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Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 334: The Time Monster, Episode Four

Dear diary,

Dear diary,

There’s a bit in the Sarah Jane Adventures episode Death of the Doctor in which Sarah Jane and Jo Grant are strapped into the Shansheeth’s ‘Memory Weave’ machine, and forced to remember the TARDIS so that the machine can make a replica of the key and give the vultures access to time and space. The memories take the form of a series of washed-out flashback clips of the TARDIS – inside and out – from over the years. One of those clips is the blue box being towed from a trench by UNIT soldiers. I’ve seen that episode a few times over the last few years (and I’m holding off to watch it again once I reach the Eleventh Doctor’s era in this marathon), but I’ve always thought that it looked pretty darn awesome… I just didn’t know which story the footage was taken from.

I’d love to say that I’ve been watching out for the scene as I've made my way through Jo's tenure on the programme, but I'd be lying. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about it until the second it made an appearance today. Oh, but how good does it look?! It's not just the bit where the soldiers have to heave the box upright in the trench, but the following shot where it stands there, surrounded by smoke and destruction as the Doctor and Jo depart in it. There's a real sense of just how indestructible this machine is, and it's by far the most atmospheric moment of the story so far.

And then we're off! Into time and space, with our two Time Lords continuing to play a game of 'one upping' each other, which nicely continues the theme started with the Doctors machine of odds and ends from the other day. It was only when discussing the episode with a friend earlier that I realised - this is pretty much the same plot as Volcano, one of the episodes in The Daleks' Master Plan. In that one, it's the Doctor and the Monk who spend the running time trying to get the better of each other through a series of little tricks.

That episode didn't fare too well with me (indeed, it was the lowest-rated part from that entire story), but looking back over my notes for the day it seems that it's because there was no weight to the confrontation. The pair spent the time laughing (I think the planet had an atmosphere that was basically laughing gas, didn't it?), the Monk stole the Doctor's TARDIS lock, and the Doctor fixed the problem in about thirty seconds. At least in this story, the Master and the Doctor play off each other rather brilliantly with their sparring, and then we're left on a cliffhanger - it just makes everything feel like a bigger deal than it might otherwise do.

It means we also get to have a good look at the new TARDIS redesign! This particular version of the console room only turns up in this one story, and while I knew it was the Master's new look, I must confess that I'd forgotten the Doctor's ship would receive the same makeover. It feels like a bit of a letdown, because I realised the second we entered the Master's machine - the doors for the Doctor's version are clearly present on the other side of the set. I know that the door style is somewhat traditional (I think I'm right in saying that they're even the same doors that William Russell and Jacqueline Hill burst through in An Unearthly Child), but it's nowhere near as cool as the version on the Master's TARDIS, where the whole door section moves forward once they've closed! I think it's fair to say that this isn't my favourite version of the TARDIS console room ever, but it's at least interesting enough as a one off experiment!

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: John Dorney

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: November 2013

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 30th November 2013

“London. The end of November, 1963. A time of change. The old guard are being swept away by the white heat of technology. Political scandals are the talk of the town. Britain tries to maintain its international role; fanatics assassinate charismatic politicians and Group Captain Ian Gilmore is trying to get his fledgling Counter-Measures unit off the ground.

When his life is saved by a familiar umbrella-bearing figure, he knows something terrible is going on.  Whilst Rachel investigates an enigmatic millionaire and Allison goes undercover in an extremist organisation, Gilmore discovers a sinister plot with roots a century old.

The Doctor and Ace are back in town. A new dawn is coming. It's time for everyone… to see the Light.”

* * *

This must have been a difficult play to be created, make no mistake.  It has to meet six very important criteria, namely:

To satisfy and not isolate anyone who hasn’t listened to Counter-measures.

To satisfy anyone who has listened to Counter-measures and not make them feel that the series or its concepts have been diluted by their inclusion in a Doctor Who release.

To satisfy the fans of Remembrance of the Daleks who are looking forward to the various characters’ reunion after all these years.

To satisfy the fans of John Dorney, one of the most popular writers and performers which Big Finish have to offer.

To satisfy the fans of the 1963 trilogy (though ‘trilogy’ is a strong word when it’s the year and nothing more which link up the stories).

And, finally, to stand up to closer-than-usual scrutiny, being as this is the release for November 2013, Doctor Who’s fiftieth birthday month.

Quite a challenge.  I wouldn’t have blamed anyone for turning it down; nor would I have blamed it if it had been a release which missed the mark: quite frankly, it’d be nigh-on impossible to write without the pressure of November 2013 on the back, however right or wrong that may be.

     Thankfully, none of that happens, and 1963: The Assassination Games is a very strong release indeed, easily ticking all of the above boxes with little fuss.  The opening episode is essentially an episode of Counter-measures, with the team going about their business whilst two people they never thought they’d see again (the Doctor and Ace) pop up from time to time to nudge them on their way.  It’s a lovely set-up, and in many ways I wish that the rest of the story had followed suit: I rather like the idea of a Doctor-lite story featuring characters from a spin-off range, and the Seventh Doctor feels particularly suited to that sort of behind-the-scenes approach.

     That’s not to say that the rest of the story disappoints though– far from it.  Over the course of its four episodes, it slowly works its way from Counter-measures territory to Doctor Who terrain, finished up in an episode which feels like it’s jumped fresh out of Season 25, with stunts, bike chases, and a big evil from ancient times.  Throw into that brilliant performances from all the leads, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred particularly channeling their old performances well, and you have a very satisfying story which sates the desires of the (not necessarily exclusive, but you never know) fan bases of both series.

     The very best thing this story could do is persuade fans to listen to Counter-measures, and help it gain a wider audience: it would be nice to see it run to another couple of series at the very least as there is a lot of potential in there.

     The 1963 trilogy has given Big Finish some of its strongest stories for a while, with some very memorable characters, situations and performances.  When people look back on November 2013, many will recall sitting in cinemas with 3-D glasses and bathing in the wonder of The Day of the Doctor, but for us lucky few, we’ll also remember listening to The Common Men being The Beatles, Samantha Bérat giving us a heartfelt performances for a frankly bizarre character, and Chunky Gilmore being reunited with his most-trusted Doctor at long last.

     Thank you, Big Finish, and Happy Birthday, Doctor Who.

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Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 333: The Time Monster, Episode Three

Dear diary,

Recently at work, I found myself in one of those slightly awkward conversations about Doctor Who. It’s always awkward when this happens, but because people know that I’m a fan, I always seem to find myself as the default guy for this topic. Usually it comes as a result of someone seeing a Doctor Who item in the morning’s papers, and deciding to quiz me on it. For years it’s been ‘That Matt Smith has quit as Doctor Who, hasn’t he?’ (to which the answer was normally ‘no, he hasn’t…’), or else people telling me that their favourite Doctor was John Hartnell, or Jim Davison.

Today’s conversation originated from a different place. A colleague has just returned from a few weeks’ break in Greece. When I asked what he’d gotten up to on holiday he told me that he’d bought a Kindle version of the 50 Year Diary book, and had spent a few days reading it on the beach. Having told him that it was a waste of perfectly good sand castle time, the questions started. It came from other colleagues, ones who didn’t have much of an interest in the programme. ‘Oh, have you written a book? What’s it about?’

It’s very hard to explain to someone who isn’t a fan of Doctor Who quite why you’d bother to sit down and watch it all in order from the start. You often find yourself faced with questions about how long it’s been going, how many episodes there are, what your favourite episode is (as if it would mean anything to them when you say The Tomb of the Cybermen) etc, etc. And then… it always turns in the same direction:

Old Doctor Who used to be a bit rubbish, didn’t it? People always seem to point out the wobbly sets (something I’ve not been keeping a track of in the Diary, but I can’t say I’ve really noticed), the fact that the Daleks can’t travel upstairs, and the monsters. It tends to swing with the monsters. Half the people I speak to tell me that they were scared of the Cybermen in black and white, while the other half simply talk about how they were all stupid ‘men in rubber suits’. And I do my duty as a Doctor Who fan, telling them that – actually – the monsters are pretty good! I tell them how effective some of the creatures are, and mention that you sometimes get brilliant human villains like Tobias Vaghn.

And then… well… then you get an episode like this, in which a person in a white bird costume is strung up from the ceiling, and flapping around in a laboratory. It’s fair to say that this isn’t the programme’s finest moment. It’s a real shame, because a lot of other stuff in this episode has been quite enjoyable. The Master summoning up various figures from history to do battle with UNIT is blatant padding (if we didn’t get the point, he demonstrates the same trick three times), but it’s quite fun, and it’s nice to see Yates being in charge of a battle again. It’s all shot on film, so that helps make it look a bit better, too.

The Master is as good value as ever, though it’s only today that I’ve noticed how little he actually wears his ‘iconic’ Nehru suit. It always seems to be the outfit that’s most closely associated with this incarnation of the character, but he spends just as much time wearing standard suits as he does this. Today he changes back in to it (Though I’m not entirely sure why), and I suddenly realised how little I actually associate it with him now. I’ve also remembered that The Time Monster is the story in which we get to see the ‘washing up bowls’ TARDIS console room, so every time he gets close to that computer bank, I’m expecting us to follow him inside. Special praise also has to be given to his introduction as ‘A Lord of Time’ – what a great way of phrasing it!

I also need to highlight another brilliant piece of dialogue between three of our regulars:

THE DOCTOR

Oh dear.

JO

What's up?

THE DOCTOR

It doesn't work…

THE BRIGADIER

You astound me.

It’s only a brief moment, but I think it sums up everything that I do enjoy about this era of the programme…

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 332: The Time Monster, Episode Two

Dear diary,

It looks as though it must have only been Episode One of this story that I've seen before, because I don't remember any of this episode. It's a shame, in a way, because this one has been better than the last was! It starts very early on, with the discovery of Stuart having ages sixty years in a matter of seconds - surely this would have been a better cliffhanger than the Master calling out for Kronos? Certainly, it's the most striking image of the story so far, and I think it's what helped to draw me in a bit more today.

Aside from this, I'm finding myself completely captivated - once again - by Jon Pertwee and Rodger Delgado. As ever, they both seem right at home in this story, and they each get their chance to really impress me. The Doctor's at his very best when trying to find out what's happened to Stuart. While everyone else around him is trying to let the man rest, the Doctor is adamant that he needs the information, and bellows at Stuart to answer him.

In some ways, this should be counted as one of those scenes where I think the Doctor is just being a bit of a jerk, frankly, and I should be using it to highlight everything that's wrong with the Pertwee incarnation… but it works! If anything, I'd almost go so far as to say that he's rarely been closer to the Doctor's character than we see in this scene. Yes, he wants Stuart to relax and get some rest, but first he needs this information, and he's going to make sure that he gets it.

He continues to be great throughout the rest of the episode, too. In the same way that I was surprised people didn't make more of Troughton battling with Medusa being akin to a confrontation with a Weeping Angel, I'm surprised to see that people haven't edited Pertwee's description of Kronos into one about these Lonley Assassins. 'They can swallow a life as quickly as a boa constrictor can swallow a rabbit,' he muses, and describes them as being creatures from outside time itself.

For the Master, it comes in the form of him imitating the Brigadier's voice down the phone. Usually, trying to lip-synch to another actor's voice like this looks ridiculous, but Delgado gets away with it, through a combination of being a bloody good actor and hiding his mouth partially behind the telephone prop. He's in his natural habitat again today, with a cigar sticking out of his mouth as he sits in a high-backed leather chair and does his calculations in front of a roaring fire. This incarnation really can only be described as suave in a way that him successors never quite can, and he's really managed to endear himself to me over the last two seasons.

I also have to call out special praise today for John Levene as Sergeant Benton. He's not someone I often find myself discussing - as a member of the UNIT family, he's always just sort of… there - but he gets a chance to shine today when given the opportunity to confront the Master and avoid being tricked by his fake telephone call. It's just a shame that he gets himself knocked out so soon after, though!

6/10 

 a

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 331: The Time Monster, Episode One

Dear diary,

I often think of myself as having experienced a lot of 'classic' Doctor Who. Obviously, I've just done all the 1960s stories in order for the marathon, and I've seen every story from about 1982 onwards. It's this tricky middle period - the 1970s - that I'm not overly familiar with. I did plan here to make a list of all the stories I've seen from this decade, but frankly I can't remember half the Tom Baker tales that I've watched, and I think that several of them probably just ended up as background noise. I can tell you categorically, though, that I've never watched The Time Monster. Nope. Never.

Why, then, did the Doctor's opening nightmare, in which the Master stood as a giant over him ring such a bell? It can't simply be because the Master has a similar vision in The Mind of Evil (in which it's the Doctor stood tall over him), because the whole sequence seemed very familiar. It must have simply been that I've seen a clip of the dream sequence somewhere. There was a Master documentary on one of the recent DVDs I've watched - it must have been included there.

But then… The Master's two assistants in this little escapade seemed very familiar, too. Right down to the awful line about the good ship women's lib (and all who sail in her). Odd. They must have been included somewhere in a clip I've seen, too. And then there's the shot of the building to which I instantly thought 'there's something in this about a window cleaner…'

I'm sure you get the picture. I have seen this story before (or, at least, this episode before), and then completely forgotten about it. If you'd asked me this morning, I would have happily bet an entire year's wages on having not seen any of this story. I've spent the last hour trying two wrack my brain for any nugget of memory, so that I could compare my reaction to the episode this time around to my previous one… but I've got nothing.

And actually, that's a pretty good way of summing it up. This episode isn't particularly special at all. I wondered if it might feel like something of a homecoming - we've got the Brigadier! Mike! Benton! The Master! Bessie! The Doctor's even got another new lab (which is sort of par-for-the-course in the UNIT stories, it would seem). And yet, it just feels like we're getting on with the next story. I'm not surprised to see the Master turning up, and crucially I'm not all that excited, either. Certainly not in the same way that The Sea Devils made me pleased to see him again.

What strikes me is how much this is his story, as well as that of the Doctor or UNIT. We spend the first two-thirds of the episode following both stories in tandem, before they're brought together right at the end. The Master really is a part of the UNIT 'family', and I'm hoping that I'll find myself enjoying him more as The Time Monster goes on, because this is the last time that he'll be sharing the screen with the Brigadier and his men.

For now, it's not as bad as the reputation would suggest (finding out last week that this is generally rated as the worst of the Pertwee stories hasn't exactly thrilled me to be reaching this stage!), but it's not all that great, either. It's all just a bit… average…

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 330: The Mutants, Episode Six

Dear diary,

Maybe it’s simply that I’m paying more attention today, but suddenly a number of the things I wasn’t quite understanding earlier on in the story. Several revelations about the evolution cycle of the Solonians I’d sort of pieced together as we’d gone along, but I couldn’t for the life of me work out where they crystal or the radiation cave came into the equation. Everything now hangs together quite nicely, and in retrospect, even locking the hostages in a room full of radiation seems really quite clever. I think the only thing that I struggle to believe is the massive transformation that the people go through, from a cod-medieval society, via the Mutts, to some kind of all powerful ghost-like figure.

Still, I almost don’t mind, because the effect is (on the whole) very well done. The shimmering radiation across the image looks great, and very in-keeping with everything we’ve seen of the radiation before in the story. It feels strange to say it, but it does almost feel like this story has had a proper ‘tone meeting’ in the same vein as the modern-day series does, in which they’ve thought through all of these elements. The only thing I’m not keen on is the way that Ky seems to get smaller before passing through walls, where they’ve somewhat over-done the perspective.

I’m hugely pleased to say that the Mutts themselves still look pretty good even when they’re aboard the Sky Base, with far less flattering lighting than they were given in the caves. There’s one moment where everything risks falling apart, when a Mutt squeezes itself into one of the transport chambers and very nearly crushes the costume’s tail, but they still come over as being pretty impressive. I'm pleased because, like the model work, it seems to be an area in which the programme is really excelling this season. So far, I've had cause to praise Ogrons, Alpha Centuri, Sea Devils… Season Nine is pushing the boat out in all the right ways, I think.

Perhaps the best bit of today's episode is that the Doctor and Jo are finally brought back together properly. They've been almost like ships in the night throughout the story - there's even a few episodes that they spend entirely apart - but as soon as they're back together here, we're given more of the great dialogue that they had right back in Episode One. If there's one thing that 'the Bristol Boys' get right in their writing it's the way that this pair interact. They joke together about heading back to 'the broom cupboard', and they're clearly enjoying each other's company.

And the Doctor even gets to use the Sonic Screwdriver to open a door! Hooray! This is the second story in a row that the tool has cropped up in, so I think we're finally heading towards a stage where it becomes the device that we know from later on in the programme's run. It feels like ever such a long time coming, and I'm sure I'll regret my excitement when it turns into a continual get-out clause, but I'm glad to see such an icon of the series finally headed towards it's most well-known stage.

On the whole, I think I've been impressed by The Mutants. I wasn't expecting a great deal from it (and maybe that's the best thing!), but it's come out as rather enjoyable. It's never going to be regarded as one of the all time Doctor Who greats, but it's far better than reputation would have you believe. Even better, my prediction after Episode One that we'd wind up with some 4/10 scores before the story was out has proved to be wrong - One day, I'll learn to stop underestimating this era!

6/10 

The BBC have released some details and a some promo images for the upcoming 2013 Doctor Who Christmas special, which now has a title; 'The Time Of The Doctor'.

Synopsis:

Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe’s deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars - and amongst them, the Doctor.

Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his best friend must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

Two promo images have also been released, which can can view in the right-hand column.

Watch the Teaser Trailer for The Time Of The Doctor, below:

[youtube:DMOOLd_44Mo]
+  The Time Of The Doctor will air on Christmas Day, at 7:30pm on BBC One. 

[Source: BBC]

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Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 329: The Mutants, Episode Five

Dear diary,

The Mutants acts as something of a nexus point in Doctor Who history, serving to see out one recurring element of the programme, while simultaneously bringing another to the fore.

This story marks the last appearance of a musical score by Tristram Carey, who’s been providing us with his tunes on-and-off since as far back as The Daleks. He turned up on a fairly regular basis during the Hartnell years, but this is the first time we’ve seen him since The Power of the Daleks. I’ve not often really commented on the music in stories as I’ve moved along, but it’s interesting to note that under yesterday’s notes I’ve actually scribbled ‘lovely soundtrack’. It’s something of a unique sound, but something about it really seems to appeal to me.

It’s always a bit of a shame to see people involved right at the start of the programme make their final contributions to the series, so it’s good to see him going out with something I’m enjoying. Not long after providing this score, I believe he moved to Australia and took up teaching – a bit of a change from creating sound-scapes on Skaro and Solos!

This story also sees the first costume designs by James Acheson for Doctor Who. He’s probably best known for creating the iconic ‘floppy hat and scarf’ look for the Fourth Doctor, but he provided designs for the series across several stories – he's responsible for the Mutts seen in this story, as well, who just keep growing on me more and more!

It’s also home to the first proper appearance of a very important piece of television history. The corridors of the Sky Base feature a hexagonal wall design that will be cropping up an awful lot on British television in the following two decades – ranging from several appearances in Doctor Who, through Blake’s 7, Captain Zep, and even on one occasion turning up as an ornate ceiling design in a period drama! This isn’t the first time it’s been seen in the series (It had something of a preview in Colony in Space last season), but this is the first time it’s been so noticeable as part of the set.

Sadly, I’m not really sure what I make of the sets as a whole. Everything on the location filming seems to look fantastic, but every time we go inside it just feels a bit flat for my liking. I’m not even entirely sure why that is – the sets have levels to them, they’ve got slight slopes at the top to indicate a ceiling (and these bits are given a bit of extra detailing, too), but they just don’t quite work for me.

I am pleased to see that the Third Doctor is fitting into this environment so well, though. During The Curse of Peladon, I mused that he just didn’t feel right so far removed from his contemporary-Earth setting, but here he seems to slot right in. It could simply be that I’ve seen him away from UNIT enough this season that it no longer feels so unusual (I’ve not seen the Brigadier in over a fortnight!), or it could be because Chislehurst Caves look like a better alien world than the drab sets of King Peladon’s castle. It feels like a shame that he (and Jo, at different intervals) seems to spend so much time being shunted back and forth from the planet’s surface up to Sky Base – I want to see him exploring the world a little more!

 a

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 328: The Mutants, Episode Four

Dear diary,

I've been watching the Pertwee era for too long. There were two - yes, two - separate occasions in today's episode where, even though I know he's not in the story, I fully expected the Master to suddenly appear. The first came when the Doctor, and his ensemble were reused from the caves and taken back to the lead-lined laboratory. There's a moment when the mysterious figure in the radiation outfit reaches up to remove the helmet. Who could be under there? Surely it's not? It can't be… Well, no. It isn't the Master. Like I've said, I know he's not under there. It's just Professor Sondergaard.

Later on, a message comes through to the Sky Base that an investigator is on his way to them from Earth. That instantly put me in mind of Colony in Space, where we had to wait for most of the story to pass before the Master arrived pretending to be an Adjudicator from Earth. I hope I'm not the only person who can see why you might expect our resident evil Time Lord to be cropping up…?

I have to confess that The Mutants has somewhat lost me today. I don't know if I've just not been paying attention properly (either to this episode, or to the three previous ones), but a lot of the 'revelations' we're given seemed to lack the surprise they're supposed to carry. The obvious one is the revelation that they're entering a radiation chamber. Sondergaard is clearly wearing a radiation suit when he finds our party, and yet it's not until the Doctor reached the lab and figures out the material that he suddenly pieces it all together. I can just about buy the idea that Jo hadn't noticed what he was wearing the time before - she was being overwhelmed by radiation after all - but it did seem to be a bit of an obvious give away here and now.

Then we've got the Doctor deciphering the tablets sent by the Time Lords. He spends a while mulling them over with the Professor, as he tries to work out what they're saying, and then deduces that it's the pattern of the seasons on this planet. The announcement that the seasons must change every 500 years is treated almost like some big discovery… but the Marshall said something about the 500 year spring ending in the last episode! I'm guessing that it's just supposed to be news to the Doctor and Sondergaard, but it left me a little bit baffled.

The overnight viewing figures are in for The Day Of The Doctor.

The episode achieved a figure of 10.2m viewers, with an audience share of 37.4%, and Doctor Who was the second most-watched programme for Saturday, being beaten marginally by Strictly Come Dancing.

Top Overnights - Saturday 23rd November:

1 - 10.6m - Strictly Come Dancing - BBC One
2 - 10.2m - Doctor Who - BBC One 
3 - 7.7m - The X Factor - ITV1

** Figures do not include BBC iPlayer or Cinema viewings.

Final BARB ratings will be available within the next 10 days.

Series 7 - Final BARB Ratings roundup:

7.1: Asylum Of The Daleks = 8.3m
7.2: Dinosaurs On A Spaceship = 7.57m
7.3: A Town Called Mercy = 8.42m
7.4: The Power Of Three = 7.67m
7.5: The Angels Take Manhattan = 7.82m
7.6X: The Snowmen = 9.87m
7.6: The Bells Of Saint John = 8.44m
7.7: The Rings Of Akhaten = 7.45m
7.8: Cold War = 7.37m 
7.9: Hide = 6.61m
7.10: Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS = 6.50m
7.11: The Crimson Horror = 6.47m
7.12: Nightmare In Silver = 6.64m
7.13: The Name Of The Doctor = 7.45m

+  What did you think of the episode? Rate / Discuss in the DWO Forums!

[Source: DWO]

The BBC have released Peter Davison's comedy sketch 'The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot', which premiered last night on the BBC Red Button.

Synopsis:
A star studded special written and directed by Peter Davison. With the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who about to film, the 'Classic' Doctors are keen to be involved. But do they manage it?

Make sure you keep watching until the very end, as the implications will make The Day Of The Doctor seem even better :)

Watch The Five(isn) Doctors Reboot, below:

+  Follow @DrWhoOnline on Twitter!
+  Follow @PeterDavison5 on Twitter!
+  Follow @SawBonesHex on Twitter!
+  Follow @TheWitchPrime on Twitter! 

[Source: BBC]

The BBC have unveiled a short teaser trailer for the as-yet untitled, 2013 Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Watch the trailer, below:

[youtube:DMOOLd_44Mo]
Rumoured titles for the Christmas Special include: Twelfth Night, The Twelfth Hour, The Time Of The Doctor & The Fall Of The Eleventh.

+  Follow @DrWhoOnline on Twitter!

[Source: BBC]

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Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 327: The Mutants, Episode Three

Dear diary,

One of the things that I’ve often seen people complain about in ‘classic’ Doctor Who is the special effects. Alongside ‘wobbly sets’ and the Daleks’ inability to make their way above the ground floor, the effects are the thing that people often end up laughing about when it comes to stories from the 20th century series. Effects have been on a steady incline since the very beginning of the series, but now we’re firmly in a place where they’re part of the programme’s language.

They don’t always work, it has to be said. Today is a fair example of that, when we see Jo inside the disco cave (a check online tells me that this is called a ‘Radiation Cave’ in the script, but y’know…), surrounded by the yellow glow of Colour Separation Overlay. It’s particularly noticeable when she’s forced to lie down on the floor, and her shadow casts a large area of yellow onto the image. We’ve been experimenting with various ‘green (or yellow) screen’ techniques for a while now, but they’ve still not quite found their feet with it.

It does seem like the model effects have suddenly come into their own, though. Model effects have varied in success over the years, from the shots of the Dalek city on Skaro (lovely!), via the Pie-tin spaceships invading Earth in the 22nd century (bit more debatable, those…), and the more conventional, if futuristic ship in The Dominators (one of the few times you’ll see me saying something positive about the story!). It seems that over the last few stories, the production team have really stepped up a gear in regards to the model effects.

The Church in The Dæmons, the house in Day of the Daleks, the castle of Peladon, the submarine sent to inspect the Sea Devils, and now the Sky Base of the Overlords. We’ve not had a single duff model in ages, and they’re certainly some of the best we’ve ever had. Today even sees us given additional effects as the firestorm rains down on the Sky Base from… well, not above, but the left of the screen, at least. It shouldn’t work as well as it does – it’s simply a number of sparks moving across the surface of the model in slow motion – but I was absolutely fascinated by it. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve actively skipped back on a DVD to take a second look at an effect.

Pleasingly, the quality of the firestorm is carried across to the full-scale location filming, too, and although we only really see it from inside the cave looking out, it really works for me. I’m tempted to say that I’m less keen on the brightly coloured lights being cast against the walls of the cave, not only while the firestorm rages, but then throughout the rest of the episode, too, but I think my issue is that it sometimes catches Pertwee’s newly-styled hair at the wrong angle and lights his whole head up bright green.

Now comes the bit where I worry I’ve been too institutionalised by the series… I really like the Mutt costumes! Let’s be honest, they’re not the best. The design of the ‘monsters’ in this story is pretty much the only thing I knew before sitting down to watch, and I’ve never found them all that special. When the individual creature turns up to flail its arms about towards Jo and Ky, I wasn’t overly impressed.

It's the later scene, in which around six of them attack inside the caves, and they're surrounded by smoke, lit interestingly, and they actually look pretty good. From that moment on, I think I was completely sold on them. There's one or two moments where they come across as being a bit like a 1970s update of the Zarbi, but on the whole, they've won me round!

Our friends over at Buckingham Covers have some rare Doctor Who first day covers, but with some limited editions of only 50 or less, these are only for a select few.

Most will be snapped up by first day cover collectors because Buckingham first day covers are world renowned in the stamp world.

That means few, true Doctor Who fans will even hear of them, let alone get a chance to buy one - but DWO followers, here’s your chance! 

Royal Mail is selling Doctor Who first day covers too but don’t be confused. The ones on offer from Buckingham are much smaller editions and are more sought after by collectors. Also, Buckingham Covers has a reputation for offering top autographs – always genuine – on their first day covers.

So far their Doctor Who covers have been hand signed by:

Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor)
Colin Baker (6th Doctor)
Tom Baker (4th Doctor)
Peter Davison (5th Doctor)
Nicola Bryant (Peri)
Louise Jameson (Leela)
Bonnie Langford (Mel)

with more autographs expected to be announced in the next few months.

+  Check them out at: www.buckinghamcovers.com/doctorwho

[Source: Buckingham Covers]

To coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, Google have dedicated their homepage to a brand new Google Doodle, featuring an addictive Doctor Who, multi-level game.

The game, which was designed by Matthew Cruickshank, features all 11 Doctors as well as Daleks and Cybermen.

Speaking to The Guardian, Cruickshank said:

"It's the first game that I've designed, but it's the technicians and programmers that actually make the game. I just art direct, create the assets, set the visual tone, design the characters, and then do pieces of animation.

It was about four months ago that an employee here who's a massive Doctor Who fan added it to our list of potential doodles. We looked through it and realised that this was something special, a chance to really celebrate a national institution.

The thing is that he's a Time Lord, a time traveller, so I really wanted to get the feeling across that you could travel to different eras. I definitely didn't want you to just play one level and that is it, I love the idea of the Doctor being able zoom around the universe."

See some screenshots from all 5 levels below (just don't look at our time):

+  Read the full story behind the doodle on The Guardian website.

[Sources: Google; The Guardian]

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 326: The Mutants, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Dear diary,

Now that I’m more than a third of the way through this marathon, I’m at a point where I can almost tell where my reaction to things will be heading. By about the halfway point in any story, I have a vague idea of where I think it’ll be ending up, ratings-wise, and I keep an ever-changing average in my head. It’s not entirely foolproof: I really liked the first episode of The Mind of Evil, and thought it was going to be a return to form having not enjoyed the season opener, but then I found my interest faltering as the story went on. I’m glad that I can be wrong in my predictions, because it gives a bit of surprise to proceedings.

Yesterday’s episode of The Mutants scored a 7/10. It’s not the best score in the world, but it’s a long way from being the worst. By my own table of ratings, that classifies it as being well above average, but with room for improvement. I confidently predicted afterwards (aloud, to my empty flat) that the story was likely to score some 4’s before it was over. It just felt like one that I’d not be enjoying, and having found the really rather cool reaction to the story from most fans didn’t exactly help. The Mutants, I decided, would be coming out with something like a 5/10 on average. It just wasn’t all that special as a story.

And yet… I’ve spent today really looking forward to getting home for this episode. Couldn’t tell you why, but at various points throughout the day I’ve been really wishing time forward so I could pop the disc in and see another 25 minutes. I’m not sure if they’ve lived up to my excitement – I’ve certainly found today less interesting than yesterday was – but it’s nice to see that even a story I’m expecting to find a bit average can keep me excited about the experiment.

I think the big step-down from yesterday is that the Doctor and Jo spend the whole episode separated. Episode One was probably their best ever interaction with each other, so to then see them split apart so completely (with Jo down on the planet’s surface while the Doctor remains aboard the Sky Base) feels like a shame. It means the story is doing its job, however, because showing them as being so brilliant yesterday has made the split all the more disappointing than it might have otherwise been.

The world in which the story is set feels very rich, here, and I’m rather enjoying that. Much as the Troughton era had a version of ‘the future’ in which stories like The Moonbase, The Enemy of the World, and The Seeds of Death could all comfortably sit, the Pertwee years are developing their own very distinctive feel too. You can tell that people in the production team (most notably Barry Letts) are keen on environmental issues, when Jo’s description of being from London is met with bemusement – no one can live on the ground – the air is far too polluted and poisonous.

It’s perfectly in-keeping with the vision of the future we were given during Colony in Space. There, the Earth was vastly over-crowded and it was causing the prospect of venturing out into the stars to take your chances on another world to look far more appealing than it really should. It’s great to see this all being developed, as it really does help to give a proper sense of continuity to the universe in which the Doctor travels.

It’s great to see the change coming as we move into the 1970s further and further. In the gap between Patrick Troughton’s last appearance and Jon Pertwee’s first, the whole world changed massively in regards to space travel and the future. America became the first nation to land a man on the Moon, and the whole idea of space-travel went from being some glorious futuristic concept that would sit perfectly alongside our jet packs and rubber cardigans and became just A Part Of Modern Life.

It coincided with the dying days of a decade in which anything seemed possible – the 1960s is still the absolute symbol of freedom. The decade in which the Jon Pertwee stories were made is a far more uncertain time for Britain, and a bleaker view of the future, in which life is a struggle seems far more realistic than a world in which we can teleport people and items globally in a matter of seconds and control Earth’s weather with pin-point accuracy from the Moon.

As for the look of Solos itself… I shouldn’t like it. When they’re roaming around in the trees shrouded in mist, it really does look quite effective. It looks barren, and I can really believe it as a world being throttled by the poisoned air. But then, Jo and Ky hide in what is effectively a hedge, and there’s no kidding myself that this is some distant world at the very fringe of Earth’s shrinking empire. I’m hoping that the rest of the story gives us lots more of the misty shots – they’re far more effective.

Oh, and while I’m at it, I do with the Doctor would stop talking about the Solonian natives of the planet. I don’t know if it’s just the way Pertwee says it, but it sounds like he keeps saying ‘Silurian’, and it’s getting me very muddled up!

 a

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 325: The Mutants, Episode One

Dear diary,

The Mutants represents another one of those Doctor Who black spots for me, where I know almost nothing about it. I think this is probably the last story that I know so little about - from this point onwards I know at least a handful of basic facts about every story. With The Mutants, all I can tell you is that it's set on an alien planet somewhere, and it's got creatures called 'Mutts' in. I'm assuming that they're the things pictured on Disc Two of the DVD release. I'm so clueless about the story that I didn't even know what fan opinion was, until checking it out on the Doctor Who Magazine Mighty 200 poll today, where it managed to come in at number 182.

It's not the lowest ranking Pertwee story (that distinction - worryingly - goes to the next story, The Time Monster, which placed 187th), but it's hardly a glowing beacon of hope for the story, is it? Regular readers of The 50 Year Diary will no doubt have noticed that I've not been looking at the Mighty 200 results since leaving the Troughton era, and it's been for a very good reason: I've not wanted to know. Coming to the Third Doctor's era with the idea that I wasn't going to really like anything, I wanted to experience the stories on their own merits, without being informed of fan opinion where I didn't already know it.

Frankly, I'm surprised it took me until late Season Nine to take a peek! The thought of knowing so little about the tale was really bothering me, so I figured I'd give myself at least that information to go on (though you'll be pleased to know that I had someone else check the issue for me - so it's only these two stories whose placements I know!)

With a heavy heart, I slid the disc into the Mac, and hit the play button. It's been a bit of a roller coaster, this first twenty-five minutes. I've swung wildly back-and-forth between quite liking what I'm seeing and really not being all that bothered by it all. Let's start with the positives, shall we?

By this point - about half-way through their time together - the Doctor and Jo really have his the perfect balance with their relationship, haven't they? He was, let's face it, a bit of an arse to the poor girl during The Dæmons, but it's mostly been up-hill since there. We always seem to find him being rude to her in relation to food (it happened in Day of the Daleks and The Sea Devils recently), but they're clearly loving each other's company now. I'm really pleased to find myself enjoying the pair so much, as I've never really understood the appeal - possibly simply because it came as a part of this particular era.

Right from their first appearance in the episode, they're sparking off each other nicely - one of my favourite exchanges from this season (scrap that. One of my favourite exchanges from the last two seasons!) has to be Jo's reaction to the Time Lord's errand arriving:

JO
Lunch?

THE DOCTOR
No.

JO
Bomb?

THE DOCTOR
No. Nothing so exciting.

From there, they simply continue to light up the screen together, with Jo refusing to be left behind, and jumping into the TARDIS at the last moment to the conclusion that they've arrived on a Sky Base (with a little help from the tannoy system). Even when he's operating on his own, the Doctor is full of wit here - it's demonstrated best when he hands over his 'container' to someone and nothing happens. 'Yes, well, obviously it's not for you,' he observes before snatching it back.

And yet, for all this, I'm just not that invested in the story. When the Doctor and Jo are on screen then I'm fine, sat up on the sofa, enjoying every second. Bob Baker and Dave Martin have done a stirling job capturing the pair, and I'm hoping they can continue to work their magic as the story goes on - they were the redeeming feature of Season Eight, so there's a high bar to meet!

When we're with the guest cast, though, I'm struggling to really care. We've got what appears to be a slightly medieval society rubbing up against a futuristic one, and it's a theme that will go on to crop up in Doctor Who plenty of times throughout the rest of this decade. The stories I'm equating it to in my mind at the moment are The Face of Evil and State of Decay, though in some ways both are unfair comparisons. I'm hoping that once the story really gets going (I'm assuming that action will shift from the Sky Base to the planet surface before long), I'll find myself caring a bit more about the other characters.

Still, for the 182nd story (out of 200), it's not a bad start…

Following tonight's airing of Mark Gatiss' fantastic Doctor Who docudrama, 'An Adventure In Space And Time', DWO are thrilled to present a short video interview with David Bradley (William Hartnell), in which we ask him the all important question;

Would you be up for a return as The 1st Doctor in the main series?

"Well that’s a big question, and it was put to Mark Gatiss the other night at the BFI screening and he was hedging his bets over it.

In a way we feel like we’ve honoured the Doctor Who history and honoured William Hartnell’s memory in a way, so, if that was it, then we’d all be perfectly happy because it feels like the writing and the direction and the performances have all gone down very well with the audience.

If we left it at that I’d be perfectly happy, but if someone came up with the notion of doing it, of course, you know, it’s such an honour to be in Doctor Who anyway and to have played such a great iconic actor in such an iconic part of TV history.

We’ll have to wait and see but if someone put the bright idea then I’d have to think about it, yeh. But so far it hasn’t been put to me."

Watch DWO's short Interview with David Bradley, below:

[youtube:7JeKXN8FzGA]

+  Follow @MarkGatiss on Twitter.
+  Follow @DrWhoOnline on Twitter.

+  Rate / Discuss 'An Adventure In Space And Time' in the DWO Forums.

[Source: DWO]

BBC Worldwide are looking to create a gallery of the best pictures of fans celebrating The Doctor’s 50th anniversary at cinemas around the world.

The BBC Worldwide team got in touch with DWO, with the following message for fans:

"We’d be really grateful if you could let visitors to your site know that we’ve set up the inbox Doctorwho50@bbc.com to collate all of the best DW images from around the world this weekend. We’ll be sharing the best images on our official Facebook page and will make them available for press use as well."

+  The Day Of The Doctor will simulcast worldwide on 23rd November, at 7:50pm GMT.

[Source: BBC Worldwide]

Our friends over at Puffin Books have sent DWO some more details on the anthology of eleven stories by some of the most exciting names in children's fiction!

The print edition of '11 Doctors, 11 Stories' is the culmination of a year-long series of eBooks to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who.

Eleven stories, eleven authors, eleven unique interpretations of the Doctor: his terrifying alien enemies and his time-travelling adventures.

The authors involved in this exciting project are Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott, Marcus Sedgwick, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Richelle Mead, Malorie Blackman, Alex Scarrow, Charlie Higson, Derek Landy and Neil Gaiman. 

+  11 Doctors, 11 Stories is Out Now, priced £12.99.

+  Order your copy now via Amazon: http://amzn.to/1eP9Pdl

[Source: Puffin Books]

To coincide with tonight's airing of Mark Gatiss' Doctor Who docudrama, 'An Adventure In Space And Time', DWO caught up with its star, David Bradley (William Hartnell), who introduces the programme for DWO visitors.

Watch David Bradley's DWO Episode Intro, below:
[youtube:N2mB7SS7P7M]

Fans can also expect another exclusive video right here on DWO after the episode has aired, in which we ask David a very important question.

+  Follow @MarkGatiss on Twitter.
+  Follow @DrWhoOnline on Twitter.

+  An Adventure In Space And Time will broadcast Tonight at 9:00pm on BBC Two.

(With thanks to the Showmasters team)

[Source: DWO]

 a

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 324: The Sea Devils, Episode Six

Dear diary,

I’ve been praising Michael E. Briant’s direction right the way through this story, but this final episode really does give the impression that he could become the new Camfield for the series. There’s a small-scale shoot out with the Sea Devils at one point in this episode, in which I made a note about how good it looked, with the creatures chasing Jo and Captain Hart out of the naval base and towards a hovercraft, but then a little while later we get a full on battle!

It put me in mind directly of the UNIT/Cybermen shoot-out at the end of The Invasion, and there’s a lot of similar directional choices made here. It’s clear that they’ve got the boys from HAVOC on hand, because there’s Sea Devils flipping themselves off rooftops and doing little somersaults when required to fall over from a shot. Most impressively, there’s a sequence in which the Sea Devils are shot at with some pretty heavy artillery, and the explosions are going of very close to the actors in the costumes! There’s some 8mm film shot on location included on the DVD which - taken from a different angle - really shows just how close they were. It’s a dangerous scene to film, but it looks fantastic on screen.

The action isn’t completely confined to fighting, though. I should have guessed, really, that a Jon Pertwee story set this close to open water would involve a hovercraft and some speedboats somewhere. In the same way that the Third Doctor looks so right when he’s tinkering away with the device earlier on in the episode, he looks fantastic when bombing across the waves in pursuit of the Master. Less effective is their later rise back up from the Sea Devil colony, where the pair end up floating around in their orange waterproofs - the Master in particular looks very cuddly!

Having played something of a second fiddle to the story’s monsters for a few episodes, we’re back to the version of the Master that I so love today, in which he’s charming and persuasive, and really just very cool. There’s a scene in which he convinces a soldier that he shouldn’t be held prisoner in which you’re really sold on the idea of the man’s hypnotism (it’s another example of Michael E. Briant’s direction being top notch - the close up on Delgado’s face during the scene is wonderful).

Later on, he manages to escape the clutches of the law once again - and he makes off with the hovercraft! The only issue I take with this is the fact that he’s escaped via the clever use of a mask. If he carries one with him during all this, then surely he could have worn one earlier in the story and avoided detection during his little field trip from the prison? He’d have saved himself a lot of hassle…

I’ve been really pleasantly surprised by The Sea Devils. It’s been one of those DVDs on my shelf that I’ve never watched for absolutely ages - mostly because it’s a Third Doctor story. Then, having enjoyed Doctor Who and the Silurians so much, I worried that a follow-up tale would end up being a real let-down by comparison. As it is, I’ve really enjoyed the tale, and this last episode has been the perfect way for it to sign off.

The next story is another of those ones that I know very little about, but a couple of people this week have shown a slight… distaste towards it when they realise where I am in the marathon, so I’m enjoying today’s high while I can…

Our friends over at Digital Spy have released a video interview with Matt Smith and David Tennant, in which they talk about the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who and what makes the show so successful.

You can watch the interview below:

+  The Day Of The Doctor will simulcast worldwide on 23rd November, at 7:50pm GMT.

[Source: Digital Spy]

 a

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 323: The Sea Devils, Episode Five

Dear diary,

As I make my way through the Pertwee era, I’ve been playing a little game in my own head of ‘spot the Torchwood member’. The game dates right back to The Web of Fear where I pinned the title on the only Welsh member of the cast, but various other characters since then have staked s good claim to the job. Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians made the list as a potential candidate simply for being a bit self-serving. Professor Stahlman was on there being he was in charge of a dangerous and foolhardy project. I sort of abandoned the game a little during Season Eight, as my interest wained a little.

Today though, as soon as the Parliamentary Private Secretary entered the naval base, he was right up there among the possible members of Torchwood. To be honest, I think he initially made the list simply because he was a bit misogynistic, and so keen to go for a violent solution to this entire situation. The more we saw of him on screen, the more he seemed to fit my idea of just what a member of 1970s Torchwood would be, even going so far as to brush off the idea of letting the Doctor die because ‘war calls for sacrifice.’

I thought at that point that if I stretched the idea a little, I could argue that he knows (or at least suspects) that the ‘Doctor’ who’s been turning up at the base (and no doubt will have been noted in official reports by Captain Hart) is the same one that his organisation has been charged to combat. He’s so desperate to set the ball rolling in regards to an attack not because he’s desperate to see an end to the Sea Devil situation, but because if he acts quickly enough, he can kill two birds with one stone, and really reap the glory for being the man who caught up with the Doctor.

Well then, when the pair actually meet, he makes a point of saying ‘Our duty is to destroy the Queen’s enemies’ He even goes on to cite from the National Anthem as a way of underlining his point. I don’t even have to squint and bend to make this idea work - the man is definitely working for Torchwood! I’m rather hoping that he leaves the Doctor to die again in the next episode just to add even more weight to the theory.

Elsewhere, we’ve got another contender for the story’s iconic scene, when we see even more Sea Devils rising from the ocean. I’m starting to wonder if when people talk about it, they just mean the story in general, as it seems to happen an awful lot. Today’s rendition seems to be more in line with what I’ve always imagined it to be, but it’s the shots after they’ve made it to land that impressed me the most. The sight of them sneaking around the naval base are fantastic, and yet more examples of why Michael E. Briant is becoming one of Doctor Who’s best directors.

I can’t say I really noticed his style all that much during Colony in Space, but here it’s head and shoulders above lots of the stuff we’ve had in this era. There’s a few occasions down in the Sea Devil base which seem to perfectly show it off, when we get lovely close-up shots of both the Master and the Sea Devils, and they really do look great. I’m glad that the costumes are still holding up so well, but the oddly bulging necks are starting to look a bit weird for me in some of the studio scenes…

The only thing I have found odd about the direction comes as part of the the cliffhanger reprise. Frankly, it’s much better at the start of today’s episode than it was at the end of yesterday’s. I’d worked out that the capsule was empty (could it be anything else?) but the way Katy Manning plays the shot makes it look as though she’s staring at something in particular (though at that angle, it can only be a Sea Devil clinging to the ceiling…) Today, we get an added few seconds in which Jo ducks back out from the diving equipment and whispers that the Doctor has gone. I can’t help but think that we’d have had much more impact at the end of yesterday’s episode if we’d ended things on that note!

Just while I’m on the subject of whispering - hooray! The Sea Devil’s voices are actually really good. During Doctor Who and the Silurians, apart from being a little disappointed by the quality of the Silurian costumes, it was their silly voices that really let things down for me. Their aquatic cousins seem to have done well in all respects, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

To celebrate Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary the new issue of Radio Times (on sale from Tuesday 19th November) features 12 different collectable covers each with a different Doctor and monsters from their era, with 26 pages on the iconic show inside.

The first cover can be seen to the right with three covers being unveiled every day from Saturday 16th November to Tuesday 19th November on the Radio Times DiscoverTV app.

Radio Times DiscoverTV is a new daily TV and radio recommendations and discovery service; helping you discover your new favourite programmes today wherever they are - on TV, catch-up or on-demand.

Available on iPad and optimised for iOS7, Radio Times DiscoverTV is a freemium app with a 30-day free trial of the premium features. A free limited service is available without subscription with easy-to use, 14 day customised TV and radio listings, by provider and location, and basic programme information. Download for free here.

What's in the 50th Anniversary Special Issue?

Why you can't destroy the Doctor, by Steven Moffat
The show-runner writes exclusively for Radio Times on a cultural legacy so strong that it even endured a 16-year television hiatus. Not that he would ever let that happen again, of course…

Retrospectives of each Doctor
From the first Doctor, William Hartnell, to the 11th, Matt Smith, we examine each Time Lord's era, taking in companions, villains and using exclusive archive interviews with the actors themselves. It’s the ultimate guide to the mad man in a box.

Interviews with Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt
It’s not all about the past, though, for The Day of the Doctor is coming. Radio Times talks to Matt Smith and David Tennant about acting together – “Have I just woken out of a dream?” asks the tenth Doctor – while screen legend John Hurt (the War Doctor) tells us why he wasn’t a fan of the 1963 series. 

Interactive issue
The issue is not just packed with great Doctor Who words and pictures, it also contains a treasure trove of interactive content, such as video, 3D pages and detailed guides. To access the interactive content, simply download the free Blippar app to your smartphone or tablet; then open the app and hold your device over the interactive symbols.

Start with the cover to reveal an exclusive video message from the 11th Doctor, and the opportunity to create and star in your own Radio Times Doctor Who cover to share on social media.

Inside, there’s even more, including a comprehensive episode-by-episode guide for each Doctor, animated and video Doctor Who content, over 100 pictures from the Radio Times Doctor Who archive, a gallery of all Radio Times's Doctor Who covers, plus exclusive 3D content.  

An exclusive shot from The Day of the Doctor
The tenth Doctor and Joanna Page’s Queen Elizabeth I look rather cosy, don't they?

My love of Doctor Who, by BBC Director General Tony Hall
The DG writes exclusively for Radio Times about how he fell in love with Doctor Who in 1963 and is now thrilled to be the man in charge at its height. He even tells a nifty little tale of how he once flew the Tardis…  

Interviews with famous Doctor Who fans
Charlie Brooker, Jonathon Ross and Jo Whiley are among the stars sharing their favourite Who moments in extracts from Steve Berry’s book, From Behind The Sofa.

Win the Doctor’s actual bow tie!
And finally, as if we haven’t spoilt you lot enough, we’re also giving readers a chance to a win a money-can’t-buy prize: the bow tie worn by Matt Smith’s Doctor on screen.

Twelve collectible covers
View all 12 covers in our gallery, below:

 +  Buy this issue of Radio Times as well as past issues from CompareTheDalek.com!

[Source: Radio Times]

 a

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 322: The Sea Devils, Episode Four

Dear diary,

I had to double check against the screen captures on the Tragical History Tour website, but I think the model submarine in this story could really stand up against the one they used earlier this year for the shots in Cold War. Oh, sure, the newer model has a bit more detail to it, but I’m really impressed by the work on the one in this story - it looks absolutely fab on screen.

Thankfully, that seems to be a note I’m making about a lot of things in this story. The opening to the episode gives us more of the sequence with a single Sea Devil on the beach, and I made a point of noting down just how great the mask looked shot on film. I thought it was going to become another one of those times where I simply waffle on about wishing the whole programme was shot on film (and don’t get me wrong, I still do wish that. I’d love to see the submarine shots rendered in HD. You could almost substitute the shots from Cold War and no one would really notice!), but then a little later on we get to see the mask close up in the studio, on video, and it still looks pretty good!

I’ve never really given much thought to the look of the Sea Devils before. Because I’ve never seen the story, my only real frame of reference for them has been the action figure - and I’ve never been all that fond of that one. The sculpt itself is pretty good, but I seem to remember always thinking that the paint job on it was a little too ‘flat’ for me. It always looked like plastic, whereas I’d have liked it to have more of a sheen - as indeed they do in this story. Seeing the creature advance across the beach gives us plenty of opportunity to see the full costume, and it really is something a bit special. It shouldn’t work, really, because it’s just a basic lizard-looking suit covered by a tatty string vest, but there’s something rather brilliant about them.

I’m pretty impressed by them turning up on the submarine, with a great effect of the melting door the herald their arrival. That shot towards the end, as the Doctor peers out from a porthole in his diving equipment and sees a creature heading towards him is great, too, and I think I would have actually preferred that as the final shot. Almost as soon as they started raising the machine back to the surface, I knew that the Doctor would be absent. Now I’m interested to see how close Episode Five comes to Doctor Who and the Silurians. The Doctor was captured by the creatures in that story, too, so I’m keen to try and spot some parallels.

We also get today what might be the scene I was waiting for yesterday, with the Sea Devils rising from the ocean. Is this the famous, iconic bit? Surely not? I get that they’re trying to swell the numbers a bit, but seeing a group of the creatures walk out of the tide and onto the beach, before we cut to what appears to be the start of the shot as they rise from the ocean itself threw me a little, as did the light of the scene. It seems to have been shot at dusk, but it just made the picture look a bit grimy. In my head, after years of hearing about ‘the shot where the Sea Devils rise from the ocean’, I’d imagined five or six of them coming out of the water and onto the beach in daylight, and in a long static shot. If this is what all the fuss is about, then I’m sorry to say that I’m really a bit let down.

Thankfully, it’s not enough to ruin the story for me, and I’m finding myself enjoying it more and more. I spent the first couple of episodes expecting UNIT to show up on the scene, before remembering that this is the one present-day-Earth story in which they don’t feature. I’m glad in a way, because Captain Hart and the Navy are fulfilling all the same roles that we’d usually see inhabited by the Brigadier and his men. While you could pretty easily swap any of these characters out for our regular UNIT crew, it feels fresh to see something a bit different - even if it’s only down to the uniforms being a different colour to the ones I’m used to.

The BBC have released a preview clip for An Adventure In Space And Time, featuring Sydney Newman (Brian Cox) and Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine).

You can watch the clip below:

[youtube:pUtOs0lUvXU]

Watch the official trailer for An Adventure In Space And Time, below:

[youtube:dEwikIhEZrE]

+  An Adventure In Space And Time will broadcast on BBC Two on 21st November at 9:00pm.

+  Follow @DrWhoOnline on Twitter!

[Source: BBC Worldwide]

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Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 321: The Sea Devils, Episode Three

Dear diary,

I’m finding that The Sea Devils is almost the exact opposite to The Curse of Peladon for me. At the end of those four episodes, I found myself with little to write because I simply wasn’t enjoying it. Here, it’s tricky to say anything because I am enjoying it! I simply want to hurry over onto the next episode.

If I’m being entirely honest, I don’t quite know why I’m enjoying The Sea Devils so much. Today is probably the perfect example - the shot of the creatures rising from the ocean to swarm the beach is one of those iconic Doctor Who moments, up there with the Daleks on Westminster Bridge, or the Cybermen outside St Pauls. I’ve never actually seen this scene, though (what? Oh, stop judging me. It’s from a Pertwee story, and you all know my thoughts on the era from before I started on this marathon…), and I’m assuming that the end of today’s episode isn’t it.

It felt like everything was in place. The Doctor and Jo have been cornered on the beach. On one side, they’re blocked in by a mine field. In the other direction, a carful of the prison’s guards has just pulled up (for all the good they’d do. Just how easy was it for Jo to break in and free the Doctor? This is supposed to be a high security prison!). Behind them, the Master and Trenchard have arrived with their new Sea Devil remote control. Ahead lies the crashing waves of the ocean as the machine is switched on, calling the creatures to the shore…

And then a single Sea Devil pops his head up from the water! I mean, don’t get me wrong, it still looks quite good - I’m always slightly impressed that the costumes can survive the pressures of being submerged underwater - but I’d amped myself up for something more exciting, which I can only assume comes later on in the story? It’s an interesting new angle on the whole ‘wishing I knew less about the series’ complaint that I often find myself making, in that I’m not sure if there is a scene with many Sea Devils walking out of the water, of if I’ve just assumed there is, and this is that famous shot of the creatures rising from the waves? No spoilers, please, I’m looking forward to finding out.

I need to wonder a little bit about the prison here, too. I’ve already commented on the seeming inefficiency of the guards (overpowered by Jo twice, Overpowered by the Master… their training isn’t the best!), but I’m more concerned about the facility as a whole. Is the Master their only prisoner? There’s not been any mention of other prisoners at all, but I’d assume there must be some to warrant having so many guards on the staff. I assumed that we’d see the Master stirring up some kind of prison revolt (well, he has got prior form…) but now I’m not so sure.

I’m also not sure that I fully understand his plan - but then, what else is new? He claims that he wants to help the Sea Devils reclaim the Earth as they were once its rightful rulers (another direct link to Doctor Who and the Silurians. I’m not sure where I got it in my head that the connection was made later), and he seems to want to see the Human Race wiped out simply because it’s a species that the Doctor is so fond of. Is he just out for revenge, now?Is this like his plans with the Nestenes, where they can destroy the world and he can then rule the empty rock? He may be in charge of things in the prison now, but he still doesn’t seem to have any real idea of his ultimate goal…

After the hugely popular reaction to the recent minisode, DWO caught up with The 8th Doctor, Paul McGann, for an exclusive video interview.

Speaking to DWO Editor, Seb J. Brook, Paul talks about The Night Of The Doctor, keeping secrets, future appearances, his costume and more!

Below is a transcript of the interview, and you can watch the video itself at the bottom:

Obviously it’s great to see you back on our screens again, how hard was it keeping it a secret?

That was tough, keeping it a secret! What’s actually slightly disappointing is when you realise you can’t keep a secret now. And you know it should have gone out next week, but they had to put it out this week because someone was about to put it out.

When did you film it?

We shot it in May.

That’s a long time to keep a secret!

Yeh, it wasn’t easy. I mean a couple of mates knew - family knew, and I’m pretty good at keeping a secret, but of course so many people work on something, you know, technicians and everybody else, and publicity people, you know, I’m not pointing the finger, except I’m saying, somewhere along the line, someone couldn’t resist pressing send.

A couple of days ago we were seeing still pictures from the episode going out before it had gone out, so Steven Moffat presumably thought “I’ve gotta do something”, so we released it.

But it all worked out ok in the end, didn’t it?

All’s well that ends well! But also, I was getting tweets back in July, and there were people saying things that they could only have known - so you can’t keep a secret!

Well one of the big questions we’re getting at the moment is that it’s been even more popular that even the fans thought it would be. It had everything they wanted for the past 6 years of Doctor Who stories in about 6 minutes…

…Well yeh and also, I suppose, it reconciled a narrative gap.

It did, yeh, definitely, but this is the thing, people are wanting more now…

…people are always want more! There are people here today saying “when are you gonna do a series”

Well that’s the thing, they want to know if you were offered to do a mini series would you do a mini series? 

Well, it’s like with the mini episode - if they send you the script and it’s good, you’ll do it. So, you know, these things are only as good as the material. So the real question is if the material was good enough and if you were available, you’d do it - cos it’s a Who!

Now you just had a birthday didn’t you?

On that day!

On that day! I mean, what a great present?!

So I regard it as Steven Moffat’s birthday present to me!

That’s great! So I imagine we’re going to have an action figure of you now in your new attire!

That costume in the mini episode, I think looks cool. Proper Time Lord!

It was an evolution of the one you had on-screen in the 1996 TV Movie.

Yeh…distressed, as they used to say in retail! Yeh, yeh, distressed! Yeh, it looked good, I thought.

Fans are saying the way you picked up The Doctor was seamless, you’ve evolved since doing the Big Finish stuff and it’s almost as if we’ve had three series of you on screen anyway because your Doctor has evolved through the audios.

Well I think that’s fair. Since doing the Big Finish’s, of course, I’ve been in it, I’ve still been part of things, so in a way it was easy - I’m glad you think it was seamless. Still, having said that, going on screen is a whole different thing.

Was it a bit surreal?

Yeh! Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss was there, a few people were there, you know, and everyone’s a fan as well, of course, and everyone was really excited to see it. (And probably sneakily trying on all the gear while I wasn’t looking).

Did you honestly think you would ever come back again?

Well not after…well, how long has it been? 17 years. After 10 years I though if they’re not going to ring me up now, they’re not going to ring me up.

You look pretty much the same though…

…keep talking! (smiles).

Well your hair now is actually half the length of the original wig you had in the series…

…I don’t wanna talk about it! (smirks) Bad memories! (looks at recent photo of the 8th Doctor) Well, I suppose, yeh, I could just about get away with it.

Well thank you very much and I hope you had a great birthday, and here’s hoping this isn’t the last time we’ve seen you on screen as well, honestly, it was a real treat for everyone!

Well, with Doctor Who you just never know…you never ever know, do you…

Watch DWO's video interview with Paul McGann, below:

[youtube:HxSHTmGKiUY]
Fans have started a petition to get the BBC to sign up McGann for a live action series. Show your support and sign the petition! 

+  Follow @PaulJMcGann on Twitter.
+  Follow @DrWhoOnline on Twitter.

(With thanks to the Showmasters team)

[Source: DWO]

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Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day 320: The Sea Devils, Episode Two

Dear diary,

It’s odd to think that this serial is written by Malcolm Hulke and directed by Michael E. Briant, and yet the whole thing feels so much better than Colony in Space did. I made a note yesterday to talk about the direction of the episode, but it somewhat got lost under lots of other praise for the story. Today, we’ve got even more examples of something interesting and new being done with the direction - it really looks very different to normal.

The best example is probably the Doctor being chased through the fort by a Sea Devil, where the camera angles really help to sell the moment. By the time he and Jo chase the creature back through the same corridors, the cameras seem to have slipped a little, and we’re veering into Batman territory…

My one complaint with the direction is probably the way that the Sea Devil’s initial reveal has been handled. Throughout the first episode, we’re given plenty of shots of a scaled hand creeping into view, over the side of a boat or around a corner on the fort. As the episode goes one, we were given more-and-more glimpses of the creature - shot from behind, or moving through the corridors hidden by shadows. I was rather hoping that we’d be in for a repeat of the situation we had for Doctor Who and the Silurians, where we were teased by the creature for a while, before it finally steps into the room and reveals itself to us as part of a cliffhanger.

The final reveal of the Sea Devil does mimic the earlier example by being about the creature emerging into a room… but it’s done simply with the creature wandering through a doorway, and doing something of a double take when it sees the Doctor. Even the attempt at communication from our Time Lord has nothing on the earlier ‘Hello, are you a Silurian’ exchange. It’s a shame that after some nice build-up, they seem to decide that it’s gone on for long enough and simply give us a full view of the creature.

I am surprised at just how linked to Doctor Who and the Silurians this story is. I’ve always known that it’s a follow-up tale (and that the creatures team up together to fight the Fifth Doctor further down the line), but I think I’d always assumed that it was something applied retroactively to the story by fans further down the line, eventually leading to Warriors of the Deep as one of those ‘fan pleasing’ ideas from the 1980s. Here, though, we’ve got references to ‘those creatures in the caves’, and Jo even gives us something of a potted history of the event. The Doctor uses the opportunity to correct a few mistakes made in the earlier story, too, though I’m not sure that calling them ‘Eocenes’ will ever catch on…

Elsewhere in the story, I find it slightly odd that the Master goes to all the trouble of getting a naval uniform, hiding in the back of a car to sneak onto the base… and yet doesn’t bother to use one of his clever masks. They were all the rage last season, and they were pretty infallible, but here he accidentally allows himself to be seen. I suppose you could argue that he’s not expecting the Doctor and Jo to be there, but in yesterday’s episode he noted that the Doctor will be interested by the boats disappearing, and then finds out that he’s been directly told about it. Surely the Master should have pieced it together? It just seems a shame that he’s still managing to make silly little mistakes when he’s been coming across so well.