Happy 60th Birthday, Daleks

60 years ago today we got our very first glimpse of a Dalek, It was only the end of the plunger, menacing Barbara (wielded by future Doctor Who director Michael Ferguson). We had to wait another week before we got to see the full effect of what are now an iconic design (which has been meddled with a few times since - always unsuccessfully).

The BBC have released the covers for the Blu-ray and Steelbook versions of the colourised first story, due out 12th February.

The Giggle - a review

 

If you've yet to see The Giggle, I wouldn't venture past this sentence...

This evening Doctor Who underwent its biggest shakeup in six decades - even bigger than Regeneration, Time Lords or Timeless Children.

For a lot of people, especially of the older generation, a line has been drawn under the series which began in November 1963. The Doctor decided to retire for a while at the conclusion of the third and final Anniversary Special, and we will no longer be following his adventures.

Instead, we are going forward with the "divergent" Doctor - the one being played by Ncuti Gatwa.

Because this evening the Doctor was fatally wounded by the Toymaker but instead of simply regenerating as normal, his next incarnation emerged as a separate entity - a process which we're calling "Bi-Generation". Thus we now have two of them, concurrently.

Gatwa's Doctor retains all of the memories and life experiences up to this point - and the script is chock full of references.

Which begs the question - Why? If the new Doctor is simply going to go forward precisely like the previous Doctor, then what was the point of doing this? If it was to permanently retire the 1963 - 2023 Doctor then I'm afraid it was obvious from the final garden scene that this is only ever going to be a pause in his travels. RTD2 even refers to him only being "parked" on Unleashed...

You could argue that Davies has actually started Gatwa off at a disadvantage, and is showing a lack of faith in him - he's not the real Doctor. The real one can be wheeled out again if Gatwa fails.

Despite this having been rumoured for a few weeks, even prompting an article in The Independent, the internet is sure to be breaking right now. I hope most will be accepting, but some will declare that they are calling it quits.

Begun, the clone wars have...

On to the actual story itself...

One of my biggest worries going into this episode derived from the trailers, in which the Toymaker came across as a manic, cartoonish character. The concern was that he was going to be played as a generic insane omnipotent villain, coming across not unlike some of the recent Master incarnations. 

The great Michael Gough played the Toymaker totally straight. He was quietly sinister, with just a hint of malicious humour ("Make your last move, Doctor. Make your last move...") but the evil was beautifully underplayed. 

My concerns were unfounded, I'm happy to report. The Toymaker could certainly be manic and cartoonish at times, but on the whole the performance was nicely balanced.

I very much admire NPH as a performer. He's certainly a multi-talented individual, being able to turn his hand to drama, comedy, song & dance and even magic. He was clearly indulged here as he gets to demonstrate quite a few of his skills as the Toymaker. We actually have a big musical number, as he invades UNIT HQ. It could have been embarrassing, but it's a magnificent scene, perfectly in tune with the character.

RTD2 is on record as saying he was concerned about the audience accepting fantasy in the series. Considering that a number of stories had already touched on this going right back to the 1960's, I'm surprised he worried. 

We had some wonderfully surreal and creepy imagery here - people turned to puppets with the Toymaker quite literally pulling the strings, or the aforementioned musical number. 

Particularly creepy was the scene with Donna attacked by the puppets of Mrs Stookie and her 'bawbies'.

I fail to understand why the BBC did not trumpet Mel's return in this episode, when she could be seen in the background of a number of clips and publicity photographs from the HQ set. They announced her involvement in the next series, yet not here.

As mentioned above, the script was full of references to old stories. As well as the puppets of more recent companions and mention of the Flux, we heard tell of Logopolis, Adric, the Kay to Time, Mavic Chen... Mel naturally spoke of Sabalom Glitz.

The Toymaker is said to have defeated the Master and imprisoned him in his gold tooth (which was picked up by an unknown female hand at the end - shades of the Saxon Master's ring). He also claimed to have turned the Guardians of Time into mannequins.

A lovely touch was the inclusion of some colourised footage from The Final Test, the only remaining episode from The Celestial Toymaker. (The BBC obviously have a new colouring-in machine, and they're determined to get their money's worth).

A couple of minor gripes from me were the (non)involvement of Wilf, and the climactic battle on the helipad. Obviously when they filmed the street riot in Bristol last year they weren't to know that Bernard would pass away soon after. He would have been too frail to travel to the destination, so a double was used. It's a shame they couldn't have found a way to remove him from these scenes altogether, leaving us with last week's closing sequence as our final memory of the character. 

As for the ending on the helipad, then I'm afraid I found the scenes of people throwing a ball about simply failed excite, no matter how hard they tried to make it humorous and visually interesting.

I daresay the point was to show how the two Doctors join forces to defeat the Toymaker, but I would have preferred something a little more exciting. It wasn't just the Toymaker who dropped the ball - it was the writer. Perhaps showing him as an expert juggler just half an hour beforehand was a bit of a mistake, if you're going to make the dropping of a ball by him a crucial moment.

                             

Setting the wider implications of his presence aside for a moment, Gatwa made a remarkable entrance. He charms from the start, helping save humanity in his boxers. 

I think he'll make a superb Doctor, though we really need to see how he tackles the serious stuff. 

What does all this mean for me - as a representative of the older generation of fans? 

Well, in this blog I cover the series and its spin-offs as made and broadcast by the BBC (irrespective of any co-production partners). That's what I've been a fan of since 1971.

The "Bi-Generation" is obviously a seismic change which will take a day or two to get our heads around, but I see no reason not to continue to follow the series when it returns at Christmas and beyond.

If Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel and DC fans can accept prequels, sequels, Multiverses, Infinity-verses, Kelvin Universes and sundry other spin-offs then so can I, with just this single divergence in Doctor Who. It's simply a branching off, which may even prove to be temporary if a future showrunner elects to revisit the "original" Doctor.

For better or for worse, I'm sticking with the series as it moves forward.

Personally, I think we won't see anything different from what has already gone before (which does take me back to that question of why do this in the first place...?).

Wild Blue Yonder - a review

This is the one we knew nothing about.

We found out early on that there were to be three special episodes for the anniversary, thanks to clapper boards seen on location. We knew that the third of these starred Neil Patrick Harris, and a tweet from RTD2 quickly led to the guess that he was playing the Toymaker. We also saw actors dressed as Wrarth Warriors and the Meep on location - with the clapper boards indicating that the old DWW comic strip The Star Beast was being adapted as the first special.

But the second episode remained a mystery. All we had to go on were some cryptic teasers and then the fuller trailers, which only depicted Tennant and Tate in some futuristic environment. 

The poster-style artwork then added an odd, crooked robot, and determined fans found one other actor involved thanks to their agent's website.

A very brief synopsis, and the final trailer, indicated that the TARDIS disappears - leaving the Doctor and Donna trapped somewhere referred to as Hostile Action (as in HADS, the ship's HA Displacement System, which shifts it away from danger). 

And that was it.

In the week running up to Wild Blue Yonder, Radio Times informed us that there was no preview, and we didn't get the usual batch of publicity images until a few Doctor / Donna shots dropped out.

Like Nature, fandom abhors a vacuum, so the lack of information got people speculating like crazy. Perhaps this level of expectation might prove impossible to satisfy...

Well, now we know...

Last week's episode ended with the TARDIS going out of control thanks to Donna spilling coffee onto the shiny new console, and Wild Blue Yonder follows on directly from this. (RTD2 had said that although each special would be standalone, they would have a cliffhanger into the next).

Before arriving on the spaceship, we have a brief encounter with Isaac Newton. The Fourth Doctor had already claimed to have inspired his work on gravity - but this could always have been taken as a joke.

No doubt some will object to the colour-blind casting of the great scientist. I'm okay with it, but can see how making some children think he was of their ethnicity when he really wasn't might be an issue for some. (The programme gave up teaching people about science a very long time ago, but educating about history at least managed to last a little longer). 

Newton misremembers the word "gravity" and we then see Donna use the new term - "mavity"... This was something discussed between Vicki and Steven in The Time Meddler - how a change in history will instantly feed through all future history to the present.

This is picked up in the Unleashed episode as Tennant tries to explain the concept to Tate.

When we do get to the spaceship, we're immediately reminded of Event Horizon. 

(I certainly was. Not only is it designed like one long corridor, and it's apparently abandoned, but turns out there's a nightmare on board - something which very much messes with your mind. It hails from another dimension, and can take on the appearance of someone you know. Sound familiar?).

There's a lengthy build up to the introduction of the threat. We have to make do with the mystery of a seemingly deserted ship lying on the edge of the universe. Except we've been party to the fact that someone or something has been watching the TARDIS pair.

It's a two-hander for the first half hour, as the Doctor and Donna struggle to work out what's going on. But then we suddenly see that there are two Doctors, and then - after a short while - two Donnas... 

The way this is handled is very well done. The Doctor and Donna have split up to carry out some task. The second Doctor turns up first, and we instinctively know there is something just a little off with the way he acts. But then he mentions something only the Doctor would know, and so we relax...

However, we then cut to where the real Doctor is, and suddenly realise that that was a false Doctor with Donna after all. Then, just as we're thinking there's a shapeshifting creature on the ship, the second Donna turns up.

The way in which the duplicates initially struggle to get to grips with their unfamiliar humanoid forms was nothing new. We've seen bodysnatcher scenarios (especially John Carpenter's The Thing) within the series before. As well as Flatline, it was also impossible to view this episode without thinking of Midnight. 

It was that episode, with bells and whistles. 

That's not to say that this was completely unoriginal. It may have borrowed from other works, but the packaging certainly felt fresh. Great design and VFX. The four-way dynamic was interesting. We had two mysteries to solve throughout the episode: who were the duplicates, and what was going on with the robot and those occasional random words. The resolution to the latter was pretty clever, though who the beings were, how they functioned, and why they did what they did was the bit we'd seen before. 

If there's one issue I have with this episode, it's the way it hinges on these two mysteries. Once you know what's happening, how often do you think you might watch this again? 

Having nothing going on elsewhere, and with no other characters to relate to, this may not be the sort of episode you revisit very often. 

I'm sure a more psychological horror isn't going to go down well with everyone - especially those who were hoping to see an old monster / companion / Doctor. 

(Chamber pieces don't go down well with everyone. In the DWM poll recently, Heaven Sent came out top story of the last 60 years. Setting aside the stupid voting system they imposed this time, designed so that it didn't upset Colin Baker or the entire previous production team, I had no problem with this, having given the episode top marks myself. It has a remarkable performance by Peter Capaldi, and script by Steven Moffat. Even though they liked it, some fans just couldn't cope with a newer story being top dog, and wanted to see a Bob Holmes story instead). I think some people will criticise Wild Blue Yonder not for the episode on it's own merits, but for how much it deviates from their expectations. 

You can't fault a story for failing to be something it was never meant to be. Just because it didn't match your expectations... that's your problem, not the episode's. 

Not every actor pairing could have pulled this off (I'm visualising another Doctor and companion pairing right now, and OMG it's dreadful...). Tennant and Tate can, and do. 

The episode ends with a glorious but bittersweet reunion, for there in Camden waiting for the TARDIS is Wilf Mott. Unleashed featured a short, but heartfelt, tribute to St Bernard. It also gave us a pretty pointless clip from The Giggle. We did get a trailer this week following the episode itself, though in the gap between programmes rather than as part of the closing credits. (Still not heard the closing theme properly). This showed the start of the regeneration, which takes place in the TARDIS, then a shot of Ncuti's Doctor.

The Star Beast - a review

Spoilers ahead...

As with Dalek or Human Nature - which were also based on pre-existing Doctor Who media - those of us lucky enough to have read the original Doctor Who Weekly comic strip which inspired The Star Beast already had a head start as regards the basic plot. RTD2 could have taken liberties with this, but he has elected to remain faithful and respectful to the source material.

It's condensed, of course - the comic strip ran over 8 issues. Certain subplots, mainly involving the Wrarth Warriors, are set aside as we cut to the heart of the story.

Cute alien crashes to Earth, hunted by nasty looking insectoid aliens. The Doctor and friends naturally assume cute is good and insecty is bad - only to find they've been fooled. Cute is a psychotic despot, and the insectoid bunch are out to arrest it. 

It's a "don't judge by appearances" tale, so hardly original. Doctor Who has been using this scenario since the Hartnell era.

As an example of the story type, however, it's a very good one thanks to character and design - and now performance. Into this mix we have the first story for a new, complex Doctor. Complex in that, for the first time, he's assumed a face he's worn before, and doesn't know why. 

In lieu of a scary or action-packed pre-credit sequence, we have the Doctor and Donna, separately, recapping for the benefit of those who missed, or can't recall, the events of 2008/9.

As performed, this isn't simply him looking like the Tenth Doctor. This is the Tenth Doctor, back again.

The first thing he does is bump into Donna Noble. Back in 2008/9, the coincidences  revolving around her and her granddad Wilf were cosmically significant. 

What's going on here, we don't yet know. Interestingly, in the accompanying Unleashed show, RTD2 claimed that in the third special they are going to do something never seen before in 60 years if the series...

We get a cryptic comment this week from the Meep about its "boss". Presumably this will be the Toymaker.

The Meep was wonderfully realised (details of how it was brought to life shown in the BBC 3 show). I worried about the voice in advance, but needn't have. 

I loved the new UNIT scientific adviser, Shirley Anne, and hope to see her again in the third special, and into the fifteenth series.

It was obvious from her first casting that Yasmin Finney's Rose would have some significance. Davies wouldn't be casting her just to use her as a background character.

Her true role turns out to be key - the reason why Donna regaining her memories doesn't kill her. The Metacrisis has been passed on and shared by mother and daughter.

A preview talked of this episode being preachy, but I didn't feel this. Yes, it has something to say about gender fluidity, but this is germaine to what's going on with the character in the context of the story. There's no lecturing going on, of the type we suffered under the previous regime. 

I'm sure most of us were looking forward to seeing Bernard Cribbins, but it looks like that bittersweet pleasure will have to wait until The Giggle.

Donna and the Doctor separated by a glass wall at the crisis point reminded us of Wilf and the Doctor in The End of Time II, and the Doctor producing a barrister's wig from his pocket looked like a nod to The Stones of Blood, which fell on the 15th anniversary.

The new TARDIS is magnificent. In general plan it has elements of the 2005 incarnation, but with different levels joined by sweeping ramps. What makes it special for me is the fact that its lighting can be changed to suit the scene or the mood. The plain grey look is impressive, but could be a bit cold and clinical if left unchanged over long periods - especially a space of this massive size.

(I recall wishing they'd bring back the original design, only to regret when they did it in Heaven Sent. It just lacked atmosphere). 

The new opening titles were wonderful - visually very exciting. I wasn't sure about the closing theme, which sounded overly cluttered with effects - not that we got to hear much if it thanks to those pointless continuity announcements. 

No preview of next week's episode - unless you switched to BBC 3.

Unleashed contained a brief clip from Wild Blue Yonder, and it was followed by a trailer. 

If I had one issue with the episode, it was to do with the contraction of the plot.

The true nature of the Meep is found out really rather quickly. It might have been nice to have prolonged the mystery a little longer, but the Doctor guesses what's going on after five minutes. 

A superb start to the new era, I think it could have benefited from an extra 30 minutes.

A New Adventure In Space And Time...

Anyone who elected to skip the repeat of 2013's An Adventure In Space And Time missed a brand new cameo from Ncuti Gatwa, replacing the original appearance by Matt Smith. 

I did suspect they might do this, as Smith's cameo would have dated it by an entire decade. Wasn't sure it would be Gatwa necessarily. With him about to return on Saturday I thought it might have been Tennant. He is the current Doctor after all, though very much caretaking.

"60 Moments in Time"

In the absence of a Radio Times special edition (yet again), I would heartily recommend the latest bookazine from DWM - 60 Moments in Time.

It's the thickest volume they've ever produced, running to 224 pages (only 100 less than the lacklustre Whotopia book which is the official BBC Books contribution to the anniversary), and comprises a collection of 60 essays on different aspects of the programme.

Some are about the production of the series, some about its internal narrative, some about fans, some about merchandise. It's a real mix of material, with the essays varying from 2 - 4 pages each.

It is lavishly illustrated throughout with images from Hartnell to Whittaker stories, but the best stuff is the rare peripheral stuff (comedy spoofs, adverts, publicity images, fan photos etc).

The layout eschews the conventional chronological order, leaping instead from one subject to the next.

For example, the first three pieces are: Is Doctor Who actually a Sci-Fi series?; Doctor Who on Blue Peter; and a look at the DVD / Blu-ray Collections. The last three cover fluctuations in audience viewing figures; prop and costume auctions; and the role of continuity - and fan reaction to it - in the series.

The only chronological narrative is a small box-out for each essay which looks at a particular moment when the series attracted wider attention.

If you already love the DWM yearly "Chronicles", you'll be familiar with the visual style / content here - though this has to embrace all eras under each essay.

A bit pricey at a penny under £20, but well worth it in my opinion.

CiN: Destination Skaro

The five minute Children in Need item from Russell T Davies might be titled Destination Skaro, according to his Twitter. The writer had previously explained that the DWM comic strip was designed to cover the period between the regeneration and the 60th Anniversary Specials, though viewers won't have missed anything - other than the joke here.

For the comic ended with the Doctor hoping he didn't go anywhere near Skaro any time soon...

Of course, that's exactly where the TARDIS takes him, straight after he has just defeated all manner of Daleks.

The ship crashes into the pre-accident Davros' laboratory just after he has shown his Mark 3 Travel Machine to an Elite underling, replete with its fancy multi-purpose claw attachment. The underling is struggling to find an anagram of KALED when the Doctor arrives. Davros has been called away by a voice sounding suspiciously like Nyder's.

The crash has ripped the arm off the Dalek. The Doctor inadvertently gives the young man the name DALEK, and takes a sink plunger from the TARDIS to replace the broken attachment...

Davros returns after the TARDIS has departed, and spots the plunger - which he really rather likes!

It's a very funny five minutes, with lots of references to Genesis of the Daleks and the Daleks in general. The Doctor is basically responsible for certain elements of Dalek lore, albeit accidentally. 

Julian Bleach returns as Davros, but in his original uninjured Kaled form.

David Tennant slips back into the role of the Doctor as though he's never been away. Recent interviews have said that we will see that the 14th isn't the same as the 10th, but we'll need to see a full episode to find out if that's the case.

An enjoyable little minisode, just right for something like Children in Need. 

Radio Times 60th Cover

And the cover for next week's Radio Times. Interesting quote from Mr Baker...

Radio Times w/c 18th November

The latest issue of Radio Times, out today, covers Thursday 23rd November. There is a feature on the RT covers, whilst the highlights page for the anniversary day itself covers the colourised Dalek story and the repeat of the 2013 drama An Adventure in Space and Time. FYI: the Bargain Hunt special is actually on Friday 24th November.

The magazine is going to include its main celebration of the programme in the next issue (in shops 21st Nov) as this is the one which covers the broadcast of the first 60th Special.

Children in Need 2023 - Kaleds / Daleks

Here I am writing a "Countdown to 60" post about RTD2's decision to give the Daleks a rest, and the BBC go and release info about this year's special scene for Children In Need... 

David Tennant's 14th Doctor is seen with a Dalek, and a second image shows a man in Kaled uniform (as seen in Genesis of the Daleks). 

Presumably this 5 minute scene is designed to bridge the gap between DWM's long-running Liberation of the Daleks comic strip and The Star Beast. It ended with the Doctor hoping he wouldn't be going anywhere near Skaro any time soon. Clearly the TARDIS has had other ideas.

I wonder if that's RTD2's own Dalek replica?

All will be revealed on Friday 17th November. The event runs from 7-10pm, though I'm sure the scene will be added to the official YouTube channel on the night.

Christmas Special Title?

 

As well as a new poster image for the 60th Specials today, the Disney website is listing "The Church on Ruby Road" as a Doctor Who Holiday Special streaming on 25th December.

UPDATE: the artwork is courtesy of Lee Binding and was released to tie in with the Specials press launch last night, and that title does appear to be the correct one for the Christmas episode, though the BBC / Bad Wolf haven't confirmed it yet.

Now on the small screen - in colour...

The Daleks, aka "The Mutants", is getting a makeover on 23rd November. BBC Four are screening a 75 minute omnibus version of the first ever Dalek story (approaching its own 60th anniversary). What's special about this is that it has been colourised.

The original seven part monochrome story can still be seen on the i-Player. 

Children in Need 2023

As many of us had guessed, it's been confirmed that there will be a new scene featuring the 14th Doctor for this year's Children in Need event. This will be accompanied by the first edition of Doctor Who: Unleashed. CiN broadcasts over the evening of Friday 17th November. 

Talking Doctor Who / 60th Anniversary Concert

 

It was Doctor Who Night on BBC Four last night - for two and a half hours at least.

Talking Doctor Who is a new documentary, fronted by David Tennant, broadcast in the run-up to the show's 60th Anniversary. Rather than look at all 60 years, it concentrates purely on the original series through the lens of the actors who played the first eight Doctors.

The programme mainly features archive clips of them appearing as themselves on other TV programmes, with only brief snippets from the series itself.

After Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee we sidestep to Terry Nation talking about the creation of the Daleks - that clip with him being interviewed at home by Alan Whicker.

Tennant then tells us about what scared him as a child - the clown in The Deadly Assassin having a particular impact.

After a section on Lis Sladen, using interview footage from 2003, we then return to the Doctors with Tom Baker.

There's a diversion to look at K-9, including Tennant's memories of him as a child, and again when working with him on School Reunion.

David also enjoys watching the raw studio footage of the regeneration from Tom to Davison.

We then pass through the remaining Doctors, including McGann in the TV Movie which us wrongly dated on screen to 1986. Pertwee, Tom and Davison get the lion's share of the screen time, with the final three Doctors having only very brief coverage.

The doc ends with the closing scene from Survival Part Three.

If you watch the extras on the DVDs and Blu-ray Collection, you'll have seen all of this archive material before.

The focus on the Doctors will disappoint many as the rest of the companions and the monsters don't really get a look in.

The familiarity of the clips, from programmes like Blue Peter, Nationwide, Pebble Mill, made me think of the (More Than) 30 Years in the Tardis documentary. Indeed, the two docs shared a number of the same clips.

That 1993 effort was a superior production in my mind, having a better mix of Doctors, companions and monsters.

Compared with previous musical celebrations of Doctor Who, the Cardiff concert for the 60th was disappointing from a visual point of view. It was intended for audio broadcast on Radio 2 Sounds after all, and perhaps that was where it really ought to have stayed. The musical pieces were all perfectly performed and well chosen, but you missed seeing them put to clips from the series - and those monsters that used to roam the auditorium terrorising the kiddies.

As far as the pieces go, highlights for me were the suite from the original series, Capaldi's driving theme (Am I A Good Man?), and the brand new anthem which will accompany Gatwa's Doctor, which hints at other Doctor's themes. Fifteen is fantastic.

Ruby's theme didn't grab me in the same way, whereas I've loved those for Martha, Amy and Clara in the past. Maybe it will grow on me, or work better in the context of the stories.

Segun Akinola got a suite of his music, including the Thirteenth's theme and the Bond-like Spyfall score. Other than that, it was mostly a case of Murray's greatest hits, with key tracks from the Tennant and Smith eras.

I had already listened to this on Radio 2, and enjoyed it, but the televised version didn't really add anything. (If anything my enjoyment was reduced, as they had lopped off half an hour's material from the audio version). 

Now if they'd only had some Cybermen scaring the bejaysus out of some kids...

Doctor Who on BBC i-Player / Blog Update

The Doctor Who content has now arrived on the BBC i-Player. Naturally the Pilot and An Unearthly Child are not present due to the ongoing issues with the copyright holder. Only the colour versions of animated stories are available, apart from Power of the Daleks as they use the special edition which was only ever made available in B&W. Orphan episodes can be found in an Extras section. 

RTD has stated that Tales from the TARDIS will not be available outside the UK. Fans elsewhere can always download a free VPN, however, if they wish to get access to these.

I will start watching the first couple of these today and offer my opinion later.

A reminder also that BBC Four has the new Tennant fronted documentary this evening, followed by the 60th Anniversary concert. 

With all of the anniversary stuff really getting underway, I will be posting fewer of the regular items over the next few weeks to concentrate on that. 

NB: I am also taking a one week break from the Episodes posts on Sunday. This isn't to do with the anniversary, rather that I've just noted that a one week delay will mean episodes 7 and 8 of The Daleks' Masterplan will now land at Christmas and New Year, just like their original broadcasts.

Tales From The TARDIS (Updated)

Coming to BBC i-Player on November 1st is what is billed as a new series, the first part of RTD2's Whoniverse. It's called Tales From The TARDIS, and features old Doctors and companions, in various TARDIS sets. No other information yet, and not sure if also coming to Disney+ but I assume so. As well as the Seventh with Ace we have...

The Fifth with Tegan...

Clyde Langer with Jo...

And the Sixth with Peri.

UPDATE: More info found. Another two pairs are Steven and Vicki, and Jamie and Zoe. They act as a framing device to recall one of their old stories - so basically a full story from the archives. The stories are: The Time Meddler, The Mind Robber, The Green Death, Earthshock, Vengeance on Varos and The Curse of Fenric. Sadly no Tom Baker reunion with one of his companions. Presumably we cut to them between the episodes.

These framing links are written by RTD and Pete McTighe, who currently writes the Collection trailers.

Specials Dates Confirmed

The dates for the Specials have been confirmed as Saturday 25th November for The Star Beast...

... 2nd December for Wild Blue Yonder...

... and 9th December for The Giggle.

The second episode may well be a two-hander, with just a robot for company.

60th & Animations Update

The wording is ambiguous - is it only for subscribers? Is it a proper stand-alone Special? It may well just be the ordinary issue published on Tuesday 7th, just with extra DW coverage.

Another TV programme to add to the schedule is Brian Cox's Adventures in Space and Time on November 8th. That's the physicist who fronted The Science of Doctor Who in 2013 and had a cameo in The Power of Three, not the Scots actor who was the first big screen Hannibal Lecter and who voiced the Ood Elder.

We don't know the content of this programme, but the title and the timing would suggest a connection with Doctor Who.

Another show to look out for is a Bargain Hunt DW Special, as we know they were looking for fans to participate back in the Spring.

A UK tabloid is today claiming that it is The Celestial Toymaker which is to be the next story to be animated. This would obviously make sense due to the return of the character in the Specials. There are no telesnaps, but we have The Final Test, and there is a wealth of photographic material, much of it in colour, from the missing instalments.

However, a group of fans are in the middle of animating this story, and the journalist might simply have misconstrued this as an official release. An announcement as to which story will be animated is sure to form part of the anniversary celebrations (along with the next Collection box set, hopefully - currently believed to be Season 15).

Finally, Empire magazine is going to feature the series, and they released an exclusive image which most of you must have seen by now. It features David Tennant in the spaceship which we believe to be the setting for Wild Blue Yonder, which the actor has claimed is "unlike any Doctor Who story" there's ever been. It has been suggested that this might be a two-hander with just the Doctor and Donna, though at least one other actor's CV claims it.

More 60th Events (& Possible Broadcast Dates)

A couple more dates for the diary.

The recent 60th Anniversary concert is available on BBC Sounds (Radio 2) for those who can access it. I listened to it on Sunday and was most impressed. It included material from the classic era as well as the new main theme, Ruby's theme, and the Fifteenth Doctor's theme. I didn't take to Ruby's but Fifteen's is great.

A two-part radio documentary on the same station was due to start last weekend but has been postponed. Presumably this is the remove any soundbites from An Unearthly Child (the saga around which continues, and shows no sign of ever being resolved under the current copyright holder).

When it does get broadcast, part one of the radio documentary will cover the classic era, with part two covering the revival.

Wednesday November 1st sees a new 60 minute TV documentary on the series narrated by David Tennant. It will be broadcast on BBC Four.

Saturday December 9th sees an on-line event from London. It's called "Beyond the Screen" and comes in the form of a Q&A panel of people associated with the show in various capacities. You can view it on Twitch or on the Doctor Who YouTube channel. The audience is invite only, but there is a competition to win an invite on the official DW website.

Latest word (from a supposedly reliable source) is that The Star Beast will premiere on Saturday 25th November, with the other Specials following on 2nd and 9th December.

Dates for the diary...

Things will be stepping up a gear from the end of this month, so here's a quick summary of dates to look out for (as of the UK). Amazon etc. will keep you up to date on novels, comics and audios if they're your thing.

• Thursday 26th October: Infinity magazine has a Doctor Who feature.
• Wednesday 1st November: SFX magazine has promised anniversary coverage.
• The back catalogue arrives on BBC iPlayer, along with a lot of background archive material.
• We've also been promised some significant news today.
• Thursday 2nd November: DWM's 60th Anniversary bookazine released.
• Starburst magazine - last issue before anniversary, sure to have significant content.
• Fortean Times issued - may have something on the series. Paul Cornell wrote a piece for FT for the 50th.
• Monday 6th November: The latest "coffee table" book - Whotopia - issued.
• Thursday 9th November: DWM 597 - the last regular issue before the anniversary date.
• Monday 13th November: The Underwater Menace DVD / Blu-ray released.
• Tuesday 14th November: Radio Times and other TV listings mags - the issues which cover the anniversary week. Obviously we'll need to keep an eye on these depending on the actual broadcast dates for the Specials.
• Friday 17th November: The second significant news day we've been told to watch out for. Is this the date of Children in Need? The current DWM says that the backstage show (Unleashed) will be on screen before The Star Beast, and that an extra six day shoot was undertaken recently. Does this all refer to a brand new CiN minisode, rather than just a clip?
• Thursday 23rd November: The 60th Anniversary. There may not be any episode today, but I'll certainly be watching something on Blu-ray / DVD tonight.
• We've been promised this as the third of the news days to watch out for.
• Today also sees the latest Infinity and Dark Side magazines. DS released a whole special issue for the 50th, but that was before they started producing stablemate Infinity which is the home to TV sci-fi / fantasy, so almost certain to see something from them.

We then move into December. 

Thursday 7th sees the last regular issue (598) of DWM before Christmas. (NB: almost at the 600th issue, which should come out on 1st February).

The Christmas Radio Times and other listings magazines likely to be out on Saturday 9th, though the festive Special is generally covered in the issue prior to this (possibly Thursday 7th as well).