As we approach the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, revisit the story of Doctor Who, the occasional series written for the 50th Anniversary, explaining the origins of the programme.
Episode 22 - An Unearthly Series - The Origins of a TV Legend: First published 30 Sep 2013
Toby Hadoke has published his annual memoriam of those who have delighted us both in front of and behind the scenes of Doctor Who and its extended worlds, who sadly passed away in 2022.
Doctor Who In Memoriam 2022
Remembering those whom we lost from the worlds of Doctor Who this year. Includes a small number from before 2022 whose deaths only came to light this year.
The actress Millie Gibson has been revealed to be the companion to join new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa on his travels in the TARDIS - she will be playing Ruby Sunday, and will appear in his debut festive story next year.
The actress is best known as Kellie Neelan in Coronation Street, and received the Best Young Performer Award at The British Soap Awards earlier this year. Other roles have included ITV's Butterfly, BBC's Love, Lies and Records, and CBBC series Jamie Johnson.
Speaking of her new role, Millie said:
Ncuti Gatwa added:
Returning showrunner Russell T Davies said:
The reveal took place live on this year's Children in Need telethon - you can donate to the charity via thier website.
The BBC have confirmed that the new companion to accompany Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor on his adventures will be revealed during the annual Children in Need appeal this evening on BBC One.
The weekly consolidated ratings for the week 17-23 October have been released by BARB, indicating that Jodie Whittaker's swansong The Power of the Doctor achieved 5.295 million viewers, making it the second most watched programme on the Sunday and the fifth most watched programme overall for the week.
Top of the week went to Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing (which saw contestant Tyler West and dance partner Dianne Buswell performing the Tango to the Doctor Who theme) with some 9.894m, followed by Sunday's Results show with 8.634m; third place went to Channel 4's The Great British Bake Off with 7.794m, and ITV's Doc Martin was fourth with 5.610m.
The episode achieved 5.1m via TV viewing which placed it sixth (with Wednesday's Coronation Street some 46000 viewers more),; however, once other ways to watch were factored in (4-Screen) it enabled the episode to overtake the soap into fifth place by some 45000 extra viewers! Sunday's BBC News at 10 (which featured an interview with David Tennant on his return to the role) which originally was ahead of Doctor Who on overnights eventually settled into 23rd place with 3.919m viewers (very few people tend to watch the news on catchup unlike soaps and drama!)
Breaking down the ratings, the episode was watched by 2.37m viewers live, gaining another 1.25m/1.34m overnight via TV/4-Screen respectively (VOSDAL). The last seven days saw an additional 1.48m/1.59m catch up on the show.
The position marks the highest place the show has achieved since Whittker's first few episodes back in 2018 (where her debut hit the top spot and the next three episodes all made 4th place). It is also the highest veiwing figure for the show since The Halloween Apocalypse a year ago today.
The signed repeat of the episode broadcast early Saturday morning on BBC2 was watched by 35000 viewers.
Figures for other regions include ABC in Australia with 103000 viewers, and BBC America in the United States with 317000 viewers (64th place in the cable charts with a Neilsen 18-49 rating of 0.06).
As part of the promotion for the new series and the deal with Disney, the BBC have released a video featuring the next Doctor Ncuti Gatwa discussing the role and what he'd like to see and do in his episodes.
The BBC have announced a deal with Disney Branded Television to provide Doctor Who on its streaming platform Disney+ internationally, including a new (but familiar looking!) logo for the series.
Under a shared creative vision, the two organisations will deliver the series using Disney+ as the exclusive home for new seasons outside the UK and Ireland. The announcement was made by the next Doctor Ncuti Gatwa during an appearance on American breakfast show Live with Kelly and Ryan this morning.
The new episodes will premiere on the BBC and Disney+ beginning in late 2023 for fans all over the world.
The show is produced in Wales by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios Production. Showrunner Russell T Davies said
I love this show, and this is the best of both worlds – with the vision and joy of the BBC and Disney+ together we can launch the TARDIS all around the planet, reaching a new generation of fans while keeping our traditional home firmly on the BBC in the UK.
Charlotte Moore, BBC's Chief Content Officer said:
We are thrilled to announce this exciting global partnership with Disney who are the perfect partners to bring this very British show to the rest of the world. Russell T Davies' vision for Doctor Who has always been out of this world and we are committed to ensuring that audiences across the globe get the opportunity to enjoy the Doctor's epic adventures with the scale and ambition that they deserve. Joining forces with Disney will elevate the show to even greater heights and reach new audiences so it's an extremely exciting time for fans in the UK and across the world.
Alisa Bowen, President of Disney+ said:
We're excited by the opportunity to bring new seasons of this beloved franchise exclusively to Disney+ and introduce the show to the next generation of audiences in more than 150 markets around the world. The series is a perfect addition to our ever-growing catalog of global content that continues to make Disney+ the home for exceptional storytelling.
Ayo Davis, President of Disney Branded Television said:
Doctor Who has captivated the imaginations of families around the world for the past six decades. We are so excited about this collaboration with the BBC, and the opportunity to bring this iconic franchise – and Russell T Davies' brilliant vision – to life for a huge new global audience. Grab your sonic screwdrivers and prepare to travel through time and space!"
Rebecca Glashow, CEO, Global Distribution, BBC Studios says:
We're delighted to join forces with a partner who shares our vision and ambition for one of the most iconic shows in British TV history. This is great news for everyone who loves Doctor Who, and for all the new fans we will reach through this powerful partnership.
Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner, Executive Producers and Co-founders, Bad Wolf, said:
The Power of the Doctor achieved an Audience Appreciation Index score of 82.
The appreciation index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The score, out of a hundred, is compiled by a specially selected panel of around 5,000 people who go online and rate and comment on programmes.
The score of 82 is the highest figure Doctor Who has achieved since the same score was recorded against the 2020 series finale The Timeless Children, with the intervening eight episodes of 2021/22 only averaging 76.6.
Jodie Whittaker's tenure saw the audience appreciation index range from its lowest score of 75 for Once, Upon Time to its highest of 83 with her debut story The Woman Who Fell To Earth alongside Rosa, Arachnids In The UK, and the following season's Fugitive of the Judoon.
The overall average for the whole of the 13th Doctor's era of 31 episodes is 79.6.
You can review the complete list of AIs scored over Doctor Who's history via our guide.
The finale of The Power of the Doctor saw Jodie Whittaker's Doctor regenerate into a surprisingly familiar face in the form of the 10th Doctor David Tennant! The actor was announced as returning back in May 2022 alongside Catherine Tate, reprising her former role as sidekick Donna. At the time showrunner Russell T Davies teased:
Maybe this is a missing story. Or a parallel world. Or a dream, or a trick, or a flashback. The only thing I can confirm is that it’s going to be spectacular, as two of our greatest stars reunite for the battle of a lifetime.
However, with Tennant now revealed to be the 14th Doctor, quite why this has occured and how it will lead into the next Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa remains a mystery, with Davies commenting:
Three specials have been filmed for the 60th anniversary and are due to be shown in November 2023, with Ncuti Gatwa's first official episode to be broadcast over the following festive period.
The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who’s feature length centenary special - The Power of the Doctor – will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday 23rd October. This episode is the last of three specials that aired this year, and will mark Jodie Whittaker’s final adventure as the Thirteenth Doctor.
Action-adventure in space and time for all the family, starring Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop, Sophie Aldred, Janet Fielding and Sacha Dhawan. In this feature-length Special to mark her last adventure, Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor must fight for her very existence, against her deadliest enemies: the Daleks, the Cybermen and her arch-nemesis, the Master.
Who is attacking a speeding bullet train on the edges of a distant galaxy? Why are seismologists going missing from 21st century Earth? Who is defacing some of history’s most iconic paintings? Why is a Dalek trying to make contact with the Doctor? And just what hold does the mesmeric Rasputin have over Tsar Nicholas in 1916 Russia?
The Doctor faces multiple threats…and a battle to the death.
The Power of the Doctor trailer on YouTube
Silva Screen Records are to release the soundtrack for the 2021 Doctor Who mini-series Flux on both digital (30 September) and as a CD set (11 November) which will as well as the soundtrack on two discs will also include a bonus CD featuring the soundtrack of the 2021 New Year's Day special, Revolution of the Daleks.
Debuting at Halloween 2021, Flux was the first Doctor Who series in 36 years to tell one complete story across its entirety, rather than self-contained episodes. Jodie Whittaker returned for her third and final season in the title role. This three CD set features the score for Flux spread across two CDs and includes a bonus disc, the New Years’ Day special broadcast in 2021, Revolution of the Daleks
Segun Akinola is a composer for film and television who has strengthened many projects with his musical acumen. He is most known for his music in the latest series of Doctor Who, starring the first female Doctor, Jodie Whittaker.
Segun’s work is a key immersive tool for showrunner Chris Chibnall and series directors to establish the many adventures the Doctor and her friends travel on. These include the impressive 80s influenced electronic score for The Tsuranga Conundrum to the heart-wrenching Demons Of The Punjab which utilised specialist Indian musicians and orchestra, all recorded at Abbey Road Studios. He also scored the critically acclaimed Doctor Who VR experience, Doctor Who: The Runaway.
Segun scored Sundance 2019 favourite The Last Tree, which was also recorded at Abbey Road Studios. This is Segun’s second feature film collaboration with director Shola Amoo after A Moving Image, and it earned him a Discovery of the Year award nomination at the World Soundtrack Awards. A BAFTA Breakthrough Brit 2017, Segun’s other work includes scoring BBC Two’s landmark four-part series Black and British: A Forgotten History.
DISCS 1 & 2 – SERIES 13 FLUX
Volume One
Volume Two
BONUS DISC – REVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS
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