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Sylvester McCoy admits he wasn't ‘keen’ on a female Time Lord

Sylvester McCoy has opened up about the first female Time Lord, saying that he wasn’t initially “keen” on the idea.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk today at the London Film and Comic-Con, the 73-year-old said that it “seemed a bit odd”, however he changed his mind shortly after it was revealed Jodie Whittaker had been cast.

He explained: “It seemed a bit odd. But once it was announced, I got my head around it and then I got rather excited about it and I sent her [Jodie] a message saying, ‘Well done,’ and I said, ‘One small step for woman, one giant leap for womankind’. Because I think it’s very important.”

When asked what advice he would give to the in-coming Time Lord, Sylvester said: “Don’t read or listen to the negative stuff that will come. It comes to every Doctor.”

The actor continued: “Every new Doctor has to go through a negative cloud because a lot of the fans - not all but some - are quite conservative, they don’t like change, and because she is a woman that’s quite a dramatic change.

“So just put your head down, learn the lines and try to bump into the monsters.”


The Scottish actor played the seventh incarnation of the Time Lord between 1986 and 1989 before the show was cancelled by the BBC.

Via the Daily Express by Neela Debnath

Invasion of the Dinosaurs with CGI


You Tuber themindrobber has produced an incredible clip from the famous Jon Pertwee story, you know 'the one with the dinosaurs'.


Series 11 not likely until autumn 2018

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine (issue 515) is out now, and in it has seemingly come some confirmation that the show is taking a slightly extended break before its next series.

It had been rumoured for some time that there was going to be an 18 month gap between the start of series 10 and the first episode of series 11 of Doctor Who, to give incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall the space he needed to get things in place.

Doctor Who Magazine reiterates that Steven Moffat hadn’t expected to stay on for series 10, but did so when it became clear that Chris Chibnall’s Broadchurch commitments meant he couldn’t take over the show until 2017 at the earliest. But it’s the telling phrase, when it notes that Moffat agreed to stay to ensure we didn’t get a three year gap between series of Doctor Who: “the alternative might have been to have had no Doctor Who at all between Christmas 2015 and the autumn of 2018”.

The last series of the show started in the spring, and series 9 before that kicked off in September of 2015. It does all suggest that, for the time being at least, Doctor Who is on an 18 month cycle.

Official confirmation hasn’t been forthcoming, but given that Doctor Who series 11 isn’t due to start filming until later this year, it seems likely we’re looking at an autumn start for the next run.

Via CultBox by Martin Prince

The 13th Doctor has already met the Daleks - four years ago

Well this is all rather timey-wimey. We were only introduced to Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker this month and yet it turns out she had already met her arch-nemeses the Daleks four years ago...

In this interview on the red carpet at the 2013 Bafta TV awards, an appropriately blonde Whittaker can be seen alongside Broadchurch co-star Andrew Buchan as a Dalek drifts into view behind her.

But the Time Lady and the tinpot terror are giving each other a bit more respect than usual, with the Dalek flicking its eye-stalk towards her before calmly turning in the other direction, while Whittaker doesn't turn around but does mention in passing that she's "starstruck" to be in her enemy's presence.


Could a female Doctor mean the start of a new era of improved Doctor-Dalek relations? And more to the point, could this be where Chris Chibnall first got the inspiration for casting his Broadchurch star in Doctor Who?

Via Radio Times by Paul Jones

Who's at The Playhouse




WHO'S AT THE PLAYHOUSE is a one day event celebrating DOCTOR WHO and his robot companion K9.

Sunday 1st October 10.30am - 6pm 2017
Prices from: Tickets: Full: £45 Child/Senior: £25

Meet the stars of DOCTOR WHO in non-stop day of stage interviews, celebrity autograph panels and photograph sessions on what will be the 40th anniversary of K9’s first appearance on Saturday 1st October 1977!

PETER DAVISON & COLIN BAKER, the Fifth & Sixth Doctors, lead our line-up of DOCTOR WHO stars appearing on stage, joining them are a wealth of guests celebrating K9’s fortieth anniversary, including LOUISE JAMESON, who played the Fourth Doctor’s savage sidekick Leela, and K9 ‘himself’ in the guise of the man who has played the robot dog’s voice for four decades, JOHN LEESON!

STOP PRESS: Visual Effects Designer MAT IRVINE, actor JEMMA CHURCHILL (The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, Big Finish) and K9 himself will now be attending too!

Ticket price includes:

- Entry to the WHO’S AT THE PLAYHOUSE which includes non-stop celebrity interviews with Q&A’s from 10.30am to 6pm.
- Access to the Celebrity Autograph Panel, where you can meet the stars of DOCTOR WHO!
- One FREE autograph from each guest on Celebrity Autograph Panel
(Does not include Special Guest Celebrity’s Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Louise Jameson or John Leeson or sponsored guests)
- Event Entry Badge
- Limited Edition Souvenir Poster
- Access to Exclusive Merchandise Discounts available on the day.
- £2.00 OFF admission to an exclusive event: JOHN LEESON: A DOG’S LIFE Sun 1st Oct at 7.30pm

John Leeson retraces some of his steps across a freewheeling and multi-faceted career, including finding himself best known as the voice of K9 after nearly 40 years in the DOCTOR WHO dog house!
http://www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk/shows/john-leeson-dogs-life

Special Guest Celebrity Autographs

- Peter Davison autograph: £20.00 each
- Colin Baker autograph: £20.00 each
- Louise Jameson autograph: £10.00 each
- John Leeson autograph: £10.00 each

- Additional autographs from all other guest celebrity’s: £10.00 each

  Special Guest/Celebrity Photographs – get your picture taken with our celebrity guests
- Professional photograph with Peter Davison autograph: £15.00 each
- Professional photograph with Colin Baker: £15.00 each

- Professional photograph with all other guest celebrity’s: £10.00 each

Tickets available from: http://www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk/shows/whos-playhouse

For all the latest guest announcements and news, please visit: www.whosattheplayhouse.co.uk

Terms & Conditions Apply. All guests appear subject to professional commitments.

John Barrowman has appendix removed

The former 'Doctor Who' star was taken to Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, for emergency surgery after he collapsed in agony earlier this week.

Taking to his Instagram account after the operation yesterday (25.07.17), he said in a short clip: "I feel like I have been hit by a car. I'm just sore all over and my voice is sore because of the tube going down my throat. The staff in the surgery knew who I was, they were fans which was kind of funny. I was just lucky my appendix didn't burst, they caught it in time. I was in a lot of agony yesterday. I knew something was up, I felt really bad."

Although he's in a bad way, the 50-year-old actor - who also starred in the spin-off 'Torchwood' - has assured fans he's on the mend and will be back home "soon."

He added: "In the surgery they made three incisions on my belly and then did it by laser. I'm just glad it went well and hopefully I should get home soon."

And two hours later, John appeared to be in brighter spirits as he posed for a photograph of him in his TARDIS socks that had been knitted by a 'Doctor Who' fan.

He accompanied the shot with the caption: "Got my fan made #TARDIS socks on keeping my feet warm in the hospital. JB (sic)"

Via The List

An Audience with Katy Manning

Room 5064 Productions are holding 'An Audience with Katy Manning, famous for her portral of the Third Doctors companion Jo Grant.

It will be held on Sunday the17th Sep at 2:00pm - 5:00pm at the Fab Café Bar in Manchester.

Join them for 'an unforgettable afternoon with real Doctor Who royalty, Katy Manning - expect clips, treats and all the usual goodies from us.'

Admission includes one free autograph with further autographs available for an additional £5 charge. 

Mark Gatiss talks Unmade 'Indiana Jones' Tenth Doctor Story

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine – issue 515, out July 27 – includes an exclusive and in-depth with writer/actor Mark Gatiss about his Doctor Who career so far.

Gatiss has just been announced as part of the cast for the Doctor Who 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon A Time, alongside Peter Capaldi (The Twelfth Doctor), Pearl Mackie (Bill Potts) and David Bradley (The First Doctor).

Besides talking about the numerous Doctor Who stories Mark has written and starred in, the writer also discussed an episode from 2008 which never made it to television and would have featured David Tennant as The Tenth Doctor.

Doctor Who Magazine states that The Suicide Exhibition, as it was titled, was on the "verge of production for a while in the late 2000s". Initially, the episode was scheduled to appear in Series Four in 2008. Instead, The Fires of Pompeii was produced though Mark recalls then Executive Producer Julie Gardner suggested that the adventure could be made as part of the Tenth Doctor "Specials" year in 2009.

Despite putting "a lot of work into it," the story was never made.

But what is The Suicide Exhibition all about?

In brief, it's an "Indiana Jones" style adventure involving Nazis in the British Museum during World War Two. Mark expands:

    “The title came from this thing I was reading about how, in the First World War, they were evacuating stuff from museums to various Welsh museums. All this precious stuff, they hid in places like salt mines. But what they had in both World Wars was this amazing thing called the Suicide Exhibition. People still needed stuff to see, for spiritual succour. So if they had 300,000 Anglo Saxon pots, they just put some of them out that they could afford to lose! If a bomb fell, it wouldn’t matter, because they had loads of them."

Gatiss also recalls the early process of script writing on the episode and the feedback from then showrunner Russell T Davies:

    "After the first draft, Russell said, ‘Let’s make it the Nazis and do the full Indiana Jones on it.’ The whole museum was a puzzle box of sliding doors and traps and stuff."

Sadly, this story didn't make it to the screen but Mark doesn't harbour any hope that it might one day be produced:

    "I would’ve liked to have done it, but it was not to be!"

Via doctorwho.tv by Cameron K McEwan

Colin Baker is backing Idris Elba for the Doctor

The former 'Doctor Who' star - who portrayed the sixth incarnation of the popular sci-fi character - thinks it is only a matter of time before the BBC opt for a black Doctor after they appointed Jodie Whittaker as the first female in the role, and he is hoping the 'Luther' actor gets the nod.

He is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper as saying: "I suppose changing gender and racial type at the same time might have been too brave for them.

"There's been a lot of speculation that it could have been Idris Elba and that he would make a brilliant Doctor. The fact is he would.

"Now they've broken the bravery barrier I'd say watch that space because it would be entirely right."

Colin recently admitted he was delighted that a female Doctor had been cast for the first time, congratulating incoming executive producer Chris Chibnall on the appointment.

He said: "I have repeatedly stated publicly that I personally would not just welcome but expect a female Doctor, but that I doubted the courage of the decision-makers at the BBC to allow a showrunner to explore the exciting opportunities afforded by such brave and game-changing casting.

"Clearly I was wrong and I congratulate Chris Chibnall, the incoming executive producer and writer, on succeeding where others may have failed or maybe not even tried.

"What is doubly encouraging is the fact he has very long track record of writing good strong parts for men and women alike, including the new Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, who was superb in 'Broadchurch'.

"I do not believe catastrophe awaits 'Doctor Who' and expect a renaissance - not that one is needed. Peter Capaldi was magnificent and was a refreshing contrast to the youthful trend that preceded him (who were also superb I hasten to add)."

Jodie's selection hasn't gone without criticism from some, but Colin blasted "fans" who claim they won't watch the programme any more following the female casting.

He wrote on Twitter: "Cannot deny that I am amazed by the 'never watch it again' reaction by some viewers ( I hesitate to call them 'fans'). Very sad (sic)"

Via The List

Whotopia - Issue 31 Cover and Details

WHOTOPIA ISSUE 31: THE ROBERT HOLMES ISSUE

In this edition...

POINT / COUNTERPOINT: THE CASE FOR ROBERT HOLMES
Join Michael S. Collins & Jon Arnold as they ponder the works of the late great Robert Holmes

ROBERT HOLMES: THE EARLY YEARS
Bob Furnell picks up his biographer’s lens and takes a look at Robert Holmes early career

COLUMN: WHOLIFE HOLMESLIFE
Grant Bull takes a unique look at Holmes’ life and works

HOLMES WHO REVIEWED
Our panel review every story written by Robert Holmes

NOVELIZING THE SCRIPT: THE TWO DOCTORS
Matthew Kresal focuses on Holmes novelization of his sixth Doctor script

COLUMN: TARGET TRAWL
Nick Mellish continues his journey reading every single Target novel

SICK SOCIETY: HOW THE DYSTOPIAN NARRATIVE INFLUENCED DOCTOR WHO
Steve Traves opens the lid on one of the series’ most enduring themes

COLUMN: THE DOCTOR WHO SCHOLAR: FILE UNDER POLITICS
This issue Jeremy discusses how the Doctor’s travels have touched upon the cultural events of their time

BERNICE SUMMERFIELD UNBOUND
Matthew Kresal examines the Big Finish audio boxset

WHO YOU BUILD
Steve Traves explores more full-scale Doctor Who model making

THE BLACK ARCHIVES REVIEWED
This issue Andrew Screen takes a look at Dark Water/Death In Heaven and Ghost Light

THE TENTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES
Jessica Chaleff takles this new series of audio adventures from Big Finish

MASTER WHO PART 4: ERIC ROBERTS
Dan Tessier details Eric Roberts version of ‘The Master’

COLUMN: THE FANZINE CORNER
Bob Furnell returns with a special one-off edition of this popular column

THE AUDIO ARCHIVES: RETURN OF THE KROTONS
Andrew Screen considers this audio sequel to Holmes’ first ever ‘Who’ script

COLUMN: THE CURATE’S EGG
Richard Michaels defends three of Holmes’ bug-eyed monster creations
All this and more in the latest issue

**COVER BY ROBERT CARPENTER**

Whotopia Issue 31 is available in both a free-to-download PDF VERSION at: http://www.whotopia.ca

and a HARDCOPY VERSION  which can be purchased at www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/whotopia-issue-31/21173200
 

Russell T Davies to receive Outstanding Achievement Award at Edinburgh TV Fest

Former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies is to receive Edinburgh Television Festival’s 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award.
The writer and producer will receive the prize from from television producer and founder of Red Production Company Nicola Shindler, the executive who oversaw one of his first major TV hits, Channel 4 drama Queer as Folk. Last year's winner was Happy Valley and To Walk Invisible writer Sally Wainwright.

The presentation on Friday 25th August 2017 follows a panel talk in which Davies will discuss creating some of the UK’s best television dramas, from shows like Bob & Rose – starring Alan Davies as a gay man who has an affair with his female best friend – to The Second Coming which starred Christopher Eccleston as the son of God.

Following his work on Doctor Who and spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, more recently Davies created Cucumber, Banana, Tofu for Channel 4, three interconnected drama series which earned Davies the BAFTA for Best Drama Writer.

Davies then went on to adapt A Midsummer Night’s Dream for BBC1, and is currently working on A Very English Scandal, the story of disgraced politician Jeremy Thorpe, for the same channel.

Diederick Santer, the Edinburgh TV Festival’s Advisory Chair said: “I am delighted that Russell is returning to the TV Festival to receive our Outstanding Achievement Award. He’s the man behind some of the nation’s favourite dramas, and his career continues to be incredibly successful and remarkably varied. I am very excited to hear what will no doubt be an insightful and funny look back over 30 years of great work.

"And with his long-term collaborator Nicola Shindler of Red asking the questions, we can be sure there’ll be no holds barred.”

The Davies session is one of a number that is being made available to the public. Tickets are available here. 

Via Radio Times by Ben Dowell

Steven Moffat knew female Doctor was next in Season 10

Exiting Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has revealed that he knew the next Doctor would be a woman, but he didn’t know who would be playing the role. In a break with tradition, Jodie Whittaker was announced as the first female Doctor in series history, with the actress set to take over from Peter Capaldi when he regenerates during the 2017 Christmas special, ‘Twice Upon a Time.’

Capaldi’s departure coincides with the departure of showrunner Steven Moffat, while Whittaker’s arrival also heralds the start of a new showrunner in the form of Chris Chibnall, who has written for Doctor Who before, and has worked with Whittaker on TV drama, Broadchurch.

Chibnall said that he always knew he wanted a female Time Lord, and, speaking at a press room attended by Screen Rant at San Diego Comic-Con, Moffat revealed that he knew it was coming all along:

    “I’ve known for the entire series I’ve been working on that the next Doctor was going to be a woman. I didn’t know that it would be Jodie. I didn’t know that until the Friday before the announcement. I didn’t want to know until Peter knew. That was my rule.”

Moffat’s comments also tie in with several references made during Doctor Who season 10, which alluded to females being the future. During one scene, Bill asked the Doctor if Time Lords were “a bit flexible about all of that,” to which the Doctor replied “We’re the most civilized civilization in the universe. We’re billions of years beyond your petty human obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes.”

During the finale, a bitter Master, played by John Simm, asked the Doctor “Is the future going to be all girl?” and he answered “we can only hope,” well, his hopes have possibly been realized. The arrival of Whittaker into the TARDIS is certainly a massive change, and a step in the right direction, though who will play her companion (and what gender they will be) is yet to be revealed. We do know, though, that Pearl Mackie won’t be back as Bill. While some have not taken the news of a female Doctor all that well, Moffat is adamant that it really doesn’t make any difference; it’s just a pronoun:

    “It makes absolutely no difference. It’s a pronoun. This man/woman doesn’t have any masculine qualities and probably won’t have any feminine qualities, either. He’s an alien in the form of a human male, now an alien in the form of a human female and that’s it.”

During the Doctor Who Christmas special, when Whittaker will make her debut, we will see Twelve desperately trying to stave off his regeneration, while the first Doctor (played by David Bradley) will put in an appearance to remind him that it’s time to leave. The future Doctor might be played by a woman, but if Moffat’s opinions are taken into account, viewers shouldn’t notice all that much of a difference in her actions, thoughts, and words.

Via Screen Rant by Becky Fuller

Pearl Mackie confirms that she will not return to Doctor Who beyond the Christmas special

Pearl Mackie has confirmed that Bill’s final Doctor Who episode will be this year’s Christmas special, Twice Upon a Time.

Speaking at San Diego Comic Con’s Doctor Who panel, Mackie said that her character Bill would not be staying on beyond the Christmas special, which means she will not be joining Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor in series 11. The news means that Bill, a huge hit with Doctor Who fans, will only have served one full series on the show.

 The series 10 series finale saw Bill seemingly have a happy ending, after transforming from her Cyberman-form and joining alien entity Heather on new adventures. In the trailer for the Christmas special, however, Bill is seen to be reunited with the Doctor, giving him a big lovely hug.

"It's been such an amazing journey. It's such an incredible show and it's so well loved," Mackie said at the panel. She did add, however, that she would ‘never say never’ to a future appearance.

Well, in Doctor Who, is it ever truly goodbye?

Via Radio Times

Doctor Who returns at Christmas with 'Twice Apon a Time'


This years Christmas Special is entitled 'Twice Upon a Time' it was announced during the cast panel at the San Diego Comic Con.


Cast details so far: Pearl Mackie is returning as Bill Potts, and Mark Gatiss guest stars as 'The Captain' a World War One soldier, plus Peter Capaldi’s current Doctor teams up with the First Doctor, played by David Bradley.

Here's the trailer...


BBC America also posted a Peter Capaldi tribute, “The universe shows its true face when it asks for help. We show ours by how we respond.”

‘Doctor Who’ Stars Pearl Mackie and Michelle Gomez Recall Their Last Days on Set



With a new Doctor in Jodie Whittaker getting set to take Doctor Who in a bold new direction, the beloved series is saying goodbye to several of its cast members. While Peter Capaldi is set to return for his final go as everyone’s favorite Time Lord in the upcoming Christmas special, his co-stars Michelle Gomez and Pearl Mackie have left. Gomez and Mackie dropped by Yahoo TV’s suite at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 and chatted about their farewell.


In the final episode of Doctor Who‘s tenth series, the Doctor had to square off against two incarnations of The Master, one played by Gomez, and the other by David Tennant-era fan favorite, John Simm. Gomez was delighted by the experience.

Pearl Mackie and Michelle Gomez chatted about their last days on ‘Doctor Who’ with Yahoo TV at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 (Photo: Yahoo)

“That’s narcissism at its best, isn’t it?” says Gomez. “[It’s] deliciously, gloriously wrong. It was fun. It was weird. I’m looking at a male version of myself, loving myself. And it’s not on a kind of romantic level or physical level. It’s really digging me. It was beautifully nuanced and wonderfully played by another actor called John Simm. It was interesting and a challenge that I think worked, I hope.”

“My favorite bit was when he was putting on eyeliner,” chimes in Mackie. “I love that. He just sat there, practicing. I love that.”

Working on Doctor Who requires a lot of time on set, something Mackie noted when she recalled her last day of shooting. “The last day of the season was pretty epic, as you would expect,” she reminisces. “Ten months is a long time to be on set pretty much every day and it was kind of like a family by the time we wrapped it up.”

“The last day started for me in a read-through,” adds Gomez. “I was like, ‘This is the last time I will do this and the last time I’ll do that… It was a series of last times of everything and it was very, very sad.”

Via Yahoo TV

Doctor Who at the San Diego Comic-Con


A selection of Videos from the San Diego Comic Con...












Mark Gatiss is in the Doctor Who Christmas special




One little extra nugget of casting for the Doctor Who Christmas special has come to light. In an interview at San Diego Comic-Con, Steven Moffat has revealed that “Mark [Gatiss] is in the Christmas special”.


The exact role that Gatiss is going to be playing hasn’t been confirmed, as you might expect. But the man himself described working on the story by declaring ““it was amazing, it was a privilege, an honour”.

“It’s a beautiful episode for Peter to go out on, very Christmassy”, he added.

Capaldi added that Gatiss delivers “a wonderful performance” in the episode, teasing that he plays “a wonderful character who’s quite a resonant echo of the Doctor Who story”.

But that’s all we’re getting so far. The last time Mark Gatiss – who has, of course, written plenty of stories for the show – appeared in a Doctor Who episode was 2011’s The Wedding Of River Song, but on screen, his best known Who performance was 2007’s The Lazarus Experiment.

Via Digital Spy by Martin Prince, and Stewart Seyfried for the video