Neil Fingleton 1980-2017Bookmark and Share

Sunday, 26 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus

The actor Neil Fingleton has died at the age of 36

Neil Fingleton played the Fisher King in the 2015 Doctor Who stories Under the Lake and Before The Flood

In 2007 Fingleton was awarded the Guinness World Record as the tallest British-born man and the tallest man in the European Union, standing at 7 ft 6in or 2.33m.

Neil Fingleton was born in Durham in 1980. An outstanding basketball player, he spent 8 years in education in the United States, winning a sporting scholarship and studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

In 2004 he made his professional debut as a basketball player for the now defunct Boston Frenzy. He later played professionally in China, Italy, Greece, England and for the spanish teams Club Baloncesto Ilarcuris and Ciudad Real.

In 2007 injury forced him to abandon his sporting career and he took up acting. He appeared in the film 47 Ronin alongside Keanu Reeves, and played the giant Mag the Mighty in the TV series Game of Thrones. He appeared in the 2015 film Jupiter Ascending, the Fox Studios film X-Men: First Class and in the Marvel Entertainment film Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Neil Fingleton died on Saturday after suffering a heart attack.




FILTER: - Obituary - People

Doctor Who: New Series TeaserBookmark and Share

Saturday, 25 February 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have released a teaser trailer for the forthcoming new series of Doctor Who, which starts on 15th April 2017.





FILTER: - Publicity - Series 10/36

Doctor Who Petition Gets Over 11,000 SignaturesBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 22 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
A petition to try to prevent the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff from closing, has received over 11,000 signatures.

The petition was launched after it was announced that the exhibition on Cardiff Bay is due to close this summer, when the five year lease expires.

The petition was the idea of Bex Ferriday, who lives in Cardiff. She told Wales Online
I set it up just expecting friends and family to sign it. I was pretty shocked and terrified by the popularity it garnered pretty quickly. I know the land was only leased for five years but surely anyone can see that... to knock this on the head, when we have got Doctor Who being filmed here and the studios here, seems like a really stupid thing to do.
The Doctor Experience opened in London in 2011, before moving to a purpose-built building in the Welsh capital. It is currently situated at Porth Teigr, Cardiff Bay, near the BBC studios where Doctor Who is made.

The site is owned by Cardiff City Council, who issues a five-year lease to BBC Worldwide to host the Experience.

A spokesman for Cardiff council said:
The land currently occupied by the Doctor Who Experience is owned by the Welsh Government and their development partner, Igloo Regeneration. It was leased to the city council for five years to enable the relocation of the Doctor Who Experience from Olympia to Cardiff on a temporary basis. It has always been the intention for the site to be developed as part of the ongoing Porth Teigr regeneration project. The agreement was always intended to be for five years only, reflecting the nature of the attraction. The decision to close the Experience at the end of the lease next summer has been mutually agreed by all parties involved, including the operators BBC Worldwide.
The petition will be presented to the Doctor Who Experience next Saturday.




FILTER: - BBC Worldwide - Doctor Who Experience

The Doctors: The Jon Pertwee YearsBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 22 February 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Koch Media are to release a collection of interviews with stars from Jon Pertwee's era of Doctor Who from Reeltime Pictures on 6th March 2017:

The Doctors: The Jon Pertwee Years (Credit: Koch Media)The Doctors: The Jon Pertwee Years
Produced by Keith Barnfather (pre-order from Amazon)


This is the definitive set of interviews with the team of actors who brought the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who to life.

These six hour-long documentaries feature in-depth interviews with Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), Richard Franklin (Captain Yates) and John Levene (Sergeant Benton). Presented by voice of the Daleks Nicholas Briggs.


SPECIAL FEATURE: Introduction by Nicholas Briggs & Producer Keith Barnfather


Competition

To be in with a chance to win a copy of both The Doctors: The Jon Pertwee Years and the previously announced Wartime Chronicles on DVD courtesy of Koch Media, simply answer the following question:
Name the first televised story where Benton chats to the third Doctor.
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-pertwee@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Jehoshaphat!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 5th March 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.





FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Competitions - Jon Pertwee

New Titan ComicsBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 21 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Out 22 February 2017

DOCTOR WHO: THIRD DOCTOR #5 (Final Issue)

Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Christopher Jones
COVER A: Andy Walker COVER B: Will Brooks COVER C: Brian Miller & Hi-Fi COVER D: Carolyn Edwards COVER E: Marc Ellerby

The Third Doctor’s Earth-bound exile has been lifted. But before he can set out on new adventures, an alien invasion appears to threaten Earth! It’s the devious work of an old enemy, Salamander, a former dictator with a startling resemblance to the Second Doctor! Now, forming an uneasy alliance with the Master, the Doctor and UNIT set out to stop him – but are they too late to stop his plans as he takes them all back into the past.
The_Third_Doctor_05_Cover_A (Credit: Titan) The_Third_Doctor_05_Cover_B (Credit: Titan) The_Third_Doctor_05_Cover_C (Credit: Titan) The_Third_Doctor_05_Cover_D (Credit: Titan) The_Third_Doctor_05_Cover_E (Credit: Titan) The_Third_Doctor_05_Preview_1 (Credit: Titan) The_Third_Doctor_05_Preview_2 (Credit: Titan) The_Third_Doctor_05_Preview_3 (Credit: Titan)


Out 1 March 2017

DOCTOR WHO: NINTH DOCTOR #10

Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Adriana Melo
COVER A: Cris Bolson & Marco Lesko COVER B: Will Brooks COVER C: Marc Ellerby

The Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack head to Brazil on the next stop of their transtemporal mystery tour. The Iara have long been thought a Brazilian myth, but when these unearthly mercreatures prove to be aquatic aliens making an unscheduled stop on planet Earth, the TARDIS team must establish their intentions and broker peace across the water barrier...!
Doctor_Who_The_Ninth_Doctor_10_Cover_A (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Ninth_Doctor_10_Cover_B (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Ninth_Doctor_10_Cover_C (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Ninth_Doctor_10_Preview_1 (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Ninth_Doctor_10_Preview_2 (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Ninth_Doctor_10_Preview_3 (Credit: Titan)


DOCTOR WHO: ELEVENTH DOCTOR #3.3

Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Simon Fraser
Colourist: Gary Caldwell
COVER A: Claudia Iannciello COVER B: Will Brooks - PHOTO COVER C: Marc Ellerby

More adventures with the Eleventh Doctor in Part 1 of "THE TRAGICAL HISTORY TOUR!"
Doctor_Who_The_Eleventh_Doctor_3_3_Cover_A (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Eleventh_Doctor_3_3_Cover_B (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Eleventh_Doctor_3_3_Cover_C (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Eleventh_Doctor_3_3_Preview_1 (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Eleventh_Doctor_3_3_Preview_2 (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Eleventh_Doctor_3_3_Preview_3 (Credit: Titan) Doctor_Who_The_Eleventh_Doctor_3_3_Preview_4 (Credit: Titan)





FILTER: - Comics - Eleventh Doctor - Ninth Doctor - Third Doctor

Books Released this MonthBookmark and Share

Monday, 20 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Three new non-fiction books are being released by Obverse Books this month.
BLACK ARCHIVE: SCREAM OF THE SHALKA (Credit: Obverse Books)BLACK ARCHIVE: SCREAM OF THE SHALKA

By JON ARNOLD

Intended as the first in a series of online animated dramas, ‘Scream of the Shalka’ (2003) was the first attempt to redefine Doctor Who for the 21st century. Produced by BBCi and written by Doctor Who novelist (and later scriptwriter on the revived series) Paul Cornell, it maintains a traditional feel while rethinking the roles of Doctor, companion and villain.

Richard E Grant’s Doctor is characterised as aristocratic and aloof, drawing on models from the past such as Jon Pertwee’s third Doctor, Sherlock Holmes and even Dracula. The story, in which the Doctor must accept military assistance to foil an alien invasion beginning in an isolated English village, adheres to a venerable formula. Nevertheless, ‘Scream of the Shalka’ anticipates its successor in perceptive ways – featuring a Doctor who is ‘an emotional island’ numbed by recent trauma, a companion who must choose between a predictable life with her boyfriend and the joys and dangers of travel with the Doctor, and a Master humiliated by the Doctor’s duty of care.

A victim of timing as much as of its own flaws, ‘Scream of the Shalka’ remains a fascinating glimpse into an alternative vision for Doctor Who. This Black Archive volume publishes for the first time the detailed episode breakdown for Simon Clark’s ‘Blood of the Robots’, originally commissioned to follow Scream of the Shalka as the second in BBCi’s Doctor Who webcast series. Jon Arnold has edited fanzines including Shooty Dog Thing: 2th and Claw, and is a major contributor to Hating to Love: Re-evaluating the 52 Worst Doctor Who Stories of All Time. He wrote The Black Archive #1: Rose.

SCREAM OF THE SHALKA will be published on 1 March 2017.
DOWNTIME - THE LOST YEARS OF DOCTOR WHO (Credit: Obverse Books)DOWNTIME – THE LOST YEARS OF DOCTOR WHO

By DYLAN REES

Obverse Books is proud to announce the publication of the first in depth study of the so called Wilderness Years – the period between 1989 and 2005 when Doctor Who was in hiatus.

With no new official Doctor Who, it fell to the fans to safeguard the legacy of the show – fans who, in many cases, would go onto work on the new iteration after its relaunch by Russell T Davies. By licensing individual characters and monsters and hiring actors – including all the surviving Doctors and many of his companions – who had appeared on the show, the likes of Bill Baggs, Alan Stevens, Nick Briggs, Mark Gatiss and Keith Barnfather created something more than ersatz Doctor Who – they created a whole industry which kept the Who flame alive when it might otherwise have died completely.

With forty new interviews with key members of the teams behind such companies as BBV, Magic Bullet and Reeltime, author Dylan Rees investigates and analyses every Who-linked unofficial release from War Time all the way to The Minister of Chance, and speaks to all of the major creative talent involved in each project. Asked what drew him to this all but forgotten era, Rees said, “The book is really the story of fan ingenuity and creativity, and the careers that were forged or failed through these productions.”

Dylan Rees has a background in film and television production, and has written for a variety of music publications as well as articles for various Doctor Who magazines. Downtime is his first book. DOWNTIME was published on 7 February 2017.
TIME'S MOSAIC 5: DAVISON, SARAH-JANE AND ERIMEM (Credit: Obverse Books)TIME'S MOSAIC 5: DAVISON, SARAH-JANE AND ERIMEM

By FINN CLARK

Imagine a Story fifty years in the telling.

That’s a long time to maintain consistency. Storylines clash, continuity dies and contradictions flourish as one decade bleeds into the next, and one editor replaces another, each with their own idea of how the Story should be told. Add to that a veritable flood of formats – big screen, television, novels, audios, comics, short stories, cartoons – and what seemed at first to be merely difficult rapidly becomes all but unmanageable.

Now imagine if one man were to attempt to consider it all. One man reading the short stories and the novels, watching the movies and the box sets, listening to radio plays and compact discs…taking it all in so that you don’t have to…

Join Finn Clark on an epic journey through the Whoniverse, as he reviews every single Doctor Who story in every single format. From ‘An Unearthly Child’ and TV Comic throwaways to Capaldi and IDW, with sidesteps into influences and spin-offs, he’ll tell you, the reader, what he thinks of it all, good and bad… In this volume Clark examines the Peter Davison era, plus the Sarah Jane Adventures – with a quick check on the Egyptian Pharaoh Erimem – truly the ultimate review guide to Doctor Who!

TIME'S MOSAIC 5 was published on 12 February 2017.




FILTER: - Books

Wartime ChroniclesBookmark and Share

Thursday, 16 February 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Koch Media are to re-release the Reeltime Pictures spin-off feature Wartime on DVD on 6th March 2016:

Wartime Chronicles (Credit: Koch Media)Wartime Chronicles
Starring John Levene and Michael Wisher
Written by Andy Lane and Helen Stirling
Produced and directed by Keith Barnfather (pre-order from Amazon)


During all his years working for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), steadfast Benton failed in his duty only once. Long ago, while on a seemingly routine delivery run for The Brigadier, he finds himself close to his childhood home where ghosts from his past have never rested easily... Trapped in a nightmare world, where past and present seem as one, will he be lost forever or can he fight his way back to reality? A reality where he is desperately needed!


Wartime has the unique distinction of being the very first independent spin-off from Doctor Who, with John Levene reprising his role from the series as Sergeant John Benton.

This 2 disc special collector’s edition also includes:
  • behind-the-scenes material
  • a brand new introduction by Katy Manning (Jo Grant) and Producer Keith Barnfather
  • ReUNITed - a history of UNIT)
  • Jon Pertwee & UNIT Live on Stage - a convention panel featuring Jon Pertwee and the UNIT team





FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD

Class- Final RatingsBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 14 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Consolidated ratings are now available for episodes 7 and 8 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 7, The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did, which was broadcast at 10.47pm, had a confirmed audience of 0.68 million viewers, a 6.4% share of the total TV audience. The channel average for the timeslot is of 1.85 million. The figure is slightly lower than the initial overnight figure. The programme was beaten in the timeslot by BBC Two's Newsnight getting 0.81 million, however it outrated Through the Keyhole on ITV which had 0.53 million. An additional 0.20 million have accessed the episode on iPlayer since its release on BBC Three last October. The episode scored an AI of 82.

Episode 8, The Lost, followed immediately afterward, starting at 11.33pm, and had a consolidated audience of 0.32 million watching, a share 5.5% of the audience. The channel average for the timeslot is 0.82 million. The programme was outrated by Hospital on BBC Two, with 0.38 million. Around 195,000 have accessed the episode on iPlayer. The episode scored an AI of 82.

Full ratings for the BBC One screening are shown below. No information has been released by the BBC concerning the future of Class and the possibility of a second series. An online petition asking for a second series has so far received 1700 signatures.





FILTER: - Class - Ratings

New Tenth Doctor ComicBookmark and Share

Monday, 13 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
This week sees the latest release in the Titan series featuring the Tenth Doctor.

DOCTOR WHO TENTH DOCTOR #3.2

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artist: Giorgia Sposito, Arianna Florean
COVER A: Claudia Ianniciello - COVER B: PHOTO By Will Brooks - COVER C: Rachael Smith - COVER D: Iolanda Zanfardino

It's a brand-new season for the Tenth Doctor and his loyal travelling companions, Gabby Gonzalez and Cindy Wu! Jump on board with a two-part opening story - 'Breakfast at Tyrannies' that introduces a whole new terror to test the Doctor and his friends! Plus: a new companion joins the TARDIS - the like of which you've never seen!
THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Cover_A (Credit: Titan / Claudia Ianniciello) THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Cover_B (Credit: Titan / Will Brooks) THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Cover_C (Credit: Titan / Rachael Smith) THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Cover_D (Credit: Titan / Iolanda Zanfardino) THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Preview 1 (Credit: Titan) THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Preview 2 (Credit: Titan) THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Preview 3 (Credit: Titan) THE_TENTH_DOCTOR_3_2_Preview 4 (Credit: Titan)





FILTER: - Comics - Tenth Doctor

Vworp Vworp! Volume 3Bookmark and Share

Sunday, 12 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Vworp Vworp! Volume 3Volume 3 of Vworp Vworp! has just been released and contains an exclusive in-depth interview with comics writer Alan Moore, a free Dalek CD, new comic strips, and much more.

The special bumper 208-page edition explores Alan Moore’s Doctor Who backup strips, published in Doctor Who Weekly and Monthly in 1980 and 1981. Featuring the Cybermen, the Autons and the Time Lords, these strips were not only Alan’s very first professional work, but would go on to influence both comics and Doctor Who in ways he could never have foreseen.

Moore recalls his 1980 tale, Black Legacy:
I decided that if I couldn’t use Daleks then the next biggest Doctor Who enemy would probably be the Cybermen... As I understood it, the main part of the Cybermen ethos was efficiency, and a kind of a hygiene. Physical and mental disease would be completely unknown to the Cybermen. So I thought, what if there was something that could reintroduce these forgotten terrors to this race that has evolved beyond the fear of mental and physical illness?
Moore also shares his idea for the ultimate Doctor Who TV story, and the magazine talks to the artists who worked on Moore’s Doctor Who strips, John Stokes and V for Vendetta’s David Lloyd.

Vworp Vworp! Volume 3Vworp Vworp! Volume 3Vworp Vworp! Volume 3Vworp Vworp! Volume 3


The magazine also features a brand new full-cast audio play written by Kaldor City’s Alan Stevens, with sound design by Alistair Lock. This one-off homage is available only with Vworp Vworp! and is inspired by The Mechanical Planet, a comic strip published in 1965. The play stars David Graham, beloved as Parker from Thunderbirds, and who, alongside Peter Hawkins, provided the original voice of the Daleks from their first appearance in 1963 through to the epic story The Daleks’ Master Plan. As the Golden Emperor of the Daleks, David voices a Dalek for the first time since 1966. The cast is completed by Sasha Mitchell, best remembered as Arlen, the Federation officer who brought down Blake’s 7 in the final shocking episode transmitted just over 25 years ago. The Mechanical Planet is only available with the magazine on CD and, for a lucky few with the TV Century 21 issue cover, a proper vinyl 7-inch record, created in homage to the brilliant 1965 Century 21 record that featured highlights from the final episode of The Chase with narration by David Graham.

Vworp Vworp! Volume 3Vworp Vworp! Volume 3 Vworp Vworp! Volume 3


Also in this edition
  • THE DALEK CHRONICLES RETURN:
  • Deadline to Doomsday, an exciting seven-part Dalek strip, was begun by the late artist Ron Turner in 1997 and completed seamlessly for Vworp Vworp! by Dalek artist supremo Lee Sullivan and Charlie Kirchoff.
  • BRAND NEW COMIC STRIPS:
  • A bittersweet coda to TV Century 21’s Robot Agent 2K, showcasing the work of writer Tim Quinn and artist Tim Keable. Also the stunning multi-Doctor epic The Woman Who Killed the Doctor, written by Daniel O’Mahony and drawn by Steve Andrew, and The Lawman, an authentic Doctor Who Weekly-style back-up strip penned by John Peel and drawn by Baz Renshaw.
  • TV CENTURY 21:
  • Prolific science fiction author Stephen Baxter (The Massacre of Mankind; Doctor Who: The Wheel of Ice), together with Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore (authors of The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guides to Blake’s 7/The Prisoner/Battlestar Galactica) lead us through an in-depth analysis of these extraordinary Dalek strips and their close cousins in the much-loved 1960s and 1970s Dalek annuals. There is a profile the artists, Richard Jennings, Eric Eden and Ron Turner; while Tat Wood put the strips in context with a detailed examination of Dalekmania in general; horror author Stephen Laws and Doctor Who historian Jeremy Bentham remember growing up during those exciting years; plus Matthew Sweet on TV Comic and David Quantick reflects on canon.
  • TARGET BOOKS:
  • Remember the thrill, the smell, the feel of a brand new Doctor Who novelisation? Nicholas Pegg does, and salutes the people behind them.
  • THE AGE OF CHAOS:
  • Journey back to 1994 to explore the creation of this memorable Marvel one-shot penned by the Sixth Doctor himself, Colin Baker, with an exclusive interviews with Colin, editor Gary Russell, and artists John M Burns and Barrie Mitchell.
  • DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE EDITORS INTERVIEWED: Featuring John Freeman, Gary Russell, Marcus Hearn, Alan Barnes, Clayton Hickman, Peter Ware and Tom Spilsbury in conversation.
  • BRIEF ENCOUNTERS:
  • Discussion on Abslom Daak with Richard Starkings, Lee Sullivan, Paul Cornell and Ben Aaronovitch; Halo Jones with Andrew Cartmel; investing in Doctor Who Weekly with Matthew Waterhouse; and illustrating the very first Dalek novelisation with legendary Hollywood graphic designer Arnold Schwartzman and Armada artist Peter Archer.

Issue number: 3 is out now price: £9.99 and can be ordered from the Magazine website.




FILTER: - Magazines