The Gunpowder Plot gathers Steam

Friday, 7 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Legacy Games have announced their intention to make the fifth instalment of the Doctor Who Adventure Games, The Gunpowder Plot, available through Valve's Steam gaming platform.

The company, which sells the games outside the United Kingdom (where they are free to TV licencees via the BBC) have listed the item on the Steam website, which requires its community to 'greenlight' the item to be made available through the gaming system.

The popular Doctor Who TV show, broadcast in over 50 countries and running for more than 4 decades, arrives in a marvelous 3D adventure game! Based on the escapades of the Eleventh Doctor, this is the 5th game in a five-part series, all with standalone stories and all voiced by the TV actors! Once we get this game approved, we'll release the other four games as well! Using a mix of stealth, exploration, traditional adventure game elements, and of course, epic sci-fi storytelling, this game is a must for Doctor Who and adventure game fans alike!

(with thanks to Vitas Varnas)

FILTER: - Merchandise - Online - Games

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: Preview clips

Thursday, 6 September 2012 - Reported by Harry Ward

The BBC has released two 40 second preview clips for this Saturday's episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

The Doctor and Nefertiti (YouTube / BBC iPlayer)

Meet Riddell! (YouTube / BBC iPlayer)

Run! (YouTube / BBC iPlayer)

New Images:

The BBC also released 4 new images from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

Coming soon: The Power of Three

The BBC has released a synopsis for episode 4, The Power of Three, which will air on Saturday 22nd September.

The Doctor and the Ponds puzzle an unlikely invasion of Earth, as millions of sinister black cubes arrive overnight, almost like presents falling from the sky

But what are they, what’s inside them and most importantly, who sent them? With the international community at a loss, it’s left to the Doctor to unearth who is behind the mystery.

Guest stars: Mark Williams (Brian Williams), Steven Berkoff (Mr Shanks) and Jemma Redgrave (Kate Stewart)

Writer: Chris Chibnall
Executive Producers: Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
Producer: Marcus Wilson
Director: Douglas Mackinnon

FILTER: - Online - Series 7/33

CafePress licensed to sell Doctor Who merchandise

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC Worldwide Americas have licensed online apparel distributor CafePress to sell official Doctor Who merchandise.

The World's Customization Engine™, today announces its new partnership with BBC Worldwide Americas to bring exceptional Doctor Who-branded apparel and gifts to fans in North America via CafePress' e-commerce store. With the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who approaching in November 2013 as well as the premiere of the new season that premiered September 1st on BBC AMERICA, fan interest in the show has never been higher. Doctor Who recently was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, making it the first British TV series to earn the cover. This partnership, which will extend through December 2014, will give eager Doctor Who fans a chance to show and share their love for the iconic brand.

As part of this new partnership, CafePress and BBC Worldwide Americas will bring unique Doctor Who items featuring some of the show's most popular characters, images and themes. Products available for purchase will range from "Bow Ties are Cool" (in honor of Matt Smith's portrayal as the Eleventh Doctor) and Cybermen t-shirts to TARDIS hoodies. Through this partnership, new designs will be released regularly to celebrate constantly evolving Doctor Who phenomena as well as milestones for the show. Fans will also have the print-on-demand option, where they can order the size, color, fashion body and graphic to suit their taste.

"Doctor Who fans span several generations and we're genuinely excited to be part of this phenomenon and make this shop available to such loyal and passionate supporters," says Marc Cowlin, Director of Marketing at CafePress. "Whovians can prepare themselves to celebrate the pending 50th Anniversary of the show with truly unique gear."

FILTER: - Merchandise - USA - Press

BBC America: Asylum of the Daleks breaks audience record

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The viewing figure for last Saturday's premiere of Asylum of the Daleks on BBC America has been released, indicating that over 1.5 million tuned in to watch the Doctor's latest adventure with his arch-enemy - giving the episode the highest audience for Doctor Who on the channel so far!

BBC America reported:

(Saturday) delivered the channel's highest-rated, most-watched telecast ever in Live + Same Day. Doctor Who delivered 1.555 million viewers and 723,000 A25-54. The series ranked #1 in cable, excluding sports, among A25-54 in the Saturday 9:00pm-10:00pm time slot. The Doctor Who premiere and the third episode of BBC AMERICA's first original series COPPER helped BBC AMERICA achieve its highest-rated weekend ever.

Doctor Who premiere 9/1/12 9:00pm ET. Rank vs. ad-supported English language cable, excluding sports.P2+: .76 coverage rating/.54 national rating/1,555,000. P25-54: .86 coverage rating/.61 national rating/723,000

The figure comfortably overtook the previous highest rating of 1.268m achieved by last year's series opener, The Impossible Astronaut.

Media links: Entertainment Weekly

(figures: BBC AMERICA)

FILTER: - USA - Ratings - BBC America - Series 7/33

Big Finish: The Sands Of Life

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have revealed the cover for The Sands Of Life, the second story in the Tom Baker/Mary Tamm season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, which also see the duo re-united with K9 (as played by John Leeson) for the first time this series.

Producer David Richardson said:

I loved Nick's script for this story, and it sets up an interesting arc for the series which will see David Warner and Toby Hadoke recurring through four of the releases. I think we made Toby’s year when we cast him in an ongoing role opposite one of his favourite Doctors!

Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs, it is due to be released in February 2013.

The Sands of Life
by Nicholas Briggs
starring Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and John Leeson

Plot synopsis to be confirmed.

Cast: Hayley Atwell (President Moorkurk), David Warner (Cuthbert), Toby Hadoke (Mr Dorrick)

FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Tom Baker - Big Finish

Doctor Who Adventures 285

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Harry Ward

This week's Doctor Who Adventures magazine comes with a Doctor dress-up set which includes a bow tie, a physic-paper notebook, the eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver and a TARDIS key.

Every Dalek Ever! This week in Doctor Who Adventures!

Hooray! Doctor Who is back - and Asylum of the Daleks is the best and scariest episode ever*! We celebrate with a special pull-out guide to the story, cool posters and a really tricky Dalek quiz. Plus we've an amazing preview of the next episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. We can't wait!

What's more, our amazing Doctor dress-up set means you can be the top Time Lord. We've also got lots of top tips on how to be the Doctor!

All this plus a terrifying comic strip, the secrets behind giant spider-woman The Empress of the Racnoss and jokes so bad you will have nightmares.

* We weren't scared by it. We just had to sleep with the lights on. And a teddy bear. With a laser gun.

Issue 285 of Doctor Who Adventures is out in the UK from 6 September.

FILTER: - DWA - Series 7/33

SPACE reports high ratings for Asylum

Tuesday, 4 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Canadian broadcaster SPACE have announced that as well as being the highest rated programme for its timeslot on Canadian television last Saturday, season opener Asylum of the Daleks also become the second-highest rated episode in the show's history on the channel!

The channel's press release said:

He did it again! The Season 7 premiere of DOCTOR WHO drew an earth-shattering 620,000 viewers, making it the second-highest rated episode in series history on SPACE and the most-watched program on Canadian television in its timeslot Saturday night. Featuring zombies, break-ups, make-ups, and more Daleks than you can shake a sonic screwdriver at, Asylum of the Daleks made SPACE the #1 network – conventional or specialty – Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET with total viewers and in the key demos A25-54 and A18-49. Peaking with 746,000 viewers, in all 1.1 million Canadians watched some or all of the episode.

The Season 7 premiere of DOCTOR WHO exterminated minds with an unexpected appearance by Jenna-Louise Coleman as Oswin Oswald, who is set to star as the Time Lord’s next companion later this season. Viewers can relive the time-travelling trickery online at SPACEcast.com.

The highest rated episode (so far) is last year's Let's Kill Hitler, which managed 834,000 viewers, with a peak of 977,000 and some 1.2m unique viewers in all.

FILTER: - Canada - Ratings - Series 7/33

AudioGo: October Releases

Tuesday, 4 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

AudioGo have released details on audio titles in their spoken word range due to be released in October.

The adaptation of Target novelisations continue with the Fifth Doctor adventure The Visitation, which is read by Matthew Waterhouse (Adric). Meanwhile, the television series soundtrack range sees the release of Fourth Doctor adventure The Pirate Planet, with linking narration by John Leeson (K9). In addition, two compilation collections are also to be released, themed around Earth invasions and Dalek encounters. Finally, a collection of six Eleventh Doctor adventures are also to be released in a special "TARDIS" box.

The audio releases are all due on the 4th October.

The Visitation
Written by Eric Saward
Read by Matthew Waterhouse
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

Arriving on the outskirts of London in 1666, the Doctor, Tegan, Adric and Nyssa receive a decidedly unfriendly welcome. It soon becomes clear that the sinister activities of other alien visitors have made the villagers extremely suspicious of outsiders. And as a result of the alien Terileptils’ evil schemes, the Doctor finds himself on the point of playing a key role in a gruesome historical event...

Matthew Waterhouse, who played Adric in the original TV serial from 1982, reads the story.

The Pirate Planet
Written by Douglas Adams
Narrated by John Leeson
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

Starring Tom Baker and the late Mary Tamm. The Doctor and Romana discover a planet ruled over by the tyrannical Captain. They soon discover that all is not what it seems about the ‘pirate planet’ – and a far darker power lurks behind the scenes.

This full-cast four-part TV soundtrack from the original 1978 BBC TV serial has the benefit of special linking narration by John Leeson, who in a bonus interview recollects his time as the Voice of K9.

Doctor Who: Invasion Earth!
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

A collectible slipcase containing three exciting Doctor Who audiobooks across 12 discs, each featuring an alien invasion of Earth! In "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," the Doctor and his friends must fight to save the planet from the Daleks in the 21st Century. In "The Auton Invasion," a newly-regenerated Third Doctor encounters the Nestenes and their robotic "shop window dummy" servants the Autons. In "The Dinosaur Invasion," London faces an incursion of prehistoric monsters as the spearhead of Operation Golden Age.

Read by William Russell, Caroline John and Martin Jarvis, with original sound design, and Nicholas Briggs as the voice of the Daleks.

Doctor Who: Dalek Menace!
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

A collectible slipcase containing three exciting Doctor Who audiobooks across 15 discs, each featuring the Daleks! In "Daleks: The Chase," the TARDIS is pursued through Time and Space by the Daleks, who are intent on preventing any future intervention in their plans by the Doctor. In "Daleks: Mission to the Unknown" and "Daleks: The Mutation of Time," the leader of Earth in the far future, Mavic Chen, has allied himself with the Daleks. When the Doctor steals the core of the Time Destructor, his arch enemies pursue him across the galaxy in order to retrieve it.

Read by Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Jean Marsh, with original sound design, and Nicholas Briggs as the voice of the Daleks.

Doctor Who: TARDIS Adventure Collection
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

The Doctor Who: TARDIS Adventure Collection comes in a wonderful TARDIS-shaped box with front opening door, containing six 11th Doctor Audio Original titles: THE RUNAWAY TRAIN, RING OF STEEL, THE JADE PYRAMID, THE HOUNDS OF ARTEMIS, THE GEMINI CONTAGION and THE EYE OF THE JUNGLE.

Read by Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill, Clare Corbett, Meera Syal and David Troughton, with original sound design, this impressive box set is guaranteed to provide a Christmas highlight for all Doctor Who fans.

FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Classic Series

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: Gallery

Tuesday, 4 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have released a variety of photos to promote Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, which will premiere on BBC1 next Saturday at 7:35pm.

An unmanned spaceship hurtles towards certain destruction - unless the Doctor can save it, and its impossible cargo... of dinosaurs!

By his side a ragtag gang of adventurers, a big game hunter, an Egyptian Queen and a surprised member of the Pond family. But little does the Doctor know there is someone else on board who will stop at nothing to keep hold of his precious, prehistoric cargo.

Guest stars: Riann Steele (Queen Nefertiti); Rupert Graves (Riddell); Mark Williams (Brian Williams) and David Bradley (Solomon)

Writer: Chris Chibnall
Executive Producers: Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
Producer: Marcus Wilson
Director: Saul Metzstein

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Trailer (YouTube / BBC iPlayer)

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is due to be broadcast at these times around the world:

United Kingdom : Saturday  8th September, 7:35pm BST   BBC1
United States  : Saturday  8th September, 9:00pm ET    BBC America
Canada         : Saturday  8th September, 9:00pm ET    SPACE
Australia      : Saturday 15th September, 7:30pm AEST  ABC (also on iView from 9th Sept)
New Zealand    : Thursday 20th September, 8:30pm NZST  Prime

A Town Called Mercy

Meanwhile, the Radio Times has listed A Town Called Mercy to remain in the 7:35pm timeslot the following week; BBC Programme Information has yet to confirm the time, which will be finalised later in the week.

The Doctor gets a Stetson (and a gun!), and finds himself the reluctant Sheriff of a Western town under siege by a relentless cyborg, who goes by the name of the Gunslinger.

But who is he and what does he want? The answer seems to lie with the mysterious Kahler-Jex, an alien doctor (yes another one!) whose initial appearance is hiding a dark secret.

Writer: Toby Whithouse
Executive Producers: Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
Producer: Marcus Wilson
Director: Saul Metzstein

FILTER: - Series 7/33

Big Finish: The Auntie Matter

Monday, 3 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have revealed the cover for The Auntie Matter, the first story in the second season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures; it stars Tom Baker with the late Mary Tamm, and is due to be released in January 2013.

Producer David Richardson says:

It's astonishing to think that it's only four months until the launch of Season Two, And it’s desperately sad to think Mary is no longer with us to enjoy the public unveiling of Romana’s return to the Fourth Doctor’s side.

However, I have no doubt at all that Mary would want us to forge ahead with releasing these stories as planned, and she'd want them to be a huge success. She certainly worked very hard to finish them, despite her illness.

The story concerns how, whilst the two time travellers are hiding out at the Doctor's house on Baker Street in the early 20th Century, Romana attracts the attentions of Reggie, who is very eager to introduce her to his Aunt...

The cast includes Robert Portal as Reggie, Lucy Griffiths as Mabel, Alan Cox as Grenville, with Julia McKenzie as the sinister Aunt Florence.

The Auntie Matter
by Jonathan Morris
starring Tom Baker and Mary Tamm

"Well, old Reggie's finally gone and done it now, hasn't he?

It had all started so well. Finally found a filly worthy of taking to Basset Hall for the blasted Aunt's approval, bright young charmer called Romana, then everything goes to pot. Now some Doctor cove's running round the place waving a wand at everything and people are firing weapons at us. It's all terribly uncivilised.

Looks like your hero's goose might be a trifle on the cooked side. It's all so dashed frightening. I wonder if it'll be done for tea?"

FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Tom Baker - Big Finish

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