As 2018 draws to a close, Toby Hadoke has released his annual look back at those from the Doctor Who universe whose lives drew to a close in the past twelve months.

Remembering those people from the world of Doctor Who who we lost this year.

Actress and comedy legend June Whitfield has died at the age of 93.

June Whitfield made an enormous contribution to British comedy with a career stretching over 70 years. Her single appearance in Doctor Who came in 2009 in The End of Time, when, at the age of 84, She played Minne Hopper, a member of the silver cloak tracking down the Tenth Doctor.

June Whitfield was born in Streatham, London, in 1925. Her first stage appearance was at the age of three at Robinson's Dance Studio. After studying to be a secretary she enroled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1944.

Whitfield began her career in radio in the 1940s appearing with Wilfred Pickles. In 1951, she had her first credited television role in The Passing Show, and she joined the London cast of the musical South Pacific.

In 1953 she had her big break joining the radio comedy series Take it from Here, starring Jimmy Edwards and Dick Bentley. She played Eth, fiancée of the dim Ron Glum and earned a place in the nation's heart.

For the next 15 years, Whitfield had many supporting roles on television, including in Dixon of Dock Green, Arthur's Treasured Volumes, The Arthur Askey Show, Faces of Jim, The Benny Hill Show, Steptoe and Son and Frankie Howerd. She had a place in one of the greatest comedy skits of all time, playing the Nurse to Tony Hancock's Blood Donor.

In 1959 she made the first of her four appearances in the Carry On film series.

The 1960s saw her as a leading lady with regular parts in a succession of television comedy series. Beggar My Neighbour ran for four years before Whitfield teamed up with Terry Scott in Scott On.... The partnership was so successful that the two worked together for the next ten years with many viewers assuming they were actually married. A Comedy Playhouse sitcom pilot called Happy Ever After developed into a series running for five years. The couple then appeared together in the Terry and June which ran for 65 episodes.

After appearing an episode of French and Saunders in 1988, Whitfield was asked to play Jennifer Saunders Mother in the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous a role that introduced her to a new generation of fans.

From 1984 until 2001, she was a regular on the Radio 2 satire programme The News Huddlines. From 1993 to 2001, she played Miss Marple in 12 radio adaptations of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books

Work continued into her ninth decade with appearances in Coronation Street and EastEnders. In 2013, Whitfield became the inaugural recipient of the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award, a recognition of her lifetime's contribution to the world of comedy.

June Whitfield was appointed a Dame in the 2017 Queens Birthday Honours.

Jon Plowman produced the first four series of Absolutely Fabulous for the BBC. He paid tribute to the actress June Whitfield died peacefully in her sleep early on Saturday morning. She is survived by her daughter Suzy.

The latest magazine special from Doctor Who Magazine is their annual Yearbook, covering the developments in Doctor Who over the last year.


The Doctor Who Magazine Yearbook 2019 is on general sale from 3 January.

The BBC have released a new trailer for next week’s episode of Doctor Who, hinting at the return of an old adversary

Coming Soon: New Year’s Day | Doctor Who

As part of their festive advent calendar, today Candy Jar have released their book Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants as a free download. Author and Lethbridge-Stewart range editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:
The book culminates their free downloads over the last few weeks, which have included sample book and audio chapters as well as brand new works. Keren Williams, publishing coordinator at Candy Jar, explained the thinking behind the advent calendar:
You can find all the festive giveaway on the Candy Jar website.

James Marsters, the star of cult television shows Buffy, Angel, Smallville and recent hit Runaways, is reprising the role of Captain John Hart for his own adventures in the Torchwood audio universe.

The rambunctious, deadly and ever-so charming captain will be back at the helm in a new four-story box set, The Sins of Captain John, created by Big Finish Productions in association with BBC Studios.

Captain John Hart made his audio debut in The Death of Captain Jack, released in March 2018. In this story he killed the entire Torchwood team – including John Barrowman’s supposedly immortal Captain Jack Harkness. He also married Queen Victoria and had no less than three ‘relationships’ with characters from history.

James Marsters told us about returning to the role, and the world of Torchwood. Set for release in January 2020, The Sins of Captain John will see Captain John Hart leading the universe into rack and ruin in four new adventures…

1. The Restored
2. Escape from Nebazz
3. Peach Blossom Heights
4. Darker Purposes

In these stories we’ll find the villainous anti-hero thriving in Restoration London, exploring gas planets, playing ‘Stepford wife' and kissing (then killing) countless victims… Just a day in the life of a rogue Time Agent!

Writer, David Llewellyn, tells us what to expect Torchwood fans will also find answers to many of the questions and plot points that have so far been left hanging from the beginning of the television show. More details on what in the future.

The Sins of Captain John, out for release in January 2020, is available for pre-order from Big Finish at £28 on CD or £25 on download, rising to £35 on CD and £30 on download at general release

The television Producer and Director Bill Sellars has died at the age of 93,

Bill Sellars directed the 1966 Doctor Who story The Celestial Toyroom, which saw the creation of the character of the Toymaker.

Sellars joined the BBC in the 1960's working on the drama A for Andromeda as a Production Assistant. Director roles followed on Compact, United and The Newcomers.

The majority of his work for the Corporation was as a Producer, responsible for some of the best loved drama series of the time. He produced 29 episodes of the Sunday night deama The Brothers, giving Colin Baker one of his first major roles. His best loved series was the adaptation of James Herriot novels about the life of a Yorkshire vet, All Creatures Large and Small, starring a young Peter Davison as Tristan Farnon.

All Creatures Great and Small won him two awards nominations, a BAFTA nomination for Best Drama Series in 1979, and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Children's Series in 1990.

Perhaps his biggest misfire was a producer of Triangle, the soap set and shot on a cross channel ferry on its journey across the North sea.

Other series include One by One, Flesh and Blood and The Terracotta Horse.

On retirement he managed The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, Yorkshire, the oldest and most complete Georgian theater in the world.

Bill Sellars died peacefully in his sleep.

SPACE have confirmed when they will be showing the New Year's Day special, Resolution:

Doctor Who: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos had an official rating of 6.65 million viewers, according to figures released by the Broadcasting Research Audience Board, BARB.

6.48 million watched the episode on a conventional TV set. However the BARB 4-Screen Dashboard shows that an additional 73,000 watched on their PC, 51,000 watched on a Tablet device and 44,000 watched on a smartphone These figures make Doctor Who the 18th most watched programme of the week ending 2nd December.

Top for the week was Sunday's final of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here getting 13.04 million watching.

Doctor Who in 2018 had an average consolidated audience of 7.96 million viewers. This is the highest year average since 2013, which was boosted by including the 50th Anniversary special.

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos had an Appreciation Index score of 79

The BBC have released some new images to promote the forthcoming New Year's Day special, Resolution, which as well as featuring the regular cast also includes Charlotte Ritchie as Lin, Nikesh Patel as Mitch, and Daniel Adeboyega as Aaron.

Issue 533 of Doctor Who Magazine includes a preview of the New Year's Day episode, Resolution

Guest stars Charlotte Ritchie and Nikesh Patel, director Wayne Yip and writer Chris Chibnall feature in DWM’s exclusive preview of the New Year’s Day Special. Chibnall says Also in this issue...

• SHARON D CLARKE
An exclusive interview with the actress who played Grace O’Brien in the 2018 series.
• FRAZER HINES
Frazer pulls some crackers from DWM’s TARDIS tin.
• DERRICK SHERWIN
A tribute to the writer, story editor and producer who oversaw the series’ transition from black and white into colour.
• CYBER CONTROLLER
Highlights from a previously unpublished interview with Derrick Sherwin.
• PUBLIC IMAGE
The latest in-depth report on Series 11’s ratings.
• THE FACT OF FICTION
1981’s spin-off K9 and Company, starring Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.
• CHRISTMAS QUIZ
Put your Doctor Who knowledge to the test with the DWM Christmas Quiz.
• THE TIME TEAM
The Team comments on Doctor Who’s very first Christmas Day episode, 1965’s The Feast of Steven.
• THE WARMONGER
Part three of a new comic strip adventure featuring the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends.
• SEASON SURVEY
Share your views on the latest series of Doctor Who.
• EPISODE REVIEWS
The verdict on Series 11 episodes Demons of the Punjab, Kerblam! and The Witchfinders.

PLUS... A FREE double-sided poster, The Blogs of Doom, reviews, news, prize-winning competitions and more.

Doctor Who Magazine 533 is on sale now, price £5.99.

Silva Screen Records have announced they will be releasing the Doctor Who Series 11 Soundtrack in January 2019

The music from the series, composed by Segun Akinola, will be available on CD and on streaming services from 11 January.

The recently completed Series 11 marked the arrival of the Thirteenth Doctor, award-winning actress Jodie Whittaker.

Segun Akinola is a multi-talented composer whose work includes scoring BBC Two’s landmark four-part series Black and British: A Forgotten History, written and presented by Historian David Olusoga. He also scored Shola Amoo’s debut feature film A Moving Image, which had its world premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival.

The soundtrack is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Doctor Who picked up two awards in the 2018 I Talk Telly Awards, an annual Twitter poll which this year saw some 266,400 votes registered. The series won the Best Returning Drama category, whilst Mandip Gill was voted Best Newcomer.

The actress said of her award:

The full list of winners can be found on their website.

Doctor Who: It Takes You Away had an official rating of 6.42 million viewers, according to figures released by the Broadcasting Research Audience Board, BARB.

6.24 million watched the episode on a conventional TV set. However the BARB 4-Screen Dashboard shows that an additional 77,000 watched on their PC, 55,000 watched on a Tablet device and 47,000 watched on a smartphone These figures make Doctor Who the 22nd most watched programme of the week ending 2nd December.

Top for the week was Monday's edition of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here getting 12.66 million watching.

It Takes You Away had an Appreciation Index score of 80