BFI: Eighth Doctor panel videoBookmark and Share

Thursday, 31 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
A video of the main guest panel for the BFI's Eighth Doctor celebratory event was uploaded for viewing this morning.

Held on Saturday 5th October as part of the organisation's Doctor Who At 50 season, it saw Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, and Geoffrey Sax in discussion with season co-curator Justin Johnson, following a big-screen showing of McGann's sole TV outing as the Doctor (up to now).


Earlier, Andrew Cartmel, Nicholas Briggs, Gary Russell, and Jason Haigh-Ellery formed a panel to talk about the years between the McGann movie of 1996 and the show's return in 2005.




FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Online - Eighth Doctor - BFI - WHO50 - Paul McGann

Hadoke adds dates to Stepson tourBookmark and Share

Thursday, 31 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
Comedian Toby Hadoke has added a number of dates to his tour of My Stepson Stole My Sonic Screwdriver.

The actor and writer, who is a moderator on classic Doctor Who DVD releases and is a contributor to Doctor Who Magazine, will be performing the show as follows:
My Stepson Stole My Sonic Screwdriver

Join Toby as he takes you on a heart-warming journey that begins with losing a partner, ends with gaining a stepson, and pays homage to the restorative powers of the Time Lord in between. Intimate knowledge of the TARDIS is not required to enjoy this bitter-sweet comedy of parenting through sci-fi evangelism.
Stepson is a follow-up to Hadoke's acclaimed one-man show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf.




FILTER: - UK - Theatre - Comedy

An Adventure In Space And Time interviews releasedBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 30 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
Wide-ranging interviews with cast members of An Adventure In Space And Time and its writer have been released by the BBC. The 90-minute BBC Two drama, which will air next month, tells how Doctor Who was first brought to the screen, and the interviewees talk in depth about what the production has meant to them.

First off, writer Mark Gatiss, who describes it as "a love-letter to Doctor Who" and says why he had to condense things:
What can viewers expect from the drama?

Principally, it's the story of how Doctor Who was created, so we concentrate on the very beginnings and the first few episodes. There are lots of treats for the fans but it's also the story of William Hartnell, the First Doctor, and how the part transformed his life.

Why did you want to tell this story?

I'm a life-long Doctor Who fan and the origins of this beloved show have always fascinated me. But, above all, I wanted it to strike a chord on a human level. These were brilliant, complex, talented people making something revolutionary. And, in William Hartnell, we have the very affecting story of a man redeemed by the role of a lifetime who then, sadly, had to let it go. I think we can all relate to something like that in our lives.

What was the casting process like? Did you set out to find such good lookalikes?


I'd had David Bradley in mind for some years but it wasn't simply a question of a good likeness! David is such a fine and delicate actor, I knew he'd find something wonderful in the part. With everyone else, I stressed that we must first and foremost get the right people for the job. But it turned out the right people also bear the most amazing resemblances to the originals! Costume and make-up, of course, played a huge part in that.

Could you explain a little bit about the research process?

Doctor Who is probably unique in terms of TV shows in that its history has been exhaustively researched for years. Happily, this means that there are lots of interviews existing with people who are no longer with us. I'd wanted to tell the story for years – I sort of grew up with it. How no-one wanted the Daleks. About the first episode going out just after JFK was shot. But I wanted to get deeper than just the details of production and find the human story. I conducted new interviews with a lot of the original cast and crew. They were all hugely enthusiastic and very helpful.

Did you uncover any facts or information that you didn't previously know as a Doctor Who fan?

A few bits and bobs but, as I say, most of it is very well documented now! It was very touching, though, to talk to people about a part of their lives that was often very happy and to discuss people long gone.

There were so many people involved in the show's beginnings, why did you decide to focus on the four central characters of Hartnell, [Sydney] Newman, [Verity] Lambert, and [Waris] Hussein?

I had to focus it down. Simple as that. This is a drama, not a documentary, and though it's extremely painful to have to leave out some people who played a huge part, it makes dramatic sense. You simply can't do everyone justice in 90 minutes. For instance, the story of how Terry Nation and Ray Cusick created the Daleks is almost a film all on its own! Jeff Rawle plays Mervyn Pinfield, who was the associate producer, and his character sort of absorbs several others including Donald Wilson and the brilliant David Whitaker – the first script editor - whose contribution was immeasurable.

Set in the 1960s the drama brings to life that era through the costumes, hair and make-up and the sets, including the first-ever TARDIS console. What was it like being on set?

It was extraordinary. To see the original TARDIS re-created genuinely took my breath away and everyone who came to the set had the same reaction. It was frequently quite uncanny. We used some of the original Marconi cameras and, on the black-and-white monitors, seeing David, Jemma [Powell, as Jacqueline Hill], Jamie [Glover as William Russell], and Claudia [Grant as Carole Ann Ford] was like looking back through time. Spooky and very moving.

Finally, what do you hope audiences take away from the drama?


This is my love-letter to Doctor Who! In this 50th-anniversary year, I hope fans will enjoy and be thrilled by it and all the kisses to the past it's laden with. But my greatest wish is that it appeals to people who know very little or nothing about Doctor Who and see the struggle of talented people (almost) accidentally creating a legend!

David Bradley talks here about portraying William Hartnell - an actor he greatly admired - and transforming himself into the Doctor:
A popular screen star, well regarded by his peers, William Hartnell appeared in numerous plays, films, and TV shows, often playing the "tough guy" role as typified by his character Sgt Major Percy Bullimore in the Granada-made comedy The Army Game, which ran on ITV for five series between 1957 and 1961, three of which - series 1, 2, and 5 - featured Hartnell.

When he was first approached, Hartnell was widely reported to have been unconvinced by the role of Doctor.

"It has to be said, after some initial reluctance to do something for children's TV I think he was quickly convinced that it was the right thing for him to do," says David. "He felt quite insecure about it as it was new territory for him, but once he started he embraced the whole idea of the part."

An Adventure In Space And Time tells the story behind the beginnings of Doctor Who and the team of personalities behind it. Known as a perfectionist, Hartnell was widely regarded as cantankerous by colleagues. But as David explains, the script for 'Space And Time' reveals a full picture of Bill, including the good and the bad.

"I know he had a reputation at times for being cantankerous and rather difficult and one has to play that. It was clear from research and hearing his colleagues talk about him that he was a perfectionist. He demanded a lot of himself and he expected everyone around him to show the same level of commitment."

Hartnell played the role from 1963 until 1966, creating the template for the character of the Doctor, which has since been played by 10 other actors on TV. And he embraced all that embodied the show, as David explains: "He was invited to school fetes in the full outfit and I thought how brilliant and touching that was. It's clear that he absolutely loved it and found it very hard to let go. That's an element that Mark Gatiss brings out in the script."

Deteriorating health led Hartnell to finally retire from the role, but as his illness worsened, so too did his relationship with the production team of Doctor Who.

"I think maybe when people joined the show later, different directors and different actors, if they showed a lack of commitment then it would upset him and he would let people know that's how he felt," says David. "There are moments of sadness in 'Space And Time' where he becomes aware that he hasn't got the strength to do it any more."

David grew up with the show ("I remember Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee best") and last year starred opposite current Doctor Matt Smith [in Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, as the villain Solomon]. Does he see any of Hartnell's characteristics in Smith?

"I really admire him as a Doctor. He's got that curiosity and that slight eccentricity that the part requires, not in the same way as Bill Hartnell, but I think some of those characteristics have gone all the way through everyone that's played the Doctor."

So how would David sum up his experience taking on one of TV's most iconic roles?

"It's been one of those great jobs and an experience I'll always remember. We're honouring something that's been part of television history for 50 years and I hope I've done justice to an actor that I admire greatly."

Jessica Raine takes on the role of Verity Lambert, the first female drama producer at the BBC and the first-ever producer of Doctor Who. She explains what it was like stepping into the shoes of such a formidable woman, and the importance of making sure they showed the fun side of Verity:
"She was very strong-willed, very compassionate and very warm," Jessica says enthusiastically about Verity.

"As the first female drama producer at the BBC she had to be very determined. She had a real fire in her belly about projects she believed in."

Verity Lambert began her career at the BBC in June 1963, having followed ABC's former head of drama, Sydney Newman, to the corporation. Lambert oversaw the first two seasons of Doctor Who, eventually leaving in 1965. It has since become the project she is most famed for.

In An Adventure In Space And Time, one of our first introductions to Verity is at a Swinging Sixties house party, which, according to Jessica, shows the lesser-known fun side of the producer.

"We concentrate more on her work, but we do get a little sliver of the fun side of Verity," says Jessica. "Apparently she used to hold these art parties and invite the artist and all of her mates around and have a sort of exhibition, a bit of music, and a bit of dancing."

Well-known among Doctor Who fans, Sydney Newman once described her as full of "piss and vinegar" and claimed that hiring her was one of the best things he ever did. So, what research did Jessica do to prepare for the role?

"For any role I pretty much always go to the script, first and foremost. While I was auditioning I did look for video clips, but they were all from recent years, but it was interesting to see her. I felt she was very composed, very classy, very warm, but you could see real steel there.

"I also watched the original episode that Verity, Waris, and Sydney, to a certain extent, created and I was really struck by how it holds its own. It's eerie, weird, intriguing, and it's incredible that they were able to do that on such a minuscule budget."

Playing such a formidable character, does Jessica see any similarities between herself and Verity?

"I guess I didn't quite realise how determined I was to act, I really did plug away for it for a while, so I suppose I am in a way. I like that Verity's got quite a twinkle in her eye. It would be very flattering if anyone compared me to her."

Telling the story of the genesis of Doctor Who and the many personalities involved, An Adventure In Space And Time sums up a moment in television history and the start of the world's longest-running science-fiction series.

"I think it encapsulates a time in the Sixties when we're on the brink of this huge change - and it does it really subtly," explains Jessica. "We've got Verity Lambert walking into the BBC, who is a woman. We've got Waris Hussein, the first Indian director at the BBC. The stakes are very high and that reflects what was going on in society at the time."

Apart from reflecting the societal changes at the time, the drama also explores the origins of one of the world's most recognisable monsters, the Daleks.

"I actually do remember being really afraid of the Daleks," says Jessica. "I was just terrified of their horrible voice, which I always equated with the voice on the Tube. We used to go up to London, because I was from the countryside, for a London weekend and the Tube voice, 'Mind the gap', used to always remind me of the Daleks, so it was just a terrifying experience!"

Playing BBC head of drama Sydney Newman, Brian Cox talks about working at Television Centre in the 1960s and the colourful force of nature that was Newman, who joined the BBC in 1962 after a successful stint at commercial channel ABC. Newman's love of science fiction soon led to the creation of Doctor Who as the corporation looked to find a programme to fill a 25-minute teatime slot on Saturdays.
"Sydney Newman was a formidable force in television," says Brian. "He started at ABC and kind of revolutionised drama. I first worked at the BBC in 1965 and did my first-ever television play, 'A Knight In Tarnished Armour', and Sydney was there and I actually met him very briefly. You could always spot Sydney in the BBC Club because of his brightly-coloured cravats and waistcoats. And his personality was the same!"

We first meet Newman in An Adventure In Space And Time as he strides into Television Centre, ignoring the security guard's calls to show his pass, and walking away with "That’s not how we do it at the BBC, sir" ringing in his ears.

But as Brian explains, Sydney was very different to others at the corporation.

"The BBC was very stuffy. There were very good producers and directors, but it was all done by the board and delegation committee, and lots of memos. Sydney had a very different approach, a hands-on approach, and I think that's what made him unique. He brought a breath of fresh air."

As well as being very passionate about his projects, Newman also had a knack for spotting a hit and delegating. He trusted those he appointed to do the work and gave them second chances. This is evident in 'Space And Time', which reveals that despite rumblings of criticisms about producer Verity Lambert's overspending and hating the first try at the first episode of Doctor Who, he gave his team another shot.

"He had them reshoot the whole of the first episode of Doctor Who because he didn't think it was quite right," explains Brian. "I think he was very revolutionary. I think he really did create a standard."

Trying to find a teatime family show, Newman was clear there should be no "bug-eyed monsters", and he hated the idea of the Daleks, but as we see in 'Space And Time', on seeing their success he was happy to admit he was wrong.

"Ultimately, he was a populist," says Brian. "He believed in making drama popular. I think he took forward the original Director-General Lord Reith's philosophy in wanting to get the best possible drama to the maximum number of people."

So does Brian see any similarities with Newman?

"I think there's something very positive about Sydney and he was a force going against the norm of the day. In a sense, I'm very empathetic to him; he’s very much my kind of guy."

Sacha Dhawan plays the role of the director of the first episodes of Doctor Who, Waris Hussein. Here, he talks about how An Adventure In Space And Time deals with the challenges Waris faced as the first Indian-born drama director at the BBC and using music from the Sixties to get his swagger. A graduate of Cambridge, Hussein was faced with a number of tests when he joined the BBC and, like Hartnell, was not particularly enthused by the idea of directing a show for children.

"There were definitely challenges for Waris at the time, but I think in the longer term it made him a better director," says Sacha. "And I think Doctor Who was one of those projects that gave him immense confidence."

Following on from Doctor Who, Hussein went on to have a long career directing a variety of projects from A Passage To India to Shoulder To Shoulder.

As well as touching on the issues of being an Indian director at the BBC in the 1960s, the drama explores the bond between Hussein and the producer Verity Lambert. They struck up a strong friendship and became a committed team, with Hussein going on to work with Lambert on several other productions after Doctor Who.

To research the role, Sacha spent a lot of time with Waris, first meeting him at a public screening of the episodes he directed.

"He is quite a specific character and I wanted to make sure that I played him as truthfully as possible," explains Sacha. "He has a particular way of speaking as well, which I really wanted to home in on."

"We were a bit kind of weird with each other; we were both studying, looking at one another. He was looking at me thinking 'You're watching everything I'm doing, aren't you?', but we hit it off straight away," he says.

Hussein attended one of the first scenes Sacha filmed, showing Lambert and Hussein in the BBC Club. "He started welling up and getting quite moved by it," says Sacha. "I hope that was in a good way and not a bad one, but I think he seemed happy."

Sacha was excited to tackle a period setting he'd never done before. "When I first read the script, it was the era that really excited me. I'd never done anything in this kind of genre. The 1960s is so cool; I love the set and the clothes. As soon as you wear them, you act in a certain way; you walk in a different way."

And to get in to the right frame of mind Sacha dipped into his music collection. "I listened to loads of Sixties music on the way to work, to get a certain kind of swagger."

So how would he sum up 'Space And Time'?

"I think it appeals to those who aren't necessarily Doctor Who fans. I was very moved by the script, particularly William Hartnell's journey, which I relate to as an actor myself," he concludes.




FILTER: - WHO50 - BBC

Retro posters produced for An Adventure In Space And TimeBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 29 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
Two retro posters for the forthcoming drama An Adventure In Space And Time were released today by the BBC.

The 90-minute production for BBC Two tells the story of the creation of Doctor Who, and both posters carry the tagline "The Story Begins Here", with one of them using artwork of David Bradley as William Hartnell in the role of the First Doctor, evoking the spirit of the 1960s annuals. It also features images of a Cyberman, Menoptra, and Dalek, giving a taste of what viewers can expect in the drama. Another character portrait showing Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert was also released today.

The BBC Media Centre's programme information section currently has the drama unplaced in the BBC Two schedules for the week of Saturday 16th November to Friday 22nd November, but it is the chief highlight for that week.
This special one-off drama travels back in time to 1963 to see how Doctor Who was first brought to the screen.

Actor William Hartnell felt trapped by a succession of hard-man roles. Wannabe producer Verity Lambert was frustrated by the TV industry's glass ceiling. Both of them were to find unlikely hope and unexpected challenges in the form of a Saturday tea-time drama, time travel and monsters!

Allied with a team of brilliant people, they went on to create the longest-running science-fiction series ever, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.
As reported earlier today, ABC1 in Australia became the first TV channel in the world to announce a date and time for its transmission: Sunday 24th November at 8.45pm. It will, however, have its world première at the BFI on Tuesday 12th November.





FILTER: - WHO50 - BBC

An Adventure in Space and Time confirmed for AustraliaBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 29 October 2013 - Reported by Marcus
Australian broadcaster ABC has confirmed it will screen the drama based on the origins of Doctor Who, An Adventure in Space and Time, on Sunday 24th November.

The special will be shown at 8.45pm on ABC1, directly after a repeat of the 50th Anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, which will get its premiere as part of the global broadcast in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The ABC is the first broadcaster to confirm a timeslot for the Mark Gatiss-written drama, which is expected to be shown in the UK in the run-up to the 50th Anniversary. It will receive its première at the BFI on Tuesday 12th November before being shown on BBC Two.




FILTER: - WHO50 - Broadcasting - Australia

The Eleventh Doctor Revisited on BBC AmericaBookmark and Share

Monday, 28 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
BBC America will be finishing its celebratory series Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited on Sunday 24th November - the day after the show's 50th anniversary - when it marks the Eleventh Doctor's era.

A special documentary entitled Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited - The Eleventh Doctor will air at 8pm ET/PT, in which Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, and Steven Moffat will be among the participants examining the human side of this Doctor and taking a look at how all the years he has lived have affected him.

As previously reported, the documentary will be followed by the Series 6 opening two-parter The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon. Written by Moffat, directed by Toby Haynes, and originally broadcast in April 2011, these episodes were - appropriately enough - the first ones to see Doctor Who's lead actors filming in the USA for a story.
A strange summons reunites the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and River, and they are soon plunged into an adventure where the team must fight an alien invasion dating back to the beginnings of human civilisation.




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - USA - BBC America - Matt Smith - Jenna Coleman - Eleventh Doctor

BFI: Tenth Doctor panel videoBookmark and Share

Monday, 28 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
The video of the guest panel at the BFI's celebratory screenings for the Tenth Doctor's era is now available to watch online.

Held on Sunday 29th September as part of its Doctor Who At 50 season, the event saw The Stolen Earth and Journey's End shown on the big screen, with David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Phil Collinson, and Graeme Harper taking to the stage afterwards for a discussion and question-and-answer session with season co-curator Justin Johnson.

A three-minute excerpt was uploaded to the BFI's YouTube channel today,
with the full Q&A - just shy of 30 minutes in length - available to watch in the BFI's video section.





FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Online - Catherine Tate - David Tennant - BFI - WHO50

An Unearthly Series - The Origins of a TV LegendBookmark and Share

Sunday, 27 October 2013 - Reported by Anthony Weight
The Dalek Factor
Part twenty-seven in our series telling the story of the creation of Doctor Who, and the people who made it happen.

After the travails of recent weeks, with the abandonment of the original pilot and the cold feet of the Controller of BBC1, as October began to draw to a close Doctor Who was looking a little safer. It was guaranteed a run of at least 13 episodes, and the second of those had now been recorded, with rehearsals due to begin on the third. Work was also continuing on pre-production and scripting for other serials, most immediately the seven-episode adventure by writer Terry Nation, which was to come second in the running order.

This would include creatures called the Daleks - Doctor Who's first race of alien monsters. On Sunday 27th October 1963, exactly fifty years ago today, draughtsman A. Webb drew up the earliest surviving formal designs for the Daleks, from the plans of designer Raymond Cusick. These would be sent to Shawcraft Models, to be constructed ready for use by 20th November. Nobody at the time knew it, but a legend was being born.

Nation's serial was to be an important one for the young series. Neither producer Verity Lambert nor story editor David Whitaker had been entirely keen on the opening story, An Unearthly Child by Anthony Coburn, but by the time they both joined the series it was too late to change it. Nation's scripts would therefore be the first serial they had entirely sought out and commissioned themselves, with Whitaker having selected Nation after being impressed by his work on the ITV science-fiction anthology series Out of this World. Nation had initially been unwilling to work on the programme, but after parting with his previous employer, comedian Tony Hancock, had taken up the offer. Nation had been able to deliver his scripts quickly and write efficiently within the format of the programme, and Lambert and Whitaker had been impressed with his work. With no other serial in as ready a state as Nation's, his tale of post-apocalyptic struggle on a distant alien world was promoted to second in the young programme's running order.

At seven episodes, Nation's scripts would take up a sizeable chunk of the 13-episode run that Doctor Who had been given in which to prove itself by a somewhat reluctant BBC1. The Head of Serials, Donald Wilson, disliked Nation's scripts and did not want Lambert to use them, but she successfully argued that nothing else was ready. Wilson's superior, the Head of Drama Sydney Newman, did not see the scripts or any designs for the serial, as by this stage he was taking a less hands-on role in the production of the programme that he himself has initiated - he did not see the Daleks until the viewers themselves did, in December.

Cusick had not been the designer originally allocated to the story. Future Hollywood film director Ridley Scott, then also working for the design department of the BBC, had orignally been given the task, but problems with his availability meant that it was Cusick who had to come up with a design to match the description in Nation's script:

Hideous machine-like creatures. They are legless, moving on a round base. They have no human features. A lens on a flexible shaft acts as an eye. Arms with mechanical grips for hands. The creatures hold strange weapons in their hands.

Nation was keen to get away from traditional science-fiction film images of monsters being obviously men dressed up in suits, but when Cusick sought advice on how to realise this concept from Doctor Who's veteran associate producer Mervyn Pinfield, he was dismayed to hear Pinfield suggest just that. Pinfield had been assigned to Doctor Who particularly for his ability to advise on technical matters, and his suggestion for the Daleks was a budget-conscious one. He told Cusick to design a costume of a large cardboard tube around the actor's torso, with other tubes around the arms and legs, and for the whole ensemble to be painted silver.

Cusick found greater inspiration when he spoke directly to Nation. The scriptwriter had been enthused by seeing a performance by the Georgian State Dancers, in which the female members of the Soviet group wore long dresses entirely concealing their legs and feet, and thus seemed to glide across the floor without any visible method of movement. Cusick, inspired by this, experimented with various designs all based around the idea of a seated operator entirely enclosed by the outline of the design, with no visible arms or legs.

Cusick worked throughout October on refining the design, consulting with other experts in the field such as Bernard Wilkie and Jack Kine of the BBC Visual Effects Department. By 27th October, fifty years ago today, he had completed his design, to be constructed by the outside company Shawcraft Models. This was still not quite the final design - after the designs had been delivered to Shawcraft, the company's boss Bill Roberts made his own refinements to make the props easier, cheaper, and more efficient to construct within the time and budget available. Changes Roberts made included having the gun and sucker arms mounted on the same level, rather than at different levels as in Cusick's design. But beyond such comparatively minor changes, the design of the Dalek, the iconic image familiar to millions even fifty years later, all stems from the designs of October 27th.

Shawcraft would have £750 to construct the four Dalek props which would be needed for the making of Nation's serial, but the appearance of the creatures was not the only element that was being developed through October. The Dalek serial had been assigned two directors - the more experienced Christopher Barry would handle the majority of the serial, while newcomer Richard Martin would also direct some episodes, to help learn his trade. Barry had initially approached the Post Office's Joint Speech Research Unit to investigate providing voices for the Dalek creatures, but wasn't quite able to obtain what was wanted. Martin then approached a body which had already worked on Doctor Who, providing the theme tune - the BBC's own Radiophonic Workshop, based at Maida Vale.

The workshop's Brian Hodgson met with Martin, who explained the type of grating, metallic voice that was wanted. Hodgson, inspired by a robot voice he had previously created for a radio serial called Sword From the Stars, came up with the idea of using a ring modulator to process an actor's voice and create the kind of effect that was desired. Hodgson and Martin experimented with using the modulation process on the voice of actor Peter Hawkins, concentrating on the vowel sounds where the modulation was most effective. The trial session took place in Studio G at Lime Grove Studios on 24th October 1963, when Cusick's designs for the creatures they were coming up with a voice for had still not been completed. The two elements would come together to create a sensation - although nobody, of course, knew that at the time.

Doctor Who had still to prove itself - but with less than a month to go until the transmission of its first episode, there was not long to wait to see what the general public would make of this programme that had been enduring such a struggle to reach the screen. Meanwhile, production continued both on the first serial and on the Dalek adventure - from Monday 28th October, Waris Hussein and his cast would begin rehearsing the third episode of the programme, The Forest of Fear, while on the same day at the BBC Television Film Studios at Ealing pre-filming work began on The Daleks, using 35mm film for stunts, model work and other complicated sequences.

Next EpisodeAn Absolute Knock-Out
SOURCES: Doctor Who Magazine issue 331 (Panini Comics, 25 June 2003); Doctor Who Magazine issue 460 (Panini Comics, June 2013); Dalek 6388 - 1: The Dead Planet
Compiled by:
Paul Hayes




FILTER: - The Story of Doctor Who

Cinema screenings of The Day of the Doctor announced for the USBookmark and Share

Thursday, 24 October 2013 - Reported by Harry Ward
The Day Of The Doctor; US Screening poster (Credit: BBC) BBC America have announced that 3D cinema screenings of The Day of the Doctor will take place across the United States on 23 and 25 November.

Participating cinemas on 23 November are listed below. Tickets for these screenings will go on sale tomorrow (25 October) at 9am EST and may be purchased from Cinemark.com and Fandango.com.
Los Angeles: Cinemark Rave 18 + IMAX (Los Angeles, CA), Century Huntington Beach and XD (Huntington Beach, CA)
New York: AMC Loews Village 7 (New York, NY), Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 & RPX (New York, NY)
Chicago: Century 12 Evanston/CinéArts 6 and XD (Evanston, IL), Cinemark 16 + IMAX (Woodridge, IL)
Philadelphia: University Penn 6 (Philadelphia, PA), Cinemark 16 (Somerdale, NJ)
Dallas-Ft. Worth: Cinemark West Plano + XD (Plano, TX)
San Francisco-Oak-San Jose: Century San Francisco Centre 9 (San Francisco, CA)
Washington, DC (Hagerstown): Fairfax Corner 14 + Xtreme (Fairfax, VA)
Houston: Cinemark 17 + XD (The Woodlands, TX)
Atlanta: Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville, GA)
Seattle-Tacoma: Lincoln Square Cinema 16 with IMAX (Bellevue, WA)
Minneapolis: AMC Southdale 16 (Edina, MN)
You can find a full list of participating cinemas showing the episode on 25 November at the Fathom Events website.

Soumya Sriraman, EVP Home Entertainment and Licensing for BBC Worldwide North America, commented:
Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary is truly a global celebration and we’re thrilled to bring the special to the silver screen. Our partnerships with Cinemark, AMC, Regal Cinemas and NCM Fathom Events will give fans, on November 23 and 25, the opportunity to see the Doctor in a whole new way – in RealD™ 3D.
Shelly Maxwell, executive vice president of NCM Fathom Events said:
The Day of The Doctor is upon us and fans of the BBC AMERICA sci-fi series Doctor Who have the opportunity to see the time-travelling adventures like never before in 3D from their local movie theater. There’s never been a better time to be a Whovian during the 50th Anniversary celebration of this huge BBC hit that’s invaded America.




FILTER: - USA - Day of the Doctor - WHO50

The Light at the End released earlyBookmark and Share

Thursday, 24 October 2013 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
Big Finish Productions have released The Light at the End, their 50th anniversary Doctor Who story, one month before the programme's actual anniversary:
Light at the End special edition cover (Credit: Big Finish) We’re very pleased to announce that today is the day we’re beginning the release of our 50th anniversary Doctor Who story The Light at the End. We’re beginning with the Limited Edition CD box set.

It's the 23rd of October, one month ahead of the anniversary of Doctor Who on the 23rd of November, and as of today, the digital download releases for all versions of Doctor Who: The Light at the End will be made available. This includes the Limited Edition, the Standard Edition and the Vinyl Edition.

Mailing out of the Limited Edition CD version has begun today.

Nick Briggs, executive producer: ‘The Standard Edition CDs should start to be mailed out this coming Friday, and the Vinyl Edition will start mailing on November 2nd.

‘With the anniversary of Doctor Who imminent,’ continues Nick, ‘and everyone champing at the bit for the celebrations to begin, we thought it only right and proper that our special anniversary full-cast audio should be released a tiny bit early. Our plans for this very nearly went awry when the company responsible for the physical production of our CDs (and LPs!), Key Productions, experienced a series of unforeseeable problems beyond their control. This is what has caused the slight delay on the Standard Edition and the slightly longer delay of the Vinyl Edition. But for all our customers who can access the digital versions of all these releases, they can listen straight away.

‘We know that those customers who favour listening to the CD or the LP rather than downloading a digital version, might find this a little frustrating, but we thought this course of action would benefit the vast majority of our loyal listeners. We offer our sincerest apologies to any customers who find this decision doesn’t suit them, and hope they will understand our reasons for going ahead with the releases now.’

So, for Big Finish Productions, the 50th anniversary has started early. And for any of you who haven't yet ordered your copy of Doctor Who: The Light at the End, it will be on sale at the Dimensions 2013 convention (all tickets now sold) in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors (Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann) will be making guest appearances.

When Big Finish announced on Facebook and Twitter that The Light at the End was available for download, their website was temporarily overloaded by the sudden, strong demand. These problems were subsequently resolved, but Big Finish requested that customers wait to download the story if possible:
As you may have seen, the BF Website is back up and running again. But we would ask that if you can possibly wait a few hours to download The Light at the End, please do. The problem we have discovered is that although we have ample bandwidth to support the download of the quantity of data needed (loads of downloads of The Light at the End) another issue has emerged. The problem is being caused by the sheer number of customers visiting the site at the same time. We have to confess that this is the unforeseen circumstance we simply didn't anticipate. It is because the demand is so unprecedentedly huge that we didn't know to check this before releasing. The analogy that's been used to explain this to us is that it's a bit like having one shop assistant and thousands of customers all arriving at once. Our IT people will continuing monitoring the site and will make all efforts to correct any hold-ups as the hours pass. But, as we said, if you can possibly manage to wait to initiate your download, we would very much appreciate your patience. Huge apologies from all of us here at Big Finish.




FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker - WHO50 - Peter Davison - Sylvester McCoy - Paul McGann - Colin Baker