It was inevitable that within moments of Peter Capaldi's announcement of his departure from Doctor Who fans and media would speculate on who would take over as lead actor on the show across social media - and commercial betting would begin!

This morning, William Hill currently place Ben Whishaw as favourite, at 6/1: the actor is probably best known worldwide as the character of Q in the Daniel Craig era of James Bond films, or for the younger audience as the voice of Paddington Bear in the 2014 film (and this year's sequel), and on recent television in London Spy . Next up is Richard Ayaode at 8/1, the quirky comic actor/director is best known in the UK for The IT Crowd, his travels around the world in Travel Man, and will be the host of the revived series of The Crystal Maze this year. Also at 8/1 is another name long-associated with Who-odds, Rory Kinnear (another modern James Bond stalwart as Bill Tanner), and Rupert Grint (or as most people know him, Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films!). The first actress on their list is Broadchurch's Olivia Colman at 20/1 - though ITV's Good Morning Britain reported that Miranda Hart was in fourth place at 8/1. The current list can be found via William Hill's special bet "To Replace Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor Who?".

Both Betfair and Paddy Power offer up Sherlock's Moriarty, Andrew Scott, as their joint favourite, alongside Ben Daniels (Law and Order UK, House of Cards, Star Wars: Rogue One), and Lara Pulver (Spooks, Sherlock).

During an item on the departure of Capaldi on BBC's Breakfast this morning, viewers' suggestions were read out, including names such as Hayley Attwell or Eddie Redmayne, Colin Salmon, David Harewood, Helena Bonham Carter, Gillian Anderson, and Danny Dyer.


Anticipation will of course continue until the eventual new Doctor is announced by the BBC - how and when this might be is unknown at present (Capaldi's announcement in 2013 took place on a special live television programme!), but may be held off until the last series starring Capaldi has been broadcast - it will be on air between 15th April and 1st July (barring pre-emptions such as for the Eurovision Song Contest), with filming for the next series under the helm of new lead writer Chris Chibnall expected to commence not long afterwards.

Update 1st Feb: the Radio Times has reported that filming for Series 11 would not commence until Spring 2018, so an announcement of a new Doctor might not occur until next year!

Class Episode Seven, The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did had an audience of 0.76 million viewers for its debut on BBC One, according the unofficial overnight figures, a share of 8% of the total TV audience.

The rating was fractionally up on the overnight figures for last week's episode. The programme was outrated by by Newsnight on BBC Two, which had 0.79 million, but it beat Through the Keyhole on ITV which had 0.65 million.

The series concluded with Episode Eight, The Lost, which followed at 11.35pm and had an audience of 0.26 million, a share of 4.7%. This episode was beaten in its timeslot Hospital on BBC 2 with 0.33 million, and marginally by The Chase on ITV which also had 0.26 million.

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Consolidated ratings are now available for episodes 3 and 4 of Class, shown on BBC One two weeks ago, which include details of those who recorded the programme and watched it within a week.

Episode 3, Nightvisiting, which was broadcast at 10.47pm, had a confirmed audience of 0.79 million viewers, a 7.5% share of the total TV audience. The channel average for the timeslot is of 1.85 million. The figure is actually lower than the initial overnight figure. This can happen as the overnight figures are just an estimate based on the scheduled timeslot. The final figures are the accepted official figure for the episode. The programme won the timeslot with BBC Two's Newsnight getting 0.69 million watching. An additional 0.29 million have accessed the episode on iPlayer since its release on BBC Three last October.

Episode 4, Co-Owner Of A Lonely Heart, followed immediately afterward, starting at 11.31pm, and had a consolidated audience of 0.34 million watching, a share 5.2% of the audience. The channel average for the timeslot is 0.82 million. Episode 4 increased its audience by 21% over the initial figure. Around 250,000 have accessed the episode on iPlayer.

Big Finish Productions have won the award for the Best Online/non Broadcast drama in the 2017 BBC Radio Drama Awards.

The team won for Absent Friends, the first part of the Eighth Doctor series Doom Coalition 3, releaed in October 2016.

The awards, which have been running since 2012, celebrate the range, originality and quality of audio drama on air and online and recognise the creativity of actors, writers, producers, sound designers and others who work in the genre. Big Finish previously won the award in 2014 for another Eighth Doctor story Dark Eyes.

The winners were announced this evening, at a special ceremony hosted by Sir Lenny Henry and Director of BBC Radio and Music Bob Shennan in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House, London.

Vincent and the Doctor actor Bill Nighy was presented with the Special Award for Services to Radio Drama by Amelia Bullmore, recognising his tremendous contribution to audio drama over his career. Memorable highlights span from playing Sam Gamgee in The Lord Of The Rings in the 1980s to his regular appearances now as the actor-turned-detective Charles Paris, with appearances also in Cigarettes And Chocolate by Anthony Minghella, Private Lives with Helena Bonham Carter along with untiring support for the genre in general.

Bob Shennan, BBC Director of Radio, said:

Big Finish have announced two new Short Stories exploring some small but important chapters in the Eighth Doctor's involvement with the Time War...

With the universe fracturing around him in the crossfire of the Time War, the Eighth Doctor has turned his back on his people, choosing to help those suffering from their actions. But what happens when events of the Time War touch upon those he's known and cared for? Two new Doctor Who Short Trips in the Autumn of 2017 explore what it means for former companions when Time War influences reach their lives...

Producer Ian Atkins comments In September comes Rob Nisbet's A Heart on Both Sides, read by Sarah Sutton: Ian Atkins comments: The second story follows in October: All Hands on Deck by Eddie Robson, read by Carole Ann Ford: Atkins added Also confirmed are three other releases: August's The British Invasion by Ian Potter read by Wendy Padbury, November's The Ingenious Gentleman Adric of Alzarius by Julian Richards read by Matthew Waterhouse, and the first 2018 release - The Authentic Experience read by Nicola Bryant, written by Dan Starkey. prices.

Full details of all Big Finish Doctor Who releases can be found in the Doctor Who Guide.

Big Finish have announced that the Fourth Doctor Adventures will continue into 2018 with a new series featuring the Doctor (Tom Baker), Leela (Louise Jameson) and K9 (John Leeson).

This time around the series will be released as two boxed sets of four episodes each. January 2018 will see the release of Series 7A, consisting of Episode One by Andrew Smith, The Crowmarsh Experiement by David Llewellyn, and The Mind-Runners / The Demon Rises by John Dorney; May sees the release of Series 7B, with The Shadow of London by Justin Richards, Episode Six by Dan Starkey, and Kill The Doctor! / Episode Eight by Guy Adams.

For digital listeners, as well as the two boxed sets it will also be possible to buy the episodes individually. Pre-orders can be purchased at a discount to the final release price. For full details see the Big Finish website.


Meanwhile, Season 6 kicks off in January, which as well as K9 will feature the Doctor's Time Lord side-kick Romana (as portrayed by Lalla Ward):

The followong competitons are available to enter via Doctor Who News in December:





It's still possible to enter competitions to win Lethbridge-Stewart books and Warlord Games miniatures, closing date this Sunday.


Watch out for our annual Christmas Ratings competition, launching next week!

Lethbridge-Stewart Artwork Competition

Candy Jar Books are also running a competition for purchasers to win a piece Lethbridge-Stewart artwork by Richard Young. See their offers for more details.

Big Finish have announced details for their main range of Doctor Who adventures over the course of next year.

January sees a new trilogy featuring the fifth Doctor and companions, which as well as Tegan and Nyssa will also see them joined with Adric, as played by Matthew Waterhouse. Having first returned to the Doctor Who fold in 2014's Fifth Doctor Box Set, the character now arrives in the main range, with Matthew commenting:
Range editor Alan Barnes said:
Matthew added:
The characters continue their journeys over the next two months, with Alan adding:
Additional cast members include Sue Holderness (Only Fools And Horses) in The Star Men, Philip Jackson (Inspector Japp in ITV's Poirot) and Clive Merrison (The Tomb of the Cybermen, Paradise Towers) in The Contingency Club, and Rebecca Root (Boy Meets Girl), Niamh Cusack (Heartbeat), Philip Franks (The Darling Buds of May, Heartbeat) and Carol Sloman – daughter of Doctor Who writer Robert Sloman - in Zaltys. The trilogy has covers from designer Tom Webster.


April sees a change in style for the regular range, as Big Finish embarks on the first of three special two-disc collections of two stories. The first stars Peter Davison as the fifth Doctor in Alien Heart by Steve Cole, and Dalek Soul by Guy Adams. This is followed in May by Colin Baker's sixth Doctor starring in Vortex Ice by Jonathan Morris, and Cortex Fire by Ian Potter, and then in June Sylvester McCoy brings the trilogy to a close with Shadow Planet by AK Benedict and World Apart by Scott Handcock.

Alan commmented:

Looking a little further into 2017, July sees the award-winning John Dorney back writing for the main range with The High Price of Parking starring the seventh Doctor, Mel and Ace. August's title has yet to be confirmed, but September will see two releases, with Matthew J Elliott's The Silurian Candidate for the seventh Doctor and Eddie Robson's Time in Office featuring the fifth Doctor, Tegan and another Doctor's one-time companion. The end of the year sees a full trilogy of adventures featuring the sixth Doctor, Constance and Flip, following on from this month's release, Quicksilver.


The main range can be bought individually, or subscribed to in both six- and 12-episode runs, at money-saving prices as well as special exclusives such as PDF scripts, extended extras and up to four Doctor Who - Subscriber Short Trips a year. Full details can be found via the Big Finish website.

The fourth doctor, in the form of Tom Baker, is to battle the Vashta Nerada in an new audio play from Big Finish.

The Fourth Doctor has joined the line-up for the new series Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, where he will be battle a foe that will one day fight his Tenth incarnation.

The new story, recorded on 16 November, finds the Doctor in a futuristic funfair on an alien world where he comes across the flesh eating shadows, created by Steven Moffat for the David Tennant story Silence in the Library.

Producer David Richardson said With the Fourth Doctor travelling alone, director Barnaby Edwards has assembled a fine guest cast. Pam Ferris (Call the Midwife, Rosemary and Thyme) plays professional hunter Amanda Steele, Lorelei King (Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy) is Georgia Donnelly, Emma Lowndes (Downton Abbey, Cranford) plays Phelan, Matt Devitt (Campus, Down to Earth) plays Bernnetto.

Doctor Who - Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 2 is out in 2017 and can be pre-ordered now at £20 on either Download or a CD set (which unlocks digital access).

Three Big Finish Audio plays have been nominated as Best Online/non Broadcast drama in the 2017 BBC Radio Drama Awards.

Absent Friends, the first part of the Eighth Doctor play Doom Coalition 3, Death and the Queen. the third story in the Tenth Doctor range and Torchwood: More Than This are all nominated.

The awards, which have been running since 2012, celebrate the range, originality and quality of audio drama on air and online and recognise the creativity of actors, writers, producers, sound designers and others who work in the genre. Big Finsh previously won the award in 2014 for their play Dark Eyes.

Also nominated in the Online category is Baker's End from Bafflegab Productions, the first part of a new audio series written by Paul Magrs and starring Tom Baker as himself, alongside Katy Manning and Susan Jameson.

David Tennant is nominated as Best Actor, for his performance in BBC Radio 4's Look Back in Anger.

The nominations are judged by a team of industry experts including actress Alison Steadman, journalist Baz Bamigboye, and producer Piers Plowright. Finalists will be announced in a ceremony at the BBC Radio Theatre in London on 29 January 2017, hosted by Sir Lenny Henry.