News

Have we received a big clue on the new companion and where she might be from?

This post may contain spoilers.

Filming has now begun on Jenna-Louise Coleman’s debut episode, the 2012 Christmas special. Early reports from the set are indicating that the episode may be set in the past, with Victorian-era costumes spotted.

As many of you following the filming recently will realise, the second half of Series 7 appears to feature more than one episode set in the Victorian era. A coincidence? It seems a little strange the TARDIS keeps arriving in this time period.

So could this point to Clara actually being a companion from the past? This goes against the other rumours, but it’s food for thought.

Reliable set reporter Ryan/Timeboy also spotted Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) once again. We already know Vashtra is returning later in The Crimson Horror so this is another interesting development.

Could Vastra have some connection with Clara? Perhaps those Daily Star rumours were right after all…

Farren Blackburn is returning to direct an episode of Doctor Who.

Blackburn first directed last year’s Doctor Who Christmas special, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.

He confirmed the news on Twitter: “So back to Dr Who, then close Luther for good, followed by release of my debut movie then onto Dream On, my 2nd movie,” he said.

Blackburn followed up with a another tweet that seems to suggest that Neil Cross is writing more than one episode for the second half of Series 7.

“Am expecting Neil Cross’s Dr Who Ep to hit my inbox any minute. Am assured it’s gonna be a rollercoaster ride. And that’s just for me!!!! “

With The Power of Three came the introduction of UNIT’s new scientific researcher Kate Stewart. The character was also revealed, as rumoured, to be the late Brigadier’s daughter in a touching scene.

Kate seemed primed for a recurring role and fortunately, actress Jemma Redgrave is definitely up for returning.

Asked about coming back for another UNIT story, she told Doctor Who Magazine: “I should be so lucky! I’d be so privileged. I keep using that word. I should use a different word. But I do feel that. It’d be great to come back. Yes, I’d love that.”

She added: “You look at the phenomenal actors that they get on this show, the calibre of talent that they get, and you think, ‘Gosh, if I’m part of that tradition, I must have done something right at some point in my career.’”

What do you think? Would you like to see Kate return?

David Morrisey has revealed to the press that he was asked to pretend he was set to replace David Tennant as the Doctor in Doctor Who.
The Sun reports:

David Morrisey was lined up to star in the BBC show’s 2008 Christmas special at the same time the programme’s then-star David Tennant announced he intended to quit.
Show boss Russell T Davies asked David if they could pretend he was set to replace Tennant as the Time Lord since the special was titled The Next Doctor.
David was even banned from telling his family the truth – leaving his children wondering whether they would be forced to relocate to Wales, where the show is filmed.
The role was eventually given to Matt Smith.
David said: “It was nine months of my life that was hell.
“Russell said to me, ‘You can’t tell anyone’. I said, ‘OK, but I can tell my kids?’ and he went, ‘No! They could tell someone in the playground’. So for nine months, my kids were like, ‘Are we moving to Cardiff?’”

As publicity ramps up on The Snowmen, Matt Smith has been quizzed about his future on Doctor Who once again.

Here’s Smith’s latest response on the matter from an interview with Bangshowbiz: “We’ve got Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary coming up in November 2013, and one assumes there’ll be another Christmas special after that, and I’d hope to be part of it. I take each year as it comes. All good things come to an end, but my mum is aghast at the thought of me ever not being the Doctor. The show is the star and will continue without me.

”I’m committed to it next year and will sit down with Steven Moffat and see where we go from there. I’ve no immediate plans to leave. I’m around for a whole year and that’s a long time.”

He adds: “Maybe someone could play the Doctor for seven years like Tom Baker, but… it’s 10 months a year.”

Russell Tovey screen-tested for the role of the Eleventh Doctor, reports the Independent.

Tovey previously played Alonso Frame in Voyage of the Damned and had a cameo in The End of Time. Russell T Davies had suggested him as a replacement for David Tennant.

He said: “Russell texted me to say, ‘Look, I’ve said this quote about how you should be the next Doctor Who, so if it goes a bit crazy …’ And I was, ‘Oh, that’s fine …’, and then suddenly it just went everywhere: people messaging me from my childhood and lots of remarks like, ‘His ears are too big for the TARDIS, they’ll be flapping about.’ People were starting to get really personal.”

However, Tovey admitted he was relieved the job went to Matt Smith in the end: “It would have terrified me. I don’t know what I would have done with all the attention.”

Following Caroline Skinner’s surprising exit earlier in the year, the BBC have announced Doctor Who’s new Executive Producer will be Brian Minchin.

Full details follow:

BBC Cymru Wales has announced that Brian Minchin is to be the new Executive Producer of Doctor Who, alongside showrunner Steven Moffat.

Brian Minchin is an Executive Producer in BBC Wales drama, currently working on The Game, a new Cold War spy thriller from Toby Whithouse for BBC One, and Wizards Vs Aliens, Russell T Davies’ hit show for CBBC. He has also worked as BBC Executive Producer on Dirk Gently and Being Human.

Brian produced the RTS award-winning and BAFTA nominated series The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as the UK sections of Torchwood: Miracle Day and was Assistant Producer on Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Brian, who grew up in Aberystwyth, joined the department in Cardiff in 2005 as a Script Editor working on BBC One Wales drama Belonging, before moving on to network dramas Doctor Who and Torchwood in the same role.

Brian says: “I’m thrilled and excited to be joining Steven Moffat on a show that has meant so much to me over the years. I’ve watched in awe as Steven has taken Doctor Who to wild and imaginative places and I can’t wait to get started on many more adventures with the Doctor.”

Faith Penhale, Head of Drama Wales, says: “I’ve no doubt Doctor Who will enjoy a very exciting time with Brian at the helm working alongside Steven. Since joining BBC Wales in 2005, he’s proved he has a fantastic eye for story and a sharp awareness of what makes a drama like Doctor Who unmissable.”

Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, adds: “When I first took over Doctor Who, Brian was there as script editor, and in the most difficult time of a new Doctor and a new era, was completely brilliant. We lost him to producing The Sarah Jane Adventures at the end of our first run. Rising talent keeps rising, is how I comforted myself back then – but now I am beyond happy that Brian has risen all the way back to Doctor Who, in his new role of Executive Producer. I look forward to getting hopelessly lost in space and time with him.”

Last year a rumour surfaced claiming that the next Doctor would be changing gender and Sherlock star Lara Pulver would take on the role.

Today, in an interview with the Independent, Pulver has expressed interest in seeing this become a reality.

She said: “I would definitely talk to Steven [Moffat] about it. A female Doctor Who… who knows?”

Previously, at a Q&A session, Moffat said he was surprised to see that many fans didn’t object to the idea when he asked for a show of hands.

As some of our readers may be aware, complete plot details on the Series 7 finale of Doctor Who have been revealed.

DVD’s have been mistakenly sent out early and right now it is possible to find out exactly what happens. While this will be great news for spoiler-hounds desperate for every last detail, Doctor Who TV believes that these moments are best enjoyed as intended on air.

In light of this, and the fact spoilers are spreading like wildfire, we have decided to temporarily close comments.

This is not a decision taken lightly, however, we feel this is best for our visitors who wish to see the finale spoiler-free and appreciate the massive developments as they happen on air, rather than reading a comment carelessly posted anywhere on the site.

Comments will re-open on Saturday 18 May.

If Neil Gaiman returns for Series 8, he has his sights set on bringing back the Yeti.

The monsters first appeared in second Doctor story, The Abominable Snowmen, originally broadcast in 1967. They came back the following year in The Web of Fear and were controlled by the Great Intelligence.

He told Collider: “In my head, I love that the Great Intelligence has come back, but I miss the Yeti. I would love to have huge shambling robotic Yeti, just because I loved them when I was a kid. So, I would love to do that. That would be wonderful.

But he also wants to create his own iconic monster: “I’d love to create a monster, and have it be one that’s interesting enough or fun enough to come back, written by somebody else, or turn up completely reinvented. I’d love to do that and have the feeling that you’d actually left something behind. I think that’s hard. I love that Terry Nation left us the Daleks, and I love that Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis left us the Cybermen.

As before, Gaiman’s admits the biggest problem with coming back is finding time in his schedule: “The trouble with everything, these days, for me, is time. There is only one me. There are a ridiculous number of demands on my time. There are so many things I’m trying to do. It’s so much more about when I’m going to get time to do it, if I get time. I think they’ll have me back. They seem to like me at Doctor Who, and I know that I definitely like them. “

Neil Gaiman has explained that he really wants to terrify fans should he write another story of Doctor Who, feeling that Nightmare in Silver didn’t quite deliver on that front.

Speaking about the pros and cons of returning he said: “On the one hand I don’t have time to write Doctor Who. It doesn’t pay very well, but you also have to rewrite it and rewrite it and rewrite it and never get paid, whereas in America you get paid for every rewrite… And there are lots of things including movies, novels, an HBO series that I should be doing…

“On the other hand I haven’t done an episode set on Earth yet, and I haven’t created a new monster. And there’s part of me that feels… I haven’t scared anybody yet.

‘The BBC website used to mark out of ten how scary an episode would be [Fear Factor]. The Doctor’s Wife was probably only a 2, maybe a 3. The Cybermen has a few little scary bits but it’s running at about a 5 or 6. I’d love to a 9. I’d love to do something that sends adults behind the sofa too and makes them wee. Pools of wee.”

Matt Smith has confirmed that he will continue to play the Eleventh Doctor in Series 8.

In an interview from Saturday’s edition of The Sun’s TV Magazine, Smith says: “I’m on a break for a couple of months while I’m in Detroit making How To Catch A Monster.”

“We come back and shoot the Christmas special over the summer, then we go on to the next series, which will either start filming at the end of this year or at the start of 2014.”

So there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth!

Interestingly, back in March The Sun claimed he was leaving at Christmas.

The cover for issue #461 of Doctor Who Magazine has been revealed.

This month’s cover turns its attention to Peter Cushing and the remastered releases of the 1960′s Dalek films.
DWM #461 is on sale Thursday 30 May 2013 priced £4.75

Are you still hoping John Simm will be back as the Master? Perhaps it’s time to stop pestering him…

Simm told the Independent: “I do get a lot of Doctor Who [fans]. God almighty, I’ll be so happy when that’s gone from my life. They’re lovely, I’m sure, but I won’t miss it.”

“It’s great to be into something, but for goodness’ sake, really? I’m not the Master, I’m not that evil Time Lord who rules the galaxy, I’m just in Tesco with my kids. Leave me alone!”

UPDATED

John Simm has claimed he has been misquoted.

He wrote on his Twitter account: “The Radio Times has really done a number on me re Dr Who ‘quote’. Thanks for that! Suffice to say It was taken out of context AGAIN.

“I haven’t done an interview for them for many years, because of this. Nasty, spiteful, trouble causing ‘Journalism’. I meant no disrespect to ‘Whovians’ or whoever. It’s a non story. I always try to be polite to fans and am v proud of my time in the show. You can choose to believe what you like but I really meant no offence. I’ve obviously p***ed off some bored journalist coz I wouldn’t do an interview.”

“Stopped doing print interviews a while ago coz of this, if you see one its either old or thrown together. TV Radio or here. rest is bulls***. And I don’t fkin shop in Tesco. (BUT THAT’S NOTHING AGAINST TESCO) ”