The BBC has sent us the full details and images of the new Regeneration DVD boxset which will be released this June.
A limited edition ‘coffee table book-styled collector’s album’, the beautifully packaged 6 disc set features over 1000 hours of Doctor Who stories. For the first time each of the Doctor’s regeneration adventures are brought together in the show’s 50th anniversary year – including the First Doctor’s final, and partially missing serial The Tenth Planet which has been restored and brought to life using stunning animation.
Above – Adorned with superb photography, the 6 disc set brings together The Tenth Planet, The War Games, Planet of the Spiders, Logopolis, The Caves of Androzani, Time and the Rani, The Movie, Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways and The End of Time.
Warning! This article and its comments may contain spoilers...
It’s nearly time for another Doctor Who Magazine and the new issue has just one question to ask: “Doctor who?”
Inside there’s a preview of the anticipated Series 7 final, the episode which claims to reveal The Name of the Doctor.
But after 50 years of mystery are we really about to find out the Doctor’s name? We’ve been told his “greatest secret” will be in jeopardy, what else could the Time Lord be hiding? For now all we can do is speculate – but we’re good at that!
Doctor Who Magazine 460 is published on Thursday 2nd May, priced £4.75. Don’t miss it!
Warning! This article and its comments may contain spoilers...
It’s brand new DWM day today, and you’re not likely to miss this one on the shelf!
This month’s issue is all about the Ice Warriors as we count down to their long awaited return in Cold War. The writer of the episode Mark Gatiss talks about what it was like to have the chance to resurrect these iconic foes, who first appeared in the series back in The Ice Warriors in 1967.
DWM 459 is on sale today (Thursday) priced £4.75.
Series 7 continues on Saturday night at 6:15pm on BBC One in The Rings of Akhaten.
A BBC Worldwide executive has confirmed there’s “nothing in the plans” to make any sequels to The Eternity Clock.
The PlayStation game was released last year as part of a planned trilogy however the vice president of digital games Robert Nashak revealed circumstances have changed as for the foreseeable there are no more instalments in the works. “We are not working on any sequels to be honest,” he told Digital Spy. “We are keeping it as an option moving forward but we want to see where we can reach the fans best.”
He explained: “But we love the storyline we developed there, and we love the feel of the game so we are definitely thinking about it for the future but there’s nothing in the plans right now. We’re trying to work out what’s the best route for reaching Doctor Who fans.”
Today we’re delighted to bring you an interview with Marcus Sedgwick, the writer behind this month’s Doctor Who e-book and the latest in Puffin’s 50th anniverary series.
Marcus’ novels include Floodland and The Kiss of Death and he has contributed to the 50th anniversary proceedings by putting pen to paper for The Spear of Destiny, in which the Third Doctor and Jo Grant track down the magical spear of Odin and get caught up in the middle of a battle between two Viking tribes along the way!
Marcus talks about the origins of his short and his experience of writing the Third Doctor.
Q) Hi Marcus. Firstly, how did your involvement with Puffin’s Doctor Who e-book series come about, and were you already a fan of the series?
A) Puffin approached me late last year to write one of the stories, and I jumped at the chance. I loved Christopher Eccleston’s work in bringing the Doctor back to our screens, but I’m more a fan of the Classic series – I don’t think anyone of my age can’t have watched it, and been terrified by it!
Q) In your story, The Spear of Destiny, the Third Doctor and Jo Grant get caught up between two Vikings tribes. What was the inspiration for this?
A) I knew I wanted to have The Master in my story – I always found him the most frightening of the Doctor’s many foes. So I was looking for a good setting in which to have them slug it out once more, intellectually that is. I love the Viking age, I’ve used it in a couple of books, and realised there are some nice serendipitous connections I could use from Viking mythology – the war between the Aesir and the Vanir, being one.
Q) How did you approach the story at the beginning of the writing process? Did you do any initial research into the Third Doctor?
A) Yes, I decided to go back and watch a bunch of Pertwee era episodes. That was great fun. I read some interviews he’d given on playing the Doctor, and tried to use all of this in the story. I must admit, when I first sat down to finally write the story, I was a bit scared! This is, after all, one of the most iconic corners of British pop culture and I wanted to do the job properly. Then I decided to just relax and have fun with the Doctor and Jo.
Q) The Third Doctor was well known for being suave yet authoritative. How easy was it to convey his personality and mannerisms on page?
A) Well it’s up to others to decide if I’ve succeeded, but personally I find Jon Pertwee’s portrayal to be so wonderful, so charismatic and so idiosyncratic that it was a joy to bring him to life once more in the story. There’s quite a bit of banter between him and Jo – that was they key to it, I think.
Q) If you hadn’t written for the Third Doctor, which other classic incarnation would you have liked to have revisited?
A) Well, that would have to have been Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor. He’s the incarnation that most dovetailed with my childhood, and again, like Pertwee, I think he did a superb job.
Q) What did you set out to achieve with the story and do you think you’ve accomplished your aim?
A) I wanted to bring Jon Pertwee’s Doctor back to life for a short time. I want readers who remember him to recognise him, and those that don’t remember him to maybe go and hunt out some DVDs from the period. I don’t know if I’ve accomplished it, that’s for others to judge as I said above, but I know I’ve enjoyed it, and that’s a good sign!
Q) Finally have you got any upcoming projects you can tell us a little about?
A) Yes, lots! My brother and I have a graphic novel coming out in October, illustrated by the legendary John Higgins. It’s called Dark Satanic Mills and should appeal to Whovians, I think. I also have a new YA novel in October, called She Is Not Invisible, which is a strange little book exploring the question of coincidence.
We’d like to say a big thank you to Marcus for answering our questions, and you can find out more about his projects here. The Spear of Destiny will be available to download tomorrow, 23rd March. A paperback anthology of the shorts will go on sale in November.
Three new Doctor Who novels featuring the Eleventh Doctor will be published this April and the covers and synopses for each them have been released!
In Plague of the Cybermen the dreaded metal monsters are back (in case you didn’t guess from its title) to wreak havoc in a 19th century village, while another of the Doctor’s iconic foes returns for The Dalek Generation. In Shroud of Sorrow, Clara joins the Doctor as they investigate an alien threat in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
The novels are released on 11th April, priced £6.99 each. Read more about them below.
‘They like the Shadows. You know them as Plague Warriors…’
When the Doctor arrives in the 19th-century village of Klimtenburg, he discovers the residents suffering from some kind of plague – a ‘wasting disease’. The victims face a horrible death – but what’s worse, the dead seem to be leaving their graves. The Plague Warriors have returned…
The Doctor is confident he knows what’s really happening; he understands where the dead go, and he’s sure the Plague Warriors are just a myth. But as some of the Doctor’s oldest and most terrible enemies start to awaken he realises that maybe – just maybe – he’s misjudged the situation.
“The Sunlight Worlds Offer You A Life of Comfort and Plenty. Apply now at the Dalek Foundation.”
Sunlight 349 is one of countless Dalek Foundation worlds, planets created to house billions suffering from economic hardship. The Doctor arrives at Sunlight 349, suspicious of any world where the Daleks are apparently a force for good – and determined to find out the truth. The Doctor knows they have a far more sinister plan – but how can he convince those who have lived under the benevolence of the Daleks for a generation?
But convince them he must, and soon. For on another Foundation planet, archaeologists have unearthed the most dangerous technology in the universe…
Shroud of Sorrow by Tommy Donbavand
23 November, 1963
It is the day after John F. Kennedy’s assassination – and the faces of the dead are everywhere. PC Reg Cranfield sees his late father in the mists along Totter’s Lane. Reporter Mae Callon sees her grandmother in a coffee stain on her desk. FBI Special Agent Warren Skeet finds his long-dead partner staring back at him from raindrops on a window pane.
Then the faces begin to talk, and scream… and push through into our world.
As the alien Shroud begins to feast on the grief of a world in mourning, can the Doctor dig deep enough into his own sorrow to save mankind?
Will you be adding these to your collection? Let us know in the comments section below…
Warning! This article and its comments may contain spoilers...
Michael Scott has been confirmed as the next author to be contributing to Puffin’s series of 50th anniversary e-shorts!
Michael, best known for his fantasy book series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, has put pen to paper for a new adventure featuring the Second Doctor.
Titled The Nameless City, the Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon face danger in a terrifying glass city where the Archons are intent on getting revenge on the Time Lord.
“I’m pleased to announce that I’m the second author to be given the opportunity to bring the Time Lord back to life,” Michael commented. “As a writer and, even more, as a fan, it’s been a great honour to be able to create an entirely new adventure for the Doctor…”
The Nameless City is released in e-book format on 23rd February 2013, priced £1.99. In November, a paperback anthology compiling all 11 stories will go on sale for £7.99. The first story – A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer – is available to download now.
Warning! This article and its comments may contain spoilers...
AudioGO’s celebratory Destiny of the Doctor audio series continues this month with a new adventure for Doctor #2!
In Shadow of Death by Simon Guerrier the TARDIS lands on an empty world which orbits a strange star exerting a huge gravitational force strong enough to warp time. The Doctor and his friends Jamie and Zoe discover a human outpost on the planet’s surface where scientists are studying an ancient and abandoned city, where the Doctor discovers something dark, silent and deadly is also present on this world…
Shadow of Death is read by Frazer Hines. To find out more, visit the AudioGO website.
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