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A new Tenth Doctor and Rose adventure begins in Doctor Who Magazine 634, while Anneke Wills talks being the most swinging sixties companion of all!

 

The Tenth Doctor returns (again!) in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine! Issue 634 a brand new comic strip adventure for Rose and him! It also has another of DWM’s Ultimate Interviews. This time Ben Cook has a wide-ranging candid chat with 1960s companion Anneke Wills about her fascinating life.

 

In Doctor Who Magazine 634

• Anneke Wills – an in-depth interview with the actor who, 60 years ago, was cast as companion Polly opposite the First and Second Doctors. We chat with her about her Doctors, fighting Daleks and Cybermen, being a part of sixties culture, and her life up to the present day…
• Arthur Darvill – on returning as Rory opposite River Song in a new series of audio dramas. We talk to him about being paired with his character’s wayward daughter, bringing his mum (actor Ellie Darvill) to work with him, and his passion for music

Also this issue:

• The Patrick Troughton Years – ten things you might not have known!
• Yvonne Gallagher – concluding DWM’s interviews of the forgotten Romanas! The actor speaks for the first time about her fleeting appearance alongside Fourth Doctor Tom Baker in 1979’s Destiny of the Daleks.
• The Fact of Fiction – enter the Asylum of the Daleks!
• This Month in… 2008 – when daytime soap Doctors was inspired by Doctor Who…
• The Rani –a look at the various monstrous experiments of the renegade Time Lord
• The DWM Comic Strip – the first part of a brand-new story featuring the Tenth Doctor and Rose

 

Doctor Who Magazine 634. Cover by Lee Binding (c) Panini Doctor Who Magazine 634

DWM Issue 634 is on sale Thursday the 17th of September from the online Panini store, TG Jones and other retailers priced £8.99 (UK). Also available as a digital edition from Pocketmags for £7.99. You can also save with a subscription, as well as receiving exclusive, text-free covers.

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The Doctor Who tender process moves forward, with the BBC sharing details of the brief for the 2028 relaunch

 

After months of anxiety among fans, a path for the future of Doctor Who is emerging as the BBC officially begins the tender process. As Blogtor reported at the time, they originally announced their plans back in June. They’ve now completed putting together the tender document, which officially invites production companies to submit their bids for making the show.

This new development isn’t really much of a surprise. While fans with longer memories may recall the early 1990s when vague platitudes about ‘exploring options’ for the show’s future were cover for a lack of will to bring it back at all, that was never going to be the case today. The tender process is now standard across the whole of the BBC. For example, Casualty and Strictly Come Dancing are also among the flagship programs to go through it. Certainly, the BBC would never have jeopardised their future relationships with other production companies, by leading them to invest money in early plans to bid for a tender that was never coming.

The cancelling of the 2026 Christmas Special may have seemed alarming. In reality, it was effectively to allow the tender process to kick off now. And, therefore, to get Doctor Who back on screens full time as soon as possible.

 

The new production team will be announced in March, immediately starting work on new specials and episodes for 2028/2029

The timeline the tender document lays out is as expected too, based on how long it took other shows to go through the process. Doctor Who’s new team will be announced in March 2027. They’ll immediately be working to having the show back on screens in the financial year 2028/2029. That’s a faster turnaround than the two previous times the show’s production effectively started from scratch. Work on both 2005’s Series One and 2022’s 60th Anniversary specials began two years in advance. However, the nature of the tender process itself means that the winning bidders will already have laid substantial groundwork ahead of March 2027.

By then, prospective producers will have broad plot outlines of their ideal season. This include possible episodes, and character guides for their new Doctor, companions, and any supporting cast. While not an absolute requirement, the winners will likely also have lead actors and writers already ‘attached’ to their plans. (‘Attached’ being the vague state where typically discussions have confirmed an actor’s interest in a role, and their position as the producers’ first choice, without them being officially under contract.)

Similarly, the winning bid will also have proposals in place for a production base, studio, and so on. It’s highly likely to also include details of how they’re sourcing crew, what FX houses are on standby to provide visuals and more. All in all, the winners will hit the ground running as soon as they receive the green light.

 

Doctor Who filming has become a regular sight on the streets of Cardiff since 2004 (c) BBC Studios Doctor Who will remain a production supporting the UK industry in the regions, but a move from Wales isn’t entirely ruled out

One of the detailed requirements in the document is that Doctor Who should remain a regional production. The BBC have a clear preference for it remaining in Wales, but are open to the possibility of using it as a hub for investment and industry growth in other regions.

Another detail worth noting is that the initial contract is for one season, and associated specials, with an option for the BBC to renew for one more. Further seasons after that will see the contracts renegotiated. It’s worth bearing in mind that the multi-season renewals given to Doctor Who over the years have always been the exception to the rule. So while fans might have welcomed the security of a longer deal, this is the treatment most shows get.

A number of production companies and potential showrunners have already expressed interest in bidding for Doctor Who. However, the tender requirements seem to rule two of them out immediately. Applicants must have experience of British television, having produced at least one television show in the UK that lasted at least three seasons, with seasons of at least six episodes each. Although prominent figures in international genre movies and television, neither Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment (The Librarians, Leverage) or J Michael Straczynski’s Studio JMS (Sense8) have that track record in the UK.

 

The two eligible production companies to go public with their ambitions so far are BBC Studios and World Productions

The two remaining companies to go public with an interest are BBC Studios and World Productions.

BBC Studios’ experience of making shows for the BBC goes without saying, and their presence in the process is basically a guarantee that Doctor Who will continue regardless of the other submissions. World is a British company perhaps currently most famous for their collaborations with Jed Medcurio, creator of Line of Duty, one of the BBC’s biggest rating hits of the past decade. With over 35 years of experience, they’ve been responsible for series like 90s vampire thriller Ultraviolet, which launched Idris Elba’s career, political dramedy Party Animals, which launched Matt Smith’s, political thriller Bodyguard, and international murder mystery Vigil.

World also very much tick the box for regional productions. Notably, they’re currently filming a seventh season of Line of Duty in its regular production home of Northern Ireland. At this stage Belfast is as familiar as Cardiff with being transformed into English cities (though if it does become home to Doctor Who, Blogtor expects the odd Translink bus to sneak into the background.) They’ve also produced three seasons of Vigil in Scotland, with the most recent run transforming the University of Stirling campus into an Arctic research base.

 

SNL’s George Fouracres is likely just the first of many names to be linked to the role in the media over the coming months For obvious reasons, production companies vying the the job are unlikely to share their plans until the decision is final

However, there’s no reason to think other production companies haven’t simply been working quietly away on their pitches less publicly. Blogtor Who will keep you updated as we hear more, but it’s actually possible the final winning tender next March will be a total surprise.

Indeed, fans should be aware that during this delicate phase, competitors will want to keep details of their plans under wraps. So nobody should be too alarmed by long periods of radio silence on Doctor Who between now and March. On the other hand, of course, some bidders may try and build momentum and public enthusiasm for their big by discreetly leaking things like which actors they’ve been talking to. Even if they don’t, the British tabloids will likely leap on every possible connection, so brace yourself for some wild speculation in the coming months. Recent talk of Saturday Night Live’s George Fouracres is almost certainly just the beginning of a rumour mill that will spin freely from the sublime to the ridiculous.

 

The new era represents the biggest reinvention of the show since 2005, but some elements will remain firmly the same

What can we say the new era of Doctor Who will be like, based on the tender document? Well it will involve a season of episodes and at least one special, to be broadcast sometime between April 2028 and March 2029. There’s nothing more specific about timing than that, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the new era launches with a 2028 Christmas Special before a full season in early Spring 2029. There’s a strong implication that there must be at least six episodes in the season, but that doesn’t mean contenders won’t pitch for a longer run. The BBC are open to pitches for both runs of individual, standalone episodes or one serialised story across the season.

There will be the Doctor and at least one, possibly more, companions. As in the past few decades, the companion will be the “access point for audiences.” This doesn’t mean that they have to be a human from contemporary Earth, but it seems likely we’ll still have to wait for the next robot dog, alien, or astrophysicist from the future. Another way the next generation of companion will keep to recent precedent is in being definitely a co-lead of the show. They will be “distinctive, authentic characters in their own right, whose lives, relationships, ambitions, and personal journeys enrich the series”

 

The TARDIS is returning, with a mission to be “relevant, surprising,brave, and inspiring” (c) BBC Studios The new version of the show will feature a mix of high concept science fiction, emotion, and behind the sofa scares for a family audience

The new Doctor Who will strike a balance between keeping the familiar concept and tone, and not just being more of the same. There’s disappointment for anyone hoping for a shift to a more ‘adult’ show, and the new era will still target a broad family audience. Individual stories will continue, too, to focus on human emotion amid the alien invasions, and celebrate traditional Doctor Who values like intelligence and compassion.

In places the tender invitation still sounds striking similar to Russell T Davies’ own proposal document back in 2003. The new description reads:

“Stories should balance high concept science fiction with strong emotional narratives, ensuring that spectacle is always grounded in character and human experience. Episodes should transport audiences to extraordinary times and places, ranging from historical settings to distant futures, alien worlds, and contemporary Earth. Successful pitches will deliver ‘back of the sofa’ scares, jeopardy and tension, whilst remaining suitable for a broad family audience. Doctor Who embraces themes that celebrate curiosity, courage, intelligence, and compassion, themes that interrogate the human condition.”

Against that, pitches are also “an exciting opportunity to innovate and surprise,” while offering “a new perspective that ensures Doctor Who remains relevant, surprising, brave and inspiring for both long-standing fans and new audiences.”

In short, the BBC want a mix of horror, character drama, high concept science fiction, and inspiring values comparable to that of the Davies, Moffat, and Chibnall eras. But they invite would be showrunners to deliver that in a new way the BBC themselves would never have thought of.

 

The process will move quickly, with the deadline for submissions on the 2nd of October, and more detailed proposals to be in by the 23rd

The next milestone in the rebirth of Doctor Who will be at 2pm on Friday the 2nd of October, a mere two weeks from now. That’s the deadline for any interested parties to submit their tender applications. A week later, on Friday the 9th of October, the BBC will notify all those who’ve met its eligibility requirements. Those candidates will then have just another two weeks to prepare their initial proposal of their vision for the show, with a deadline of 2pm the 23rd of October. (You can see why Blogtor Who suggested companies probably already started developing their ideas back in June, if not before).

That’s when the fun really begins as applicants begin working up their season plans in detail across November and December, ahead of parallel production meetings with the BBC in January, and a final decision on the winning bid in March.

Again, even as these milestones pass behind closed doors, expect very little information to reach the public domain. However, Blogtor Who will make sure to keep you up to date with all the news about this bold new future for Doctor Who, as we hear it.

In the meantime, you can read the invitation, and the entire tender document, for yourselves at the official BBC site here.

 

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The Kaleidoscope is Jo Martin’s stunning debut novel, with the actor’s deep understanding of the Fugitive Doctor creating a compelling tale of memory and identity

 

Circuit Breaker is Doctor Who’s third epic cross-media event, following 2020’s Time Lord Victorious and 2023’s Doom’s Day. It was already head and shoulders above those efforts, but new full length novel The Kaleidoscope establishes it as one of the most compelling and significant Doctor Who stories of recent years. In many ways it calls to mind the old New Adventures credo. Like them it tells a story too deep and too broad for television. Time Lord Victorious’ concept of the Tenth Doctor going off the rails was enticing on the surface. But it could never really take that idea very far. Meanwhile, Doom’s Day asked for a lot of in investment in a brand new character. Both contained some great stories, but Circuit Breaker really shines in taking advantage of the Fugitive Doctor’s mystery and rougher edges.

 

Circuit Breaker is already the strongest of these events so far, and the new novel gives it true heart

The actual plot throughline of this arc has been looser than ever. All summer the Doctor’s been on a reverse scavenger hunt – returning items to their proper place in space and time. But that’s been the perfect way to give more breathing room to the storyline’s emotional core. The Kaleidoscope brings this to the forefront. Its novel format allows more access than ever to the Fugitive Doctor’s thoughts and feelings. Traditionally, few Doctor Who novels are told in the first person from the Doctor’s perspective, in order to help preserve their sense of unknowable mystery. But this Doctor is a mystery to herself, and more closed off than most to sharing with others. In addition, she’s an incarnation we barely spent any time with on screen, so she benefit from this chance to know her better.

The Kaleidoscope’s greatest asset in this is Jo Martin herself. The actor takes up the challenge of exploring her own character’s interior life with thoughtful precision and deep emotional intelligence. While this is her debut novel, Martin has written for stage and screen before and the result stands apart from other recent celebrity Doctor Who novels. It’s telling perhaps that the acknowledgements don’t suggest an established co-author. Instead, there’s merely thank to MG Harris and Steve Cole for editing and for providing details of Doctor Who lore. Meanwhile, the author’s notes make it clear that Martin has thought deeply about her version of the Time Lord. Far more than just tough and ruthless, this is the Doctor about as vulnerable and uncertain as we’ve ever seen them.

 

The Fugitive Doctor gains more depth and shades, as Jo Martin grants us a view behind the gruff exterior

The Fugitive Doctor series over at Big Finish tries its best to keep to Chris Chibnall’s suggestion of a vague placement for this incarnation. However, Martin herself obviously feels entitled to her own strong ideas about that. The result is the most satisfying and emotionally impactful story for her yet. It reframes the tale told in The Timeless Children, from one of a Division agent mind-wiped at retirement, to something more like Marvel’s Winter Soldier. A weapon to be reset and rebooted whenever, inevitably, she rebels again and again against their cruelty and cowardice.

This element skillfully unfolds from the Doctor’s initial boasting of her ‘Great Reserve’ – a Sherlockian mind palace of information and experience she doesn’t remember acquiring – to growing concern about why she doesn’t remember it. Why does she keep encountering people she’s never met but who definitely know her face? And why does she have such an instinctive affection for a second rate backwater planet like Earth anyway? These questions bring her from confidence through self-doubt, to ultimately a new determination to reclaim her own life.

In its closing chapters, The Kaleidoscope similarly redefines one of the most important relationships in the whole of Doctor Who. In doing so it also provides a compelling and heartbreaking new understanding of just why, as Amy Pond observed, the one thing the Doctor can’t do is leave a crying child.

 

Their quest takes the Doctor and Martha from London to modern Jamaica to a Jamaican space colony in the distant future, infused with Martin’s clear love for the island

All this character development for the Fugitive fits beautifully with the details of her and Martha’s latest mission. The supposed ‘kaleidoscope’ itself is actually an alien device for grounding memory at both at a cultural and personal level, designed to ensure a society never loses touch with its history. Appropriately, the main villains here to stop our heroes unlocking its secrets are the Silence. After all, another way to stop the Doctor ever speaking their name is to make sure they can’t remember it…

The Doctor’s personal journey and mission intersect in Jamaica. In the future, an isolationist colony world tries to hold a nostalgic notion of Old Earth Jamaica in amber forever. In the present, the Doctor and Martha travel to the real Jamaica and encounter a woman claiming to the Time Lord’s mother. Throughout both, Jo Martin’s love for her own parents’ homeland shines through. The novel is full of fond observations about the island’s people, language, and unique character. It’s this, as much as the author’s closeness to the role she played on television, that gives Kaleidoscope a sense of deep authenticity.

 

All the chapters in Circuit Breaker stand alone as well as being part of the wider arc, but if you only pick up one it should be The Kaleidoscope

The science behind the kaleidoscope may be questionable even by Doctor Who standards. Clues about a particular character, presumably to pay off in Circuit Breaker’s finale, may be laid on so thickly you could hang wallpaper with them. But this is a blisteringly good Doctor Who novel. It’s also an astonishing debut novel in its own right, if one likely to be overlooked by critics due to its TV tie-in nature.

Big Finish provide the climax of Circuit Breaker with next week’s Full Circuit. Yet The Kaleidoscope will likely prove to be its real heart. Even if you only pick up one entry in this year’s event, make it this one.

 

Doctor Who: The Kaleidoscope. Cover by Lee Binding (c) Penguin Books Doctor Who: The Kaleidoscope

When memories lie, the truth can be fatal.

In the aftermath of an improbable mission, the Fugitive Doctor and Martha realise that something is interfering with their minds. Something that doesn’t want to be found.

Their investigation leads to a curious artefact in the British Museum: an apparently medieval toy known as the Kaleidoscope. But the object refuses to stay in one place, one time – or one identity. And when the Doctor is repeatedly mistaken for someone she’s never met, fragments of unfamiliar memories begin to surface.

Across the Earth, a hidden pattern emerges; evidence of a secret that someone has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal. As ancient enemies close in and innocent lives are put at risk, the Doctor learns the hard way that some truths were buried for a reason…

The Kaleidoscope is out now, and you can buy your copy at all good bookshops or at the links here.

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Doctor Who’s John Bishop seeks the Wisdom of the Crowd in his new BBC One show

Doctor Who star John Bishop has a new prime time BBC One show this month, but this time it’s a whole other game. Bishop, who played the Doctor’s companion Dan Lewis from 2021 to 2022, will host Wisdom of the Crowd, a new game show from the makers of The 1% Club. Like its ITV sibling, the show will see bold contestants having to take on the collective knowledge of the crowd. But this time they’re not just looking for the right answer; they’re looking for the best answer.

The producers, Magnum Productions, say the inspiration for the show was Francis Galton’s Wisdom of the Crowd theory. Observing more than 800 people entering a competition to guess an ox’s weight, Galton noticed the average estimate was more accurate than the winner’s individual guess. Further studies confirmed the effect, and it’s now a cornerstone of modern political and economic theory. And now of a big-money Saturday night game show on BBC One and iPlayer.

In each show individual contestants take on the might of the Crowd. Who will win the cash prize? The science says the Crowd should win and share the money between them, but will any of our contestants manage to take all the money for themselves by beating Wisdom Of The Crowd?

John Bishop says: “I’m delighted to be back on the BBC on Saturday nights to host Wisdom of the Crowd. This big new entertainment format gives an interesting take on group dynamics – not only testing what the individual contestants know, but also testing what the crowd knows (or what they think they know!) I can’t wait for audiences to see it.”

The fun begins on the 19th of September at 9.15pm on BBC One. You can find it on iPlayer after broadcast here.

 

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The Collection Standard Edition range continues in January with Doctor Who Season 7

Jon Pertwee’s first season as the Doctor arrives in Standard Edition packaging next year. Doctor Who: The Collection Season 7 will be released on the 11th of January, 2027. It will also be available in North America as Doctor Who: Jon Pertwee Complete Season One.

In this debut season, the Time Lord begins his exile on Earth, teaming up with UNIT’s Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) and scientist Liz Shaw (Caroline John). Together, they’ll confront both threats from beyond the stars and ones from right here on Earth.

The Standard Edition features the same remastered episodes and extensive extras as last year’s original Limited Edition. However, they’re now in a more shelf-space friendly box for a lower price.

You can already pre-order the set from your preferred retailer now.

 

The four stories in Season 7 are

• Spearhead from Space
• Doctor Who and the Silurians
• The Ambassadors of Death
• Inferno

 

Special Features

Alongside previously released features from the DVDs, Doctor Who: The Collection: Season 7 is also jam-packed with hours of new and exclusive material including several new documentaries:

Splendid Chap – A profile of beloved actor Nicholas Courtney.

Looking for Mac – Uncovering the story of writer Malcolm Hulke.

Terror in the Suburbs – When Doctor Who came down to Earth.

Lucky 13: Rockets, Aliens and Spare Parts – How the science of the day influenced Doctor Who.

Behind the Sofa – with Katy Manning (Jo), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Toby Hadoke, and the late Caroline John’s family: husband Geoffrey Beevers (The Master) and daughter Daisy Ashford.

In Conversation – Matthew Sweet chats to John Levene (Sergeant Benton) about his life and career.

The Doctor Who Escape Room – Will Team Third Doctor escape the room of doom?

Movie Length Omnibus Editions – The Silurians and Inferno.

Exclusive Convention Footage

HD Photo Galleries

Info Text

PDF Archive

Plus Lots More…

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The mastermind behind Circuit Breaker steps into the light as the this summer’s multimedia epic concludes

Big Finish have updated their covers for their upcoming releases Full Circuit and Short Circuits, revealing the original covers were missing one vital detail. Both covers now feature Circuit Breaker’s arch-villain the Conductor. Hints of the Conductor’s role in the multimedia event have been scattered through several of the chapters so far. But now the mastermind behind this evil scheme is ready to step into the light.

A recurring theme in the different comics, short stories, audio books and game levels so far has been Sontarans using unusual tactics. So it’s not entirely unexpected that the Conductor is revealed as a Sontaran strategist dedicated to developing new and different paths to victory. But the goal seems to remain the same: conquest for the glory of the Sontaran Empire!

 

Doctor Who: Full Circuit. Cover by Simon Holub (c) Big Finish

Full Circuit is out on the 22nd of September and brings this summer’s epic to a climax, as the Conductor (Dan Starkey) makes his final move. Can the Fugitive Doctor (Jo Martin) and her allies, now including Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) defeat his schemes as the action moves to UNIT Tower? The Doctor’s entire existence, past and present, is at stake…

Short Circuits, out two days later on the 24th of September, provides a coda for the Circuit Breaker narrative, with two short stories featuring the Conductor and Andrew. Together they cast new light on the Sontaran mastermind’s origins and plans.

 

Doctor Who: Short Circuits. Cover by Soundsmyth Creative (c) Big Finish

You can order Full Circuit and Short Circuit from the official Big Finish website.

The BBC have also published a new Circuit Breaker trailer featuring the Conductor, and work by CG artist Anthony Lamb. The official synopsis for Short Circuits describes the arch-villain as “cadaverous.” The trailer certainly bears this out. He’s a Sontaran like no other, but why? What does he want? And has this entire series of missions been walking the Doctor into a terrible trap?

 

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