Radio Times - Poster and Xmas

We have received information and the cover for the latest issue of Radio Times, which, this week (or two) is the Christmas Bumper Special, with two whole weeks included in the guide. The magazine, out tomorrow, not only has many features other than Doctor Who, like the main cover stars, Wallace and Gromit (their new episode being broadcast this Christmas), but has a short section written by showrunner, Russell T. Davies, telling us what will be coming up in the special, hopefully not giving too much away, and any mild plans that he has for the future of the show, going into 2009. We haven't got a preview for this, but we do for interviews with David Tennant and David Morrissey, the two Doctors in 'The Next Doctor'. But are they both the same Doctor? You can read this preview below, courtesy of the BBC;

David T on David M

“It’s a real thrill to work with him again,” says David Tennant of David Morrissey, with whom he previously starred in BBC1 drama Blackpool in 2004. Morrissey, Dervla Kirwan (opposite page) and Velile Tshabalala, who plays Morrissey’s companion, Rosita, came in for the special at the end of the gruelling nine-month series-four shoot. “There was, I suppose, a danger we’d all be exhausted by the Christmas special,” says Tennant. “But to have David, Dervla and Velile come in with so much energy, always being funny and bright and up for anything, I think it spurred us on. We all got on very well.”


David M on David T

“The show has caught the public imagination. That’s in no small part down to David Tennant,” says David Morrissey (far right). “He absolutely inhabits the role of the Doctor. He’s a fabulous actor. Did you see him in Einstein and Eddington the other week? Brilliant!”
Are you surprised at the level of interest in your casting as the “other” Doctor?

“I’m proud of the episode, so I’m happy with whatever attention comes from that. It was a joy to do. It’s one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever worked in. It’s a full-on drama. That’s what I love about it.”

So you’ll be watching The Next Doctor at home this year?

“Of course. I have a four-year-old, but I don’t think I’ll let him watch. He might find it too strange to see Daddy fighting Cybermen.”

Of course, you’re the bookies’ favourite to take over from David as the 11th Doctor. Are you tempted to have a little flutter?

“[Laughs] It’s just flattering to be in the frame. What David has done is phenomenal, and whoever gets it after him will be a very lucky person. You’d want to keep the spirit of the Doctor, but do it in your own way.”

Inside the issue is also a Doctor Who poster offer, the second this year! You will be able to collect two tokens, one from this issue, and one from the one after that (out in two weeks), and put them together with £2.99, and send them to the Radio Times, and in 28 days at most, you will receive a brilliant Christmas special double-sided poster. The front side features the Cyber Leader and some Cybermen, while on the other, you will see the two Doctors, Miss Hartigan and some more Cybermen.
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Radio Times - The Next Doctor

We have been sent information and the cover of tomorrow's issue of the Radio Times. The issue is a Doctor Who special, with a fantastic cover. The main cover shows the Doctor and 'The Other Doctor' (David Morrissey) in a promotional picture, in a graveyard. You pull out an inside bit to 'find out who they are up against'. They are up against th Cybermen, of course! But also, Miss Hartigan. Is she the new leader of the Cybermen? Also on this part of the cover there is the slight redesign of the Cyber Leader, showing its brain and a black part of the face. The 'CyberKing' has yet to be revealed, but that should be worth waiting for! Of course, having a Doctor Who Radio Times tomorrow does not mean that is will be earlier than expected. It is just a preview, leding up to Christmas, like they do every year. There will be another issue, with something different the next week, then a bumper 2-week Christmas issue. Below, you can see the full cover, including the fold-out;

A preview for the issue has also been released, and you can view that below;

So this is Christmas. We’re at Cyber HQ in London 1851 - in reality a set at Cardiff’s Upper Boat studios in April 2008. This is Torchwood’s Hub cunningly redressed for this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special as a sort of huge Cyber-Victorian engine - all cogs, chains, furnaces, pipes and steam. Think steampunk. Or a huge version of the board game Mouse Trap.

Street urchins are shovelling coal into buckets, pouring oil into funnels and trudging up and down rickety wooden stairs. “No smiling, please,” says director Andy Goddard. “You’re not supposed to be enjoying this. It’s hard and tiring. It’s the worst Christmas you’ve ever had.”

At the time of giving the Christmas special its title, The Next Doctor, Davies knew the news of Tennant’s departure would have become public [Tennant announced in October that he’s leaving after filming four more specials next year]. “Hopefully, that creates a bit more intrigue,” says Davies, “and hints at interesting developments in the show’s future. Let’s just say that regeneration is a complicated process, and never as simple as it seems.”

“The Doctors become great friends,” he says. “In this episode the Doctor [Tennant] doesn’t have a companion, which is rare, and my Doctor fills that gap. But all those questions my Doctor wants to ask about himself and his past have to be put aside to save London from destruction.”

Tennant and Morrissey have also worked together before - in the 2004 BBC1 drama Blackpool. “What David’s done with the Doctor is so special,” says Morrissey. “He has moved it on - not just the character, but also how he’s taken on the role publicly. We were filming in Gloucester with 400 people watching. When I got out of the car with David it was like being with a member of Take That! They were shouting, ‘We love you!’ and he was so warm-hearted towards them.”

Morrissey explains his approach to nailing his Doctor: “There has to be an inner truth for me, something at stake, and you have to play that for real.” So did any former Doctors influence his performance? “When I look at Tom Baker and William Hartnell, there’s a truth to their performances; Patrick Troughton as well. They never saw it as a genre show or a children’s show.

Would Morrissey consider a return to Doctor Who? “Oh yeah. Definitely. I love it. I’ve had a great time.” As speculation gathers pace about who’ll take over from Tennant, Morrissey is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the bookies’ favourite. “If they asked me back,” he says, with a twinkle in his eye, “I’d jump at it. I think it’s a great character, and I’ve loved every minute.”

The issue covers the week starting the 6th to the 12th of December. It costs £1.05, and should be avaliable at all good magazine retailers.
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The One, The Only And The Best...

Earlier tonight as part of the Children In Need, the first two minutes of this year's Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, was broadcast as a world-wide exclusive on the show. The Doctor arrived in Victorian England, on 24th December 1851, and visited a Christmassy market. He asked a boy the date, and then the year, to which the boy replied 'You thick or something?'. He heard a woman's voice calling for the Doctor, so he presumed it was him, so ran off towards the voice. He found a girl called Rosita, and she was confused as he said that he was the Doctor, when Rosita knew a different one. David Morrissey's Doctor runs on, claiming to be him as well. Morrissey's Doctor tells Rosita to go back to the Tardis, after asking for the sonic screwdriver. Tennant's Doctor also pulls out his sonic screwdriver and they are both menaced by a new terrifying Cybershade, in which the other Doctor says 'Oh, that's new!' Apart from David Morrissey's one was an actual screwdriver and they both shout Allons-Y, after which both Doctors give their other selves strange look. It was shown at around 9pm and just again recently just after 11:50pm. The preview is approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds long, and you can view it below;

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Children In Need Night

It's Children In Need night tonight, so you know what that means, all you Whovians out there! So I'll firstly say that the first two minutes of this year's Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, shall be shown during the show, at apparently around 8-9pm. More likely nearer nine though. Nobody has seen this clip before (apart from the Doctor Who workers, obviously), so this is an exclusive. Last year, we had another Doctor Who-themed part of Children In Need. We had Time Crash, also an exclusive, when the fifth Doctor came back, 'crashing' into the tenth. But remember though, if you don't want to spoil Christmas day, turn your television off when they announce that it will come on (but you surely won't, will you?). To make a donation to Children In Need, visit here. The night happens every year, to have fun while raising money for charity. This year's motto is 'Do Something Different'. The show will go on from 7-10pm for the main part, and then 10:35pm-2am. It gets a little more boring in the second half though. Definitely after midnight. Here is a bit about the night, and have fun everyone!

Thousands of fund-raisers around the country have been doing their bit for the charity in recent weeks and tonight their efforts are celebrated with the traditional BBC extravaganza hosted by Terry Wogan, Tess Daly and Fearne Cotton. The evening is jampacked with pop star performances, while the cast of EastEnders turn into "West Enders" for the night and The Bill pop on suits and shades to become the Blues Brothers. As always the BBC newsreaders will be humiliating themselves for our entertainment, but can they better Richard Hammond and Philip Glenister with their spoof of Ashes to Ashes?

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A Preview of The Darksmith Legacy

Below you can read the full preview of the new series of books, The Darksmith Legacy! The site has just opened and you could register to get this preview. What do you think?

Deep below the grey dusty surface, Clinton Seymour checked the readings on the controls he was monitoring. He reached for a microphone.

‘Professor Dollund? We have an arrival. Just turned up in Sector 8.’
The Professor’s gruff voice echoed through a speaker in the control panel. ‘Why didn’t you warn me?’
‘Sorry, sir. Didn’t see him coming. It’s like…’ Seymour gave a short laugh. ‘It’s like the ship just faded into existence up there. Funny looking craft, actually.’
Professor Dollund was not amused. ‘Well, don’t keep them hanging around. They could be important. Especially if they’ve got shielding – that suggests military. Give them a bubble.’
‘Doing it now,’ Seymour confirmed as he adjusted a control. The main screen in front of him showed a graphic of the lunar surface. An empty rectangular box rested on the landscape. As Seymour worked, a new line bulged up from the landscape, arcing upwards in a semi circle as it formed a large bubble over the box.
‘OK, whoever you are,’ Seymour said quietly. ‘You’ve got air.’
The Doctor stood outside the TARDIS and looked up at the Earth.

‘Well, I was close,’ he said. ‘Wonder what drew the TARDIS off course.’ He took a deep breath of impossible air and smacked his lips together in appreciation. ‘Loads of questions,’ he told himself. ‘Absolutely loads.’
He turned in a full circle, his feet kicking up dust and his trainers coated in grey. ‘This way,’ he decided. He walked carefully, in a bouncing, skimming motion. The Moon’s low gravity meant he only weighed a sixth of what he did on Earth.

The Doctor had gone about twenty paces when he hit the wall. It was hard, and smooth, and invisible. ‘Or maybe not this way,’ he said indistinctly, rubbing his nose. He stepped back and kicked a smattering of dust in the air, watching as the line of the wall was picked out in grey particles.

‘Force bubble,’ the Doctor decided. ‘Might be for my benefit.’ Just in case it was, he shouted, ‘Thank you – much appreciated!’
As if in reply, a square of black opened in the ground a few metres away. He could just see metal steps leading down into the darkness.

Lights snapped on as the Doctor started down the steps. His feet clanged on the metal, and he could feel himself getting heavier. He must be walking down into an artificial gravity field.

By the time he reached the bottom, the Doctor was back to his normal Earth weight. He was not surprised to find that there were people waiting for him.

There was a middle-aged man with grey hair, and a young woman whose long blond hair was tied in a pony tail. Both were wearing dusty overalls.

‘Welcome to Survey Four,’ the man said.
‘Thanks.’ The Doctor grinned.
‘We weren’t expecting you,’ the young woman confessed.
‘That’s all right. Unannounced inspection,’ the Doctor said. ‘You’re not supposed to expect me.’ He flashed his wallet of psychic paper, knowing it would tell them he was some important official.
The man swallowed as he read what he saw on the paper.

‘Doctor Smith, from the Bureau of Alien Technology.’
‘How did you know?’ the woman asked nervously.
‘We know everything,’ the Doctor told her. He tapped the side of his nose and winked. ‘Absolutely everything. So you’d better leave nothing out when you tell me all about it. Start at the beginning, go on to the end, then stop. And assume I know nothing at all about who you are or what you’re doing here on the Moon.’
The woman's name was Bobby (short for Roberta) Goodman, and she was an archaeologist. The man was Professor Dollund, and he told the Doctor he was in charge of Survey Four.

'Surveying what?' the Doctor asked. 'Assume I know nothing, remember,' he added quickly.
Dollund led the Doctor through narrow metal-lined corridors as he explained. 'With such a shortage of minerals and metal ores back on Earth, the big corporations think it's worth mining the Moon.'
'So you're surveying possible sites for the mines,' the Doctor realised.
'And turning up some interesting stuff,' Bobby said. 'Though nothing alien. At least, not until now.'
'Bobby's here to keep you people happy, really,' Dollund said. 'They wanted an expert ready on site, just in case.'
'You can never be too careful,' the Doctor agreed cheerfully. He noticed that Bobby and the Professor exchanged glances.
'You'd better come into the main control room and see what we've found,' Dollund said.
He led the Doctor and Bobby along another corridor which ended in a large circular door. There was a big locking wheel in the middle of it. An airlock.

'Just a precaution,' Bobby said. 'There's some minor seismic activity in this area. If we get an earthquake it might rupture the seal on one of the tunnels.'
'You should call it a Moonquake. Why not use force bubbles, like you extruded on the surface for me?' the Doctor asked as he stepped into the large control room.
There was a young man sitting at the main control desk. He stood up as the Doctor entered.

'Force bubbles take too much power,' the young man said, hearing the Doctor's question. 'I've already deflated the one round your ship and recycled the air into the main tunnels.'
'Good idea,' the Doctor said cheerily. But he knew that meant he couldn't get back to the TARDIS. He was stuck here, until Goodman and her friends decided he could leave. Hopefully, that wouldn't be a problem.

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