
This month's Doctor releases from Big Finish feature the start of the 1963 trilogy, an adventure for the First Doctor, Steven and Vicki, a further "lost" adventure for the First Doctor, and a new set of adventures for the Victorian investigators Jago and Litefoot.

Fanfare of the Common Men (Credit: Big Finish)Fanfare for the Common Men (available to order)
Starring Peter Davison as The Doctor, with Sarah Sutton as Nyssa

If you remember the Sixties, they say, then you can’t have been there.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. That’s why he’s taking Nyssa on a trip back to November 1963. Back to where it all began. Back to the birth of the biggest band in the history of British music. Back to see those cheeky lads from Liverpool...

Mark, James and Korky. The Common Men. The boys who made the Sixties swing with songs like Oh, Won’t You Please Love Me?, Just Count To Three and Who Is That Man.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. And there’s something very wrong with the Sixties, if the Beatles no longer exist...
The Companion Chronicles: Upstairs (Credit: Big Finish)Upstairs (available to order)
Starring Peter Purves as Steven and Maureen O'Brien as Vicki

When the TARDIS lands in a dilapidated attic, the Doctor, Vicki and Steven discover they are on Earth, in London… in Number 10 Downing Street.

However alien forces are at play here, affecting the very fabric of the building… and adjusting the very essence of history itself.
The Lost Stories: The Dark Planet (Credit: Big Finish)The Dark Planet (available to order)
Starring William Russell as Ian Chesterton and Maureen O'Brien as Vicki

Somewhere far back in the early days of the universe the TARDIS lands on a world lit by a dying sun. Missing from the Doctor's star maps and dotted with strange crystalline statues, it is a world ripe for exploration. But it is also a world of destruction.

Venturing out onto its surface, the time travellers find themselves drawn into an age-old conflict between the two species residing on the planet - people of Light and Shadow. Proving a catalyst for the escalation of the conflict, the Doctor and his friends need either to create a peace or to pick a side.

Because in times of war, nothing is ever black and white.
Jago and Litefoot - Series Six (Credit: Big Finish)Jago and Litefoot - Series Six (available to order)
Starring Trevor Baxter as Professor George Litefoot and Christopher Benjamin as Henry Gordon Jago

After returning to Victorian London, Jago and Litefoot are approached by the enigmatic Colonel and offered a role they cannot refuse – investigators by Royal Appointment to Queen Victoria!

Their missions include a mystery on the Suffolk coast where strange things lurk in the sea mist, an encounter with Freud and a threat to the realm itself… But who can save Professor Litefoot when he is accused of murder, and no one can be convinced of his innocence?

6.1 The Skeleton Quay by Jonathan Morris
6.2 Return of the Repressed by Matthew Sweet
6.3 Military Intelligence by George Mann
6.4 The Trial of George Litefoot by Justin Richards
PLUS! An extra bonus CD of behind-the-scenes material.

Win a copy of Upstairs

This month's competition thanks to Big Finish is to win one of five copies of Upstairs. To be in with a chance to win, please answer the following question:
The Doctor has encountered Prime Ministers past, present and future over the course of his adventures, but which one was forecast by him to be the architect of Britain's "Golden Age"?
Send your answer to comp-upstairs@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "Yes, I know!", along with your name, address, and where you saw the competition (the news website, twitter, facebook, etc.). Only one entry per postal address will be accepted. The competition is open worldwide, and the closing date is 6th October 2013.




FILTER: - Audio - Competitions - First Doctor - Fifth Doctor - Big Finish

DVD: The Monster Collection

Tuesday, 17 September 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Worldwide have released details on their collection of DVDs featuring the monstrous foes of the Doctor.

Doctor Who: The Monster Collection

These six real "hide behind the sofa" collections bring together episodes of the scariest and most iconic monsters from Doctor Who's classic and recent series.

Each title concentrates on a deadly enemy - The Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, The Master, Davros and The Silurians - and features two separate stories from popular incarnations of the Doctor, including Matt Smith, David Tennant, Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee. These collections are perfect for younger viewers just discovering the scary delights of fifty years of Doctor Who.

Monster Collection: The Daleks (Credit: BBC Worldwide)The Monster Collection: The Daleks (pre-order)

THE DALEKS are the most feared race in the entire universe. The hideous mutant creatures contained inside almost indestructible casings conquer and exterminate wherever they go...

The Daleks (1963): On the planet Skaro, the mutated Daleks plan a final assault on the Thals. Starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

Asylum of the Daleks (2012): Kidnapped by his oldest foe, the Doctor is forced on an impossible mission - to a place even the Daleks are too terrified to enter ... the Asylum. Starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.
Monster Collection: The Cybermen (Credit: BBC Worldwide)The Monster Collection: The Cybermen (pre-order)

THE CYBERMEN were once human but chose to replace all living tissue with plastic and steel. Seeing emotions as a weakness, they removed those too and now massive Cyber armies try to upgrade the universe...

The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967): The TARDIS arrives on the planet Telos where an Earth archaeological expedition, led by Professor Parry, is attempting to uncover the lost tombs of the Cybermen. Starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel (2006): Lurking in the shadows are creatures made to destroy - one of The Doctor's greatest fears have come true ... the Cybermen are reborn. Starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.
Monster Collection: The Sontarans (Credit: BBC Worldwide)The Monster Collection: The Sontarans (pre-order)

THE SONTARANS are a short, battle-loving race from the planet Sontar. Bred for war, these cloned creatures have produced one of the most powerful armies in the universe.

The Time Warrior (1973): Missing scientists have been kidnapped by a Sontaran, Linx, and taken back to medieval England, where they are working under hypnosis to repair his crashed spaceship. Starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky (2008): With planet Earth choking under the poison sky, the Doctor must stop the Sontarans' threat to the planet. Starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.
Monster Collection: The Master (Credit: BBC Worldwide)The Monster Collection: The Master (pre-order)

THE MASTER is a dangerous, power-mad Time Lord and one of the Doctor’s deadliest foes. He brings death, danger and chaos to every story in which he appears.

Terror of the Autons (1971): The Master arrives on Earth at a circus run by a man named Rossini and steals a dormant Nestene energy unit from a museum. He reactivates it using a radio telescope and uses his hypnotic abilities to take control of a small plastics firm. Starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

The End of Time parts one and two (2009-10): With almost everyone on Earth now recast in his image. The Master controls the world. He's shocked however when he realizes that one person hasn't changed... Starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.
Monster Collection: DavrosThe Monster Collection: Davros (pre-order)

DAVROS is a genius scientist responsible for creating the most dangerous races in the universe – the Daleks. Ruthless and dangerous, he is determined that his creations will always win.

Genesis of the Daleks (1975): The Time Lords intercept the transmat beam taking the Doctor, Sarah and Harry back to Nerva and deposit them instead on the planet Skaro at an early point in its history. Starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

The Stolen Earth and Journey's End (2008): The return of an old enemy leaves Earth along with 26 other planets stolen from their places. As the Doctor and Donna look for the whereabouts of Earth, former companions of the Doctor assemble a resistance against the new Dalek Empire. Starring David Tennnant as the Tenth Doctor.
Monster Collection: The Silurians (Credit: BBC Worldwide)The Monster Collection: The Silurians (pre-order)

THE SILURIANS lived on Earth millions of years before humans. This reptile race was forced to hibernate and lay undiscovered for years until they eventually started to wake up...

The Silurians (1970): Investigating a nearby cave system, the Doctor discovers it is the base of a group of intelligent reptiles, termed Silurians, who went into hibernation millions of years ago but have now been revived by power from the research centre. Starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood (2010): The Doctor tries to get everyone to Rio, but nothing quite goes as planned. They arrive in a small Welsh village where the Doctor immediately senses that the ground isn't quite right. Starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.

The collections are due out in the United Kingdom on 30th September 2013.




FILTER: - UK - Third Doctor - Second Doctor - First Doctor - Eleventh Doctor - Fourth Doctor

The Doctors Revisited reaches the United Kingdom

Friday, 13 September 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Doctors Revisited - The First Doctor (Credit: BBC America)The BBC America series celebrating each of the actors to have played the Doctor will be shown on Watch, the channel's schedule has revealed.

The Doctors Revisited will be broadcast at weekends, with the premiere of The First Doctor to be shown on Saturday 12th October at 2:00pm, followed by the accompanying story The Aztecs; Sunday will then see The Second Doctor at the same time, accompanied by The Tomb of The Cybermen. The following weekend then sees The Third Doctor on the Saturday alongside Spearhead From Space, and The Fourth Doctor alongside Pyramids of Mars on Sunday.

The documentaries were orginally broadcast monthly by BBC America, and were shown in Australia and New Zealand during August by BBC Worldwide's UKTV.

Other programming to accompany the launch of Doctor Who Revisited on the 12th October includes the documentaries The Companions at 4:30pm and Doctor Who Explained at 5:30pm, both of which are repeated before The Second Doctor on the Sunday.


Watch's schedules don't currently extend beyond the 20th October, but based on the pattern above the Fifth and Sixth Doctors are expected for 26th/27th October, Seventh and Eighth on 2nd/3rd November, Ninth and Tenth on 9th/10th November, and the Eleventh on the 16th - completing the series one week before the 50th Anniversary itself!

(with thanks to SciFiBulletin)




FILTER: - Documentary - BBC America - UK - Third Doctor - Second Doctor - First Doctor - WHO50 -

DVD Update

Friday, 30 August 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Worldwide have announced details for the forthcoming release of The Tenth Planet on DVD. The two-disc set has been provisionally scheduled for release on 18th November August 2013 for R2, 19th November for R1, and 20th November for R4.

The Tenth Planet
Release date: 18 Nov 2013 UK

The Tenth Planet - DVD R2 Cover (Credit: BBC Worldwide)Starring William Hartnell as Doctor Who, Anneke Wills as Polly, and Michael Craze as Ben
Written by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler
Directed by Derek Martinus

Broadcast: Sat 8 Oct - Sat 29 Oct 1966

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and his friends Ben and Polly to the South Pole in 1986. Their arrival coincides with the appearance of Earth’s forgotten twin planet Mondas and visitors from that world – emotionless beings called Cybermen. It’s up to the Doctor and his friends to stop these creatures before they convert Earth’s population into similar cyber creations – but the encounter will have a devastating effect on the Doctor...

Special Features: Disc One
  • Episode Four - animated version of the missing episode
  • Commentary, with actors Anneke Wills (Polly), Christopher Matthews (Radar Technician), Earl Cameron (Williams), Alan White (Schultz), Donald Van Der Maaten (Cybermen Shav and Gern), Christopher Dunham (R/T Technician) and designer Peter Kindred. Moderated by Toby Hadoke.
  • Frozen Out - Cast and crew look back on the making of the story. With actors Anneke Wills, Earl Cameron and Reg Whitehead, designer Peter Kindred and vision mixer Shirley Coward.
  • Episode 4 VHS Reconstruction - The reconstruction of the missing fourth episode using audio, stills and surviving clips, which featured on the BBC Video VHS release of the story back in 2000.
  • Radio Times listings - Episode listings for The Tenth Planet from the BBC listings magazine Radio Times (DVD-ROM only – to be viewed on PC/Mac).
  • Production subtitles - Subtitles provide the viewer with cast details, script development and other information related to the production of The Tenth Planet.
  • Photo gallery - A selection of production, design and publicity photographs from this story.
  • Coming soon - An exclusive new trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.
Special Features: Disc Two
  • William Hartnell Interview - Shortly after leaving Doctor Who, star William Hartnell joined the 1966 Christmas pantomime tour of Puss in Boots. Interviewed in his dressing room for the BBC Bristol’s Points West programme, Hartnell talks frankly about Daleks, the merits of pantomime and his own thoughts on his future career in this extremely rare glimpse into the mind of the man who first brought the role of the Doctor to life...
  • Doctor Who Stories – Anneke Wills - Anneke Wills look back on her role as Polly in the series, in an interview recorded for the BBC’s Story of Doctor Who in 2003.
  • The Golden Age - Historian Dominic Sandbrook examines the myth of a ‘Golden Age’ of Doctor Who.
  • Boys! Boys! Boys! - Peter Purves, Frazer Hines and Mark Strickson reminisce about their time as companions to the First, Second and Fifth Doctors respectively.
  • Companion Piece - A psychologist, writers and some of the Doctor’s companions over the years examine what it means to be a Time Lord’s fellow traveller . With actors William Russell, Elisabeth Sladen, Louise Jameson, Nicola Bryant and Arthur Darvill, writers Nev Fountain and Joseph Lidster, and psychologist Dr Tomas Charmorro-Premuzic.
  • Blue Peter: Doctor Who's Tenth Anniversary - Two weeks before the show’s tenth anniversary, the Blue Peter team take a look back at Doctor Who’s history. Ironically, the strict preservation of Blue Peter’s history means that the clip of the first regeneration has been preserved, but the final episode of The Tenth Planet that it came from was never again seen after its use here.

Next month sees two DVDs released: 16th September will see the 2003 animated adventure Scream of the Shalka, featuring the 'forgotten' Ninth Doctor as played by Richard E Grant; then on 30th September the final complete Doctor Who story arrives on the shelves with Fourth Doctor adventure Terror of the Zygons. Internationally, Shalka is released in R1 on 17th September, and Zygons in R1 on 8th October.

Scream of the Shalka
Release date: 16 Sep 2013 UK

Scream of the Shalka - DVD R2 Cover (3D) (Credit: BBC Worldwide)Starring Richard E Grant as the Doctor, with Sophie Okonedo as Alison, and Sir Derek Jacobi as The Master
Written by Paul Cornell
Directed by Wilson Milam

Broadcast: 13 Nov 2003 - 18 Dec 2003 (online), Tue 30 Dec 2003 - Sun 4 Jan 2004 (BBC Red Button)

The TARDIS lands in a small English village in 2003, where the population are living in fear of a malevoelent alien force. With the help of UNIT and his new friend Alison, the Doctor discovers that a race called the Shalka are residing underground, preparing to strip away the earth's ozone layer and embark on a full-scale invasion of the planet ...

Special Features:
  • Commentary, with writer Paul Cornell, director Wilson Milam and producer James Goss.
  • Carry on Screaming - behind-the-scenes personnel discuss the making of Scream of the Shalka
  • The Screaming Sessions - cast and crew interviews recorded at the time of production in 2003
  • Interweb of Fear - a brief history of the BBC website and the important role that Doctor Who has played over the years
  • Soundtrack Album
  • Production information subtitles
  • Photo gallery
  • Coming Soon trailer
Terror of the Zygons
Release date: 30 Sep 2013 UK

Terror of the Zygons - DVD R2 Cover (3D) (Credit: BBC Worldwide)Starring Tom Baker as the Doctor, with Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah, and Ian Marter as Harry, and Nicholas Courtney as The Brigadier.
Written by Robert Banks Stewart
Directed by Douglas Camfield

Broadcast: Sat 30 Aug - Sat 20 Sep 1975

Returning to Earth, the Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive in the Scottish Highlands to investigate the mysterious destruction of several oil rigs in the North Sea. Local superstition speaks of a deadly threat that lurks in the mists on Tulloch Moor, but the truth is even more disturbing: the legendary Loch Ness Monster is a terrifying cyborg beast which is controlled by the Zygons, an advanced alien race who are desperate to ensure their own survival, at any cost...

Special Features:
  • Commentary, by producer Philip Hinchcliffe, writer Robert Banks Stewart, production unit manager George Gallaccio, make-up artist Sylvia James and sound effect producer Dick Mills, moderated by Mark Ayres.
  • Scotch Mist in Sussex - Cast and crew look back at the making of this story. With actors John Levene and John Woodnutt, Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Banks Stewart, designer Nigel Curzon, costume designer James Acheson, visual effects assistant Steve Bowman, writer and historian Simon Farquar and the director’s son, Joggs Camfield.
  • Remembering Douglas Camfield - The life and work of respected director Douglas Camfield is remembered in this documentary. With actors Celia Imrie, Peter Purves, Jonathan Newth and John Levene, Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Banks Stewart, director Graeme Harper and Joggs Camfield. Narrated by Glen Allen.
  • The UNIT Family Part 3 - The concluding part of the series looking at the stories featuring the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. With actors Tom Baker, Nicholas Courtney, Katy Manning, John Levene and Richard Franklin, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks.
  • Doctor Who Stories: Tom Baker - Tom Baker talks about his work on the series in this interview originally recorded for 2003’s The Story of Doctor Who.
  • Doctor Who Stories: Elisabeth Sladen - Elisabeth Sladen remembers her time as Sarah Jane Smith in this interview recorded for The Story of Doctor Who.
  • Merry-Go-Round: The Fuel Fishers - Elisabeth Sladen flies out to visit North Sea oil rigs and learn about the process of oil exploration in this schools programme from 1977.
  • South Today - Tom Baker interviewed on location in Sussex during the Terror of the Zygons filming by the BBC’s regional news programme South Today.
  • Disney Time - featuring the The Fourth Doctor (easter egg)
  • Isolated Score
  • Dolby 5.1 - option to listen to the episode in surround sound
  • Photo Gallery
  • Radio Times Billings
  • Coming Soon
  • Production Subtitles

The Moonbase

It has now been confirmed that the Second Doctor adventure The Moonbase will be released in 2014, enabling animation work to be completed. The animation is once again being undertaken by Planet 55, who rendered the missing episodes for both First Doctor adventures The Reign of Terror and The Tenth Planet; Pup Ltd have released two headshot images to illustrate how the principal characters will look:

The Moonbase - head animation image (Credit: Pup Ltd/Twitter) The Moonbase - head animation image (Credit: Pup Ltd/Twitter)

DVD Artwork

The DVD Artwork for recent and new releases have been published by Tea Lady Design via their Facebook Page:

The Visitation SE - DVD Cover Artwork (Credit: Tea Lady Design) Spearhead from Space - Bluray Cover Artwork (Credit: Tea Lady Design) The Green Death SE - DVD R2 Cover Artwork (Credit: Tea Lady Design) Terror of the Zygons - DVD R2 Cover Artwork (Credit: Tea Lady Design) The Tenth Planet - DVD R2 Cover Artwork (Credit: Tea Lady Design)





FILTER: - Merchandise - Second Doctor - First Doctor - Fourth Doctor - Blu-ray/DVD

AudioGo: September releases

Tuesday, 27 August 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
AudioGo's ongoing celebration of 50 Years of Doctor Who reaches the Ninth Doctor in September, with he, Rose and Jack entering the Night of the Whisper in the Destiny of the Doctor series. Meanwhile, the Sixth Doctor finds himself on trial for his lives in The Trial of a Time Lord in the latest Target novelisation adaptations, whilst the soundtrack of six adventures with the First Doctor are released in a collected edition.

Destiny of the Doctor: Night of the Whisper (Credit: AudioGo)Destiny of the Doctor: Night of the Whisper
Starring Nicholas Briggs, with John Schwab (pre-order)

New Vegas, 23rd Century – a sprawling city huddling beneath an artificial atmospheric bubble on a distant moon. Pleasure seekers flock there from every corner of the galaxy, to take in the shows and play the tables in the huge casinos. But beneath the glitz and the glitter, organised crime rules the streets.

Whilst Rose Tyler works as a waitress in the Full Moon nightclub, Jack Harkness poses as a reporter for the Daily Galaxy. Meanwhile, the Doctor is helping the police department with their investigation into The Whisper, a strange vigilante that has been terrorising the city’s underworld. But the Doctor is also on a mission of his own – to save Police Chief McNeil’s life at all costs.

Nicholas Briggs - the voice behind the Daleks - and John Schwab perform this original story by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright.


To be in with a chance to win one of three copies of Night of the Whisper courtesy of AudioGo, answer the following question:
Name John Schwab's credited appearance in the television series of Doctor Who.
Send your answer to comp-whisper@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "Fantastic!", along with your name, address, and where you saw the competition (the news website, twitter, facebook, etc.). Only one entry per postal address will be accepted. The competition is open worldwide, and the closing date is 4th September 2013.
Doctor Who - The Trial of a Time Lord Volume 1 (Credit: AudioGo)Doctor Who - The Trial of a Time Lord Volume 1
Written by Terrance Dicks and Philip Martin
Read by Lynda Bellingham and Colin Baker (pre-order)

Lynda Bellingham and Colin Baker read these thrilling novelisations of the first two adventures in 'The Trial of a Time Lord', featuring the Sixth Doctor. Doctor Who and the Mysterious Planet: The TARDIS has been taken out of time and the Doctor has been brought before a court of his fellow Time Lords. There the sinister Valeyard accuses the Doctor of breaking Gallifrey's most important law and interfering in the affairs of other planets. If the Valeyard can prove him guilty, the Doctor must sacrifice his remaining regenerations... Doctor Who: Mindwarp: The sinister prosecutor, the Valeyard, presents the High Council of Time Lords with the second piece of evidence against the Doctor...


To be in with a chance to win one of three copies of the first volume of The Trial of a Time Lord courtesy of AudioGo, answer the following question:
Name one of the Books of Knowledge that can be found at Marb Station.
Send your answer to comp-trial@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "Of course, Segacity", along with your name, address, and where you saw the competition. Only one entry per postal address will be accepted. The competition is open worldwide, and the closing date is 4th September 2013.
The TV Episodes Collection 6 (Credit: AudioGo)The TV Episodes Collection 6
Starring William Hartnell as Doctor Who
Linking narration by William Russell, Peter Purves and Anneke Wills (pre-order)

Six Doctor Who adventures starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor - plus extra bonus material. These classic soundtrack adventures, with additional linking narration, have all been remastered and include bonus interviews with William Russell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Anneke Wills.
  • The Sensorites: the Doctor and friends meet the alien Sensorites...
  • The Romans: in first-century Rome, Ian and Barbara are sold into slavery and the Doctor encounters Nero...
  • The Space Museum: the Doctor and his companions see a terrible potential future...
  • The Ark: the Doctor, Steven and Dodo come face-to-face with the last humans and their servants, the Monoids...
  • The Gunfighters: 1881, Tombstone. The TARDIS crew are in trouble, as they try to avoid getting caught in the crossfire at the OK Corral...
  • The War Machines: The TARDIS lands in London in 1966 - only to find that the brand new Post Office Tower is home to a monstrous supercomputer.


To be in with a chance to win one of three copies of The TV Episodes Collection 6 courtesy of AudioGo, answer the following question:
Name the story episode this competition subject is quoted from.
Send your answer to comp-tv6@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "The gentle art of Fisticuffs", along with your name, address, and where you saw the competition. Only one entry per postal address will be accepted. The competition is open worldwide, and the closing date is 4th September 2013.




FILTER: - Ninth Doctor - Merchandise - Sixth Doctor - Audio - Competitions - First Doctor

The Radio Times Doctor Who Cover That Never Was

Tuesday, 30 July 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
It's the Radio Times cover that could have been but never happened - publicising the first episode of Doctor Who back in November 1963.

A special two-page feature in the new edition of the listings magazine - out today and covering 3rd to 9th August 2013 - takes a look at how Doctor Who missed out on the prime Radio Times spot at its birth, including a modern-day mock-up of how the cover of that edition may have looked, and thanks to Immediate Media Co, which now publishes the magazine, Doctor Who News is delighted to bring you a clean version of that dummy front cover.

The Cover Story: Radio Times At 90 exhibition, which opens at the Museum of London at 150 London Wall this coming Friday to mark the publication's 90th birthday, has turned the spotlight on a document from the BBC archive that reveals the corporation's doubts about the programme that has subsequently appeared on the front of the magazine more times than any other show.

Back in 1963, Radio Times existed to publicise only the BBC's output, and an internal memo by Donald Wilson, head of the BBC's serials department, to Douglas Williams, then editor of the magazine, complained that the forthcoming launch of the programme on 23rd November 1963 was not being supported by Radio Times with a cover feature. Dated 5th November 1963, it read:
I was unhappy to hear to-day that the proposal to give 'Dr Who' the front page of the 'Radio Times' had now been abandoned. It was particularly distressing to hear that one reason given was lack of confidence in the programme at Controller [Kenneth Adam's] level. I assure you that this does not exist and if you have a word with [him] I know he will express enthusiasm. I myself believe that we have an absolute knock-out in this show and that there will be no question but that it will run and run.

I would be most grateful, if it is not too late, for the decision against it to be reversed, and that will help me to get this show off to a good start.
However, Wilson's pleas for a reprieve as regards front-page publicity for the show's first episode fell on deaf ears and the cover star for the issue ended up being Kenneth Horne, publicising his popular Light Programme radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, although the new sci-fi series was granted a short mention in a side panel on the front, highlighting an article on page 7 of the magazine. Doctor Who would ultimately have to wait another three months and for the start of its fourth serial - the epic historical adventure Marco Polo - before landing a coveted front cover.

Radio Times wasn't alone in having doubts about the show, though. Many within the BBC were also uncertain what to make of this odd-seeming new drama, as the show's first director Waris Hussein - who also directed Marco Polo - explains in the new edition of the magazine:
Radio Times echoed the prevailing attitude, and it was only when the programme began to make its mark that the magazine started to give it a prominent billing.

As far as I knew at the time, the BBC was fairly indifferent to [creator] Sydney Newman's whole concept of Doctor Who. This was echoed in the placing of the production in basic facilities at Studio D Lime Grove. . . [Producer] Verity Lambert and I were newcomers entrusted with what was considered a fill-in show for children between Saturday football and Juke Box Jury. There was no apparent need to promote an oddball show. . .

Radio Times covers are very important in promoting a show and in the case of Doctor Who I'm proud to say David finally became bigger than Goliath.
Meanwhile, current showrunner Steven Moffat comments on whether he would have pleaded for a cover if he were running things back in 1963:
It's a different show now. I knew Verity Lambert and part of her back then was amazed it broke through in the way it did. For them it was just the show they were doing at the time and they had no idea it would become what it was. But when I look back on the historic Doctor Who covers, I can imagine being a child again and looking at it and scrutinising it and probably thinking, 'I want to write my own stories for it.'
The full feature appears in the new edition of Radio Times.

A postcard set of 101 classic Radio Times covers - including six from Doctor Who - will be on sale at the exhibition, which will have a special display devoted to the magazine's long association with the programme. The Doctor Who covers in the set will be the 5th-11th November 1966 one for the start of The Power of the Daleks and the beginning of the Second Doctor's era, the 1st-7th January 1972 one for the Season 9 opener Day of the Daleks, the 26th March-1st April 2005 one heralding the show's return with Rose, the award-winning 30th April-6th May 2005 "Vote Dalek!" one for the episode Dalek, and the 8th-14th July 2006 Daleks and Cybermen ones for the Series 2 finale Doomsday (and World Cup final!).

The exhibition, which is free, opens on Friday 2nd August and runs until Sunday 3rd November.




FILTER: - UK - Exhibitions - First Doctor - Radio Times