BBC Studios have announced that the next instalment in their collection of remastered Blu-ray Doctor Who boxed sets will see the Doctor on trial as Colin Baker's last season is released on 23rd September 2019.


The six disc Blu-ray collection includes all four of the stories comprising this season, features previously available on the original DVD releases, plus a range of new material:

• Extended edits - of all fourteen episodes
• Terror of the Vervoids - four-part standalone edition with updated effects
• Immersive 5.1 surround sound and isolated scores - on all 14 broadcast episodes*
• Behind the Sofa - new episodes with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, Mark Strickson, Frazer Hines and Matthew Waterhouse
• The Writers’ Room - Eric Saward, Philip Martin, Christopher H Bidmead & Waly K Daly discuss the ‘Lost’ Season 23
• The Doctor Who Cookbook Revisited - brave cast members tackle their original recipes from the 1980s official cookbook
• The Doctor’s Table - join Colin Baker and friends for dinner
• In Conversation - Matthew Sweet chats to companion Bonnie Langford
• Plus: unseen studio footage, rare archive treats, convention footage, Blu-ray trailer, HD photo galleries, scripts, costume designs & more in the PDF Archive.

The collection is available for pre-order in the United Kingdom from our Amazon Shop.

Candy Jar Books has announced the seventh series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels, a five-book series with an overall title of Bloodlines.

The series launches in September with Home Fires Burn by Gareth Madgwick, which sees the return of real-life World War II hero, Eileen Younghusband. Set during the Second World War, the novel reunites Eileen and Professor Edward Travers. They are joined in this adventure by Matthew Lethbridge-Stewart, the Brigadier’s uncle, who first appeared in the Lineage anthology.

Home Fires Burn is released to tie-in with the 80th Anniversary of World War II. Shaun Russell, Head of Publishing at Candy Jar Books, explains a little of Eileen’s role in the war:
Gareth Madgwick said:

The second book in the sequence is The Shadow Man, written by popular author Sharon Bidwell, her second novel for the series. In The Shadow Man we unveil the Bloodlines connection a little bit more, and focus in on Anne Travers and Bill Bishop as they head to France to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Sharon said:

The third book in the sequence is An Ordinary Man by Andy Frankham-Allen. In this book, the Bloodlines sequence starts to come together as we explore an alternative timeline in which Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart never went into military service. Andy said:

Later books in the series are written by Chris Lynch and Baz Greenland, with a sixth tangentially connected title to follow by Robert Mammone. Details on these releases will be announced later in the year.


The series is available to order as either a three or six book bundle from the Candy Jar website; the series is also covered by those with a regular subscription. If you purchase Home Fires Burn you are also entitled to 10% off the following Eileen Younghusband titles: One Woman’s War, Men I Have Known & Eileen’s War (proof of purchase required).

Character Options have announced
a new series of exclusive Doctor Who merchandise that will be available later this summer from local B&M stores in the UK:


More details on the products will be released in the coming weeks.

Doctor Who Magazine continues its in-depth chronicle of the show’s production with a 100-page volume dedicated to the first four episodes of Series 8 starring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald: Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, Robot of Sherwood and Listen.

Andrew Pixley’s unparalleled behind-the-scenes coverage – originally presented in the partwork Doctor Who The Complete History and now revised and reproduced in magazine format for the first time – examines every aspect of the stories’ development, from scripting through to transmission and beyond. Richly illustrated with rare images, this is the essential guide to the series that took Doctor Who in a remarkable new direction…

Available from WH Smith from Thursday 13 June 2019 priced £7.99 and digitally from pocketmags.com priced £6.99.

BBC Studios has announced that The Faceless Ones will be the next animated Doctor Who release.

The release follows the success of The Power of the Daleks, Shada and The Macra Terror. The Faceless Ones will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray and as an exclusive steelbook next year.

The Faceless Ones is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April to May 1967. Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, the story concerns a race of identity-stealing aliens known as the Chameleons.

The story is the last to feature Michael Craze as Ben and Anneke Wills as Polly.

Only two of the six episodes are held in the BBC film archives with snippets of footage and still images existing from the other four. Off-air recordings of the soundtrack also still exist, making the animation of a complete serial possible once again.

The six new animated episodes are being made in full colour and high definition and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2020. The DVD/Blu-ray release will also include surviving archive material from the original 1967 production.

The Faceless Ones is available for preorder as Blu-Ray, DVD and Steelbook.

The actor Paul Darrow has died at the age of 78.

Paul Darrow is best known for playing freedom fighter Kerr Avon in the Terry Nation series Blake's 7. He appeared in two Doctor Who stories, Doctor Who And The Silurians in 1970 and Timelash in 1985.

Paul Darrow was born in Surrey. After leaving school he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His first professional performances were with the Bristol Old Vic.

In the 1960's he made his television debut in the series The Odd Man. A regular role in Emergency-Ward 10 followed, where he met his future wife Janet Lees-Price.

He appeared in Coronation Street, The Newcomers, The Flaxton Boys, Murder Must Advertise, Within These Walls and The Legend of Robin Hood where he played the Sheriff of Nottingham. In 1970 he had his first role in Doctor Who playing Captain Hawkins a UNIT officer helping the Third Doctor fight the Silurians.

The role for which he will always be remembered was as Kerr Avon, the amoral computer genius who was thrown together with the idealistic Roj Blake and found himself a freedom fighter taking on the corrupt Federation. Such was his presence in the role that Avon soon developed into the major character in the series, When actor Gareth Thomas left, Darrow's character assumed command. He appeared in all but the first episode, with the series finishing in dramatic style with Darrow's face being the last image seen on screen.

He returned to Doctor Who in 1985 playing Malin Tekker, a controversial performance with Darrow playing the part in the manner of Richard III.

He continued working with long-running roles in Emmerdale and Law & Order: UK, but in late 2014, he suffered an aortic aneurysm. Over the next few months, health complications meant he lost both of his legs.

Speaking to the BBC, Darrow’s friend and Personal Assistant Maureen Marrs, said:Paul Darrow died early on the morning of the 3rd June after a short ilness.

A number of DVD titles that have been unavailable in the United States are to have "made-on-demand" re-releases via the BBC Shop.

The first batch of five titles consist of The Time Meddler, The Krotons, The Three Doctors (special edition), Planet Of The Spiders and The Sun Makers, and are released on the 25th June:


The next batch of five follow a couple of weeks later on 9th July, consisting of The Invasion of Time, Frontios, The Mark Of The Rani, The Happiness Patrol and The TV Movie special edition:


The titles can be pre-ordered now via the BBC Shop by clicking on their relative image above.

Note: all titles are DVD R1 (North America).

Issue 539 of Doctor Who Magazine includes an exclusive interview with Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker.

This issue also includes:

• The latest Production Notes from showrunner Chris Chibnall.
• Former Doctor David Tennant discusses Jodie Whittaker.
• Howard Burden recalls designing costumes for three different Doctors.
• The second part of a candid interview with 1980s script editor Eric Saward.
• What topped the DWM season poll? We reveal the results!
• We talk to the team behind the Blu-ray special edition of 1973’s Planet of the Daleks.
• The Fact of Fiction explores the 2005 story The Long Game.
• Eric Saward previews his novelisations of Resurrection and Revelation of the Daleks.
• Is Doctor Who a kids’ show? The Time Team decides.
• How to recreate the Second Doctor’s ‘cosmic hobo’ style.
• The final part of Herald of Madness, a comic strip adventure featuring the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends.
• The Blogs of Doom, audio reviews, previews, news, prize-winning competitions and much, much more!

DWM 539 is on sale from 30 May, priced £5.99.

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DWM 539 is also available as a strictly limited Deluxe Edition, exclusive to WH Smith and store.panini.co.uk priced £9.99.

In addition to the latest issue of DWM, the Deluxe Edition includes:

• An exclusive vinyl EP featuring rare and bonus tracks from The Evil of the Daleks.
• A 28-page supplement about the making of the Thirteenth Doctor’s episodes, packed full of new information and previously unseen pictures.
• Downloads from BBC Audio and Big Finish.
• A Doctor Who bookmark.

And more.

The actor Stephen Thorne has died at the age of 84.

In the 1970s Stephen Thorne created three of the greatest adversaries of the Doctor, characters whose influence endures in the programme today.

His towering presence and deep melodious voice were first witnessed in the 1971 story The Dæmons, where he portrayed Azal, the last living Dæmon on Earth, in a story often cited as one of the most appreciated of the third Doctor's era and story emblematic of the close-knit UNIT team of the time.

He returned to the series in 1972 playing Omega, the renegade Time Lord fighting The Three Doctors, a character that would return to confront the Doctor in later years. In 1976 he opposed the Fourth Doctor playing the male form of Eldred, last of the Kastrians in the story The Hand of Fear.

Stephen Thorn was born in London in 1935. He trained as an actor at RADA and spent several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Television credits were many and included roles in Z Cars, Crossroads, Sexton Blake, David Copperfield and Last of the Summer Wine.

His voice was suited to Radio work where roles included Aslan in The Magicians Nephew, Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings, and Colon in Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!. He has played many characters for Big Finish Audio productions including reprising the roles of Omega and Eldred.

Thorne recorded over 300 unabridged audiobooks including children's stories and often gave readings at events in places such as Westminster Abbey. His awards include a Talkies Award 1996 for Enigma by Robert Harris and several Golden Earphones Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

The death of Stephen Thorne was announced on Twitter by Lisa Bowerman on behalf of one of his great friends.

When Jodie Whittaker returns to Doctor Who next series, the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends won’t be the only familiar faces. The show, currently filming, is set to welcome back The Judoon as one of the Doctor’s fearsome adversaries.

More than twelve years after they stampeded onto screens to terrorise the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones on the moon in 2007’s “Smith and Jones", the rhino-headed, brutish intergalactic police are returning to cause havoc and thrill children and adults alike.

These ruthless enforcers are on a deadly mission: but what for? And why has it brought them to present-day Gloucester?

The episode will also star acclaimed actor Neil Stuke.

Stuke has an established career on stage, television and films, and is a two times BAFTA nominee. Stuke’s recent credits include Doctor Foster, Silk and Silent Witness.
Chris Chibnall, Showrunner said