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Bessie arrives at Beaulieu's National Motor Museum

The iconic car from the tales of the Time Lords is now on show at the National Motor Museum in the New Forest.

Doctor Who’s much-loved car Bessie, which was a favourite with millions of viewers for its futuristic features in the Seventies, has been put on show in "On Screen Cars" at the Beaulieu museum.

The Earth-based transport for Jon Pertwee’s third Doctor was a bright yellow vintage car replica which starred in many episodes of the cult sci-fi show across two decades.

The car first appeared in the Doctor Who and the Silurians episode in 1970 when the Doctor was stranded on planet Earth and exiled by the Time Lords without the use of his Tardis.

After a string of appearances in the show, Bessie’s last hurrah on the small screen came in 1993 with the charity special episode Dimensions in Time.

Bessie may look like a vintage car, but in reality is a 1954 Ford Popular 103E, fitted with a fibreglass tourer body made by Siva Engineering of Dorset.

Bessie joins the prestigious line-up of motoring stars in "On Screen Cars" at Beaulieu alongside the likes of Del Boy's Reliant Regal Supervan and Mr Bean's green Mini.

Via the Bournemouth Daily Echo

John Challis was once considered for the title role

John Challis is best known to audiences worldwide as Boycie in Only Fools & Horses. And he’s currently touring the UK with his entertaining one man show, where he recalls stories from his career, and takes questions from the audience.

He was in the Midlands last night, and his show covered his appearance in the Doctor Who six-parter The Seeds Of Doom, starring Tom Baker. Challis’ affection for Doctor Who shone through, and when quizzed by a member of the audience later in the evening as to what roles he always coveted but never got, Challis admitted “I always wanted to be Doctor Who”.

He added, though, that “I think I was somewhere in the running at one stage”, although he didn’t elaborate on just when that was. His Who appearance was before his career began to take off with Only Fools & Horses, so he would have been pretty much unknown when Jon Pertwee left the TARDIS, and it’s more likely he was being considered when Tom Baker finally quit the role. From how Challis talked, he didn’t seem to get especially close to the role, just that he was aware he was considered for it.

But his affection for the show was certainly helped by a trip to Boston in the 1970s. He was performing in theatre there, and was one day told that dozens of people were at the stage door waiting for him. Puzzled, given that his profile as an actor was low at this stage, he went to investigate. It turned out to be the local branch of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, and The Seeds Of Doom has just been on local television!

Challis’ tour continues, and you can find details on where to see him next, here.

Via CultBox

Russell T Davies has called the apparent backlash over a female Doctor Who "outrageous"

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Jodie Whittaker would replace Peter Capaldi to become the 13th and first ever female Doctor during this year's Christmas special.

Following the announcement, there was a lot of praise for the decision, with a number of famous faces coming out in support of the refreshing and progressive change.

The decision did prompt some criticism, however, from certain sections of the fanbase, but according to former showrunner Russell T Davies, the naysayers were few and far between.

Speaking to Frank Skinner on his special Absolute Radio podcast, Davies said: "I am on a book tour for this Doctor Who book, so last night there were 200 fans with no doubt [Whittaker will be brilliant].

"I am really tired of the objections. It's outrageous to me, you meet these fans and they are very, very happy that this is happening.

"Maybe 10 people online with different aliases are spouting saying you've ruining the programme and it's all that gets reported."


Elsewhere in the interview, Davies was asked how he felt about some of his narrative choices being retroactively changed by Steven Moffat during his time as showrunner, specifically relating to Gallifrey's salvation in 'The Day of the Doctor'.

"When you leave Doctor Who, you have to take a deep breath and think it's all up for grabs now, it's all there to be rewritten," he mused.

"It was interesting. I love that episode. It wasn't so much the Time Lords disappearing, it was all the Daleks shooting themselves.

"It was like, couldn't any of them [have] missed?"




Skinner quizzed Davies about how he felt when Steven Moffat re-engineered the Time War narrative that he’d written into the show when he brought it back. Was, Skinner asked, Davies in any way “miffed” that an important piece of Doctor Who lore was reworked?

“When you leave Doctor Who, you have to take a deep breath and think it’s all up for grabs now, it’s all there to be rewritten”, Davies said.

“But not retrospectively, surely?” asked Skinner.

“You’re very clever”, laughed Davies. “It was an interesting evening”, he said of the night Day Of The Doctor premiered. “But I love that episode”. 

With a grin on his face – and it’s important to note that there was no criticism being aimed – Davies laughed that “it wasn’t so much the Time Lords reappearing, it was all the Daleks shooting themselves. Couldn’t any of them dodge that?!”

Davies also admitted that since he left Doctor Who, his mind hasn’t come up with one story in the series he’d want to tell. “A year before I knew I was leaving, my mind had moved onto other things”, he said.

Via Digital Spy by Louise McCreesh

Doctor Who Magazine 517

Thirty years after he first appeared as the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy reflects on the role that changed his life…


“We didn’t know that we were breaking rules. And I think we were also blessed by the fact that we didn’t have all that baggage of the past to get in the way…”
“We didn’t know that we were breaking rules. And I think we were also blessed by the fact that we didn’t have all that baggage of the past to get in the way…”

ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE…
DEBORAH WATLING TRIBUTE
DWM remembers the late Deborah Watling, who played the Second Doctor’s companion Victoria from 1967 to 1978, with contributions from Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Frazer Hines.

VICTORIA’S SECRETS
A previously unpublished interview with Deborah Watling from 1990.

VICTOR PEMBERTON TRIBUTE
Remembering the late Doctor Who writer and story editor Victor Pemberton.

GAIL BENNETT
An interview with original American Doctor Who superfan Gail Bennett.

FURY FROM THE DEEP
This month’sFact of Fiction explores 1968’s Fury from the Deep, the last story to feature Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield.

THE PARLIAMENT OF FEAR
Part Three of our brand-new comic strip adventure, The Parliament of Fear, featuring the Doctor and Bill; written by Scott Gray and illustrated by Mike Collins.

DOMINIC GLYNN
The composer recalls writing and recording the score for 1989’s

THE TIME TEAM
The Time Team continues its mission to watch every episode of Doctor Who with 2012’s The Doctor’s Wife.

PLUS! Previews, book and audio reviews, news, the Watcher’s column, prize-winning competitions and much, much more.

Doctor Who Magazine 517 is on sale from Thursday 21 September, price £5.99.