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Welcome to the News & Reviews section here at Doctor Who Online! This is where you will find all the latest Doctor Who related news and reviews split up into easy to use sections - each section is colour coded for your convenience. The latest items can be found at the top, and older items follow down the page.

Archived news and reviews can be accessed by clicking on the relevant area on the News / Reviews Key panels to the right.

E-Mail NewsE-Mail Reviews
3 September 2014

Last night saw the winner's announced at the 2014 GQ Man Of The Year Awards, and Peter Capaldi came out with the TV Personality Of The Year award.

On winning the award, Capaldi said:

"I've been very lucky because in the past I've received awards for my acting. This is the first I've received for my personality, which I assume means they've never met me. The reason I've got this award is because I got the chance to play the roll of a lifetime twice. Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It. And I also got to play Doctor Who. The real people who know the personality of the year are my family - my mother and my sister and my wife who have put with my personality and endured it to the point that I can get this ".

+  
Catch up on all the winners from the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2014. 

[Source: GQ]

30 July 2014

On Sunday 3rd August, Spaceport will be welcoming a brand new Doctor Who exhibit to the Time Travellers exhibition. A lifelike sculpture of The Fourth Doctor and Liverpool native, Tom Baker has been skilfully created by Phil Robinson and will be carefully installed by Phil this weekend. 

Tom Baker played the iconic role of The Doctor from 1974 to 1981 and remains a firm favourite of Whovians to this day. The Tom Baker sculpture joins life-sized replica Daleks, Cyberman, K9 and many others alongside memorabilia ranging from the 1970’s to the present day. With the Robots exhibition also at Spaceport including Wall-E, Terminator, Futurama’s Bender Westworld Robot Gunfighter Yul Brynner so there’s something to enthral every sci-fi fan in the family. 

Intrepid space explorers can also enjoy unlimited simulator rides & take a virtual journey through space in the 360 degree space dome theatre, venture through the themed galleries, interactive hands-on exhibits and exciting audio visual experiences then if you’re feeling peckish refuel at the cafe and play area at Seacombe terminal. Make a day of it with a trip on the iconic Mersey Ferry, with great value family prices** combination tickets available for River Explorer cruise and Spaceport.

The Time Travellers exhibition, featuring replica props and costumes, has been put together by Hyde Fundraisers to raise money for BBC Children In Need and other charities. 

**Adult Combination Ticket: £13, Child Combination Ticket: £7.50, Family Combination Ticket: £33.50, Concession Combination Ticket: £11 (Concession tickets are available for seniors aged 60 and over and students - valid NUS card required). 

[Source: Spaceport] 

8 July 2014

The fab folks over at Showmasters have put together an even more amazing line-up of Doctor Who related guests for this year's London Film And Comic Con, which include the following:

Steven Moffat - (Showrunner / Head Writer) - Saturday Talk
Jenna Coleman - (Clara) - Autographs / Photoshoot
John Hurt - (The War Doctor) - Saturday Talk / Autographs / Photoshoot
Paul McGann - (The 8th Doctor) - Saturday & Sunday Autographs / Photoshoot
Colin Baker - (The 6th Doctor) - Sunday Autographs / Photoshoot
Bernard Cribbins - (Wilf) - Saturday Autographs / Photoshoot
William Russell - (Ian Chesterton) - Friday Autographs
Jemma Redgrave - (Kate Stewart) - Saturday Autographs / Photoshoot
Sarah Louise Madison - (Weeping Angel) - Sunday Autographs

On Saturday 12th July, there will be a very special Doctor Who talk, featuring; Steven Moffat, John Hurt and Paul McGannThis is a paid-for talk and will be sold on the days of the show. It will be held on the super stage so there will be plenty of seats available.

The talk will last for 45 minutes and the tickets will be £25 each. They will be on sale on the sales desk inside the show at Earls Court 2.

DWO are thrilled to announce we too will be there for all 3 days offering a selection of Doctor Who merchandise, and with every purchase over £10, you will get a FREE Doctor Who gift! We will be offering a wide range of Toys, Books, DVDs, CDs, Radio Times, Autographs, Trading Cards and more, so do pop by and say hello!

We will also be interviewing any fans who want to tell us how much they are looking forward to Peter Capaldi's Doctor, for a short video feature we will be releasing just before Series 8! If you would like to be part of this, please ask a member of the DWO team at our tables!

+ Buy your tickets for the London Film And Comic Con, here

[Source: Showmasters]

25 June 2014

From now until the morning of 4th July, Cecily's Fund is auctioning 17 unique and exclusive mock school reports written by major celebrities through eBay for charity.

The celebrities - each recalled the real reports they received as schoolchildren and recreated them for this special auction. 

One of the celebrities is none other than The 12th Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi - you can bid on his report, here. You can also view the report in the features column to the right-hand-side of this news article.

All proceeds from the auction will go to Cecily's Fund, to support their work enabling orphaned and vulnerable children in Zambia to access education.

[Source: Cecily's Fund]

6 June 2014

It's no secret that we at DWO are big fans of Apple - after all, practically 90% of all the technology we use to run the site is made up of Apple products. So imagine our surprise when we were trawling through Apple's new developer code (Swift), and much to our surprise, we saw a blatant reference to Doctor Who hidden in the code!

A quick navigation to Page 347 of 'The Swift Programming Language' - which is FREE to download in the iBooks store - will reveal that "Lots of planets have a north" - a direct reference to Christopher Eccleston's Doctor in the Series One episode; 'Rose'.

See the reference for yourself by clicking on the image to the right of this article.

Why not check out DWO's Apps on the App Store:

Doctor Who: iWho
by DWO Media - £1.99 (iOS & Android)

Why not kick off with our signature Doctor Who app, providing you with all the latest Doctor Who news, as well as in-app streaming of the latest DWO WhoCast Podcast episodes, Videos, Tweets, Polls, Locations Guide and R2 DVD Guide and more!

Download for iOS. + Download for Android.

Doctor Who: WhoGuide
by DWO Media / £2.99

WhoGuide, provides in-depth guides to every televised episode of Doctor Who, complete with guides to all the Doctors, Missing Episodes, Locations, DVDs and more!

Download for iOS. + Download for Android

[Sources: DWO; Apple]

10 May 2014

Yesterday, we were shocked and saddened to hear the news that Big Finish Production Assistant and Producer, Paul Spragg had died.

Paul had worked at Big Finish for over 5 years, and as well as his behind-the-scenes work, Paul provided customers and website owners and bloggers with the most fantastic service and upbeat attitude to his work which he clearly loved.

Big Finish posted a news item on their site, stating:

"Paul had worked with us for over five years and had become an essential member of the team. We will remember him for his tireless diligence, his total dedication to his job, his cheery nature, his hilarious sense of humour and his kindness and friendship.

He had relatively recently become editor of Vortex magazine (a promotion he was given 'live' on a podcast).

His work behind the scenes on contracts, script distribution, proof-reading, cover layout, studio management, CD Extra interviews, the website and so much more made him vital to the company's operations." 

Doctor Who Magazine Editor and friend of Paul since he was 11, Tom Spilsbury, posted a poignant and heartfelt tribute on his blog, here

On a personal level, Paul was the guy who provided DWO with all our Big Finish covers for our site reviews and merchandise guide. From the many emails we have bounced back and forth over the years, he had a great sense of humour and was one of the fastest email repliers out there!

Paul's partner, Natalie Hayden, issued a statement on Facebook, yesterday.

"To all of you that I didn't manage to text yesterday (I couldn't get round to everyone): there is sad news that Paul died yesterday suddenly. He'd been unwell for a few weeks, and was due to go to the GPs yesterday. But he was too breathless to be able to make it in to the surgery, so they phoned him instead. They arranged for a non-emergency ambulance to come and take him to hospital so he could be monitored. When they arrived, he was talking to them normally, and then had a seizure. He came out of that one, then had another seizure, during which his heart stopped and he stopped breathing. The ambulance crew tried to resuscitate him for two hours at home, and then took him to hospital where they tried for a further half an hour, but couldn't bring him round."

DWO would like to pass on our condolences to the Paul's friends and family, as well as the Big Finish family.

[Source: Big Finish]

2 May 2014

Ex-Doctor Who actor Matt Smith has been cast in the new Terminator movie trilogy, Paramount Pictures confirmed today.

Below is from today's official press release:

Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions announced today that “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith will join the cast of the upcoming “TERMINATOR” reboot.

Smith will play a new character with a strong connection to John Connor, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi and Byung Hun Lee.

Alan Taylor is directing the film from a screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. David Ellison and Dana Goldberg of Skydance Productions are producing. Skydance’s Paul Schwake, Annapurna PicturesMegan Ellison, Kalogridis and Lussier are executive producing.

Smith is best known for playing The Doctor on the popular “Doctor Who” television series during the 2011-2103 seasons. His other television credits include “Christopher and His Kind,” “Moses Jones,” and “The Street.” He can be seen next on the big screen in “LOST RIVER,” directed by Ryan Gosling, alongside Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan and Eva Mendes.

He is represented by United Talent Agency and Michael Duff at Troika.

The “TERMINATOR” franchise launched in 1984 with Schwarzenegger as the title character and spanned three subsequent films, which have earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

+  Terminator: Genesis will distribute worldwide on 1st July 2015.

[Source: Deadline]

28 April 2014

BBC Radio 1 have been in touch to let DWO know about a cool new video they released featuring Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) singing a parody version of the hit song 'Let It Go' from Frozen.

Watch the video in the player, below

[Source: BBC Radio 1]

24 March 2014

Doctor Who and Mark Gatiss' An Adventure In Space And Time have both received nominations in the 2014 British Academy Television Craft Awards.

Doctor Who was recognised in the Special, Visual & Graphic Effects category with the following nomination:

MILK VFX, REAL SFX, THE MODEL UNIT Doctor Who: The Day Of The Doctor - BBC Cymru Wales/BBC One

An Adventure In Space and Time was recognised in three categories:

Editing: Fiction
PHILIP KLOSS An Adventure in Space and Time - BBC Cymru Wales/BBC America/BBC Two

Make up & Hair Design sponsored by MAC Cosmetics
VICKIE LANG An Adventure in Space and Time - BBC Cymru Wales/BBC America/BBC Two

Costume Design
SUZANNE CAVE An Adventure in Space and Time - BBC Cymru Wales/BBC America/BBC Two 

+  The awards take place on Sunday 27th April 2014.

[Source: Mike Tucker]

1 March 2014

Doctor Who Director, Douglas Mackinnon has paid to Sarah Jones, a camera assistant who was tragically killed on the set of Midnight Rider on 20th February.

Jones, who grew up in West Columbia, S.C., began her career interning on the TV show Army Wives, and later went on to work on The Vampire Diaries.

It is understood that she was killed when a freight train struck and killed her on set filming the Greg Allman biopic, Midnight Rider. The crew were filming a dream sequence on a railroad trestle when a train unexpectedly crossed the bridge. Four other people were injured in the accident.

Whilst filming the new series of Doctor Who with Peter Capaldi, Mackinnon tweeted a tribute picture from the set, featuring a clapperboard with the words “In memory of Sarah Jones”.

When reports broke, there was some initial confusion as to whether it was the same Sarah Jones who worked on The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, with online news sources and IMDB providing conflicting confirmation. Peter Davison (The 5th Doctor), got in touch with DWO to confirm it is not the same Sarah who worked with him:

"Hi. Thought I should log on and say no, it is not the same Sarah Jones who worked with me on The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. Have checked this with the production co-ordinator, who spoke to her on the 27th of Feb." 

[Sources: Variety; Twitter; Peter Davison]

27 February 2014

Acclaimed British screenwriter, producer and actor Mark Gatiss will be visiting Brazil in March in a special publicity tour for BBC Worldwide to talk about British drama including international TV sensation Sherlock and his work on global hit Doctor Who, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary last year.

Gatiss, who is the co-creator and executive producer of Sherlock which has sold to over 200 territories across the world, has been invited to speak at the prestigious Rio Content Market – an annual industry event for producers, TV content buyers and commissioners in Latin America. At the conference, he will be giving a presentation on his career in British drama with a focus on Sherlock and also An Adventure in Space and Time – the drama about the genesis of Doctor Who which he wrote and produced last year as part of the brand’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. He will also talk about his work writing for and acting in various episodes of the sci-fi series. The event will be hosted by TV journalist Liv Brandao and Brazilian stage director Claudio Botelho.

As part of the tour, Mark will also be meeting fans at two events specially organised by BBC Worldwide. The first will be a screening of The Empty Hearse – the opening episode of the latest series of Sherlock, written by Gatiss and in which he stars alongside Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock’s brother Mycroft Holmes. The screening will take place at Livraria Cultura (Cine Victoria) in Rio de Janeiro on Friday 14th March at 7pm. As part of the event, Mark will take part in a Q and A and signing session with fans.

The second event will take place at Livraria Cultura (Shopping Iguatemi) in Sao Paulo at 7pm on Saturday 15th March. Fans will have the opportunity to ask questions about Mark’s work Doctor Who, Sherlock and the recent drama An Adventure in Space and Time.  He will also take part in a limited signing of Sherlock and Doctor Who merchandise. Further details of both events and how to obtain tickets will be released soon on www.doctorwho.tv/events. Details of the venues can be found at http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/

Commenting on the forthcoming tour Mark Gatiss says:

“It’s fantastic that British TV is being enjoyed all across the world and I’m really looking forward to meeting Brazilian Doctor Who and Sherlock fans!”

Sherlock and Doctor Who have both seen notable growth in Latin America in the last year, with a huge number of fans engaging with both shows on social media. The official Sherlock Facebook page has seen an 80% increase in the number of Brazilian fans in the last year and the Doctor Who page a 54% increase – the highest for any country in the world. Both series air on BBC HD and BBC Entertianment in Brazil which are pay-TV channel wholly owned and operated by BBC Worldwide. They are also both available on Netflix Latin America.

+  Download DWO's 'iWho' Doctor Who App for iOS
+  Download DWO's 'iSherlockApp for iOS 

[Sources: BBC Worldwide; DWO]

26 February 2014

Speaking at the recent BBC Worldwide Showcase in Liverpool, Steven Moffat talks about the “insane” idea of remaking Doctor Who for international audiences.

When asked if any foreign TV channels had ever enquired about making their own version of Doctor Who, Moffat replied:

"If anyone were to ask me, I'd say it's an absolutely insane idea. You couldn't have more than one Doctor Who in the world. It would just be dreadful."

Despite events like the BBC Worldwide Showcase and the sums of money to be made from selling programmes to foreign channels, Moffat says he does not write shows with overseas sales in mind.

"I don't think creatively it makes any sense at all to try to imagine selling your show to the rest of the world. You'd get it wrong anyway. Sherlock and Doctor Who are both doing rather well but they couldn't be more definitively British. They're obtusely British. They're about as British as it gets. You shouldn't be afraid of being British because that's what you're selling."

[Source: BBC News]

19 February 2014

Marvel have released a 15-second teaser trailer for their upcoming 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' movie, which features Karen Gillan as Nebula.

No it's not the movie about the owls (Legends Of The Guardians) or that one about Jack Frost (Rise Of The Guardians) - this is the movie based on the Marvel Superhero team.

Below is the movie synopsis and trailer.

Synopsis:

In the far reaches of space, an American pilot named Peter Quill finds himself the object of a manhunt after stealing an orb coveted by the villainous Ronan.

In order to evade Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a group of misfits including Gamora, Rocket, Drax the Destroyer and Groot. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand - with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.

Trailer:

+  Guardians Of The Galaxy hits cinemas on 1st August 2014.

[Source: Marvel]

19 February 2014

In a heartwarming gesture, Matt Smith (The 11th Doctor) has filmed a short video message for ill Doctor Who fan, ‘Jack’ from Denmead.

In the video filmed in Texas, America, Matt slowly pans down the camera before singing part of the Doctor Who theme tune.

He then tells Jack he will send him some goodies and try to visit him when he gets back to England.

Jack, who has an inoperable brain tumour, is a massive Doctor Who fan. Since his diagnosis last month, friends and family have rallied around to makes Jack’s wishes come true.

His dad Terry, 47, said:

“Jack was over the moon. Gary Barlow tweeted he had a message from Matt Smith, but we didn’t expect this, thank you Gary. And thank you to Darren Langford, a well-wisher, who said he had also been in contact with Matt. Not sure which person he responded too, but we are grateful that he has.”

Mr Robinson, of Bere Road, added:

“Jack had gone to sleep, but we woke him up to show him the message. His eyes just lit up and he was so delighted. It has made his day.”

Watch the video in the player, below:



[Source: Portsmouth News]

7 February 2014

Here at DWO, we love to get behind a great Kickstarter project, and one of our old team members, George Watson (creator of our awesome Series 4 flash animations), has teamed up with Doctor Who Writer, Tom MacRae, for an awesome short film project titled 'Time Tramp'.

'Time Tramp' is the story of brothers Sammy and George who come across a tramp living in a shed claiming to be from the future.

Written by Tom MacRae ('Doctor Who', 'Threesome', 'Lewis', 'As If'), directed by George Watson ('Twelve', 'Child') and produced by Tom Webb ('Twelve', 'Child'), 'Time Tramp' is a coming-of-age story set somewhere between the real world and the imagination of the younger of the two brothers that the story follows. The pre and early teenage years are some of our most formative, children find themselves torn between wanting to be old enough to cross the road by themselves rather than hold mummy’s hand, but also young enough to still be lost in their own imaginary worlds. This story crosses those two worlds.

George (14) and his younger brother Sammy (8) live in a small council flat in London’s docklands. They are just a stone’s throw from the vast financial citadel that is the Canary Wharf district, but they might as well be in another world. And Sammy often is. He spends his time dreaming of ‘Space City’, the world that he imagines and the gods and monsters that occupy that world. Back in reality the two brothers spend their time trawling the Thamesmead post-industrial wasteland, George always looking after his dreamer younger brother. One day they come across the TRAMP after he saves young Sammy’s life when he slips off a roof. The tramp claims to be from the future and to have important information that will change both their lives for the better. Sammy, of course, is quick to believe him, whilst George remains cautiously cynical. The information that he wishes to impart is that Sammy has something special to offer the world, but it is up to George to make the right decisions to ensure he gets there.

'Time Tramp' is a short film with a heart warming story aimed at the whole family. It is the third collaboration between up-and-coming director George Watson, and producer Tom Webb, and the first time the pair will have worked with the incredibly talented writer Tom MacRae, who as George's mentor, came to write the script due to his passion for the story.

The reason the team are utilising crowd funding is because of the ambition of the project. The last short they worked on was the intense relationship drama 'Twelve' (recently shown at the London Short Film Festival) which stared BAFTA winner Monica Dolan, and Joseph Mawle, but this is a much bigger adventure! The shoot will be predominantly outside - using London's ever changing docklands landscape as a fourth character - there is a stunt, many visual effects that capture the imaginations of the young boys, and none of that comes cheap! The other reason is so that the audience for the film - you! - can stay in constant contact with the filmmakers, and let them know your thoughts and have your input, in what will be a two-way process. 

This film is for its audience, the team want you to be involved at all stages, and that is why many of the rewards include visits to the set and even the opportunity to star as an extra! So, please pledge generously...!

Watch the promotional trailer, below:

+ Support the 'Time TrampKickstarter Project!

[Sources: Ben Stoddart, George Watson]

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