Tin Dog Podcast

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tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk The Tin Dog welcomes you to sit back and listen to his rants and ramblings about all that is best in modern SF and Television. Via the gift of the new fangled Podcast over the tinterweb. As you can probably guess Tin Dog mostly talks about Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Smith but that wont stop him talking about any other subject you suggest. Hailing from a non specific part of the northeast of England, Tin Dog is male and in his mid 30s. A life long fan of almost all TV SF. His semi-autistic tendencies combined with his total lack of social skills have helped him find a place in the heart of British SF Fandom. Even as a child the Tin Dogs mother told him that she can trace his love of SF TV back to his rhythmic kicking, while still in the womb, along to the beat of the Avengers theme music. From Gabriel Chase to Totters Lane, from the Bad Wolf Satellite to the back streets of the Cardiff, Tin Dog will give you his thoughts on the wonderful Whoniverse. Daleks and Cybermen and TARDIS ES Oh My If you enjoy these Tin Dog Podcasts please remember to tell your friends and leave an email tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk

Homepage: http://tin-dog.co.uk

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Tin Dog Podcast Episodes

• TDP 174: Curse of the Black Spot Smith 2.03

  8 May 2011 (4:31am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 46 seconds

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  The TARDIS crew, following a distress call, lands aboard a 17th-century pirate ship stranded in the middle of the ocean due to the lack of wind. Its captain, Captain Henry Avery, and what is left of its crew fear a seductive siren-like creature that marks those injured with a black spot on the palm of their hands, then appears and apparently destroys them. In a tussle with the crew, Rory receives a cut on his hand, and also receives a similar black mark. The Doctor orders everyone inside the ship, believing them to be safe away from open water, but the siren appears through seeped water and takes another crew member. The Doctor, Amy, Rory, Captain Avery and the remaining crew secure themselves in the ship's dry magazine. There, they discover Captain Avery's son, Toby, who had stowed away aboard the ship, unaware of his father's illicit deeds. Though uninjured, Toby has come down with a fever, and shares a similar black mark on his palm. The Doctor and Captain Avery, after a brief conflict over who is in charge, leave the others to try to bring the TARDIS to them. They make it inside safely, but the Doctor finds the TARDIS is acting haphazardly and they are forced to evacuate it before it dematerializes to an unknown location. As they return to the others, the Doctor realizes that the siren is using reflections to appear to them, such as that created by still water. They race back to warn the others, and destroy any reflective surface on the ship. A storm begins, and Captain Avery has Amy, Rory, and the Doctor help him to hoist the sails to allow them to leave. In the chaos, Toby, while trying to bring his father his coat, drops a polished crown from it. The siren emerges from it and appears to disintegrate Toby. Soon, Rory falls into the ocean, and the Doctor rationalises that the siren has shown intelligence and will likely get to Rory before he drowns. The Doctor convinces Amy and Captain Avery to prick themselves to allow the siren to take them as well so they can negotiate with it. They soon find themselves aboard an alien spaceship, its crew long dead from exposure to an Earth virus. The Doctor surmises the spaceship, the source of the distress signal, is trapped at the same time-space coordinates as Captain Avery's ship. Furthermore, the siren uses mirror-like portals to travel between the two ships. Further exploration reveals a bay where all of Avery's men, including Toby and Rory, are in medical care, along with the TARDIS; they were taken by the siren, the black spot being a tissue sample for reference. When they try to rescue them, the siren appears and turns violent on them. The Doctor realises the siren is a medical program, seeking to heal the injured crew. The Doctor and Amy convince the siren to turn Rory over to their care, while Avery decides to stay with his son and his crew in the ship, unable to go back to England himself while the ship will care for his crew. Using Rory's nursing knowledge, Amy and the Doctor are able to revive Rory after he is removed from life support. The Doctor teaches Captain Avery enough of the spaceship's controls to allow him, Toby, and his crew to explore the stars. In the epilogue, the Doctor and Amy talk about mutual trust; Amy confides to Rory that they still cannot talk to the Doctor about his future death, while the Doctor secretly finds his pregnancy scan on Amy remains unresolved. [edit] Continuity "Eye Patch Lady" (Frances Barber) appears for the second time in this episode. Similar to her first appearance in Day of the Moon, she appears to be looking through the other side of a small sliding window in a door despite the fact that the window is actually in the solid timbers of the ship and disappears when it is closed. [edit] Production [edit] Writing and casting Lily Cole was cast as the Sea Siren in the episode. The episode was written by Stephen Thompson. The producers wished to develop a Doctor Who episode set on "the high seas."[4] The episode was also made to allow the Doctor and his companions to "kick back and have some fun."[4] As the episode was pirate-themed, the producers wanted to fit in as many elements from pirate fiction into it, including treasure, mutinies, a stowaway boy, walking the plank, storms, swords and pirates with a "good heart" and "not really evil."[4] However, Arthur Darvill noticed that a parrot was not included.[4] "The Curse of the Black Spot" was originally planned to be ninth in the series but the order was changed during the production process.[5] Hugh Bonneville plays Captain Avery. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan described Bonneville as "great fun."[4] Bonneville previously played Sir Sidney Herbert and Tzar Nicholas the 1st in the Seventh Doctor audio drama The Angel of Scutari[6][7]. Lily Cole was cast as the Sea Siren. The producers were looking for an actress who is "beautiful," "striking," and yet somewhat "spooky."[4] Cole came early into suggestions, and she accepted the role.[4] [edit] Filming and effects Filming took place primarily in Cornwall and the Upper Boat Studios in Wales. The exterior of the pirate ship was filmed at a dock in Cornwall, while the lower decks were built from a set at the studio. The principal challenge to film at the dock was to ensure the audience would not see it. The crew set up smoke machines to simulate fog. To create the storm the crew used wind and rain machines, the latter of which went through 15,000 litres. The loud noise from the wind machines caused communication difficulties during takes. Anticipating they would get soaked, the cast present on the deck wore dry suits underneath their clothes. Before filming the storm sequences began, Darvill heard that he would perform the stunt where he is thrown into the sea, and was willing to perform it. However, the stunt would later be performed by a double.[4] The scenes in which Cole appeared on the ship was done by using a harness as if she was flying. Because the actress wore green dress and makeup, the conventional greenscreen was replaced by bluescreens in the studio. Cole felt it was fun to fly on the harness, but found it painful after a few hours. Gillan was allowed to perform several of her own stunts in the episode. She was excited to learn that her character would fight pirates with swords, and was taught how to handle one with basic moves.[4][8] Gillan was also allowed to swing across the ship. However, a stunt double was required to film the sequence where Amy is thrown across the deck by the Siren.[4] [edit] References ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0110g4b ^ "Matt Smith Video and New Series Overview". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_110411_01/Matt_Smith_Video_and_New_Series_Overview. Retrieved 15 April 2011.  ^ BBC. "BBC Week 19: Saturday 7 May". Press release. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2011/wk19/sat.shtml. Retrieved 22 April 2011.  ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ship Ahoy!". Doctor Who Confidential. BBC. BBC Three. 7 May 2011. No. 3, series 6. ^ "Episodes shuffle for the 2011 series...". Doctor Who Magazine (430): 7. 9 Feb 2011 (cover date).  ^ "Doctor Who: The Angel of Scutari". Big Finish. http://www.bigfinish.com/122-Doctor-Who-The-Angel-of-Scutari.  ^ "The Angel of Scutari". Hugh Bonneville online. http://www.hughbonneville.co.uk/past-hugh-bonnevilles-previous-projects/item/the-angel-of-scutari.html.  ^ "Gillan enjoyed sword fight scenes". This is Croydon Today. 21 April 2011. http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/news/Gillan-enjoyed-sword-fight-scenes/article-3475495-detail/article.html. Retrieved 28 April 2011.  "The Curse of the Black Spot" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage

  
  

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• TDP 173: Day of the Moon - Smith 2.02

  3 May 2011 (12:37pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 17 minutes and 13 seconds

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  "Day of the Moon"[2] is the second episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The second episode of a two-part story written by Steven Moffat, it was broadcast on 30 April 2011 in the UK on BBC One, in the U.S. on BBC America, and in Canada on Space. Contents [hide] 1 Plot 1.1 Continuity 1.1.1 Outside references 2 Production 2.1 Cast notes 3 Broadcast and reception 4 References 5 External links [edit] Plot In the three months since the end of "The Impossible Astronaut", the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song have been attempting to track the Silence, an alien race who cannot be remembered after they are encountered. Reunited at Area 51 with Canton Delaware, who had been pretending to work against them, the Doctor plants a communication device in each of the group's hands to record audio of meetings with the Silence. Amy tells the Doctor she was mistaken and is not pregnant. While the Doctor alters part of the command module of Apollo 11, Canton and Amy visit an orphanage, hoping to find where the girl in the spacesuit was taken from. Amy discovers a nest of the Silence, and a photograph of her and a baby amongst pictures of the little girl from the space suit. The girl enters with the Silence, and Amy is abducted and taken to their time engine control room. Arriving too late to help Amy, the Doctor and his allies find her recording device. Canton is able to shoot and wound one of the creatures, and from it the Doctor discovers the creatures are the Silence, a group he was warned about by several of his foes in his recent adventures. Analysing the now-empty space suit, River realises that the girl possesses incredible strength to have forced her way out of it, and that the suit's advanced life-support technology would have called the President as the highest authority figure on Earth when the girl got scared. The Doctor realises why the Silence have been controlling humanity — by guiding their technological advances, they have used humanity to build a spacesuit, which must somehow be crucial to their intentions. Meanwhile Canton interrogates the captured Silent in the Area 51 prison, who mocks humanity for treating him when they should "kill us all on sight". Canton records this using Amy's mobile phone. The Doctor uses Amy's communication chip to track her location, and lands the TARDIS in the Silence's control room five days later. As River and Rory hold the Silence at bay, the Doctor shows them the live broadcast of the moon landing. As they watch, the Doctor uses his modification of the Apollo command module to insert Canton's recording of the wounded Silent into the footage of the landing. Because of this message, humans will now turn upon the Silence whenever they see them. The group frees Amy and departs in the TARDIS, while River kills all the Silence in the control room. Amy reassures Rory that the man he overheard her speaking of loving through the communication chip was him, not the Doctor. River refuses the Doctor's offer to travel with him, returning to her Stormcage prison in order to keep a promise. She kisses the Doctor goodbye, and as the Doctor has never kissed her before deduces that this is her last kiss with him. In the TARDIS, Amy appears unable to remember seeing her picture in the orphanage and claims that she told the Doctor, rather than Rory, when she believed she was pregnant through fears that travelling in the TARDIS might have affected her child's development. As the trio set off, the Doctor discreetly uses the TARDIS scanner to attempt to determine if Amy is pregnant. Six months later, a homeless man in New York City comes across the young girl, previously seen in the astronaut's suit. The girl says she is dying, but can fix it; before the man's eyes, she appears to begin regenerating. [edit] Continuity The Silence's 'time engine' set was previously used in "The Lodger".[3] The Doctor describes it as "very Aickman Road", a reference to the house the ship occupied in that episode.[4] When the Silent reveals his species' name to the Doctor, the Doctor has flash-backs to "The Eleventh Hour" and "The Vampires of Venice", the first mentions of the Silence.[4] The Doctor is held captive in Area 51, which he had visited previously in the Tenth Doctor animated story Dreamland. The Doctor and Rory discuss both being present at the fall of Rome. As an Auton, Rory guarded the Pandorica from the Roman era to the present day in "The Big Bang", and the First Doctor indirectly instigated the Great Fire of Rome in The Romans. "Eye Patch Lady" (Frances Barber) briefly appears to Amy in the orphanage, and will return in a later episode.[4] The Doctor is imprisoned within walls of "zero balance dwarf star alloy, the densest material in the universe..." Dwarf star alloy first appeared in the 18th season Tom Baker story "Warriors' Gate", forming the hull of a slave ship capturing time sensitive Tharils. The density prevented the Tharils (who possessed the ability to go out of phase with time) from escaping. [edit] Outside references Near the end of the episode, President Richard Nixon asks the Doctor if he will be remembered by future generations. Amused by the question, the Doctor coyly remarks that the American people will never forget Nixon, a reference to the Watergate scandal that effectively ended Nixon's presidency. The Doctor also tells Nixon to record every word spoken in the Oval Office, another reference to the Watergate scandal (which revolved around the Oval office secret taping system). The Doctor also tells Nixon to say hi to David Frost. Frost is a British journalist, who had a famous interview with Nixon. During his conversation with the president, Canton confirms that his lover (whom he wishes to marry) is black. Interracial marriages had still been banned in certain states as recently as 1967. This revelation seems to explain Canton's previous statement about being fired from the FBI for "wanting to get married" in "The Impossible Astronaut" until he clarifies that his lover is a "he". Same-sex marriage was not legal in the United States in 1969. [edit] Production Steven Moffat, head writer of the new series, said before broadcast that this would be one of the darkest openers to a series ever done for Doctor Who.[2] Director Toby Haynes believed that the darker episodes like "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon" would allow the series to get into "more dangerous territory."[3] The creation of the Silence was partly inspired by the figure from the Edvard Munch painting The Scream.[2] Introducing the alien villains became a "big challenge" for the producers; it would tie in with the loose "silence will fall" arc that carried through the fifth series. Moffat did not wish to end the arc in the previous series, as he felt it would be "more fun" to continue it. Elsewhere in the episode, Delaware was written to be deceptively antagonistic towards the protagonists, which was based on actor Mark Sheppard's past as villains for his work in American television. Moffat was also keen on the idea of having the Doctor imprisoned with a beard in Area 51.[3] Many of the opening scenes of the episode were filmed on location in the United States. The sequence where Delaware chases Amy was shot in the Valley of the Gods in Utah. Gillan found it difficult to run because of the altitude. The sequence where Delaware chases Rory was shot at the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona. The Dam sequence was the final scene to be shot in the States. The sequence where Delaware chases River in New York was in fact shot in central Cardiff. A set was later constructed in a studio for the jump sequence, and Kingston was replaced by a stunt woman to perform the jump. The scenes set in Area 51 were filmed in a large disused hangar in South Wales.[3] The Florida orphanage was filmed at the abandoned Troy House in Monmouthshire, which many of the cast and crew believed is haunted. To add the effect that a storm is outside the building, the production crew placed rain machines outdoors and flashing lights to simulate lightning. The Silence were portrayed by Marnix van den Broeke and other performers. The masks caused vision difficulties from the performers, who had to be guided by two people when they have to walk. Broeke does not provide the voices of the Silence, as it would be replaced during post-production. The control room set used from "The Lodger" was used again for this episode. Moffat wanted the set to be used again, feeling it would be a suitable Silence base. The set was adapted to give it a darker, evil feel.[3] [edit] Cast notes Ricky Fearon who played the tramp previously played Foreman in the Torchwood episode To the Last Man. [edit] Broadcast and reception "Day of the Moon" was first broadcast on 30 April 2011 at 6 pm.[5] The episode received preliminary overnight ratings of 5.39 million viewers, equalling a 30.5 per cent audience share. The episode was down by 1.1 million from the previous week, but was still the second most seen broadcast for the day, behind Britain's Got Talent on ITV1.[6] Dan Martin of The Guardian liked the episode for its "action, tension, horror and River Song in a business suit," but felt it "sags a little around the middle."[7] Martin believed the scenes with Amy and Delaware in the orphanage was the "fear factor" of the episode.[7] [edit] References ^ "Matt Smith Video and New Series Overview". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_110411_01/Matt_Smith_Video_and_New_Series_Overview. Retrieved 15 April 2011.  ^ a b c "Doctor Who boss says season start is 'darkest yet'". BBC. 5 April 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12969897. Retrieved 7 April 2011.  ^ a b c d e "Breaking the Silence". Doctor Who Confidential. BBC. BBC Three. 30 April 2011. No. 2, series 6. ^ a b c BBC - BBC One Programmes - Doctor Who, Series 6, Day of the Moon ^ "Doctor Who, Series 6, Day of the Moon". BBC Online. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010y5l3. Retrieved 2 May 2011.  ^ Millar, Paul (1 May 2011). "'Doctor Who' audience slips to 5.4m". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a317300/doctor-who-audience-slips-to-54m.html. Retrieved 2 May 2011.  ^ a b Martin, Dan (30 April 2011). "Doctor Who: Day of the Moon — Series 32, episode 2". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/apr/30/doctor-who-day-of-the-moon. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

  
  

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• TDP 171: Smith 2.01 The Impossible Astronaut

  25 April 2011 (9:01pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 16 minutes and 48 seconds

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  "The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States and Canada. It will also air in Australia on 30 April 2011. The episode is the first of a two part story, which will conclude with "Day of the Moon". The episode was seen by 6.52 million viewers in the United Kingdom, the lowest rating for an opening episode since the show's revival, but received positive reviews from critics. This episode was dedicated to Elisabeth Sladen who played The Doctor's former companion Sarah Jane Smith, who died of cancer earlier in the week of broadcast. Contents [hide] 1 Plot 1.1 Continuity 1.2 Outside references 2 Prequel 3 Production 3.1 Writing 3.2 Cast notes 3.3 Filming and effects 4 Broadcast and reception 4.1 Broadcast and ratings 4.2 Critical reception 5 References 6 External links Plot An astronaut from the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. A replica of this suit was created for the episode. Amy and Rory, not having seen the Doctor for two months but aware of his recent exploits in history, receive a "TARDIS blue" coloured envelope. The envelope contains a date and time along with a set of physical coordinates that lead the couple to Utah, where they rendezvous with the Doctor and River Song. From the Doctor's perspective, it has been nearly two centuries since his last adventure with Amy and Rory (he left them when he was aged 908 and is now 1103). The Doctor now carries a diary identical to the one carried by River Song, and it is apparent that River and the Doctor have shared many adventures together as the two time travellers compare notes at a diner. The Doctor takes the group on a picnic at a nearby lake where he tells them he is taking them on a trip to "Space 1969". There, Amy sees a mysterious figure in the distance, but it then vanishes and Amy appears to immediately forget what she saw. The picnickers are soon joined by an older man named Canton Everett Delaware III, who had also received an envelope. Suddenly, a figure in a space suit emerges from the lake, and the Doctor warns the others to stay back and not interfere while he goes forward to talk. The Doctor appears to recognize the person in the suit when it raises its visor. They talk for a while, after which the Doctor stands still, his head bowed. Before anyone can react, the astronaut raises an energy weapon and twice shoots the Doctor, who begins to regenerate. A third shot disrupts the regeneration process and kills the Doctor. The astronaut then retreats back into the lake, leaving the Doctor's companions stunned and horrified. Assured the Doctor is dead, they give the Doctor a Viking-style funeral using a can of gasoline Delaware brought. Regrouping at the diner Amy, Rory, and River discuss the sender of the envelopes when the Doctor—a younger version of himself now aged 909—emerges from the restroom, revealing he also was given an envelope. Hesitant to tell the Doctor of his pending death, they explain the situation so far, and the Doctor uses Delaware's name and "Space 1969" in the TARDIS, ending up at the Oval Office of the White House in 1969. They watch as President Nixon takes a call from a mysterious young girl named "Jefferson Adams Hamilton" asking for help while a younger Delaware looks on. The Doctor reveals himself and gains Delaware's trust, convincing Nixon to give him a few minutes to locate the child. While he works out her location, Amy again sees a mysterious figure, and excuses herself to the restroom. There the figure, a Silent,[2] waits for her, and destroys an innocent woman despite Amy's pleas. Amy realizes the alien figure is wiping her memory of her encounter when she looks away, and takes a photo of the alien on her mobile phone. By the time she returns to the Oval Office, having no recall of the events, the Doctor has found the girl's location —a building near Cape Canaveral, Florida at the intersection of streets named Jefferson, Adams, and Hamilton. The Doctor and his companions leave in the TARDIS, followed closely by a curious Delaware. In the building, they find pieces of a space suit as well as ancient alien technology. Alone, River warns Amy that though they may encounter the astronaut that killed the future Doctor, attempting to stop the astronaut now may create a time paradox. River and Rory explore a vast network of tunnels under the building and spreading throughout the planet, encountering and forgetting other Silence. They eventually come on a control room similar to the one seen in "The Lodger", unaware that they are being surrounded by more Silence. Behind Rory, there is a flashing similar to the flashing a Silent had made as it was killing the woman in the bathroom near the Oval Office. River turns to see him, and shouts his name. We do not see what has happened. Above ground, the Doctor, Amy, and Delaware hear the cries of a girl. Delaware gives chase, but Amy, suddenly in pain, realizes she must tell the Doctor something as they follow. They find Delaware nearby, unconscious, and Amy finally lets the Doctor know that she is pregnant. Before they can react, the astronaut appears. Amy reaches for Delaware's gun, while the astronaut lifts its helmet, revealing the face of a young girl. Before she can stop herself, Amy fires upon the astronaut. Continuity The envelopes each contain the date 22 April 2011 (the day prior to the first broadcast of this episode), and coordinates (37°0′38″N 110°14′34″W / 37.01056°N 110.24278°W / 37.01056; -110.24278). River Song tells Rory that she and the Doctor are travelling through time "in opposite directions." She comments that a day is coming when "he'll look into my eyes, and not have the faintest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me." In the Series 4 episode "Silence in the Library", the Tenth Doctor meets River for the first time (from his perspective); at the conclusion of that story, River is killed saving people trapped inside the Library's core. The control panel River Song and Rory find in the underground tunnels is the same control panel that was found in the upstairs flat in the Series 5 episode "The Lodger".[citation needed] The TARDIS had been previously turned invisible in the Second Doctor story The Invasion. When Canton first leaves the TARDIS, the Doctor remarks, "Brave heart, Canton." This is a reference to the Fifth Doctor's recurrent statement to Tegan, "Brave heart, Tegan." [3] The older Doctor is seen with a diary similar to River Song's at the beginning of the episode, swapping notes with River. Outside references In Amy and Rory's home, Rory is watching the Laurel and Hardy film The Flying Deuces. The Doctor then runs up and waves at the camera. In the White House toilets scene, Joy believes the alien to be something from Star Trek. River notes that the Easter Island statues were created in the Doctor's honour, laughing and talking about Jim the Fish. The Doctor calls River Song Mrs. Robinson. That is a reference to a book called The Graduate from 1963 by Charles Webb. In the film from 1967 Anne Bancroft plays the older Mrs. Robinson. She seduces the young Dustin Hoffman. Prequel On 25 March 2011, a short exclusive scene serving as a prequel for the first episode was released on the show's official website. The prequel depicts Richard Nixon[4][5] (Stuart Milligan) receiving a recorded phone call of a girl's voice while sitting in the Oval Office. The girl, whose voice the president appears to recognize from a previous call, begs him to "look behind you", warning him that there is something there. The president angrily refuses and the line goes dead; the camera then pans around him to show an out-of-focus, inhuman figure standing to the president's right. Production Writing Show runner and episode writer Steven Moffat (pictured) created the Silence to compete with other creatures in the past in terms of "scariness." The episode was written by Steven Moffat, who took charge as show runner since 2010. Having also written the following episode, "Day of the Moon", Moffat wanted the 2011 season to start with a two-part story in an attempt to begin with more gravity and a wider scope in plot. In the Doctor Who Confidential episode following the broadcast of "The Impossible Astronaut", Moffat states it was one of the darker episodes of the series, but it still maintained the same level of humour. The inclusion of the Doctor getting killed felt like a series ender for some of the producers, but was actually there to "kick it off."[6] In writing the death scene of the future Doctor, Moffat wanted to acknowledge to the audience that Time Lords are not invincible, and could still die permanently if killed before regeneration, a fact the series previously acknowledged in The End of Time. In creating the Silence, the alien antagonists of the episode, Moffat wanted them to challenge other monsters in past in terms of "scariness."[6] He felt these creatures are a "much bigger deal."[6] Amy Pond's pregnancy will be involved in a story arc as the series progresses.[6] Cast notes In October 2010, it was announced that Mark Sheppard, who appeared in other past science fiction series including Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural and Warehouse 13, would make a guest appearance on the series. Sheppard described playing Canton as a "dream job," and wished to appear in another of Moffat's works, including Sherlock.[7][8] Even though Sheppard is an English actor, it was his first appearance on British television.[9] For the scene depicting the older Canton Delaware, it was planned that Sheppard would appear older using makeup effects; he successfully suggested instead that his father, William Morgan Sheppard, play the role. American actor Stuart Milligan was cast as President Nixon, which he found exciting, having played other presidents in the past including Dwight D. Eisenhower. Prosthetic pieces were applied on his cheeks, nose and ears to resemble Nixon as much as possible. He also practiced how Nixon would speak, but initially found it difficult since he had to wear fake teeth.[6] Milligan previously appeared in the animated Tenth Doctor special Dreamland as the voice of Colonel Stark.[10] Filming and effects Karen Gillan (centre) was genuinely upset filming the death scene of the future Doctor. This pair of episodes marks the first time that Doctor Who has filmed principal photography footage within the United States;[11] the American-produced TV movie of 1996 was filmed in Canada. Some second-unit establishing shots of New York and the Statue of Liberty were filmed on Liberty Island for the episode "Daleks in Manhattan", but none of the cast of the episode were involved in the shoot.[12] Filming took place in the state of Utah. For the opening shot for the location, director Toby Haynes wanted it to be epic so that the audience could recognise where the episode was set. The crew wanted to add as many American icons as they could into those shots, including a Stetson hat, a 1950s Edsel Villager and a yellow school bus. Moffat, having enjoyed writing episodes featuring River Song, wanted to give her an impressive entrance. Haynes had Alex Kingston block the Sun light from the camera angle and blowing smoke from her revolver. The scenes involving the picnic and the future-Doctor dying took place on the shore of Lake Powell. The suit worn by the future-Doctor's killer was a fabricated replica of an Apollo space suit. It was waterproofed as the killer came out of the water, and in real life space suits were not designed to be used in water. In filming the death scene the filming crew noticed that Karen Gillan was genuinely upset and "was acting her heart out."[6] In filming the "Viking funeral" scene, Haynes wished to film it during the sunset. However, the sun set over the desert, so was instead filmed during sunrise, as the sun rose over the water.[6] Kingston had to genuinely slap Matt Smith several times in a scene because it was difficult to fake. Kingston recalled that after a few takes, Smith got red cheeked and grew frustrated at having to do the sequence over and over again. The Oval Office set was constructed at Upper Boat Studios in South Wales. Because the production crew had access to several pictures and plans of the real office, they were able to replicate it in almost every detail. The main problem for building the set was the plastering; the crew normally plaster one wall at a time for normal rooms, but because the Oval Office was round, they had to do the entire set at once. The American-style diner scene when the companions reunite with the Doctor in this episode is actually located in Cardiff Bay.[13] The Laurel and Hardy film the Doctor intruded was done by Smith dancing in front of greenscreen.[6] The episode opens with a still-caption tribute to actress Elisabeth Sladen, who died from cancer on 19 April 2011. Sladen had previously appeared in the series as companion Sarah Jane Smith, and as the same character on the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures.[14] Broadcast and reception Broadcast and ratings "The Impossible Astronaut" was first broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 23 April 2011 at 6 pm.[15] The episode also aired on BBC America in the United States and Space in Canada on the same day.[16][17] It aired on ABC1 in Australia on 30 April.[18] After its original broadcast in the United Kingdom, "The Impossible Astronaut" received preliminary overnight ratings of 6.52 million viewers, a 36.7% audience share in its timeslot. Despite winning its timeslot, ratings were down by 1.2 million from the previous series premiere "The Eleventh Hour", meaning it has the lowest ratings of all the opening episodes of the series since the shows revival in 2005. The episode became the second highest rated programme of the night, behind Britain's Got Talent, which attracted 8.99 million on ITV1.[19] Critical reception The episode was met with positive reviews from television critics. Dan Martin of The Guardian reacted positively towards the episode, believing the cast performed better than the previous fifth series. He stated "Steven Moffat has thrown away the rule book and made Doctor Who as, you imagine, he's pictured it should be his whole life. Killing the Doctor leaves the shape of the series mapped out, raises the bar so that no one is safe, and sees Amy, Rory and River facing a terrible dilemma."[20] Martin liked that "Amy's numbed horror ramps things up to a series-finale level on intensity from the off," and then switches "into an Oval Office comedy of manners," and "morphs into gothic horror and finally flings you to the ground with its cinematic cliffhanger."[20] He was also positive towards the American setting, and "our eccentric British foursome bumbling through it," believing the series raised its game with this."[20] With regards to the Silence, Martin believed it was "a standard Moffat psychological trick, but the most refined to date."[20] Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy called the episode "a fantastic launch for the sixth series," adding "the Doctor Who team's US location shooting has certainly paid off, lending these early scenes a grand scale that the series could scarcely have expected to achieve in 2005, let alone in 1963."[21] Commenting on the future-Doctor's death, Jeffery said "seven minutes in, a nation's collective jaw dropped as The Doctor — this show's lead — is mercilessly gunned down. This plot twist is simply stunning, and it's difficult to imagine even casual viewers not sitting up to pay attention at this point."[21] Jeffery also believed that the series regulars were on "top form," adding "the more abrasive aspects of Amy Pond's personality seem to have been toned down this year, and Karen Gillan responds with her best, most sympathetic performance to date. Arthur Darvill also lives up to his recent promotion to full-time companion. His comic timing is simply superb, but he excels too in the episode's darker moments."[21] Jeffery rated the episode five stars out of five.[21] Gavin Fuller of The Daily Telegraph believed it was "a cracking start to the first part of the 2011 series, with the shocking ending of Amy seemingly shooting a girl making one keen wait for the conclusion next week to see how it all resolves itself," as well as enjoying the concept of the Silence.[22] Rick Marshall of MTV believed that "Steven Moffat and the Doctor Who crew offer up yet another great episode," but also said the "big cliffhanger will likely cause more than a few fans' heads to explode."[23] In addition, Marshall believed the alien antagonists "give the Weeping Angels a run for their money in scare factor."[23] Simon Brew of Den of Geek thought the episode was "a triumphant return for Doctor Who, bubbling with confidence and throwing down story strands that hint at an engrossing series."[24] Brew liked Sheppard's performance as Delaware and Darvill's increasing presence as Rory. Brew also complimented Haynes' work in the United States, saying it was an improvement from "Daleks in Manhattan", which featured British actors attempting to play with American accents.[24] Tom Phillips of Metro said the 1969 US setting were "beautifully used," and enjoyed the "spookiness" of the Silence. However Phillips felt the episode would be "a bit hard to get into" for new viewers.[25]

  
  

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• TDP 172: Lis Slayden a collection of tributes

  25 April 2011 (7:48pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 26 minutes and 41 seconds

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  Elisabeth Claira Heath Sladen[2] (1 February 1946[3][4][1][5] – 19 April 2011) was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She appeared as a regular from 1973 to 1976, opposite both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role many times in subsequent decades, both on Doctor Who and its spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Early career 2.2 Sarah Jane Smith 2.3 Other work 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External links [edit] Early life Sladen was the only child of Tom Sladen, who fought in World War I and served in the Home Guard during World War II.[citation needed] Her mother Gladys' maiden name was Trainor,[3] which is a Northern Irish name commonly seen in Liverpool.[citation needed] Sladen developed an interest in performing at an early age, beginning dance lessons when she was five, and dancing in one production with the Royal Ballet. She was a primary school contemporary of future politician Edwina Currie (née Cohen), appearing in at least one school production with her; and a grammar school contemporary of Peter Goldsmith, the future Attorney-General, when both attended Quarry Bank School (now Calderstones School).[6] [edit] Career [edit] Early career After attending drama school for two years, Sladen began work at the Liverpool Playhouse repertory company as an assistant stage manager. Her first stage appearance was as a corpse. However, she was scolded for giggling on stage, thanks to a young actor, Brian Miller, whispering the words, "Respiration nil, Aston Villa two" in her ear while he was playing a doctor. Sladen was so good as an assistant stage manager that she did not get many acting roles, a problem she solved by deliberately making mistakes on several occasions.[citation needed] This got her told off again, but she started to get more on-stage roles. Sladen made her first, uncredited, screen appearance in 1965 in the film Ferry Cross the Mersey as an extra. Sladen eventually moved into weekly repertory work, travelling around to various locations in England. Sladen and Miller, now married, moved to Manchester, spending three years there. She appeared in numerous roles, most notably as Desdemona in Othello, her first appearance as a leading lady. She also got the odd part on Leeds Radio and Granada Television, eventually appearing as a barmaid in 1970 in six episodes of the long-running soap opera Coronation Street. In 1971, Sladen was in two episodes of Z-Cars. Then, in 1972, she was appearing in a play that moved down to London, and they had to move along with it. Her first television role in London was as a terrorist in an episode of Doomwatch. This was followed by guest roles in Z-Cars (again),[7] Public Eye, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Special Branch. [edit] Sarah Jane Smith In 1973, Doctor Who actress Katy Manning, who was playing the Third Doctor's assistant Jo Grant opposite Jon Pertwee, was leaving the series. Producer Barry Letts was growing increasingly desperate in his search for a replacement, when Z-Cars producer Ron Craddock gave Sladen an enthusiastic recommendation. Sladen arrived at the audition not knowing it was for the new companion role, and was amazed at Letts's thoroughness. She was introduced to Pertwee, whom she found intimidating at the time. As she chatted with Letts and Pertwee, each time she turned to look at one of them the other would signal a thumbs-up.[8] She was offered and accepted the part of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith. She stayed on Doctor Who for three and a half seasons, alongside Pertwee as the Third Doctor and Tom Baker as the Fourth, receiving both popular and critical acclaim for her role as Sarah Jane. When she left the series, in the 1976 serial The Hand of Fear, it made front page news,[citation needed] where previously only a change of Doctors had received such attention. In October, 2009, Sladen paid tribute to her boss and friend, Barry Letts, after he died. She said Letts was her closest friend on Doctor Who. Sladen returned to the character of Sarah Jane Smith on numerous occasions. In 1981, new Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner asked her to return to the series to ease the transition between Tom Baker and new Doctor Peter Davison. She declined but accepted his second offer of doing a pilot for a spin-off series called K-9 and Company, co-starring K-9, the popular robot dog from Doctor Who. However, the pilot was not picked up for a series. Two years later Sladen appeared in the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors. She reprised the role in the 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time, and in the 1995 independently produced video Downtime alongside former co-star Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield. This was her last on-screen appearance as Sarah Jane Smith for some time. Sladen played Sarah Jane in several audio plays. Two of them were produced for BBC Radio, The Paradise of Death (Radio 5, 1993), and The Ghosts of N-Space (Radio 2, 1996), together with Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney. Big Finish Productions has also produced two series of Sarah Jane Smith audio adventures set in the present day, released in 2002 and 2006. Her daughter Sadie has also appeared in the audios. In later years, Sladen had also participated re-visiting a few classic Doctor Who serials on DVD in doing audio commentaries and interviews (in the stories she starred in), but as of 2008 she stated in an interview that she was no longer doing them due to "contractual reasons with 2entertain".[9] Following the successful revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Sladen guest starred as Sarah Jane in "School Reunion", an episode of the 2006 series, along with John Leeson, who returned as the voice of the robot dog K-9, and David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Sladen was ever faithful to the character and worked a lot of the characterisation herself, in the lead-up to the broadcast of "School Reunion" she was quoted in The Daily Mirror as saying: "Sarah Jane used to be a bit of a cardboard cut-out. Each week it used to be, 'Yes Doctor, no Doctor', and you had to flesh your character out in your mind — because if you didn't, no one else would." She also spoke favourably of the characterisation in the new series.[10] Following her successful appearance in the series, Sladen later starred in The Sarah Jane Adventures, a Doctor Who spin-off focusing on Sarah Jane, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC and created by Russell T Davies. A 60-minute special aired on New Year's Day 2007, with a 10-episode series commencing broadcast in September 2007. The programme was nominated for a prestigious Royal Television Society award[11] and was recommissioned for a second 12-episode series which was broadcast in late 2008.[12] The third series was broadcast in Autumn 2009, and again achieved audience ratings well in excess of the usual average figures for the time slot (sometimes even double). A fourth season began airing in October 2010. Sladen also read two original audio stories for The Sarah Jane Adventures,[7] which were released in November 2007 on CD: The Glittering Storm by Stephen Cole and The Thirteenth Stone by Justin Richards. This was the first time that BBC Audiobooks have commissioned new content for exclusive release on audio.[13] Two new audio stories ("Ghost House" and "Time Capsule") were released in November 2008, both read again by Sladen.[14] Sladen appeared in the final two episodes of Doctor Who’s 2008 series (season 4) finale "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" and was credited in the title sequence of both episodes.[15] Her final appearance in Doctor Who was a cameo in the concluding part of "The End of Time", Tennant's last episode as the Doctor.[16] [edit] Other work After Doctor Who, Sladen returned to Liverpool with her husband and performed in a series of plays. This included a two-hander with Miller in Moonie and his Caravans. Notable appearances following that include a two-year stint as a presenter for the children's programme Stepping Stones, a lead role with Miller playing her husband in ITV drama Send In The Girls, a BBC Play For Today, a role as a stand-up comic's spouse in Take My Wife, and a small part in the movie Silver Dream Racer as a bank secretary in 1980, only her second motion picture appearance. In 1981, former Doctor Who producer Barry Letts cast her as the female lead in the BBC Classics production of Gulliver in Lilliput. She continued to appear in various advertisements and in another Letts production, Alice in Wonderland (playing the Dormouse), as well as attending conventions in the United States. After the birth of her daughter Sadie Miller in 1985, Sladen went into semi-retirement, placing her family first, but finding time for the occasional television appearance. In 1995, she played Dr Pat Hewer in 4 episodes of Peak Practice. In 1996, she played Sophie in Faith in the Future, and appeared in 15 episodes of the BBC schools programme Numbertime, which was repeated annually for around ten years. This was her last television acting appearance until the 2006 Doctor Who episode "School Reunion". In 1991, she starred as Alexa opposite Colin Baker in The Stranger audio adventure The Last Mission for BBV Audio. Sladen also appeared in a Bernice Summerfield audio drama, Kate Orman's Walking to Babylon. In 2008–09, Sladen appeared in a panto production of Peter Pan at the Theatre Royal Windsor, playing Mrs. Darling and a beautiful mermaid.[17] [edit] Personal life Sladen married actor Brian Miller in 1968 in Liverpool;[18] the marriage lasted until her death. Their daughter, Sadie Miller, appeared with her in the range of Sarah Jane Smith audio plays by Big Finish Productions. As a child, Sadie appeared alongside Sladen in the 1996 documentary, Thirty Years in the TARDIS, wearing a replica of the Andy Pandy overalls Sladen wore in The Hand of Fear. Sladen died early on 19 April 2011,[19] after having cancer for several months.[20][21][22] The first episode of series six of the revived version of Doctor Who "The Impossible Astronaut" aired on the Saturday following Sladen's death. The episode started with a screen announcing that it was dedicated to the memory of Elisabeth Sladen. Straight after 'Doctor Who', a special tribute called 'My Sarah Jane: A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen' was aired on CBBC.[21] Sladen had also been interested in being involved in the Doctor Who Fourth Doctor Big Finish series.[23] [edit] References

  
  

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• Elisabeth Sladen has died

  19 April 2011 (7:10pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minutes and 27 seconds

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  Twitter and Facebook are alight with rumours that Elisabeth Sladen has passed away.The Doctor Who star, who is best known as Sarah Jane Smith and also stars in the spin off CBBC show The Sarah Jane Adventures, is said to have passed away earlier today.Sources say the 63 year old star died because of complications arising from a battle with cancer.The actress was a regular on BBC’s Doctor Who with both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and has reprised her role many times. She first joined the sci-fi show in 1973 and stayed on for three and a half seasons, before leaving in 1976.After numerous appearances through the 80s and 90s, Elisabeth returned in 2006, acting opposite the then Doctor David Tennant in an episode titled “School Reunion”.Following her successful appearance in the series, Sladen was then asked to front The Sarah Jane Adventures, written by Russell. T Davies for CBBC. The show ran for four series, with a fifth scheduled to air later in 2011.Sladen was amazing on screen and a real fan favourite, she was welcomed back for two episodes of Doctor Who’s 2008 series finale “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End” and was credited in the title sequence of both episodes. She also had a cameo in the concluding part of The End of Time, Tennant’s last episode as the Doctor. This was her last appearance on the show.This has not yet been confirmed, so more news to follow.

  
  

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• TDP 169: Planet of the Spiders

  7 April 2011 (6:55am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 59 seconds

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  Planet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks the last appearance of Mike Yates. Contents [hide] 1 Synopsis 2 Plot 2.1 Cast notes 3 Production 4 Continuity 5 In print 6 Broadcast, VHS release & DVD Release 7 References 8 External links 8.1 Reviews 8.2 Target novelisation [edit] Synopsis Mysterious goings-on at a meditation retreat run by Tibetan monks are linked to the blue planet Metebelis III, and a colony of monstrous, evolved spiders. The Doctor must reflect on his past and reconcile with his present to defeat a deadly and possibly fatal challenge... [edit] Plot Following the events of Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Mike Yates was discharged from UNIT and is now attending a Tibetan meditation centre in rural England. He is visited by Sarah Jane Smith and they witness some curious happenings at the centre, seemingly organised by a resident called Lupton, a middle aged former salesman, and his cronies. Mike and Sarah stumble across Lupton performing an incantation, which conjures up a giant spider into the middle of the basement room. It jumps on Lupton’s back and then disappears. The spider manifests itself in Lupton’s head, telling him to seek out and locate a certain blue crystal. The Third Doctor has developed an interest in psychic ability, but his testing of a clairvoyant called Professor Clegg backfires when his subject has a heart attack. It is triggered when Clegg comes into contact with a blue crystal from Metebelis Three (sent back from the Amazon by Jo Grant), which caused him to see the image of deadly spiders. Sarah returns from the retreat, having left Mike to watch things there, and she and the Doctor swap spider tales. Meanwhile Lupton has also arrived at UNIT HQ and steals the crystal from the Doctor’s laboratory. A multi-vehicle chase ensues which Lupton escapes by teleporting himself back to the monastery. Once there, the spider reveals that it is plotting against some of its sisters back on Metebelis Three. The spiders and the crystal originate from the same blue planet in the Acteon Galaxy, which was none too hospitable to the Doctor the last time he visited (during The Green Death). The Doctor and Sarah now make for the monastery and tell the deputy abbot, Cho-Je, that something is very amiss. The crystal now strays again when it is taken by Tommy, the simple-minded handyman of the retreat, whose mind is opened and improved by the power of the crystal. Lupton is teleported to Metebelis Three, unconsciously allowing Sarah to follow him. She soon meets the human slave inhabitants of the planet, a generally dispirited bunch, other than the rebellious Arak, who flees to the mountains. The planet is ruled by the Eight-Legs or giant spiders, and their Queen is the supreme ruler. They govern using guards chosen from among the planet's Two-Leg (human) population and their own phenomenal mental powers, amplified by the blue stones of the planet. The Doctor arrives on the planet and he makes contact with Arak, who explains that the Metebelians are the descendants of the crew of an earth space ship, which crashed hundreds of years before. A spider on board found its way to the Blue Mountains where, through the effect of the crystals, its progeny grew larger and larger and cleverer and cleverer. The Doctor works out that a “negative” stone can absorb and reject the power of the blue crystals and starts a revolt among the humans, but this is defeated and the Doctor ventures to the Blue Mountains. There he encounters the Great One, a giant spider which controls the world of Metebelis and desires power over other domains too. She knows the crystal is still on Earth and sends the Doctor there to get it for her. He flees back to Earth with Sarah – not knowing the Queen spider has now implanted itself in his companion's mind. Tommy has given the crystal to the abbot, K’anpo Rinpoche, who is an elderly Time Lord and the one-time hermit mentor of the Doctor. He now lives in peaceful exile on Earth. He tells the Doctor of Sarah's control and they work together to expel the Queen Spider. A fight breaks in the monastery between Lupton’s cronies and the Abbot’s men. The Abbot advises the Doctor to take the crystal to the Great One: the Doctor started this chain of events by removing the crystal in the first place, and it is up to him to put it back. He departs in the TARDIS with the crystal. On Metebelis Three, Lupton has been killed by the spiders after falling out with the Spider Queen. When the TARDIS lands, the Doctor heads to the cave of the Great One and gives her the crystal, which she uses to complete a lattice that begins to magnify her mental powers. However, the forces unleashed are too strong for the Great One and the positive feedback kills her and the other spiders. A vast wave of deadly radiation floods the cave. The Doctor, now very weak, staggers back to the TARDIS and teleports away. Three weeks later, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Sarah are in the Doctor's laboratory when the Doctor returns and promptly collapses, and the Doctor dies. The abbot K’anpo arrives in his new body, having regenerated into the form of Cho-Je, who was a sort of forward projection of his soul. He tells them that the Doctor will change too and before their eyes the Doctor starts to regenerate into the Fourth Doctor. [edit] Cast notes This story marks the final appearance of Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates. Franklin would reprise his role in The Five Doctors (1983) and Dimensions in Time (1993), although on both occasions they were illusory versions of Yates. After his departure from the series, Franklin would go on to become a stage and television director. Kismet Delgado, the widow of Roger Delgado, who had played the Master during the Third Doctor's era, was one of the voices for the Spiders. Gareth Hunt, who would go on to play Mike Gambit in The New Avengers, appears here as a human rebel on Metebelis III. Carl Forgione would later play Nimrod in Ghost Light. [edit] Production Serial details by episode EpisodeBroadcast dateRun timeViewership (in millions)Archive "Part One" 4 May 1974 (1974-05-04) 24'40" 10.1 PAL 2" colour videotape "Part Two" 11 May 1974 (1974-05-11) 25'02" 8.9 PAL 2" colour videotape "Part Three" 18 May 1974 (1974-05-18) 24'58" 8.8 PAL 2" colour videotape "Part Four" 25 May 1974 (1974-05-25) 23'53" 8.2 PAL 2" colour videotape "Part Five" 1 Jun 1974 24'01" 9.2 PAL 2" colour videotape "Part Six" 8 Jun 1974 24'43" 8.9 PAL 2" colour videotape [1][2][3] The final story of Season 11 (to have been titled The Final Game) was originally intended to write out the character of the Master, with the villainous Time Lord sacrificing his life to save the Doctor's. Due to the death of actor Roger Delgado, script editor Terrance Dicks abandoned the project in favour of a new story, which eventually evolved into Planet of the Spiders. Coincidentally, Kismet Delgado, Roger's widow provided her voice to one of the spiders. The train station Sarah Jane arrives at in Part One is Mortimer railway station, near Reading. [edit] Continuity This story was the second and last appearance of the "Whomobile". The character of Surgeon-Lieutenant Harry Sullivan, the UNIT medical officer, is referred to by the Brigadier who calls for him when the Doctor falls into a daze after staring into the crystal. Sullivan would not actually appear on screen until Robot, where he was played by Ian Marter. The Spiders of Metebelis Three make further appearances in the short story "Return of the Spiders" by Gareth Roberts (in the collection More Short Trips) and a brief appearance in the Eight Doctor Adventure The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks. They also have a full encounter with the Eighth Doctor in the Big Finish audios The Eight Truths and Worldwide Web by Eddie Robson. The Eighth Doctor Adventures novels Interference: Book One and Two by Lawrence Miles has the time-travelling voodoo cult Faction Paradox changing history so that the events of this story never happen and instead having the Third Doctor regenerating on a planet named Dust after being shot. A later novel in the series, The Ancestor Cell by Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, resolves this paradox and restores the Doctor's timeline to its previous state. The canonicity of the novels is unclear. It is unclear how long it takes the Doctor to return to Earth in the TARDIS from Metebelis Three, although three weeks have passed for Sarah and the Brigadier. Paul Cornell in the Virgin New Adventures novel Love and War established that the TARDIS was lost in the time vortex for the equivalent of ten years. This is revealed during a sequence in cyberspace where agents of the alien race called the Hoothi are attempting to trap the Seventh Doctor in a virtual recreation of the worst moments of his life, of which this regeneration is the most painful for the Doctor to re-live. This story includes the character of K'anpo Rimpoche, the previously unnamed Time Lord hermit from the Doctor's childhood, first mentioned in The Time Monster. K'anpo has the power to travel through time without the use of a TARDIS, to make a corporeal projection of a potential future incarnation (Cho-Je) of himself, and to stimulate the regeneration process of another Time Lord. K'anpo was referenced again in the Fourth Doctor serial State of Decay as the man who told the Doctor about the legends of the Great Vampires. The Doctor regenerates due to radiation poisoning a second time when the Tenth Doctor allows himself to absorb a lethal dose of radiation to save his current companion Wilfred Mott in The End of Time. [edit] In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders Series Target novelisations Release number 48 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Peter Brookes ISBN 0-426-10655-5 Release date 16 October 1975 A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in October 1975 as Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders. The novel's prologue shows Jo Grant and her husband Professor Jones in the Amazon jungle following the events of The Green Death. Harry Sullivan is referred to as Doctor Sweatman. [edit] Broadcast, VHS release & DVD Release This story was repeated on BBC One as a 105-minute omnibus on 27 December 1974 at 14:46.[4] The serial was released on VHS in April 1991 as a double pack. It will be released on DVD in the UK on DVD on 18 April 2011.[5] It will be released in the USA and Canada on 10 May 2011.[6] [edit] References ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "Planet of the Spiders". Outpost Gallifrey. http://gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=zzz. Retrieved 2008-08-30. [dead link] ^ "Planet of the Spiders". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_3z.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2007-08-07). "Planet of the Spiders". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/zzz.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1996). "Planet of the Spiders (ZZZ)". Doctor Who The Handbook - The Third Doctor. London: Doctor Who Books. p. 162. ISBN 0 426 20486 7.  ^ "April 2011 DVD - Planet of the Spiders". Doctor Who Online - Release Guide. 17 February 2011. http://www.drwho-online.co.uk/releases/#dvd-planetofthespiders. Retrieved 18 February 2011.  ^ Lambert, David (26 January 2011). "Doctor Who - BBC Announces 'Terror of the Autons' and 'Planet of the Spiders'". TVShowsOnDVD.com. para. 3. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/n/14960. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

  
  

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• TTZ 10:

  4 April 2011 (9:54am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  P Direct Podcast Download

  INFO TO FOLLOW

  
  

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• TDP 168: The Revisitation Box set Number 2

  21 March 2011 (2:13pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 25 minutes and 59 seconds

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  info to follow

  
  

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• TDP 167: Space and Time (for Red Nose Day 2011)

  21 March 2011 (2:09pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 9 seconds

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  Plot [edit] "Space" Amy is trying to get the Doctor's attention while he fixes the TARDIS. She discovers that Rory is helping the Doctor by installing thermal couplings underneath the glass floor of the TARDIS. Rory and Amy then start a small argument, when the TARDIS suddenly shakes and the lights go out. The Doctor asks Rory if he dropped a thermal coupling, which Rory admits to and apologises for doing. Amy then apologises as well, and, at the Doctor's confusion, explains that Rory was looking up her skirt through the glass floor when he dropped the thermal coupling. The Doctor then notes that they have landed through "emergency materialisation" which should have landed the TARDIS in the safest space available. The lights come on, revealing another TARDIS inside the control room - the TARDIS has materialised inside itself. The Doctor experimentally walks through the door of the TARDIS inside the control room and instantly walks back into the control room through the door of the outer TARDIS. The Doctor tells Rory and Amy that they are trapped in a "space loop" and that nothing can enter or exit the TARDIS ever again. Despite the Doctor's words, another Amy walks through the TARDIS door. [edit] "Time" Continuing from the ending of "Space", the other Amy reveals that she is from a few moments in the future, and is able to come into the current outer TARDIS because "the exterior shell of the TARDIS has drifted forwards in time". The other Amy knows what to say and do because, from her perspective, she is repeating what she heard herself say earlier on. The Doctor sends the current Amy into the TARDIS within the current TARDIS, in order to "maintain the timeline". However, not long before the current Amy is gone when another pair of Rory and Amy walk in through the door of outer TARDIS, explaining that the Doctor, from their perspective, just sent them into the inner TARDIS. The current Doctor promptly sends the current Rory and now current Amy through the inner TARDIS. The Doctor then explains that he will set up a "controlled temporal implosion" in order to "reset the TARDIS", but in order to do so he must know which lever to use on the control panel. Moments after he speaks, another Doctor walks though the outer TARDIS door and tells him to use "the wibbly lever", which he quickly pulls, then steps into the inner TARDIS to tell his past self which lever to use. The inner TARDIS dematerialises while the outer TARDIS (being the same TARDIS) does the same, and the Doctor assures Amy and Rory that they are now back in "normal flight", and then advises Amy to "put some trousers on". [edit] Continuity The situation where a TARDIS materialised within a TARDIS in a recursive loop has occured before in previous episodes in the Third Doctor and Fourth Doctor's era, "The Time Monster" and "Logopolis". However, in both cases, it was the Master's TARDIS that had joined with the Doctor's, whereas in "Space" and "Time", the same TARDIS materialised within itself. In attempting to explain "conceptual space" to Rory, the Doctor used the analogy of the curve of a banana, the mentioning of which being a running joke since the episodes of the Ninth Doctor. Amy's line "Ok kids. This is where it gets complicated" is similar to one she delivered in "The Big Bang". [edit] Production This is the third charity short produced since the program's return in 2005, the other two having been made for Children in Need. The first, with an official title of only "Doctor Who: Children in Need", aired in 2005. The second, "Time Crash" (also written by Moffat, and also featuring a time loop and ontological paradox), aired in 2007. An earlier charity short in aid of Comic Relief, The Curse of Fatal Death, also written by Moffat, aired in 1999. This story also involved a time loop within a time loop. [edit] Broadcast and reception The Guardian responded positively, noting it "manages brilliantly to nod to just about every Whovian in-joke, demographic and fetish within the span of two tiny instalments". [1] [edit] References

  
  

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• TDP: Solid Silver Police Box Pendant For Sale

  18 March 2011 (1:25pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes and 59 seconds

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  www.whostrology.com

  
  

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• TDP 166: Snakedance (Mara box set DVD2)

  14 March 2011 (9:08am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 37 seconds

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  Plot The arrival of the TARDIS on Manussa, formerly homeworld of both the Manussan Empire and Sumaran Empire, triggers nightmares in Tegan, who dreams of a snake-shaped cave mouth. It is evident to the Fifth Doctor that the Mara is reasserting itself on her mind following her possession by the entity while on the Kinda planet of Deva Loka (Kinda). He attempts to calm her by taking her and Nyssa in search of the cave but Tegan is too scared to enter when they find it, and runs away. Alone and confused Tegan lapses under the control of the Mara once more, revelling in horror and destruction. The emblem of the snake soon returns to her arm. Manussa is in the grip of a festival of celebration of the banishment of the Mara from the civilisation five hundred years earlier. In the absence of the Federator, who rules over the three-planet Federation, his indolent son Lon is to have a major role in the celebration, supported by his mother the Lady Tanha and the archaeologist Ambril, who is an expert in the Sumaran period. Lon is intrigued with the notion that the Mara might one day return as prophesied, but Ambril is unconvinced and believes such talk is the product of cranks. When the Doctor tries to get Ambril to take the threat seriously he too is dismissed as a maverick, though the young deputy curator Chela is more sympathetic to the Doctor and gives him a small blue crystal called a Little Mind's Eye, which is used by the Snakedancers, a mystical cult, in their ceremonies to repel the Mara. The Doctor realises the small crystal and its large counterpart, the Great Mind's Eye, can be used as focal points for mental energy and can turn thought into matter. This, he determines, is how the Mara will transfer from Tegan's mind to corporeal existence. He realises that the Manussans must once have been a very advanced people who could use molecular engineering in a zero-gravity environment. They created the Great Mind's Eye without realising its full potential, and the crystal drew the fear, hatred, and evil from their minds, amplified it and fed it back to them. Thus the Mara was born into Manussa and the reign of the Sumaran Empire began. Meanwhile Tegan makes contact with Lon and passes the snake mark of the Mara to him too. They visit the cave from Tegan's dream which contains a wall pattern which could accommodate the Great Crystal. Lon is sent back to the Palace while she causes more havoc and takes control of a showman, Dugdale, who is used for her pleasure. Lon meanwhile covers his arm and goes about trying to persuade Ambril to use the real Great crystal in the ceremony, placing it in a position in a wall carving that will evidently enable the Mara to return as the Doctor predicted. To persuade him to comply, Ambril is shown a secret cave of Sumaran archaeological treasures and warned they will all be destroyed if he does not help him. Ambril thus agrees to the change in format. The Doctor and Nyssa have meanwhile been aided by Chela, who shares with them the journal of Dojjen, a snakedancer who was Ambril's predecessor. All three venture to the Palace to persuade the authorities to do something about the situation, but soon see Lon is in the grip of the Mara and orchestrating a very dangerous situation. All three escape and the Doctor now uses the Little Mind's Eye to contact Dojjen, who lives in sandy dunes beyond the city. They venture there and the Doctor communes with Dojjen by opening his mind after being bitten by a poisonous snake. He is told by the wise old snakedancer that the Mara may only be defeated by finding a still point in the mind. All three now head back to the city to prevent the ceremony of defeating the Mara using the real Great Crystal. The festivities are now at a peak, with a procession taking place which culminates in a ceremony at the cave. Lon plays the role of his ancestor Federator in rejecting the Mara. After a series of verbal challenges he seizes the real Great Crystal and places it in the appropriate place on the wall. Tegan and Dugdale arrive and she displays the Mara mark on her arm, which is now becoming flesh having fed on the fear in Dugdale's mind. With the crystal in place, the Mara is able to create itself in the cave, becoming a vast and deadly snake. However, the Doctor arrives in time and refuses to look at the snake or recognise its evil, relying instead on the still place he finds through mental commune with Dojjen via the Little Mind's Eye. This resistance interrupts the manifestation of the Mara and its three slaves are freed while the snake itself dies and rots. The Doctor comforts a distraught Tegan, sure that the Mara has at last been destroyed. [edit] Cast notes Features a guest appearance by Martin Clunes. See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who. Brian Miller is the husband of Elisabeth Sladen who portrayed long-time companion Sarah Jane Smith. He later played Harry Sowersby in The Mad Woman in the Attic, an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Brian Grellis previously played Sheprah in Revenge of the Cybermen and Safran in The Invisible Enemy. [edit] Continuity Every story during Season 20 had the Doctor face an enemy from the past. For this story, the enemy was the Mara, who was featured in the previous season's story Kinda (1982). In the redesigned TARDIS of the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie, one of the consoles displays different time eras such as the Rassilon Era, Humanian Era and the Sumaron Era. The Sumaron era may be a reference to this episode. [edit] Production Serial details by episode Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" 18 January 1983 (1983-01-18) 24:26 6.7 "Part Two" 19 January 1983 (1983-01-19) 24:35 7.7 "Part Three" 25 January 1983 (1983-01-25) 24:29 6.6 "Part Four" 26 January 1983 (1983-01-26) 24:29 7.4 [2][3][4] In post-production, episode four of this story overran very badly. As a result, it had to be completely restructured. Originally the door for a third Mara adventure was to be left open, with closing scenes discussing the ultimate fate of the Great Crystal. Furthermore, a sequence in which the Doctor comforts Tegan had to be removed. The scene was reincorporated into the beginning of the subsequent serial, Mawdryn Undead (1983). The success of Kinda and this story prompted Script Editor Eric Saward to commission Bailey to write a third and final story to feature the Mara: May Time. However, the story was abandoned due to production problems. This is one of the very few Doctor Who stories in which no one dies. [edit] In print Doctor Who book Snakedance Series Target novelisations Release number 83 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0-426-19457-8 Release date 3 May 1984 A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in January 1984. It was the first of several to feature Peter Davison's image in the logo. [edit] Broadcast and VHS release This story was released on VHS in December 1994. This story was released on DVD on 7 March 2011 along with Kinda in a special edition boxset entitled Mara Tales. [edit] References ^ From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this as story number 125. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system. ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (31 March 2007). "Snakedance". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080731011737/http://www.gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=6d. Retrieved 30 August 2008.  ^ "Snakedance". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_6d.htm. Retrieved 30 August 2008.  ^ Sullivan, Shannon (7 August 2007). "Snakedance". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/6d.html. Retrieved 30 August 2008.  [edit] External links Snakedance at BBC Online Snakedance at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel) Snakedance at the Doctor Who Reference Guide [edit] Reviews Snakedance reviews at Outpost Gallifrey Snakedance reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide [edit] Target novelisation On Target — Snakedance

  
  

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• TDP 165: The UK Census 2011

  9 March 2011 (8:01am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 3 minutes and 19 seconds

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  Jedi knights?! How many Jedi Knights were in the UK 2001 Census? Over 390,000 people answered “Jedi” in the 2001 census for England and Wales and 14,000 in Scotland (a lower proportion). This is more than the number of identifying Sikhs, and more than Jews and Buddhists combined. However, this did not mean that Jedi became an official religion- it doesn’t work like that! Why answer Jedi? Much of the public and media discussion focused on legitimate concerns with the census, which the “Jedi” answer could be disruptively used to promote. Some reasons people answered “Jedi” include: concern about how ‘religion’ data might be used concern about the inclusion of a question on religion at all making a statement about privacy or annoyance with interference a reaction against the apparent presumption of having a religion making a point about the way people tend to legitimize religion based on its antiquity or number of adherents Should I answer “Jedi”? Our recommendation is that if you are not religious, answer “No religion”, because at some time or place, someone will refer only to the explicit “No religion” answers, from which you will be left out if you answered “Jedi”. If you want to write Jedi as a protest against anwering the question at all, see Why should I answer the question at all?

  
  

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• TDP 164: Kinda (Mara tales DVD 1)

  5 March 2011 (12:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 26 seconds

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  Doctor    * Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor)Companions    * Matthew Waterhouse (Adric)    * Sarah Sutton (Nyssa)    * Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka)Others    * Richard Todd — Sanders    * Nerys Hughes — Todd    * Simon Rouse — Hindle    * Mary Morris — Panna    * Sarah Prince — Karuna    * Adrian Mills — Aris    * Lee Cornes — Trickster    * Jeff Stewart — Dukkha    * Anna Wing — Anatta    * Roger Milner — AnnicaProductionWriter     Christopher BaileyDirector     Peter GrimwadeScript editor     Eric SawardProducer     John Nathan-TurnerExecutive producer(s)     NoneProduction code     5YSeries     Season 19Length     4 episodes, 25 minutes eachOriginally broadcast     February 1–February 9, 1982Chronology← Preceded by     Followed by →Four to Doomsday     The VisitationKinda is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from February 1 to February 9, 1982.Contents[hide]    * 1 Synopsis    * 2 Plot    * 3 Continuity    * 4 Production    * 5 Outside references    * 6 In print    * 7 Broadcast and VHS release    * 8 References    * 9 External links          o 9.1 Reviews          o 9.2 Target novelisation[edit] SynopsisAn idyllic paradise-like planet, Deva Loka, is not as it seems. Its inhabitants, the Kinda, are a gentle and seemingly primitive people. On the surface, a perfect place to colonise. But if it is so perfect, why are the colonisation team disappearing one by one? When Tegan sleeps near the Windchimes she is confronted by the true evil that threatens Deva Loka.[edit] PlotAn Earth colonisation survey expedition to the beautiful jungle planet Deva Loka is being depleted as members of the survey disappear one by one. Four have now gone, leaving the remainder in state of deep stress. The leader, Sanders, relies on bombast and rules; while his deputy, Hindle, is evidently close to breaking point. Only the scientific officer, Todd, seems to deal with the situation with equanimity. She does not see the native people, the Kinda, as a threat, but rather respects their culture and is intrigued by their power of telepathy. The social structure is also curious in that women seem dominant and are the only ones with the power of voice. The humans are holding two silent males hostage for "observation". Todd believes they are more advanced than they first appear, as they possess necklaces representative of the double helix of DNA, indicating a more advanced civilisation.Elsewhere in the jungle the TARDIS crew are also under stress, especially Nyssa of Traken, who has collapsed from exhaustion. The Fifth Doctor constructs a delta wave augmenter to enable her to rest in the TARDIS while he and Adric venture deeper into the jungle. They soon find an automated total survival suit (TSS) system which activates and marches them to the Dome, the colonists' base. Sanders is a welcoming but gruff presence, further undermining Hindle at regular intervals. At this point Sanders decides to venture out into the jungle in the TSS, leaving the highly strung Hindle in charge. His will is enforced by means of the two Kinda hostages, who have forged a telepathic link with him believing their souls to have been captured in his mirror. The Doctor, Todd and Adric are immediately placed under arrest as Hindle now evinces megalomania.Tegan faces a more metaphysical crisis. She has fallen asleep near the euphonious and soporific Windchimes, unaware of the danger of the dreaming of an unshared mind (one not engaged in telepathic activity with another humanoid). Her mind opens in a black void where she undergoes provocation and terror from a series of nightmarish characters, one of which taunts her: “You will agree to being me, sooner or later, this side of madness or the other". The spectres are a manifestation of the Mara, an evil being of the subconscious that longs for corporeal reality. Mentally tortured, she eventually agrees to become the Mara and a snake symbol passes to her own arm. When her mind returns to her body she is possessed by the Mara. In a scene reminiscent of the Book of Genesis she passes the snake symbol to the first Kinda she finds, a young man named Aris, who is the brother of one of the Kinda in the Dome. He too is transformed by evil and now finds the power of voice.Back at the Dome, Hindle has conceived a bizarre and immolatory plan to destroy the jungle, which he views as a threat. Adric plays along with this delusion. Hindle’s world soon starts to fall apart when first Adric 'betrays' him and then Sanders defies expectation and returns from the jungle. However Sanders is radically different from the martinet in earlier episodes. Panna, an aged female mystic of the tribe, presented him with a strange wooden box (the 'Box of Jhana') which when opened has regressed his mind back to childhood. Sanders still has the box and shows it to Hindle, who makes the Doctor open it.The Doctor and Todd see beyond the toy inside and instead share a vision from Panna and her young ward, Karuna, who invites them to cave. The shock of the situation (accompanied by strange phenomena) allows the Doctor and Todd to slip away into the jungle where they encounter Aris dominating a group of Kinda and seemingly fulfilling a tribal prophecy that “When the Not-We come, one will arise from among We, a male with Voice who must be obeyed.” Karuna soon finds the Doctor and Todd and takes them to meet Panna in the cave from the vision, with the wise woman realising the danger of the situation now Aris has voice. She places them in a trance like state and reveals that the Mara has gained dominion on Deva Loka. The Great Wheel which turns as civilisations rise and fall has turned again and the hour is near when chaos will reign, instigated by the Mara. The vision she shares is Panna’s last act: when it is finished, she is dead.In the Kinda world, multiple fathers are shared by children, just as multiple memories are held, and at Panna's death her life experience transfers to Karuna. She urges Todd and the Doctor to return to the Dome to prevent Aris leading an attack on it which will increase the chaos and hasten the collapse of the Kinda civilisation.Back at the Dome Hindle, Sanders and Adric remain in a state of unreality, with the former becoming ever more demented and unbalanced, and infantile. Adric eventually escapes, and attempts to pilot the TSS but is soon confronted by Aris and the Kinda. He panics, and Aris is wounded by the machine (which responds to the mental impulses of the operator) and the Kinda scatter.The Doctor and Todd find an emotionally wrecked Tegan near the Windchimes and conclude that she was the path of the Mara back into this world. They then find Adric and the party heads back to the Dome where Hindle has now completed the laying of explosives which will incinerate the jungle and the Dome itself: the ultimate self-defence. Todd persuades Hindle now to open the Box of Jhana, and the visions therein restore the mental balance of the two. The two enslaved Kinda are freed when the mirror entrapping them is shattered. The Doctor then realizes the only method of combating the Mara- he realises the one thing evil cannot face is itself and so organizes the construction of a large circle of mirrors (actually reflective solar panels) in a jungle clearing. Aris is trapped within it and the snake on his arm breaks free. The Mara swells to giant proportions but then is banished back from the corporeal world to the Dark Places of the Inside.With the threat of the Mara dissipated, and the personnel of the Dome back to more balanced selves, the Doctor, Adric and an exhausted Tegan decide to leave (as does Todd, who decides 'its all a bit green'). When they reach the TARDIS, Nyssa greets them, fully recovered.[edit] Continuity    * The Mara features again in the next season's serial Snakedance.    * Delta waves reappeared in the 2005 episode "The Parting of the Ways". Far from the brain wave-enhancing recuperation devices from Kinda, however, delta waves were described by Jack Harkness as being "waves of Van Cassadyne energy...your brain gets barbecued."    * A fairy like creature which is compared to a Mara features in the 2006 Torchwood episode Small Worlds, however there may be no connection between the two.    * In Time Crash (2007), the Tenth Doctor asks the temporally misplaced Fifth where (i.e. when) he is now – and speculatively references Tegan, Nyssa and the Mara from his own memories.    * In Turn Left (2008), the time beetle on Donna Noble's back is also revealed when faced with a circle of mirrors.[edit] ProductionSerial details by episode Episode     Broadcast date     Run time     Viewership(in millions)"Part One"     1 February 1982 (1982-02-01)     24:50     8.4"Part Two"     2 February 1982 (1982-02-02)     24:58     9.4"Part Three"     8 February 1982 (1982-02-08)     24:17     8.5"Part Four"     9 February 1982 (1982-02-09)     24:28     8.9[2][3][4]    * The working title for this story was The Kinda.    * This was the first story to feature Eric Saward as script editor.    * In the ancient language Sanskrit, "Deva Loka" means "Celestial Region".    * Nyssa makes only brief appearances at the start of episode 1, and at the end of 4, because the script had largely been developed at a time when only two companions for the Doctor were envisioned. When it was known a third companion would also be present, rather than write Nyssa into the entire storyline it was decided she would remain in the TARDIS throughout and be absent through most of the narrative. To account for this absence Nyssa was scripted to collapse at the end of the previous story, Four to Doomsday. In this story she remains in the Tardis, resting. Sarah Sutton's contract was amended to account for this two-episode absence.[4]    * For the scene in episode 2 in which the two Tegans talk to each other about which of them is real, John Nathan-Turner allowed Janet Fielding to write her own dialogue.[edit] Outside references    * Writer Christopher Bailey based this story heavily on Buddhist philosophy. He used many Buddhist words and ideas in writing Kinda; most of the Kinda and dream-sequence characters have names with Buddhist meanings, including Mara (temptation — also personified as a demon), Dukkha (pain), Panna (wisdom), Karuna (compassion), Anicca (impermanence) and Anatta (egolessness). Additionally, Jhana (also spelt Jana in the scripts) refers to meditation.    * This serial was examined closely in the 1983 media studies volume Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text by John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado. This was the first major scholarly work dedicated to Doctor Who. Tulloch and Alvarado compare Kinda with Ursula K. Le Guin's 1976 novel The Word for World is Forest, which shares several themes with Kinda and may have been a template for its story. The Unfolding Text also examines the way "Kinda" incorporates Buddhist and Christian symbols and themes, as well as elements from the writings of Carl Jung.[5][edit] In printDoctor Who bookBook coverKindaSeries     Target novelisationsRelease number     84Writer     Terrance DicksPublisher     Target BooksISBN     0-426-19529-9Release date     15 March 1984Preceded by     Mawdryn UndeadFollowed by     SnakedanceA novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in December 1983.In 1997 the novel was also issued by BBC Audio as an audio book, read by Peter Davison.[edit] Broadcast and VHS release    * The serial was repeated on BBC One over 22-25 August 1983, (Monday-Thursday) at 6.25pm. This story was released on VHS in October 1994 with a cover illustration by Colin Howard.    * This story is set to be released on DVD in 2011 along with Snakedance in a special edition boxset entitled Mara Tales. It will feature an audio commentary by Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Janet Fielding and Nerys Hughes.[6][edit] References   1. ^ From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this as story number 119. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system.   2. ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "Kinda". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20080731011611/http://www.gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=5y. Retrieved 2008-08-30.    3. ^ "Kinda". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_5y.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30.    4. ^ a b Sullivan, Shannon (2007-08-07). "Kinda". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/5y.html. Retrieved 2008-10-04.    5. ^ Tulloch, John; and Alvarado, Manuel (1983). Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-21480-4.    6. ^ Matthew Waterhouses' autobiography Blue Box Boy[edit] External links    * Kinda at BBC Online    * Kinda at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)    * Kinda at the Doctor Who Reference Guide    * KI'n'DA - Cardiff Doctor Who group[edit] Reviews    * Kinda reviews at Outpost Gallifrey    * Kinda reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide[edit] Target novelisation    * On Target — Kinda

  
  

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• TDP 163: William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 - 22 February 2011)

  1 March 2011 (7:39am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 53 seconds

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  William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 – 22 February 2011)[1][2] was a British television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.[3] Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Doctor Who 3 After Doctor Who 4 Death 5 References 6 External links Early life Courtney was born in Cairo, Egypt, the son of a British diplomat and educated in France, Kenya and Egypt. He served his National Service in the British Army, leaving after 18 months as a private, not wanting to pursue a military career. He next joined the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art,[4] and after two years began doing repertory theatre in Northampton. From there he moved to London. Prior to Doctor Who, Courtney made guest appearances in several cult television series, including The Avengers (1962, 1967), The Champions (1968) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969) and as a racing driver in Riviera Police (1965). Doctor Who Director Douglas Camfield originally considered Courtney for the role of Richard the Lionheart in The Crusade (1965), a role that ultimately went to Julian Glover,[citation needed] and kept him in mind for future casting. Courtney's first appearance in Doctor Who was in the 1965 serial The Daleks' Master Plan, directed by Camfield, where he played Space Security Agent Bret Vyon opposite William Hartnell as the Doctor. Camfield liked Courtney's performance, and when the director was assigned the 1968 serial The Web of Fear, he cast Courtney as Captain Knight. However, when David Langton gave up the role of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart to work elsewhere, Camfield recast Captain Knight and gave the part to Courtney instead. Lethbridge-Stewart reappeared later that year in The Invasion, promoted to Brigadier and in charge of the British contingent of UNIT, an organization that protected the Earth from alien invasion. It was in that recurring role that he is best known, appearing semi-regularly from 1970 to 1975. Courtney made return appearances in the series in 1983, and his last Doctor Who television appearance was in 1989 in the serial Battlefield (although like many other former cast members, he returned to the role for the charity special Dimensions in Time). Coincidentally, he appeared with Jean Marsh in both his first and last regular Doctor Who television appearances. Courtney has played Lethbridge-Stewart, either on television or in audio plays, alongside every subsequent Doctor up to and including Paul McGann, as well as substitute First Doctor Richard Hurndall. He did not appear in the revived series. While he has acted with Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant in the Big Finish audio dramas Sympathy for the Devil and UNIT: The Wasting, Tennant was playing a different character, Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood, on both occasions. The character is referenced in the Series 4 episode "The Poison Sky" and is said to be "stuck in Peru". Fifteen years after Dimensions in Time, Courtney returned as Lethbridge-Stewart (now, Sir Alistair), freshly returned from Peru, in "Enemy of the Bane", a two-part story in the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures aired in December 2008, starring Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. The story pitted Sir Alistair and Sarah Jane against Commander Kaagh and Mrs. Wormwood who try to wake Horath using the Tanguska Scroll. It was intended by the Sarah Jane Adventures production team that Courtney would reappear in the following year's The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith so that Lethbridge-Stewart would meet the Tenth Doctor, but Courtney was recovering from a stroke and unable to take part.[5] After Doctor Who Courtney continued to act extensively in theatre and television after his main Doctor Who appearances, guest-starring in such popular television programmes as Minder (1984), All Creatures Great and Small (1980, episode "Matters Of Life And Death"), Only Fools and Horses (1988) and Yes, Prime Minister (1986). In 1982 he was cast alongside Frankie Howerd in the World War II-set comedy series Then Churchill Said to Me but the series remained untransmitted for over a decade due to the outbreak of the Falklands War. He also had a regular role in the comedy French Fields between 1989 and 1991. He has also appeared in the Big Finish Productions audio drama Earthsearch Mindwarp, based on a James Follett novel, broadcast on the digital radio station BBC 7. He also appeared in an episode of the long-running BBC TV series The Two Ronnies alongside Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett as the character of 'Captain Dickie Chapman', a fellow prisoner-of-war (POW) in Colditz during World War II, in a sketch based on the original BBC TV series, Colditz. In 1985, Nicholas played 'The Narrator' in The Rocky Horror Show. Amanda Redman also starred in the production as Janet. Courtney starred as Inspector Lionheart opposite fellow Doctor Who actor Terry Molloy in the audio series The Scarifyers, from Cosmic Hobo Productions. The first two Scarifyers adventures, The Nazad Conspiracy and The Devil of Denge Marsh, were broadcast on BBC 7 in 2007; the third, entitled For King and Country in 2008, and fourth, The Curse of the Black Comet, in 2010. He regularly made personal appearances at science fiction conventions and was also from 1997 the honorary president of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. His theatrical agent was former Doctor Who actress Wendy Padbury. In 1998, Courtney released his autobiography, titled Five Rounds Rapid! (ISBN 978-1852277826) after an infamous line of dialogue the Brigadier had in the 1971 Who serial The Dæmons. He recorded his memoirs, subtitled A Soldier in Time for release on CD in 2002 by Big Finish. An updated autobiography, Still Getting Away With It (ISBN 978-1871330731), was published in 2005, with co-author Michael McManus. Until his death, he lived in London with his second wife, Karen. In 2008 he appeared in the film Incendiary, as the Archbishop of Canterbury, alongside Ewan McGregor. Death Nicholas Courtney's death was reported by SFX[1] and The Stage[2] early in the morning of 23 February 2011. The exact nature of his death was not given in these early reports. Doctor Who audio play producers Big Finish, with whom Courtney had worked on several releases in his continuing role as the Brigadier, confirmed the date of his death as 22 February 2011.[6] The BBC reported that he had "died in London at the age of 81".[7] According to his official web site, he died following a long battle against illness.[8] Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss called him "a childhood hero and the sweetest of gentlemen".[7] Former Doctor Tom Baker also paid tribute, having visited him on the Friday before his death. Baker wrote "We shall miss him terribly" in a newsletter on his website, in which he also indicated that Courtney had been battling cancer.[9] References ^ a b "Nicholas Courtney RIP". SFX (Future Publishing). 23 February 2011. http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/02/23/nicholas-courtney-rip/. Retrieved 23 February 2011.  ^ a b Scott, Matthewman (2011-02-23). "Doctor Who’s Brigadier Nicholas Courtney dies". The Stage. The Stage Newspaper Limited. http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/31367/doctor-whos-brigadier-nicholas-courtney-dies. Retrieved 2011-02-23.  ^ Clapperton, Guy (November 2, 2006). "Regenerating an original Doctor Who". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/nov/02/bbc.broadcasting. Retrieved 28 December 2010.  ^ Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art: Penelope Keith, Angela Lansbury, Paxton Whitehead, Eva Green, Ross Kemp, Terence Stamp. LLC Books. 2010. ISBN 1155690842.  ^ McManus, Michael (26th February 2011). "Nicholas Courtney: Actor known for his long-running role as the Brigadier in Doctor Who". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nicholas-courtney-actor-known-for-his-longrunning-role-as-the-brigadier-in-doctor-who-2226111.html. Retrieved 27th February 2011.  ^ Briggs, Nicholas (2011-02-23). "Nicholas Courtney 1929-2011". Big Finish website: News (Big Finish Productions). http://www.bigfinish.com/news/Nicholas-Courtney-1929-2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.  ^ a b "Doctor Who 'Brigadier' Nicholas Courtney dies aged 81". BBC News (BBC). 2011-02-23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12549622. Retrieved 23 February 2011.  ^ Official web site ^ Nick Courtney: The Brigadier is dead External links Official Web site Nicholas Courtney at the Internet Movie Database Voice Agent profile and contact Obituary in The Guardian Obituary in The Independent Obituary in The Telegraph

  
  

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• TDP 162 (159-161) Solo Con 2011 Omnibus

  27 February 2011 (8:35pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 22 minutes and 48 seconds

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  all three parts back to back

  
  

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• TDP 161: Solocon Day Three - Round Up

  20 February 2011 (11:30am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 3 minutes and 54 seconds

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• TDP 160: Solo Con Day 2 - Podcasting

  19 February 2011 (9:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 28 seconds

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  Podcasting Panel

  
  

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• TDP 159: Solo Con Day 1

  18 February 2011 (12:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 42 seconds

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  Arival and first impressions of the con

  
  

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• TDP 158: Chicks Dig Time Lords

  11 February 2011 (9:09am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 54 seconds

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  In Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, a host of award-winning female novelists, academics and actresses come together to celebrate the phenomenon that is Doctor Who, discuss their rather inventive involvement with the show's fandom, and examine why they adore this series so much. All told, this essay collection is designed to inform and delight male and female readers alike, and to examine some of the more extraordinary aspects of being a female Doctor Who enthusiast. Essay topics include Carole Barrowman (Anything Goes) discussing what it was like to grow up with her brother John (including the fact that he's still afraid of shop-window dummies), longtime columnist Jackie Jenkins providing a memoir of her work on "Doctor Who Magazine," novelist Lloyd Rose (Camera Obscura) analyzing the changes in Rose between the ninth and tenth Doctors, and much more. Other contributors to this essay collection include Elizabeth Bear (the Jenny Casey trilogy), Lisa Bowerman (star of the Bernice Summerfield audios), Mary Robinette Kowal (Shades of Milk and Honey), Seanan McGuire (Rosemary and Rue), Jody Lynn Nye (the Mythology series), Kate Orman (Seeing I), Catherynne M. Valente (The Orphan's Tales), and more. Also featured: a comic from Tammy Garrison and Katy Shuttleworth (Torchwood Babiez), plus interviews with India Fisher (Charley in the Doctor Who audios) and Sophie Aldred (Ace on Doctor Who, 1987-1989).

  
  

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• TDP 157: Dirk Gently on BBC4

  4 February 2011 (8:35am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 8 minutes and 23 seconds

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  Dirk Gently From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   Dirk Gently (real name Svlad Cjelli, also known as Dirk Cjelli) is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams and featured in the books Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. He is portrayed as a pudgy man who normally wears a heavy old light brown suit, red checked shirt with a green striped tie, long leather coat, red hat and thick metal-rimmed spectacles. "Dirk Gently" is not the character's real name. It is noted early on in the first book that it is a pseudonym for "Svlad Cjelli". Dirk himself states that the name has a "Scottish dagger feel" to it.   Holistic detective Dirk bills himself as a "holistic detective" who makes use of "the fundamental interconnectedness of all things" to solve the whole crime, and find the whole person. This involves running up large expense accounts and then claiming that every item (such as needing to go to a tropical beach in the Bahamas for three weeks) was, due to this "interconnectedness," actually a vital part of the investigation. Challenged on this point in the first novel, he claims that he cannot be considered to have ripped anybody off, because none of his clients have paid him yet. His office is supposed to be located at 33a Peckender St. N1 London, with telephone number 01-354 9112 (407-2882 in the advertising campaign for the book). Gently has an odd facility for accurate assumptions, as every wild guess he makes turns out to be true. As a student at Cambridge University (St. Cedd's College) he attempted to acquire money by selling exam papers for the upcoming tests. His fellow undergraduates were convinced that he had produced the papers under hypnosis, whereas in reality he had simply studied previous papers and determined potential patterns in questions. However, while innocent, he was arrested and sent to prison when his papers turned out to be exactly the same as the real ones, to the very comma. Portrayals Dirk Gently was played by Michael Bywater in a 1992 TV documentary on The South Bank Show. Scot Burklin portrayed Dirk in the 2006 American premiere of the play Dirk at The Road Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Harry Enfield played the character in the 2007 and 2008 BBC Radio 4 adaptations of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Stephen Mangan, of Green Wing fame, was cast as Gently in a pilot episode for a proposed TV series broadcast on BBC4 on 16th December 2010. Aborted third book Douglas Adams was working on a third Dirk Gently novel, The Salmon of Doubt, at the time of his death. However Adams said "A lot of the stuff which was originally in The Salmon of Doubt really wasn't working", and that he had planned on "salvaging some of the ideas that I couldn't make work in a Dirk Gently framework and putting them in a Hitchhiker framework... and for old time's sake I may call it The Salmon of Doubt."[1][2] The first ten chapters of this novel, assembled from various drafts following Adams' death, together with a memo suggesting further plot points, appear in The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time. References ^ "The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams - Reviews, Books". The Independent. 2002-05-10. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-salmon-of-doubt-by-douglas-adams-650803.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06.  ^ "Cover Stories: Douglas Adams, Narnia Chronicles, Something like a House - Features, Books". The Independent. 2002-01-05. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/cover-stories-douglas-adams-narnia-chronicles-something-like-a-house-672250.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06.  External links BBC Dirk Gently guide BBC4 Dirk Gently Dirk Gently By Douglas Adams Novels Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency · The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul · Unfinished: The Salmon of Doubt Adaptations Radio: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul · Theatrical play: Dirk Characters & Places Professor Chronotis · Samuel Taylor Coleridge · St. Cedd's College Related Shada · City of Death · The Raincloud Man · Douglas Adams at the BBC · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams · Holism

  
  

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• TDP 156:The Ark

  25 January 2011 (1:58pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 32 seconds

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  Almost ten million years in the future, the TARDIS materialises on a vast spacecraft including its own miniature zoo and arboretum. The First Doctor and Steven Taylor are still explaining the basics of their time travel ability to new companion Dodo Chaplet when she starts to show signs of a cold. It is only a matter of time before they are found and taken to the control chamber of the vessel. Their captors are the mute Monoids, seemingly identical alien beings with a single eye. The Monoids live in peace alongside the humans who command the spaceship, their own planet having been destroyed, but often do much of the menial work. The humans in charge of the ship explain that the Earth is about to be destroyed because of the expansion of the sun, and that this ship is an Ark sent into space with the last remnants of humanity, civilization and various forms of flora and fauna. The human Guardians in charge of the craft run a tight ship: failure to conform to rules means either death or miniaturisation until they reach their destination, an Earth-like planet called Refusis II, which takes nearly 700 years to get to. As an amusement during the journey a vast statue is being carved by hand, depicting a human being. Dodo's cold has now spread amongst the Monoid and human populations, but regrettably, they have little natural immunity. When the Commander of the Ark collapses with the malady, the whole ship is placed on alert as Zentos, the Deputy Commander is suspicious of the travellers and believes they have deliberately infected the ship. When the first Monoid dies, there is little the Doctor can say to pacify the angry Guardians. Zentos places the Doctor, Steven and Dodo on trial for their crimes, with a young Guardian called Manyak and the Commander's daughter Mellium as defence. Steven acts as the first defence witness, attacking the closed nature of the minds of the Guardians, but exhausts himself in the process and collapses with the fever. His words have no impact on Zentos, who orders their execution, but the ailing Commander intervenes to protect the three travellers and permit them access to medical equipment to devise a cure to the cold. The Doctor is thus able to recreate the cold vaccine from the membranes of animals on the craft, and this is administered throughout the crew. The Commander, Steven and the others infected are soon on the road to recovery. Their work done, the trio have only time to observe the end of Earth on the long-range scanner before the Doctor leads them back to the TARDIS. Curiously, when the TARDIS rematerialises, they are still on the Ark. However, seven hundred years have passed and there has been a major change: the Monoids are in control. They have completed the statue in the image of themselves, having staged a coup during the long journey. This was made possible by a genetic weakness introduced into the humans, but not the Monoids, by a second wave of the cold virus 700 years earlier. The Monoids also now have voice communicators and use numerical emblems to distinguish each other. The humans are now little more than slaves, with the odd exception like the collaborator subject Guardian Maharis, and have little hope of change. The Doctor and his friends encounter the Monoid leadership, installed in a throne room on the Ark, after which they are sent to the security kitchen to help prepare meals for the Monoids. Two humans, Manissa and Dassuk, believe the moment of their liberation is at hand. Steven tries to help them in a revolt which is unsuccessful. The arrival on Refusis is close at hand and a landing pod is prepared. Monoid 1 wants to make sure that the new world is inhabited only by Monoids, despite promises that the human population will be allowed to live there too. A landing party is assembled – the Doctor, Dodo, Monoid 2 and a subject Guardian named Yendom – and they soon reach Refusis II and start to investigate. A stately castle which seems to be unoccupied is in fact the home to the invisible Refusians, giant beings rendered invisible by solar flares. They welcome their guests and have been expecting them but only want to share the planet with other peaceful beings. Monoid 2 and Yendom flee the castle, and en route Yendom realises the humans will not be allowed to reach Refusis with the Monoids. Monoid 2 kills him and is shortly afterward killed himself when the landing pod explodes. The tension of the situation foments dissent in the Monoid ranks, with Monoid 4 openly opposing Monoid 1's plans to abandon the humans and colonise Refusis without more checks on the planet. Three launchers are sent to the planet, Monoids 1 and 4 commanding them, and when the crews emerge Monoid 4 interprets the destroyed landing pod as evidence of the danger that Monoid 1 has led them to. A civil war erupts between the two Monoid factions. The Doctor, Dodo and a Refusian use the confusion to steal one of the launchers and pilot back to the Ark. The Monoids have placed a bomb on board the ship and plan to evacuate soon to the planet surface, leaving the humans to die on the spaceship. Word of this threat spreads and spurs a human rebellion. The arrival of the Doctor and the Refusian spur things along, and they soon realise the bomb has been placed in the head of the statue. Thankfully the Refusian is able to help dispose of the statue into space before the bomb explodes. The humans now begin to land on Refusis themselves, having been offered support on peaceful terms by the Refusians. Many of the Monoids have been killed in their civil war and those that remain are offered peaceful settlement alongside the other two species. Once more the TARDIS departs, and this time the curiosity is that the Doctor simply vanishes from the TARDIS control room… [edit] Continuity In The Ark in Space, the Earth was also evacuated because of solar flare activity that rendered the biosphere uninhabitable for five thousand years. There, however, the survivors of mankind slept in suspended animation and returned to repopulate the planet after that period had passed. The Earth is seen trailing smoke as it heads towards the Sun at the close of episode two. The Doctor estimate the date as 10,000,000, however in the 2005 episode "The End of the World", Earth is finally destroyed by the expanding Sun around AD 5,000,000,000. Series writer Paul Cornell opines that the fictional Time War alluded to in the revived series of Doctor Who rewrote some historical events, among them the destruction of Earth.[1] The Monoids also feature in the Bernice Summerfield audio drama The Kingdom of the Blind by Big Finish Productions. The TARDIS is referenced in the first episode as "that black box" whereas by the time of the third doctor when the series was recorded in color it is obviously a blue police box. [edit] Production Serial details by episode Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) Archive "The Steel Sky" 5 March 1966 (1966-03-05) 24:00 5.5 16mm t/r "The Plague" 12 March 1966 (1966-03-12) 25:00 6.9 16mm t/r "The Return" 19 March 1966 (1966-03-19) 24:19 6.2 16mm t/r "The Bomb" 26 March 1966 (1966-03-26) 24:37 7.3 16mm t/r [2][3][4] Although Lesley Scott is credited as a co-writer, she does not appear to have done any actual work on the scripts. Her then-husband, Paul Erickson requested that she be given a credit, but her name appears on no other related documents[5]. Despite this, Scott was credited as a contributor to the Dr. Who Annuals published by World Distributors/World International[6]. The Monoids were played by actors, each holding a ping-pong ball in his mouth to represent the alien's single eye. The upper portion of the actor's face was hidden by a Beatle wig. This serial features a guest appearance by Michael Sheard. (See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.) Doctor Who book The Ark Series Target novelisations Release number 114 Writer Paul Erickson Publisher Target Books Cover artist David McAllister ISBN 0-426-20253-8 Release date October 1986 (Hardback) 19 March 1987 (Paperback) Preceded by Black Orchid Followed by The Mind Robber [edit] Commercial releases This story was released on VHS, in 1998. It was later released on CD (The CD version contains a two minute reprise from the end of the previous story The Massacre), with linking narration by Peter Purves. The CD also includes an interview with Peter about this story and his time on Doctor Who. This CD is available as an Audio Book on the iTunes store. It is scheduled to be released on DVD in 2011 and will have an audio commentary with Peter Purves and Michael Imison[7]. [edit] In print A novelisation of this serial, written by Paul Erickson, was published by Target Books in October 1986. [edit] References ^ http://paulcornell.blogspot.com/2007/02/canonicity-in-doctor-who.html ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "The Arc". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2008-03-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20080331033427/http://www.gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=x. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ "The Ark". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_x.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2005-04-29). "The Ark". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/x.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Pixley, Andrew, "Doctor Who Archive: The Ark," Doctor Who Magazine, #228, 2 August 1995, Marvel Comics UK, Ltd., p. 26. ^ Pixley, Andrew, "The Ark: Archive Extra," Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition, #7, 12 May 2004 (The Complete First Doctor), Panini Comics, p. 73. ^ http://www.drwho-online.co.uk/news/Default.aspx#merchandise-jan-feb-dvd-releases

  
  

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• TDP 155: Gallifrey 2011 Convention Advice and Big Finish

  21 January 2011 (10:54am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 58 seconds

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  Some cds to consider buying to get the covers signed by guests and some advice on going to a convention

  
  

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• TDP 154: The Four Doctors and The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories

  18 January 2011 (9:59am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds

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  The Four Doctors is a Big Finish Productions audiobook based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is free to subscribers of The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories. Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Continuity 4 Notes 5 External links [edit] Plot The Fifth Doctor investigates the Vault of Stellar Curios, where he has observed evidence of time leakage. But then the Daleks attack, looking for the contents of the mysterious vault. The Eighth Doctor also shows up and he and his former self create a time loop trap, spanning between their lives. This sends the Daleks to the Seventh Doctor's encounter with Michael Faraday in 1854 and the Sixth Doctor's visit to an early Dalek battlefield. [edit] Cast Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy Eighth Doctor - Paul McGann Daleks - Nicholas Briggs Professor Kalinda - Ellie Burrow Colonel Ulrik - David Bamber Michael Faraday - Nigel Lambert Roboman - Alex Mallinson Lady Cowen - Ellie Burrow Whitmore - David Bamber Magran - Nigel Lambert Jariden Device - Alex Mallinson [edit] Continuity This is the first performed multi-Doctor story to feature the Daleks, apart from one scene and one Doctor in The Five Doctors. The Special Weapons Dalek featured in Remembrance of the Daleks. Robomen were used in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The Dalek Prime was in the novel War of the Daleks. [edit] Notes This is the first time all four Big Finish Doctors have teamed up in one story, apart from a brief scene in Zagreus set within the Eighth Doctor's mind. The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. As with all Doctor Who spin-off media, its relationship to the televised serials is open to interpretation. It features the winner of Big Finish's Opportunity for New Writers contest in which they accepted unsolicited amateur submissions. Rick Briggs's "The Entropy Composition" was chosen from about 1200 submissions. Contents [hide] 1 The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories 1.1 The Demons of Red Lodge 1.2 The Entropy Composition 1.3 Doing Time 1.4 Special Features 2 External links [edit] The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories The Doctor - Peter Davison Nyssa - Sarah Sutton [edit] The Demons of Red Lodge by Jason Arnopp Nyssa and the Doctor suddenly wake up in Red Lodge, Suffolk in the year 1665. Panicked by recent memory loss, they quickly run into some very familiar faces. Emily Cobham/Ivy Cobham - Susan Kyd Villagers - Duncan Wisbey, John Dorney [edit] The Entropy Composition by Rick Briggs White Waves, Soft Haze, a prog rock symphony by Geoff Cooper, was produced in 1968, but never released. Erisi - Andree Bernard Naloom - Ian Brooker Mrs Moloney - Joanna Munro Geoff Cooper - James Fleet [edit] Doing Time by William Gallagher The Doctor spends over a year locked up in a prison on the planet Folly. Janson Hart - John Dorney Governor Chaplin - Susan Kyd Dask/Judge/Jabreth/Hobbling Pete - Duncan Wibsey [edit] Special Features by John Dorney The Doctor contributes DVD Commentary to a 1970s horror movie, Doctor Demonic's Tales of Terror. Martin Ashcroft - James Fleet Sir Jack Merrivale/Professor Bromley/Narrator - Ian Brooker Johanna Bourke/Carlotta - Joanna Munro Mr Pinfield/Yokel/Running Man/Carriage Driver - John Dorney [edit] External links The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories at the Doctor Who Reference Guide This is also the first Big Finish collaborative multi-Doctor story since their very first Doctor Who release The Sirens of Time.  

  
  

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• TDP 153: The Mutants

  6 January 2011 (11:25am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds

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  his article is about the 1972 Doctor Who serial. For other uses, see mutant (disambiguation). 063 – The Mutants Doctor Who serial A mutated Solonian on the planet Solos. Cast Doctor Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor) Companion Katy Manning (Jo Grant) Others Paul Whitsun-Jones — The Marshal George Pravda — Jaeger Christopher Coll — Stubbs Rick James — Cotton James Mellor — Varan Jonathan Sherwood — Varan's Son Garrick Hagon — Ky John Hollis — Sondergaard Geoffrey Palmer — Administrator Peter Howell — Investigator David Arlen — Warrior Guard Roy Pearce, Damon Sanders, Martin Taylor — Guards Sidney Johnson — Old Man John Scott Martin — Mutt Production Writer Bob Baker and Dave Martin Director Christopher Barry Script editor Terrance Dicks Producer Barry Letts Executive producer(s) None Production code NNN Series Season 9 Length 6 episodes, 25 minutes each Originally broadcast April 8–May 13, 1972 Chronology ← Preceded by Followed by → The Sea Devils The Time Monster The Mutants is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April 8 to May 13, 1972. The Mutants is also the title used by the production team for the series' second serial, which introduced the Daleks. To distinguish between the two, the earlier serial is usually referred to as The Daleks. Sometimes both stories are referred to as The Mutants, further distinguished by the production codes — (B) for the former and (NNN) for the latter. Contents [hide] 1 Synopsis 2 Plot 3 Continuity 4 Production 5 Outside references 6 In print 7 Broadcast and commercial releases 8 References 9 External links 9.1 Reviews 9.2 Target novelisation [edit] Synopsis It is the 30th century, near the end of the Earth Empire. On the colony world of Solos, something is transforming the human population, turning them into hideous mutants. But as the Third Doctor and Jo find out, that is only the beginning. [edit] Plot In the 30th century, the Earth Empire is contracting and plans are being made to decolonise the colony world of Solos. The militaristic Marshal and other human soldiers, known as Overlords, rule it from Skybase One. The Marshal opposes the decolonisation plans outlined to him by Administrator sent from Earth, and is also obsessed with eradicating the Mutants or Mutts that have sprung up on the planet below. The Solonians themselves are a tribal people, split between those who actively oppose the occupation, such as Ky, and those like Varan who collaborate with the imperialists. Indeed, the Marshal and Varan ensure the Administrator is murdered before he can confirm to Ky and other tribal chiefs that the Earth Empire is indeed withdrawing from Solos. The Third Doctor and Jo arrive on Skybase One, their TARDIS having been transported there by the Time Lords. They have with them a message box which will only open for an intended recipient – and that is not the Marshal or his entourage – but seems to be for Ky, who has been framed for the murder of the Administrator. Jo and Ky flee to the surface of Solos, which seems to be poisonous to humans during daylight hours, and this affects Jo quite soon. Ky saves her with a stolen oxygen mask. The Doctor learns from the Marshal and his chief scientist Jaeger that they are involved in an experiment using rocket barrages to terraform Solos, making the air breathable to humans, regardless of the cost to indigenous life. They continue to bombard the surface with ever more deadly rockets. Varan by now has discovered the Marshal’s treachery and events make him an outlaw on Skybase. The Doctor makes contact and together they persuade Stubbs and Cotton, the most senior soldiers to the Marshal, that much is wrong on Skybase. He then flees to Solos with Varan, and at the thaesium mine where Ky and Jo are hiding he encounters many Mutts, who are not as hostile as they first appeared. The Doctor passes the message box to Ky, and it opens to reveal ancient tablets and etchings which are written in the language of the Old Ones of the planet. Help in avoiding poisonous gas released by the Marshal is provided by a fugitive human scientist, Sondergaard, who lives in the caves and knows much about Solonian anthropology. Sondergaard explains he tried to inform Earth Control about the Marshal's evil, but he was prevented and forced to flee to the caves, where the radiation seems to have affected him. He interprets the contents of the box as a “lost Solos Book of Genesis”, and the Doctor then calculates a Solonian year to be equivalent to two thousand human years, with natural changes in the population every five hundred years within the cycle. Investigating a more radioactive part of the caves, the Doctor thus deduces the Mutant phase is a natural part of the Solonian racial life-cycle. Varan has by now become a Mutt himself, the transformation beginning with his hand. He hides this and leads a Solonian attack on the Skybase which results in his death and those of many of his warriors. On Skybase Jo, Ky, Stubbs and Cotton are captured by the Marshal, and Stubbs is killed in a failed escape attempt. The Doctor meanwhile has returned to the Skybase – without Sondergaard, who seems too weak following the radiation contamination. He instead returns to the caves to communicate with the Mutants and explain to them the changes in their metabolisms are natural and not to be feared. The Doctor is now back on Skybase and surmises the Marshal to be mad. It becomes clear that the Earth Government has now dispatched an Investigator to look into the strange events on Solos. The Marshal’s rocket attacks have not terraformed the planet, but they have left a hideous environmental impact and he knows he must clean this up or face problems when the Investigator arrives. Under duress the Doctor uses Jaeger’s technology to conduct a rapid decontamination of the planet’s surface. The Investigator arrives and demands answers, but is given more lies by the Marshal, supported by the Doctor, who fears Jo will be killed if he does not co-operate. Luckily Jo, Ky and Cotton have escaped their detention and arrive in time to help the Investigator see the truth of the situation on Solos and the crimes of the Marshal and Jaeger. The Doctor accuses them of "the most brutal and callous series of crimes against a defenseless people it's ever been my misfortunate to encounter." Sondergaard now reaches the Skybase with some Mutants, one of whom scares the Investigator enough that he accepts the Marshal’s analysis that the creatures should be killed. Ky now begins a process of mutation, but it is accelerated beyond the Mutant phase so that he emerges as a radiant angel-like super-being. He communicates with thought transference, can float and can move through whole walls. Dispensing justice, Ky eradicates the Marshal. Jaeger has been killed too and the Investigator now makes sense of the situation. Sondergaard and Cotton elect to stay on Solos to see the other Solonians go through the mutation process, while Jo and the Doctor slip away, their mission from the Time Lords complete. [edit] Continuity A Mutt appears in the beginning of The Brain of Morbius. The Doctor describes it as being one of a mutant insect species that is widely established in the Nebula of Cyclops. Whether this is the location of Solos is not stated. [edit] Production Serial details by episode Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) Archive "Episode One" 8 April 1972 (1972-04-08) 24:25 9.1 PAL colour conversion "Episode Two" 15 April 1972 (1972-04-15) 24:24 7.8 PAL colour conversion "Episode Three" 22 April 1972 (1972-04-22) 24:32 7.9 PAL 2" colour videotape "Episode Four" 29 April 1972 (1972-04-29) 24:00 7.5 PAL 2" colour videotape "Episode Five" 6 May 1972 (1972-05-06) 24:37 7.9 PAL 2" colour videotape "Episode Six" 13 May 1972 (1972-05-13) 23:43 6.5 PAL 2" colour videotape [1][2][3] Working titles for this story included Independence and The Emergents. The opening shot of the story features a bedraggled, hermit-like bearded figure (Sidney Johnson) shambling out of the mist towards the camera. Both fans and Jon Pertwee alike have compared the scene to the "It's" man at the start of most episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus.[4][5] [edit] Outside references This serial is mentioned in Salman Rushdie's controversial novel The Satanic Verses, where it is criticised for alleged racist attitudes. Writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin, as well as producer Barry Letts, actually intended for the story to have an anti-racist message.[6] So powerful was this story's condemnation of the policy of Apartheid in South Africa, many polytechnic student unions renamed buildings "Bob Baker and Dave Martin House", in honour of its writing team.[citation needed] [edit] In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Mutants Series Target novelisations Release number 44 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Jeff Cummins ISBN 0-426-11690-9 Release date 29 September 1977 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil Followed by Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in September 1977. This was the only book to feature the abbreviation "Dr Who" on the spine. [edit] Broadcast and commercial releases This story came out on VHS in February 2003. This story is due for DVD release in 2011 and will have an audio commentary by Katy Manning, Garrick Hagon, Bob Baker, Jeremy Bear, Brian Hodgson, Terrance Dicks and Christopher Barry moderated by Nick Pegg.[7] The music from this serial was released as part of Doctor Who: Devils' Planets - The Music of Tristram Cary in 2003.

  
  

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• TDP 152: A Christmas Carol

  4 January 2011 (9:28am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 4 seconds

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  A Christmas Carol" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.[12] It is the sixth Doctor Who Christmas Special since the programme's revival in 2005, and was broadcast on 25 December 2010 on both BBC One and BBC America, making it the first episode to premiere on the same day in both the United Kingdom and United States. It was broadcast on 26 December 2010 on ABC1 in Australia[13] and on Space in Canada.[14] The episode features the acting debut of Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins,[15] She stars alongside Michael Gambon, Micah Balfour and Pooky Quesnel.[6] The episode had an initial rating of 10.3 million viewers on BBC One and BBC One HD according to overnight figures, making it the second most watched programme on Christmas Day, just behind EastEnders. The rating was roughly comparable to the 2009 episode, The End of Time Part 1, which had 10.0 million watching on BBC One and 0.4 million on BBC HD.[16] A preview of the episode was shown during the Children in Need annual telethon on 19 November 2010.[16]   The crew of a space liner carrying more than 4000 passengers struggles to maintain the ship's course while traveling through the strange cloud cover of a human-inhabited planet that interferes with their controls. Amy and Rory, aboard the liner for their honeymoon, send a distress call to the Doctor to help. The Doctor is unable to use the TARDIS directly to save the liner, and lands at a house topped by a giant antenna-like spire that seems to control the clouds. The sole resident of the house is bitter, peevish, old Kazran Sardick. The wealthiest and most powerful man on the planet, his father had built the spire. The Doctor tries to convince Kazran to turn off the cloud controls — isomorphically locked to him — but he mockingly refuses. Kazran, like his late father, considers the rest of the population of the planet little more than cattle, and cares not for the lives aboard the liner either. This becomes apparent to the Doctor when Kazran refuses to release a young woman, Abigail, from cryonic storage to her family for even a Christmas day. Recognizing that Kazran's father has had a significant effect on Kazran's life, the Doctor devises a scheme inspired by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the idea being to influence Kazran in his past and present to become more compassionate to the lives aboard the liner. The Doctor visits a young Kazran shortly after his father had struck him for trying to experiment with a unique phenomenon of the planet: the ability of all manner of fish to "swim" in the foggy air. The Doctor discovers the ice in the clouds contain a weak electrical charge; this is what allows the fish to swim, but is also what is disrupting the space liner. The "boys" experiment with the fish anyway, until a shark attacks them and swallows the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The Doctor recovers half, but inadvertently harms the shark in the process; it cannot return to swim in the clouds. The Doctor concludes that some sort of life support container could transport the shark safely to the clouds. Young Kazran shows the Doctor a system of cryonic chambers beneath the spire, where Kazran's father stores as "security" family members of people to whom he has lent money. Kazran directs the Doctor to Abigail's chamber; Kazran knows she had been fascinated by the fish before she was put into storage. They release her, and she sings to the shark, resonating with the ice crystals, and calming it. The three then successfully return the shark to the clouds. Before putting Abigail back into her chamber, Kazran promises that he and the Doctor will return every Christmas Eve to celebrate it with Abigail. The Doctor keeps this promise, travelling forward every year to reunite Kazran and Abigail, taking them across time and space, and watching them develop a romance as he grows to a young adult and is introduced to her family. However, after several Christmas Eves, Abigail reveals a secret to Kazran, leading him to decide to end the tradition and leave her in cryonic storage indefinitely. The Doctor gives the broken half of the sonic screwdriver to Kazran to use when he needs it. Meanwhile, in the present, older Kazran enjoys his many new memories, but, heartbroken at Abigail's fate, still refuses to disable the spire. From the liner, Amy appears to present-time Kazran as a hologram. She shows Kazran the crew of the doomed liner, singing Christmas carols, using the musical vibrations to partially stabilise the ship within the cloud system, just as Abigail calmed the shark, but still leaving the ship doomed to crash. Kazran waves away the holograms, continuing to refuse to release the controls. When the Doctor appears and tries to show Kazran his future, Kazran reveals Abigail's secret, that she was dying before she was frozen and will live only one more day outside of the chamber. Fully admitting that he will die alone, he values the one day left he has with Abigail over the thousands on the liner or the population of the planet. Unbeknownst to Kazran, the Doctor has brought young Kazran into the present to show the boy his future; he is shocked by his elder self's revelation. This change is reflected in the newly compassionate older Kazran, and he agrees to release the spire controls. They find, however, that the Doctor's interference has changed Kazran's past too much; Kazran's father, seeing his boy too kind to others, never programmed the spire's controls to recognise Kazran. The Doctor concocts a new plan: by unfreezing Abigail and having her sing through the broken half of the sonic screwdriver amplified by the spire, the other half, still inside the shark, would be able to resonate the ice crystals, disrupting the cloud field, and allowing the liner to safely land. Kazran is aware that Abigail will die after one day, but he releases her anyway; she comforts him, reminding him they have had many Christmas Eves together and it is time for Christmas Day to come. The Doctor's plan is successful, and as the ship safely lands on the planet, the breakup of the clouds releases snow across the city. As the Doctor takes young Kazran back to his past and reunites with Amy and Rory, the old Kazran and Abigail celebrate a shark-drawn carriage ride together. [edit] Continuity Several nods to earlier outfits in the series appear in A Christmas Carol. Amy Pond wears her kissogram policewoman's outfit from "The Eleventh Hour", while Rory wears a Roman centurion's outfit as seen in "The Pandorica Opens". In one of the many Christmas Eves the Doctor and Kazran spend with Abigail, they present themselves to her in matching long, stripy scarves. The Fourth Doctor's trademark accessory was long, striped scarves. The two also appear in fezes, an item of clothing the Doctor became fond of in "The Big Bang".[17] The Doctor initially scoffs at the idea of "isomorphic controls" – controls that will operate only for a specific person or limited set of people. In the classic series Pyramids of Mars the Doctor states to Sutekh that the TARDIS controls are isomorphic, although many other characters are seen operating them. In "Last of the Time Lords", the Master had a laser screwdriver with isomorphic controls. During one of his trips with Kazran and Abigail, the Doctor introduces them to Frank Sinatra and inadvertently ends up marrying Marilyn Monroe, though he later attempts to claim that the ceremony did not take place in a legitimate chapel.[18] The Doctor has hinted at marriage before during "The End of Time", suggesting his wife was Queen Elizabeth I, which was also reported upon by Liz 10 in "The Beast Below". [edit] Production [edit] Writing According to Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, the episode is a "clever twist on the much loved A Christmas Carol".[19] Matt Smith added "It's as Christmasy as it comes in 'Doctor Who' land. It's loosely based on a 'Christmas Carol' with a time travelling twist. Steven has managed to reinvent it. I think those two things marry quite well together — 'Doctor Who' and Christmas."[20] Steven Moffat, writer for this episode said "It's all your favourite Christmas movies at once, in an hour, with monsters. And the Doctor. And a honeymoon."[12] A read-through took place in Cardiff on Thursday, 8 July and production started on 12 July 2010 and lasted into August 2010.[21][19] [edit] Cast notes Arthur Darvill is included in the opening credits in this episode, for the first time since he joined Doctor Who. [edit] Broadcast and reception A Christmas Carol was tied with Come Fly with Me as the second most-watched program on Christmas Day in the United Kingdom, following EastEnders, and with a average viewership of 10.3 million peaking at 10.7 million.[22] [edit] International broadcast A Christmas Carol is the first episode of Doctor Who that was broadcast the same day in the United Kingdom and in North America through BBC America. Previous episodes from the revitalized series would have from a week to months-delay between the BBC and the BBC America or Sci Fi channel airing. Richard de Croce, Vice-President of Programming at BBC America, stated that they will try to continue the same-day airing on both stations with future episodes of Series 6.[23] In the United States, 727,000 viewers watched A Christmas Carol, an 8% increase on the previous holiday special, The End of Time.[24]

  
  

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• Planet of the Ming Mongs Issue One

  17 December 2010 (8:56am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 34 minutes and 37 seconds

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  Superbly Put together Fanzine.   Thought youd like to see it

  
  

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• TDP 150: Short Story (The Outpost) Messages from other Podcasters and Xmas Update

  15 December 2010 (9:17am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 23 seconds

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  Short Story (The Outpost) One of my Entries into the Big Finish "Short Trips" Comp. Longer story in the Christmas TDP Also Messages from other Podcasters and a Chritmas Doctor Who Update

  
  

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• TDP 149: Meglos

  15 December 2010 (8:25am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 12 seconds

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  The Prion star system contains two habitable planets which have supported civilisations: Zolfa-Thura, a desert world devoid seemingly of life structures bar five giant screens; and Tigella, a jungle world inhabited by the humanoid, white haired Tigellans. The structure of Tigellan society is based on two castes: the scientific Savants, led by the earnest Deedrix; and the religiously fanatical Deons, led by Lexa. The latter worship the Dodecahedron, a mysterious twelve-sided crystal which they see as a gift from the god Ti. The Savants, however, have utilised its power as an energy source for their entire civilisation. The planet’s leader, Zastor, mediates between the two factions, whose tensions have grown greater as the energy source has begun to fluctuate. When Zastor’s old friend the Fourth Doctor gets in touch, the weary leader invites him back to Tigella to investigate and help. When the Doctor, Romana and K-9 try to land the TARDIS on Tigella someone intervenes, trapping them in a time bubble known as a chronic hysteresis, causing them to repeat their words and actions over and over again. The culprit is Meglos, the last Zolfa-Thuran, a cactus creature who has remained hidden below the surface of his planet in a secret structure. He has summoned a band of ramshackle space pirates called Gaztaks to help him in an audacious plan, and their leaders Grugger and Brotodac are greedy enough to try. Meglos wants to steal the Dodecahedron back from Tigella, as it is a Zolfa-Thuran energy source of immense power. To aid him, Meglos uses an Earthling captured for him by the Gaztaks to occupy and take on humanoid form: and the humanoid form he chooses is the Doctor, whom he has trapped in the bubble. While the hysteresis persists Meglos gets the Gaztaks to take him to Tigella, and infiltrates the city in his new identity. Zastor greets “the Doctor” warmly as an old friend, asking him to examine the Dodecahedron, but others are less sure, especially Lexa. The Doctor and Romana break out of the bubble by throwing it out of phase, and then land the TARDIS on Tigella – but in the middle of the hostile jungle rather than near the city. As the Doctor heads off to find Zastor, Romana stumbles across the dangerous vegetation – deadly bell plants – and then the Gaztaks, waiting patiently for Meglos to return to their spaceship. She gives them the slip after a while and heads off to the city herself. Meglos has used his time as the Doctor to access and steal the Dodecahedron, shrinking it to minute size. Not all goes smoothly, however, as the Earthling fights back against his occupation, causing green cactus spikes to break out on his skin. When the Tigellans sound the alarm Meglos hides away but the real Doctor arrives at the same time and is accused of theft. His bewilderment and charm are little defence as both Savants and Deons start to panic as the energy levels of the city start to fail. Lexa uses the situation to her own ends. Zastor and Deedrix are arrested in a Deon coup, with other Savants expelled to the hostile surface of the planet, while the Doctor himself is prepared for sacrifice to Ti. The doors of the city are sealed, with Meglos still trapped inside, with a hostage Savant named Caris for company. She soon gets the upper hand when the Earthling tries another bout of resistance. In a subsequent mix up Romana overpowers Caris, letting Meglos escape and reunite with the Gaztaks, who have staged an attack on the city to rescue him. The Dodecahedron is in his possession and the pirates soon blast off back to Zolfa-Thura – though three Gaztaks, half the crew, have been lost. The real Doctor has by now been able to prove to the Tigellans he did not steal the artefact and there is a doppelgänger at work. Lexa realises her mistake but does not live long to regret it when she is shot dead by a wounded Gaztak who was left behind. The Doctor, Romana, Caris and Deedrix head with K9 for the TARDIS, determined to follow the Gaztak ship. Grugger’s ship touches down on Zolfa-Thura and Meglos wastes no time in restoring the Dodecahedron to full size and placing it at a spot equidistant between the Screens. He reveals his race perished in a civil war over the control of the crystal, which can power a weapon strong enough to destroy planets. At Grugger’s urging Meglos decides to use the weapon again and to aim it at Tigella. When the Doctor arrives he plays Meglos at his own game and tries a little impersonation. The situation becomes so confused the Gaztaks lose track of which one is which, enabling the Doctor to change the settings of the super-weapon. Meglos abandons the Earthling, leaving a bemused man watching a cactus creature reassert himself in his laboratory. Meglos knows the Doctor has realigned the weapon. The creature is unable to stop the Doctor fleeing back to the TARDIS, taking the Earthling with him, and is also unable to persuade Grugger not to fire the weapon. From the TARDIS the Doctor and his friends witness the destruction of Zolfa-Thura, the Gaztaks, Meglos and the Dodecahedron. Caris and Deedrix return to rebuild Tigella, recognising with Zastor and the Deons that old enmities must be put aside and a new society forged. The Doctor and Romana depart and prepare to take the Earthling home, but as they are leaving Romana receives a message from the Time Lords that she must return to Gallifrey…

  
  

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• TDP PROMO

  14 December 2010 (12:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 2 minutes and 46 seconds

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  A re issue of the First TDP Promo as part of the build up to the 150th TDP!

  
  

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• Fish Fingers and Custard issue 3 - A Doctor Who Fanzine

  12 December 2010 (1:02pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

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  Issue Three of the Fish Fingers and Custard - A Doctor Who Fanzine   With My article about Bob The Builder being a Time Lord

  
  

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• TDP 148: The Lurkers at Sunlights Edge

  9 December 2010 (9:11am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 57 seconds

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  Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred with Philip Olivier (Duration: 120' approx)CAST: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Michael Brandon (CP Doveday), Kate Terence (Dr Freya Gabriel), Stuart Milligan (Emerson Whytecrag), Alex Lowe (Professor August Corbin), Sam Clemens (Slade), Duncan Wisbey (Captain Akins)SYNOPSIS: 1934: the TARDIS lands on a snowy island off the coast of Alaska – one that wasn’t there four years, three months and six days ago, according to the Doctor. The island is dominated by a vast, twisted citadel. Inside it, the Lurkers lie dreaming. It's said when they wake the world will end…Led by the ruthless Emerson Whytecrag, an expedition has come to the citadel, to exploit the horrors in its ebon-dark interior. Horrors just like those published in the pages of the pulp magazine Shuddersome Tales, where a hero's only reward is madness, death… or worse.Horrors that the Doctor and his companion are about to wake up. AUTHOR: Marty Ross DIRECTOR: Ken Bentley SOUND DESIGN: Steve Foxon MUSIC: Steve Foxon COVER ART: Simon Holub NUMBER OF DISCS: 2 RECORDED DATE: 21/23 June 2010 RELEASE DATE: 30 November 2010 PRODUCTION CODE: TBC ISBN: 978-1-84435-500-6

  
  

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• TDP Christmas Short Story 2010: Very Little Green Men

  6 December 2010 (10:05pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 2 seconds

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  My Short Trips comp entry is this years Christmas short Story.   Enjoy

  
  

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• snow dalek

  30 November 2010 (2:08pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

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• TDP: Things For Sale

  25 November 2010 (3:05pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minutes and 43 seconds

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  check www.whostrology.com or click the whostrology banner on www.tin-dog.co.uk to see the Rare Doctor Who Stuff I have for sale.   More items added daily

  
  

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• TDP 147: SJSA 4.6 and Children in Need 2010

  22 November 2010 (12:49pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 36 seconds

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  Part One Edit Sarah Jane faces her saddest day, as she realises that no one can defend the Earth forever. She’s saved the world so many times, but must now hand over the task to safer hands. Clyde and Rani are distraught, and the forces of darkness gather as the inevitable day approaches. Part Two Edit Sarah Jane has gone – but a new regime begins at Bannerman Road! Clyde and Rani must face the fact that nothing lasts forever – but can they still unite as a team, to face a new and deadly threat from outer space? Or is the old gang finished for good? Plot Edit Part One Edit A meteor hurtles towards Earth. Mr Smith redirects it to safer co-ordinates, and says it will contain germ pathogens. The gang hurry to neutralise it and stop the germs escaping. The meteorite reads all clear, then a strange woman appears, claiming to be saving the world. She drives off in a red sports car, and Clyde points out that she is doing the same thing as Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane does not look pleased. They find the woman has just moved in across the street and go to find out who she is. She behaves coldly towards them, telling them to get out of her house. Her name is Ruby White, and she sees them as amateurs. She moved to Ealing because of all the alien activity- Trueman, the bubbleshock factory, rhinos in police cars and alien plant life. Sarah Jane decides to stay away from Ruby, but keep her eyes open. The next day, Gita waves to Sarah Jane on her way home. Sarah Jane says she has to make Lukes tea, and then realises he is at university. Clyde and Rani go to check that she is alright. She calls Luke, just two hours after she last spoke to him, and can't remember K9's name. Rani suggests she take a holiday and visit Luke, when Mr Smith gives a red alert. A fleet of Dark Horde warriors are heading for Earth. They trace the scan beam and lock on to the attic to neutralise enemy technology. Mr Smith diverts the teleport to an uninhabited area. Sarah Jane starts acting out of character, giving Clyde a gun and saying they must protect the Earth by any means. An advance party of three warriors lands on Earth. Sarah Jane plans to use a device to overload their sensors. She asks Clyde for the sonic lipstick, but he said she told him to bring the gun (which isn't even charged). Sarah Jane has made a big mistake. Then Ruby arrives and tosses spheres to both Rani and Clyde. She uses an artificial intelligence to project the Dark Horde with a stronger version of themselves; their logical reaction was to flee. Clyde suggests calling the AI 'Mr White'. They take Ruby back to the attic, where Mr White gets along well with Mr Smith. Sarah Jane says she'd be glad to have an adult friend. Whilst explaining to Ruby how she became involved with aliens, Sarah Jane forgets the Doctor's name for a moment, something she can't believe she did. She orders Mr Smith to medi-scan her; he tells her there is evidence of brain tissue deterioration. Sarah Jane takes this to mean she is now too old to continue defending the Earth. Ruby makes friends with Clyde and Rani, who are eager to show off their knowledge of aliens, and Sarah Jane feels very left out. Sarah Jane asks Ruby to take over the duty of protecting the Earth, offering her the house, Mr Smith and Clyde and Rani. Ruby agrees. Sarah Jane goes to leave, not even bothering to tell Luke she is going, and orders Mr Smith to wipe her voice from the command program so she can no longer order him. She realises something is wrong and begs Ruby to help her. Instead, Ruby teleports her to a 'secret cellar' which houses her stomach. She reveals that she is the one making Sarah Jane ill, draining her life force. She is a Katesh, whose race devours peoples thrills and emotions. She targeted Sarah Jane as she has the most exciting life on Earth. Mr White is making a farewell message for Clyde and Rani so they will believe Sarah Jane has gone because 'she' will tell them. Ruby's stomach drains Sarah Jane directly, as Ruby gloats about how she will feast on the Earth... Part Two Edit Ruby explains that rather than stop aliens, she will help them, and feed on the excitement and terror that humanity will feel. Back in the attic, Clyde and Rani watch Mr Whites faked video. Clyde can't believe she has just gone, and blames Rani for putting the idea of a 'holiday' in her head. Mr Smith starts acting strangely, trying to give Clyde a warning- 'Beware Ruby'. Ruby shuts down Mr Smith and teleports Clyde to her spaceship. It was once her prison, until she reprogrammed it's game console (Mr White). Ruby leaves Clyde in the prison to suffocate. Rani tries to call Clyde, and then hears a knock at the door. She opens it to find Luke. K9, who is back in Oxford, tracks Clydes phone to space. Rani goes to place the phone near Mr White so K9 can reset him and free Mr Smith from his influence, as well as rescue Clyde. Clyde leaves a message on his phone for the others to find and collapses. Rani distracts Ruby, who isn't convinced, but luckily K9 manages to reset Mr White in time. Clyde and Rani go to rescue Sarah Jane. Ruby corners them in the cellar and threatens to devour them completely. Luke arrives and gives Ruby a warning to leave Earth. When she refuses, Mr White sends a hologram, so everyone on Earth sees a meteor hurtling straight for them. Ruby cannot handle the sudden inrush of emotions and thrills from 6 billion people. The stomach swells, then shrinks and releases all the energy it took from Sarah Jane back into her. Sarah Jane sends Ruby back to her prison ship, but Ruby swears to get revenge on her. Luke takes them all out for a treat, and Sarah Jane says that although the universe is full of amazing things, they have stiff competition on Earth. Cast Edit Sarah Jane Smith - Elizabeth Sladen Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong Luke Smith - Thomas Knight K9 Mark IV - John Leeson (Part 2 Only) Gita Chandra - Mina Anwar Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti Ruby White - Julie Graham Mr White - Eddie Marsan Crew Edit to be added References Edit Ruby refers to Sarah Jane's area as "The Ealing Triangle", a play on the Bermuda Triangle, an area in the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of planes and sea vessels have mysteriously vanished over the years. Ruby mentions she has a bio damper. Story notes Edit to be added Ratings Edit to be added Myths Edit Luke and K9 will return. This was proven true Filming locations Edit to be added Production errors Edit to be added Continuity Edit Clyde is once again splattered with alien slime. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen, Enemy of the Bane, The Gift, The Nightmare Man) Ruby White mentions in passing the events of SJA: Invasion of the Bane, Secrets of the Stars, Prisoner of the Judoon and The Gift.    

  
  

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• TDP 146: SJSA 4.5 Lost in Time and Cyberman 2

  14 November 2010 (4:16pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 36 minutes and 28 seconds

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  Starring Mark McDonnell, Hannah Smith and Barnaby Edwards (Duration: 240' approx)CAST: Mark McDonnell (Liam Barnaby), Hannah Smith (Samantha Thorn), Barnaby Edwards (Paul Hunt), Jo Castleton (Hazel Trahn), Ian Brooker (Yan), Ian Hallard (Chessman), Andrew Dickens (Milo Taggart), Toby Hadoke (Louis Richter), Martin Trent (Merced), Cal Jaggers (Becca Trahn),  Jess Robinson (Janice Webb), Stuart Crossman (The News), Nicholas Briggs (Cyber Voices) SYNOPSIS: Across the planet, the silver legions stand impassive in every city; mankind has sacrificed its freedoms for the sake of a distant conflict against its android creations, and now the price must be paid. On the streets, in the depths of space, a web of lies and deceit draws ever tighter, and the lines between human and android, between enemy and ally, are blurred. Only one choice remains – resist or surrender… AUTHOR: James Swallow DIRECTOR: Nicholas Briggs SOUND DESIGN: Kelly Ellis & Steve McNichol from Fool Circle Productions MUSIC: Kelly Ellis & Steve McNichol from Fool Circle Productions COVER ART: Alex Mallinson NUMBER OF DISCS: 5 RECORDED DATE: 22, 23, 24, 26, 27 February 2009 RELEASE DATE: 30 December 2009 PRODUCTION CODE: BFPCYBESCD05 ISBN: 978-1-84435-332-3 CHRONOLOGICAL PLACEMENT:This story is set after the events of Cyberman, the first series.NOTE:CDs only available as a boxed set. Box cover enhanced with silver foil. CD 5 is a behind-the-scenes   Plot [edit] Part 1 Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde are lured by an article to a shop where an alien has been sighted. When they arrive, they are met by the mysterious shopkeeper and his parrot. The Shopkeeper needs their help to save the Earth. They need to find three pieces made of chronosteen, a metal forged in the Time Vortex which can reshape destiny, before it is too late. They can be found at key points of the Earth's history. The Shopkeeper is able to open a time window, into which Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde are forced. They are transported in time to three different eras, and each must face danger alone. Rani ends up in the Tower of London on 19 July 1553, to be a lady-in-waiting to Lady Jane Grey, who is about to be usurped by Mary I. It is the final day of her reign. Rani and Lady Jane easily become friends. Mary's army have reached London. Rani discovers a plot to kill Lady Jane that very night. Clyde ends up in an English coastal village in 1941 during World War II. He meets George, an adolescent evacuee, who has spotted three Wehrmacht soldiers on the beach. They are now the only people who can save Britain from an invasion. They hide in the church, but are found. The Germans have a hammer - Thor's Hammer. With this they can block radar systems and start the invasion of Britain. Sarah Jane ends up in a house haunted by ghosts in 1889. She meets the girl Emily Morris, who is looking for the ghosts. At eight o'clock the "haunting" begins. They hear a woman talk and children playing with fire. The "ghosts" are not from the past, but the future, where a fire will start and kill the children. Sarah Jane and Emily must find a way to stop this from happening. [edit] Part 2 Rani stops Lady Mathilda from killing her with the dagger of Chronosteen. Mathilda wanted to make Lady Jane a martyr to inspire the Protestants to rise up against Mary. Rani stays with Jane until the latter is taken to the keep. She promises Lady Jane that she will not be forgotten by history or by her. Taking the dagger, Rani disappears through the time window. Jane believes that Rani is an angel and, reasoning that angels speak only the truth, goes to her death confident that she will be remembered. Clyde distracts the Wehrmacht with his mobile phone, claiming it to be a sophisticated bomb; George is able to use that moment to snatch Thor's Hammer. The pair lock themselves in a chamber below the bell tower, and repeatedly chime the bell to alert the townsfolk and Home Guard of the emergency. The Germans dash back to the beach but are captured by the Home Guard. George asserts his duty and desire to join the military as soon as he is of age, dismissing Clyde's request that he wait until 1945; Clyde implores him to be careful before disappearing into the time window. George arives on the beach and poses armed for a photograph with the German troops whose capture he and Clyde had facilitated. George survives combat and goes on to contribute significantly to the post-war development of radar, for which he is honoured late in life by the Queen. Sarah Jane resets the clock to eight o'clock and the "haunting" continues. This time they see the future nanny talking on a mobile telephone. The children are locked in a room playing with a candle. Emily manage to call out to the children and they hear her. It is her fear when she lost her mother that connects her with them. Emily uses this ability to turn the key in the lock and the children escape. Sarah Jane, now holding the key, starts disappearing through the time window, but Emily takes the key and won't let go. When Sarah Jane returns the time window has become critical and without the key, the world will be sucked into the time vortex. At this moment a woman appears at their side with the key. The time window closes. The Shopkeeper, without explanation of the whole thing, bids them farewell and disappears with his parrot called Captain. The woman is Angela Price, a granddaughter of Emily. She has been told to come to the shop shown in the article on this exact day and give the key back. While walking out of the shop, Clyde compliments Rani's makeover into Tudor dress.     interview featurette.

  
  

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• TDP 145: SJSA 4.2 4.3 and 4.4

  7 November 2010 (11:32am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 17 minutes and 35 seconds

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   SJSA 4.2 4.3 and 4.4   Part 1 A teenage girl enters an asylum, and approaches The Vault of Secrets. She tries to access it, but only has one disc. She is then confronted by The Alliance of Shades, so she escapes, injures herself and falls over. Androvax exits her body, and escapes. The Alliance of Shades (a.k.a Men In Black) arrive at the scene, and scan the unconscious girl. The Veil is declared no longer in her. Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani are in the attic, speaking to Luke on webcam, and Mr Smith interferes with a NASA space probe on Mars, to prevent it discovering an ancient and deadly civilisation. Gita and her husband Haresh have joined B.U.R.P.S.S. (The British UFO Research and Paranormal Studies Society) due to Gita's encounter with the Judoon and Androvax in the past. When the couple arrive home on Bannerman Road, Gita spots Androvax entering Sarah Jane's front garden. Haresh arms himself and goes to investigate, and encounters Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde. Haresh leaves after a conversation with them, and Androvax enters Rani's body. Sarah Jane scans for alien activity, and realises Rani has been taken over. Sarah Jane and Clyde chase her/him to the attic, and order Mr Smith to contain him after exiting Rani's body. They discover that Androvax is dying, having escaped a prison in a swamp and been poisoned by an alien viper. He intends to free 100 of his people from cryogenic sleep in The Vault of Secrets - the last survivors of the Veil species, aside from Androvax himself. Ocean Waters, the founder of B.U.R.P.S.S., arrives with Minty to scan for alien activity by picking up Beta particles. Sarah Jane uses her Sonic lipstick to deactivate this device. The three of them go to investigate at a mental asylum, where they encounter the base of the Men In Black. They are detected, and the Men In Black go to confront them. They discover that Ocean Waters was abducted in 1972 and encountered the Men In Black. The Men In Black then arrive to confront them, and activate their robotic hands. They tell Sarah Jane she must hand over Androvax and their disc, or prepare to be incinerated. The gang arrive home, where they agree with Androvax to let him use Clyde's body. They then speak to Ocean and Minty. Ocean turns out to have the other disc required to enter the Vault, and she recalls past encounters with the Men In Black and Mister Dread. Then the Men In Black arrive and tell them they must prepare to be incinerated. [edit] Part 2 The incineration is averted, Androvax escapes and enters Gita's body. Gita leaves for the Vault, and is followed by Mister Dread, Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde. Sarah Jane causes Mister Dread's car to malfunction, so he acquires a new one. They all arrive at the asylum, where Rani and Clyde rescue Gita. Androvax then leaves and encounters Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane refuses to help him because when the Veil are reawakened and leave Earth, the spaceships will cause Earth to explode, ending the human civilisation. Sarah Jane's body is then taken over by Androvax. Clyde jumps away from an incineration blast from two Men In Black, and the two men destroy each other. Rani explains to her mother about aliens, and how Sarah Jane, she and Clyde have encountered them. Mister Dread is placed into his capsule and made to sleep. Androvax goes to the Vault, in Sarah Jane's body, pretending to be her. He/she opens the Vault, revealing many spaceships, much to Gita's surprise. Androvax then leaves Sarah's body, and locks himself inside the Vault, which uses a Transmat to make it bigger on the inside. The team awaken Mister Dread, who gives up 450 years of his energy to allow Androvax and his race to leave Earth without harming anybody, by being beamed into space. Mister Dread now lacks power, and declares his mission terminated. He erases the memory of Gita, who intends to tell the world about their experiences, and goes to sleep in his capsule. The team return home, and Ocean and Minty arrive to ask about the Men In Black. Sarah Jane denies everything and Gita says she doesn't believe in aliens. Minty and Ocean say that the aliens have won again and decide to leave. In outer space, Androvax flies away to find a new world, having saved his species.   Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde are talking to Luke via webcam but are interrupted when Mr Smith alerts them that a UNIT armed forces convoy is converging on the house. The commanding officer, Colonel Karim, informs the group that the Doctor is dead, despite Sarah Jane's protests that it can't be possible. It is claimed that the Doctor died in the Wastelands of the Crimson Heart, where he had saved the lives of 500 children from the Scarlet Monstrosity. A race called the Shansheeth [3] have retrieved the body and are holding a funeral for the Doctor at UNIT Base 5, buried underground at the foot of Mount Snowdon. Sarah Jane still believes that the Doctor must be alive, and so goes along to search for evidence that it is a hoax. Upon arrival at the base they find that a small number of other mourners have been invited, as few survive their encounters with the Doctor. Many also couldn't make it including the Brigadier, who is stranded in Peru. The team also find, to their surprise a Groske working in the base, a blue skinned cousin of the Graske race they have had problems with in the past. The Doctor's body is to be blasted into space via a huge rocket, built by the Groske. They proceed to the ceremony of remembrance, however Clyde's left hand develops a growing blue electric charge, which he is unnerved at. At the ceremony, music is played which recalls memories for all about the Doctor; for Sarah Jane it is memories of the Third and Fourth Doctors, while for Rani and Clyde it is their encounters with the Doctor at Sarah Jane's wedding. Clyde then realises that the charge is Artron energy, which he had previously carried after touching the vanishing TARDIS at the wedding. The ceremony is interrupted by the clumsy arrival of Jo Jones (née Grant), as she drops a vase of flowers. She is accompanied by her grandson, Santiago. The two former companions chat, as do the children, and both women agree that they are sure that the Doctor must still be alive. In their dormitory, the two women make a list of enemies that might try to fake the Doctor's death, while the children leave and wander round the base. Outside the room, Clyde again receives a shock on his hand and reveals the affliction to the other two. They encounter the lead Groske again, who informs them that the rising artron energy signals that an unidentified someone is getting closer and closer. Clyde, desperate to find out more pursues the Groske down an air vent, where they watch as the Shansheeth plot to make the two companions relive their days with the Doctor and therefore drain their minds for an unknown purpose, killing them in the process. The Shansheeth play music down the ventilation shafts to the former companions, where they start to recollect their adventures with the Doctor. The children are discovered by the Shansheeth when another artron energy discharge gives away their position. The children flee and run into Sarah Jane and Jo who sense they are in trouble. After recollecting what the Shansheeth are doing, they are surprised to hear an adult male talking through Clyde's mouth. However, the next minute Clyde appears normal. He then gains the Doctor's hand before seemingly morphing into the Doctor. The Doctor, now in the UNIT base, explains that he used Clyde's residual Artron Energy to make a complicated swap of 10,000 light years. The result of this is, as the Doctor realises, is that he can fight the Shansheeth while Clyde however is where the Doctor just was: trapped in danger on an alien world. Sarah Jane realises that the man standing before them is the Doctor's newest incarnation shortly before the Shansheeth catch up with the group where the Doctor confronts them. A Shansheeth quips that they will ensure their announcement of the Doctor's death is correct this time, they then proceed to launch a beam of energy from their claws at him, causing him to yelp in pain and collapse to the floor. [edit] Part 2 The Doctor disappears and Clyde reappears—they have swapped places again. Clyde, Jo, Rani, Santiago and Sarah Jane run away from the Shansheeth to safety, the Doctor swapping places again with Clyde part way. The Doctor, Jo and Sarah swap places with Clyde and go to the alien planet, where they talk. The Doctor says that he visited Jo before he regenerated and told Jo that he had been into her future and seen her thirteenth grandchild. The Doctor works on perfecting the machine which allowed them to swap places with Clyde. When fixed, it can transport them without needing to swap with Clyde. Clyde and Rani talk with Santiago, who reveals he hasn't spoken to his parents in six months. Colonel Karim meanwhile is with the Shansheeth, and they are plotting to use Jo and Sarah Jane's memories of the TARDIS to create a new TARDIS Key, so the Shansheeth can stop death across the universe by interfering with the timelines and so that Colonel Karim, in return, shall visit the stars because she has nothing left for her on Earth. Rani, Santiago, Clyde and a Groske try to get through the ventilation shafts, but Colonel Karim heats the shafts up, until the children are in danger of roasting. The Doctor, Jo and Sarah Jane go to the rescue, but Jo and Sarah Jane are kidnapped and the Doctor must go on alone. Sarah Jane and Jo are strapped up and the Memory Weave is used on them. Their minds are scanned and they begin remembering the TARDIS, these memories generate a new TARDIS Key as the Shansheeth and Colonel Karim make their intentions clear. The Doctor, Rani, Clyde, Santiago and a Groske come to the room Sarah Jane and Jo are in and tell them to remember other experiences. Sarah Jane and Jo both remember past encounters with the Doctor and all the creatures and enemies they met. Jo remembers all the countries she has been to as Sarah Jane remembers her battles with aliens. The memory weave overloads and explodes, the room is on fire. Sarah Jane and Jo hide in the lead coffin and shut themselves inside to survive the explosion. Later, they are taken to Sarah Jane's house, alive and well. Jo and Sarah Jane talk with the Doctor inside the TARDIS; Jo mentions the Time Lords and the Doctor mentions a foreshadowing (that if he ever were to die, the universe would shiver). He then allows them to leave, and demateralises. Jo and Santiago leave for Norway, and the trio are left behind, where Sarah Jane tells them of Tegan Jovanka, Ben Jackson, Polly, Harry Sullivan, Ace, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. They say that with friends like themselves, the Doctor will never die.   Rani and Clyde are the only people left in the world and are trying to find other people. This episode includes red and yellow robots that try to attack Clyde and Rani. After detecting an alien energy source, Clyde and Rani go to bed while Mr Smith tries to trace it. But in the morning, Rani realises that her parents are missing and so is Sarah Jane and everyone on Bannerman Road.

  
  

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• TDP 144: Project Destiny and A Death in the Family

  20 October 2010 (6:55am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 53 seconds

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  Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred with Philip Olivier(Duration: 120' approx)CAST:Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Stephen Chance (Sir William Abberton), Maggie O’Neill (Captain Lysandra Aristedes), Philip Dinsdale (Sergeant Jarrod), Ingrid Oliver (Helen/Oracle)SYNOPSIS:1999: Leaving her infant son behind, a young mother named Cassandra Schofield departs Bolton, seeking a better life amid the lights of London.2004: Despite the best efforts of the time-travelling Doctor, 'Cassie' Schofield dies on Dartmoor, a vampirised victim of the sinister organisation called The Forge.2021: All grown up, and a nurse at St Gart's Hospital, Thomas Hector Schofield – known as 'Hex' – meets, and becomes a companion to, that time-travelling Doctor… but remains unaware that his alien friend knew his mother, and watched her die.1854: In the Crimean War, Hex takes a bullet, and is seriously injured. The Doctor promises to return him to St Gart's.2025: Now. In a London ravaged by a deadly contagion… destiny awaits.Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred(Duration: 120' approx)CAST:Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Maggie Stables (Evelyn), Ian Reddington (Nobody No One), John Dorney (Corporal/Novice), Alison Thea-Skot (Ayl-San/Faber/Nurse), Andrew Dickens (Captain Stillwell/Applin/Tour Guide), Harriet Kershaw (Ann-the-Van/Story Speaker/Webster)SYNOPSIS:"The future folds into the past. The homeless hero has fallen. Now begins the time of three tales: The Tale of the Herald. The Tale of the Hidden Woman. The Tale of the Final Speaker. When the last tale is told, all the lights shall fail. The world will end."21st century London: Nobody No One, the extra-dimensional Word Lord, is again running amok. Only this time, he's unbeatable – and a terrible tragedy is about to unfold.It is written.AUTHOR:     Steven Hall    DIRECTOR:    Ken BentleySOUND DESIGN:    Richard Fox and Lauren Yason     MUSIC:    Richard Fox and Lauren YasonCOVER ART:    Simon Holub    NUMBER OF DISCS:    2RECORDED DATE:    28/29 April 2010     RELEASE DATE:    31 October 2010PRODUCTION CODE:    7W/N     ISBN:    978-1-84435-499-3           

  
  

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• TDP 143: Smith Box set and SJSA 4.1

  19 October 2010 (11:56am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 19 minutes and 6 seconds

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• TDP 142: The Seeds of Doom

  10 October 2010 (2:23pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 16 minutes and 58 seconds

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  Plot In Antarctica, scientists Charles Winlett and Derek Moberley discover a pod buried in the permafrost, and take it back to their camp. John Stevenson, the base botanist identifies it as vegetable-based and estimates it has been buried in the ice for some twenty thousand years. Back in London, Richard Dunbar of the World Ecology Bureau shows the Doctor photographs of the pod. Although he feels that the Doctor cannot help them, his superior Sir Colin Thackeray insisted. The Doctor examines the pictures and believes it to be extraterrestrial. He tells Dunbar to contact the expedition by their regular video link, and tell them not to touch it until he arrives. Back at the base, Stevenson discovers that the pod is growing larger and he believes it is absorbing ultraviolet radiation. In England, Dunbar visits the estate of millionaire Harrison Chase. Chase's estate is filled with thousands of plants, and he considers it his mission to protect the plant life of Mother Earth. Dunbar has come to show him pictures of the pod, its possible extraterrestrial origin and hints that such a valuable specimen could easily disappear.... for a price. Dunbar gives Chase the location of the pod. Chase calls for one of his men, Scorby, telling him to take Keeler along. At the base, Winlett is half asleep near the pod when it opens up. A frond-like tentacle whips out and stings his arm, causing Winlett to collapse in pain. When Stevenson and Moberley find him, Winlett's face is covered with green hives. The Doctor and Sarah arrive at the base. In the sickbay, Winlett's body temperature and pulse are dropping rapidly. His face and body are now covered with a green fungus, and its growth is accelerating. The Doctor asks for a blood test on Winlett, who is growing increasingly monstrous, and examines the now-empty pod. Stevenson acknowledges that it may be his fault; convinced that the pod was alive, he placed it under a lamp. Outside the base, the Doctor digs at the ice, uncovering another pod. Noting that the pods travel in pairs, the Doctors transfers it to the base freezer. On analysis, Winlett's blood is found to contain no blood platelets, but instead has schizophytes — microscopic organisms akin to plant bacteria. The sound of engines is heard, and Moberley and Stevenson go meet what they presume is the medical team. The Doctor tells Sarah that Winlett is turning into a Krynoid, a kind of galactic weed that settles on planets and eats the animal life. Stevenson and Moberley escort two men —Scorby and Keeler— into the base. The new arrivals claim that their private plane got lost and wound up at the base. The Doctor leaves to check on Winlett, taking the others and leaving Scorby and Keeler alone. Moberly is killed by the now muated Winlett. Transformed into a Krynoid it flees the base and shelters in the outside generator hut. Scorby and Keeler -employees of Chase- hold the Doctor and others at gunpoint as they steal the remaining pod. Scorby and Keeler set up a bomb in the generator and escape in their plane. The Doctor and the others get free, but are attacked by the Krynoid, which kills Stevenson. The Doctor and Sarah flee the base as the bomb creates a chain reaction and destroys the whole area. Regaining consciousness in the snow, the Doctor and Sarah are picked up by a team from South Bend in their Snow Cat vehicle. Meanwhile, Scorby and Keller return to Chase in England with the second pod. Dunbar is angered at how far Chase had gone to secure the pod, but warns Chase that the Doctor and Sarah are still alive, and are scheduled to meet with him and Sir Colin in two hours. At the meeting, the Doctor and Sarah describe how well planned the theft of the pod was, but the Doctor believes that the two men were stooges. The discovery of the pod had only been reported to the Ecology Bureau, so the leak must have come from them. He tells Dunbar to arrange for him to go to the Botanic Institute. As they leave the building, a driver meets them claiming to be their ride. However, the limousine stops in the countryside, and the driver orders them out at gunpoint. With a bit of teamwork, the Doctor manages to jump the driver and punch him out. The Doctor and Sarah search the car, and find a painting by Amelia Ducat, one of the world's leading flower artists. When they visit her, Ducat tells them that the owner of the painting is Harrison Chase, and that he never paid her for the painting. Keeler, who is a botanist himself, unsuccessfully tries to convince Chase to stop the experiments on the pod. Chase orders him to inject the pod with fixed nitrogen. Dunbar calls Chase and tells him that his driver is in the hospital, so when the Doctor and Sarah try to sneak into the mansion, they are spotted by some guards and Scorby, who capture them. The Doctor and Sarah are brought before Chase, and despite having Scorby's gun at his head, the Doctor asks Chase grimly to hand over the pod. Chase politely refuses: He has the greatest collection of plants in the world, and when the pod flowers, it will be his crowning achievement. Before he executes them, Chase decides to show the Doctor and Sarah around the mansion, and his plant laboratory. Keeler notes that the pod is growing, and tells Hargreaves, the butler, to summon Chase to the annex. There, Chase tells Keeler to inject more nitrogen into the pod. Scorby escorts the Doctor and Sarah into the gardens to kill them, but the two manage to overpower Scorby. The Doctor uses rope to lower Sarah down the wall so she can go and warn Sir Colin while he returns to the house to examine the pod. However, Sarah gets captured again. The Doctor makes his way back into the mansion while Sarah is escorted by Scorby back to Chase. The Doctor watches through the skylight, horrified as Chase orders Sarah forced down to a chair, grabbing her arm and pinning it next to the pod. He wants to know what happens when the Krynoid touches human flesh. The Doctor rescues Sarah and in the confusion, a frond from the pod stings Keeler's arm. Keeler begs Chase to get him to a hospital, but Chase is more fascinated with the transformative process than saving Keeler's life. Chase and Hargreaves take Keller to the nearby cottage. When the Doctor returns to the empty laboratory, he is captured by Scorby and a guard, who take him to the compost room. Scorby activates the crusher, remarking that Chase recycles everything. The main gate calls the house: Amelia Ducat is here demanding her money. To avoid a fuss, Chase agrees to see her. Meanwhile, Sarah has entered the cottage, and sees Keeler, who is still lucid, although covered with the Krynoid growth. She escapes back to the house and while in hiding, attracts Ducat's attention and asks her to take a message to Sir Colin. Outside, Ducat enters a car with Sir Colin and Dunbar inside, and tells them what Sarah said. Dunbar, realising he has made a terrible mistake, says he will go in and get the Doctor. He tells Sir Colin that, if he does not return in half an hour, to return to London and call UNIT. Sarah finds her way into the compost room and turns off the crusher just in time to save the Doctor. Hargreaves finds that Keeler has now almost completed his transformation, and runs in a panic as the creature frees itself. In the mansion, Dunbar pleads with Chase to abandon the experiment as Hargreaves reports Keeler's transformation to Chase. Dunbar says that this has gone far enough, and he is going to get help. Chase tells Scorby to stop him. Scorby pursues Dunbar through the grounds as the Doctor and Sarah find Keeler missing from the cottage. The Doctor takes a sword from over the fireplace and they leave to search for the Krynoid. Dunbar runs into the monster, which is far larger than the Winlett creature was, and no longer even humanoid. He shoots at it uselessly, and is held fast by the surrounding plant life as the Krynoid kills him. Dunbar's screams attract the attention of Scorby and the guards as well as the Doctor and Sarah. The latter get there first, the Doctor drawing the sword above Dunbar's body as the Krynoid lurches towards them. They manage to escape to a cottage and barricade themselves in. The Krynoid speaks using Keeler’s voice, demanding that the Doctor come out and join it and it will spare the others. Scorby is more than willing to give up the Doctor until Sarah Jane points out that without the Doctor they have no chance. The Doctor suggest Scorby rig up a bomb so they can all escape while the Krynoid is distracted. Sir Colin gets through to Major Beresford for assistance and sends Amelia home. Scorby throws his improvised bomb out an upstairs window and the Doctor makes a run for it. The Krynoid goes in pursuit, but the Doctor escapes in the limousine, leaving the Krynoid behind. Scorby tries to find Chase at the greenhouse and discovers where he is from Hargreaves. They begin barricading the windows in preparation for the Krynoid’s attack. Chase makes his way through the grounds and confronts the Krynoid. It notices him and he approaches, taking photographs. It moves toward him as Chase claims he doesn’t mean it harm. The Doctor arrives at the Bureau as Major Beresford warns he can’t do anything without evidence. The Doctor warns the Krynoid can channel its power through other plants, turning vegetation against humans. He shows them a series of reports of deaths of people near Chase’s estates being killed by plants. He then calls Sarah Jane and tells them Beresford is preparing to attack the Krynoid with a laser gun, but the Krynoid cuts the phone wires. Chase arrives and tells them that it’s the plants’ world, and humans are only parasites. He goes to the manor to develop his photographs, then begins speaking to the plants in his greenhouse. Scorby, Sarah Jane, and Hargreaves go in to confront Chase and he speaks of how the world will be made perfect. They can’t get through to him as he talks about how he is one with the plants and animals are the enemy. Sarah Jane notices that the plants are closing in on them. The Doctor and a UNIT soldier drive onto the grounds while the plants overwhelm Sarah Jane and the others and start to strangle them. The Doctor and the UNIT soldier, Sgt. Henderson, arrive and brought chemical plant-killer. They dispose of the plants, saving Scorby and Sarah Jane while the older Hargreaves is dead. Chase runs away and the Doctor and the others make their way into the lab and start removing the plants. But once they're outside Chase locks the door behind them and they can only gaze in horror as the now enormous Krynoid towers over them. UNIT soldiers arrive and open fire with their laser gun, distracting the Krynoid so that the Doctor and his group can get to another door. The Doctor believes that Chase is possessed by the Krynoid and determines to find him and eliminate the threat he poses to them from within. After they leave, Chase slips back into the laboratory and destroys the loudspeaker system. Unable to find the millionaire, the others return to the laboratory and the Krynoid tries to break its way in. Scorby starts to panic and wants to run, but the Doctor warns him that every plant on the grounds is under the Krynoid’s control. Meanwhile, Chase puts Henderson in the compost machine and activates it, killing the unconscious soldier. The Doctor works to repair the loudspeaker system as the Krynoid renews its attack, and Scorby panics and runs for it. He tries to make his way across the grounds through fields of hostile plants and makes his way across a shallow pond, but the plants grab and pull him underwater, killing him. The Doctor and Sarah Jane realize that Henderson is gone and Sarah Jane goes to look for the soldier. She makes her way to the compost machine room and Chase confronts her, telling him he’s become part of the plant world thanks to the Krynoid. Chase plans to support the Krynoid and refers to humanity as parasites, then attacks Sarah Jane and knocks her unconscious. Beresford contacts the Doctor, who warns they have 15 minutes until the Krynoid germinates, spreading its seeds across England. The Doctor tells them to launch an air strike before it’s too late, and regardless of the fact he and Sarah Jane are at ground zero. Chase has tied up the unconscious Sarah Jane and starts feeding her into the compost machine. The Doctor arrives, sends Chase flying, and shuts off the machine to untie Sarah Jane. He gets her out but Chase turns the machine back on and throws himself at the Doctor, and the two struggle inside the machine’s bin. The Doctor manages to climb out as Chase is pulled into the machine despite the Doctor’s efforts to save him. The RAF launches a sighting run as Beresford and Sir Colin look for any signs of the Doctor. Sarah Jane and the Doctor can’t get out through the plant life covering the house but the Doctor rigs a steam pipe and they blast their way out. They make their way through the hostile plant life and take refuge in a clearing filled with cut-down trees, as the RAF opens fire and destroys the Krynoid along with the mansion. [edit] Continuity The serial marks the final appearance of UNIT (bar a brief appearance in The Five Doctors) until Battlefield (1989). None of the established UNIT characters are seen in this story, as it was felt that there was too little material to warrant bringing back Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Sergeant Benton.[citation needed] Cuttings of the Krynoid from this story are kept, leading to the events in the Eighth Doctor audio story for Big Finish entitled Hothouse. [edit] Production Serial details by episode Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" 31 January 1976 (1976-01-31) 24:10 11.4 "Part Two" 7 February 1976 (1976-02-07) 24:09 11.4 "Part Three" 14 February 1976 (1976-02-14) 24:51 10.3 "Part Four" 21 February 1976 (1976-02-21) 24:26 11.1 "Part Five" 28 February 1976 (1976-02-28) 25:06 9.9 "Part Six" 6 March 1976 (1976-03-06) 21:51 11.5 [1][2][3] Location shooting at Chase's estate took place at Athelhampton House in Athelhampton, Dorset. A few weeks before the serial was due to begin its original transmission, the master tape for the first episode was found to be missing. A brief panic ensued and producer Philip Hinchcliffe began planning a re-edit of the second episode allowing the story to begin at this point, but the tape of the opening episode was eventually located, having been misplaced in the tape storage system (apparently due to having been incorrectly numbered.[citation needed]) After a long association with Doctor Who this story was director Douglas Camfield's last involvement with the show. This is the third serial of the programme to shoot exterior location scenes on Outside Broadcast (OB) videotape rather than film; the previous two were Robot and The Sontaran Experiment. [edit] Outside references This story has parallels with The Quatermass Experiment an alien invader from another planet transforms a human and the giant form of the monster swamps a building; The Thing from Another World where a research base is terrorized by a plant-humanoid and the short story of which the film was based, Who Goes There? (the Antarctic setting); The Day of the Triffids (more killer plants);and The Avengers 1965 episode "Man-Eater of Surrey Green" (rich eccentric English killer; male and female investigators of the paranormal; an extraterrestrial killer plant). The Doctor's dialogue with Amelia Ducat about the car boot and model homages Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.[4] [edit] In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom Series Target novelisations Release number 55 Writer Philip Hinchcliffe Publisher Target Books Cover artist Chris Achilleos ISBN 0-426-11658-5 Release date 17 February 1977 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters Followed by Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth A novelisation of this serial, written by Philip Hinchcliffe, was published by Target Books in February 1977. The book is heavily edited with several screen sequences removed entirely, including Amelia Ducat's visit to Chase's manor in episode four and the final TARDIS sequence in Antarctica. A slightly "Americanized" version of Hinchcliffe's novel was released as #10 in the Pinnacle Book series in March 1980 with a foreword by Harlan Ellison and a cover illustration by David Mann. [edit] Broadcast and commercial release It was planned that this story would be the last of three omnibus editions transmitted over the November/December 1976, the first two, Pyramids of Mars and The Brain of Morbius went out as planned but the Seeds of Doom omnibus was replaced in the schedules by Gerry Anderson's pilot film The Day After Tomorrow (also known as Into Infinity). It is unknown why this occurred, but it is known that although the director, Douglas Camfield, had completed his editing notes, which still exist[citation needed], the serial was not edited into omnibus form until all surviving serials were in the 1980s. This serial was released on VHS in August 1994; the story is planned for release on DVD on 25 October, 2010 and will feature a commentary by Tom Baker, John Challis and producer Phillip Hinchcliffe. Music from this serial was released on the CD Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons. [edit] References ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "The Seeds of Doom". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20080731005900/http://www.gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=4l. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ "The Seeds of Doom". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_4l.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2007-08-07). "The Seeds of Doom". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/4l.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Cornell, Paul, Martin Day and Keith Topping, Doctor Who: The Discontinuity Guide, Virgin Books, 1995, pp. 191–192. [edit] External links The Seeds of Doom at BBC Online The Seeds of Doom at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel) The Seeds of Doom at the Doctor Who Reference Guide BBC Assistant Floor Manager Susan Shearman talks about working on The Seeds of Doom Reviews The Seeds of Doom reviews at Outpost Gallifrey The Seeds of Doom reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide Target novelisation Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide On Target — Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom [hide] v • d • e

  
  

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• TTZ 8: The Wilderness Years

  4 October 2010 (8:37am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

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  Taken from the TTZ site.   with thanks   Ladies, Gentlemen, Trees and Multiforms it is with great pleasure that I announce Issue 8 of The Terrible Zodin is now live and available for free download.Apologies that we're 2 days behind the promised date, I won't bore you with the technical details of the problems we have but must crave your indulgence that anything past Page 73 will be prone to the occasional typo. We will in time upload a corrected version being the perfectionists that we are but now you're all terribly excited to just get on and read!This issue is dedicated to the period between production of TV series 1990 - 2003. Whilst many call it The Wilderness Years I hope this issue proves it was anything but. Indeed I hope you're sitting comfortably because TTZ8 is a whopping Target novelization sized 104 pages!We bring you the concluding part of our interview with Paul Cornell and have a new exclusive interview with Lance Parkin. We sing the praises of the New Adventures, debate canon, dissect the theme tune and throw ourselves in to the Timelash!Regular columnists Tony Gallichan and Steve Sautter are on board and we're pleased to announce a new member to join their roster, the mysterious Susie Who who'll be coming from the perspective of a casual viewer rather than a hardcore fan.I could go on and on (I've not mentioned Adric, Ianto, Drashigs, Fitz and fellow fanzines) but why not just read it yourself.Please click below to download this issue and get ready... for the Cyberman Walk.

  
  

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• TDP 141: Revisitations Box set overview

  1 October 2010 (6:49am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 8 minutes and 3 seconds

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  Commentaries by cast and crew The making of with cast and crew Original Storyboards Photo Galleries Coming Soon Trailers PDF Material Radio Times Listings Production Information Subtitles Digitally remastered picture and sound quality Review   Revisitations 1 is a 7 disc boxset containing updated and remastered versions of three previous Doctor Who DVD releases with 3 extra discs of special features, which equates to over 300 mins of brand new content.Titles Comprise:The Talons Of Weng-Chiang: In this feature-length adventure set deep in the darkest heart of Victorian London, the Doctor and Leela are confronted by a series of bizarre and horrific events. An innocent cabbie is viciously slain by the agents of a secret Chinese cult; young women disappear quietly and suddenly; in the depths below, the rankest sewers are infested by giant, deadly abominations. The Doctor, helped only by the local pathologist Professor Litefoot and the cowardly Henry Jago, finds himself battling for his life against the hideously deformed Magnus Greel, who pretends to be the ancient Chinese God, Weng-Chiang. But Greel is not the only menace; the Doctor must also deal with the illusionist Li H'sen Chang and the murderous dwarf Mr Sin before Leela falls prey to the Talons of Weng-Chiang.The Caves Of Androzani: Captured for arms-running on the mining planet of Androzani Minor, the Doctor and Peri are under sentence of death. Then a mysterious masked intruder comes to their aid. But is Sharaz Jek, master android creator, really their saviour? The rulers of the planet are certainly desperate for his head. Then again, he does control the only supply of Spectrox and it is this substance which men are prepared to die for...Doctor Who: The Movie: It is December 31st, 1999. But will the World survive to see the 21st Century? Deep in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, a young boy is about to lose his life in a hail of bullets. But the gunfire finds a different target - a stranger who steps out of a British Police Box. Dr Grace Holloway does all she can but cannot save him or understand the mysteries that surround him. Who is this unknown traveller with two hearts? Why has his body disappeared? And who is the madman who appeals for help; claiming to be both the dead man and a time traveller known only as the Doctor? Elsewhere in San Francisco, another time traveller is on the verge of death. For the Master, the Doctor's oldest adversary, survival entails taking over the Doctor's newly-regenerated body. Meddling with the heart of the Doctor's TARDIS he condemns the Earth to destruction at the stroke of midnight, December 31st. As the crowds prepare to celebrate the Millennium, Grace is caught in a desperate race against time to help save the Doctor - and mankind...

  
  

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• TDP EXTRA: Win a signed copy of the New Michael Moorcock Doctor Who Book!

  30 September 2010 (8:31am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 2 minutes and 9 seconds

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  What type of Chapion does Michael Moorckock write abouta)Eternalb) Endlessc)ImortalEntries in by Haloween!tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk

  
  

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• Fish Fingers and Custard issue 2

  27 September 2010 (8:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

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• TDP 140: Trilogy of Tegan Turlough and Nissa

  15 September 2010 (6:01am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 16 minutes and 41 seconds

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  From Big Finish Trilogy of Tegan Turlough and Nissa

  
  

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• TDP DWPA Extra: The Full Podcasting Panel from Whooverville 2

  10 September 2010 (6:32am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 53 minutes and 47 seconds

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   The Full Podcasting Panel from Whooverville 2

  
  

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• TDP 139: Whooverville 2 Con Report

  6 September 2010 (8:03am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 24 seconds

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  I attended the Whoovers fantastic convention; Whooverville 2 this last weekend,  the 5th of September 2010! I had an amazing time last year and I can't wait for this year's event!

  
  

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• TDP EXTRA: Cyberhead for sale

  6 September 2010 (5:50am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes and 56 seconds

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• TDP 138: Time and The Rani

  1 September 2010 (6:16am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 51 seconds

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  Plot [edit] Synopsis Whilst in flight the TARDIS is attacked by the evil Rani, a renegade Time-Lady. The TARDIS crash-lands on the planet Lakertya. On the floor of the console room, the Doctor begins his sixth regeneration. In his post-regenerative confusion the Doctor is separated from his young companion Mel and tricked into assisting the Rani in her megalomaniac scheme to construct a giant time manipulator. Lost on the barren surface of the planet, Mel has to avoid the Rani's ingenious traps and her monstrous, bat-like servants, the Tetraps. She joins forces with a rebel faction among the Lakertyans, desperate to end the Rani's control of their planet. The Doctor must recover his wits in time to avoid becoming a permanent part of the Rani's plan to collect the genius of the greatest scientific minds in the Universe, of which she has captured many including Einstein, in order that she can create a time manipulator, which would allow the Rani to control time anywhere in the universe, at the expense of all life on Lakertya. The Doctor manages to foil her plan and free the Lakertyans of her evil control. The Rani, however, escapes in her TARDIS but it has been commandeered by the Tetraps who take her prisoner. The Doctor takes all the captured geniuses on board the TARDIS so that he can return them home. [edit] Continuity Although this was the first story to feature the Seventh Doctor, it was written in anticipation of Colin Baker returning as the Sixth Doctor. When he declined to even film the regeneration sequence, Sylvester McCoy instead wore his predecessor's costume and a blond curly wig and filmed the sequence himself. A number of spin-off media have provided additional explanation for the Doctor's regeneration including the Virgin New Adventures novels Timewyrm: Revelation, Love and War by Paul Cornell, Head Games by Steve Lyons, all of which speculate that the Seventh Doctor's 'essence' drove the Sixth Doctor to pilot the TARDIS into the Rani's tractor beam to become Time's Champion and prevent himself from becoming the Valeyard, and the Past Doctor Adventures novel Spiral Scratch by Gary Russell, which features the Sixth Doctor sacrificing much of his energy to prevent a pan-dimensional being from destroying creation, leaving him in a weakened physical condition before the Rani's attack. The Seventh Doctor tries on several earlier Doctors' costumes: the Second Doctor's fur coat, the Third Doctor's smoking jacket, the Fourth Doctor's coat and scarf and the Fifth Doctor's cricket outfit, as well as other costumes. He also wears the Sixth Doctor's patchwork coat for much of the first episode, the first example of a Doctor wearing his previous self's clothes for a prolonged period rather than quickly changing after regeneration. It is never explained how the Rani escaped the predicament in which she had last been seen in The Mark of the Rani (trapped with the Master in her TARDIS and a rapidly-growing Tyrannosaurus rex embryo). The novelisation of Time and the Rani by Pip and Jane Baker claims that the rapidly-growing dinosaur snapped its neck on the ceiling of the Rani's TARDIS and died instantly, while the novel State of Change reveals that the Master escaped the TARDIS by separating the console room from the rest of the ship, forcing the Rani to cannibalise other controls in her TARDIS to pilot it prior to the events of the novel, although the canonicity of this claim is unclear. The Doctor states that he and the Rani are 953, in line with frequent (presumably approximate) claims by previous Doctors to be 900. However, in the new series, the Ninth Doctor reverted to the 900 figure, the Tenth Doctor claimed to be 903 and later 906 and the Eleventh Doctor 907. [edit] Production Serial details by episode Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" 7 September 1987 (1987-09-07) 24:44 5.1 "Part Two" 14 September 1987 (1987-09-14) 24:36 4.2 "Part Three" 21 September 1987 (1987-09-21) 24:23 4.3 "Part Four" 28 September 1987 (1987-09-28) 24:38 4.9 [2][3][4] [edit] Preproduction This story's working title was Strange Matter.[5] The Loyhargil, lightweight substitute for strange matter, is an anagram of "holy grail". Amongst the famous Humans the Doctor mentions towards the end as he explains to Mel the severity of the Rani's plans are Elvis and Mrs Malaprop (a fictional character). This is a reference to the Seventh Doctor's frequent use of Malapropisms throughout this story. Ken Trew created the Seventh Doctor's costume, based on a 1930s golfing design. [edit] Casting Wanda Ventham and Donald Pickering previously appeared together in The Faceless Ones. Donald Pickering also appeared in The Keys of Marinus. Wanda Ventham also appeared in Image of the Fendahl. [edit] Production The story features a pre-credits sequence where the TARDIS crash-lands on Lakertya. This is only the third time in the series history that there was a pre-credit sequence. Castrovalva (1982) and The Five Doctors (1983) were the first two stories to have a "cold opening". Only one more story of the original series, Remembrance of the Daleks would feature a pre-credits teaser, although this practice became commonplace from "The End of the World" onwards (the 1996 TV movie featured a short sequence incorporated into the title sequence). The main location used for the planet Lakertya including the exterior of the Rani’s laboratory was Cloford Quarry, in Somerset. [edit] Post-Production This story was the first time the Doctor Who title sequence was created with a computer. Many of the effects, like the bubble Mel is trapped in, were realised in the same manner. Keff McCulloch arranged the new opening theme. It was used until the end of the regular run of the series. A new logo for the series was also introduced with this story along with a new opening credits sequence that moved away from the "starfield" motif introduced in 1980. The new theme arrangement marked the first time since the First Doctor's era that the theme's "middle eight" section was regularly heard during the opening credits (the previous two arrangements used the middle eight during the closing credits only). As with the opening sequence from the Sixth Doctor era, the Seventh Doctor's opening does not use a static image of the Doctor, but rather one with limited animation: the image starts as a scowl, then the Doctor winks and smiles. McCoy wears makeup that gives his face and hair a silver/grey appearance. [edit] Commercial releases The story was released on VHS in July 1995. The story is also to be released on DVD on September 13th 2010. It features a commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Pip and Jane Baker. [edit] In print Doctor Who book Time and the Rani Series Target novelisations Release number 128 (initial printings erroneously have it numbered 127) Writer Pip and Jane Baker Publisher Target Books ISBN 0-491-03186-6 Release date December 1987 (Hardback) 5th May 1988 (Paperback) Preceded by The Mysterious Planet Followed by Vengeance on Varos A novelisation of this serial, written by Pip and Jane Baker, was published by Target Books in December 1987. [edit] References ^ From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the four segments of The Trial of a Time Lord as four separate stories and also counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this story as number 148. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system. ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "Time and the Rani". Outpost Gallifrey. http://gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=7d. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ "Time and the Rani". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_7d.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2007-08-07). "Time and the Rani". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/7d.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Time and the Rani at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel) [edit] External links Time and the Rani at BBC Online Time and the Rani at the Doctor Who Reference Guide Time and the Rani at Outpost Gallifrey [edit] Reviews Time and the Rani reviews at Outpost Gallifrey Time and the Rani reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide [edit] Target novelisation On Target — Time and the Rani [hide] v • d • e Doctor Who season 24 serials

  
  

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• TDP 137: Planet of Fire

  16 August 2010 (11:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 12 seconds

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  The Fifth Doctor and Turlough are drawn to the planet Sarn by Kamelion, where they encounter the Master in one of his diabolical plans to tap the power of the Numismaton gas. [edit] Plot On the desert world of Sarn, robed natives worship the fire god Logar and follow the Chief Elder, Timanov, who demands obedience. Those who dissent are known as Unbelievers, and two of them, Amyand and Roskal, cause unrest when they claim to have ventured to the top of the sacred fire mountain but not found Logar. One of the Sarns, Malkon, is known as the Chosen One because of the unusual double triangle symbol burnt into his skin: he is also unusual for having been found as a baby on the slopes of the fire mountain. The same triangle symbol is found on a metal artefact uncovered in an archaeological dig in Lanzarote overseen by Professor Howard Foster. His stepdaughter Perpugilliam (usually called "Peri") Brown is bored with the dig and wants to go travelling in Morocco and when he seeks to prevent this she steals the strange artefact and tries to swim for freedom. Fortunately for her the TARDIS has landed nearby – responding to a distress call sent by the strange artefact - and Turlough sees her drowning and rescues her. Going through her possessions as she recovers he finds the artefact and acknowledges the same triangle symbol is burnt into his own flesh. The Doctor returns to the TARDIS after attempting to triangulate the source of the signal being emitted by the artefact, and the ship dematerialises, seemingly on its own. It soon arrives on Sarn and the Doctor and Turlough set off to explore. The Doctor's other companion, the android Kamelion, has meanwhile made mental contact with its old controller, the Master, who attempts to assert his control and change Kamelion's appearance from that of Howard. Kamelion tries to warn Peri of the Master but the Time Lord succeeds in gaining control. She flees the TARDIS with the creature in pursuit as the rumblings of the volcanoes of Sarn gather ferocity. In the Sarn colony Timanov has damned the Unbelievers to be sacrificed to appease Logar and stop the tremors. They flee to a secret base in the mountains which is filled with seismological apparatus and which the Doctor and Turlough stumble across. The Doctor informs the Unbelievers that the tunnels, which have been their refuge are volcanic vents which will soon fill with molten lava. It is also established that Turlough is of the same race as those who colonised the planet, and when the indigenous people see his Misos Triangle, they greet him as a second Chosen One. Turlough realises Malkon may be his brother and becomes even more worried when Peri turns up and mentions the Master. Another important figure in Sarn mythology is the Outsider, a promised prophet, and the Master/Kamelion fulfils this role admirably. He convinces Timanov of the appropriateness of harsh action and when the Doctor arrives with the Unbelievers they are all seized for burning. However, Malkon and Peri arrive shortly afterward and end this assault, though not before Malkon has been injured. Turlough is aghast when he finds his relative has been shot and the Doctor presses him for as much information as he has on the strange circumstances of Sarn. It seems it is a long abandoned Trion colony planet, and that Turlough, a Trion, suspects some of his family were sent here after a revolution against the hereditary leading clans of his homeworld. He supposes his father died in a crash but that Malkon survived, while he himself was sent in exile to Brendan School In England, overseen by a Trion agent masquerading as a solicitor in Chancery Lane. The Master/Kamelion has meanwhile seized Peri and uses her to transport a black box into the control room of his TARDIS. It contains a miniature Master – the real thing – who has been shrunken and transformed by a disastrous experiment with his Tissue Compression Eliminator. The Master thus re-established the psychic link with Kamelion to gain the power of movement and has manoeuvred the robot to Sarn so that he can take advantage of the restorative powers of the Numismaton gas within the fire mountain. Turlough realises the imminent volcano bursts will destroy the Sarn colony so nobly uses a functioning communication unit to get in touch with Trion and plead for a rescue ship to evacuate Sarn. In doing so he abandons his own freedom. When the ship later arrives, the Sarns all depart, along with Turlough and Malkon. They have both been pardoned in an amnesty issued by the new Sarn government. The only one to remain on the planet and face the erupting volcanoes is Timanov, now sure to die, his faith in tatters. The Doctor meanwhile succeeds in weakening the Master's hold of Kamelion, and interrupts the numismaton experiment. He adds calorific gas to the numismaton surge and seemingly burns the Master alive. The Doctor also puts the terminally wounded Kamelion out of its misery. He returns to the TARDIS with a heavy heart, but with a new companion, Peri, for company. [edit] Cast notes Mark Strickson has also reprised the role of Turlough in the audio plays by Big Finish Productions and penned the introduction to the spin-off novel Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma (1986). Promotional photographs taken during production include a shot of Peter Davison wearing a tuxedo and holding a gun, with Nicola Bryant standing next to him in a bikini, in a parody of James Bond.[2] [edit] Continuity This was the last story to feature Mark Strickson as Turlough. He returned for the Fifth Doctor's regeneration scene in The Caves of Androzani. Turlough was the last male companion of the Doctor on screen until Adam Mitchell joined the TARDIS crew briefly at the end of the Ninth Doctor episode "Dalek" in 2005. Strickson has said that had he realised that the next season would involve stories consisting of two 50-minute episodes, he would not have departed from the series. He felt that Turlough was not receiving enough development because the 25-minute format necessitated more frequent cliffhangers and therefore less character development. This serial was originally intended as the swan song for Anthony Ainley as the Master since his contract with the show had come to an end, hence the "death" of the character in the numismaton flames at the story's climax. As a deliberate tease for the audience, the Master's truncated final line is "Won't you even show mercy to your own -", with him apparently being killed by the gas just as he is about to reveal the true nature of his relationship to the Doctor. However, the Master reappeared in the following season's The Mark of the Rani without explanation as to how he survived the flames. Script Editor Eric Saward cut from The Mark of the Rani the explanation for the Master's survival provided by writers Pip and Jane Baker but the explanation is in their novelisation of the serial.) It was decided that because of the climate of Lanzarote, where the serial was filmed, the cast would have to alter their usual costumes. Although Peter Davison started the story wearing his cricketer outfit, for the rest of the story, he wore a different pair of trousers with question mark braces and a beige floral waistcoat. Strickson shed his usual school uniform in favour of a blue pin-stripe shirt and tan shorts with a pair of swim briefs underneath. Nicola Bryant also wore a pink bikini beneath her clothes to which she stripped down for a couple of scenes, the first time a companion had been seen to wear a two-piece swimsuit since Sarah Jane Smith in the Third Doctor story Death to the Daleks. Peri's mother and her friend Mrs Van Gysegham, both mentioned in this story, appear in the 2006 audio drama The Reaping. Although Kamelion dies in this story, he makes a posthumous reappearance in the audio Circular Time. This is the only story in the Peter Davison era in which Janet Fielding made no appearance as Tegan Jovanka though she is briefly mentioned in episode 1. She left the TARDIS crew in the previous serial Resurrection of the Daleks, and appears in the Fifth Doctor's regeneration sequence in following adventure, The Caves of Androzani, as a hallucination. [edit] Production Serial details by episode Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" 23 February 1984 (1984-02-23) 24:26 7.4 "Part Two" 24 February 1984 (1984-02-24) 24:20 6.1 "Part Three" 1 March 1984 (1984-03-01) 23:57 7.4 "Part Four" 2 March 1984 (1984-03-02) 24:44 7.0 [3][4][5] The working title for this story was The Planet of Fear. The decision to make Peri the daughter of a wealthy American family was inspired by the popularity of the Dallas and Dynasty soap operas. Nicola Bryant was cast in part because she held dual citizenship in the United States - because she was married to an American - and the UK.[6] [edit] In print Doctor Who book Planet of Fire Series Target novelisations Release number 93 Writer Peter Grimwade Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0-426-19940-5 Release date 14 February 1985 Preceded by Frontios Followed by The Caves of Androzani A novelisation of this serial, written by Peter Grimwade, was published by Target Books in October 1984. A prologue juxtaposing the crash of the vessel Professor Foster is salvaging with the crash of the Trion ship carrying Turlough's family to Sarn opens the novelisation. The Master's teasing last line " Won't you save your own..." is removed. [edit] Broadcast and VHS release This story was released on VHS in September 1998. The DVD was released in June 2010, with commentary by Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Mark Strickson and Fiona Cumming, as part of the box set Kamelion Tales along with The King's Demons. It also contained a Special Edition edit of the story overseen by director Fiona Cumming. [edit] References ^ From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this as story number 135. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system. ^ http://shillpages.com/dw/other.htm ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "Planet of Fire". Outpost Gallifrey. http://gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=6q. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ "Planet of Fire". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_6q.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2007-08-07). "Planet of Fire". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/6q.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  ^ Planet of Fire at A Brief history of Time (Travel)], [edit] External links Planet of Fire at BBC Online Planet of Fire at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel) Planet of Fire at the Doctor Who Reference Guide Reviews Planet of Fire reviews at Outpost Gallifrey Planet of Fire reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide Target novelisation On Target — Planet of Fire

  
  

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