Predict the Ratings for Hell Bent

Wednesday, 2 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Doctor Who: The Ten Christmas Specials (Credit: BBC Worldwide)The series finale is almost upon us, and Doctor Who News is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a copy of The 10 Christmas Specials, a limited edition DVD boxed set featuring the ten previous Christmas Day specials of the modern series (sadly The Feast of Steven is not included!).

All you need to do is to guess the final consolidated viewing figure for Hell Bent, as reported by BARB to the nearest 10,000 viewers (i.e. two decimal places). This figure includes all those watching the episode within a week of broadcast.

Hell Bent is being broadcast in the UK on BBC One on Saturday at 8:00pm. As with most episodes this year, it will follow Strictly Come Dancing, and will be followed by Casualty. In opposition, ITV have The X Factor, whilst BBC Two is showing Snooker, Channel 4 is showing The World's Weirdest Weather, and Channel 5 has Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away.

To help place in perspective, the average consolidated rating this series so far has been 5.84 million viewers - all the the known consolidated figures can be found in the Related Articles below. At the time of writing the figure for last week's Heaven Sent has yet to be confirmed, but its overnight was reported as 4.51m, up 90,000 from the previous episode's overnight.

Entering The Competition


The Doctor counts how many are watching ... (Photo credit: BBC/Simon Ridgway)The prize is number 20 in the limited edition run of The 10 Christmas Specials.

To enter the competition, please send the following details to comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net:

  • Your name and email address
  • Your country (full address will only be requested if you are a winner)
  • Your guess for the final consolidated viewing figure

The BARB figure is expected to be announced on Monday 14th December; the winner will be informed once the figure has been confirmed, and the prize dispatched to arrive before Christmas Day* so you can binge-watch all previous specials in anticipation of The Husbands of River Song!

[* in the UK, postage to other countries cannot be guaranteed to arrive beforehand]


  • The competition closes at 7.59pm (GMT), 5th December 2015
  • Only one entry will be accepted per person.
  • The competition is open worldwide but PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A REGION TWO DVD only






FILTER: - Competitions - Ratings

Media Guardian 100

Wednesday, 2 December 2015 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat continues his steady rise up through the ranks of the Media Guardian's top 100 most powerful people in UK Media.

The writer and producer comes in at number 76 in this years chart, a rise of eight places from the 2014 list. Moffat entered the chart in 2011 as number 92.

The list, which has been running since 2001, attempts to quantify the people with the most influence over the British media and is complied by a team of judges drawn from across the industry.
Moffat took over the BBC’s Doctor Who from Russell T Davies six years ago. His reinvention with Mark Gatiss of Sherlock Holmes, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, will return for a Victorian special this Christmas. Moffat has said Doctor Who, which returned in its modern incarnation in 2005, has at least another five years in it, possibly many more. But Moffat, who introduced Peter Capaldi as the new doctor last year, has questioned the feasibility of the BBC’s ambition to have a big screen Doctor Who.
Other BBC personnel listed include the current controller of BBC One, Charlotte Moore, at number 21, and the current Chief Executive of the BBC, Director General Tony Hall at number 6.

The head of the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, Tim Davie, and the man ultimately responsible for selling Doctor Who around the world, was number 35.

Actor James Cordon, who played Craig Owens in Doctor Who, and who now hosts The Late Late Show on CBS, is at number 50

The top three places in the list are taken once more by the heads of Google, Facebook and Apple respectively, with Mark Zukerberg coming out top.




FILTER: - Steven Moffat

Advent Calendar - Day Two

Wednesday, 2 December 2015 - Reported by Willy Phantom


The Doctor's brought along his guitar and as you all will see,
He'll soon have everyone rockin' around the Christmas tree!

Willy Phantom, 2nd December 2015





FILTER: - Advent

Doctor Who Adventures - Issue 9

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The latest edition of Doctor Who Adventures is published on Thursday 3rd December:

Christmas is coming early this year with issue 9 of Doctor Who Adventures, which is set to materialise in a newsagent near you on 3rd December!

  • AWESOME POSTER: This issue comes with a free hand painted mega poster of Skaro from Robot City’s Paul Collicutt.
  • THE MINISTRY OF TIME: Scream Street’s Tommy Donbavand scripts this issue’s comic strip, in which the TARDIS gets clamped for contravening several time and space laws as laid out by the Ministry of Time.
  • FESTIVE MAYHEM: Get ready for a look back at some of the Christmas dangers the Doctor has faced over the last ten years, before finding out if you’ve got what it takes to Save Christmas!
  • RIVER SONG’S CRAFT STUDIO: River shows you how to decorate your Christmas tree with some fiendish Snowmen Baubles.
  • UNIT ALIEN ARCHIVES: Delve into the UNIT Alien Archive and find out all about the duplicitous Leandro from Delta Leonis.
  • STRAX’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: This month, Strax takes you to Trenzalore, Zygor, Ember and Tiaanammat for some Christmas space exploration.
  • THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS: And Christmas isn’t Christmas without a cool board game to play, and this time you can be River or the Doctor as you race through the night to Christmas morning facing all manner of dangers including the Sycorax, the Racnoss, Dream Crabs and Robot Angels.
  • THE PATERNOSTER GANG INVESTIGATES: Then get ready for a real Victorian mystery as James Peaty relates the tale of how the Paternoster Gang came up against the horrifying Dissolving Man!

Doctor Who Adventures #9 – Let the festivities begin!

Doctor Who Adventures Issue 9 - Cover (Credit: DWA) Doctor Who Adventures Issue 9 - Comic Doctor Who Adventures Issue 9 - Dalek Poster (Credit: DWA)

Issue 9 comes with a Free Dalek Blaster and mega poster!




FILTER: - DWA

BBC One Christmas Idents: Sprout Boy

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC One Christmas Ident: Sprout Boy meets the Doctor (Credit: BBC)This year's BBC One idents are based around a well-known icon of Christmas, the sprout. Launched after tonight's The One Show, a two minute video Sprout Boy introduces the eponymous star of the idents as he meets the characters of Christmas television - including the Doctor!

The video also features the voice of Peter Capaldi as the narrator.


In addition to Sprout Boy, a 40 second trailer for BBC One television over Christmas was also broadcast.



Full details of the Christmas season can be found on the BBC website.




FILTER: - BBC

BBC Adventure Calendar

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Adventure Calendar (locked item) (Credit: BBC)The official Doctor Who page on the BBC website will once again post a selection of images, clips, games and other goodies over the days leading up to Christmas in their Adventure Calendar.

The festive treats are unlocked at around midday daily, with the first being three wallpapers reflecting this Saturday's series finale, Hell Bent.





FILTER: - BBC - Miscellaneous - Online

BBC Christmas Trailer

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have released a video featuring the many highlights on television over the festive period including, of course, the Doctor and River from the Christmas Day special, The Husbands of River Song:


Full details of the festive line-up can be found via the BBC Media Centre.




FILTER: - Publicity - Series Specials

New Comics released

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Marcus
Wednesday 2 December sees the latest comic adventures released for the Ninth, Tenth and Twelfth Doctors

DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5

WRITER: Cavan Scott - ARTIST: Blair Shedd

  • 'Weapons of Past Destruction' concludes!
  • Did we really just read last issue's staggering cliffhanger? Has one of the Doctor's beloved companions flipped sides?
  • The final conflict between the Unon and the Lect – will one of them take the Time Lords' place as the guardians of the universe?
  • Final outing with the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack! If you want more – let Titan know


DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5 (Credit: Titan / Lee Sullivan)DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5 (Credit: Titan / Joe Corroney)DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: THE NINTH DOCTOR MINISERIES #5 (Credit: Titan)
DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #2.3

WRITER: Nick Abadzis - ARTIST: Eleonora Carlini

Gabby's best friend Cindy remained on Earth at the end of her last adventure with the Doctor – a decision Cindy immediately regretted! Now, with only Gabby's sketchbook of unseen adventures to guide her, she must find her way back to the Doctor... but sinister forces already have her under surveillance!

DOCTOR WHO: TENTH DOCTOR #2.3 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TENTH DOCTOR #2.3 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TENTH DOCTOR #2.3 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TENTH DOCTOR #2.3 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TENTH DOCTOR #2.3 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TENTH DOCTOR #2.3 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TENTH DOCTOR #2.3 (Credit: Titan)
DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #14

WRITER: Robbie Morrison - ARTIST: Daniel Indro

THE STARS GO OUT, ONE BY ONE!

It's the penultimate part of 'The Hyperion War', and things are looking bad for the Doctor and Clara! With the returning Hyperions having laid waste to whole portions of the Earth, the Doctor attempts to regain the initiative by moving the battleground into space, aboard the Hyperions orbital armada... But these ancient solar entities are building a superweapon around the sun - and eternal darkness could be the result!

DOCTOR WHO: TWELFTH  #14 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TWELFTH  #14 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TWELFTH  #14 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TWELFTH  #14 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TWELFTH  #14 (Credit: Titan)DOCTOR WHO: TWELFTH  #14 (Credit: Titan)




FILTER: - Comics - Ninth Doctor - Tenth Doctor - Twelfth Doctor

The Husbands of River Song to be shown in Danish cinemas

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Doctor and River Song (Credit: BBC/Simon Ridgway)Cinemaxx in Denmark have confirmed that they will show this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song, on Saturday 26th December, with two showings at 4:45pm and 7:00pm in their Copenhagen, Odense and Aarhus cinemas.

As well as the hour long special the performances will also include an additional thirty minutes of bonus material: though unconfirmed at the time of writing it is expected that this will be the Alex Kingston interview and behind-the-scenes footage that has already been announced for the US screenings of the Special on the 28th/29th December.

FEJR JUL MED ’DOCTOR WHO’ I BIOGRAFEN

Traditionen tro får alle Whovians også i år en ekstra julegave! ’Doctor Who’ er nemlig klar med sin Christmas Special 2015 –og som noget ganske særlig får du her i 2015 en enestående chance for at se dette særlige afsnit på det store lærred!

Det er juledag og the Doctor gemmer sig fra pynt og julesamler på en fjern menneske-koloni. Men heldigvis styrter et rumskib ned, og der er atter bud efter den kære doktor, som i samarbejde med River Songs hold kaster sig ind i en vild og hektisk jagt på tværs af galaksen.

Vil Nardole overleve? Og hvornår finder River Song ud af hvem the Doctor er? Alt dette og mere til vil blive afsløret, når the Doctor kaster sig ud i et rumeventyr af de helt store, som omfatter galaktiske superskurke og en destination, som the Doctor har forsøgt at undgå i rigtig lang tid…

Udover afsnittet, der er 60 minutter langt, vil der være 30 min. særlige ekstraoptagelser, der fordeles før og efter afsnittet, og som kun kan opleves i biografen, så husk at blive siddende til efter rulleteksterne.


Cinemaxx have previously shown The Day of the Doctor, Deep Breath and the 3D version of Dark Water/Death in Heaven in their cinemas.






FILTER: - Cinema - Denmark - Series Specials - Special Events

Advent Calendar - Day One

Tuesday, 1 December 2015 - Reported by Willy Phantom


The Tardis has arrived to take us all away,
Up into the stars and all the way to Christmas Day!

We'll meet familiar faces and the odd monster or two,
Celebrating ten years since the return of Doctor Who.

Willy Phantom, 1st December 2015





FILTER: - Advent