Back in November we reported on the fantastic news that Who Dares Publishing - the legendary 1980's Doctor Who publishing company, was back and kicking things off with a fantastic calendar, featuring the artwork of acclaimed Doctor Whoa artist, Andrew Skilleter. Now in February of 2017, we are thrilled to be among the first to reveal that Who Dares Publishing are releasing a new series of exclusive, limited edition, Doctor Who collectable art portfolios.

The first portfolio features the artwork of Colin Howard, and comprises of six prints featuring the artwork from The Key To Time Doctor Who VHS covers. There will be just 50 of these limited edition portfolios, all signed and numbered, and costing just £59.95!

DWO were lucky enough to get our hands on one of the portfolios, and they are of an incredibly high quality. If you're anything like us, you'll remember seeing the videos in your local W.H. Smith's, Blockbuster Video or MVC, and the artwork really popped out.

So what do you get in the portfolio? Well, it's a white hardback folio, that opens up to reveal a compartment holding all 6 of the prints. There's also an accompanying booklet with information on Colin Howard, as well as a certificate of authenticity, and, last but not least, some 'Who Dares' printed gloves to handle the artwork - a nice little touch!

These prints are screaming out to be framed, and, if this portfolio is anything to be judged by, the future looks incredibly bright for Who Dares Publishing!

+  BUY 'The Key To Time Art By Colin Howard' Portfolio from Who Dares for £59.95.

[Source: Who Dares Publishing]

The BBC have aired a new trailer promoting Series 10 of Doctor Who.

The trailer, which is going by the title 'A Time For Heroes' (along with the #TimeForHeroes hashtag), harks back to one of the first trailers when Doctor Who came back in 2005. It's from Bill's (Pearl Mackie) perspective and offers a glimpse at some of the monsters and villains we can expect in the tenth series.

Watch the trailer in the player, below:
[youtube:Py5xXBREBRk]
+. Series 10 of Doctor Who airs on 15th April 2017.

[Source: BBC Worldwide]

T

The Tenth Doctor's TARDIS Console Room Playset is now available to buy via the Character Options online store.

Product Synopsis:
Motorised time Column with pulsating lights. Illuminated console with 6 control buttons. Removable floor panels & flip up console panel. 12 great sound and light FX.

+  The Tenth Doctor's TARDIS Console Room is Out Now, priced £49.99.
+  ORDER this toys directly from Character Options!
+  Discuss all the Doctor Who Toy releases in the DWO Forums.

[Source: Character Options]

Sydney Newman: Innovator, designer, director, and producer. In April it will be 100 years since Doctor Who's creator was born, but where exactly did the idea come from? How much of it came from him before Bunny Webber's famous memo which established the idea did the rounds?

In 2013, the BBC aired An Adventure In Time and Space; a dramatic reconstruction of the early days of Doctor Who, and Sydney was played by the excellent Brian Cox. It was a great portrayal of the man, and other founding members such as Verity Lambert, Waris Hussein, and Mervyn Pinfield, and was well received in Doctor Who's 50th year.

But in the very beginning it was touch-and-go for the real show, and Sydney's role was as an over-seer and advisor to Verity and her team in 1963.

Looking back after all of this time, and understanding Sydney wasn't entirely happy with how the series started off until it became a success, its easy to forget his role. Him creating such a phenomenon was no surprise, although people would have thought it unlikely of a children's show. He had already changed drama in Britain, and people's perception of culture with theArmchair Theatre series he produced as head of drama at ABC, before he moved into the same role at the BBC in 1962. The series showed for the first time people on the fringes of society such as unmarried mothers, drug-addicts, and the homeless, and regional accents were used. Plays like No Trams To Lime Street, and Cathy Come Home showed the face of changing Britain as it looked towards the future which didn't look very bright.

And the future is what Doctor Who was all about, although its original premise was to educate and teach children about history and science. One week an adventure would be set in the past, and the next it would be in the future, and that is where the ratings were at.

Sydney had always love science-fiction, but the basic idea for Doctor Who had been with him for at least ten years before it made it onto the screen.

His biography The Man Who Thought Outside The Box: The Life And Times Of Doctor Who Creator Sydney Newman, reveals lots of information about the worlds best-loved science-fiction show, and the man who created it. It is a must for all Doctor Who fans.

It is available to preorder now from digitalentropy@hotmail.com for £11.99 and will be released on April 22nd 2017.

+ Find out more at the Digital Entropy website: digitalentropy.co.uk 

[Source: Ryan Danes]

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Cavan Scott & Mark Wright

RRP: £10.99 (CD) / £8.99 (Download)

Release Date: February 2017

Reviewed by: Steve Bartle for Doctor Who Online

"The TARDIS has landed in a war zone. The Doctor, Romana and K9 find themselves traipsing through an inhospitable battlefield. Strange lights flicker in the sky, and stranger creatures lurk in the darkness.

When rescued from an attack by a Sontaran tank, the time-travellers discover they’re facing a far more dangerous foe than the battle-hungry clones. This terrifying fight has been going on longer than anyone can remember… and shows no signs of stopping.

With the TARDIS missing and their luck running thin, the Doctor and his friends’ only hope of survival is to uncover the truth about what is happening on this planet. If they can discover the secret of the eternal battle they might just survive… but it might just mean the end of them all."

One of the aspects I have disliked intensely about the series since its return is its treatment of classic villains. The Cybermen have effectively become that “pathetic bunch of tin soldiers” that the Fourth Doctor chastised them about being so long, long ago. I was not particularly enamoured on the re-design of the Silurians or their overall return, either. Even the Daleks had a wobble in Victory Of The Daleks but the least said about that the better. 

I have a sense of trepidation about the Ice Warriors returning in the new series too as I felt the one monster threat in Cold Blood served them well but once they are an army? Who knows!

And then there are the Sontarans. One of my favourite villains from the classic series reduced to comedy foils time after time again. I didn’t mind Strax the first time around but the law of diminishing returns meant that the comedy wore thin and it just made me yearn for that particular race to return to their strangely honourable and war mongering selves of old. 

So in all honesty going into this one my hopes weren’t high. Could these be the Sontarans that waged a brutal war with the Rutans or will they reflect the more comedic variety of recent times?

Well the honest answer is neither really, here they are something a little different. Writers Mark Wright and Cavan Scott have been very clever in this story. In the midst of a very bleak environment, combatting an endless and futile war, they manage to humanise the Sontarans without weakening them from the original approach to this race in the seventies. 

Big Finish always manage to revisit a classic foe and put a different spin on them. The narrative tactic they adopt is to split up our TARDIS team, on this occasion the Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K-9, and pair them with two different Sontaran warriors who both are unusually open in reflecting on their respective roles in the ongoing battles. 

Which brings us to Dan Starkey. Dan of course is famous for playing the aforementioned Strax, the Paternoster Gang member who provides nearly all the light relief in the stories he has featured in. Here, with the exception of some vocal work by John Banks, Dan provides nearly all the Sontaran voices and in some scenes is actually talking to himself! Quite the feat!

Between them they manage to inject an impressive sense of pathos as we uncover what the Sontaran sense of honour truly means to them and it doesn’t necessarily translate to dying in battle as recent serials would have us believe. This race does not fear their ultimate end, but neither are they actively seeking it out. 

And what of the regulars? Well you would never expect nor receive less than a top notch performance from Lalla Ward and John Leeson and their on screen chemistry is easily replicated once again here. Tom Baker's’ love for doing these audios again shines through and he seems to be having enormous fun throughout, without going overboard. He gets the tone just right and is a shining beacon in what is, at times, a very bleak tale.

I am a big fan of what Jamie Robertson has done with the score of this one.  I adore the music of Season 18, and here he recaptures some of those synth infused moments perfectly. Interestingly The Beast of Kravenos was also set supposedly in Season 18 but the same approach to the music would have felt distinctly out of place in the Victorian setting. Here it is applied with careful consideration to enhance the right moments. 

Tales with a zombie theme have been done to death (ridiculously obvious gag) but here they are given an interesting spin. But although key to the story, as is the futility of war, these are merely the backdrop for the characterisation and interaction between the Sontarans, the humans (who are perhaps underserved within the relatively short running time) and the TARDIS team.

So essentially a character piece on a long established race, but one which has managed to make it so that, arguably the most one-dimensional of all the Doctor Who adversaries, can now be appreciated through new ears. 

+  ORDER this CD via Amazon.co.uk!

Relive the acclaimed first series of Doctor Who with this limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook, exclusive to Amazon.

Christopher Eccleston's Doctor is wise and funny, cheeky and brave. An alien and a loner (it's difficult keeping up with friends when your day job involves flitting through time and space), his detached logic gives him a vital edge when the world's in danger. But when it comes to human relationships, he can be found wanting. That's why he needs new assistant Rose. Rose is a shop-girl from the present day. From the moment they meet, the Doctor and Rose are soulmates. They understand and complement each other. As they travel together through time, encountering new adversaries, the Doctor shows her things beyond imagination. She starts out as an innocent, unfettered by worldly concerns. But she ends up an adventurer who, by the end of the series, can never go home again...

Includes the episodes: Rose, The End Of The World, The Unquiet Dead, Aliens Of London / World War Three, Dalek, The Long Game, Father's Day, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, Boom Town, Bad Wolf / The Parting Of The Ways.

Special Features:

-  BBC Breakfast interview with Christopher Eccleston
-  Destroying The Lair
-  Making Doctor Who with Russell T Davies
-  Walking The Dead
-  Laying Ghosts
-  Series Launch and Episode Trailers
-  Storyboard of Opening Trailer
-  Deconstructing Big Ben
-  On Set with Billie Piper
-  Mike Tucker’s Mocks of Balloons
-  Designing Doctor Who
-  The Adventures of Captain Jack
-  13 episodes of Doctor Who Confidential: Cutdown
-  13 audio commentaries featuring: Russell T. Davies, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Annette Badland, Simon Callow, Julie Gardner, and many more.
-  Easter Egg 

+  The Doctor Who: Series 1 Blu-ray Steelbook is released on 20th March, priced £34.99.
+  PREORDER this Blu-ray Steelbook from Amazon.co.uk!
+  Discuss all the Doctor Who DVD & Blu-ray releases in the DWO Forums.

[Source: BBC Worldwide]

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Writer: Phil Mulryne

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: February 2017

Reviewed by: Steve Bartle for Doctor Who Online

"London, 1864 - where any gentleman befitting the title ‘gentleman’ belongs to a gentlemen’s club: The Reform, The Athenaeum, The Carlton, The Garrick… and, of course, The Contingency. Newly established in St James’, The Contingency has quickly become the most exclusive enclave in town. A refuge for men of politics, men of science, men of letters. A place to escape. A place to think. A place to be free.

The first rule of the Contingency is to behave like a gentleman. The second is to pay no heed to its oddly identical servants. Or to the horror in its cellars. Or to the existence of the secret gallery on its upper floor… Rules that the Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan are all about to break."

I grew up during the era of the crowded Tardis. Admittedly I was only age 5 but I have distinctly clear memories of a beleaguered Doctor trying to keep relative peace in his time machine with an ever growing bunch of stowaways and orphans joining him for adventures...with the added factor this eclectic bunch weren’t always necessarily happy to be there! Viewing the DVD range more recently you really appreciate what a job he had on his hands at times and one wonders why he continued to journey with them all, on occasions. At times the Fifth Doctor almost adopted the role of headmaster - something which he outright claims in this story!

However, despite the family style friction, this era of the show always gives me a warm fuzzy glow and saw a return to the episodic nature of the black and white days where stories sometimes bled into each other and references were made to previous adventures. Looking back through much more mature and critical eyes you can see where stories were creaking under the pressure of trying to cater for all these different principal characters, and there was an over-reliance on somewhat one-dimensional specific character tropes.

You might be concerned from the opening scenes that this tale veers between paying homage to this era or possibly regurgitating old material. The key protagonists are easily identifiable with their TV portrayals. Adric is somewhat annoying and antagonistic of Tegan, in this case regarding the primitive nature of a cassette player (which is a crucial item in the denouement). Check. Tegan is irascible and talks about Heathrow nonstop, as well as making generic references to flying. Check. Nyssa is...well Nyssa. Pragmatic and pleasant. Check. And of course Peter Davison effortlessly injects his usual breathless energy that always made his incarnation a hero in the truest form. Check. (Thank goodness!)

All four tend to bring out the argumentative side in each other, through constant chiding and witty barbs which too often on TV appeared somewhat childish at times. However, here writer Phil Mulryne has captured the flavour of the interaction of Season 19, but is more effective with the playful banter. This interplay immediately aids in casting the listener back to that time where Doctor Who was arguably more like a soap opera until its 2005 return, but without grating on your nerves.

What of the story itself? Well it’s a bit of a curio. Centred on the titular Contingency Club; an exclusive club in Victorian London where the gentlemen of the upper social strata gather to think, talk and, of course, drink. The clubs' popularity is such that membership is swelling and their restrictive policy for new members make it more appealingly exclusive. This club is the place to be.

The Tardis team, via unorthodox means, visit the club and, very early on, it becomes patently evident that something VERY strange is going on. The members of the club refuse to acknowledge that Tegan and Nyssa are women! The valets are all called Edward and are identical! Plus absolutely no one comments on the foursomes’ strange garments or their presence there at all.

And if all that wasn’t bizarre enough we have the mysterious club owner Mr Peabody and his even more mysterious benefactor, The Red Queen, who has an insidious reason for the club existing in the first place - all centred around a seemingly futile game.

There is some good comedy to be had in this one especially around the plurality of the ‘Edwards’! And surely “we’ll break our necks on the pavements of Pall Mall” might be one of the strangest cliff hanger statements ever! Ultimately this boils down to a gothic mystery in a Victorian Steampunk environment. Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding all effortlessly slip back into their roles and, unlike on TV, they are all served pretty well without any of them really being side-lined. But it’s Peter Davison whose star shines the brightest as he drives the narrative and perfectly recaptures every trait that made him a success. Sardonic wit, bravery, vulnerability and going full tilt in every scene. It’s all here!

Arguably the story is a little light weight in places but is a genuine attempt at something different, captures the TARDIS crew perfectly from the early eighties, and is a fun romp from start to finish.  Highly recommended. Want to listen? Join the club. 

+  ORDER this CD via Amazon.co.uk!

Doctor Who Magazine have sent DWO the cover and details for Issue 509 of DWM.

IN ISSUE 509, DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE LOOKS AHEAD TO THE NEW SERIES, AND INTERVIEWS RUFUS HOUND! 

In the latest edition, we chat to self-confessed Doctor Who fan Rufus Hound – Sam Swift the Quick in 2015’s The Woman Who Lived, and most recently the latest incarnation of the Meddling Monk for Big Finish – about how he enjoyed being part of something he personally loves so much…

"All my anxiety dissipated within the first two hours of arriving," says Rufus of his work on The Woman Who Lived. "I have never worked with a crew that was more like a family. I have never worked alongside actors who took the work seriously, but themselves not terribly seriously, as was true of Maisie [Williams] and Peter [Capaldi], who I spent most of my time with. The director [Ed Bazalgette] was tremendous, the producer [Derek Ritchie] was brilliant. Everybody in make-up and costume were having a right old laugh. All the camera crew and whatever were offering up shots and angles, being creative and given licence to be creative, licence to turn in their best work."

You can read the full interview inside the new magazine... 

ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE… 

ASK STEVEN!
Doctor Who's showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers’ burning questions.

INDEFINABLE MAGIC
We investigate the weird world of the supernatural in the Doctor Who universe...

DOOM COALITION 4
The Eighth Doctor, River Song, the Meddling Monk and the Weeping Angels all feature in the brand new audio box set Doom Coalition 4! We find out more…

RODNEY BENNETT TRIBUTE
DWM pays tribute to Rodney Bennett, the director who oversaw three very different productions during the early years of Tom Baker’s tenure as the Doctor.

DOORWAY TO HELL
The original Master is back! Find out what he's up to in Part Two of our brand-new comic strip, written by Mark Wright and illustrated by Staz Johnson.

THE MUTANTS
In this issue’s Fact of Fiction, the Third Doctor and Jo Grant are sent on a mission that will affect the evolution of an entire planet, as we take a look at this 1972 adventure.

THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT
Space 1969 awaits for the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song as the Time Team reach the 2011 season-opener in their mission to watch every episode of Doctor Who.

REVIEWS
DWM reviews the latest book, audio and DVD releases in the world of Doctor Who.

COMING SOON
Previews of all the latest Doctor Who CD and book releases.

PLUS!
All the latest official news, competitions, the DWM crossword, and our annual survey poll!

+  Doctor Who Magazine Issue #509 is Out Now, priced £5.99.
+  SUBSCRIBE to Doctor Who Magazine, digitally from just £2.69 a month!
+  Check Out The DWO Guide to Doctor Who Magazine!

[Source: Doctor Who Magazine]

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Writer: Justin Richards

RRP: £10.99 (CD) / £8.99 (Download)

Release Date: January 2017

Reviewed by: Steve Bartle for Doctor Who Online

"A stunning new star act is wowing the audiences of the New Regency Theatre. The modern mechanical marvel of canny canine charisma - the automated dog that can answer any question - the incomparable - the unbeatable - K9!

The Doctor and Romana have returned to Victorian London and been reunited with their old friends Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. However this is not merely a social visit. A terrifying crime spree is sweeping the capital, and the burglaries of 'The Knave' defy all logic.

Something impossibly dangerous is taking place amid the fog. Only the time travellers and their friends can stop it... but can they be sure they're all on the same side?

Cards on the table from the outset. I absolutely love Season 18; the complete shift in tone, the morose Doctor, the much discussed ‘funereal’ atmosphere that permeates throughout the season and the steady build to the demise of that most celebrated of Doctors. Plus I love the humour. Yes humour in Season 18! It is subtle for sure but a blessed relief after the over the top slapstick of the previous season which frequently flew wide of the mark with the notable exception of that wonderful escapade in Paris.

So I was somewhat surprised to hear this story supposedly takes place around Season 18, or perhaps just before JNT [1980's Producer, John Nathan-Turner] was handed the keys to the kingdom according to Director Nicholas Briggs on the CD extras. It definitely does not belong in Tom’s final season, his Doctor is far too jovial and having way too much fun for that. Nor does it belong in Season 17. Sure the Tardis team is the Fourth Doctor, Romana 2 and K-9 but with the exception of K9 becoming a comedic turn for Jagos’ New Regency Theatre there is none of the silliness of that season either. 

The plot is very simplistic but this is not a negative by any stretch. Not only is there danger roaming the street as a brutal murder by a savage creature has occurred but that cunningly criminal conniving cove The Knave is managing to obtain his quarry from inside locked rooms! There is a threat to defeat and a puzzle to solve. Doctor Holmes from Baker St is on the case!

For me this could be a direct sequel to The Talons of Weng-Chiang and the tone sits comfortably in that late Hinchcliffe and Holmes era albeit with different regulars. There are gothic undertones, body horror (the soundtrack conjuring up more imaginative pictures than television could ever be able to match) and a strong Jekyll and Hyde influence. There are also early hours visits to mortuary’s, travelling in black cabs, and trips to the theatre and opium dens. All that is missing is the great Li H’sen Chang himself!!

However the story stands on its own two feet perfectly well. To listen to the Doctor team with Jago and Litefoot is like lightening in a bottle has been captured once again. It is incredible to think that 40 years have passed since these gentleman helped create a classic and yet here are Messrs Baker, Benjamin and Baxter recreating the same repartee and genuine affection that ensured this ensemble captured our hearts so long ago. Justin Richards replicates Jago and Lightfoots language so perfectly and the interplay between them and the Tardis team further cements the lasting legacy of this greatest of Holmesian double acts. It is perhaps the fact that these two interact so well with the Fourth Doctor that leads me to feel Lalla Ward's Romana is a little side-lined in this tale. However her aloof and intellectual portrayal of the Time Lady gives an interesting contrast for Jago and Litefoot to interact with compared to the savage turned ladylike Eliza Doolittle character of Leela. 

John Leeson is superb as always as K-9 and the idea of him as one of Jagos acts is funny even if some of the gags fall a little flat. And the ‘electric current’ joke is so dreadful you have to laugh anyway.  The cast certainly do! The overall comedy however is a resounding success with laugh out loads moments such as a reference to K-9 and the butcher’s boy, Romana reading next week’s papers or Jago requesting a stiff drink at the end of the tale. Wonderful. 

The story is effectively two distinct parts with a whodunit style thriller framing the first instalment and a lengthy game of cat and mouse forming the second. For me the first half works better and there is much more of an aura of threat and mystery. The reveal of the Knave is not remotely surprising and the denouement of the whole story feels quite abrupt and a little anti-climactic- with effectively all the main cast sat around talking about it for a bit before we cut to the incidental sting. 

However these aspects cannot detract from a story which is such romping good fun. Tom Baker is absolutely throwing everything into this and his enjoyment of Big Finish shines through. To team him again with Jago and Litefoot is an absolute joy and everything you enjoyed about them the first time around is present once more. 

As Henry Gordon Jago himself might say; A delightful and disturbing dish of delectable drama for you to devour. 

+  ORDER this CD via Amazon.co.uk!