Take a trip back through 62 years of Doctor Who in Radio Times covers
When it comes to the history of Doctor Who, Radio Times has got it covered. From the earliest days of the iconic sci-fi through to its cancellation in 1989 and revival in 2005, Radio Times has documented everything. Most recently Doctor Who has celebrated a massive 62 years on screen – so, to mark the milestone, we're looking back on our Doctor Who-themed Radio Times covers and the icons who featured. Check out the gallery below for some of our favourites: View Gallery on the source website It's a busy time for Doctor Who, with the upcoming spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, set to air this December. The BBC also recently confirmed the future of the main show, revealing that the deal with Disney is no longer in place. However, the Doctor and the TARDIS will be back in action next Christmas, with showrunner Russell T Davies set to pen a new festive special. Recently chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Davies revealed the status of that special. Asked whether he's started writing the special, Davies told us: "Not at the moment because I'm busy on [The War Between the Land and the Sea]. I'm also shooting a show in Manchester, so next year my plate clears and we'll get to work on that." While he's keeping quiet on the details, Davies also confirmed he's got the plot all worked out, saying: "I know exactly what happens in it, don't worry about that." The War Between the Land and the Sea is coming to BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 7th December. Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Add The War Between the Land and the Sea to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who TARDIS interiors ranked from worst to best
The Doctor’s not the only one who regenerates. Here’s every time the TARDIS got a new model ranked from worst to best.
"The Doctor, in the TARDIS, next stop everywhere." It’s a formula that’s stood the test of time for Doctor Who. For the last 62 years, the Doctor has sailed throughout the universe in the TARDIS – or Time and Relative Dimension in Space. While humans and alien threats have come and gone, the Time Lord and his trusty time machine have stayed together like, well, two hearts beating in sync. It goes without saying that the image of the 1950’s police box is central to what has made Doctor Who so memorable all these years. Yet, while the iconic blue exterior has stayed largely the same, the inside has changed as many times as The Doctor – and then some. Every few years on this six-decade journey, the TARDIS has whipped out a fresh new look for the interior console room. Sometimes this was because of a new actor coming in, sometimes because the old room got destroyed within the show, or sometimes The Doctor clearly just decided that pillars were out. So, we’re going to reflect on every single console room by ranking them from worst to best. We’ll be basing our rankings on design and cultural impact, so hold on tight, because we’re about to take you back through time. 15. War Doctor The War Doctor’s TARDIS was shown for just a few moments in the 50th anniversary, and to be honest, we’re grateful it didn’t appear more. Conceptually, it makes sense that this TARDIS would be a blend of the classic series and modern one, and yes, we do love the round things. But there’s no getting away from the fact that the pillars just don’t gel with the white background, and neither seem to really fit John Hurt’s dark and damaged soldier Doctor. Plus, it’s just a bit ugly. 14. Third Doctor – first TARDIS When the Time Lords stranded the Third Doctor on Earth, he was forced to build this version of the TARDIS in secret. Half of the room is basically an ordinary lounge, with patterned wallpaper and wooden furniture, while the other half is more like a garage, with metal shelves and exposed brick. It definitely does the job of looking a bit jumbled and home spun, but that doesn’t mean we have to like its confused design. Buy Third Doctor figure and TARDIS set from £91.99 at Amazon 13. Third Doctor – second TARDIS In season 9, the Third Doctor did a “spot of redecoration” and got a brand-new console room. This redesign first appeared in 1972’s the Time Monster and was also used in The Master’s TARDIS too. While it was nice to see Jon Pertwee back in a proper time machine, this TARDIS swaps the much-loved roundels for plastic bowls that look an awful lot like frog spawn. Buy Third Doctor figure and TARDIS set from £91.99 at Amazon 12. Eleventh Doctor – second TARDIS The Eleventh Doctor’s second TARDIS came about halfway through season seven after the deaths of Amy and Rory. As a result, this console room has a much darker and colder design that, sadly, just doesn’t work for us. Although it’s understandable that a grieving Doctor would make such a room, the metal panels and lack of colours makes the whole thing feel lifeless and uninviting. Plus, it’s not at all suited to the general optimism of Matt Smith’s Doctor. Buy Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS figurine from £49.99 at The Who Shop 11. Fourth Doctor – secondary console room Look, we know in the '70s and '80s pretty much everything was brown, but that doesn’t excuse this grandma’s sitting room of a TARDIS. At the time, the designers were apparently going for a decadent manor house feel that was a reoccurring theme for the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane. Sadly, this doesn’t quite come across and instead what we get is a very plain and dark room that, thankfully, didn’t appear too often. Buy Fourth Doctor second console room toy from £49.99 at Ebay 10. Thirteenth Doctor The Thirteenth Doctor’s era did a great job at refreshing the design of many things, including the sonic, the Doctor’s wardrobe and the title sequence. But the problem with her TARDIS is that it feels too, well… alien. You can tell from the basic structure that it’s the TARDIS, but the jagged pillars are a bit freaky and the lighting is too dark, which takes away any feeling of comfort the TARDIS normally has. Plus, Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor never really spends much time in it. Buy Thirteenth Doctor's TARDIS console from £19.99 at Amazon 9. Third Doctor – third TARDIS Third time’s the charm for this Doctor. After the set from the Time Monster was damaged in 1972, Jon Pertwee got yet another redesigned TARDIS. This time, with the roundels back in place and a bigger room to play with, this console room even had a pull-out bed which we saw in Planet of the Daleks. Buy Third Doctor figure and TARDIS set from £91.99 at Amazon 8. Fourth Doctor – main console room The Fourth Doctor’s main console room definitely has the classic look. With its silver walls, roundels and bright lights, it’s very similar to the original set from 1963. However, it is the first TARDIS to have proper pillars, giving it a very Greek temple feel, and it also comes with a fresh console featuring a new red Time Rotor. We like this redesign, but by this point in the show they were doing so much with other spaceship sets, for instance The Ark in Space, that it looks a bit sparse and simple by comparison. All in all, it could have done with a slightly more drastic update. Buy Fourth Doctor figure and TARDIS set from £255 at Amazon 7. Twelfth Doctor Although very similar to the Eleventh Doctor’s second TARDIS, this sleek silver model is far more suited to Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. You could easily expect the man who wears sunglasses and plays guitars on tanks to live in this darker, metal model. Plus, the design is massively improved by the use of warm orange lighting rather than eerie green and over the three seasons, the Twelfth Doctor really made the space his own with the addition of bookcases, chalk boards, and a sneaky drinks cabinet. Buy Twelfth Doctor TARDIS console model from £29.99 at Amazon 6. Fifth Doctor This techno TARDIS was just perfect for the '80s. Moving away from the simpler design of previous years, this TARDIS got a flashy new console packed with way more buttons, lights, and screens. Although the rest of the interior stayed white, the addition of the colourful panels and shiny controls was enough to give the space a refresh, which is probably why it stayed the same up until the TV Movie. Buy Fifth Doctor TARDIS console from £39.99 at Amazon 5. Eighth Doctor How cruel is it that we never got more time with this one? In the Paul McGann TV movie, we get exactly what Jon Pertwee’s first TARDIS should have been: part time machine part cosy sitting room. With its armchairs, rugs and walls lined with books, this TARDIS feels like a space The Doctor would actually live in. Plus, it’s got a brand new bronze console and metal columns that still make it feel like a magical alien world. Buy Eighth Doctor TARDIS console from £39.99 at Amazon 4. Fourteenth Doctor/Fifteenth Doctor Yes, we know they're technically different TARDISes, but let's face it – they do look very similar. In this list, there's been a lot of talk about the blending of old and new, and this TARDIS does it better than ever before. Mixing the grandeur and scale of Matt Smith's first TARDIS with the gleaming white alien-ness of William Hartnell's original set, this spaceship spectacularly pays homage to the last 62 years while also driving the show into the future. 3. First Doctor Without this TARDIS, Doctor Who would never have become the show it is today. Not only is this the one that started it all but it’s also an incredible design. The control room is large and airy, perfect for the Doctor’s original three-person posse. Then, you have the contrast of the high-tech roundels with the Doctor’s earthly antiques, which shows off exactly who he is. Last of all, the console, with its buttons and dials, sharp hexagonal design and a moving time rotor that defined an entire genre. It may have been made in the '60s, but this room is nothing but timeless. Buy First Doctor TARDIS console from £66.99 at Amazon 2. Ninth/Tenth Doctor Who could ever forget the moment Billie Piper’s Rose stepped into the TARDIS for the first time? In one second, saw everything the show was and would be again. The Ninth and Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS had all the elements from the classic series, except with an overgrown, earthy look that made the space so magical for new viewers. With its bendy pillars and green central column, it wasn’t difficult to think of the room as an alien world, and yet it never felt dark or too strange, always making the audience feel safe inside it. Plus, with this model we got to stare right into the heart of the TARDIS itself. Buy Tenth Doctor TARDIS playset from £79.99 at Ebay 1. Eleventh Doctor – first TARDIS Matt Smith’s first TARDIS was truly the epitome of a mad man with a box. This TARDIS felt like something out of Alice and Wonderland or Narnia with its many staircases and corridors branching off. But at the same time, it was the pinnacle of sci-fi technology. The glass panels, bright lights and gloriously shiny buttons are iconic. We were truly fortunate to see the Doctor spend so much time in this TARDIS. It was large, warm, inviting and perfectly captured the essence of this era of Doctor Who. This was also the TARDIS we probably learnt the most about, with features like the scanner and zig-zag plotter pointed out to us across several episodes. Oh yeah, and we actually got to meet her. Buy Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS playset from £199.99 at Amazon Missing Doctor Who? Register now for Radio Times' Doctor Who Insiders club for exclusive interviews with Doctor Who legends every month. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Mark Gatiss says his unmade Doctor Who story starring David Tennant could still be released
Mark Gatiss has said that the unmade Doctor Who story he wrote for David Tennant's Tenth Doctor could still be released. Titled The Suicide Exhibition, Gatiss has previously revealed how the episode was "on the verge of production for a while in the late 2000s" but never quite made the cut. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, he recalled: "[I wrote] two drafts – one set in the First World War, then Nazis... I just moved a war on. "It's called The Suicide Exhibition, set in the British Museum, it's a sort of Indiana Jones-type story. It's rather good, I think. "I do [still have a copy]. Big Finish has expressed an interest. It's all gone very quiet, though. I'm waiting for that emergency phone call!" Gatiss has still had a huge impact on the Whoniverse regardless, not only writing episodes from The Unquiet Dead to Sleep No More, but penning the 50th anniversary docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, which saw David Bradley take on the role of William Hartnell. Considering what other period in Doctor Who history could feature in a similar programme, he explained: "The origins of everything, that's always the interesting thing. The other interesting thing is crisis... "The documentary about The Trial of a Time Lord is an absolutely fascinating piece of work, because it's so full of what ifs and conflict." He added: "It's a strange thing to say, but the darkest hour for the show would definitely make a very interesting drama, wouldn't it? I mean, the personal conflicts, the professional conflicts, the resignations... that's the one, isn't it? "And I suppose out of the darkness comes the light, because there's a rosy future to look forward to. "There's something very moving about [Tales of the TARDIS] rounding all that off." Stay tuned for Arthur Darvill's full interview on RadioTimes.com. Missing Doctor Who? Register now for Radio Times's Doctor Who Insiders club for exclusive interviews with Doctor Who legends every month. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Steven Moffat breaks down Doctor Who's scariest and silliest monsters
The former showrunner chats Daleks, Weeping Angels and the Empty Child for our Halloween special of 60 Days of Doctor Who.
Picture the scene: it's Saturday night, it's dark outside, and a Steven Moffat-penned episode of Doctor Who is about to start on BBC One. The chances are you're going to end up with plenty of fuel for your nightmares. The former showrunner, who helmed Doctor Who from 2010 to 2017, has been terrifying us as far back as season 1 with The Empty Child and is the brain behind some of the series' scariest villains. Speaking to RadioTimes.com, the show's monster-maker broke down some of its most iconic creatures – and the one flaw they all share. Ready to revisit your worst nightmares? "It's something of the nursery somehow, there's something rather domestic about a Doctor Who monster," Moffat explains. "They're not, if you look at the famously scary ones, tremendously convincing in the combat zone. The Weeping Angels, which are the my most successful ones, I mean, they can't move if someone sees them! "What kind of invasion force is that?! They're kind of nuts but children are scared of statues – I remember being scared of statues and, in particular, shop dummies but Robert Holmes had already done that one. "The Daleks, he's the greatest genius in the world, apparently, Davros. Is he? Is he? What do you think of that design?" he jokes. "I mean, seriously, I don't think that was a brilliant design. It's a brilliant design for a monster on TV, but as a machine, I've got notes Davros! I really do. It's silly, isn't it? What's that arm supposed to be?! "How did the scientific elite of Skaro let that one pass when Davros – a week before he unveiled the Dalek gun, he must have unveiled the Dalek arm. "Did they stand around in confusion or did they applaud and say 'Yeah, great idea. Let's not have fingers. Let's have a sink plunger.' Awesome, Davros, well done you. Storming genius. "So there's something fundamentally silly about a great Doctor Who monster and something of the nursery. Kids have a strange relationship with the Daleks because they're sort of frightened of them, but they're like their favourite toys. There's something loveable about a Dalek, and frightening. "So I think embracing the fairytale nursery absurdity that goes along with a certain kind of creepiness, a kind of harmless creepiness. We don't go in for a lot of gore in Doctor Who. People don't get their heads ripped off or anything nasty. It's all a bit children's ghost story – and quite right too." So what about his first Doctor Who monster, the iconic Empty Child? "The brief was a World War Two setting," he recalls. "Some kind of child monster, I think was the idea, hiding among the craters of the Blitz and, and to introduce Captain Jack [Harkness, played by John Barrowman] of course. But I remember thinking, the moment I introduce a monster, no one's gonna pay any attention to the setting. "By introducing the clanking robot, you forget where it's put, that becomes irrelevant. So I thought we should really – and this is a good way of approaching Doctor Who – fashion the monster out of the iconography of the era. "So I went and looked at all the pictures of the Blitz and, of course, the thing that really strikes you is all the ruddy gas masks. Gas masks are a Doctor Who monster, they've got blank eyes. That's kind of all you need really, blank eyes. "So I wanted to make a monster out of the iconography of World War Two and the gas masks were the obvious one to go for. I think Russell wanted it to be a child monster, and for there to be children – which was true by the way – living in the Blitz, stealing from houses during air raids. That all happened. That was real." Doctor Who's top 10 scariest monsters 10. The Beast Appearing in 2006 episodes The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, The Beast may have been the devil, or some other ancient god, or the inspiration for them all – but his penchant for possessing other beings and scary calligraphy have certainly lingered in fans’ minds. 9. Mondasian Cybermen The original take on the Doctor’s cyborg foes returned to Doctor Who in 2017, where the truth behind their unusual look – essentially, their transformation was more surgical than mechanical – was revealed in some seriously creepy scenes. 8. Cybermen An unstoppable metal army, accrued from the violated bodies of men and determined to spread their vision across the galaxy? In Doctor Who, it’s not even top five material. 7. The Silence These creepy, grey-headed aliens are hard to forget – unless of course you’re one of their victims, in which case they’re impossible to remember. Time to scratch a few more marks on your arm and just hope there’s not still one lurking behind you. 6. The Flood Constantly dripping and flowing with water and with gaping, crack-mouthed grins to go with their white eyes, the “water zombies” of the episode are definitely one of the scariest-looking Doctor Who monsters in the modern series. 5. Vashta Nerada In 2008’s Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, Steven Moffat created a truly unstoppable foe – living shadows, called the Vashta Nerada, who feasted on the flesh of the living and who raged through a deserted library in space. 4. Gas mask zombies Gas-masked, unstoppable and constantly crying for his mummy in a sing-song voice, this particular Doctor Who threat was liable to give you shivers for days – and that was even before you could see how his affliction was passed on to others, most notably One Foot in the Grave’s Richard Wilson. 3. The Midnight Creature Beginning with simple knocks on the outside of the Doctor and his co-passengers’ vessel, before possessing Sky Silvestry (Lesley Sharp) and mimicking the speech of others, the Midnight Creature (which is never named) is as much a psychological threat as a physical one. Soon, the passengers are their own worst enemies as they turn on each other out of fear, including considering throwing the Doctor out of the vessel at one point, and when the monster is eventually thrown out it still leaves some major damage in its wake. 2. The Daleks The original monster to send audiences scurrying behind the sofa, the Daleks have appeared in more episodes than any other monster, become design icons, been parodied, mocked and riffed on in countless ways. Despite so many appearances over the years, they've still got Doctor Who fans hiding behind cushions. Credit to Davros, because that’s some good brand awareness. Though not quite good enough to unseat our winner... 1. The Weeping Angels Accessing a primal fear that many of us may not have even known we had, the living statue angels – who can only move, and strike, when you’re not looking at them – are genuinely disturbing, their jerky, stop-motion-like attacks between blinks and flashes of light (usually accompanied by loud music cues) making from some terrifying TV. While they've returned various times, they’ve never been more effective than they were in that spine-chilling first outing and plenty of us have never quite recovered. For Moffat, the Doctor Who fear factor also comes from the show being inherently different to other sci-fis. "It takes place under your bed, and in the back of your cupboard. That's where it belongs. It doesn't take you to outer space. It brings outer space behind your sofa and frightens you with it. Even when Doctor Who is at its most epic, it always becomes a little bit domestic as well. "It's living room scale menace, it's quite important to Doctor Who. I suppose that was originally a budgetary constraint that it had to be like that. The show no longer has quite the same budgetary restraints – it's hardly over-funded, but it doesn't have the same budgetary restraints – the style of show should evolve to cope with that. "The slight homeliness of it all is a really good way of connecting with your audience. If you think the monsters are in outer space in metal corridors, well, that's not so frightening. But if you think the monsters are of the right size and type to creep into your living room, then that's frightening – frightening in a in a proper, kid friendly way, in a nice way. "Kids love ghost stories, not in a disturbing, harrowing way – we leave that to Newsnight." Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's best guest star isn't who you'd expect
Plenty of big names have guest starred in Doctor Who – but one outshone them all.
From Kylie Minogue and Andrew Garfield to Carey Mulligan, Simon Pegg, and the late, great Sir Michael Gambon, Doctor Who is in a league of its own when it comes to guest stars. Some of the biggest names on the planet have lent their talents to Doctor Who, and there's no doubting that their performances have gone down in the show's history. Blink, starring Mulligan and introducing the world to the terrifying Weeping Angels, is widely regarded as one of the best episodes in the sci-fi's history. Similarly, is there a single Christmas episode that could rival Voyage of the Damned, starring the iconic Kylie Minogue as Astrid Perth? But, while big names are a huge draw for Doctor Who fans, there's one guest star who overshadowed all of the others with his understated, heartwarming, and fiercely lovable portrayal of a historical figure – Tony Curran as Vincent Van Gogh. Of course, Curran had had an incredible career before guest starring in Doctor Who, which has continued since. Most recently, he's appeared in Marvel's Secret Invasion, the series Your Honor, and gave a devastating performance in Mayflies. But, from my very biased point of view, Doctor Who showed him at his best. View oEmbed on the source website Vincent and the Doctor could have been one of those episodes to have passed us by. In the midst of season 5, it sees the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) go back in time to Provence after seeing an ominous figure in one of Van Gogh's paintings. It was a risky move. Van Gogh's history has been told plenty of times before, so viewers would need to get something new out of that story. Plus, Doctor Who has to have a monster, and while the Krafayis fit into the story nicely, it didn't exactly prove to be a stand-out part of the show, instead becoming pretty forgettable among other season 5 villains. But, in the end, none of that mattered, because Richard Curtis's direction combined with Curran's performance gave us some of the most beautiful and tear-jerking moments to ever grace Doctor Who. One of them comes when Vincent, Amy and the Doctor lie down and hold hands and the artist describes his view of the starry night to them. "Everywhere we look, complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes," he tells them, with the Doctor responding: "I've seen many things my friend, but you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see." Somehow in a two-minute scene, Curran managed to get across some of of the most beautiful parts of Van Gogh's artistry – his unique view of the world and his ability to turn pain into art in a way that no one else has before. But the one scene that has stuck in most fans' mind is that scene in the Musée d'Orsay. In a move quite unusual for the Doctor, he decides to take Vincent to present-day Paris to give him a glimpse of how important he would become. Vincent is visibly thrilled to be there, stopping and admiring Monet's Waterlilies in a beautiful touch. He's looking away so doesn't see the sign for the next exhibition which just to happens to be the busiest one in the gallery. Without saying a single a word, Curran reduced all of us to tears, with Vincent in disbelief as he looks at his life's work on display and being taken by avid admirers. An appearance from Bill Nighy as Professor Black, the art curator, is completely overshadowed, as Curran's eyes get watery when Vincent hears himself being described as one of the best artists of all time before showing him completely breaking down. To make the scene even more emotional, it can be inferred that the Doctor knew this visit wouldn't change the outcome of Van Gogh's life – he would still go on to battle depression and take his own life – but it could potentially give him a small bit of peace knowing his life had meaning. There are plenty of reasons Vincent and the Doctor resonates with fans. Curtis and Curran provided a delicate and compassionate depiction of mental illness – something that's all too rare on TV today, let alone more than a decade ago. Rather than focusing on the tragedy of the artist's life, the episode zones in on his humanity, his genius, and his legacy, providing a slightly more hopeful ending to that story than the one we all know. It's not hard to see how deeply the scene resonated with viewers. On the Doctor Who YouTube channel, which uploads all of the most iconic scenes in Doctor Who history, it's the most-viewed clip by far, currently sitting at 31 million views. Far behind in second place is the first meeting of Matt Smith and David Tennant's Doctors, the long-awaited moment from the 50th anniversary special, at a mere 13 million – less than half. From those numbers and the comments on the video, it's clear I'm not the only one who goes back to watch that heartwarming moment whenever I'm in need of a good cry. More than that, though, Curran's performance of Van Gogh achieves something so rare and something Doctor Who can only do at its very best – making us feel just that little bit better about the world. Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Could AI breathe new life into vintage Doctor Who?
AI has been used as a force for good and evil in the show - but what about its real-life use?
Doctor Who has been exploring the ideas behind artificial intelligence almost from the moment it began. From WOTAN to K9 to the Cyberium to the TARDIS herself, AI has been both a force for good and for bad in the show. But while Doctor Who has been talking about artificial intelligence for more than 60 years, it's only recently that we've begun to ask the question: what does its real-world possibilities offer the show itself? There are, of course, ethics issues with many of the opportunities AI provides – using the tech to generate first-draft scripts, deepfaking long-dead actors, etc – but one area which may well benefit, without too much controversy, is the classic, i.e. pre-revival series. We've all seen those AI apps that can sharpen up a foggy old photograph or add a splash of colour to a vintage black and white image, but can that or similar tech be applied to classic television? Part of the queasiness that schedulers and streamers have about TV from the dim and distant is how poor the picture quality is compared to the needle-sharp HD and 4K programmes we've become accustomed to. Most TV of the 1950s and '60s – in the UK anyway – was recorded on 405-line cameras, later upgrading through the late '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and much of the '00s, to 625-line (or 576i) – that's far less visual information than the 1080p of High Definition or 4320p (4k) of Ultra HD, hence the much blearier, fuzzier picture. Older shows made on film, such as Star Trek or The Avengers, don't have this problem, as celluloid can be upscaled much easier. But can AI offer a way of extending the shelf life of these pre-HD programmes? Peter Crocker is a member of the Doctor Who Restoration Team, and is in charge of sprucing up those older episodes for Blu-ray release. Speaking to Radio Times in 2023, he told us that he already used AI "appropriately and sparingly" but cautioned that the technology isn't currently there to upscale, say, an old William Hartnell episode into eye-wowing UHD. "At present, the benefits for any vintage TV made on old, non-digital equipment are relatively minor," he told RadioTimes.com. "All of the programs for upscaling images have been developed primarily for the movie industry. The vast majority of films recently have been shot or post-produced at 2K resolution and for cinemas, upscaled to 4K. "That process is very good because the source is typically clean and 'digital'. Old TV is inherently noisy and smeary, with lots of artefacts. The AI programs just don't know what to do when pixels are present that might be picture detail but are actually just noise in the image." Part of the problem, Crocker said, is that the jump from a 405-line picture to even standard definition, let alone HD and 4K, is just too big. "Going from 405-line to SD is a 250% increase in pixel number and SD to HD is 400%, HD to 4K is 400%, and so on," he said. "Another factor is the range of brightness and colour that can be displayed. One reason modern productions look so much better is the high dynamic range that just isn't there in recordings from the first few decades of TV. In future, AI might be able to guess what detail might be present hidden in the bright whites or dark shadows that are currently just white or black. "We have to be realistic, though, and for old TV like Doctor Who or Dad's Army, the aim should be to make the programmes look acceptable on modern huge flat TV screens which would be horribly unforgiving if fed raw, unrestored recordings." Without any kind of a slick-up, there's a danger that older television will become hard to find, the preserve of cultural scholars and cult TV devotees only. But Crocker believes that the technology will one day be there to digitally recreate vintage TV episodes. "My Tomorrow's World prediction is that eventually image and data processing will be fast enough for software to assess a TV programme, identify the elements within the pictures – people, faces, costumes, sets, props, lighting, etc – and create a full 3D library of those elements which can be replaced with HD versions generated piecemeal from other matching details and textures," he explained. "High quality photos of the sets and actors if they exist could help. The movements will be tracked and reproduced and the elements will be mapped back to produce what is effectively a photo-real, high-resolution computer animation based on the original production. "That technology is there now, in high-budget movies for quite limited use. I think in another 10 years it might be feasible for short, easy clips, but really it'll be 20-30 years before it would be achievable to an acceptable standard on the sort of budgets – and material – I work on." So while we shouldn't necessarily expect Evil of the Daleks to look as piercingly clear as Eve of the Daleks anytime soon, there are, and will be, AI-assisted ways of smartening up those older stories. "It could certainly give old shows a bit of spit and polish, but it's not a magic wand." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's Chris Chibnall reacts to Flux reference in 60th specials
The second anniversary special will deal "very slightly" with Flux.
Former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has reacted to the revelation that there will be a reference to his season, Flux, in one of the 60th anniversary specials. Doctor Who: Flux marked Jodie Whittaker's final season as the Thirteenth Doctor and saw her navigate a universe-ending anomaly called the Flux. It also marked Chibnall's final season as showrunner. Love Doctor Who? Listen to our podcast interview about Doctor Who games! Russell T Davies recently confirmed that Flux will be dealt with "very slightly" in the second special, Wild Blue Yonder. Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Chibnall said: "[Russell] had told me that there was a reference to Flux. "It's really beautiful when things like that happen, definitely. It was one of the things we talked about, Steven [Moffat], Russell and I, when we met up, and it was a thing Steven was saying, you don't feel like the work you've done on the show is Doctor Who, because that's the work you've done. "So he's like, all of the episodes he's written, all the episodes he’s showrun, it’s like everything else is Doctor Who and then his bit is just the thing he did, and it doesn't feel legitimately part of Doctor Who, and it's really weird. "So when you do get things that crop up, that kind of reference and actually, when I would drop in references to Steven’s stories, or something Russell had done, I would get texts from them, Steven would go, ‘I was mentioned in Doctor Who! Something I thought of was mentioned in Doctor Who!’ It's great. You know, ‘I exist!’ It's really true. "Russell as well, [I] would get messages going, ‘Oh, I got mentioned! The thing I wrote got mentioned!’ So it's really lovely when that happens and I definitely felt that when we did that in The Power of the Doctor as well. It's really powerful and how you deploy that, and when you deploy that, is really interesting because it's that weird push and pull between being new and being part of a continuum. And that's one of the great, great things about Doctor Who." Davies hasn't revealed the nature of the Flux reference but recently told Doctor Who Magazine: "The history of the Flux and the Timeless Child is dealt with very slightly in this episode to acknowledge the brilliant work Chris did and to say that’s absolutely part of our history as well." Doctor Who's 60th anniversary specials will see David Tennant return, this time as the Fourteenth Doctor, alongside Catherine Tate, reprising her role as Donna Noble. Doctor Who's first 60th anniversary special The Star Beast airs at 6:30pm on Saturday 25th November on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Behind the scenes of Radio Times' Doctor Who at 60 shoot
Doctor Who legends descend on London for a shoot to remember.
It's an unspeakable hour in the morning of 25th October 2023 and the Radio Times team have gathered at Holborn Studios in London for, let's face it, one of the most exciting days of the year. Doctor Who legends past and present are about to descend on the studio for a glam shoot to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary but first, the preparation! Love Doctor Who? Listen to our podcast interview about Doctor Who games! While photographer extraordinaire Yoshitaka Kono sets up, some of the stars of the show are unboxed – a 1960s Dalek, a modern Dalek, a gigantic Cyberman, and everyone's favourite pup, K-9. I'm a little starstruck. BBC props legend Jonathan asks if anyone wants to get inside the '60s Dalek and operate it and I give it a cool half a second before volunteering as tribute. I quickly realise that scooting a massive Dalek around, Flintstone-style, while attempting to operate three pulleys (yes, the eye stalk has one too) with just two hands is far too strenuous for that time in the morning. Anyway, the first shoot is with incoming companion Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), who is an absolute pro. She can't resist checking out some of Yoshi's shots on a laptop, and appears to be absolutely thrilled with them. Millie's quickly joined by returning legend Bonnie Langford, who's coming back as Mel Bush and it's clear the pair get on like a house on fire. Millie wraps her arms around Bonnie for various shots, with the pair grinning at each other. Rocking sparkly dresses and green jumpsuits, and wielding decapitated Cyberman heads, they snap some amazing pictures together like the partners in crime they clearly are. Everyone's in awe. Speaking of everyone being in awe, in walks showrunner Russell T Davies. More than two decades after he brought Doctor Who back, he's clearly still a huge fan, grabbing a selfie with the Cyberman for good measure. For his solo shots, Yoshi has him pose with the Cyberman looking menacingly over him. Soon after, more Doctor Who icons arrive – Mandip Gill, who starred as Yasmin Khan, Carole Ann Ford, who paved the way for every Doctor Who companion with her portrayal of Susan, and Waris Hussein, Doctor Who's first ever director. RTD meets Mandip for the very first time and the pair catch up, snapping a quick picture together. Shortly after, Waris joins RTD on set and the pair take some amazing snaps, representing the legacy of Doctor Who and its new era. While this is going on, Team RT are scheming and picture researcher Aneesha heads out on a mission to pick up birthday party supplies. More on this later. For now, it's time for Mandip to take to set, posing in front of not one but two Daleks, before she's joined by the great Carole Ann Ford. I'm not sure if the pair of them have ever met before today but they're fast friends, laughing away together as they take some amazing shots. The stylists and make-up artists have also absolutely crushed it, giving the pair of them completely glam looks. While Mandip stuns in a silver sparkly dress, Carole also has everyone floored with her purple glittery suit. Back to the birthday supplies – Aneesha has come through. RT art director Mark and commissioning editor Huw have a vision, sticking party hats on the Daleks and K-9, putting party blowers in the Cybermen's mouths, setting up '60' balloons and, of course, setting off some party poppers. It's absolutely ridiculous and just what we needed to see out this celebration for our favourite show. Happy 60th birthday, Doctor Who! Check out the interviews in Radio Times magazine, on sale now. Doctor Who's first 60th anniversary special The Star Beast airs at 6:30pm on Saturday 25th November on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's Chris Chibnall praises "wonderful" Davros reinvention
The former showrunner speaks on the importance of occasionally ripping up the rule book.
Former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has heaped praise on Russell T Davies's reinvention of Davros in the recent Children in Need scene. The new scene, which was set early in the Daleks' history, when the prototype was still being developed, saw David Tennant return as the Fourteenth Doctor and Julian Bleach reprise his role as the villainous Davros – but not in his wheelchair, as fans have previously known him. Love Doctor Who? Listen to our podcast interview about Doctor Who games! Speaking about how important it is to occasionally rip up the rule book, Chibnall exclusively told RadioTimes.com: "I don't think you would characterise our era as being scared to move the furniture about. Everybody who's run it, and everybody who writes it, everybody who works on it loves it. Anything that happens on it comes from a position of love. "I think what's lovely about that sketch is Russell's just cheeky with it. Like, he's respectful and disrespectful and you sort of need to be that as a showrunner and it's delightful. But actually there's a lot to break down in that sketch, where you go – he's moved things on. "He's made some decisions, the decision around Davros, and stuff like that, [they're] really fantastic, wonderful decisions and it has to keep changing. It has to keep evolving, it has to keep checking itself against the world and being a little bit ahead of the world." Chibnall added: "I think the joy of seeing David back on screen as the Doctor is really profound, and I'm sure it'll be profound for the whole country and, I think, hopefully, for the whole world. Even in that little Children in Need scene, just the joy that comes through and the 'he's back!'-ness of it – and he's one of the greatest actors in the world." The writer went on to add that bold decisions are at the heart of the show, pointing out that the first regeneration is a classic example: "That's a choice somebody made three years into the show, when you go, 'Oh, we need a new lead actor, what do we do? Or do we stop the show?' And they went, 'No, no, no, we're gonna get this person in. And we're going to do that.' And then it changes the entire show, and then every time it happens, again, it changes the entire show. "But somebody made that really bold decision. Imagine making a decision that bold about the show now – everybody would go nuts. But it's built on huge creative swings, huge changes, huge developments, and it's mainly built on those amazing lead actors. All of them are so wonderful and so different, and to think then that we're going to have an entirely new take on the Doctor, once again, is just thrilling." Davies recently explained the carefully considered thought process behind reinventing Davros's look for the Children in Need scene. Speaking on new BBC Three companion series Doctor Who Unleashed, Davies said: "We had long conversations about bringing Davros back, because he's a fantastic character, [but] time and society and culture and taste has moved on. "And there's a problem with the Davros of old in that he's a wheelchair user, who is evil. And I had problems with that. And a lot of us on the production team had problems with that, of associating disability with evil. And trust me, there's a very long tradition of this. "I'm not blaming people in the past at all, but the world changes and when the world changes, Doctor Who has to change as well. So we made the choice to bring back Davros without the facial scarring and without the wheelchair – or his support unit, which functions as a wheelchair. View oEmbed on the source website "I say, this is how we see Davros now, this is what he looks like. This is 2023. This is our lens. This is our eye. Things used to be black and white, they're not in black and white anymore, and Davros used to look like that and he looks like this now, and that we are absolutely standing by." Davies added that Children in Need night felt like the perfect opportunity to debut the reimagined Davros. "It's a night where issues of disability or otherness or being excluded from society come right to the front of the conversation. So of all the nights to make this change, I thought it was absolutely vital to do this. And I'm very, very, very proud of the fact that we have." Read more: Take a trip back through 60 years of Doctor Who in Radio Times covers Doctor Who at 60: When the Time Lords assembled for Radio Times Doctor Who's first 60th anniversary special The Star Beast airs at 6:30pm on Saturday 25th November on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who: Unleashed star on Confidential changes and "remarkable" Ncuti Gatwa
More than a decade after Doctor Who: Confidential ended, it's time to peek behind the curtain once more.
From making monsters and carefully constructing explosions to documenting the stars' most chaotic moments (never forget Matt Smith's random badger obsession), Doctor Who: Confidential once took us behind-the-scenes of Doctor Who's most weird and wonderful moments. Now, it's time for fans to get a peek behind the curtain once again in the form of Doctor Who: Unleashed. Love Doctor Who? Listen to our podcast interview about Doctor Who games! Exclusively speaking to RadioTimes.com, new host Steffan Powell explains: "Myself and the team that make the show have been sort of doing an impersonation of the camera crews that make David Attenborough's programmes like Planet Earth - they hide out somewhere in a deep dark forest or on top of a mountain for months to sort of snap the moment when something amazing happens. That's like us but we're on the set of Doctor Who. "We find the dark corners that we can hang about in and see the magic happen but also not get in the way of anyone because they do actually have a programme to make. That's been the joy of the programme, getting to know the crew and the cast obviously, but just getting a sense of everything it takes to make a TV programme like this because it's majestic." Powell is pretty new to the world of Doctor Who - although he's quickly got into the rhythm of admirably scooting away from spoilers whenever we near the precipice. "I was about to say something there that would be a spoiler for the series," he admits after we joke about kids always being the source of a winter lurgy. "It's hard work dodging these spoilers, I'll tell you that." But him not being a Doctor Who superfan has seemingly proven key to making Unleashed fresh and not just rehashing Confidential. "There are certainly elements of Confidential in it, of course, because it's a behind the scenes programme that is there on set," Powell adds. "On the side of set when things are happening, we're watching, I'm often watching the Doctors do their thing, we're almost sometimes within touching distance of them. We're speaking to the producers, we're speaking to all the different elements of the crew that make the show....and so we're definitely hoping that that legacy will be given a new lease of life through Doctor Who: Unleashed. "What I would say with our show, what's slightly different with Unleashed, is that we're coming at it from a slightly different perspective. As brilliant as Doctor Who: Confidential was, I feel like it was a Who brand that was made by and made for Doctor Who fans that were already invested in the world and in the universe. "So if you could name the actors from William Hartnell all the way through, then you were probably watching Doctor Who Confidential... what we're trying to do with Unleashed, which is partly why I was asked to present it, is that we're saying, this as a programme that is a love letter to the making of Doctor Who, absolutely. There's loads in there for engaged Doctor Who fans. But this has to be programme for more than just that audience. It has to be for new fans as well, to open the door to Doctor Who to new viewers and a new audiences." However, he points out: "All the the stuff people loved, all the little diaries, all the interviews with the cast, all the interviews with the crew on the side of set, there's plenty of that, don't worry about it." Getting to the nitty gritty, Doctor Who: Unleashed, clocking in at 30 minutes per episode, will follow every single new episode of Doctor Who for the foreseeable, including the three 60th anniversary specials and the Christmas special. It'll feature interviews with the cast and crew, with Powell taking on "work experience" in different departments each episode. Crucially, it sounds just as chaotic as I was hoping for. "There is a particular moment, it's going to stay with me possibly for the rest of my career," Powell reflects. "It involves me, David Tennant, Catherine Tate, a tent, and a prosthetic mask. That was so surreal and was so much fun to film, and to be with them in that moment, that's just stayed with me." Powell's also one of the lucky people to have had a glimpse at surprises still to come - the new TARDIS interior and Ncuti Gatwa's first scenes as the Fifteenth Doctor, to name just a couple. "I've been there on the side of set, almost within touching distance sometimes, watching on the same monitors as the directors, watching [Gatwa's] performance as the Doctor," he explains. "And all I'll say is people have got nothing to worry about. Like, it's remarkable. You've got nothing to worry about. "It's going to be quite something, both of their performances, David coming back [and Gatwa]. And it's been a joy to behold, being so close to it because I think, if you strip all of the visual effects, all of the creatures, all of the stuff that's going on alongside it, you just put those two performers doing their thing on a stage somewhere, and you could just watch it for days. So yeah, don't panic!" Plus, he's made himself at home inside the new TARDIS. View oEmbed on the source website "When I first saw inside the TARDIS, just the scope of it, the scale of it, it's just brilliant. It's majestic. It's my favourite place to do interviews. Obviously we do interviews on the side of set, sometimes we need to do sit-down interviews, we spend a bit longer with someone, and every time we've got we've got a big sit-down, I'm like, 'Can we can we film that in the TARDIS please?'" Powell's relief at almost making it through the interview without spoiling anything is palpable - so, understandably, he plays it safe for the last question when we ask for a final tease about what's to come. "There is so much, even sort of tiny tidbits that I could flag. I can say there are spaceships involved. With Doctor Who, that's not much of a giveaway. There are villains involved...there are Doctors?! Coming to it fresh-eyed is so much fun, and we've gotten so close to this being on the telly without stuff getting out there, that I think I'm going to be quiet. "I was lucky enough to see the magic happen firsthand. I read the scripts before going to filming," he explains - keeping those scripts very carefully away from prying eyes, he adds, for any powers that be that might be lurking. "I'm desperate for people to see it unburdened, spoiler-free. Just kick back, you're in real safe hands." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Why Doctor Who finally needs to bring back the Time Lords for good
The role of Gallifrey and its inhabitants has been too small for too long, writes Lewis Knight.
"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else." - The Doctor, The End of the World, 2005. These words from Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in the opening series of Russell T Davies' revival of Doctor Who in 2005 signalled a bold new status quo for the time-travelling protagonist of the beloved cult show. No longer was The Doctor one of many rather brilliant beings but was instead a figure adrift, an alien to all, a solitary figure mourning the loss of their people and all the more in need of emotional connection. Love Doctor Who? Listen to our podcast interview about Doctor Who games! This served as the perfect springboard to deepen the hero's connection to his new companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and also ensured further enigma around The Doctor as we peeled back the layers of his role in the Great Time War between his people and their nemeses, the Daleks. However, we are now no longer in 2005 and since then, the story of what happened to the Time Lords has been firmly established (including with a very brief return in the finale of Davies' first era on the show, The End of Time) and we even learned of another fellow survivor with the inevitable return of The Master (initially played by Sir Derek Jacobi and John Simm in the revival series). Subsequently, the tenure of Steven Moffat as showrunner presented an opportunity to revive not just the Time Lords' homeworld of Gallifrey which he did in the 50th anniversary year of the show in 2013, in the crowd-pleasing special The Day of the Doctor, which also peeled more layers back on the role of The Doctor in the Great Time War. This felt like perfect timing with the notion of the lone Time Lord with no (or with at least only one of their) peers by this point felt rather exhausted and the possibilities for more stories, more characters to equal the Doctor's abilities and rich history seemed endless. Yet, the Time Lords remained largely absent until their return properly in the ninth series' final story, climaxing in Hell Bent. Here, Gallifrey, led once again by the villainous Rassilon (here played by Donald Sumpter), had returned from a pocket universe following the end of the universe - yes, it was rather complicated. View oEmbed on the source website Despite The Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) deposing the tyrant Rassilon, Gallifrey's survival and those of the Time Lords finally seemed assured. That, however, was until the following era under showrunner Chris Chibnall. In the second series to feature Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor, the return of The Master in Spyfall (now played by a lively Sacha Dhawan) saw the revelation that the villain had wiped out life on Gallifrey after discovering the truth of the Timeless Child. Without getting too involved in these new convoluted and controversial twists to The Doctor and the Time Lords' mythology, the arc of The Timeless Child left the Time Lords once again virtually extinct, The Doctor a member of a different and mysterious race entirely and also the 'chosen one' from which the Time Lords derived their regenerative abilities, and then saw our hero leave Gallifrey barren of all life in a bid to defeat further enemies. Well, now we're back to Square One in 2005. The Doctor is the sole Time Lord (bar the inevitable return of The Master), the final survivor of an alien race again and now even more isolated but heralded than ever. One can appreciate that Chibnall wished to take some risks with the story and mythology of The Doctor, but the results of these changes have just taken us full circle back to the beginning of the revival series and with reduced storytelling possibilities. Throughout the classic run of the show, the benefits of having the Time Lords present have been illuminating not only for the character and history of The Doctor but also allowed writers to introduce us to various other memorable characters. The temptation to have the Doctor as a solitary enigma outside of his relationships with his companions might be an attempt to return to the uncomplicated format of the show's earliest days under William Hartnell's First Doctor but following their bold introduction in the story The War Games - the last story of Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor era - it became clear that the door was now firmly open to explore more of the Doctor's people and his connections to them. Despite the role of The Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) and then his meeting the memorable villain known as the Meddling Monk (Peter Butterworth) in Hartnell's era, The War Games, as well as being a terrific and memorable story on its own, also kickstarted the Time Lords' recurring appearances in the show and finally showed the scale of power among his people. The subsequent appearances of The Doctor's people varied in scale. Still, they played a vital role in one of the show's greatest-ever stories, The Deadly Assassin, featuring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. This taut thriller highlighted once again the culture of the Time Lords and the political machinations therein including with Chancellor Goth (Bernard Horsfall, returning from The War Games) whilst also revealing further information on their abilities and introducing us to the most ghoulish version of The Master even to this day. Baker's era also gave us another regular character from Gallifrey - the Time Lady known as Romana. First played by Mary Tamm and then by Lalla Ward, Romana is one of the strongest companions in Who history and also enabled a dynamic that had not been portrayed before - someone of the same background as The Doctor, with physiological and psychological abilities to match him. While The Doctor eventually parted ways with the wickedly fun Romana, he would continue to face off with The Master (the dynamic Anthony Ainley, mostly) for the rest of the show's classic run and also faced a female antagonist in The Rani (the fabulously camp Kate O'Mara). Later, the Time Lords played another memorable role to mixed results in the season-long story The Trial of a Time Lord which once again placed The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) at his people's mercy but also enabled us a detailed look at their influence and provided an existential threat with a villain in the form of The Valeyard (an imposing Michael Jayston), a future incarnation of The Doctor. Beyond further appearances from The Master and The Rani, the Time Lords would not feature to a major extent until the aforementioned stories in the revival, but these were few and far between. Subsequently, the closest to a true peer outside of The Master and Romana has been the part-Time Lady heroine Professor River Song (Alex Kingston) and what a breath of fresh air she was in the Moffat era, not so much an antagonist for our hero but morally grey character for him to explore more complicated relationships with - including marriage. Why stop there? Why not give The Doctor more equals or more figures with complicated familial, cultural or antagonistic connections that are not just simplistic enemies? The Master (or Missy, when played by Michelle Gomez) is a fantastic alternate side of a coin for The Doctor in a connection that can feel everything from platonic to romantic to despicable at times. However, there is such potential to explore further dynamics with The Doctor's people and his relationships with them, especially with so much history ripe to explore. If the Daleks can return endless times to battle the Doctor, the different plot threads can be used with Gallifrey and with the Doctor's people - with previous classic stories serving as evidence of this. Your move, Mr Davies! Bring the Time Lords home! Read More Doctor Who brings back William Hartnell’s First Doctor with Ncuti Gatwa Doctor Who confirms time slot for second special Wild Blue Yonder Doctor Who fans spot Little Mermaid star Jonah Hauer-King on set filming When the Time Lords assembled for Radio Times Doctor Who stars answer “Who’s your Doctor?” ahead of 60th anniversary Doctor Who reveals first look at new colourisation of The Daleks Freema Agyeman recalls “magical” time as Martha on Doctor Who John Boyega would “love” a Doctor Who cameo as another Doctor Don’t underestimate Doctor Who’s UNIT spin-off Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who at 60: When the Time Lords assembled for Radio Times
Ever since 1972, Radio Times has been bringing together the stars of Doctor Who for special photoshoots.
Across all of time and space, many of the most striking and abiding images for Doctor Who fans have been special Radio Times photoshoots, organised to celebrate the major anniversaries – usually calling for a time-bending gathering of the actors who’ve inhabited the title role. 1972 – Season 10 The first shoot took place in October 1972 and was one of the most remarkable and timely – uniting the first three incarnations: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee. Prior to the BBC’s launch of The Three Doctors for the tenth season of Doctor Who in 1972, this RT photoshoot was actually the very first time all three stars had come together as a trio. They were photographed by RT regular Ray Rathborne at a studio in Battersea. Fifty-one years later, RT’s art editor at that time, David Driver, recalls that day clearly. “I directed the Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee cover myself. I was a great enthusiast for Doctor Who and managed good coverage for this classic programme. Both Troughton and Pertwee were charming in the manner they cared for a fragile Hartnell. It was a delightful session and all three actors had love and affection for the programme and recognised its special role in the Saturday schedule.” 1983 – the 20th anniversary The Five Doctors in 1983 was a joyful celebration of two decades of Doctor Who – but also an odd one. William Hartnell had died in 1975, so the “original” Doctor was recast as Richard Hurndall, who bore only a passing resemblance to Hartnell. Although other past Doctors Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee readily signed up to star alongside current star Peter Davison, the fourth incarnation Tom Baker declined to appear. Instead, he allowed clips from his unfinished 1979/80 story Shada to be used, while for a publicity shoot his Madame Tussauds waxwork was pressed into service. A general press call for Doctors, companions and the waxwork was held on 17th March 1983 at a house in Denham (the location for Unit HQ), with photographer Steve Benbow taking pictures for Radio Times. The line-up included Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) and Carole Ann Ford (Susan). The RT cover itself in November 1983 was an illustration by Andrew Skilleter. 1993 – the 30th anniversary By 1993, Doctor Who was very much a programme of the past, having been cancelled by the BBC nearly four years previously. Nevertheless, its 30th anniversary was still celebrated by a BBC1 documentary, 30 Years in the Tardis, and a Children in Need special in which the Time Lord crossed over with EastEnders. With art director Mike Clowes supervising, Radio Times pulled together the five living Doctors (Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy) for a special photoshoot – or rather a series of shoots, because not all could attend at the same time. Thus, the special 1993 cover was a composite of pictures, photographed by RT regular Mark Harrison. 2003 – the 40th anniversary By 2003, excitement was in the air for fans because it was known that Doctor Who would be returning as a series on BBC One. The Radio Times art editor at that time, Paul Smith, was geared up for the occasion. “I’ve always had a fondness for Doctor Who,” he says in 2023. “It was part of my childhood. Troughton and Pertwee were very much my Doctors.” In 1996, he’d relished designing a 16-page RT special to mark the Paul McGann TV Movie. “That definitely reignited my love of Doctor Who so I was massively keen to art-direct the 40th anniversary in 2003, my first Who covers – and what better way than to get the four surviving Doctors together for one special photoshoot!” With the first three Doctors dead, that meant Davison, McCoy and the two Bakers. At the time, McGann’s Doctor was perhaps considered to stand apart from the original canon. But marshalling those four Time Lords proved a logistical nightmare. “It had seemed like a good idea at the time!” laughs Paul. “But they all had to be photographed at different times in several different studios. I wasn’t even sure we were going to get all four Doctors so had to plan for only two or three. Although Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker had agreed to our first shoot at Westway Studios in west London, Tom Baker was then living in France, and Peter Davison was busy with other commitments. But we secured Tom next, then at the 11th hour Peter made it a foursome to complete the set. It turned into a big production, shot over a number of weeks in three studios. Patricia Taylor, who was the RT picture editor, played a blinder pulling everything together.” Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker wore pretty much their original Who costumes. Peter Davison was given a new light-coloured suit by Savile Row tailor Gary Anderson and a striped Paul Smith shirt. Whereas Tom Baker was reunited with his old friend June Hudson, a former BBC costume designer and Doctor Who legend, who created a whole new, lustrous outfit for him. When it came to the shoot, two Radio Times staff were drafted in for additional duties – to play monsters. The first being the picture desk’s Roger Dixon, who dressed up as a Sea Devil. Secondly, RT writer and lifelong fan Mark Braxton found himself on set in multiple roles. “They needed someone to ‘play’ a Cyberman,” says Mark. “I stepped in, as I was there to do interviews anyway.” It wasn’t the most comfortable assignment. “It was incredibly hot under the lights, but it enabled me to have some fun chats with Sylvester McCoy, who was patient, kind and friendly for the duration. Because my eyesight was restricted behind the mask, he helped me on and off the ‘boulder’-strewn set, the way someone would help an elderly relative with mobility issues.” With various monsters, K•9 and the police box on hand, Paul Smith cleverly planned four collectable covers that could be laid side by side to form one continuous image. “They were shot in a way that they would work in different combinations, but always make a panorama. Working with photographer Andy Earl was a joy. He’d worked on big, complicated shoots for the likes of Pink Floyd and Duran Duran, so was the epitome of calm. “The Doctors were all perfect gents,” continues Paul. “When we asked Sylvester to whack a Cyberman [Mark] with his brolly, he gently told us the Doctor didn’t like violence and would use his mind to outwit his foe. Wrists slapped! I do remember him walking off a happy man with one of the six-inch Daleks we had there.” For Paul, it was another important step in RT’s long association with Doctor Who, honouring the efforts of David Driver 30 years earlier but also looking to the future. “RT has always had a strong relationship with the programme, and we’ve always endeavoured to go that extra mile to come up with imaginative and innovative covers. We don’t just put out a publicity shot with no real in-depth content inside. The covers were well supported with a 16-page pull-out collectors’ supplement. “The 30th anniversary issue was a huge success, the biggest selling of the year, putting on well over 50,000 extra sales.” 2013 – the 50th anniversary For Doctor Who’s half-century, timed with The Day of the Doctor, there would be no fresh photoshoot. Nevertheless, Paul Smith took on the extraordinary challenge of creating 12 collectable covers, one for each Doctor – including the mysterious War Doctor played by John Hurt. “The idea to make individual covers that formed one panoramic picture when put together was a theme I returned to for the 50th anniversary, but on an even bigger scale.” Many of these were comprised of images from the Radio Times Archive stretching back across the decades, depicting all 12 Doctors backed by an assortment of their most fearsome foes. Again, this set was highly collectable – with some covers proving harder to find than others in shops around the UK. For the curious and completist, the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton portraits hailed from 1972; Jon Pertwee from 1969; Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy all from 1993; Paul McGann from 1996; Christopher Eccleston from 2005; David Tennant from 2008; Matt Smith and John Hurt from 2013. 2023 – the 60th anniversary For this year’s huge anniversary, expect no new multi-Doctor extravaganza. Radio Times magazine and RadioTimes.com have found fabulous new ways to celebrate the on-going legend... Read more: Doctor Who's 10th anniversary photoshoots – classic companions look back The 1970s Doctor Who companions pictured in their own homes Doctor Who's Jon Pertwee in a long-lost photoshoot from 1970 The secrets of 1970s Doctor Who revealed in newly discovered photos The stars of Patrick Troughton's Doctor Who – just before they joined the show See the earliest surviving Doctor Who photographs Doctor Who's first 60th anniversary special The Star Beast airs at 6:30pm on Saturday 25th November on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who stars answer "Who's your Doctor?" ahead of 60th anniversary
Celebrating the actors who have brought the Time Lord to life.
Every Doctor Who fan has their Doctor – whether it's the one that meant the most to them growing up, or a more recent iteration that's captured their heart. As it turns out, the stars and writers at the heart of the show are no different. Ahead of Doctor Who turning 60, we caught up with various Doctor Who legends, including Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Arthur Darvill, Steven Moffat and Alex Kingston to ask the age-old question: "Who's your Doctor?" Love Doctor Who? Listen to our podcast interview about Doctor Who games! Of course, some of them couldn't resist breaking the rules and giving us more than one, but we'll let it slide... Check out their answers below! Sophie Aldred - Ace "Of course it's Sylvester McCoy but then of course I've got Jodie [Whittaker] as well. I love them all, I seriously do. "I think that everybody who's played the Doctor has been an extraordinary person in real life in some way. If you meet them all, and I have been so fortunate, my only alive Doctor that I'm missing is Peter Capaldi - I'd love to meet him. "Sadly I was too late for Patrick Troughton and of course I didn't meet William Hartnell but all the rest of them I've met and I just think they're all extraordinary. There's something special about all of them." Arthur Darvill - Rory Williams "Matt [Smith]! It has to be. I just think he was brilliant and the balance between the stoic and the silly and the balance between the really heartfelt and the flippant was just such a brilliant take on it. "Obviously it was all in Steven [Moffat]'s writing but Matt really is such a skilful brilliant actor and watching his work ethic... we're the same age but it was really amazing being on set and seeing how hard he had to work on that. And he was so committed to it. "He makes it look so easy and it was really inspiring. I just think he's a brilliant actor and I love working with him." Alex Kingston - River Song "I think my Doctor was Jon Pertwee. I loved Patrick Troughton's trews. I was a very small child but I found Patrick Troughton - I think I had a crush on Patrick Troughton actually, and I loved his tartan trews... but really, Jon Pertwee was my Doctor." Sylvester McCoy - The Seventh Doctor "It was way back in the '60s, I lived in a bedsit in Belsize Park and downstairs was a friend – he had a television and I didn't have a television. We were doing the pools together, the football pools. We'd go down together and watch the television for the results and this funny little programme came on afterwards and we watched it and became hooked, we became fans of Doctor Who, and it was Patrick Troughton. "I'd seen Patrick Troughton growing up as a child on many things on television and he always had a comic thing about him and he could also be serious, so he was all round a wonderful character actor." Steven Moffat - former showrunner "Doctor Who! That's my favourite Doctor. Why have one hero when you can have 15? Why limit yourself? The one I'm watching, as with James Bond. I like the James Bond I'm watching right now. That's my favourite. If you mean which Doctors I grew up with, I sort of grew up with Jon Pertwee, and I saw him turn into Tom Baker and then I saw him turn into Peter Davison, so that was quite a special period of my life. "But I carried on watching... I suppose one person I'd like to mention in this context – I have no favourites, genuinely – but one person I'd like to mention is Sylvester McCoy because when he came on as the Doctor for the first time, I'd just got to the pompous Doctor Who fan stage where I was aware that maybe I'd got a bit hung up on a children's show and it was maybe a bit silly and I should be watching something else so I didn't enjoy it the way I should have. But in later years, I came to realise what a wonderful Doctor he is. "The fact that he took the Doctor away from being a posh bloke to a very distinctly not posh bloke is incredibly important for the future of the series. I've also got to know Sylvester a bit of late and he's such a wonderful man. He's very much like the Doctor himself." Katy Manning - Jo Grant "I always find this a bit hard to answer because, from a close friendship, it's got to be Jon [Pertwee] because we had this huge bond, this wonderful friendship. "But I have enjoyed every single thing that all of the actors have brought to their version of the Doctor. I can't pick a favourite, I really can't." Sacha Dhawan - The Master "I'm gonna say Jodie. Of course it's gonna be Jodie! But I say that because audiences see what's going on and they see the performance but for me, why I say Jodie, is because I get to work with her behind the scenes, I get to know Jodie. "I've never worked with an actress like it – she's amazing at what she does but she's the only actress I've worked with that really understands what it means to be number one on a call sheet. "When you're number one, you have a responsibility to look after your fellow team and it's a lot of pressure, especially when you're playing the Doctor, you've got lots of dialogue, you're away from home for months on end, but she still manages to look after everybody." Mark Gatiss - writer and actor "Jon Pertwee! It's indivisible from your first experience and your first love. There are so many brilliant Doctor Whos, of course there are, but I find it rather lovely in my advanced age when you talk to someone who has every bit as much affection for a Doctor that you were scarcely aware of because you were a grown-up." Toby Whithouse - writer "I was asked this question when I was writing for Matt [Smith] and I think my answer was, 'Oh, Matt!' "But given that he was the last one I wrote for, probably Peter [Capaldi]. And I got to know Peter quite well and Peter's just the most incredible man. I'd probably say either Peter or Tom Baker." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Anjli Mohindra: "I owe so much to The Sarah Jane Adventures"
The Rani Chandra actress looks back on her first TV role.
The Lazarus Project star Anjli Mohindra is certainly no stranger to sci-fi, first making her name in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures - and, as the main show turns 60, she looked back on the impact it's had on her life. Mohindra starred alongside the late Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer) and Tommy Knight (Luke Smith) in the beloved spin-off, which ran from 2007 to 2011. She exclusively told RadioTimes.com: "I feel like I owe so much to that show. I didn't realise the enormity of it when I was 17, 18, and I got my first ever proper part in The Sarah Jane Adventures. "I feel like it's an amazing thing career-wise, but as a family, it feels like you're part of something massive that is a time travel show, but also will stand the test of time. "[Doctor Who has] been going for so long, and it just feels [like] the most exciting, thrilling, inclusive world, and I can't wait to see this new season. God, I'm so excited." The impact of The Sarah Jane Adventures is still felt, with Rani even getting a mention in Doctor Who's latest spin-off, Tales of the TARDIS, which saw Katy Manning's Jo Grant reunite with Clyde. She encourages him to admit he's in love with Rani, and he ends the episode vowing to go after her. Meanwhile, viewers can also catch Mohindra in season 2 of The Lazarus Project, with the actress admitting she's been "massively" surprised by the twists and turns. She added: "You get your head round it and it all makes sense – it's like when you play a video game, you go back to the same point, and then suddenly, there's this whole new thing that completely throws everything you thought about the show out the window. "I think that's great, because you do sometimes feel with these shows that they start to become predictable, but I feel like the rug was pulled out [from under] our feet every episode. "As cast, it felt like we were constantly kept on our toes, and I like that. I think the audience will love that part of it." Additional reporting by Morgan Jeffery. The Sarah Jane Adventures is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. The Lazarus Project returns for season 2 on 15th November. Season 1 is available to watch now via Sky and NOW – sign up for Sky TV here. Visit our Sci-Fi hub for more news, interviews and features, or find something to watch now with our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast.
Doctor Who's Mark Gatiss reveals idea for An Adventure in Space and Time sequel
There are other periods of Doctor Who's history that could be explored.
Mark Gatiss has pitched an idea for a sequel to Doctor Who's docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time - and we're fully on board. The writer, who penned Doctor Who episodes including The Unquiet Dead, Cold War, Night Terrors and Sleep No More, was also the scribe for the special 50th anniversary programme that detailed Doctor Who's beginnings. Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, he reflected: "The origins of everything, that's always the interesting thing. The other interesting thing is crisis... "The documentary about The Trial of a Time Lord is an absolutely fascinating piece of work, because it's so full of what ifs and conflict." He added: "It's a strange thing to say, but the darkest hour for the show would definitely make a very interesting drama, wouldn't it? I mean, the personal conflicts, the professional conflicts, the resignations... that's the one, isn't it? "And I suppose out of the darkness comes the light, because there's a rosy future to look forward to. "There's something very moving about [Tales of the TARDIS] rounding all that off." An Adventure in Space and Time, which returning showrunner Russell T Davies has said is on its way to BBC iPlayer after the launch of the 'Whoniverse', starred David Bradley as the late William Hartnell and dramatised the complicated beginnings of Doctor Who. Also starring Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan as Sydney Newman, Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein, the docudrama was released in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary. View Green Video on the source website Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast.
Doctor Who’s Martha Jones was ahead of her time
Celebrating an often overlooked companion.
It was always going to be difficult for the companion who followed Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) in Doctor Who. She stole the Doctor’s hearts, captured our own and provided the benchmark alongside David Tennant for the contemporary take on this well-known double act. Then in strolled a bright young medical student, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman). From her debut in Smith and Jones, Martha was introduced as the Doctor’s equal, who shared his drive and dedication to protect and help others. Brimming with intelligence, charm and compassion, Martha was a refreshing new presence on the show after the emotional turmoil at the end of season 2. The only snag in this promising new alliance was that, midway through their whirlwind adventure to defeat the Judoon (and return her hospital back from the moon), the Doctor kisses Martha. It almost became a rite of passage with newcomers on the show to lock lips with the Doctor in the heat of the moment, after he had a snog with Reinette (Sophia Myles) in Girl in the Fireplace and later a peck with Kylie Minogue in Voyage of the Damned. Though, who are these mere mortals to refuse the lure of a Time Lord in a pinstriped suit? This time, though, the kiss spoils their budding friendship, as it misleads Martha into thinking that their relationship could develop into something romantic. Rapidly, her small crush snowballs into an agonising love, made all the more painful by the Doctor being oblivious to her feelings. It made their relationship complicated as it altered the power dynamic, which led Martha to fall into an unflattering stereotype of a jealous, frustrated woman who was tired of being overlooked and underappreciated. After the Doctor falls for a woman he hardly knows, Joan Redfern (Jessica Hynes), in The Family of Blood, she even despairs: "You had to go and fall in love with a human and it wasn’t me." It would be easy to glaze over her triumphs, and focus on the extensive screen-time Martha spends pining and whining over the Doctor’s treatment of her. But this would be a disservice to the foundations that Martha Jones established to pave the way for the Doctor’s future platonic partnership with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). As others batted their eyelids at the Doctor to get their own way (we’re looking at you, Rose), Martha rarely waited for the Doctor’s instructions and often took charge of the situation. In one of the most epic three-part storylines, Martha single-handedly defeated the Doctor’s greatest nemesis, The Master, after he decided to play God with planet Earth. With no TARDIS, Time Lord, sonic screwdriver or allies, Martha set out to spread the word about the Earth’s faceless protector to save his life through the psychic abilities of the Archangel network. In her all-black leathers, Martha took on the typical role of the Doctor – recruiting allies, gathering information and solving the situation without a single weapon or any bloodshed. Last of the Time Lords consolidated the unrivalled legacy of Martha Jones and established that she was ahead of her time on the series. Though time was rewritten and Martha’s sacrifice and bravery forgotten by the world, it wasn’t by us. It was ironic to me that Martha left the show when, arguably, she’d only just stepped into her full potential. Yet, when she shared her reason for leaving, my respect for Martha grew exponentially. Martha compares co-existing with the Doctor to a friend’s toxic relationship where a woman spent "years pining after" a man who "never looked at her twice". Before she follows her own advice and walks out, she affirms: "I always said to her, time and time again, get out. So, this is me getting out." It’s the most empowering moment in Martha’s short-lived time on the show, when she acknowledges that she deserves more than what this man – who has all of space and time at his fingertips – can offer her. In season four, it’s also clear that this was the right decision. The newly qualified doctor continues to establish her own legacy with UNIT, working to protect Earth from extra-terrestrial threats from the ground. It turns out Martha never needed a TARDIS or a Time Lord for a life of fulfilment or adventure, as she’s cultivated that for herself. For a woman whose every move was influenced by her love for the Doctor, Martha is now free from the control this unhealthy love had over her. She’s able to become the woman and, of course, the doctor that she was aways striving to be. The Doctor simply lights a fire in Martha to expand her horizons. Think bigger than simply helping one species on one planet. "I spent all these years training to be a doctor, and now I’ve got people to look after," Martha tells the Doctor in her heartfelt goodbye, "[My family] saw half the planet slaughtered and they’re devastated, I can’t leave them." In stark contrast to Rose, Martha isn’t forced to leave, but she takes charge of her own narrative and departs as the Doctor’s equal. With a melancholic smile, the Doctor hugs her and says, "Thank you," before he finally acknowledges how remarkable Martha is, and adds, "Martha Jones, you saved the world." View oEmbed on the source website It will always be a tragedy that Martha was reduced to 'desperate woman who wanted to be loved', and that this side of her character often overshadowed her acts of heroism, reduced her power and capped a limit on the banter and thrills that she could enjoy with the Doctor, while harbouring such a deep love for him. Her reappearance in season four redeems some of this oversight as she strikes up an instant bond with Donna and rejoices for the Doctor when he’s reunited with Rose. It seems the show simply didn’t know what to do with Martha in 2007, but she broke the mould and became a pivotal figure in the reinvention of the Doctor’s side-kick from a magician’s assistant-style damsel in distress to a formidable force that lessened the Doctor’s burden, and was on hand to help him save the universe. It turns out, Martha was right all along. As she tells the Doctor: "I spent a lot of time with you thinking I was second best, but you know what? I am good." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide and Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's Steven Moffat: UNIT would be ‘obvious choice’ for spin-off
Russell T Davies has confirmed that spin-offs are on their way.
Returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has teased that we've got spin-offs to look forward to and, with Tales of the TARDIS recently gracing our screens, we can't wait for everything else in store. But what exactly could they be? Fans certainly have their theories, and now former showrunner Steven Moffat has weighed in with his own, suggesting that there's one "obvious" choice. "It's tough with spin-offs of Doctor Who," he exclusively tells RadioTimes.com. "I like them, I always have a slight suspicion that the thing that's best about Doctor Who is that Doctor Who's in it. You don't improve a Doctor Who by taking Doctor Who out of it - said the writer of Blink! "So I don't know. There's loads of things you can do, there's loads of ideas in Doctor Who that are good enough for their own show, that's the truth. The obvious one is UNIT - why did no one just do UNIT? "I was always half-tempted to do Jenny and Vastra solving crimes in Victorian London with big swords, I thought that would be quite fun. I never got round to it because I was kind of busy." Moffat adds: "My favourite one they've done so far was The Sarah Jane Adventures because it did the thing you actually have to do, which is address a slightly different audience. "Doctor Who is kind of a children's programme but [SJA] was definitely a children's programme, of a kind that we sort of don't make anymore, which I think we should, and so I thought that was lovely. "But I'm sure whatever Russell comes up with will be exactly the right idea." Davies recently confirmed that more Doctor Who spin-offs are coming, telling GQ that the show is entering its "next stage". He said: "So I thought – with no criticism whatsoever towards the people who were running it at the time, because they were running it within the BBC's measures – it was time for the next stage for Doctor Who. Read more: Doctor Who's first Dalek story colourised for new feature-length revamp Doctor Who's Russell T Davies: 'I won't unwrite Chris Chibnall' "I thought the streaming platforms are ready, the spin-offs are ready; I always believed in spin-offs when I was there. I did Torchwood as a spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures as a spin-off. "Those spin-offs declined when I left, and I can see why. And I very much left after 2008, when the money became scarce. I think that's fair enough for the public service broadcaster that the money is spent on other things." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast.
Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials could learn from past milestones
A look back at how Doctor Who celebrated its big moments.
Doctor Who, remarkably, is now celebrating its 60th anniversary with a much-anticipated return for showrunner Russell T Davies, and David Tennant and Catherine Tate making a huge comeback to the show. Of course, this is not the first time the sci-fi has marked a milestone with special appearances. The 10th anniversary saw the Third Doctor Jon Pertwee cross paths with his two predecessors, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell. The trio faced off with a cast-out Timelord Omega, who was residing within a black hole in an antimatter universe, looking to exact revenge on the Timelords. We also saw many Doctors and companions reunited in the 20th. anniversary serial The Five Doctors, which saw the Doctors trapped inside the Death Zone on Gallifrey, facing an array of threats. Most recently, Matt Smith and David Tennant united with War Doctor John Hurt to fight a threat from The Zygons involving Queen Elizabeth I and the 21st Century National Gallery and prevent Gallifrey’s destruction in the Time War. While much is being kept under wraps about the nature of Tennant’s return as the Fourteenth Doctor, and whether we are likely to see more friends and foes appearing, there are certain lessons these new specials learn from previous celebrations on how to honour the show's past and drive it forwards into a new era with Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor. The Three Doctors being the first multi-Doctor storyline set a precedent for others to follow. The interplay between Troughton and Pertwee remains a particular delight, but it never cheapens the storyline being told, with the Time Lords breaking the first rule of time to get the Doctors to help prevent Omega’s return. Omega posed a formidable threat, and the Doctors combined were needed to keep him at bay. Omega would return to face the Fifth Doctor in the Arc of Infinity. The conclusion of the storyline sees the Doctor given a new time circuit for the TARDIS and restored memory of how to operate it fully, taken away at the end of The War Games and thus helping shape the direction for the remainder of The Third Doctor’s adventures. The Five Doctors, a feature-length special from 1983, sees Doctors One, Two, Three and Five trapped in Gallifrey’s Death Zone. The episode saw the return of a number of companions and adversaries including Daleks, Cybermen and The Master alongside the likes of Sarah Jane Smith, The Brigadier and Susan. The Five Doctors feels heavier on nostalgia with so many reunions throughout, although it introduces Rassilon, who would return as an adversary for the Tenth and Twelfth Doctors and brings up the concept of The Doctor being president of Gallifrey. It is still a thrill to see various Doctors interact and so many familiar faces, even if it doesn’t wholly change the thrust of the show. With the show off-air between 1989 and 2005, there were limited opportunities to celebrate the 30th and 40th anniversaries, with a crossover skit with EastEnders and Dimensions In Time in 1993. 2013’s Day of The Doctor saw our heroes save Gallifrey from presumed annihilation, something which had been a major theme of the revived era, especially for Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston. Coupled with the minisode The Night of The Doctor, the episode explored John Hurt’s War Doctor, filling in the gap between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, something that occurred offscreen. The saving of Gallifrey opened up the return in future appearances and was a key part of Peter Capaldi’s tenure in the TARDIS, and also came into play in the following storyline The Time of The Doctor, when Matt Smith’s Doctor was granted another set of regenerations. Read more: Doctor Who's Blink episode remains the perfect introduction to horror Doctor Who's best guest star isn't who you'd expect The Day of The Doctor also saw the return of The Zygons after a near 40-year absence. The Zygons posed a threat for both Elizabethan England and 21st Century London. This plot thread would be followed up directly in the 12 Doctor serials, The Zygon Invasion and Zygon Inversion in 2015. The Day of The Doctor and its supplementary materials showed that the show could look back to its past in both the original and modern runs of the show, but also tell a story that changed the narrative of the show in the future, driving it forward. We have since seen other multi-Doctor episodes like Twice Upon A Time and The Power of The Doctor, perhaps meaning we might see fewer crossovers in these upcoming episodes. Having multi-Doctor appearances outside of the main celebrations does slightly rob us of their impact. While we know little about the upcoming specials, it is clear that they will have a direct influence on Russell T Davies’s second stint as showrunner. The return of The Celestial Toymaker, a villain from William Hartnell’s era, and the first TV appearance for Beep The Meep, already ensures that the show is acknowledging its history. The reason behind the familiar appearance of The Fourteenth Doctor and the return of Donna Noble adds a sense of mystery. The three episodes seem likely to address past friends and foes, with the likes of Kate Stewart appearing, but also pushing us into a new era for the show in time for Ncuti Gatwa’s first full episode at Christmas just weeks after the specials’ conclusion. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide and Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Jo Whiley: What it's like hosting Doctor Who musical celebration
Doctor Who superfan Jo Whiley relives the gig of a lifetime.
To say that I’m a Doctor Who fan is an understatement, and I’ve been lucky enough to visit the sets over the years, and interview many brilliant incarnations of the Doctor and their companions. Peter Capaldi even announced that he was leaving the iconic role on my Radio 2 show in 2017, a live on-air shock I don’t think I’ll ever get over! So, as a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I jumped at the chance to host Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. It’s always a joy to leave the studios of Wogan House to present a show in a different part of the UK, but I don’t think I was prepared for how very special this night was. However, it was also a nerve-wracking experience, as I was going to be interviewing the incredible showrunners Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall live on stage in front of a few hundred Doctor Who superfans! Thankfully, they were wonderful guests, sharing their passion for the show and revealing how they were also thrilled, but equally terrified, about being involved with such a globally successful, much-loved series. And what a treat it was to be joined in the audience by the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, and Sophie Aldred, who played the Doctor’s companion, Ace. Hearing the BBC’s National Orchestra of Wales and BBC Singers, conducted by Alastair King, perform music from the show was spine-tingling, and for them to perform with Mark Ayres and Peter Howell - two members of the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, who first created the music to the series - was stunning. I was enthralled for the whole concert, then had to quickly compose myself to introduce the next performance or interview one of the guests. Russell, Steven and Chris, like me and the rest of the audience, are huge fans of the show, and every person at Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff was so happy to be there – all of us Whovians sharing being at this intimate concert, knowing we were witnessing something very special. It was lovely to see the excitement on their faces and hear their gasps of surprise when the orchestra exclusively played some of Murray Gold’s new compositions for the forthcoming series, which had never been performed or heard in public before - and included the Fifteenth Doctor’s theme. Segun Akinola even created a brand new suite of his Doctor Who compositions especially for the concert. I can’t tell you how honoured I felt to be part of that night. I’m thrilled that, as well as having been broadcast on Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, the concert is now coming to BBC Four and iPlayer, so I can watch it over and over again, without having to worry about my next link! Like the many millions of fans around the world, I’m counting down to the new season, which returns in November 2023 with three special episodes with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor, and I can’t wait to see Ncuti Gatwa’s first episode as the Fifteenth Doctor over the festive period. Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration will air on BBC Four on Wednesday 1st November at 8.30-10pm and on BBC iPlayer. It's now available on BBC Sounds. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast
Doctor Who writer: 'It was a privilege writing for Elisabeth Sladen'
Toby Whithouse reflected on working with "the most iconic actor".
Doctor Who writer Toby Whithouse has opened up about the "privilege" of writing for Elisabeth Sladen when her character, Sarah Jane Smith, was introduced into New Who. Celebrating the show's upcoming 60th anniversary, Whithouse, who wrote the School Reunion episode, spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about working alongside Sladen. "It was amazing. What a privilege, what an absolute privilege," he said. "I'm trying to remember kind of where I was in my career, I think that she was, in a way, the most iconic actor, performer, I think I'd ever written for at that point." In the School Reunion episode, the Krillitanes disguise themselves as school faculty members, using the minds of children to solve a theory of everything that would allow them to control time and space. The episode takes place some time after the events of The Christmas Invasion, and involved the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) reuniting with former companion Sarah Jane Smith. Whithouse added: "In hindsight, you just realise what a privilege it was. And when I met her, she was just such a delight and so lovely and so complimentary about the script. Yeah, a real, real privilege." Reflecting on the legacy Sladen left behind, Whithouse told RadioTimes.com he had grown up watching the actress as Sarah Jane Smith when she was the companion of the Fourth Doctor. "It was the realisation just how much those characters meant to other people", that led to her reintroduction. Elisabeth Sladen's character Sarah Jane Smith will be making a return to screens soon, with her spin-off show K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend coming to BBC iPlayer. Read more: Nothing is too dark for Doctor Who, writers insist Toby Whithouse: “Doctor Who needs to be protected” The one-episode pilot, which was first broadcast on BBC One in December 1981, has been listed on the BBC's programme sit as "available soon". While a date is yet to be confirmed, fans can also get an extra fix of Sarah Jane on Wednesday 1st November after it was announced that over 800 episodes of Doctor Who would be available to stream on iPlayer. As well as classic and modern era episodes, various spin-off series, including The Sarah Jane Adventures, will be joining the streaming site. View Green Video on the source website Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast.
Doctor Who's Alex Kingston says she's holding in a "big spoiler"
The River Song actress answers fan questions.
The love for Alex Kingston's River Song in Doctor Who is just as alive now as it was when she burst onto our screens more than a decade ago. As the Doctor's wife, she became one of the most beloved characters of all time, meeting various different incarnations of the Time Lord in the wrong order. Celebrating the show's upcoming 60th anniversary, the actress answered some burning questions from Doctor Who fans - and, staying true to character, revealed that she's holding some pretty big spoilers in. Are you keeping any juicy spoilers right now? Submitted by @MatthewVernon3 "Am I keeping any juicy spoilers right now? Yes, I am actually, I'm keeping a juicy spoiler! Yes, that will be revealed, I would imagine, later in the year..." What's your favourite aspect of River Song? Submitted by @telzeyamber "She has the most fantastic one liners. I think it's her her naughtiness, but always ultimately, her love. She has this unconditional love for the Doctor - but she she can also be naughty." What shenanigans did River and the Doctor get up to on Darilium? Submitted by @SpencerTracyFan "Oh my gosh! No, that's a big spoiler." What's it been like working with all the different Doctors at Big Finish and how has that developed River's character? "The community at Big Finish have also become a family. I've worked on a lot of stories over the years and it's, it's just so much fun. The freedom, actually, that you have with audio is quite extraordinary, because of course, the writers can really go to town with their imagination, because they don't need to think about filming budgets or anything like that and you're just in a sound booth and you have to create that world then alongside all the special effects that are edited on to the story afterwards. "It's been really fun and I've been able to work with all of the Doctors. And also we've been able to just take River Song's diary and run with that and have a whole different set of stories where she's actually living her own adventures, living through her own adventures without the Doctor because, of course, that was one of the things that I would always kind of think about was 'what's River doing when she's not having an adventure with a Doctor'? "Obviously she's up to something and knowing her personality, she wouldn't sort of just be sitting at home mopping the floors or knitting or something! She would be off. And so I love the fact that we've been able to sort of investigate her life away from the Doctor." View oEmbed on the source website What was your favourite scene or episode to film? Submitted by DannyFlavs17 "I've been amazingly lucky because Steven Moffat wouldn't allow any of the other writers to write for my character. So the only episodes I had ever been in were episodes written by Steven, and I always felt that I had the best lines. And in fact, Matt would always sort of grudgingly say 'Yes, you do have the best lines'. "So it's very difficult for me to be able to actually say I have a best episode, because I feel that it would somehow make it seem as though I felt the other episodes weren't as good or were lesser in some way. And that's not the case. "Every single episode that I was in was an absolute joy to film and we had so much fun on. But I mean, yes, for sure. The very first episode I was ever in has to be for obvious reasons, and also the Husbands of River Song, that moment with Peter Capaldi when I suddenly realise who he is. "That was such a hard moment to film because I had to – I knew obviously, as Alex – but I had to not know as River Song who he was until he says 'Hello, sweetie'. It was just very hard emotionally to kind of like, stay innocent of the of the knowledge. "I loved doing Let's Kill Hitler. I loved that episode because it was just so out there. I mean, I don't know what goes on in Steven's brain. He's an absolute genius. But no, it was brilliant. I mean, who doesn't love a banana?! Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast.
Doctor Who's Blink episode remains the perfect introduction to horror
Cast your mind back to June 2007. Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister. England’s men’s team have just played their first game at the new Wembley. And there’s a near-10-year-old me that still gets scared at certain episodes of What's New, Scooby-Doo? (look, some of those ghosts are properly creepy, alright?). My friends are already diving into Saw 3 and Trick 'r Treat, taking in the most extreme of extremities that the world of horror has to offer. But not me. There’s not a chance I’m even dipping a toe into the genre, never mind diving in headfirst with an 18-rated fright fest. I’m more than happy to stick to comedies and cartoons, taking every measure imaginable to avoid the horrors of horror. That is, until an episode of Doctor Who comes on the screen, featuring (or, rather, not really featuring) my Converse-wearing, pinstripe suit-donning idol in David Tennant’s 10th Time Lord, alongside Carey Mulligan’s Sally Sparrow, being hunted down by a group of angel statues out for blood. That’s right, in the blink of an eye, Blink arrived - and so did my appreciation of what horror could do. (Or, at least, what it could do in a pre-watershed sci-fi series on the BBC - perfect for a fearful primary schooler like myself.) Sure, this is no kill-heavy slasher in the form of Scream, and no paranormal mind-bender in the shape of The Conjuring, but Blink – perhaps the single most popular episode of the new Doctor Who era – demonstrates the genre’s ability to get under the skin and into the minds of the audience. And, even with a PG rating and some questionable CGI, it does it masterfully well. Blink’s greatest strength is its ability to establish a sense of creeping dread, of consistent threat, that is properly unnerving. The feeling of being watched is one of the most disturbing one can experience, and has been explored throughout horror history - from Michael Myers taunting Laurie Strode from the shadows in 1978’s Halloween to Rory Kinnear’s birthday suit-wearing stalker drifting into the edge of the frame in last year’s Men, there’s very little that unsettles more than being followed. There’s something mentally exhausting about the idea of never being able to rest, of not being able to drop your guard for even a moment, which can drive you insane - and Steven Moffat’s concrete-looking creations provide the perfect example of this. You see, with the Weeping Angels, turning your back, trying to run away, or even taking your eye off their haunting expressions for a split second could spell the end of the road - just ask Amy Pond. In the words of Tennant’s frantic Doctor, "Blink and you’re dead". Is there any concept more terrifying than having the most basic human action rendered potentially life-threatening? This inescapable danger is draining, debilitating. As we viewers watch Sally and Finlay Robertson’s Larry Nightingale navigate the nightmare they find themselves in, we grimace each time they turn their heads, and scream at the TV as we spot an angel moving ever closer. It’s the sort of pulse-racing tension that only the horror genre can provide, and it lingers long in the memory. View oEmbed on the source website Yet director Hettie Macdonald notches up the fear even further, ending the episode by turning her attention from Sally on the screen to us on the sofa at home, repeating Tennant’s iconic speech alongside real-life clips of gargoyles, statues and sculptures to ensure this isn’t just a concept that’s confined to the telly, but one that continues to stick with you even after you hit the big red button on the remote. I know I, for one, lost many a night’s sleep in the weeks following that episode, as I feared that shutting my eyes to get some shut-eye would spell the end of my time on Earth (stop laughing, I said I was 10), and I’ll still remain resolute whenever I visit a cathedral or graveyard, determined to make sure those creepy creatures don’t get the drop on me. Thanks for that, Moffat. As if the terror of being tailed from the shadows isn’t unnerving enough, though, the design of the Weeping Angels themselves ensures things are lifted to another level. Visual effects producer Will Cohen and his team take something that is meant to be reassuring, gentle, holy, and turn it completely on its head. As the angels switch from passive and peaceful to aggressive and menacing, their demonic faces take up the screen with a look of pure evil, accompanied by a smattering of thunder that still catches me off guard on the 18th watch. Similar to clowns in the likes of It or dolls in the likes of Chucky, there’s an added shock factor that comes with witnessing something that’s traditionally 'good' going bad. Where once there was joy, there’s now malice, a threat - and if good can turn against you, what can’t? All of this is hammered home by the fantastic leading performance from Mulligan. Through Sally, we see an everyday protagonist thrown directly into hell. We could easily be Sally ourselves, confused, overwhelmed and completely out of our depth, making it easy to properly experience these horrors through her. Like the aforementioned Laurie in Halloween or Sidney Prescott in the Scream franchise, Sparrow is in no way prepared for her journey, an ordinary person in an extraordinary scenario, who’s unable to fully rely on a hero’s help - instead having to find her own way out of trouble. And Mulligan delivers the twists and turns of this torturous 45 minutes with all of the nuance you’d expect from a future Oscar nominee. Yet, what makes Blink truly special is that it delivers all of these thrills, scares and mental scars without the need for excessive blood splatters or easy cliches. Through the simple combination of a killer script, top performances and a toe-curlingly terrifying concept, this beloved episode of Doctor Who provides everything horror has to offer, all without leaving the confines of a PG rating. It may have come out 16 years ago now (yes, it is really that long ago), but Blink is still the ideal introduction to the genre - and a perfect Halloween watch, if you’re too scared to see Saw. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage and visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Toby Whithouse: “Doctor Who needs to be protected”
"The BBC is under threat from so many different corners."
Ahead of Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, writer Toby Whithouse has said that the show and its broadcaster, the BBC, need to be "protected". Whithouse, who was once tipped to become showrunner for Doctor Who, has written across various different eras of the show, first contributing to the show in season 2 with his episode School Reunion and later writing scripts for Steven Moffat on a regular basis. Speaking to RadioTimes.com about the show's milestone, he said: "I'm so thrilled it’s got this longevity, I'm so thrilled it's survived in the way it has and the way that it constantly reinvents itself. "It’s a very mercurial shadow, in the way that it’s able to change its shape and sort of change, so much about it and yet retain something and yet retain its kind of essential DNA. "So it gives me a lot of hope that we'll be having this conversation for its 70th. It's really exciting. It’s such a beautiful, precious show that I sometimes worry for it, but then, you know, it's lasted this long for a reason." He added: "The BBC is under threat from so many different corners and Doctor Who, and by extension the BBC, is this very precious, exquisite thing should be protected and valued." Thinking back to his experience writing for various different showrunners and Doctors, he reflected: "I just absolutely loved it. It felt like a real treat, a kind of treat like buying yourself a Christmas present, doing an episode of Doctor Who. It was just a joy because it was a very different muscle to the other the shows I would do, my own shows included, and so it was kind of like a holiday!" While he contributed to Russell T Davies's first era, Whithouse mostly wrote in collaboration with Moffat for episodes like The Vampires of Venice, The God Complex, and A Town Called Mercy as well as various season 9 episodes. Giving an insight into their writing process, Whithouse recalled: "With The God Complex, Steven said, 'I want to do an episode where the Doctor and Amy are trapped in a hotel and the walls keep moving' and that was kind of it as far as I remember. "So he kind of just pitched that as an initial meeting and over the course of that meeting, just talked through various vague ideas... "I came away from that and I was thinking, 'So the hotel is like a a maze,' and I've always been interested in the Greek myths, so I was thinking, so what lived in a maze? A minotaur! Is there any way that at the centre of this hotel maze, there's a minotaur? And it sort of expanded from that." View oEmbed on the source website As for adding the literal nightmare fuel to the episode, he added: "That was one of those changes that, at first, makes you go, 'Oh god, that's massive', but actually it's the thing that unlocks the episode." Read more: Doctor Who's David Bradley on "taking liberties" with the First Doctor Doctor Who's Arthur Darvill on Amy and Rory's "perfect ending" He went on: "With A Town Called Mercy, Steven had this idea that there's a town in the Wild West and there's a robot walking round it. "We just sort of riffed from that and I think the first scene that came to mind was a scene that happens quite far into he episode where there's a lynch mob kind of surrounding the sheriff's house and they want him to bring out the prisoner and that's the first scene I had. Then in both directions, it sort of spread out from that." As for The Vampires of Venice, he remembers his "terminally long" script, admitting: "There were lots of necessary, quite savage cuts within it." "But again, that was a real joy," he added, "because that was the first one I wrote for Matt Smith and the first one I wrote for Steven. That was a really exciting script to write." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage and visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Craig Parkinson on possible Doctor Who return: "Grand Serpent isn’t dead"
"He’s floating out there somewhere in space, so who knows?"
The 13th season of Doctor Who, subtitled Flux, not only featured a number of returning villains - such as the Daleks and the Weeping Angels - but it also introduced a number of new antagonists, including Swarm and Azure. There was also The Grand Serpent, an alien creature that infiltrated UNIT and struck a deal with the Sontarans, but he was eventually brought down by Vinder and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, who stranded him on an asteroid in deep space. Parkinson recently caught up with RadioTimes.com exclusively, and when asked how he looks back at his time on Doctor Who, he said: "With so much love and fondness. I mean, talk about a juggernaut. That was incredible." He continued: "Of course it was otherworldly, but to work with Jodie [Whittaker] and Mandip [Gill] on that was heaps and heaps of fun, and I think the way that Jodie left the show, it'll be in people's minds for a long, long time. "But, you know, the Grand Serpent isn't dead – he’s floating out there somewhere in space, so who knows?" View oEmbed on the source website Parkinson was speaking with RadioTimes.com about his current role in new detective drama Mrs Sidhu Investigates, in which he plays long-suffering divorcee DCI Burton, who forms an unofficial partnership with the titular sleuth. Read more: Sylvester McCoy on his "emotional" return to Doctor Who Doctor Who boss teases "RTD universe" with upcoming show crossover We currently know of a number of returning stars set to appear in future episodes of Doctor Who, including David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Jemma Redgrave and more, and we also know of a major new villain joining the show, played by Jinkx Monsoon. When it comes to more familiar antagonists, all eyes are currently on the Toymaker, a character who originally faced off against William Hartnell's First Doctor and has not been seen on-screen in 57 years. He is being played in this year's 60th anniversary specials by Neil Patrick Harris, who previously explained how he became involved with the show. He said: "I get a text from Russell T Davies saying, 'So, I'm doing this thing and I've written a thing and there's a part in it that you might like. I think it's delicious. Is it OK if I send it to you?' "And I say, 'Of course, Russell, you're Russell T Davies. Of course.' And he sent it and I started reading it, and from the very, very first scene, I was like, 'Ah, this is delicious.'" View Green Video on the source website Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage and visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's Arthur Darvill "absolutely wouldn't say no" to returning
Arthur Darvill is up for another run at Rory.
After more than a decade, Arthur Darvill has said he'd be up for returning to Doctor Who. The actor starred as Rory Williams alongside Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor and Karen Gillan's Amy Pond, with the trio staying until season 7. Amy and Rory exited the show in heartbreaking circumstances, falling victim to the Weeping Angels, but it didn't rule out a return for the pair of them. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Darvill explained: "The way I feel about it is, yes I would [return], but it would have to be the right thing and I think enough time would have to have passed. "We used to get asked about it straight away, like we’d just left and gone on to other things, so the stock answer then was, 'Well, no. No, I’ve been doing it for three years!' "But now I absolutely wouldn’t say no to it. My fear with it before was I think the storyline we had was so perfect and so rounded that I just wouldn’t want anything to take away from that. "Now we’re a bit older, I think at some point, even if it’s just a one-off, it’d be really interesting to do something more with it. Never say never! "I think at the time we were all worried we’d be stuck in it forever, like it would be the only thing we’d ever done, which obviously since then it hasn’t been – we’ve all kind of gone on and done loads of other things. And so that has a slightly different meaning going back now. "It would be a lovely thing. But also, if that never happens, that’s fine as well. I’m really, really proud of the story we told and the way it was told." Darvill, Gillan and Smith had an incredible friendship on the show, with the three of them still keeping in close contact. "Myself and Matt knew each other beforehand, so already it was like going to work with friends, and we were just all together for such a long time. "And, for me anyway, because it was so early in my career and I felt like I was learning on the job, it was just really formative," he said. "We were so busy and no one else could really understand the experience we were having, and that was really bonding for all of us. "We've all just remained such close friends from it, which is an amazing thing. We still all go on holiday together and see each other and do things together, and I really love that." Shop Eleventh Doctor action figures at Amazon Fezzes, Stetsons, top hats, the Eleventh Doctor has many looks. But there’s something about that classic bow-tie and blazer combination that we just can’t seem to let go of. If you too want to immortalise Matt Smith’s Doctor and his iconic outfit, you can find dozens of collectible action figures at Amazon. This figurine, in particular, is made from high-quality metallic resin, and features the Doctor and Amy Pond from the episode The Angels Take Manhattan. So if you want to be reminded of that heart-breaker then get shopping! Buy Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond figurine set for £39.99 at Amazon Darvill added: "I felt sorry for some of the guest people coming on, sometimes, because we were all so close and had this - we were just in all the time, so we had this kind of shared language with each other, which I think, for an outsider, I don't know if it was intimidating, it might have been annoying. "We were just very loud and very boisterous and felt a real responsibility to keep the energy up with everyone. And we were very nice to everyone who came in, but I think they must have thought, 'God, what's going on with these people? They're really hyperactive.' "But that was part of our coping mechanism to get through it! But also the nature of the show was that it was so fun and the relationship between the three of us was so specific that I think we had to build that relationship outside of it for it to be authentic on screen." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage and visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Nothing is too dark for Doctor Who, writers insist
Some of the show's darkest episodes have become fan favourites.
Over 60 years, Doctor Who has covered some seriously dark topics, with some of the scariest episodes becoming fan favourites. Iconic episode Blink, helmed by Steven Moffat, The Waters of Mars, written by Phil Ford, and Midnight, written by returning showrunner Russell T Davies, are just some of the times Doctor Who has turned a little terrifying. While fans love the show all the more for how those stories are handled, it seems the writers are no different. Speaking to RadioTimes.com to celebrate the publication of their Target novelisations, various Doctor Who writers considered where the line is - and ultimately decided that, if tackled correctly, there's nothing too dark for Doctor Who. Phil Ford, who wrote the terrifying David Tennant episode The Waters of Mars, recalled: "I remember, I grew up with Jon Pertwee predominantly and, looking back, I remember stories like The Green Death being really quite scary for me as a kid. "I'm not so sure that it's moved away from that so much, I have no doubt that there will be another Doctor Who story coming down the road that will be every bit as scary, if not more than The Waters of Mars. "I think scaring kids is what I've always enjoyed doing! Whether it's in Doctor Who or Sarah Jane [Adventures]... I think Russell put it to me a long time ago that it's OK to scare kids, what you don't want to do is terrify them and scar them!" He added: "I've met at conventions an awful lot of kids that admitted they were scared by The Waters of Mars, but not so much to traumatise them! They loved it because it's scary." Ford went on to say: "The Waters of Mars, from my point of view, was always going to be scary because that's what I like to do. I think the team around Doctor Who then and now is just so good at what it does, I think we all have confidence in each other in knowing just how far we can go. "And certainly, whenever I went too far, I knew Russell was going to pull me up on something... my memory of Russell is not so much hauling me back on The Waters of Mars, but on other episodes, him pushing me harder to make things even scarier and even bleaker in some cases! Which is just wonderful, because he has this amazing opinion – and talent to back it up – that really there is no story you can't tell for kids. It's just a question of how you tell that story." Peter Harness, writer of The Zygon Invasion/Inversion two-parter in season 9, added: "It depends on what kind of darkness it is... I think you can skate around nearly everything. "You don't have to do it on the nose but I think you can more or less, as far as I'm concerned, cover most things because it's always been a show which has darkness in it and horror and nightmarish fairytale elements. "I think it gets quite close when that poor Zygon decides to electrocute himself but maybe we got away with that! That wasn't something that people really bumped against, I think they found it moving and horrifying but I don't recall anyone saying, 'Christ, that's a bit too dark.' "I don't think Doctor Who should be dark all the time, maybe I feel that my episodes in general were a little bit grave! I would have liked to have tried more light-hearted ones. But I don't think there's anywhere you can't go in Doctor Who." Meanwhile, Keith Temple, who wrote the David Tennant story Planet of the Ood, said: "Thank goodness we're past the days of Mary Whitehouse! There are other sorts of censorship restrictions we have to take into account but I don't think there are any topics that Doctor Who can't handle, as long as it's done well. Really, Doctor Who, if you look at every story, there's so much death and mayhem in it! "People maybe don't realise how much there is in the way of death. Doctor Who is a family show, there are a lot of young people who watch it, and children - you have to be careful as a writer and a programme maker that you address all those ages within the episode and that makes it quite a difficult show but as long as you don't patronise children, you can do anything, I think. There are no barriers to what you can do." Target novelisations of The Waters of Mars, The Zygon Invasion and Planet of the Ood are available to buy now. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide and Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast.
Doctor Who's Sacha Dhawan answers fan questions - breaks down favourite scene
Everything you needed to know about that Rasputin scene.
As the latest incarnation of The Master in Doctor Who, Sacha Dhawan has had quite the adventure (in space and time). But there are certain moments that stand out to him above all others. While the actor hasn't ruled out returning to the show in the future, he sees his last appearance in the show, in The Power of the Doctor, as an ending to his Master - at least for now. So, as part of RadioTimes.com's 60 Days of Doctor Who, we caught up with the Doctor Who icon to ask him some burning questions from the fans. If you could feature in an episode alongside another Master…. which one would it be? Submitted by @nerddenreal. Dhawan: "Michelle Gomez. We met recently at a Comic Con in New Zealand of all places, and we had to do an interview together for some press. I wasn't the Master, like I didn't realise I was considering her as the Master. She's the Master, Missy! And I was just slightly like a goofy fan. But we got to hang out and we had the best time ever. I knew immediately if we got to do scenes together, it would be chaos, like it'd be amazing. She is so great. I'd love to work with her." RadioTimes.com: "Even the little video you put out on social media together, it sent fans into a tailspin." Dhawan: "Totally it did. She's great. She's got such a such a amazing fanbase, when you get to meet her as well, she's just brilliant. I really took to a shine to her. I sent her a message recently, like, 'Oh, god, I adore you' because we were just kind of going back and forth with messages. She's got such a great heart and she's just funny and brilliant. And that was meeting her for a couple of days. Can you imagine us filming together? Chaos." What was your favourite scene to film in Doctor Who? Submitted by @uwuttaker. Dhawan: "I'd probably say the plane scene and I'd probably say... It's hard to say really, I enjoyed all of them [but] I'd say yeah, the Rasputin scene. And it wasn't even for the dance, really. I mean, the dance was a good part of it. I just really loved doing it. I had a moment when I was like, going to the restroom during the scenes and you kind of look yourself in the mirror and you're like, 'I'm dressed as Rasputin'. This is nonsense! This is crazy!" Is there an extended cut of the Rasputin dance? Submitted by @CooperHillier. Dhawan: I was convinced that in the script, it said, 'Rasputin dances', and it doesn't. I think he just clicks the song on and for some reason, I read it in my head that he dances so I was doing the scene. "And then they put the music on and I just started dancing, thinking that was what was in the script. But they must have thought, 'Well, this is Sacha, this is kind of what he does, let's just go with it.' "And they let me dance for about five minutes, I was proper going for it! I hadn't planned what moves I was gonna do, I just knew on that day I had to dance. I think because I was really adrenalised and gearing myself up for it for the last couple of days, I just broke out into - I was squatting, jumping, and I think they thought, 'This is quite cool'. "Unfortunately they couldn't keep all of it in because it wasn't planned but they did keep some of it so I was quite happy." "Loads of people have picked up on it and stuff, but I think when I got the script and saw it, I just loved the idea of Rasputin dancing to Boney M, so I was listening to the song constantly when I was in London, and I think I had the beat in my head and when it came to it, I just like, let loose. I'm glad it made the cut!" RadioTimes.com: "I can't believe it wasn't actually in the script." Dhawan: "I actually looked back recently, I thought 'I should just check this'. And then I thought, 'Oh my god, it doesn't even say The Master dances', it just says he clicks the song on. So that was just a complete misread in the script on my part." How did you go about playing a character that's been played by so many other actors too? Submitted by @Galifreyboi. Dhawan: "I really wanted to put my own spin on it and I didn't really look too much at other actors or the history too much. I didn't want to get bogged down by it. And then Chris [Chibnall] and Matt [Strevens] also gave me the freedom to kind of own it, which was fantastic. "I think that's what's great about Doctor Who, when other actors come in to incarnate different roles, they're really allowed to put their own stamp on it, even in terms of costume as well. "Ray Holman, the costume designer, for me, who worked on my incarnation, was incredibly collaborative. But something maybe I've not spoken about is reveals really work well, where you almost kind of - especially if you're coming in as a different character is to almost separate the two, which is a really good tip, because I think when I initially was preparing for O, I was trying to be too clever with it. And you could tell that it was the Master. Get the Thirteenth Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver for under £30 at Amazon If you’re a lover of Jodie Whittaker, kooky designs and Sheffield steel, then you have to buy this light-up Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver – now available for under £30. This toy is an exact replica of the device used by the Thirteenth Doctor in series 11, 12 and Flux, and even emits the iconic Sonic Screwdriver sound as heard in the show. So, if you want to be a part of The Doctor’s faithful fam, head over to Amazon and get shopping. Buy Thirteenth Doctor Sonic Screwdriver for £29.99 at Amazon "So I did this thing, which really helped me, which was I kind of separated the script into two. So I looked at it as two different projects. So all the Master stuff I just put away in a cupboard and never looked at it for ages and I just looked at O, and I thought okay, so I'm coming in just playing this kind of nerdy science guy and I just almost forgot that I was coming in as the Master. "So I did all the O scenes, and I thought, 'Okay, that's all done'. And then I thought 'Right, now I can look at the Master. So that was two separate characters. So it meant that the reveal works really well. Because I think if you watch O, I didn't intentionally do this, but there's no kind of Master-esque of things to him. He's not trying to be clever or anything and I think it helps. "So that was my approach specifically to that episode. Then as I was the Master and the episodes went on, I just... I always wanted to just keep investigating him, keep being playful. Coming back for The Power of the Doctor, I didn't want to just do the same thing, which is why you didn't see me in the purple costume and stuff, I wanted to kind of try and do something different. "I feel like the Master is brilliant because he's a master of disguise. He's not that comfortable at being himself, but he loves being other people or putting on a mask, so, really I think underneath all of that is someone incredibly vulnerable that we've maybe not seen yet. I don't know. That's, that's my interpretation anyway. So I'd be interested in seeing what that side of him is - a really, really vulnerable side." RadioTimes.com: "That makes so much sense because in that reveal, your face completely changes." Dhawan: "Yeah, and Jamie, the director, gave me a really good note on that day, which was, "I really want to see the decision of you going, 'Okay, I'm going to show to the Doctor now that I'm the Master' He said, 'Just ramp it up a little bit, even if it feels big,' So it made me like, do something quite odd with my eyes, they went up slightly. "And I think that was when people went 'What? This is odd'. And it really was such a good note from Jamie, because it was slightly alien, watching his eyes. Because suddenly, he's making that choice." Did you take anything from set? Submitted by @taylz19_TTT. Dhawan: "I didn't take anything but they kindly, at the end when I finished, they gave me my whole costume and everything, and also the Tissue Compression Eliminator, which was like, 'Oh, my God, so I've got it'. I mean, I didn't quite know what I'm going to do with it, but kind of put it away. "But it was awesome. It kind of made me feel a bit like 'Oh, I'm definitely finished, then! I'm not coming back. Okay, thanks a lot!' Like, 'Okay, bye, everybody!' It was great that they gave me all of I didn't have to steal it." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage and visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times podcast.
Doctor Who's Frazer Hines battles Daleks in first clip from new book
Hines returns to the Whoniverse for a retelling of a beloved Doctor Who tale.
As if the last few months of 2023 couldn't get more exciting for Doctor Who fans, we now have a brand new audiobook to look forward to – and it features one of the show's longest-running companions. Being released by BBC Audio, Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks will be released later this month, as we continue to gear up for the anticipated new season and 60th anniversary episodes. The classic Doctor Who tale gets an inventive retelling in this new audio adventure that is narrated by none other than Frazer Hines. Hines, of course, starred in the sci-fi series between 1966 and 1969, as well as guest appearances in the '80s, as the Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon. Well, Jamie is back in the Whoniverse once more, and in the tale, he will be joined by the Doctor and young astrophysicist Zoe as they have to relive one of Jamie's most harrowing adventures with the Daleks. View Green Video on the source website In an exclusive clip to RadioTimes.com, which can be listened to above, fans can get a taste of the adventure for themselves, and can hear how the Doctor is struggling to make sense of the Daleks' logic. As well as the story being read by Hines, he is joined in this clip by Nicholas Briggs, the regular voice of the Daleks. As the Doctor grows increasingly frustrated at its commands, the Dalek then starts to ask him about Jamie, saying "he is the human being who is to be tested", which leads the Doctor to get nervous. "You will reveal nothing to your companion. Obey the Daleks, you are in our power," the Dalek states. Talk about chilling stuff, right? Well, the Daleks are only set to get more calculating and powerful as the tale goes on. According to the synopsis: "In a complex plot that drags him from modern-day London to Victorian times and finally to the Dalek world of Skaro, he endures ordeals that test his courage, strength and his friendship with the Doctor to the limit." The audiobook is just one of a slew of exciting titles that are being released to celebrate the iconic show's 60th anniversary. Throughout each month this year, an audio adventure has been released, taking us on a journey from the first Doctor right through to the Thirteenth. Read more: Doctor Who’s David Bradley on "taking liberties" with the First Doctor Doctor Who exec gives update on how many new episodes have been shot But there's plenty more to come as, according to the release, "This autumn, we bring the anniversary year to a close with a bang, with a bumper load of new tales for the Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors to cosy up with." Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks has been written and read by Hines and, of course, is a retelling of the serial that was released in 1967. In said serial, the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Jamie (Hines) are transported to 1866, where the Daleks force the Doctor to help them in their evil plot to humanise themselves by putting a human factor into their brains. It's a mostly missing serial, with only the second episode held in the BBC archives and the other six remaining missing. However, the story was released as an animation back in 2021. Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks is available to pre-order on Audible now. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage and visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who’s David Bradley on “taking liberties” with the First Doctor
"The second time with Peter Capaldi, I could be a bit more rock 'n' roll with it."
David Bradley has had a unique journey when it comes to Doctor Who, from being cast as the late William Hartnell to actually taking on the role of the First Doctor. The actor, also known for his role in the Harry Potter films, first came to Doctor Who for a guest appearance in season 7 episode Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and returned for the 50th anniversary docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time to play Hartnell. He impressed the show's bosses so much that when they decided to bring back a version of the First Doctor, originally played by Hartnell, alongside Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor, they knew exactly who to call. Bradley tells RadioTimes.com: "I ran into Mark Gatiss last night, at the National Theatre, and the bar afterwards, and he said, 'Do you realise it's [been] 10 years since we did An Adventure in Space and Time?' And it just reminded me of one of the best jobs I've ever had. I still feel very proud of what Mark and everybody did in that and just to be a part of it. "Hartnell was my first ever Doctor - I'm that young - and so it was the honour and the responsibility of being asked to do it, when you're playing someone you not only admire but there’s still members of their family around to either give it [a thumbs up or thumbs down]. Fortunately for me, they all said, ‘Yeah, you got granddad’ and I was so delighted, and it was more of a relief as much as anything else. "Of course, the second time with Peter Capaldi, I could be a bit more rock 'n' roll with it and just take a few liberties with it, and have more fun with the character, rather than focusing on the accuracy and convincing proper Whovians who know much more about that world than I do. And to get the thumbs up from them was quite something." Bradley has made it clear that he never wanted to completely mimic Hartnell's way of playing the First Doctor - but that's not to say he didn't do his research. "One still hoped to make the most of the footage I was shown of the Doctor," he recalls. "Just his way of looking and just his voice and that slightly, ‘I'm not quite sure about you, young man!’ He would tilt his head and, for me, he embodied all the best things about the character. But what particularly impressed me was, he made the Doctor kind of curious about the universe, and everything in it. Celebrate 60 years since the First Doctor with the William Hartnell DVD box set “One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back.” Well now he has – with this Beginning DVD boxset, you can journey back to 1963 and watch the first three adventures of William Hartnell’s Doctor. Now available at HMV, this set contains all thirteen episodes from An Uneartly Child, The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction for just £10.99. Plus, it’s got exclusive bonus features that die-hard Whovians will love. Buy Doctor Who: The Beginning DVD boxset for £10.99 at HMV "Of course, he puts himself and others in danger in his quest for adventures and because he was inquisitive and questioning, you think, 'Oh, I wish I'd been a bit more like that when I was younger,’ rather than just taking everything, authority figures, or whatever for granted. But he would push and ask questions. "He had this fascination and curiosity with everything around him which made him very young in many senses. And I think that's why a lot of young people took to the character. All the others since have made the doctor their own brilliant ways, but he set the template for them all to follow. So what he created was something amazing." Welcome to 60 Days of Doctor Who, RadioTimes.com's ultimate celebration of all things Who as the show gears up for its 60th anniversary. We'll be bringing you 60 days of exclusive Doctor Who content, from interviews and newsletter takeovers with the show's stars to the hottest takes from our team of Doctor Who superfans. Stay tuned! As for his favourite Doctor Who story, there's one that sticks in his mind. "I suppose it was the one that made the most impression or the one that I looked at time and time again - the very first one. And because of the story behind it, and the determination to get it put on and the fact that it went out on the night that John Kennedy was assassinated, and Verity Lambert just pushed and pushed and they could have easily been shelved because there was certain people at the BBC who didn't want it in the first place. "And [they] were hoping to use that as an excuse to say 'no, just bin it'… It could have so easily been strangled at birth. "But Verity Lambert really stood up and said 'you cannot do this, you have to show it again'. And it remains to me a wonderful episode, because it's the introduction to all these characters." Six decades after Doctor Who-fi began, it's still as strong as ever. Reflecting on what the series means to him, Bradley explains: "It's just amazing that, I mean, as Hartnell said, there can't be a Doctor Who without the Doctor when he realised he wasn't able to do it anymore, and the idea of regeneration is a brilliant one of course. "And it just shows how various regenerations have been, [like] with Jodie, just showing, you can go anywhere with this. I hope it lives for another 60 years." Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage and visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's Scream of the Shalka deserves to be celebrated
It's been 20 years since the great Doctor Who revival that wasn't.
You'll have been hard-pressed to miss the news that November 2023 will see Doctor Who celebrate six decades since it first materialised on our television screens, but this year also marks another anniversary for the series, one far less likely to generate news headlines or even prompt much fan discussion. On 13th November 2003, Scream of the Shalka debuted its first episode on the BBC's official Doctor Who website. Two decades on, Shalka has been, if not entirely forgotten, then certainly consigned to obscurity – alongside Peter Cushing's 1960s big-screen Dr Who, it's become a byword for spin-off minutiae that only the hardcore completists care much about. But to remember it only as a curio (if you're feeling generous) or a failure (if you're not) is a massive disservice – not just to the story itself, but to how immensely exciting its existence felt at the time. Scream of the Shalka was a victim of circumstance. When it was announced in July 2003, the prospect of Doctor Who ever returning to television in live-action felt like the stuff of fantasy – it had been seven years since the Paul McGann-starring TV movie had failed to initiate a series, and fans had more or less come to terms with the fact that we'd have to make do sustaining ourselves on novels, comic strips and audio plays (which were, at least, plentiful). So the announcement of a new "series" of Doctor Who – albeit an animated series, streamed on the web – was hugely thrilling. From writer Paul Cornell, who'd penned a number of acclaimed spin-off novels during the show's so-called "wilderness years", this was billed as the next chapter in the show's history, the first since the McGann movie, 100% canonical and featuring an official Ninth Doctor, played – again, thrillingly – by Richard E Grant. It all just felt so... real. The pedigree of Scream of the Shalka – the inaugural six-part story which, we all felt sure, would be the first of many such adventures – didn't stop there, either. Welcome to 60 Days of Doctor Who, RadioTimes.com's ultimate celebration of all things Who as the show gears up for its 60th anniversary. We'll be bringing you 60 days of exclusive Doctor Who content, from interviews and newsletter takeovers with the show's stars to the hottest takes from our team of Doctor Who superfans. Stay tuned!&nbsp; Sophie Okonedo – who the following year would be nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the film Hotel Rwanda – played the Doctor's companion Alison Cheney, Derek Jacobi was cast as The Master (four years before he would play the part in live-action), and the supporting cast included the likes of Queer as Folk's Craig Kelly and one David Tennant (who was coincidentally recording a Radio 4 play in a neighbouring studio and, as a lifelong Doctor Who fan, convinced Shalka director Wilson Milam to give him a cameo role). But then, something very unexpected happened. In September 2003 – two months after Shalka had been announced, but also two months before it was due to be released – the BBC announced that Doctor Who was returning... again, but this time it was the live-action revival we'd all given up hoping for. With award-winning screenwriter Russell T Davies attached to script and executive produce! Suddenly, what had seemed so shiny had now been outshone. Before its tale of worm-like aliens residing in an eerie English village and plotting to terraform the Earth had even been released to the world, Scream of the Shalka had been gazumped. Its legacy would only be further diminished when it was announced that, contrary to what the early publicity had stated, Richard E Grant's Time Lord would not in fact be the "real" Ninth Doctor, with Christopher Eccleston's new TV incarnation taking that title, relegating Grant to unofficial status. With all attention now turning to the BBC One series, breaks were quickly pulled on plans to develop further adventures featuring the Ninth(?) Doctor and Alison Cheney. The Shalka faithful would have to make do with a one-off mini-sequel – short story The Feast of the Stone by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, published again on the BBC's Doctor Who site – and a novelisation of the original story, both released in early 2004. For the very patient, the animation itself was released on DVD in 2013 to mark its 10th anniversary, complete with archival interviews with the cast, a making of and an audio commentary featuring writer Cornell, director Milam and producer James Goss. View oEmbed on the source website Another decade on and it's hard to imagine many fans wishing we'd been gifted more stories set in the Shalka-verse in place of what we got – a spectacular live-action revival that utterly transformed Doctor Who's fortunes and guaranteed it a place in the schedules now, 18 years later. All the same, Shalka's status as a "false start" doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate it for what it was, and how it made us feel. Regardless of the fact that we knew in vague terms that Doctor Who was returning to television, there was still something electrifying about sitting down (albeit in front of a computer, not a television) on 13th November 2003 to watch what was effectively the first new episode of the show to be broadcast in seven years. I can still remember the buzz I felt as the animated opening titles, accompanied by a remixed theme tune, stuttered into life, my modest broadband connection struggling to keep pace with the Flash animation. Read more from our 60 Days of Doctor Who: Doctor Who’s Arthur Darvill on Amy and Rory’s "perfect ending" Doctor Who's greatest two-parter is a Peter Capaldi masterpiece Doctor Who's Peter Capaldi: 'David Tennant and Matt Smith were always there for me' Confirmation that it would be Eccleston and not Grant anointed as the one true Ninth Doctor wouldn't actually arrive until April 2004 – via a Doctor Who Magazine interview with Russell T Davies – so on first watch, this new version of our hero still felt every bit like a bona fide successor to McGann's Eighth. Certainly, there were no last-minute edits made to swerve that implication. ("He must've used up his nine lives – rather like me," the Shalka Doctor at one point muses of a deceased cat, later telling Alison that Andy Warhol wanted to paint "all nine" of him.) It's understandable given the sheer amount of live-action Doctor Who (and spin-offs) we've been treated to since then that this animated webcast featuring a not-quite-proper Doctor has come to be regarded as niche spin-off ephemera. But it didn't feel like that at the time. It felt like our show was back. New Doctor. New companion. New monsters. New adventures every week, with a cliffhanger each time leaving us on tenterhooks for seven days. With its Cosgrove Hall-produced visuals – a significant step up from the limited animation seen in previous Doctor Who webcasts – it was the closest we'd come to the 'real thing' in what felt like an age. So, at a time when we're celebrating the series as a whole, let's not forget to commemorate the comeback that wasn't quite. For a brief period, 20 years ago, Scream of the Shalka didn't feel like a forgotten oddity from Doctor Who's past.... it felt like the future. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.