Daleks invade Peterborough exhibition!

The Daleks are invading Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery from May to November.

As Doctor Who celebrates its 20th anniversary since returning to Saturday teatime television in 2005, the Adventures In Time And Space has been put together to give visitors a special look at a timey-wimey collection of props, including a full-scale replica of the TARDIS itself!

Read the full press release:

"The Daleks are coming…

and they’re not alone!

Cybermen, Sontarans, Robots, Sea Devils, Silurians and Weeping Angels are just a few of the monsters being showcased at a brand new exhibition coming to Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery this spring.

This must-see exhibition, entitled Adventures in Time & Space, will feature one of the largest displays of both restored and surviving props from the Doctor Who series for over a decade, meticulously brought back to life by collectors and special effects technicians. From spaceship models, masks, clothing and weapons to life-size monsters, police boxes and even a replica Tardis console, Adventures in Time & Space, will give visitors the chance to see them up close and learn about how they were created and in some cases recreated from surviving blueprints.

Opening at the start of May and running through to November, organisers promise a sci-fi extravaganza with a continually evolving series of displays and special events planned throughout the six-month run, to include celebrity appearances, guest speakers, book signings and the unveiling of the Tardis console.

Sarah Wilson, Heritage Manager at Peterborough Museum; “this exhibition is going to be huge and we are expecting visitors from across the country and even overseas. Doctor Who is a global institution with an unprecedented fan base that spans decades. The independent collection of restored and surviving props and costumes we have to display is immense – how amazing that we can do this in our iconic museum, in itself a time machine with a fascinating history. Peterborough Museum will open 6 days a week from May to ensure we can accommodate the anticipated visitor numbers, so we advise people to book in advance if they don’t want to miss out”.

To accompany Adventures in Time & Space, the museum will delight visitors with the work of two esteemed artists in the adjacent gallery. The Art of Jeff Cummins will open in June, Jeff has produced album covers for greats such as Led Zeppelin and David Bowie along with Doctor Who novel covers. In August, the gallery will host legendary Radio Times photographer Don Smith, who with the support of the Radio Times archives, will share iconic images from magazine covers over the years."

To book tickets, please vist the Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery.

Doctor Who on Children in Need

It's Children in Need on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Ahead of the three specials for the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, David Tennant is reprising the titular role for Children in Need.

Tennant said: “Every year that I was on Doctor Who we did something for BBC Children in Need, so it only feels right to be doing something this year. Children in Need is a national tradition, it’s certainly a BBC tradition and Doctor Who is part of that. I’m so glad we’re able to give Children in Need viewers this little extra treat.”

The Fourteenth Doctor lands on Skaro, homeworld of the Daleks. Linked to the classic Fourth Doctor story Genesis of the Daleks (available on iPlayer), the special scene, written by returning series showrunner Russell T Davies, will be followed by a behind-the-scenes look on Doctor Who: Unleashed on iPlayer.

Davies says: “Doctor Who has a fine tradition of supporting BBC Children in Need, and I hope that fans and new viewers alike will be able to watch, enjoy, and contribute to this wonderful cause.”



Davies responds to Davros' (Julian Bleach) cameo on Children in Need!

"We had long conversations about bringing Davros back because he's a fantastic character," Davies began, but added that "time, society, culture and taste has moved on, and there's a problem with Davros of old, in that he's a wheelchair user, who is evil."

Continuing, Davies said: "I had problems with that, and a lot of people on the production team had problems with that; associating disability with evil – and trust me, there's a very long tradition of this.

"The world changes, and when the world changes, Doctor Who has to change as well."

"I say: 'This is how we see Davros now'," he explained.

"Because it's Children In Need night... where issues of disability and otherness come right to the front of the conversation."

The Star Beast, the first of three 60th anniversary specials starring David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), will be broadcast on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland on 25th November.

Will you be watching Doctor Who on Children in Need? Let me know in the comments below.

The Might of the Daleks

The Might of the Daleks could be one of the best Doctor Who fan films I've ever seen!

YouTuber Josh Snares and a talented team perfectly distil the clawing claustrophobia of the First Doctor's era, most notably Mission to the Unknown, for the 60th anniversary.

Mission to the Unknown is a classic Doctor Who episode unique for not featuring William Hartnell as the titular time traveller, brilliantly remade by students at the University of Central Lancaster with Nicholas Briggs performing the voices of the Daleks. This was a passion project of Professor Andrew Ireland, a friend and fellow Bournemouth University alumni.

I'm sure Hartnell would be proud.



Read the synopsis for The Might of the Daleks:

"On the final days of Continent A, there are no heroes. Only the might of the Daleks."

Includes depiction of suicide. Viewer discretion is advised.

What did you think of The Might of the Daleks? Let me know in the comments below.

If you have a Doctor Who fan film you'd like to share, please contact me.

Groundhog Day of the Daleks

Eve of the Daleks is the first of three Doctor Who specials marking the end of Jodie Whittaker's tenure as the titular Time Lord in 2022.

Nick Smith, our resident US-based stellar scribe, returns from the Flux for some déjà vu of the Daleks.

Guest post by Nick Smith

To say I had a quiet New Year’s Eve would be an understatement. I visited family in Upstate New York, near the Canadian border. No party. No fireworks. No TV. They have no TV, people!

Thank goodness for smart devices and streaming services and all that newfangled spangly stuff, thanks to which I was able to watch the brand-new Doctor Who tale, Eve of the Daleks, on my iPhone.

Unlike previous New Year specials, the tie-in with the holiday seemed less forced and NYE elements were put to good use. Having worked many a New Year’s Eve, I sympathized with Sarah (Aisling Bea) who is stuck in her storage facility while everyone else (even her Mum!) is enjoying their annual bong-bongs.

Almost everyone. She’s joined by Nick (Adjani Salmon), who has a crush on her. We get to know them in a long pre-credits sequence that has me asking, ‘am I watching Doctor Who?’

My question is answered by the arrival of a Dalek, which ruins the chance of the story becoming a full-on romcom. Or does it? The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) find themselves in a time loop with Sarah and Nick, trapped in a Day of the Daleks. The 2020s version of these metal menaces are violent, crafty, they can pop up anywhere… and they kill.

The first Skaro stories I watched were Genesis of the Daleks and its sequel, Destiny of the Daleks. Not only were these monsters important enough to have their names in the title, but they were also downright creepy. To young me, Tom Baker’s teasing didn’t stop them from being menacing and memorable. Their torture of Romana was as inhuman as their voice. They were a threat to be reckoned with.

Here they star in a story with lots of humorous moments and funny one-liners but they still manage to be threatening. Eve of the Daleks seems intended as a bit of a giggle after the more serious Flux. If this was part of a regular season, it would be the ‘comedy episode’ to break up heavier segments.

While the Daleks exterminate all over the place, Yaz’s character is developed when she admits her own feelings to the Doctor. This relationship is being built up slowly and I hope that writer and departing showrunner Chris Chibnall maintains this careful pace to create something more meaningful than the quick Doctor-and-Captain Jack Harkness snog as in 2005’s The Doctor Dances.

Maybe it was a tinge of loneliness in the cold wastes of the New York rust belt, or a drop of Dr. Pepper that went down the wrong way, but I must confess the end of the story with its firework-fueled explosion brought tears to my eyes.

The combination of wit, twists, dangerous situations, romance, likeable characters, kick-bump Daleks and the Doctor’s last stand all made this special… special.

Above all, though, the theme of hope and persistence overcoming death and darkness resonated with me on a cold January night and this was the closest I got to a New Year’s celebration.

Hope in the darkness. It sums up Doctor Who and it’s the reason why we shoot bright sparks into the cloying sky every New Year. That, and they’re both loads of fun.

Did you see Eve of the Daleks? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

New Year's Déjà Vu of the Daleks

Happy New Year! Doctor Who is back for an uplifting and quirky New Year's Day special, Eve of the Daleks.

50 years ago, Day of the Daleks began with Jon Pertwee as the titular Time Lord. The story is notable for the return of the Daleks following a five-year hiatus after Patrick Troughton's The Evil of the Daleks - Terry Nation wanted to launch a Dalek spin-off series in America. So, I'll be rewatching Day of the Daleks on BritBox as part of my birthday month celebrations.



Read the official synopsis for Eve of the Daleks:

"New Year’s Eve. Sarah is working - again. Nick is her only customer - again. Same old same old. Except this year, their countdown to midnight will be the strangest and deadliest they’ve ever known. Why is an Executioner Dalek targeting these two people, in this place, on this night? Why are they having to live through the same moments again? Can the Doctor, Yaz and Dan save them and survive into the New Year?"

Eve of the Daleks, the first of three specials in 2022 marking the end of Jodie Whittaker's era, is on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC America. Stay tuned for Nick Smith's review soon.

The Doctor stuck in jail on New Year's Day

Revolution of the Daleks aired on New Year's Day, exactly 49 years after the first episode of classic Doctor Who serial Day of the Daleks. It's a direct sequel to Resolution.

Was the holiday special a timey-wimey treat? Nick Smith, our US-based stellar scribe, fresh from a nostalgic trip back to 1984, enlists the help of his fam.

Guest post by Nick Smith

"Should we explain it to him?"
"Nah, it’s more fun watching him struggle."

- Ryan and Graham, Revolution of the Daleks

For those of us who have been following Doctor Who for years, New Year’s Day brought the welcome return of the TV show we know and care about with lots of familiar elements. Alien invasion? Check. Feisty companions? Also, check. The Doctor locked up in a cell? Very check, except this prison has had the Doc locked down for much longer than he/she is used to.

So far, so cosy. But with its references to Daleks, time travel, the Doctor’s past and Captain Jack’s immortality, what sense does it make to someone who’s never seen the show? I decided to find out.

The willing test subjects are my workmates Chai from Puerto Rico and ‘Lucky’ Charm, originally from the Philippines. They are fiercely intelligent and good friends who can be relied upon to be brutally honest. Their many questions are answered by my Californian girlfriend Dana, who has been following the show for several years and knows the difference between Kamelion and a Kerblam Man. We live in Florida so we stream the show on BBC America. Since the special is interspersed with LOTS of adverts, there’s plenty of time to fill our friends in on what the show means to us (or in Dana’s case, what David Tennant means to her).

The first question comes when a scene is set “367 minutes later.” Charmaine asks, ‘how many hours is that?’ It doesn’t take Chai six hours to do the maths. But it does distract them while the story continues with a long talky scene between lady in red Jo Patterson (Harriet Walter), who Dana recognizes from The Spanish Princess, and Jack Robertson (Chris Noth), who everyone recognizes from Sex and the City. ‘Why’s Mr. Big there?’ asks Chai. ‘He likes England,’ is Charm’s solution.

We see the Doctor and assorted aliens in prison, including a Pting. Chai wants to know how it excretes the energy it gobbles up and we explain it’s busy trying to eat its way out. Charm gets a sudden phone call and has to go pick up her own companion – her daughter Gabby. Charm’s cheerful verdict on the show: ‘it’s robots attacking humans.’ Doctor Who goes on without her. Will Chai stick around to watch the entire episode? Dana and I are on the edge of our sofa waiting to find out.

Back to the story: As the remnants of the reconnaissance scout from 2019’s Resolution are used to forge a Defence Drone, Chai asks, ‘is this how the Dalek was created?’ so Dana tells her that Revolution leads on from a story broadcast two years ago, and that the Daleks have been around for 57 years. This is how Chai learns how long the show’s been going.

By the time Chai realizes that, ‘the Doctor is in space somewhere,’ Captain Jack Harkness appears in full Papillon mode. On Earth, even the feckless Jack Robertson knows that cloning Dalek DNA is a very bad idea. After that, Chai is hooked. ‘I’m intrigued,’ she says.

So are Dana and I, more by the interactions of the fam we’ve been following since 2018. ‘They shouldn’t be mean to her,’ says Dana, although she understands that Yaz (Mandip Gill) and crew are unhappy because the Doctor has been missing for 10 months. I reason that Ryan (Tosin Cole) – who seems especially troubled compared to his previous appearances – has been in a warzone and is still recovering from fighting the Cybermen, let alone dealing with the realities of being Earthbound after travelling all over time and space.

Chai is more practical. ‘Daleks don’t have spines,’ she says.

‘They rely on a host,’ Dana and Chai say together.

While newbie Chai is enjoying the story and adds Who to her Amazon Prime watchlist, she has a tough time grasping what the TARDIS console is and where it’s located. Veterans know the tropes of the show; new viewers are left, like the clueless Jack Robertson, to flounder. Later it becomes apparent that the ‘device,’ as Chai calls it, is inside a police box. Well, of course!

Once the feature-length episode is done, Chai remains impressed. ‘it captures you,’ she says, ‘even though I don’t know these characters.’ She compares it to the Power Rangers-style Japanese tokusatsu programmes she watched when she was a kid. ‘Something that ran this long became part of the family, through generations.’

What will generations to come think of Revolution of the Daleks? As anticipated, it’s a more traditional “monsters attack” story than the weighty self-reference of The Timeless Children. The Daleks are given their reason for being in the story, not by some Unique Exterminating Point, but because they remind the Doctor of who she is. ‘We’ve got previous,’ she says, ‘we’re not best mates.’

The production is slick and cinematic; sound is the only issue, specifically in a scene where an alarm drowns out what the characters are saying. Writer/showrunner Chris Chibnall reruns bits from previous adventures (Planet of the Spiders and Turn Left, both with an alien intelligence on a companion’s back) and from the Alien franchise (which has already been Whomaged in various stories, including Resurrection of the Daleks and Last Christmas). But it’s a thrilling tale nonetheless, with Jack Robertson providing comic relief and the departure of two companions adding emotional depth to the adventure.

Perhaps Team TARDIS’ disillusionment with the Doctor is supposed to mirror fans’ gripes with the show; if so, Chibnall makes no apologies. He does make the companions’ departures poignant and logical. They will be missed.

Revolution of the Daleks amuses and entertains, with confident lead actors and memorable visuals. At times it feels rushed and a little crowded, leaving Graham (Bradley Walsh) with less screen time than he deserves, considering the focus on relationships and sense of self. Just as the Daleks have a distinct idea of who they are, Revolution also cements present-day Doctor Who’s run-first, ask-questions-later identity, reinforces Jodie Whittaker’s role as the Doctor, and remains accessible for all newcomers.

What did you think and are you excited that John Bishop was teased as new companion, Dan? Let me know in the comments below.

New Year's Day of the Daleks

Happy New Year! This is your polite reminder Doctor Who is back for a very emotional New Year's Day special.

The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) is in jail as Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) and Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh) battle the Daleks alongside Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).

The defence drones, commissioned by the Prime Minister (Harriet Walter), look like the Reconnaissance Dalek from Resolution. Please announce an action figure, before my birthday later this month, Character Options.



"It’s very emotional. I think we’ve all been in tears watching it," executive producer Chris Chibnall said of Revolution of the Daleks.

"It’s a really important mix of a special, where you get lots of thrills, lots of spills, lots of humour, lots of Dalek and lots of emotion.”

"It’s hard, but we don’t shy away from what it means for this family to have its final moments together and it’s emotional off-screen," he added.

Alongside John Barrowman returning as Captain Jack Harkness, Chris Noth (Sex and the City) reprises his role as a disgraced hotelier, Jack Robertson.

Revolution of the Daleks is on BBC One and BBC America. The special will be available to stream in 4K UHD on BBC iPlayer. Stay tuned for Nick Smith's review soon.

Daleks!

Ahead of the Doctor Who holiday special, Revolution of the Daleks, Nick Smith, our US-based stellar scribe, has been checking out the latest spin-off series streaming on YouTube.

Daleks! Tell on...

Guest post by Nick Smith

It’s not easy being mean. Just ask the Daleks, who sucker-punched their way into pop culture almost six decades ago, thrilling and chilling readers and audiences ever since.

My first encounter with the Skaro squad came with Genesis of the Daleks back in the mid-seventies. But it was their search for Davros in 1979’s Destiny of the Daleks that really captured my imagination. I didn’t care that they were a bit tatty, or that Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor made fun of them. I found them fearsome, fascinating and most important of all, easy to imitate in the school playground. The bullies of the small screen took my mind off the real-life bullies I couldn’t exterminate [you had me at exterminate - Ed].

A few years later I got hooked on a periodical called Doctor Who Monthly (DWM). One of the strips I loved to read was a reprint of Dalek adventures first published in TV Century 21 magazine from the sixties. Ron Turner’s art was packed with eye-catching design and colour, the supporting characters were memorable, and the Daleks’ devious plans were a big draw too.

Since then, I have been drawn to any little reference to those comic strips, whether in the Dalekmania documentary or in the hovering Dalek hordes of Bad Wolf. Imagine my delight when BBC’s new five-part animated series Daleks! delivered a golden emperor, hoverbouts, galactic machinations and conniving robots, all Terry Nation and David Whitaker-spawned staples retooled for 2020. Furthermore, this was new Who material, the first official on-screen spin-off since 2016’s Class [I didn't get beyond the pilot with Twelve - Ed].

Storywise, my expectations were low. This was a show for kids, surely; at just over ten minutes, the episodes didn’t have room for deep themes or grand character arcs. I was pleasantly surprised.

The Daleks in this show are fallible, backstabbing, on the run from a powerful space entity but still as devious as ever. The brass-bumped emperor is pompous and the scarred old strategist is loyal. Along with the entity, they face stubborn librarians, reprogramed rivals and (finally, after 55 years) the Mechanoids. I‘ve always had a soft spot for these big bots from the First Doctor story The Chase, with their beautiful architecture and their high-pitched voices, speaking a mix of code and broken English. It’s a delight to see them back in action.

Although the episodes are brief, there’s enough meat in them to tell a solid story, develop the main Dalek characters and squeeze in a twist or two. These Daleks aren’t as menacing as they appear in Doctor Who but their threat is in their numbers – we see their armada in full force – and in their Machiavellian antics.

The animation is uneven; while most of the spacecraft and alien cities are highly detailed, the explosions and robots are highly simplified and unrealistic [should've used the Unreal Engine - Ed]. Nevertheless, the faceless Daleks, obviously easier to animate than humans, are imbued with life and momentum, as are the slick ‘camera’ moves.

Daleks! provides a great opportunity for a new audience to familiarize themselves with Doctor Who’s main menace, and for die-hard fans to get a fix before the New Year’s Revolution. I dearly hope that this show leads to more seasons and more spin-offs. Anyone for Saturday Morning Cybermen? [an excellent suggestion - Ed]

Watch Daleks! for free on YouTube and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Doctor Who battles Daleks New Year's Day

The release date trailer for Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks was shown before Strictly Come Dancing's results show last evening on BBC One.



Chris Chibnall, the series showrunner, said:

"We’ve crammed this year's Doctor Who Festive Special with an explosion of extraordinary acting talent. Where else would you get British acting royalty, a globally renowned US screen star, an (inter)national treasure of stage and screen and one of Britain's hottest young actors — just in the guest cast! Put those together with Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole (and Daleks! Did I mention Daleks!) — and you get a cast to be exterminated for. And things will explode. Promise."

Alongside John Barrowman returning as Captain Jack Harkness, Chris Noth (Sex and the City) reprises his role as a disgraced hotelier, Jack Robertson.

As expected, the holiday special will be shown on BBC One and BBC America on New Year's Day! Let's hope to herald a much more positive 2021 for everyone.

It was a dark time for the... Daleks!

John Rivers, our chief Dalek operator, emerges from the Jungles of Mechanus to guide us through Time Lord Victorious, a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey transmedia stuff, over the autumn and winter months in the northern hemisphere.

Guest post by John Rivers

SPOILER ALERT - There's spoilers here for Time Lord Victorious. So, if you don't want to know, then activate your Project Indigo teleport button now.

If you're a Doctor Who fan it's been pretty hard to escape Time Lord Victorious for the past few months. Billed as a 'multi-platform Doctor Who story told across [deep breath] audio, novels, comics, vinyl, digital, immersive theatre, escape rooms and games, basically anything you might enjoy that isn't a movie or, god forbid, a TV programme.

The artwork has been pretty impactful too, David Tennant's ever-popular Tenth incarnation dressed in ruined Time Lord robes surrounded by Daleks - what's not to love?! And the appearance of both McGann and Eccleston's Doctors has guaranteed a lot of interest from fans, particularly those who enjoy Big Finish audios or the comics series.

It all seems very ambitious and the story has kicked off with some initial releases in September. I'm going to cover those off here and then post updates every month as the story unfolds and more media is released.

Here's the September releases:

A Dalek Awakens - an Escape Hunt escape room experience currently running in Reading. I haven't been able to get to this yet...

Defender of the Daleks - issue 1. The Tenth Doctor has fallen through a hole in spacetime. He is pursued by the Daleks, who, worryingly, need his help. A comics series written by Jody Houser, art by Roberta Ingranata featuring the Tenth Doctor being pursued by the Dalek Empire

The Dark Dark Times - a section of the Doctor Who Annual 2021 by Paul Lang

The Dawn of the Kotturuh - a short story by James Goss which was an exclusive to subscribers of the official Doctor Who site newsletter

Monstrous Beauty - part 1 - A three part story, given away with Doctor Who Magazine featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose set in the Dark Times as ancient Gallifreyans battle the Great Vampire. Story by Scott Gray, art by John Ross

It's also worth mentioning the extensive coverage in this month's Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) which has interviews with some of the creators, including James Goss who instigated the whole project. There's also a handy guide for fans so that you can follow your favourite Doctor (that's not for us, we're completists!). This introduction is also covered in the 'The Dark Dark Times' from the Doctor Who Annual 2021. Occupying the final seven pages of the annual (in, frankly, a tacked-on-the-end sort of way) 'The Dark Dark Times' is a couple of articles from River Song, in her Melody Malone guise, detailing the threat posed by a race called the Kotturuh, who appear to be the Big Bad of Time Lord Victorious.

The set-up is simple. In the ancient times, before the Time Lords or the Daleks, there were many races, all of whom were immortal. There are many that fans will be familiar with and are detailed for younger readers in the Doctor Who Annual 2021 - the Eternals, the Daemons, the Osirans, the Vampires - and now the Kotturuh. The Kotturuh have emerged from the Dark Times of ancient history and enjoy hopping from planet-to-planet, judging a race's worth, its contribution to the entire history of the universe and then deciding when it will die. As a race you could die instantly, or it could take months or years, but essentially Kotturuh will bring death and if you encounter them, you die.

An encounter with these terrifying creatures is detailed in James Goss' online only story 'Dawn of the Kotturuh'. The Kotturuh, robed, masked, bundles of tentacles, in the best Lovecraftian traditions of ancient evils, turn up at a planet and judge it. It doesn't go well for the inhabitants.

On then to our two introductory stories with the Doctors. First up is the Tenth Doctor in 'Defender of the Daleks', the first time Titan Comics has had permission to use the Skarosians in their publishing. The Tenth Doctor is flying solo, following an encounter with his Thirteenth self. Given that the universe doesn't like that sort of temporal anomaly, it would appear that the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS has been flung through a fissure in the vortex. Everywhere he lands, Daleks surround him and eventually he's taken to Skaro to meet with the Emperor, gloriously presented in full round-domed TV Century 21 glory. The Daleks are desperate for the Doctor's help, and want him to infiltrate an ancient building on Skaro, just as a race called the Hond have rocked-up, fully intent on wiping the Daleks out for good. They send the Doctor into this building with the Dalek Strategist, an elderly-looking, battle-scarred Dalek who appears to have come straight out of the Doctor's first encounter with them in 'The Mutants'. Jody Houser does an excellent job of detailing the Tenth Doctor's thoughts, especially when he only has the Daleks to play off, while Roberta Ingranata captures the Doctor's cockiness and the metallic, brutal beauty of Skaro. I should also mention the colouring work of Enrica Eren Angiolini, for capturing the ambers and greens of RTD era Doctor Who so well.

It's worth noting that the Doctor at this point is travelling alone and this is where the Time Lord Victorious name comes from. It's the title the Tenth Doctor gives himself after rescuing Adelaide Brook (Lindsay Duncan) from a water-infested Bowie Base One in 'The Waters of Mars'. The Doctor at this point thinks he should be using his powers in a more direct and impactful way, not shying away from intervention like the other Time Lords did. This will, of course, lead to an unhealthy dose of hubris, only resolved by regeneration in the 'End of Time'. We have a very confident and cocky Tenth Doctor presented here and it will be interesting to see if this is retained throughout the run of Time Lord Victorious.

The Ninth Doctor meanwhile, everyone's favourite leather-jacketed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) survivor, has found himself with Rose immersed in a battle between the ancient Gallifreyans and the Vampires, a conflict which was recounted to viewers in the season 18 story 'State of Decay'. This is excellent fun from Scott Grey, who not only manages to capture the breathless run-about nature of series 1 Doctor Who, but is clearly delighting in being able to play with show's myths and legends, including a pre-Time Lord Rassilon. Even more tantalising is Rose's encounters with the Vampires themselves. Creepy and camp, presented wonderfully in the art from John Ross, just like vampires should be, this story is great fun and I look forward to seeing how it progresses.

Overall, it's an exciting set-up for Time Lord Victorious with two past Doctors finding themselves having to help both sides of the previous Time War which cost our hero so much. During October, it's on to a book from veteran Who writer Steve Cole, The Master and the Eighth Doctor enter the fray and the first toys show up! Allons-y!

Are you enjoying Time Lord Victorious? Let me know in the comments below.

Movie Daleks in The Jungles of Mechanus!

In the week both Dalek movies arrived on BritBox and a five-part animated series tie-in with Time Lord Victorious, Daleks!, was announced, Character Options started fulfilling orders for its online exclusive - The Jungles of Mechanus set.

John Rivers, our newly appointed chief Dalek operator, is on hand to explain why the release has generated so much buzz from fans and collectors alike.

Guest post by John Rivers

A quick glance at Doctor Who Twitter over the past week would have shown you much excitement about some Dalek toys. Not just any old Dalek toys, but the Character Options 'JUNGLES OF MECHANUS' set. Given that Character Options produces a number of Doctor Who figures each year, why all the fuss? The reason is simple - these are MOVIE DALEKS!



Most fans are familiar with the differences between the BBC Daleks (small ears... at least until 2005) and the movie or AARU Daleks (big ears, bigger bases) created for the the show's two big screen outings: 'Dr Who and the Daleks' (1965) and 'Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.' (1966). In most classic 'Doctor Who' stories we rarely see the Big-Eared cousins, except for a couple of occasions. One of those was The Chase.

By the time The Chase went into production in April 1965 filming on 'Dr Who and the Daleks' had been completed. This meant that there were spare Dalek props available to reinforce the meagre Dalek force residing at the BBC. Despite their popularity, Dalek props from the first two stories The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth had been repurposed or given away. Thus three movie stunt Daleks (designed to be non-operable and the sort you would use to be in the background or blown-up), that had been fitted with plungers like their TV counterparts, ended-up onscreen in The Chase. They are most prominently seen on the planet Mechanus where the Dalek force has tracked down the Doctor and his companions, only to tangle with Mechanoids.

The movie Daleks would have one more notable outing in the classic series as the Supreme Dalek in Planet of the Daleks was a repainted combination of two AARU props from the second Dalek film, plus had a funky light up eye stalk/torch.

And that's why fans have been so excited - small toys of big screen Daleks! My two (I've yet to name them) look fantastic and are up to Character Options usual level of detail.

You can still buy the Jungles of Mechanus set here. And for more Dalek prop information, visit the excellent Dalek 63•88!

If you have a related product for review, please get in contact.

Blake's 7 arrives on BritBox

BritBox, the streaming service co-owned by the BBC and commercial broadcaster ITV, is rapidly becoming the home of cult sci-fi and fantasy film and television series in the UK.

Last month saw Sapphire & Steel, Space: 1999, The Prisoner, UFO and more added. Now, Blake's 7, the two sixties Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing as Doctor Who among other cult classics will be available this September. Blake's 7, from Dalek creator Terry Nation, was a dystopian space opera with a series finale that ruined Christmas 1981 for a generation of geeks (myself included).

10th September

Blake’s 7 (1978)

All 52 episodes and four seasons of the cult British sci-fi show from the mind of Terry Nation. In the third century of the second calendar, after the chaos of the intergalactic wars, a powerful dictatorship has risen to dynamic proportions and engulfed most of the populated worlds. Liberty has become a crime punishable by death, and the majority of the population lives in a drug-induced state of docility. This tyrannical authority fulfils George Orwell's prophecy of 1984 to its most terrifying extremes. This government is known as the Federation. Each world has its share of rebels who either turned to crime or the Resistance. This is the story of one such group of rebels, led by a man named Blake. His group is largely composed of escaped convicts, thieves and smugglers, who are thrown together by chance.

The Avengers (1961)

The two complete surviving episodes of the first season, plus the iconic Emma Peel & Tara King seasons of the series starring Patrick MacNee, Diana Rigg & Linda Thorson as the incorrigible secret agents extraordinaire. Together they defeat criminal masterminds and solve unfathomable mysteries in the original cult TV classic.

Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965)

The first big screen spin-off from the television series featuring the infamous Daleks. Eccentric Earth inventor Doctor Who (Peter Cushing) is demonstrating his space/time craft, the TARDIS, to his niece's boyfriend, Ian (Roy Castle), when he manages to whisk them all off to the planet Skaro. There they encounter two races: the blue-skinned, peace-loving Thals, and the biomechanical Daleks.

Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150AD (1966)

The Earth of 2150 AD is a desolate and hostile ruin of a planet, crumbling at the edge of civilisation, slowly disappearing into the darkness of space. For the future of planet Earth now belongs to The Daleks, a destructive army of alien invaders who have turned the human race into cowering slaves.

Meanwhile deep within the London Underground a group of resistance freedom fighters are planning an attack. But there's only one man who could possibly help them succeed in destroying their extra-terrestrial enemies and take back control of planet Earth. A man of mystery, a man of time and space, a man known only as... The Doctor. Starring Peter Cushing.

One Million Years BC (1966)

This spectacular prehistoric adventure was promoted as Hammer’s 100th production and gave the world the iconic image of star Raquel Welch in a fur-lined bikini. The highlight of the movie was the stop-motion dinosaurs that were subsequently added by legendary special effects animator Ray Harryhausen. The result was Hammer’s biggest commercial success, the most famous dinosaur epic until the release of Jurassic Park 26 years later.

Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Hobbs End, Knightsbridge, London. Whilst working on a new subway tunnel for the London Underground, a group of construction workers uncover a strangely shaped skull amongst the rubble. Nearby is another discovery: a large, mysterious and impenetrable metal object. Initially mistaken for an unexploded bomb the origins of the object and its strange power are far more horrific and terrifying than anybody could have possibly imagined. Is it of this Earth? Could it be the ancestral link to mankind’s evolution? Or could it be an ancient link to unleashing ultimate evil? There’s only one man capable of unravelling the clues, his name is Professor Bernard Quatermass, a man of science who thrives on the dark mysteries of the world, a man with answers.

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Nicolas Roeg directs this classic 70s sci-fi drama starring David Bowie as an alien who arrives on Earth in search of water to save his own dying planet. Assuming the name Thomas Jerome Newton, he soon forms a lucrative partnership with patent attorney Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry) by creating revolutionary products. As their business develops into a hugely successful financial empire, Thomas plans to use the profits to build a ship that will return him to his home world. However, while he waits for his ship to be ready, he begins to fall prey to earthly pleasures and failings.

17th September

Survivors (1975)

All three seasons of Terry Nation's acclaimed BBC science fiction drama in which 95% of the population have been wiped out by a freak plague, leaving the remaining survivors to rebuild civilisation.

BritBox is already the exclusive home of classic Doctor Who. If you've held-off, will the arrival of Blake's ragtag rebels spur you to subscribe? Let me know in the comments below.

Mission to the Unknown recreated 54 years later

Whilst fans wait for news on the next season of Doctor Who. Mission to the Unknown, a classic standalone episode unique for not featuring William Hartnell as the titular Time Lord, has been brilliantly remade by students at the University of Central Lancaster with Nicholas Briggs performing the voices of the Daleks. This was a passion project of Andrew Ireland, friend and fellow Bournemouth University alumni.



Luke Spillane, Digital Publishing Manager for Doctor Who at BBC Studios, said: “It is such a fantastic recreation, made lovingly with real craft and expertise by everyone at the University of Central Lancashire.

“I hope audiences around the world can imagine that it’s tea time on the 9th October 1965 as they rather excitingly watch a black and white episode of Doctor Who premiere on their television sets, mobile phones and tablets.”

Andrew Ireland, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Digital and Creative Industries at the University of Central Lancashire, added: “It is such a loss to our cultural heritage that so many episodes of 1960s Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives.

“This project presented us with an exciting opportunity to address that, to explore a new way of bringing these missing slices of TV history to life, and in the process, help students learn their craft by comparing contemporary production methods with historical approaches.

“The project gave so many people great experiences, and it is wonderful to see the Daleks menacing a black and white jungle once more.”

Mission to the Unknown will premiere on 9th October at 5:50PM (BST) on the Doctor Who YouTube channel.

The Power of the Daleks to conquer cinemas in the US

US-based Doctor Who fans are in for a cinematic treat when the Doctor and the Daleks return to the big screen in lost classic The Power of the Daleks this November.

The Power of the Daleks is one of the most celebrated Doctor Who adventures, and yet no complete film recordings are known to have survived. The master negatives were destroyed in an archive purge in 1974. This brand-new animation, being released 50 years after its only UK broadcast, is based on the program’s original audio recordings, surviving photographs, and film clips. The six-part adventure features the regeneration – or as it was then called “renewal” – of First Doctor, William Hartnell, into Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, and follows the Time Lord and his companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) as they do battle with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan.

“Ahead of the premiere on BBC America we wanted to give fans a chance to watch this unique content on the big screen. It is a rare treat to be able to bring the lost episode, Power of the Daleks, to life using modern animation techniques. Doctor Who cinema events have been incredibly successful, and this is extraordinary opportunity to allow a new generation of fans the opportunity to experience this classic adventure for the first time,” said Soumya Sriraman, EVP, Franchise and Digital Enterprise, BBC Worldwide North America.

“We’re pleased to continue our long-standing and successful partnership with BBC America to bring more fantastic Doctor Who content to the big screen,” said Fathom Events Vice President of Programming Kymberli Frueh. “The Whovians are always one of our biggest and most passionate group of fans at the cinemas.”

Tickets for The Power of the Daleks can be booked here. UK fans, without tickets to a BFI screening, will have to make do with the DVD and digital download for now.

Doctor Who: "Into Darkness"

The latest trailer for Doctor Who S8 debuted during halftime in the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina in Brazil.



Familiar foes return including Davros (creator of the Daleks), Cybermen and, in a nod to the Third Doctor adventure Invasion of the Dinosaurs, a T-Rex.

Last week, BBC chiefs were forced to make an appeal to fans to keep the plot of the upcoming series a secret after scripts were leaked online.

The material had reportedly been made public after the documents were sent to employees at the new BBC Worldwide Latin America headquarters in Miami, Florida for translation.

A statement released by BBC executives read: "Unfinished material has inadvertently been made public. We deeply regret this and apologize to all the show's fans, the BBC and the cast and crew who have worked tirelessly making the series.

"We would like to make a plea to anyone who might have any of this material and spoilers associated with it not to share it with a wider audience so that everyone can enjoy the show as it should be seen when it launches.

"We know only too well that Doctor Who fans are the best in the world, and we thank them for their help with this and their continued loyalty."

Are you excited for the new series? Let me know in the comments below.

Doctor Who: Nightmare of Season 17

This post originally appeared on Cloister Bell in 2012.

While I've been putting an Xbox 360 through its paces and watching classic Doctor Who serials on Netflix, Andrew has expertly deconstructed S17 for your delectation!

My childhood recollection of this season is limited to Daleks crashing through aluminium walls and Julian Glover's unmasking as Scaroth in the spectacular "City of Death"...

Guest post by Andrew Lewin

Season 17 of Doctor Who has to be one of the oddest, most split-personality seasons in the classic show's history. On the one hand it contains one of the best and most beloved serials of all time, which itself also boasts the show's largest-ever episode audience viewing figure (over 16m). And on the other hand, the series contains some of the series worst and laziest disappointments.

By the latter half of 1979, Doctor Who was frankly running on empty and looking tired. Tom Baker was bored and not taking it seriously anymore; producer Graham Williams had done his best in a job that had been foisted upon him against his will two years before, but his heart was no longer in it either. The show had the same theme music, title sequence, star, costume and incidental music that it had used for the last five years: it felt stuck in a time loop. Anyone coming back to test the waters of the show post-Star Wars after five years of not watching - which was pretty much my situation - would have been forgiven for thinking they were watching a period drama rather than a science-fiction show.

That year, the show was also fighting a losing battle against slashed budgets and increasing industrial unrest with the unions. Against this background Williams came up with a cunning plan to try and do the best he could with his shrinking resources: he would split the season into two, with one half being big, impressive tentpole productions and the other half being dross assembled out of whatever sticky-back plastic he could scrape together. It was a genuinely smart plan, and if it had worked then we might be hailing season 17 as one of the best. Unfortunately for Williams, circumstances conspired against him.

His first idea for a 'tentpole' production was the return of the Daleks after a five year absence following the acknowledged classic "Genesis of the Daleks." What could possibly go wrong? It was a sure-fire winner with which to start the season. Unfortunately Dalek creator/writer Terry Nation was just as much in the grip of malaise as the rest of the show and indeed the rest of the country. He turned in a clichéd, charmless script for "Destiny of the Daleks" that lacked any creative imagination but simply fell back on the same tried old tropes that had looked dated even back in the 1960s. Add to that battered Daleks that looked as though they'd been brutalised in five years in a locked props cupboard, charmless new 'arch-rivals" the Movellans, and an actor playing Davros saddled with an ill-fitting mask not even made for him, and you have some idea of how tired and disappointing this sure-fire 'winner' ended up being. In many ways, it perfectly personified the current state of the show as a whole and displayed all the problems facing the production team.

When production on a second 'tentpole' collapsed because of union strike action - "Shada" being perhaps the most mythologised story in all of Who fandom, and well worth getting Gareth Robert's just-released novelisation of Douglas Adams' scripts for this, or better yet getting the audiobook version narrated by series star Lalla Ward - it left "City of Death" as the season's only successful aired prestige serial. And it really is excellent. A star cast (Julian Glover, Catherine Schell, even a cameo from John Cleese) and a truly innovative sci-fi idea (probably Douglas Adams' best TV work of all time) coupled with the show's first foreign location shooting and some great production values and FX. If "Destiny of the Daleks" and "Shada" had been anywhere near this level then series 17 would indeed have been a classic year.

But they weren't, and instead "City of Death" finds itself the sole stand-out in a year otherwise populated by the sacrificial budget-saving time-filling dross of "The Creature from the Pit" and "The Horns of Nimon". Between them, those two stories don't have two decent original science fiction ideas to rub together; but the scripts manage to contain more gaps in logic than there are holes in a string vest. The production values are lamentable (although "Pit" does at least use number 1 tropical forest studio set from the prop store, which at least makes it look better than the dull corridor sets of "Nimon") and the acting is extraordinarily bad from people who should know better (such as veterans Bill Fraser and Graham Crowden, the latter of whom provides one of the most spectacularly dreadful performances of a major guest star of all time. And to think, he was apparently offered the chance to play the fourth Doctor!)

And then there is "Nightmare of Eden", which finally comes to DVD this week - one of the last Tom Baker-era serials to come to the format.

Now it's a funny thing about "Eden", because by rights it falls firmly in the "dross" category. It has the same faults as "Pit" and "Nimon": some dreadfully overcooked acting (Lewis Flander's Tryst would have been too absurd even for 'Allo 'Allo, Geoffrey Hinsliff looks like he's auditioning for his later role in soap spoof Brass, while David Daker still thinks he's playing Irongron from season 11's medieval serial "The Time Warrior"); some laughably bad overlit generic-SF corridor sets; a monster that looks exactly like a man in a fur-lined rubber suit that comes complete with built-in 70s flares; FX that show a total lack of time and budget; sets that literally collapse underfoot but for which there is no time to mount reshoots.

But here's the thing: I can't help rather liking "Nightmare of Eden" for all that. Almost admire it, in fact. It's clearly not one of the production team's favourite sons of 1979, but it at least has the spirit and wits to try and fight on regardless.

For one thing, it presents an unusually overt tale of drug abuse at a time when television (let alone BBC family time TV) was very squeamish about even hinting at such things. There are some interesting science fiction concepts: the CET (Continual Event Transmuter) machine used for recording and transporting samples from explorations; the two ships stuck together phasing in and out of warp drive at the same spot; the secret of the origins of the drug in question. For the only time in series 17 in a non-Adams story, this is a show with more than one creative idea in its head at any given time, and not just that but ideas which actually weave together coherently without leaving vast gaps in the story logic. Despite Baker hamming it up dreadfully to keep his own spirits from flagging, the serial even manages to produce a half-decent sense of pace and danger at times.

I shouldn't like "Nightmare of Eden", then - but I do. I'd go so far as to say that if it hadn't had a spark of life in it, some glimmer that the show didn't have more to offer than the two stories that bookended it to either side, I might not have come back to watch series 18 at all and I would have dropped out of Who fandom for good this time.

Even so, it was clear to everyone involved that something - indeed, pretty much everything - had to change in Doctor Who for 1980. Williams finally got his parole and moved on, and the BBC hierarchy looked for anyone dumb enough or hungry enough to take on the poisoned chalice of one of the Corporation's longest-running shows. They didn't have to look far, and found the man they wanted in the Doctor Who office: production manager John Nathan-Turner. And it turned out he had a few ideas that meant that season 18 would be very different indeed, and season 17 soon became just a distant nightmare tucked away in a CET machine. Or DVD player, as we call it these days.

With over 20 years of working in the media industry, Andrew Lewin is currently a freelance writer, social media consultant and web developer/programmer. He's also a technical specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, information architecture and online communities. Andrew currently writes for motorsports website Crash.net reporting on IndyCar, NASCAR and GP2, and runs a review blog at takingtheshortview.wordpress.com, which reveals a worrying obsession for classic black & white movies, Nordic Noir and all things Doctor Who.

Eggs and Daleks: Soufflé Girl's winning recipe

I've been most remiss in not posting my thoughts on Doctor Who series 7, which is about to conclude its first half-season run with this weekend's The Angels Take Manhattan! A potentially infamous storyline witnessing the departure of longterm companions the Ponds. I'll shed a tear for the girl who waited...

Back to the present. Series 7 opens audaciously with Asylum of the Daleks, the Ponds estranged, and an unexpected cameo from forthcoming new companion Oswin Oswald, played with chutzpah by Jenna-Louise Coleman. The best-kept secret since the Cybermen's surprise return in Earthshock steals the show in a riveting, scarlet-lipped, performance as the girl trapped in a haunted house.

A haunted house filled with menacing, dysfunctional, Daleks. Note the use of the words menacing and dysfunctional. Terry Nation's creations are always best served in a shadowy world and here we're treated to an inspired mashup of The Dead Planet and Genesis of the Daleks: set within the walls of an asylum.

These Daleks are the rejects; broken; too dangerous to control; nightmarish. All the better for it. A rare return to the Daleks home planet of Skaro provides the icing on a deliciously dark cake.

An epic exchange between the Doctor and a Dalek culminates in the chilling revelation: "We have grown stronger in fear of you!" A line worthy of Star Wars' Darth Vader.

Bravo, Mr Moffat.

New Doctor Who costume revealed & companion named

Production started today on the new series of Doctor Who in which viewers will meet the Eleventh Doctor and his companion for the very first time.

The latest incarnation of the iconic character is played by Matt Smith (Party Animals). Upon arriving on set in Cardiff, for his first day of filming, Smith commented: “I feel very privileged and proud to be part of this iconic show. The scripts are brilliant and working alongside Karen, Steven and the rest of the crew is an inspiration because their work ethic and passion for the show is so admirable. I’m excited about the future and all the brilliant adventures I get to go on as the Doctor.”

The Doctor's new costume evokes Patrick Troughton's 'Cosmic Hobo' and Professor Henry Jones, Sr from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! I can foresee Cybermen, Daleks and Yeti in the Eleventh Doctor's future...

Aside from an updated wardrobe. The Doctor will also have a new companion - Amy Pond (any connection with 1990s video game character James Pond is purely coincidental) - played by Karen Gillan, who meets the Time Lord in episode one of the new series.

The new series follows on from three Doctor Who specials starring David Tennant which will transmit later this year. Early next year Tennant passes the iconic baton, AKA Sonic Screwdriver, to Smith.

About the series Steven Moffat commented: “And here it is, the big moment - the new Doctor, and his new best friend. And here's me, with the job I wanted since I was seven. 40 years to here! If I could go back in time and tell that little boy that one day all this would happen, he'd scream, call for his Mum and I'd be talking to you now from a prison cell in 1969. So probably best not then. Matt and Karen are going to be incredible, and Doctor Who is going to come alive on Saturday nights in a whole new way - and best of all, somewhere out there, a seven-year-old is going to see them, fall in love, and start making a forty year plan...”

The actors' smiles are reassuring; I'm looking forward to Steven Moffat's tenure at the helm of Doctor Who! As in the past, a change in production team will, hopefully, witness an updated opening title sequence, theme (a fly in the ointment since the series triumphant return in 2005) and a new TARDIS console.

"...Doctor Why Bother."

**This post may contain spoilers for new Doctor Who**

For those readers who watch The Big Bang Theory, you'll appreciate the title of this post (a quote from The Dumpling Paradox)! And if you haven't watched The Big Bang Theory, you are missing one of the funniest US sitcoms since Friends! Get yourself acquainted with the lives of Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, Rajnesh and Penny pronto! And remember, if you don't go out dancing every Wednesday night, then it isn't dance night!

Tomorrow sees the triumphant return of Doctor Who on UK television screens! Rumours are rife that, alongside the heavily publicised return of the Sontarans, Davros, creator of the Daleks, will be resurrected in the series finale and a Time Lord will fall!

Stay tuned for more Doctor Who coverage during the coming weeks! And, in the meantime, if you're new to Doctor Who and unfamiliar with the Sontarans, may I suggest The Time Warrior (DVD); the first and best Sontaran story to date?

The Macra: Masters of Terror

Last Saturday's episode of Doctor Who, Gridlock, refreshingly brought back the dreaded Macra, the celebrated crab-like enemy that Patrick Troughton's Doctor faced, four decades before, in 1967.

This riveting adventure, framed against an homage to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (Scott was commissioned to design the Daleks (Terry Nation only provided the scantest of descriptions), but passed duties to Raymond Cusick)), reintroduced the Face of Boe and the 'revelation' that the Doctor is not the only Time Lord to have survived the last great Time War with the Daleks!

This lends further, possible, credence to online speculation that The Master is set to return. As noted previously, I remain hopeful that John Simm will indeed play the role!