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Stuart Mascair

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.

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5 June 2024

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Actor, William Russell.

William was best known by Doctor Who fans for playing the beloved role of Ian Chesterton - one of the first companions in the show, all the way back in 1963. Appearing together with Barbara and Susan, Ian accompanied the first Doctor, played by William Hartnell. His final appearance was in the 2022, 13th Doctor adventure; 'The Power Of The Doctor'.

His career highlights includes roles in Nicholas Nickleby, Hamlet, Harriet's Back In Town, Coronation Street & The Great Escape.

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to William's family and friends.

[Source: The Guardian]

5 February 2024

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Actor, Michael Jayston.

Michael was known best by Doctor Who fans for playing the role of The Valeyard in the 6th Doctor's final season; The Trial Of A Time Lord.

His career highlights includes roles in Nicholas And Alexandra, Zulu Dawn, Highlander III, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Darling Buds Of May and Only Fools And Horses (to name just a few of his performances).

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Michael's family and friends.

[Source: Colin Baker]

28 January 2020

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Actor, Nicholas Parsons.

Nicholas was known for the playing the role of Reverend Wainwright in the 7th Doctor adventure, The Curse Of Fenric.

His career began at the end of the Second World War, making his stage debut as Kiwi in The Hasty Heart. Nicholas then went on to have further credits in Film and TV; The Eric Barker Half-Hour, Look At It This Way, Here And Now, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, Four Feather Falls, The Ugliest Girl In Town, Benny Hill, Cluedo, The Wotwots and Good Omens are just a few from his many performances.

Nicholas was also the host of popular BBC Radio 4 panel game, Just A Minute - a show which had its first broadcast in 1967! There were some episodes where he relinquished his chair to be a panellist, but was famed for never missing an episode until 2018, where Giles Brandreth stood in for him due to illness.

On a personal note, I met Nicholas in 1998 during the Southampton leg of The Rocky Horror Stage Show. I was studying drama at college at the time, and all of our class were dressing up as characters from the show. As I knew Nicholas was in Doctor Who, I decided to dress up as him with flour in my hair and eyebrows and a cravat (much to the confusion of some of my peers) - in hindsight, this was also my first-ever cosplay!

I met him after the show (pictured-right) and he was incredibly generous with him time. A gently spoken man who looked back on his Doctor Who role with pride. He even found time to give me a few career tips and advice. Lovely man!

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Nicholas' family and friends.

[Source: DWO]

2 October 2019

54 years after the original BBC television broadcast, BBC Studios will premiere a new production of Mission to the Unknown, a missing Doctor Who episode that has been faithfully recreated by a team of students, graduates and staff of the University of Central Lancashire.

Mission to the Unknown will be premiered on the Doctor Who YouTube channel at exactly 5.50pm BST on the 9th October to mark the anniversary of the original broadcast of the episode, which was first aired on BBC One in 1965.

The episode will be followed by a making-of documentary short created by YouTuber Josh Snares featuring the cast and crew of Mission to the Unknown with voice of the Daleks, Nicholas Briggs, original cast member Edward de Souza and the classic Doctor Who companion Peter Purves (Steven Taylor) who played the companion to the First Doctor in the 1960s

Luke Spillane, Digital Publishing Manager for Doctor Who at BBC Studios, said:

“I’m delighted that we will be bringing the story of Space Security agent Marc Cory to our 1.3 million subscribers on the Doctor Who YouTube channel as it is such a fantastic recreation, made lovingly with real craft and expertise by everyone at the University of Central Lancashire. I hope audiences around the world can imagine that it’s tea time on the 9th October 1965 as they rather excitingly watch a black and white episode of Doctor Who premiere on their television sets, mobile phones and tablets.”

The project was master-minded by Andrew Ireland, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Digital and Creative Industries at the university, and brought together a dedicated group of students from a wide range of disciplines including film and television, acting, fashion, music, design and dance to recreate the episode from the original script as authentically as possible, carefully researching and reproducing as faithfully as possible the original 1960s production techniques to re-create the classic look of the series.

Andrew Ireland, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Digital and Creative Industries at the University of Central Lancashire, said:

“It is such a loss to our cultural heritage that so many episodes of 1960s Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. This project presented us with an exciting opportunity to address that, to explore a new way of bringing these missing slices of TV history to life, and in the process, help students learn their craft by comparing contemporary production methods with historical approaches. The project gave so many people great experiences, and it is wonderful to see the Daleks menacing a black and white jungle once more.”

The recreation caught the imagination of several Doctor Who luminaries including Nicholas Briggs, who has provided the Dalek voices for the recreated episode, and stars including Peter Purves, who played 1960s companion Steven Taylor, and Edward de Souza, who played Marc Cory in the original episode, visiting the new set to lend their support.

You can view the trailer in the player, below:


[Source: BBC Studios]

2 September 2019

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Writer & Script Editor, Terrance Dicks.

This is genuinely one of the hardest news stories we have ever had to post on DWO, due to how much Terrance meant to us as fans, but also for his contributions to the site over the years.

Terrance's agents confirmed the news today, stating;

"The Agency is sad to announce that Terrance Dicks died last Thursday 29th August after a short illness, aged 84."

His first work on Doctor Who was in 1968 as Script Editor on the 2nd Doctor adventure, The Invasion. His first writing credit was on The War Games (1969), in collaboration with Malcolm Hulke. He then went on to continue serving as Script Editor throughout Jon Pertwee's tenure as the 3rd Doctor.

Other stories he contributed to the show include; Robot, The Brain Of Morbius (as Robin Bland), Horror Of Fang RockState Of Decay, and the 20th Anniversary adventure, The Five Doctors.

One of his greatest contributions to Doctor Who was in 1973 for Target Books as he adapted over 60+ televised episodes for novelisations. Many fans grew up reading these books, with some still in publication today for BBC Books. He also wrote a number of novels for the Virgin Doctor Who adventures as well as the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures and BBC Past Doctor Adventures.

In addition to Doctor Who, Terrance's TV credits also include; The Avengers, Moonbase 3, Space: 1999 and Goodbye Mr. Chips (to name just a few).

For DWO, Terrance was kind enough to lend his time for interviews on the DWO WhoCast podcast - Episode #269 was a particular treat. He also gave his time to take part in the Ask & Answer section of the old DWO Forums.

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Terrance's family and friends. We remain ever thankful to Terrance for all his contributions to Doctor Who; his stories stand the test of time, and will remain an important part of many a fan's childhood.

+ Do you have any memories you'd like to share? Please leave a comment, below! 

[Source: DWO]

20 February 2019

Missing 1965 episode ‘Mission to the Unknown’ is authentically brought to life in unique project, authentically recreated by students, graduates and staff from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

The project, known as Sci-fi in a Week, saw a large university cross-disciplinary team remake the lost episode in just five days of rehearsals and filming. This episode is unusual in that it was the only single episode story in the entire 26-year original series run, and also because it is the only story not to feature the regular cast including the Doctor himself who was played at the time by William Hartnell.

Mission to the Unknown’ is one of a large number of missing Doctor Who episodes. Unlike some that have been returned to the BBC, this one is likely to stay lost forever as it was never sold or distributed overseas. But, thanks to UCLan’s efforts, it has now been brought to life again in full 1960s glory.

The 25-minute episode, which was originally written as an introduction to the 12-part story ‘The Daleks' Master Plan’, featured Edward de Souza as Space Security Agent Marc Cory and his efforts to warn Earth of the Dalek’s latest plot. Audio recordings from the episode exist and have informed the development of the UCLan version but no original footage is known to have survived.

UCLan Pro Vice-Chancellor (Digital and Creative Industries) Dr Andrew Ireland directed and produced the episode after being given special permission from the BBC and the Terry Nation Estate, which holds the rights to the Daleks. Nicholas Briggs, who has been the voice of the Daleks on Doctor Who since the series returned in 2005, lent his support to the project by voicing the Daleks for the special UCLan episode. 

Dr Ireland said:

"I’m a huge Doctor Who fan and this episode in particular has always held an air of mystique for me because it experimented with the notion of the Daleks carrying their own storyline without the Doctor present. We kept it as close to the original as we possibly could, so everything from the props and costumes to the acting style, pace and camera techniques are designed to be very 1960s. It was filmed to simulate the low-resolution, black and white look of the era and we’ve been able to use the audio from the original recording to inform stage directions and the mood of the episode.”

The whole show has been created by UCLan students, graduates and staff, with help from Accrington and Rossendale College pupils who were in charge of make-up and prosthetics. It means that students on courses including acting, fashion and TV and media production gain hands-on experience of creating a drama from scratch and are able to compare techniques from more than 50 years ago with modern day drama production.

Dr Ireland added:

“It’s a cracking script and remaking it proved to be an exciting challenge and learning experience for all concerned. We often talk about the theory of historical television production techniques, but this project meant the students lived the high-pressured reality of it! We will give the BBC a copy of the episode and hopefully one day it may become available for people to see. Who knows? To achieve what we have in the time we had is a massive achievement and I want to thank everyone involved for all their efforts.”

To make the programme, the UCLan team had to make four sets; a futuristic conference room, a jungle, a rocket ship, and the Dalek Control Room, which was filmed as a miniature set, as well as creating all the props and costumes. It involved four speaking parts plus three Daleks with seven other actors playing aliens.

The cast and crew were given a treat mid-week when Peter Purves, who played the Doctor’s companion in 1965, and original cast-member Edward de Souza visited the set to see how things were progressing and take part in a special question and answer panel.

Peter said:

“This is an absolutely wonderful project, even more so as this episode was a one-off introduction to the massive 12 part ‘Dalek Master Plan’. I can remember at the time that we (That is me and Bill Hartnell) were a bit miffed not to be included in any way at all, but actually it was a nice week off in the end. I am intrigued to see what has been done and hope it could be a precursor to more reconstructions in the future."

UCLan already has strong links with Doctor Who through acting graduate Mandip Gill who currently plays the Doctor’s companion in the series alongside Jodie Whittaker as the first ever female Doctor.

Mandip said:

“I am really excited to not only see this lost episode finally, but to see what the team has created in just five days of rehearsals and filming. I am very proud of UCLan, it gave me a lot and I am thrilled to see it also give back a lost part of sci-fi history. Who knows where it could end up!”

The UCLan team treated the BBC as the client for the project and that set a high professional bar for the cast and crew to aspire to.

Peter Purves has shared some images [pictured in the right-hand column] from the production on his Twitter account, and, as you can see from our comparison, the attention to detail is incredible!

[Source: UCLan]

3 January 2019

Doctor Who is returning to popular streaming platform Twitch, starting from 5th January 2019, the BBC has confirmed!

2018 saw a hugely positive reaction from fans - old and new - who tuned in to watch episodes from the Classic Series, which were streamed on Twitch. Meme's such as Ian and Barbara returning to "London 1965" catapulted the service to reach even more fans, and talented personalities such as Pip Madeley (@pipmadeley) emerged. Madeley (previously of the Planet Skaro site) produced trailers for the stream as well as some hilarious observations.

For a full list of streams, episodes and times, check out the doctorwho.tv website.

[Source: BBC Studios]

   

30 October 2018

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Script Editor & Producer, Derrick Sherwin.

Derrick began his work on Doctor Who as Script Editor for the following stories: The Web Of Fear, Fury From The Deep, The Wheel In Space, The Dominators & The Mind Robber. He then took on the role of Producer for The War Games & Spearhead From Space.

Derrick also wrote the 2nd Doctor adventure, The Invasion, which was the first story to properly introduce UNIT. It was also his idea to exile The Doctor to Earth for Jon Pertwee's early 3rd Doctor stories.

Derrick's other career highlights include acting credits for; Here Lies Miss Sabry, United!, The Scales Of Justice and even an uncredited cameo appearance in Spearhead From Space as a UNIT Commissionaire.

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Derrick's family and friends.

[Source: DWO]

24 May 2018

Over 500 classic episodes from the 1960s to the 1980s will air worldwide on Twitch from May 29th to July 23rd.

Social video service Twitch today announced it is joining forces with BBC Studios for the first-ever digital broadcasting event of the Classic Doctor Who series. Over 500 episodes from 26 seasons dating from the show’s inception in 1963 until the 1980s will air worldwide over a seven-week period. Starting May 29th, fans can tune in each week Monday to Friday at 11 am PDT to catch episodes on Twitch.tv/TwitchPresents.

Doctor Who is a British action adventure sci fi series produced by BBC Studios which follows the adventures of "The Doctor", an alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels through time in a TARDIS, a spaceship shaped like a police telephone box. Accompanied by a number of friends, the Doctor combats a variety of foes, while working to save civilizations and help those in need. Instead of dying, the Doctor is able to "regenerate" into a new body, taking on a new personality with each regeneration. This has led to 13 different incarnations of the Doctor appearing in the series.

Nick Coulter, Director of Digital Sales and Business Development at BBC Studios says:

“We are constantly looking at ways to reach new audiences and make it easier for fans to engage with our most popular shows. Doctor Who, in particular, has a great tradition of pioneering new technologies, from early VHS all the way through to the new digital services of today. Twitch is another great example of this, as a brilliant service with over 15 million active daily users, we are thrilled to be able to offer them the chance to indulge in the Classic Doctor Who series and celebrate its amazing 54 year legacy of excitement and innovation.”

 

Leveraging the real-time shared viewer experience that has defined Twitch, Doctor Who is the latest entry in over a dozen TV shows that have aired on the service. To elevate the social experience in chat, viewers who Subscribe to the TwitchPresents channel will gain access to 14 exclusive emotes themed after each of the first seven doctors.

 

For Doctor Who fans in the US, UK, and Canada, Twitch is hosting a giveaway each week of the event, including a grand prize trip to London Comic Con in Fall 2018. For details on the giveaway, visit: https://watch.twitch.tv/DoctorWhoSweepstakes.

 

As part of the event, leading UK digital content creators The Yogscast are producing a series of shows that will introduce each Doctor. With a cast of Doctor Who screenwriters, experts, fans, and even a former companion, the Yogscast's Turps and resident Doctor Who expert and High Roller's player Matt Toffollo will be discussing why modern audiences should be watching Doctor Who. Each 20-minute episode will provide a brief summary of the stories that are about to be shown, including the actors, monsters, famous phrases or production gaffes to look out for. With first-hand knowledge from former companion Katy Manning (who played Jo Grant the Third Doctor Companion) and writers Bob Baker and Paul Cornell, the shows will give insight into the series alongside the humor and irreverence viewers expect from the Yogscast.

Also joining them will be Beth Axford of The Time Ladies, Tom Spilsbury of Doctor Who Magazine and YouTuber, Bill Garratt-John.

Jane Weedon, Director of Business Development at Twitch, says:

 

Doctor Who and its clever take on sci-fi exemplifies the type of adjacent content to gaming that has resonated with the Twitch community. By presenting this iconic BBC show in a new interactive format, it is a fun new way to bridge several generations of Doctor Who fans, while building a new generation of them.”

 

For more information on the Doctor Who episodes that will air on Twitch, visit the Twitch blog.


[Source: BBC Studios]

   

27 February 2018

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Actor, Peter Miles.

Peter appeared in 3, classic series, Doctor Who adventures; Doctor Who And The Silurians (as Dr Charles Lawrence), Invasion Of The Dinosaurs (as Professor Whitaker), and, his most fondly remembered role in Genesis of Daleks as Davros' chief henchman, Nyder.

Peter's other career highlights include roles in; Blakes 7, Bergerac, Z-Cars and Disraeli (to name just a few). Peter also appeared in a number of audio plays for Big Finish.

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Peter's family and friends.

On a personal note, I (Seb), got to meet Peter on two occasions, but most memorably in 2006, where I got to have a photo with him [pictured right]. Unlike his famed character, Nyder, Peter was a gentle, kind man, who genuinely loved meeting fans of the show. He will be greatly missed.

[Source: DWO]

21 July 2017

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Actress, Deborah Watling.

Deborah was loved and cherished by fans for her role as the 2nd Doctor's companion, 'Victoria Waterfield', in the Classic Series of Doctor Who.

Deborah's other career highlights include A Life Of Bliss, The Newcomers & Danger UXB (to name just a few).

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Deborah's family and friends, and we will remember her fondly not just for her role in the series and her personality off-screen, but for the many occasions she gave her time to Doctor Who Online.

You can watch a greeting that Deborah recorded for us at the 2013 press event for the return of the missing Doctor Who episodes, in the player below:


[Source: DWO]

31 May 2017

It’s not every day you find a screen-used, Classic Doctor Who prop, let alone one that has such an iconic image as the Ice Warrior, but that's exactly what Toybox Treasures' Matthew Doe did!

It was the monsters that first cemented Doctor Who’s popularity and carried it through the earth-shattering change in lead actor in 1966. Patrick Troughton’s era is renowned for its monster stories and indeed, his second year is known as ‘The Monster Season’ for good reason.

Along with the latest adventures with the Daleks and Cybermen, a parade of new aliens graced TVs everywhere – none more long lasting in impact than The Ice Warriors. They were so successful in their debut story that a return was swiftly arranged for Troughton’s last season in The Seeds of Death. The Pertwee era relied less on the past – despite three Dalek stories, the Cybermen didn’t return until the Fourth Doctor had arrived. However, the Ice Warriors did return, not once but twice in consecutive years with Curse of Peladon and Monster of Peladon in 1973 and 1974 respectively. And of course, they have returned in the modern series – facing down Matt Smith in Cold War and returning against Peter Capaldi this year.

Speaking on the find, Toybox Treasures' Matthew Doe said:

"As a prop collector and dealer, I often receive emails starting “I’ve got a screen used….” Unlike 90% of these emails, this one led to an incredible discovery – a screen-used Ice Warrior head that could be the only known surviving classic Ice Warrior head in existence. Not only that, but one of the very first made in 1967, the so-called ‘big head’ version.

We were actually on our way back from London, having met up with the lovely Sue Moore (modelling genius behind many 80’s monsters), when I received a call asking me if I’d like to meet up to discuss the Ice Warrior. This was arranged for the following morning. (We had travelled well over 800 miles in the past couple of days buying props for clients, so to cut down on travelling we opted to spend another night at a hotel for a welcomed break and an easier journey the next day)

And it was the real deal – despite clearly suffering the ravages of time, this was one of the very earliest Ice Warrior heads, used in both Troughton’s and Pertwee’s era. This is one of those moments you dream of as both a prop collector and Who fan.

I needed to know from a collector’s point of view, the best way forward for the Ice Warrior’s head. Should the head be restored or preserved? What kind of reception would it get? I am very fortunate to have a group of friends that I can call upon for advice so I contacted Mick Hall, Colin Young, Graham Flynn and John Tobin (for those who don’t know, these guys are what we call the dog’s dangles of Dr Who prop collectors – the world’s leading Doctor Who prop guys!). After a lot of discussion and thought, I decided the best way (and only way) forward was to call Mike Tucker who I am fortunate to know and proud to call a friend. Mike Tucker was really the only person for the job- a Bafta winner for his work on the series, he’s well respected within the industry having worked for BBC’s Visual Effects department and now owning The Model Unit – and he’s one of a tiny group of people to have worked on both the classic and modern series.

After consulting with Mike, and taking into consideration the collectors of the Doctor Who world, I decided it had to be be preserved (every time we touched the Ice Warrior latex was falling off in our hand) and it hand to be done quick. The worst outcome for this historical item would be for it to fall to pieces and cease to exist so within days of picking it up we drove to Ealing Studios to drop this off so Mike could start work.

If you haven’t had a chance to speak to Mike then do please make the effort and go to one of his public appearances/talks – I promise you will have a most enjoyable time listening to his experiences in film and TV, and both eras of the show we all love.

As any prop collector will tell you, props made to last a few weeks decades ago and which were used more than once, in this case over 7 years apart, are going to suffer damage. Add in that a lot of the Ice Warrior head is latex which doesn’t like hot lights – present in the studio and later at the Blackpool Exhibition – and you’ll see the problem.  The head needed a lot of work if it was to survive for future generations of fans to appreciate.

But if I went down a full restoration route it would mean that the head quite frankly would no longer be 100% original; currently having the odd repair here and there; with a result of bearing no resemblance of what was screen used. And that, was out of the question. Actually doesn’t that turn props into Replicas when most of it has been replaced? At what point does it remove that original factor? Perhaps that’s an open discussion for us over on the Facebook group. A future owner can still go down a restoration route but for me, the focus was on Preservation. "

Preservation work:

In preserving the Ice Warrior’s head, all existing pieces were used, colour matching the age and sometimes having to remove layers of paint. It’s a lot harder in some cases to do this than just fully restore a piece. Here’s a list of some what we have had done and in doing so have kept it’s original aspect.

·  Removed by hand the silver paint which was applied during exhibition, this covered the orange eyes in which it had from it’s time in the 1974 episode “Monster of Pela Don” with Jon Pertwee. – There was actually some of the green film attached to the inside from it’s 1967 Ice Warriors Appearance.

·  Using existing latex pieces that had fallen off to repair the side mouth, this meant we kept everything original we used no new pieces of latex.

·  Repositioned mouth. Due to one piece of the cheek missing, this had unfortunately lowered the mouth, so again using original latex pieces put back into position, this made the mouth whole again.

·  Matching paint to cover where needed. There are two layers of paint on the Ice Warrior; firstly when it was seen screen used, and then a brighter paint colour was added when used for the Doctor Who exhibition in the early 80’s

Doctor Who Magazine:

Matthew Doe spoke to Richard Moleworth of Doctor Who Magazine about the prop. Richard had gone to an in depth review of the Ice Warrior for his article in Doctor Who Magazine, and leaving no stone unturned in his research of the ice warrior. Purchase Doctor Who Magazine Issue #513 for an exclusive interview with Mike Tucker from The Model Unit.

DWO managed to grab a few more questions with Matthew Doe regarding the find:

Items like this don’t turn up very often. What did you think when you firs heard about the Ice Warrior head, and how do you choose between scepticism and belief?

Love at first sight? OK, no really, something that's really hard to fake in this game is age, so to start with, does it feel right, smell right, and are the materials of an age is the first thing. I think when you have got past that barrier with a prop from the 60's, you can then start looking at screen matching it, although we are talking poor quality recordings from the 1960's, so screen matching an item can be really hard unless you have access to promotional shots. Luckily with a combination of behind the scenes photos / on screen and the radio times photos, we were able to start tracing its pedigree history right from the go. It was also the first time I had the pleasure of speaking to Richard Molesworth; wow - no stone was left unturned with Richard. He was doing the interview and report for Doctor Who magazine about its history and really brought the whole Ice Warrior to life.

As far as finds go, how far up there is the Ice Warrior head in your collecting history, so far?

I've sourced things from a screen-used Cyberman Chest Piece to a 6" Screen Used Dalek, but this is pretty up there with the Dalek I think; it's one of the oldest pieces I have owned - I mean there isn't really that many years of Doctor Who before '67. So things are going to be limited what can be found now.

Is there a dream prop / costume that you’d love to find one day (Ice Warrior head aside)?

Dream prop, maybe - I think like any Doctor Who fan it would be a full sized Dalek but - I would probably go as far as something really iconic and easy to display like Bill's cane or Pat's recorder. I've had a fair share of my full size Daleks, two words "DUST TRAP" - I think we will leave that there. 

Be honest…have you tried it on, yet?

Actually I haven't - it's so fragile, trying to undo the leather straps and put around my head, I think I would break it trying.

If you could take a round trip in the TARDIS, anywhere in time and space, where would you go and why?

Help with world peace and save lives? Who wouldn't, if we are talking the Doctor Who world - probably go back and stop the tapes from being wiped - Grrrrr ! As most of the people who read this, Doctor Who is a large part of most of our lives, eat & sleep it, so why not, lets rescue some tapes!

[Sources: Toybox Treasures; DWO]

18 January 2017

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Director, Rodney Bennett.

Rodney directed the 4th Doctor stories; The Ark In Space, The Sontaran Experiment & The Masque Of Mandragora. As an in-joke reference, the 4th Doctor mentions the "Bennett oscillator" in Episode One of The Ark In Space.

Rodney's other career highlights include directing credits for; The Darling Buds Of May, Z Cars, Tales Of The Unexpected and Soldier Soldier (to name just a few).

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Rodney's family and friends.

Comedian, Actor and Writer, Toby Hadoke has put together a more in-depth obituary on his blog. You can also watch Toby's 'In Memoriam' video for the Doctor Who personalities we lost in 2016.

[Sources: Toby Hadoke; DWO]

15 January 2016

It is with deepest regret that DWO announces the passing of Classic Series Doctor Who Writer, Robert Banks Stewart.

Robert was perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans for penning two, much-loved, 4th Doctor adventures; Terror Of The Zygons & The Seeds Of Doom.

Robert's other career highlights included contributing scripts to; The Sweeney, Callan, Special Branch and The Edgar Wallace Mysteries. He also produced Bergerac, The Darling Buds Of May and Lovejoy (to name just a few)

DWO would like to extend our sympathies to Robert's family and friends.

+ Read DWO's Interview with Robert Banks Stewart from 2013. 

[Source: BBC News]

27 July 2015

DWO interviews Ex-Doctor Who DVD Commissioning Editor, Dan Hall, regarding his time on the range, his current projects, and what the future could hold for the Classic Series range.


What have been some of your fondest memories in your time working on the Doctor Who DVD range?

Having the opportunity to work with some great people. Two of my bosses - Sue Kerr and Stuart Snaith - are people who I respect highly in the Home Entertainment publishing world. I learnt a huge amount from them over the years, and they were always highly supportive of the content.

Do you have any regrets, any tears any anxieties from your time on the range?

Ah! I would have liked to have taken more risks. It is impossible to please everybody, and I should have spent less time trying to do this.

What have you been up to since the last release and do you have any non-Doctor Who future projects we can look out for?

It’s been a real mixture of things since Doctor Who. Probably the biggest was working with PWL and Cherry Red records on the recent four Kylie Minogue Special Editions. Pup worked with the record company restoring the content, designing and authoring the DVDs. It was a great project and my teenage self would have been very proud!

We gave over control of the next question to the @DrWhoOnline Twitter followers and Francis (@lifetrainee) asks: “I'm a producer with an unlimited budget ready to go*. What would be your dream extra for any of the classic stories? *[I'm not]”

An unlimited budget is never a good thing! Limitations feed creativity, and certainly some of the best content we made for the range was by no means the most expensive. Where money can help is by providing consistency of content; a regular schedule of commissions and releases.

But if I had had a wee bit more money on some of the releases, I would have liked an Ed Stradling season overview for every single season. The few we had were always insightful and fascinating.

What do you feel the future is for the Classic Series Doctor Who range? Physical / Digital? Season Box-sets? Or has it had its day?

Classic DW has a terrible habit of not going away! It was broadcast and people wanted more. It was broadcast again and they wanted more. Then it came on VHS and they wanted more. Then DVD… So I would be a pretty bad gambler if I said it had had its day.

I am working in other parts of the industry these days and don’t have much to do with Classic DW. But I have genuine confidence that the BBC and BBC Worldwide will take the brand somewhere exciting. Why wouldn’t they?! As for what that is, that is a much wider Home Entertainment question. And if you find the answer, there are a lot of studios in Hollywood that I’m sure would like to speak with you!

Follow Dan Hall on Twitter!
Follow DoctorWhoOnline on Twitter
+ Check Out the Classic Series Doctor Who titles on Amazon.co.uk.
Check Out more interviews in the DWO Interviews section.  

[Source: DWO]

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