Nicholas Courtney, known to and beloved by Doctor Who fans worldwide as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and one of the longest-serving co-stars of the series, has died, aged 81.

Born in Egypt, William Nicholas Stone Courtney spent his childhood and education in a variety of places - his father serving in the diplomatic service - before entering the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art after completing his National Service in 1950. He then entered rep in 1952 - his first job being actor/ASM in Cromer! - before a move to London brought him to the world of television.

His first appearance in this media was as a Warrant Officer in the 1957 series Escape, followed by playing King Charles II in Looking About and Mark Norman in an episode of No Hiding Place. He was then to appear throughout the 1960s in shows like Callan and Sword of Honour, as well as popular fantasy genre titles like The Saint, The Champions, The Avengers, and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (alongside Master-to-be, Roger Delgado).

His first brush with Doctor Who was to be as Space Security Agent Bret Vyon in the First Doctor epic The Daleks' Master Plan. For Doctor Who fans, of course, he will always be remembered as UNIT stalwart Lethbridge-Stewart. Originally slated to play Captain Knight in the Second Doctor adventure The Web Of Fear, he was 'promoted' to the role of Colonel by director Douglas Camfield when original actor David Langton pulled out, and returned a year as a newly promoted Brigadier in The Invasion, a role he was to become associated with for over forty years! Appearing as one of the main characters throughout the Third Doctor's incarnation as the UK head of UNIT, he was then to appear with every other classic series Doctor, both during the television show's original run and through the Big Finish audio adventures. Name-checked a number of times in the revived series of Doctor Who, Sir Alistair was to eventually return in the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2008 - the actor being re-united with 70s co-star Elisabeth Sladen.

Work continued after his departure from Doctor Who, appearing in shows such as All Creatures Great And Small and Sink or Swim (both alongside Fifth Doctor Peter Davison), Shelley, Yes, Prime Minister and Only Fools and Horses; he also played Lt. Col. Robert Witherton in 1993's Then Churchill Said to Me. More recently, he appeared in popular shows like The Bill, Doctors, and Casualty. In 2008 he played the Archbishop of Canterbury in Incendiary.

In 1997, he became the Honorary President of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, a position he was very proud to hold.


There have been two autobiographies on his life, Five Rounds Rapid! in 1998 and Still Getting Away With It in 2005; his memoirs were also released by Big Finish as A Soldier In Time in 2002.

He is survived by his wife Karen, his son Philip and daughter Bella.

William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16th December 1929 - 22nd February 2011)

Special Tributes: Tom Baker, Steven Moffat (via BBC Doctor Who), GreyhoundLeader (Nicholas Courtney's official site).
Media coverage: Sat: The Independent; :Fri: TVlia (Spanish), MyJoyOnline; Thu: Unreality TV, Airlock Alpha, Pure People (French), The A.V. Club, AceShowbiz, The Telegraph (Blog), TNT Magazine, Mirror, MTV, The West Australian, Adelaide Now; Wed: BBC News, BBC Doctor Who, BBC America, RadioTimes, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, Express, Belfast Telegraph, AOL News, CBS News, Digital Journal, The Stage, Big Finish Productions, SFX, io9, The Register, Den of Geek, Digital Spy, The Sun, Metro, The List, Geeks of Doom, Anglotopia, Zap2It, ATV Today, TV.com, MediaSpy, Kansas City Star, AlloCiné (French)

The majestic medieval backdrop of Raglan Castle in South East Wales will be the temporary home of the TARDIS throughout this February half-term until Sunday 27 February.

The Welsh Assembly released the news on their website earlier today:

After several test days and special preview visits, the Doctor Who Experience finally opened to the general public on Sunday morning.

Current Doctor Matt Smith was on hand at the Experience, during which he was to meet 'himself' in the form of a life-sized model: "I think he's sort of a bit musclier than I am! It's a surreal experience to have an image of yourself in 3D. So weird but one of the wonderful privileges of this particular job - you get rather mad experiences." The encounter didn't faze him, however, as he then straightened up his alter-ego's tie!

Executive Producer and lead writer Steven Moffat said about the project: "We're not setting out to frighten anyone, but kids will come here expecting it to be a bit scary, and I don't think we will be letting them down. But with the Doctor on screen following you around, hopefully you will know that you are in safe hands. After all, the Doctor always wins."

A video is available via the Experience home page, plus coverage of the launch via Sky News and Digital Spy. BBC Radio 1's Jo Whiley also visited the launch, which can be heard on her latest show from her website, which includes photos from the Experience.

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Over the course of the week leading up to the grand opening, a number of articles/reviews featured in the press regarding the Experience, some of which are highlighted below: SFX Magazine reported: The big crowdpleaser, and reason to part with your money, will clearly be the walkthrough, a kind of mini-Doctor Who adventure with filmed snippets of Matt Smith ingeniously inserted along the way. From beginning to end it takes about 20 minutes, including a visit to a space museum, a daring step through the Crack (which opens up in front of you) a Dalek war, a flight in the TARDIS (with a moving floor bouncing you up and down – though not quite as violently as in the show), the previously mentioned 3D flight through the vortex and a few Stone Angels lurking in the shadows. It’s unashamedly aimed at the kids (the Eleventh Doctor urges grown ups to let the kids take the controls of the TARDIS) but if you can go with the flow it’s a good laugh. And because it uses props from the actual series, even the most “grown-up” fans can treat it like an animated museum if pretending to fight Daleks is all a little too silly. The Sun's TV Biz editor Colin Robertson enjoyed his visit: By the end, it was clear why it's dubbed "Experience", because it's far from being a boring exhibition of Doctor Who throughout the ages. Money and creative energy has been lavished on a labyrinth of themed rooms where all manner of Who-ness is within touching distance. Your guide here, and throughout this whistle-stop tour around the galaxy, is current Timelord Matt Smith, whose video image flashes up on screens in each room. But arguably the biggest treat is the exhibition at the end, where the entire prop department seems to have decamped. The Face of Boe, the Timelord's arch-enemy Davros, several Cybermen, Zygons, Melkurs, Doctor Who's many outfits through the years - even his doggy sidekick K9. All Who life is here. I got to grips with the old Tardis control console from the 1980s used by the sixth doctor Colin Baker and his immediate successor Sylvester McCoy. The Daily Mail's Michael Hellicar summed up: The whole Experience is, well, an experience. Children at the preview with me loved it — although one or two had to be persuaded by their parents to watch the scariest bits, and one six-year-old, dressed as Matt Smith’s Doctor, refused point-blank to go in once the familiar theme tune had struck up. Nigel Whitfield of Reg Hardware, concluded: Certainly the kids there seemed to be enjoying themselves, but there's perhaps less in it for the more mature fan. And if you've visited one of the other recent exhibitions, you may well feel, as did my companion, that – aside from the walkthrough experience – you’ve not seen anything really new. Daisy Bowie-Sell of the Telegraph said: I’m not the biggest Doctor Who fan. I love the series, I’ve watched a lot of the recent episodes and I’ll certainly watch it if I’m in that night, but I don’t study the Time Lord’s every movement. My knowledge of the pre 2005 Whos is patchy - I just about know who they are and what they look like. But even for me, the experience of standing next to a large, shouting Dalek threatening to exterminate all humans was thrilling. In this first section of the exhibition the current doctor Matt Smith appears via a screen: he needs you (me!) to help him out. You control of the TARDIS, irritate the Daleks, run past weeping angels (actually terrifying), and into a room where you watch a 3D film of all the nasty monsters Doctor Who has recently fought. Their arms/plungers reach out of the screen at you, as if they might drag you into a black hole. The Independent took a more personal look, with father and son Andy and Joshua McSmith visiting during one of the previews. Andy, being more of a casual watcher in comparison to his teenaged son, was to feel a little bemused by the proceedings, though overall enjoyed the experience: It was a bit like one of those school trips when I was taken around a museum to have my head filled with knowledge about Egyptian civilisation or the combustion engine, under the threat of being tested later. Except in those days, the experts were old. The sad thing is that, judging by the company at Olympia yesterday, they mostly still are. Groups who booked their tickets early were being admitted for a preview, and though there were a few children taking pleasure in the nonsense on display, most of the visitors were adult, solemn and knowledgeable. Myself, I could soak up the occasion with that bemused pleasure that comes from near total ignorance, but I don't envy the organisers their task, for I fear that if they have one fact wrong, they would face an irate horde of anorak-clothed Doctor Who wonks. For that very reason, I am sure they researched and assembled their exhibits with the same reverential care as a team of paleontologists assembling dinosaur bones.

Billie Piper returned in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl amidst a huge blaze of press coverage; speaking about her career plans and a possible Hollywood calling: "I keep thinking about it, but then I like England; to be out there with a baby and to do seven, eight auditions a day is just not massively appealing at the moment." On future Call-Girl: "I think we've pretty much been everywhere with the stories and as that's at the heart of every episode, you wouldn't want to exhaust it to the point of just complete ridiculousness and seediness. I really like this job but you always want the story to have legs and not be that you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. I think if we go any further then we might be guilty of that." And on the future: "I just want to do something radically different and I don't know what that is yet. I think I've just chosen things that have interested me and then kept trying new and different things. It has worked out well and I can thank Doctor Who for all of that really. It was wholly responsible for giving me a great opportunity." [various]

Torchwood star John Barrowman has recently been embroiled in media discussions over who might replace Bruce Forsyth when he eventually retires from presenting the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, with reports that both he, gameshow presenter Vernon Kay, and The One Show house Alex Jones are vying for the position. However, the stories have been refuted by new BBC1 Controller Danny Cohen, who said that Bruce would carry on for as long as he wanted to. [Sun, Western Mail, Mirror]

Karen Gillan has been voted the 77th in men’s heath and fitness guru site Ask Men's Top 99 Women for 2011.

Fifth Doctor Peter Davison reminisces about a visit with his family to New Zealand, which tied in with the islands' Armageddon convention last Autumn. During their trip, they visited Wellington, the Weta workshops, Napier, Lake Taupo, Tepau and the Coromandel peninsula; speaking on Lake Taupo: "You can take a fishing boat out on the placid waters, see hot steam coming out of the ground at The Craters of the Moon – reminiscent of an early Doctor Who landscape – and watch the majestic Huka Falls." [Daily Mail]

Catherine Tate has expressed an interest in taking up directing; speaking at a platform event at the National Theatre in London, the actress said: "I directed for the first time at Christmas, a short film for TV. I would like to do more. I have got a project but I don’t know what’s happening with that." [Express]

Alex Kingston discussed her feelings towards her Doctor Who character River Song in the Readers Digest: "I'm not allowed to breathe a word about the new storylines... otherwise, they take away my sonic screwdriver. When I was first offered the part, I had no idea how successful the new Doctor Who was because I was in the US. But as soon as I read the script, I fell in love with River. She provides a very complex link to the Doctor's life and ever since I saw Alien, a little bit of me has wanted to run around a spaceship shooting intergalactic monsters." [Press Association]

Mark Strickson has been based in Qatar for the last couple of years, and recently talked about his filming projects at the Qatar Natural History Group, during which he regaled its members with tales of his adventures over the years, including his time in Doctor Who. [Gulf Times]

Welsh Opera singer and recent Doctor Who guest star Katherine Jenkins announced that she and long time partner Gethin Jones would be getting married. (Jones has also featured in Doctor Who under monster costumes during his tenure as a Blue Peter presenter). [BBC News]

Third Doctor Jon Pertwee's son Sean explains why he never expected to follow in his father's footsteps when David Tennant was announced as leaving: "No, I never said I wanted the part, but there is a financial tale behind how the rumour started. For a laugh I tried putting a £50 bet on me to play the next Doctor because I thought I was in with a chance, but all the boys I knew in Islington decided I must have some inside info so they piled in behind me. When the betting shop staff asked who I was, the boys told them my father had played Doctor Who so they called head office about it and then declared all bets off. The next thing I knew I was in the news as running for the part, but I think it stemmed from trying to put £50 on myself. I'd love to have a guest part, but when it comes to the main role my father was too big an act to follow." [Telegraph]

Former First Minister for Wales, Rhodri Morgan, pays tribute to outgoing BBC Wales Controller Menna Richards, during which he also reflected on how he almost ended up in Doctor Who back when the series first started filming in 2004: "I’m still kicking myself though. If you knew how my grandchildren rate having a First Minister in the family tree compared to playing a tree on Doctor Who in relative street cred in the playground, you’d understand why, too!" [Western Mail]

BAFTA winner and Oscar nominee Colin Firth was interviewed on Twitter by Vue Cinemas, during which he was asked about Doctor Who: "I’d never rule out a part in Doctor Who or Torchwood – especially Doctor Who. I’d also love to play a villain like Moriaty in Sherlock Holmes."

Finally, speaking of the Oscars, Tariq Anwar is also nominated for an Editing award for The King's Speech; the film editor worked back on Fourth Doctor stories The Face of Evil, The Sun Makers and Shada during the 1970s.

BroaDWcast is a new online resource that traces and catalogues the broadcasting of 20th Century Doctor Who throughout the world.

It is the brainchild of prominent New Zealand fan Jon Preddle, and is the culmination of many years work travelling and collating information from broadcasters etc. to create a site providing comprehensive coverage of 20th Century Doctor Who, with airdates and screening schedules from 1964 onwards for more than 70 fully-profiled countries.

The site was launched at the weekend's GallifreyOne convention in Los Angeles, with layout design by Preddle, John Lavalie and Steven Warren Hill.


It is still a work in progress - currently estimated to be around 75% complete - and the site has a plea for further assistance and information in order to create the most complete record of Doctor Who's broadcast possible:

The Official Charts have been published for this week, and the "TV on Video" chart reveals the William Hartnell adventure The Ark, released last Monday, has entered the charts straight in at number one, knocking off the two popular Vampire genre series from the top spots, The Vampire Diaries and True Blood.

1.	NEW	The Ark (BBC)
2.	NEW	30 Rock - Series Four (Playback)
3.	2	The Vampire Diaries - Complete Series One (Warner Home Video)
4.	1	True Blood - Complete First Season (Warner Home Video)
5.	NEW	Not Going Out - Series Four (Playback)

The Doctor's Christmas adventure, A Christmas Carol (released 24th January), remains in the chart at number 37, down five places from the previous week.


The Official Charts Company has compiled the United Kingdom's media charts since 1998, which are sourced from over 4000 retailers. The charts are updated every Sunday at 7:00pm.

Series Five of Doctor Who continued on France 4 on Saturday, featuring Le labyrinthe des Anges (1+2) and Les Vampires de Venise. The shows achieved 375,000 viewers, 2% of the total viewing audience at that time (8:35pm onwards). Whilst this is a drop in the total viewers from last week (453,000), the audience share has remained the same.

The evening also saw a repeat of Torchwood: Les Enfants de la Terre on NRJ 12 in the same time slot - the five episodes achieved a rating of 219,000 viewers (1%).

Audience figures for Saturday can be viewed at Premiere, which shows that Danse avec les stars on TF1 was once again the highest show on French television that day.


The first three episodes of Series Five - Le Prisonnier Zéro, La bêtes des bas-fonds and La victoire des Daleks - are repeated on Tuesday evening, from 10:00pm (local time).

Back at the beginning of the month, David Walliams revealed that he would be appearing in an episode of the next series of Doctor Who; more details have now been released regarding his role by the BBC and other media outlets:
Further casting details for episodes have been revealed through agencies over the course of February.

Spotlight lists a number of guest stars under the direction of Peter Hoar. Actress Frances Barber plays a character named Kovarian; recent roles include Elizabeth in the BBC Christmas Tale Nativity, and Janice in ITV's The Fattest Man in Britain. Christina Chong plays Lorna Bucket - she will feature as an Interpreter in the forthcoming film sequel, Johnny English Reborn. Meanwhile, Joshua Hayes takes on his first television role as a character named Lucas.
Actor Geoffrey Burton has been listed as "Nasa Man" - though no director has been listed, this credit would seem to tie in with the American-themed opening two-parter for the series written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes. Burton is better known for stage roles, but has appeared in Law and Order and Family Affairs.

Michael Begley has been listed as appearing as Mulligan in the just finished episode three written by Steve Thompson and directed by Jeremy Webb (coverage below); the actor has recently featured as Mark the hospital chaplain in Being Human, and as Orson in the revived Minder.
Mark Jermin Management has also listed two child actors to appear in roles this series.

Edmond Moulton appeared in the two-part story written by Matthew Graham and directed by Julian Simpson, playing a character named Adam.

Oscar Lloyd's character has yet to be revealed; he appeared in the BBC's Lark Rise to Candleford as the original Sidney, and has since been prominent as Will Wylde in ITV's Emmerdale.

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In Production

After the media-intensive, public-friendly filming for Doctor Who in Charlestown at the beginning of the month, February has since seen the production crew retreat from sight back into studio and other private locations to continue work on the Steve Thompson-penned episode three.

Though 'over the horizon', Hugh Bonneville continued to regale us with tweets on the 'high seas' during the course of his filming schedule:

07 19:07 Skulduggery on the high seas was knackering today.
         Talk about poop-decked. Well done crew.
08 12:00 *gallops up hill on charger, grabs fluttering flag, brandishes it aloft*
         BRING BACK #JustWilliam #BBC !
08 12:08 I get about *gallops off towards Tardis, horse gets wedged in Police Box door,
         hat falls off*
08 17:58 Am having a fab time running around the Tardis at the mo. 
         Congrats on the wonderful body of work. Hx 
08 22:47 me gunwales have been awash with them pirates. And none of them rinse.
08 22:53 My buckle has never felt so swashed. Having fabblass time thanks. 
         It's Dr Who - what's not to love?!
09 07:40 I'm here all weak, folks.
09 09:56 Today is a load of old bilge water. In a good way. 
12 13:54 Thanks to Steven Moffat & the brilliant #DrWho crew for a fantastic fortnight
         on the high seas. #BeardGone #ColdFace
12 14:51 Steven Moffat: What, you've shaved ALREADY??  What if we've forgotten a bit??
12 15:01 Hugh Bonneville: Too bad, land-lubber! Mwahahaha *sets sail for horizon*
12 15:03 Hugh Bonneville: Some pirates are extremely fast. I'm one of them.
         I came top in my class at Pirate Academy.
12 15:35 Steven Moffat: That's not the horizon, shipmate.
         That's the CONVENTION CIRCUIT.
12 15:38 Hugh Bonneville: yikes!

Work on the episode continued until Tuesday last week, as reported by Director of Photography Dale McCready:

13 22:46 last two days shooting on this show, it's been a nice short blast. 
15 20:18 Wrapped tonight on a fun show with a lovely crew.
         Start tomorrow planning and scheming for Merlin IV | 

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Next Time ...

Production on the next block is now under way, with a base being set up in Porthcawl this weekend in readiness for filming.

The Third Zone

In this issue:

• Reviews; We have reviews both by myself [Andrew Weston] and by my esteemed colleague Mr Joe Ford, covering all the latest releases in the worlds of DVD and audio.
• The Evelyn Escapades; A look at the Big Finish audios in the manner of ‘The Time Team’, taking one character at a time. No prizes for guessing who’s first up!
• Fiction; There’s fiction in the form of The Shadow Makers, part 1 of a 3 part tale, this month featuring the First Doctor and written by yours truly.
• A Matter of Perspective offers a new look at the world of Who in print, as I quiz Joe this month about Steve Lyons’ The Witch Hunters.
• Interviews; We have not one but two exclusive interviews this month with Big Finish producer David Richardson, and Bernice Summerfield actress and director of Big Finish audios Lisa Bowerman.
• Debate The Seventh Doctor’s era comes under the spotlight in our debate section this month.
• Who Online takes a look at ‘The History of the Doctor’.
• Non-Who Opinion; as both mine and Joe’s other half watch a Doctor Who story and share their thoughts. Be warned, there may be some colourful language!
• Essay Last, but by no means least, Joe has written an essay on the joys of the Hartnell historicals – and if that doesn’t convert you, nothing will!

We hope you enjoy reading issue 1 as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Any comments can be added on the site or be sent to thethirdzone@hotmail.co.uk, and we’ll post some next issue.

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Rassilon's Rod: Issue 3

• Christmas Carol assessed
• The Third Doctor
• Delgado
• Matrix Data ****; your queries answered by Salateen and Chellak
• Opening Nights; what makes a good first episode
• Reconstructed; fan recons and The Web Of Fear
• The Krotons part 3
• Philip Hinchcliffe's Production Notes

Plus toons and daft gubbins.

20 pages, A4

UK - 'Gift' £1.50 by paypal to davidmacgowan@hotmail.com

REST OF WORLD - 'Gift' £3 by paypal to davidmacgowan@hotmail.com

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Fish Fingers and Custard: Issue 4


In this latest Issue:

• Reviews of A Christmas Carol
• The Third Doctor
• RTD: Genius or Mad Man?
• An In Depth Look At Dalek Empire
• The Secret Diary Of A Whovian
• Hots and Nots - The Doctor Who Fandom Style Guide
• An Unearthly Child: 2010AD

And Much More!

As always, please paypal the payment which applies to you as a gift to: fishcustardfanzine@googlemail.com

UK: £2.00
Worldwide: £3.00

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Doctor Who Appreciation Society's Celestial Archive: Voices from the Past

• Ian Scoones Interviewed - Ian Scoones (1940-2010) contributed Visual Effects to many Doctor Who stories inclusing City of Death, Curse of Peladon and The Invisible Enemy.
• Interview - Gerry Davis - Gerry Davis (23 February 1930 - 31 August 1991) was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United! From 1966 until the following year he was the script editor on Doctor Who, for which he co-created the popular cybernetic monsters the Cybermen.
• Interview - Verity Lambert - Verity Ann Lambert, OBE (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. She is best known as the founding producer of Doctor Who and for her many credits including Adam Adamant Lives!, The Naked Civil Servant, Rock Follies, Minder, Widows, G.B.H., Jonathan Creek and Love Soup.
• Michael Craze - Ben Jackson - Michael Craze (29 November 1942 – 8 December 1998) was a British actor noted for his role of Ben Jackson, a companion of the Doctor, in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He played the part from 1966 to 1967 alongside both William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.
• The Direction - Peter Moffatt - To tie in with the 20th Anniversary special The Five Doctors the DWAS produced a large format commemorative booklet called The Making of the Five Doctors. This is an interview with director Peter Moffat about taken from that publication.
• The John Wiles Interview - Part 1 - John Wiles (20 September 1925-5 April 1999) was a television writer and producer, now best known for being the second producer of Doctor Who, succeeding Verity Lambert. He was credited as producer on four serials between 1965 and 1966, namely The Myth Makers, The Daleks' Master Plan (which lasted for twelve episodes), The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, and The Ark.
• The John Wiles Interview - Part 2

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Oxford University Doctor Who Society - Tides of Time archive: First Doctor special


Fiction

• A Pescatorial Conundrum, or A Fishy Problem by Corinne Berg - The Doctor influences some literary giants of Anglo-Saxon England. From Tides 16 (1995)
• Brought to Book by David Bickley - Susan’s reading matter was even less innocent than it appeared. From Tides 27 (2001)
• The Picture of Doctor Who by Matthew Peacock - Ben and Polly begin to discover the complexity of the relationship between the Doctor and his craft. From Tides 28 (2002)

Reviews

• The Aztecs reviewed by Matthew Kilburn. From Tides 5 (1991)
• We Are the Masters of Earth! A review of The Dalek Invasion of Earth by Paul Dumont. From Tides 6 (1991)
• The Tenth Planet reviewed by Alistair Harrison and David Bickley. From Tides 22 (1998)

Other

• Beyond Our Vision by Matthew Kilburn. A tribute to Sydney Newman. From Tides 21 (1998)
  

Doctor Who News is offering readers the chance to win a copy of The Ark, starring William Hartnell as The Doctor.


We have three copies up for grabs of the DVD courtesy of 2|Entertain. To be in for a chance of winning the competition, simply answer this question:


During The Ark, the First Doctor is assisted by the invisible Refusians to defeat the Monoids; many years later the Third Doctor encounters more invisible beings in Planet of the Daleks - name this race.

Closing Date: Friday 4th March 2011

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