Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: Return of the Zygons!

Following yesterday's first script read-through for the Doctor Who anniversary special, publicity photos were released online by BBC Cardiff. 

Matt Smith, David Tennant, and Jenna Louise Coleman joined their latest co-star, the Welsh actress Joanna Page, best known for sitcom, Gavin & Stacey.

Today, the Corporation revealed that 'classic' series monsters, the Zygons will also feature in the forthcoming story. Often cited as Tannant's favourite Who baddie, these shape-shifting aliens' only television appearance was in Terror of the Zygons, way back in 1975.

Filming on the special began today, and the newly re-designed Zygon seen here was pictured on location, outside Neath, South Wales.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: First Casting News

The BBC today confirmed reports -previewed in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine - that David Tennant and Billie Piper will reprise their roles as the Doctor and Rose Tyler for November's anniversary special.

Despite many reported denials, the actors have long been rumoured to be making a return to the programme.

Tennant and Piper last appeared as the Tenth Doctor and Rose in The End of Time on New Year's Day, 2010.

The hour-long special - to be shown in 3D on TV and in cinemas - also stars yet another Harry Potter film actor, John Hurt (Alien, The Elephant Man, V for Vendetta, and Channel 4's new historical saga, Labyrinth), Ken Bones, Marshall Griffin, and newcomer Orlando James.

The celebratory story, scripted by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran, will commence production next week.

Vintage 'Doctor Who' Scripts Discovered

The Radio Times website has reported that a collection of the earliest Doctor Who scripts has been unearthed in Kent by local prop maker and researcher, Jason Onion.

Six documents, hidden for fifty years, were loaned from Joan Coburn Moon - the widow of writer Anthony Coburn - and include two versions of the first episode, An Unearthly Child, an alternative draft of The Cave of Skulls, and the complete scripts for The Masters of Luxor. This 'lost story' was ultimately replaced by Terry Nation's The Daleks but was eventually dramatised last year by Big Finish.

Tom Cole writes: "You can see that the template for the Daleks came from [Coburn]... these episodes [see] a device to unlock TARDIS, which became the sonic screwdriver, and the science [of] regeneration" said Onion. “This find completes the genesis of [the show] from Coburn's imagination. The drafts explain the mystery of Doctor Who, his origins, his people and all the background.” 

Meanwhile, Rob Leigh of the Daily Mirror stated that Coburn was inspired by the sight of a real Police Box outside Televison Centre to devise the TARDIS exterior, and that the scripts provide the original names of the ship and the Doctor's planet. Susan (originally Suzanne) is also revealed as "a princess saved from another world" and Coburn is hailed as creator of "the cornerstones of Doctor Who that have been expanded on.. ever since".

Australian-born Coburn, a writer and producer at the BBC from the 1950's, lived in Herne Bay, and died in Canterbury in 1977, aged just 49.

A Tribute To Raymond Cusick (1928-2013)

News broke today that former BBC designer Ray Cusick has died after a short illness, aged 84. His daughter, Claire Heawood said that Cusick passed away on Thursday at his home near Horsham in West Sussex.

Raymond Patrick Cusick was born in London, and planned to be a civil engineer, but then joined the army. After a stint stationed in Palestine, Cusick planned to take up teaching instead. Having taught art, he then took an interest in design and joined Granada Television. This led to a move to the BBC as a staff designer, which included being assigned to the fledgling Doctor Who. Here, he was to come up with the design of the Daleks, which are one of the key elements that made the fifty-year old programme the success it has become. 

Unfortunately, Cusick had always played second fiddle to Dalek creator, Terry Nation - as a salaried Corporation employee, he was not paid royalties, whilst the writer became a millionaire. Cusick (pictured in 1964) only ever wanted to be credited as the designer.

Besides his contribution to The Daleks, Cusick was production designer on The Edge of Destruction, The Keys of Marinus, The Sensorites, Planet of Giants, The Rescue, The Romans, The Chase, Mission to the Unknown, and The Daleks' Master Plan.

The designer's final work for the BBC was on their Miss Marple series (1987), and in June 2008, Cusick appeared in the Doctor Who Confidential episode, Friends and Foe.

Doctor Who @ 50: An Adventure In Space And Time [Update 2]

Studio filming on the Doctor Who 50th anniversary biopic continued yesterday at BBC TV Centre. Scenes from An Unearthly Child were recreated for An Adventure in Space and Time, and the replica TARDIS set can be seen above in the first image to feature the regular cast. In front of the boom operator, from the left, are Jamie Glover (playing William Russell as Ian), Jemma Powell (Jacqueline Hill as Barbara), David Bradley (William Hartnell as the Doctor), and Claudia Grant (Carole Ann Ford as Susan).

The production has also reconstructed the Totter's Lane scrapyard set and the Police Box prop.

Period cameras and other vintage gallery and studio equipment has been provided by Golden Age Television Recreations.

Further casting news for the drama has been confirmed today. Current voice of the Daleks, Nicholas Briggs will appear as the original Dalek voice artist, Peter Hawkins, and the part of TARDIS set designer, Peter Brachacki is taken by David Annen. Another newcomer, Sophie Holt has been cast as Dodo actress, Jackie Lane.
Minor roles have gone to Elaine Andrews (as Mum), Philip C Francis (as Customer), Ernest Gormov (as BBC designer), and John Foreman (passerby).

The crew now includes Matthew Patnick (line producer), Simon Maloney (first assistant director), Richard Cookson (script editor), and Daniel Bishop (camera operator).

Doctor Who @ 50: An Adventure In Space And Time

Dhawan, Gatiss & Hussein at the recent BFI screening of An Unearthly Child

Further details about the golden anniversary biopic, An Adventure in Space and Time were released today.

Commissioned last August by BBC Two, the ninety-minute docudrama penned by Sherlock co-creator and Nu Who writer and actor Mark Gatiss will commence production at Television Centre in early February, before moving to Wimbledon Studios.

The programme will tell the story of the genesis of Doctor Who, a story that began more than fifty years ago. Yorkshire-born actor, David Bradley has been cast as William Hartnell, the First Doctor. He was last seen as Solomon in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, and even voiced the alien Shansheeth for The Sarah Jane Adventures story, Death of the Doctor (2010), but he is more famous as Hogwarts caretaker, Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series. Bradley commented on his new role:
"I'm absolutely thrilled.. Mark has written such a wonderful script, not only about the birth of a cultural phenomenon, but a moment in television's history. Hartnell was one of the finest character actors of our time and as a fan I want to make sure that I do him justice. I'm so looking forward to getting started."

The role of BBC Head of Drama, Sydney Newman, credited with creating Doctor Who, has gone to Scottish actor, Brian Cox (the voice of the Elder Ood in The End of Time). Founding producer Verity Lambert will be portrayed by Call the Midwife actress, Jessica Raine, who also stars as Emma Grayling in forthcoming episode, Phantoms of the Hex. Director of An Unearthly Child, Waris Hussein will be played by Manchunian, Sacha Dhawan (from Last Tango in Halifax).
Casting news for the other leads, Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) and Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman) has not been announced yet, and it has been rumoured that Jamie Glover (son of Julian Glover) may have been cast as William Russell (Ian Chesterton).
Matt Strevens (Misfits, Skins) has been appointed producer, and Terry McDonough (The Street) will direct the serial.
Gatiss, also joining Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner as executive producers, said:
"What a cast! I'm utterly delighted that everyone's favourite Time Lord will be in such brilliant and stellar company. We have a terrific team who can't wait to tell the fascinating and surprising story of how the Doctor began his journey through Space and Time."

Empire Presents The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time

It's almost five years since cinema magazine Empire published their own list of the best ever TV shows, so surely it's time to reappraise the findings.
As any dedicated Whovian will admit, it's difficult (nigh impossible) to remain objective when any similar new poll is unveiled, for Doctor Who is without doubt, THE greatest television programme in the world. This particular survey needs urgent revision, simply because our favourite show warrants not just a higher standing than sixteenth place, but also recognition for the 'classic' era - only the revived, 21st century incarnation is included here. Consequently, the periodical cites (the much deserved) Blink as the best example of the series, whilst neglecting all pre-2005 stories.

Not surprisingly, the list - predominantly sci-fi and fantasy related and topped by The Simpsons - is characterised by influential US programming (in fact accounting for 78% of the whole study). The only British entries (eight of which are BBC produced) are Cracker (#44), Only Fools and Horses (#42), Life On Mars (#40), Monty Python's Flying Circus (#39), Father Ted (#36), Fawlty Towers (#28), Red Dwarf (#26), The Office (#23), Blackadder (#20), Doctor Who, and Spaced in tenth position.
So, Empire commented thus:

Great Doctor Who Quotes #43

"This is one corner of one country, in one continent, on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying, and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much.. to see, because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things, I'm running to them. Before they flare and fade forever."

- The Doctor, The Power of Three (September 22 2012)

Written by Chris Chibnall

Radio Times TV Review of 2012

That venerable publishing colossus, Christmas perennial, and loyal Doctor Who advocate, the Radio Times, has revealed the results of their annual survey. Their website's 'Top 40 shows' of the year has placed the show at a respectable number fifteen (down from eigth position last year, and probably due to a reduced run of episodes).

Steven Moffat's other BBC One drama, Sherlock tops the list, voted for by the magazine's critics. You can read the complete list here. RT writer and resident Whovian Patrick Mulkern comments:

15. Doctor Who BBC1
"It was a lean year for [the programme], and the promise of “five blockbuster episodes” may have been puff, but there were classics in the mix. The (kind of) new companion debuted by surprise, unaware she was the maddest Dalek in the asylum with her obsession for soufflé: “Eggs-ter-min-ate!” Who could resist dinosaurs and Nefertiti running riot on a spaceship, or the mystery of the black cubes and Jemma Redgrave as the new Brigadier? She must return! Then the Angels in Manhattan robbed us of the Ponds. Their timey-wimey dispersal left a hole in the Doctor’s hearts. And ours. "

The Best (and Worst) Doctor Who of 2012

The io9 science blog published it's annual TV review of the year last week. The Best and Worst Television Moments of 2011, again from Meredith Woerner, features two recent Doctor Who stories. 

The season opener, Asylum of the Daleks is actually named as both one of the 'Best' and 'Worst' shows. The story is praised for the shock introduction of Jenna Louise Coleman as "the dazzling Oswin Oswald" then criticised for the Ponds' divorce storyline: "Amy and Rory pretend to fight for almost 25 seconds. This whole divorce.. was a sham.. [it] came from nowhere and went right back there.. [they] deserved better than this.. Amy sure as hell wouldn't "give up" Rory. If Amy has proven one thing, it's that she will fight to the bitter end for her centurion. Same goes for Rory. Boo to this facade of emotion."

Thankfully, the list of top sci-fi and fantasy programmes redeems the show, and includes Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, described as a "bit of fun before we had to say goodbye to the Ponds forever. This episode.. was a nice return to the "fun" Doctor, if only for a while."

Doctor Who Gets the Stamp of Approval

All eleven actors to have portrayed the Doctor on television since 1963 are featured on First Class stamps next year. The Royal Mail today unveiled their Doctor Who 50th Anniversary collections, which presents every incarnation of the Time Lord, whilst the Second Class set showcases the programme's greatest monsters and the iconic TARDIS (pictured below).

Andrew Hammond of the Royal Mail said that the commemorative stamps paid "tribute to the brilliant actors that have played the Doctor over the years, as well as the adversaries that helped make the show so popular".

Meanwhile, current Doctor Who show-runner Steven Moffat has promised "tremendous surprises" for the golden anniversary year.

Both William Hartnell (pictured above) and David Tennant have already appeared on a postage stamp - when celebrating the Carry On films (Carry On Sergeant, 2008), and the RSC (Hamlet, 2011) respectively. The Daleks were first honoured with a celebratory Millennium stamp in 1999.
The new stamp sets are available in March.

Great Doctor Who Quotes #41

"This was exactly you. All this, all of it. You make them so afraid. When you began all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name, Doctor. The word for 'healer' and 'wise man', throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean?

To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word 'doctor' means 'mighty warrior'. How far you've come. And now they've taken a child, the child of your best friends - and they're going to turn her into a weapon, just to bring you down.

And all this, my love, in fear of you."

- River Song, A Good Man Goes to War (June 4th 2011)

Written by Steven Moffat

Great Doctor Who Quotes #40

"This is Emergency Programme One. Rose, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing - we must in danger, and I mean fatal. I'm dead, or about to die any second with no chance of escape... And that's okay. I hope it's a good death. But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home... And I bet you're fussing and moaning now, typical. But hold on, and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Programme One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you should do - let the TARDIS die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it, no one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on, and the box will be buried. And if you wanna remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all, one thing. Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life."

- The Doctor, The Parting of the Ways (June 18th 2005)

Written by Russell T Davies 

The Genesis of Doctor Who: An Adventure In Space And Time

Back in February, rumours began that writer and actor, Mark Gatiss, was to pen a TV biopic that examined the genesis of Doctor Who (see here). Well, today a press release announced that a BBC Two drama has been commissioned to mark the programme's fiftieth anniversary. 

Indeed scripted by Gatiss, An Adventure in Space and Time will chronicle the origins of the show, akin to The Road to Coronation Street which aired on BBC Four for the soap opera's own 50th birthday in 2010.  The writer said "This is the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true television original. And how an actor - William Hartnell - stereotyped in hard-man roles became a hero to millions of children. I've wanted to tell this story for more years than I can remember! To make it happen.. is quite simple a dream come true."
The single 90-minute drama is co-produced by Caroline Skinner and current showrunner Steven Moffat, who said: "The story of Doctor Who is the story of television - so it's fitting in the anniversary year that we make our most important journey back in time to see how the TARDIS was launched."
The production and transmission schedule will be confirmed next year, and much speculation already surrounds the casting process.

A Tribute to Mary Tamm (1950-2012)

It was reported this morning by her agent, that Mary Tamm had died after a long battle with cancer. The actress best known for her portrayal as the first incarnation of Romana in season sixteen of Doctor Who, was 62. Tributes have been led by Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, who said: "She was a darling companion and wonderfully witty and kind" whilst a "shell-shocked" Colin Baker wrote on twitter that she was "a funny, caring, talented, lovely and down-to-earth lady." Steven Moffat said that Tamm was "the ice queen on the TARDIS.. who thought the Doctor was her companion" and she has been remembered by other former time travellers Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines, Nichola Bryant, and Lousie Jameson.

Tamm was born in Bradford in 1950 to Estonian immigrant parents, and after graduating at RADA, she began her career at the Birmingham Repetory Theatre with Derek Jacobi, Joan Sims, and Ronnie Barker. She moved to London in 1972, and made her television debut in ATV's Hunter's Walk. Further TV roles in Coronation Street, and Return of the Saint followed. Then after film roles in The Odessa File, and The Likely Lads, Tamm was cast as the Time Lady, Romana - short for Romanadvoratrelundar. 

Tamm was not initially interested in playing a Doctor Who companion, but producer Graham Williams assured her that Romana was not intended as another "damsel in distress" - she was a 'Time Lady' who was as capable as the Doctor. However, Tamm left the programme after only one season because she felt that her character had in fact reverted to the traditional assistant function, and a proper transition to her successor, Lalla Ward was never planned.

Tamm later made guest appearances in The Bill, Jonathan Creek, Doctors, EastEnders, and had a regular role as Penny Crosbie in Brookside.

Romana featured in all six stories of the 'Key to Time' season, broadcast from September 1978 to February 1979, but Tamm returned to the role for Big Finish's Gallifrey audio drama series in 2005. Her latest recording as the Time Lady, was in Tales from the Vault, released last July, and a new, 7-part season of Fouth Doctor adventures featuring Tamm's Romana will be issued next year.

Mary Tamm is survived by her husband Marcus Ringrose, her daughter Lauren, and grandson Max.

Great Doctor Who Quotes #39

"When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it'll never end. But however hard you try, you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies and nobody knows it like the Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if he ever, for one moment, accepts it. Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day. Not today. Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all. Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair, and the Doctor comes to call...everybody lives."

- River Song, The Forest of the Dead (June 7th 2008)

Written by Steven Moffat

Great Doctor Who Quotes #38

"Amy, listen to me. I can't save you. I can't do anything to stop this... I stole your childhood and now I've led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew this would happen. This is what always happens... I took you with me because I was vain, because I wanted to be adored... Look at you. Glorious Pond. The girl who waited for me... But I'm not a hero. I really am just a mad man with a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are... Amy Williams, it's time to stop waiting."

- The Doctor, The God Complex (September 17th 2011)

Written by Toby Whithouse

Doctor Who: Even More Series 7 News

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Steven Moffat, and Caroline Skinner will all attend the Doctor Who panel at Comic Con later this month, where the forthcoming Series Seven will be previewed.

So how much do we actually know about the new season? Radio Times reported that the series - again split in half, either side of the Christmas special - will consist of "at least" fourteen episodes. Moffat stated in DWM that there will be no two-parters, and fellow producer Marcus Wilson said that two 'classic' era monsters will make a return appearance - the Ice Warriors are likely candidates.

The title of episode 1 is confirmed as Asylum of the Daleks, and will feature the Special Weapons Dalek, last seen in 1988. Written by Moffat, and directed by Nick Hurran, the season opener will launch at the BFI, then be screened later in Edinburgh, before a probable TV premiere in late August, or early September. Nick Briggs again provides the (many) Dalek voices. 

Episode 2 - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship? - is penned by Chris Chibnall, and helmed by Saul Metzstein. The cast includes Harry Potter film actors Mark Williams and David Bradley, Rupert Graves (Lestrade in Sherlock), and Riann Steele as Queen Nefertiti.

Written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Metzstein, part 3 stars Dominic Kemp, Adrian Scarborough, Ben Browder, Andrew Brooke, Garrick Hagon (Ky in The Mutants), Rob Cavazos, and Joanne McQuinn. Provisionally titled The Gunslinger or A Town Called Mercy, and set in the American Wild West, the story was filmed in  Spain.

The next installment - thought to be called Cubed - is also scripted by Chibnall, directed by Douglas Mackinnon, and sees the return of Williams as Rory's dad, Brian. Other guest stars are Jemma Redgrave (as Kate Stewart), Steven Berkoff, and Ruthie Henshall.

The Ponds leave the programme in the fifth adventure, which is set in New York - location filming took in Central Park - and features the Weeping Angels. Alex Kingston reprises her role as River Song here, opposite co-stars Mike McShane, Rob David, and Bentley Kalu.

New companion Jenna Louise Coleman, rumoured to be named Clara, debuts in this year's Christmas special, which is again written by Moffat.

The eight unplaced episodes for 2013 include Phantoms of the Hex (working title), from Luther creator and Spooks writer, Neil Cross. Dougray Scott (Matt Busby in David Tennant's United), and Jessica Raine head the cast, directed by another newcomer, Jamie Payne (Primeval, and Survivors).

NuWho veteran Mark Gatiss has contributed two scripts for next year. The first is helmed by Mackinnon, and stars David Warner (see my Titanic blog), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Josh O'Connor, and James Norton. His second serial, rumoured to be called The Crimson Horror, features Dame Diana Rigg (Emma Peel in The Avengers), and her daughter Rachael Stirling. Catrin Stewart returns here as Jenny (from last year's A Good Man Goes to War), so her partner Madame Vastra (played by Neve McIntosh) can't be far away.

Great Doctor Who Quotes #37

“He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing… the fury of the Time Lord… and then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden. He was being kind… He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star. He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there… forever. He still visits my sister, once a year, every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her… but there she is. Can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror. Every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for a second, that’s her. That’s always her. As for me, I was suspended in time and the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England as their protector. We wanted to live forever. So the Doctor made sure we did."
- Son of Mine, The Family of Blood (June 2nd 2007)
Written by Paul Cornell

A Tribute to Caroline John (1940-2012)

It was announced today that the actress Caroline John had died of cancer, on June 5th, aged 71. She was best known for her role as Liz Shaw in the ground-breaking seventh season of Doctor Who (January to June 1970). Tributes have been led by current show-runner, Steven Moffat.

John was born in York in 1940, and after training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, she worked in theatre. She toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, before landing the part of Cambridge scientist, Dr Elizabeth Shaw.

Liz was recruited to the newly created UNIT team as their scientific advisor, and John joined the programme   along with a brand new leading actor - Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. John was cast by outgoing producer, Peter Bryant, and  Liz was conceived as a an interlectual equal to the Time Lord. Ironically, it soon became apparent to the show's new production team, helmed by Barry Letts, that this type of companion was actually unsuitable, and  Liz Shaw was written out after just one series. 

John starred in the first four, Third Doctor stories: Spearhead from Space, The Silurians, The Ambassadors of Death, and Inferno. She reprised the character on TV in The Five Doctors (1983), and Dimensions in Time (1993), then later for Big Finish's audio adventures (from 2007). Liz Shaw also featured in the Mark Gatiss scripted P.R.O.B.E. video spin-off series (1994-96).

John was married to Doctor Who co-star, Geoffrey Beevers, who first played the Master in The Keeper of Traken. They starred together in A Very British Coup (1988), and Poirot (1989). They had three children. John's funeral was held in London this week.