BFI: The Second Doctor Panel

Wednesday, 13 March 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
A video of the guest panel at last month's screening of The Tomb of the Cybermen at the BFI has been uploaded to the organisation's YouTube channel.

The event, marking the Second Doctor's era, was held on 9th February as part of the BFI's Doctor Who At 50 season, and the discussion saw director Michael Ferguson and actors Anneke Wills, Bernard Holley, Deborah Watling, Shirley Cooklin, and Michael Kilgarriff in conversation with season co-curator Justin Johnson about working with Patrick Troughton.


The next event takes place on Saturday 20th April, marking the Fourth Doctor's era, and will be a screening of The Robots of Death, with Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, and Philip Hinchcliffe as guests. Although it is currently sold out, returns and stand-bys are possible.

It will be followed on Saturday 4th May with a screening in honour of the Fifth Doctor, with the story title and guests for that event yet to be announced.




FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Second Doctor - BFI - WHO50

BBC AudioGo: The Tomb of the Cybermen

Friday, 1 March 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC AudioGo have released details for this month's release in their classic novelisation range, the Second Doctor adventure The Tomb of The Cybermen; it is read by Michael Kilgarriff - who played the Cyber Controller in the original television story.


The Tomb of the Cybermen The Tomb of the Cybermen, read by Michael Kigarriff
The Tomb of The Cybermen (available to pre-order)
Written by Gerry Davis
Read by Michael Kilgarriff
Released 7th March 2013

The Cybermen – silver, indestructible monsters whose only goal is power – seem to have disappeared from their planet, Telos. When a party of archaeologists, joined by the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria, land on the Cybermen’s barren, deserted planet, they uncover what appears to be their tomb.

But once inside it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some in the group of archaeologists desperately want to re-activate these monsters! How can the Doctor defeat these ruthless, power-seeking humans and the Cybermen?

Michael Kilgarriff reads this gripping novelisation of a classic 1967 TV adventure featuring the Second Doctor, with Nicholas Briggs as the Cybermen, plus sound effects and music by Simon Power.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Second Doctor

The Ice Warriors: missing episodes animated

Thursday, 28 February 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Ice Warriors - animated (Credit: BBC Worldwide/Qurios)BBC Worldwide have finally confirmed that August's DVD release of Second Doctor adventure The Ice Warriors will indeed include animated versions of the missing episodes two and three, as well as the previously announced 'telesnap' version of the episodes that originally appeared on the 1998 VHS release.

Unlike January's The Reign of Terror, animation for these episodes has been created by Qurios, an award-winning animation and visual effects production studio based in London and Newcastle, and who have previously worked on the range providing titles for the Who Peter features.

DVD range producer Dan Hall said:
We’ve been discussing the various ways Qurios could reconstruct these episodes for over three years, so it's really, really satisfying to finally see them animated. Qurios have a great track record in excellent and innovative animations.

Doctor Who has had many different visual styles thanks to changing directors, designers and production methods. We wanted to mirror this in our choice of animation partners.
A preview of a "work in progress" clip from the episodes has been published on YouTube, featuring the scene in episode two where the Doctor tries to convince Leader Clent that humans are better than machines:



The DVD is currently scheduled to be released on 26th August.





FILTER: - Second Doctor - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

UK DVD schedule confirmed to September

Thursday, 7 February 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Worldwide have announced the Doctor Who stories that will be released on DVD in the United Kingdom up to September this year. As well as the titles known previously, the list confirms the inclusion of the colourised Third Doctor adventure The Mind of Evil, the incomplete Second Doctor tale The Ice Warriors, and also the animated 2003 story Scream of the Shalka - which starred Richard E Grant as the (very) short-lived online 'Ninth' Doctor.

The complete list of dates are as follows:

25th February The Ark in Space: Special Edition
11th March The Aztecs: Special Edition (plus Galaxy 4 reconstruction)
6th May The Visitation: Special Edition
27th May Inferno: Special Edition
3rd June The Mind of Evil
24th June Terror of the Zygons
15th July Spearhead from Space Blu-Ray
5th August The Green Death: Special Edition
26th August The Ice Warriors
16th September Scream of the Shalka

Unlike last month's release of The Reign of Terror, there has been no word on whether August's The Ice Warriors will also feature animated episodes, with only the condensed reconstruction of episodes two and three that accompanied its original VHS release in 1998 confirmed so far. No new information on features to accompany other releases in the list have been revealed since our previous updates.

As yet there has been no indication of how the final four existing episodes - The Tenth Planet(1-3) and The Underwater Menace(2) - are to be presented.

The Visitation

In addition to above, the BBFC have now classified the features that will be presented on the second disc of The Visitation Special Edition, due in May:
00:45:08:13 GRIM TALES   -  REVISITING THE VISITATION
00:27:29:06 DR. FOREVER! - THE APOCALYPSE ELEMENT
00:32:11:20 DOCTOR WHO - THE TELEVISION CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE
The main disc will contain the original features from the 2004 release, though has revised production notes compiled by Nicholas Pegg, and (of course) newly remastered episodes.





FILTER: - Third Doctor - Second Doctor - First Doctor - Classic Series - Fourth Doctor - Fifth Doctor

Puffin Books: The Nameless City

Tuesday, 5 February 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The second in Puffin's range of Doctor Who books to celebrate the 50th Anniversary has now been announced:
The Nameless City, by Michael ScottThe Nameless City
Written by Michael Scott
Published 23rd February 2013 (pre-order UK / USA)

When Jamie McCrimmon brings the Second Doctor a mysterious book, little does he realise the danger contained within its pages. The book transports the TARDIS to a terrifying glass city on a distant world, where the Archons are intent on getting revenge on the Time Lord for an ancient grudge.

Eleven Doctors, eleven months, eleven stories: a year-long celebration of Doctor Who! The most exciting names in children's fiction each create their own unique adventure about the time-travelling Time Lord.
 

Michael Scott is the author of the Nicholas Flamel range of children's books, whose debut book in the series, The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, made the New York best sellers list in 2007. The author said of his Doctor Who assignment:
Everyone has their "own" Doctor – usually the one they first started watching. Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor, was mine and so writing this story was an opportunity to revisit a really important part of my childhood. There are elements of Patrick Troughton in every Doctor who followed – that's how influential and important he is.

A promotional video about Scott will be released by BBC Worldwide via their YouTube channel on Monday 11th February, and an extract from the book can be read via the Guardian. The e-book itself will be released on Saturday 23rd February on Amazon (UK/USA) and iTunes.





FILTER: - Online - Second Doctor - Books - BBC Worldwide - WHO50

Details announced of Splendid Chaps "Two/Evil"

Sunday, 3 February 2013 - Reported by Adam Kirk

As previously reportedSplendid Chaps is a year-long performance/podcast project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who hosted by comedian Ben McKenzie (Dungeon CrawlMelbourne Museum Comedy Tour) and writer John Richards (ABC1 sitcom OutlandBoxcutters podcast).

Described by its creators as part intellectual panel discussion, part nerdy Tonight Show, Splendid Chaps is a combination of analysis, enthusiasm and irreverence. The first episode went to number 1 on the iTunes TV & Film Podcast chart in Australia, and to number 4 in the UK.  The podcast is available  at www.splendidchaps.com or at  iTunes.

Tickets are now on sale for the second live recording, which features actor Toby Truslove (ABC's Laid, Outland, The Strange Calls) and cultural theorist Dr Djoymi Baker discussing the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, and the notion of “evil” in Doctor Who. Is it absolute? Are there cosmic forces of right and wrong? And is the Doctor always on the right side? Plus performance guest, cabaret comedian Dean Acuri – performing a song written especially for the show.


Splendid Chaps: A Year Of Doctor Who: "Two/Evil"
Space: 303, 303 High Street, Northcote
Time: Sunday, February 17; bar open from 4 PM, show starts 5 PM (note that as event is recorded, latecomers will not be admitted until intermission)
Tickets: $15 full price, $12 concession (plus booking fee)
Bookings: via TryBooking; tickets also sold at the door (subject to availability)



"One/Authority" event shows (from left to right) Ben McKenzie, John Richards, Lee Zachariah, Nerida Haycock, Alexandra Tynan (nee Sandra Reid), Petra Elliot. Photographer Robert Young.
(with thanks to John Richards)





FILTER: - Special Events - Fan Productions - Second Doctor - Patrick Troughton - Australia

DVD Update: The Ice Warriors / The Mind of Evil

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Coming Soon: The Ice WarriorsBack in December the BBFC classified a trailer for Second Doctor story The Ice Warriors - this trailer has now been confirmed for the forthcoming The Aztecs - Special Edition DVD, though it should be noted that, as the name implies, the trailer illustrates a release that is "Coming Soon". Restoration Team member Steve Roberts clarified:
I think you'll find The Ice Warriors has moved further back in the schedule. These things happen. It's one of the reasons we no longer put "Coming Soon" on the trailers, now it's simply "Doctor Who on DVD".
Though the trailer indicates that the story is to be released, there is no indication as yet if the new DVD presentation will also feature animated recreations of the missing episodes two and three in the same way as this week's release of The Reign of Terror. Steve Roberts has reported previously, however, that the DVD would include the reconstruction of those episodes that appeared on the original VHS release back in 1998.

The official confirmation of story releases beyond The Aztecs will be announced later in the year.



Meanwhile, the colour restoration work undertaken on The Mind of Evil is almost complete, with the Restoration Team reporting on Monday: "At TV Centre, grading episode one of The Mind of Evil - back in colour and looking stunning!". Unlike episodes two to six, which contained the chromadot information enabling Richard Russell to restore their original colour, the first had no such detail and needed to be painstakingly coloured from scratch by Stuart Humphryes and Peter Crocker.

The fruits of everybody's efforts will be premiered at the BFI on 10th March. The DVD release of the story has yet to be announced.





FILTER: - Third Doctor - Second Doctor - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Guests Announced For Tomb Screening At BFI

Monday, 28 January 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
The guest line-up for next month's celebratory screening of The Tomb of the Cybermen at the BFI Southbank was announced today.

The event, which takes place on Saturday 9th February at 2.30pm, will see seven people make up the Q&A panels. They are:
Part of the organisation's Doctor Who At 50 season to mark the show's milestone anniversary, it sold out to BFI members before tickets went on general release.

Throughout 2013, the BFI is showing a story per Doctor as well as digitally-restored prints of the two Dalek films. It will also be premièring An Adventure In Space And Time - a 90-minute BBC Two docudrama about the show's creation, written by Mark Gatiss, which is due to start shooting next month.

Marking the Third Doctor's era, the première of the colour-restored story The Mind of Evil plus a discussion takes place on Sunday 10th March at 2pm. Tickets will go on general sale on Tuesday 12th February at 11.30am. BFI members get priority booking plus discounts on ticket prices and are exempt from booking fees. An annual membership currently costs £30 - down from £40. This special offer expires at the end of February - click here for more details.





FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Second Doctor - BFI - WHO50

BBC AudioGo: Shadow of Death

Friday, 25 January 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC AudioGo have released details for next month's release in their 50th Anniversary special series Destiny of the Doctor. Shadow of Death is written by Simon Guerrier and set during the Second Doctor's era; it is performed by Frazer Hines (Second Doctor companion Jamie McCrimmon), with Evie Dawnay.

Destiny of the Doctor: Shadow of DeathDestiny of the Doctor: Shadow of Death
Written by Simon Guerrier
Starring Frazer Hines, with Evie Dawnay
Released 7th February 2013 (pre-order)

Following an emergency landing, the TARDIS arrives on a remote world orbiting a peculiar star – a pulsar which exerts an enormous gravitational force, strong enough to warp time.

On further exploration the Doctor and his friends, Jamie and Zoe, discover a human outpost on the planet’s surface, inhabited by scientists who are there to study an ancient city. The city is apparently abandoned, but the scientists are at a loss to explain what happened to its sophisticated alien architects. The Doctor discovers that something dark, silent and deadly is also present on the world – and it is slowly closing in on the human intruders...
 




FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Second Doctor - WHO50