More guests added to the Sydney Doctor Who Festival

Thursday, 24 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

Doctor Who Festival - Australia, 21-22 November 2015 (Credit: BBC Worldwide)

BBC Worldwide has announced further guests to the Australian Doctor Who Festival. Sylvester Mccoy, Billie Piper and Dan Starkey will join Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss in Sydney on the 21st and 22nd November 2015. Piper and McCoy will appear on stage at the festival in a series of fan Q&As hosted by Adam Spencer. Billie Piper’s attendance at the Doctor Who Festival is subject to her filming commitments.

Sylvester Mccoy said:

I’m over the moon, quite literally, as I’ll be coming by TARDIS!

Dan Starkey said:

I made a flying visit to Australia a few years ago and I'm really looking forward to coming back and spending a little longer this time. In his long and illustrious military career I'm sure that Strax has conquered jet-lag and I'm certain I will too!

Doctor Who Festival 2015 - Ticketek Australia

New! Millennium FX Monster Show - see the work that goes into creating some of the iconic monsters from Doctor Who with a live monster make-up demonstration and, as a special treat for fans, a brand new never-before-seen series nine monster will also feature on stage.
New! Drama School With The Monsters – alongside Dan Starkey (Strax) and Jon Davey (monster actor), learn what it takes to be a monster on the set of Doctor Who in this hands-on drama school session.
New! Production Village – get a glimpse of life on set in the ‘Production Village’ with Gary Russell (Script Editor). Learn about the different roles in television production and what it’s really like to work on set. How early are the call times? Who arrives first and who leaves last? Who has the most difficult role, and most importantly, who looks after the key to the TARDIS? In the Production Village these questions and more will be answered, as fans are offered an exclusive insight into the many parts involved in bringing them the world’s longest running sci-fi program.
New! Science Of Doctor Who - on this amazing journey through space and time, comedian Rob Lloyd explores the scientific mysteries of Doctor Who. Featuring original scenes from the iconic BBC television series, this interactive session investigates the science of time travel, asks if regeneration is possible, and explains how the TARDIS can be bigger on the inside.
New! Iconic Set - direct from Cardiff a unique setting from this season’s Doctor Who will be coming to Australia for the first time ever.
Q&As - see the writers and cast from the series as they talk about how to make an idea become reality on a series as big and bold as Doctor Who.
Photo And Autograph Opportunities - a limited number of opportunities for photos and autographs with selected talent.
Writers’ Masterclass – ask Mark Gatiss how a Doctor Who script is crafted and discover the techniques behind the art of dramatic scriptwriting and how to get work published.
SFX Display – witness first-hand some of the spectacular effects seen in the series such as explosions and fireballs, elemental and atmospheric effects, mechanical rigs and pyrotechnics.
Wardrobe Department – a fantastic exhibition of costumes and props.
Cosplayers’ Showcase - fans can showcase their impressive Doctor Who-themed outfits with a special prize awarded to the best dressed.
Doctor Who Quiz – this is the ultimate Doctor Who quiz, where fans can show off their in-depth knowledge of the Doctor, his adversaries and the many adventures he’s had through space and time.
The Fan Challenge - fans young and old can battle it out and test their Doctor Who knowledge.

(BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand)

FILTER: - Australia - Doctor Who - Special Events

Doctor Who Extra

Saturday, 19 September 2015 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC have released clips looking behind the scenes of tonight's series opener of Doctor Who, The Magician's Apprentice.

Missy and The Doctor - Doctor Who Extra Peter Capaldi, Michelle Gomez and Steven Moffat on Missy and the Doctor’s friendship.
The Doctor's Guitar - Doctor Who Extra Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman riff on the Doctor's new guitar!.
Colony Sarff - Doctor Who Extra Go behind the scenes to learn the ssssecrets of Colony Sarff!
The Grand Entrance - Doctor Who Extra Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat discuss the Doctor's grand entrance.

A full review of the episode can be found on Doctor Who Reviews

FILTER: - Doctor Who Extra - Series 9/35

The Doctor's Meditation

Friday, 18 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

The BBC has released The Doctor's Meditation to UK fans on the official Doctor Who Facebook page. The video is region locked and can only be viewed from a UK IP address. Fans in other parts of the world can watch the "prequel" on TV. BBC America will be airing it tonight at 10pm and will be repeated in the early hours of Saturday at 1am. Canadians will be able to watch it on SPACE tonight at 6pm. On the other side of the world in Australia, ABC 2 will be showing The Doctor's Meditation on Saturday evening at 7.30pm and again on Monday evening at the same time.

The video is available to download from iTunes, Amazon Instant Video and Google Play.

The Doctor prepares for his deadliest confrontation - distractions permitting...

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Series 9/35

Jenna Coleman to leave Doctor Who

Friday, 18 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

Jenna Coleman and Clara (Credit: BBC/David Venni)

The BBC has officially confirmed the departure of Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who. The actress revealed the news exclusively on BBC Radio 1's Breakfast Show. She told presenter Nick Grimshaw: "I have left the tardis - it's happened, I've filmed my last scenes." ITV has also confirmed she is to play a young Queen Victoria in their new drama Victoria. Coleman said: "I am delighted to be cast as Queen Victoria in this ambitious drama of her life. She is a vivid, strong, inspirational and utterly fascinating woman in British history and I can't wait to tell her story." The series will be produced by Paul Frift (In The Forest Of The Night, Last Christmas).

Adventures to last me a lifetime. Thank you @bbcdoctorwho. But as they say 'It ain't over till it's over' - Jenna Coleman on Twitter.

Coleman made her first appearance in Doctor Who with a surprise role in 2012's Asylum of the Daleks, where she played the fateful Oswin Oswald, a Junior Entertainment Manager on the starliner Alaska. She returned later that year in The Snowmen, this time playing a Victorian barmaid/governess. Again, her character didn't survive the episode... Her first regular companion role came in 2013's The Bells of Saint John, which started the "Impossible Girl" story arc.

Jenna Coleman tells Grimmy she's leaving Doctor Who! - BBC Radio 1

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Jenna Coleman

BBC keeping quiet on Jenna Coleman's future

Wednesday, 16 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

Jenna Coleman as Clara (Credit: BBC / David Venni)

Jenna Coleman's involvement with Doctor Who beyond 2015 is in doubt again after the Mirror reported the actress has "quit" the show to play a young Queen Victoria in a new ITV drama. The article states: "She is thought to have already filmed her final scenes, and will bow out before the Christmas special."

This year's Christmas special will feature Alex Kingston back as River Song but there has not been an announcement of Jenna's involvement. She is also missing from November's Doctor Who Festival guest lineup.

The news that Jenna Coleman has "quit" has been published in other British papers including The independent, The Telegraph and The Guardian. The BBC has reported the story on their news website but the Doctor Who production team have declined to comment.

The Mirror previously reported that Jenna Coleman had quit and would leave at the end of Last Christmas. Steven Moffat wrote in Doctor Who Magazine 484 that Death in Heaven was to be her last episode but she had changed her mind:

That was her last episode. And then she asked me if she could be in Christmas? So I said, 'Okay, I'll write you out in Christmas.' She came to the read through and did the 'write out' version - and again changed her mind.

But the truth is I never wanted her to go. I didn't really want Death in Heaven to be her last episode. And with Last Christmas, I'd already written the alternative version where she stayed, and I preferred that version. For Christmas Day it's a bit nicer. Frankly, I didn't want to lose her. She's an amazing actress, and she never stops working to make Clara better. I was very happy to go the extra mile to make sure we could keep her.

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Jenna Coleman - Press

Doctor Who Game Maker launched

Tuesday, 15 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

The BBC has launched Doctor Who: Game Maker as part of the corporation's Make it Digital season. The game will allow fans to create their own adventures by manipulating the Doctor Who universe. Characters which can be used in game include the Doctor, Clara, Missy, and various monsters and alien worlds from the series. Users can create their own game from scratch or use an existing template which includes classic game formats with a Doctor Who twist, including platform games, puzzles and racers.

Strax will be able to offer advice by showing users how to get started, change a game’s physics to make things fly, animate objects and even add special effects.

Games can be created on tablet devices and desktop computers, and there will soon be an Arcade area which will let people play games on mobile devices.

Jo Pearce, Creative Director, BBC Cymru Wales Interactive, says:

The Doctor Who Game Maker rounds off a big year for Doctor Who as part of BBC Make it Digital. Our game introduced our audiences to coding basics, Mission Dalek competition encouraged fans to create stories using digital technology, and now we’re giving fans the chance to make their own games. It’s hugely exciting and we can’t wait to see what people come up with.

Doctor Who - Game Maker: Trailer - BBC Make It Digital

The Game Maker was produced in collaboration between BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Digital, Aardman Animations, Aerian and BBC Connected Studio, and is built using the BBC’s new mixital technology.

(with thanks to BBC Digital)

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Games - Online

Radio Times looks forward to Series Nine

Tuesday, 15 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

Radio Times: 19-25 September 2015 (Credit: Radio Times)

Doctor Who once more features on the cover of this week's Radio Times, which is out in shops today.

The issue looks forward to the news series and talks to stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, who discuss their on-screen relationship, the challenges of working on the series and the success of the show.

Jenna Coleman on the announcement of Peter Capaldi:

I’d no idea who would take over from Matt Smith, and when I was told it was Peter, it was one of those ‘aha, that makes sense – genius’ kind of moments. But the first thing he said to me was, ‘There will be no romance in the Tardis.’

Peter Capaldi on the challenges of working on Doctor Who:

It’s a difficult show to act. It goes from B-movie sci-fi to Freudian drama and tragedy. There’s romance, pantomime, humour and sadness, so you’re kept on your toes. I try not to be too romantic or sentimental. Sometimes Jenna will run down a corridor shouting, ‘Doctor, there’s a monster,’ and stuff. Part of the tradition is that sets wobble and you have to fight a giant spider made of rubber. I enjoy that. It’s not so well budgeted as viewers might think but it looks great because of the talent of the people working on it.

Also in the new issue, Steven Moffat’s series 9 episode guide teases each of the twelve episodes in the new series.

NB: Later this month Frank Skinner will hosting a Doctor Who session at the Radio Times Festival at 7pm on Friday 25th September.

(with thanks to Radio Times)

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Publicity - Radio Times - Series 9/35

Series 9 episode titles revealed

Monday, 14 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

Peter Capaldi as The Doctor (Credit: BBC / David Venni)

The official BBC Doctor Who Twitter account has posted the episode titles for the 12 episodes of Series 9.

The Magician's Apprentice

The Witch's Familiar

Under The Lake

Before The Flood

The Girl Who Died

The Woman Who Lived

The Zygon Invasion*

The Zygon Inversion*

Sleep No More

Face The Raven

Heaven Sent

Hell Bent

*Previously known as Invasion Of The Zygons / Inversion Of The Zygons

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Series 9/35

The Magician's Apprentice - Prologue

Friday, 11 September 2015 - Reported by Harry Ward

The BBC has released a two minute prologue to The Magician's Apprentice, which airs on 19th September. Check This Week in Doctor Who for more broadcast dates around the world.

New Series Prologue - BBC
Behind the scenes of the Prologue - BBC

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Series 9/35

Big Finish releases for September

Thursday, 10 September 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Today sees the launch of Big Finish's latest series of tie-in adventures, this time focussing on the Doctor Who spin-off, Torchwood; the first in the series, The Conspiracy, features John Barrowman, reprising his role as Captain Jack Harkness. Meanwhile, the three earliest Doctors all have an outing this month, with the First and Vicki's perceptions tested in Short Trips: Etheria, the Second, Ben, Polly and Jamie encounter The Yes Men, and the Third returns (in the form of Tim Treloar) alongside Jo and Mike Yates in the Third Doctor Adventures (Vol 1). Finally, the Seventh Doctor and Mel are caught up in diminutive shenanigans in Terror of the Sontarans ...

Torchwood: The Conspiracy [order]
Written by David Llewellyn
Directed by Scott Handcock
Starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness

Captain Jack Harkness has always had his suspicions about the Committee. And now Wilson is also talking about the Committee. Apparently the world really is under the control of alien lizards. That’s what Wilson says. People have died, disasters have been staged, the suspicious have disappeared.

It’s outrageous.

Only Jack knows that Wilson is right. The Committee has arrived.

Competition

We're pleased to be able to offer readers with an active Big Finish registration the chance to win a digital download of Torchwood: The Conspiracy: to enter, simply answer the following question:

Jack has been 'reborn' many times over the course of his career with Torchwood, but name a colleague to similarly 'return from the grave'.

Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-conspiracy@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Committed to the cause". The competition is open worldwide, closing date: 30th September 2015. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

Short Trips: Etheria (Credit: Big Finish)

Short Trips: Etheria [pre-order]
Written by Nick Wallace
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Narrated by Peter Purves

Having escaped an ambush by pirates, the Doctor and Vicki are stranded on a strange world, in the shadow of vast rock formations and islands in the sky. The only way home is through the treacherous Etherlands, where the invisible Ether alters the perception of anyone who enters...

The Early Adventures: The Yes Men [pre-order]
Written by Simon Guerrier
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Starring Anneke Wills as Polly Wright/Narrator, Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon/The Doctor), and Elliot Chapman as Ben Jackson

The Doctor, Jamie, Polly and Ben arrive on New Houston, an Earth colony in the Fourth Sector, which the Doctor previously saved from an alien invasion. He wishes to pay his respects to his late friend Meg Carvossa, but something is not quite right with New Houston’s subservient robots...

The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 1 (Credit: Big Finish)

The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume One [pre-order]
Written by: Justin Richards and Andy Lane
Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Starring Tim Treloar as the Narrator/The Doctor, Katy Manning as Jo Grant, and Richard Franklin as Mike Yates

Prisoners of the Lake

Captain Mike Yates is investigating the disappearance of artefacts from an archaeological site deep below Dunstanton Lake. It’s hardly a job for UNIT. But when the team discover a mysterious ancient structure buried deep underwater, all that changes.

When chief archaeologist Freda Mattingly ventures inside, she soon realises that her skills do not begin to equip her to deal with what she finds. As an ancient menace begins to stir the Doctor, Jo Grant and Mike Yates must dive down to the lake bed and discover the secrets hidden there. Secrets that could mean the end of all life on Earth…

The Havoc of Empires

The Doctor and Jo take Mike Yates on his first trip in the TARDIS, but instead of the historical cricket match they were aiming for they end up on a futuristic space station in the middle of a diplomatic crisis that might escalate into galactic war.

The alien leader of the Chalnoth Hegemony is marrying the human Director of the Teklarn Incorporation, but there are forces that will stop at nothing to disrupt the ceremony. The Doctor is accused of murder while explosions occur across the station, and only Jo Grant, pretending to be a security consultant, can save the day.

But then, there’s the Eels to consider…

Terror of the Sontarans (Credit: Big Finish)

Terror of the Sontarans [pre-order]
Written by John Dorney and Dan Starkey
Directed by Ken Bentley
Starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush

Once it was a mining facility. Then later its corridors rang with screams generated by grotesque military experiments. However when the Doctor and Mel arrive on a hostile alien world after detecting a distress signal, the base they find themselves in is almost deserted.

But not for long. Soon the Doctor's old enemies, the Sontarans, have landed, and are searching for the remnants of their previous research team. Before long they uncover evidence of strange occurrences on the planet. Of madness and death.

They are warriors bred for war, strong of spirit and unafraid of death. To fear the enemy is an act of betrayal. Nothing holds terror for the Sontarans.

Until now...