Doctor Who Magazine- Issue 408 Released

The 408th issue of Doctor Who Magazine has now been released, at a price of £3.99. The synopsis has not yet been released, but the cover can be seen to the left. Also, a special edition of the magazine, dubbed 200 Golden Moments, will be released on the 14th of May, and go through all 200 episodes of Doctor Who so far, with a page or so of information on every single episode, right up to Planet of the Dead, and possibly a small preview of upcoming specials. The special edition will cost £6.99, and both magazines will retail at stores like WHSmith and HMV.

Bernard Cribbins, Catherine Tate and Jacqueline King Confirmed In DWM 408

As mentioned in the last post, the 408th issue of Doctor Who Magazine has been released in all good newsagents now, complete with a set report on the Easter special, Planet of the Dead, and a detailed look at the 30 second teaser for The Waters of Mars. In the Gallifrey Guardian news section, DWM officially gets the pleasure of confirming that Catherine Tate and Jacqueline King are both definitely returning into their respective roles of Donna and Sylvia Noble. Most interesting, though, is still the absolute confirmation of Bernard Cribbins returning, this time with his character, Wilfred Mott, being added to the TARDIS crew as the companion for the Christmas specials (and in case you've been living under a rock, yes, there are two specials at Christmas, the former with a major cliffhanger to keep viewers desperate for the answers to all their questions, and the latter featuring the Tenth Doctor's final scene). For more info on the specials, you'll have to buy DWM 408! Will you be buying the new issue?

Torchwood: Children Of Earth- 12th June?

As if fans didn't know already, Doctor Who is not the only one of our favourite shows to be on short supply this year. Torchwood will be airing over just one week, with a five-part story in June/July time. We know the name of the story will be Children Of Earth, and that it will take place after the apocalyptic events of both Exit Wounds (which saw the losses of Torchwood members Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato) and Journey's End (the finale of Series Four of Who, which saw Torchwood Three team up with Sarah-Jane Smith, Martha Jones, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler in an attempt to find the Doctor and Donna Noble, culminating with the supposed end for Catherine Tate's character), and at first see the team still trying to cope with the deaths of their friends, while all the more hardened by their experiences. There are rumours circulating around forum sites that the third series will air not long after the 12th of June, as the British Film Institute has announced that they will be airing a preview screening of the first episode on the 12th, at BFI Southbank, along with a Q & A session with the cast & crew. Will you be attending the screening, and if not, are you looking forward to the third series of Torchwood?

Doctor Who DVD Files Issue 8 Released

The Doctor Who DVD Files magazine series has been running for sixteen weeks now, compiling together all four of the new series through double-episode DVDs, packaged with a companion magazine detailing both classic and new adventures. Despite being a complete and utter rip-off in some fans' opinions (mine included), apparently the magazines have been selling mildly well (although that was originally said about Battles In Time, and now by Issue 69 that magazine is selling very few copies), hence why it hasn't been stopped early, presumably allowing collectors to get the full set (despite it now being cheaper to purchase the box sets). Issue 8 has now been released, coming with a DVD featuring New Earth and Tooth And Claw, the Tenth Doctor's first proper Series Two adventures, and a magazine focusing on the two stories, the Ice Warriors, Billie Piper's role in the second series, the robot spiders in The End of the World, and even the infamous Editor from The Long Game. Issue 8, as per usual, costs £6.99, and is available until the 6th of May. Issue 9 will look at the Second Doctor's adventures, and come with School Reunion and The Girl In The Fireplace.

Trial of a Time Lord- £20 on Amazon.co.uk Now

The post title speaks for itself, really. Amazon.co.uk has recently been brilliant for cheap Who, both new and classic. Currently you can find Series One for £15, Series Two and Three for £17, Series Four for £35 and the Beneath the Surface box set (containing Jon Pertwee stories Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils, Peter Davison story Warriors of the Deep, and a documentary on the Silurians and Sea Devils. Voted "Best DVD Release of 2008" in the DWM merchandise poll), but in my opinion the best deal right now on the online shopping site is getting Season 23 (taking place in the Colin Baker-Sixth Doctor era), commonly known as 14-part story (the longest ever for the series!) Trial of a Time Lord, for just £17.98. I recently purchased the box set, complete with a packaged documentary on the whole Colin Baker era, and have to say it's an absolutely brilliant story, contrary to some fans' opinions when they first saw it when it aired. It also does showcase how delightful a quality of episode the show can produce even when on a low budget, and the documentary really helps justify all the flaws to be easily found. £20 for this big ol' box set? Absolute bargain. Have you or will you be buying this set?

Monster Metamorphosis Online

The official BBC website for the new series of Doctor Who will be well known by fans as a brilliant place to play Who based games such as Dalek and Preacher Attack. A new game, Monster Metamorphosis, has just been posted online for play. The rough story of the minigame based romp is that the Sontarans have captured the Doctor's TARDIS as punishment for their two recent defeats (the first being in the Series Four two-parter, and the second in Jacqueline Rayner's March Quick Read The Sontaran Games), and the Doctor creates a character called Bob the Blob (not too much like Monsters Vs Aliens, then) who can turn into a number of his old enemies. Using Bob, the Doctor must hack into the Sontaran database and free the TARDIS before his potato headed adversaries can use the technology to travel and conquer time itself! Monster Metamorphosis features new 3D graphics for fans to marvel at. So, will you be playing the BBC's new and exclusive Who game?

Doctor Who Image Of The Fehndal Released- £19.99

The latest in the classic range of DVDs, Image of the Fendahl, has now been released in all good stores for the RRP of £19.99. This episode takes place in the Tom Baker era, with the Fourth Doctor and Leela travelling to 20th Century Earth, and stumbling upon an ancient monster named the Fendahl, a nightmarish creature feared by even the Time Lords. Special Features for this release include a documentary on the making of the story, named After Image, deleted and extended scenes, and, as per usual for the classic DVDs, an easter egg hidden on the disc. In my opinion, the Doctor's time with Leela on the show seemed awkward and too unpredictable, and this was showcased when her character left strangely in the third ever Sontaran story, The Invasion In Time, where she fell in love with a Time Lord character only through the one story, and demanded she would stay on Gallifrey with K-9 Mark II. Image Of The Fendahl costs just £13 on Amazon.co.uk, and £15 in HMV, both of which are basically saving you £5 of your hard earned money, so if you're looking for this cheap, don't say I didn't help you! Will you be buying Image of the Fendahl?

K-9 Set For Autumn Premiere

Doctor Who will recieve its third spin-off this autumn, and it will once again feature one of the Doctor's favourite companions, K-9. The Sarah Jane Adventures will also feature K-9 for half of the series this autumn, but the new Who spin-off, dubbed K-9, will air with the character in all 26 episodes. That's right, 26. Not unlike recent Sky Movies animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the spin-off will consist of 26 30 minute episodes, with no overriding story arc other than the main characters and possible villians. The logo is shown above left, although this is a pre-production image.

So, when in our fave sci fi show's continuity will K-9 take place? We've been told that the K-9 we meet in the spin-off will be "the K-9 from The Invisible Enemy, the original you might say!", so in other words Mark 1, but how his life will fit into Who remains to be seen after he is damaged during the first episode, and "regenerates" (no, not literally) into a new and sleeker form. After the first episode, there will be several time travelling adventures for the robot dog and his new gang, including them meeting none other than Robin Hood, the British legend from the time of King Richard the Lionheart. There will also be a reference to Who for diehards in every episode.

The new show will air on Jetix (a paid channel found on Sky) this autumn. The synopsis goes like so: K-9 follows a reptilious warrior named Jixen through a space time portal, while a human named Professor Gryfin works on a space time manipulator. Jixen and K-9 both fall through, and K-9 narrowly stops Jixen, but at the cost of his robot body. At the end of the two part opener, Feast of the Merons, K-9 becomes disoperational, and must give Starkey instructions to rebuild and regenerate his metal self into a new form (above right). Are you going to watch K-9 when it airs in autumn?

The Sarah Jane Adventures News

Popular children's Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures will return in the autumn for a third series, consisting once again of 6 one hour stories (two-part, 30 minute weekly episodes). The main characters will return, including Sarah-Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen), Rani Chandra (Anjli Mohindra), Clyde Langer (Daniel Anthony) and Luke Smith (Tommy Knight). Another returning character is K-9, finally let out of his cabinet from saving the universe from a black hole, who will appear in six of the twelve segments. Presumably, K-9 will be back for the final six segments, in order for a massive finale, or only appear temporarily in the first six segements, but we can sadly confirm he will not star in the whole series, only half of the segments will include the robot dog. Apparently, more new enemies will be created, but some old enemies from Who will be back. The first ten scripts have already been written, and the finale is the only story left for the unnamed author to write, but apparently talks have already been done about the last two episodes, and the finale has already got a head of the series "excited before a word has been written". SJA will air over 12 weeks in the autumn. Do you watch The Sarah Jane Adventures and will you watch the third series this autumn?

Title of Lindsay Duncan Special Revealed

Doctor Who will return later this year...

As Russell.T.Davies revealed in a BBC Breakfast interview and in DWM, we won't have to wait until Christmas for the second 2009 special, but instead until sometime in November. The reason, though, that it will still be shown so close to the two-part finale specials, is that like Turn Left, the episode will be very closely linked to the finale. At the end of the first 2009 special, Planet of the Dead, the title for the second special was revealed to the audience via a short 20 second trailer for the episode, which will feature Lindsay Duncan, water murderings and the Ood

Doctor Who will return later this year in The Waters of Mars...

Top Trumps Wii Released- £19.99

The third version of the Doctor Who Top Trumps video game has now been released for the Nintendo Wii. Previously brought out simultaneously on the Playstation 2 and Nintendo DS, the game sees players taking on the role of the Doctor, Martha, Jack or a number of various new series monsters and trying to win games of the Top Trumps card game against computer and human opponents. This recently announced and released Wii version won't offer much in the way of new content, but some new cards from the Series Four collection have been added, along with some new mini games and an exclusive to Wii motion-based user interface.

Should you buy this? Well, it's a tough call. If you are both a Who and Top Trumps diehard, then feel free, but otherwise be wary of this purchase unless you get it from Amazon.co.uk, who are selling the game on Wii and DS for the brilliant price of £10! Will you be buying this video game?

Doctor Who The Deadly Assassin- Released 1st May

A classic story of Who featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor will be released on the 1st of May. The story, named The Deadly Assassin, sees the Doctor travel back to his home planet Gallifrey in the middle of his fourth incarnation, and watch in horror as the Lord President is assassinated by an unknown assialant. If you're looking for no spoilers, then look away now. On second thought, just don't highlight the text below...

The story is also a good chance for new fans to see the Master in action as he struggles to escape death in his thirteenth and final incarnation.

The DVD will cost around £15, and feature documentaries on the Master, and how Who tried to frighten people to keep the series fresh during the long Tom Baker era. I will be buying this DVD, but will any of you? Feel free to leave answers and comments on the actual story!

Doctor Who Adventures- Issue 111 Released

The 111th issue of the Who spin-off magazine, Doctor Who Adventures has been released, packaged with an exclusive set of Dalek stationary. A press release has now been issued by BBC Magazines:

Would you be allowed in the TARDIS?In the latest issue of Doctor Who Adventures magazine, find out if you’ve got what it takes to travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS. DWA looks at some of the people the Doctor hasn’t allowed to be full-time travellers in his amazing time machine…There’s also a guide to Planet of the Dead that’s full of essential information about this action-packed story.The issue comes with a set of exclusive Dalek stationery, which includes a pencil case, notepad, pencil and rubber.Get yours today! What else?

• Posters: The Supreme Dalek, a Tritovore and a vicious Cybershade.• Who’s where?: Loads of aliens have joined the Doctor and Christina on the bus!• Monster quiz: Find out how well you know your monsters.• Tales from the TARDIS: The Slitheen attack!• Terror through time: The Daleks.• Puzzles and competitions: Loads of things to do and win, including the new Cybermen DVD box set.• Comic strip: The TARDIS arrives on a boat in 1918…• Subscription offer: Subscribe today and get an amazing Doctor Who book!

The magazine is out at stores such as WHSmith and newsagents, priced £2.10.

Planet of the Dead- Released 29th June (SPOILERS)

The Easter 2009 special, Planet of the Dead, has now aired, and the DVD, featuring the full 60 minute episode, will be released on the 29th of June 2009. The episode follows the Tenth Doctor as he meets a small but resourceful group of people on the No. 200 bus to Brixton, and travels with them to the desert planet of San Helios, where they face a pack of hungry and devouring alien consumers, ready and waiting to consume the inhabitants of Earth. The cover for the DVD has now been released, but other than the date of release and number of discs (1), barely any information has been released on the new DVD. There are two possibilites for the certification, either PG (Parental Guidance) due to its comedic nature, or 12 (Must be bought by people of ages 12+) due to the violent nature of an early death. The release will probably be light on special features, but there is the possibility that a box set containing all the specials along with new features will be released in early 2010. I do own The Next Doctor vanilla release, but if a box set is announced, I will buy this instead. How about you? Will you be buying POTD?

Companions Return To The Doctor's Crib

Filming for the second of four 2009 specials of Doctor Who, this time featuring David Tennant and Lindsay Duncan, has now completed, and filming on the final specials (forming a two parter around Christmas) has now commenced. In a recent interview on Planet of the Dead on BBC News, current head writer for the new series Russell.T.Davies revealed that the companion for the last two specials, the send-off episodes for David Tennant's Doctor, will be Wilfred Mott, played once again by Bernard Cribbins. This news had already appeared in fan sites via filming photos of Tennant and Cribbins, but RTD's confirmation was the first official announcement by the BBC. Other cast members for the specials have now been revealed by filming photos, and will likely be touched on in the next issue of Doctor Who Magazine, out on the 30th of April. One of these is, predictably, Catherine Tate, returning to the series to play Donna Noble, a character who first appeared in the second ever Christmas special, The Runaway Bride, and was suppposedly killed off in Journey's End, the finale to Series Four, when her memory of all her adventures with the Doctor was wiped due to her brain containing all the knowledge of a Time Lord, which would have eventually killed her. As far as we've seen from set photos, Donna has not yet found out about who the Doctor really is, or has and for some reason is not affected by the knowledge. If the answer turns out to be the second reason, we're in for a very strange and exciting finale.

To add to the list of returning companions, Elisabeth Sladen and Thomas Knight will return as Sarah-Jane Smith and Luke Smith respectively. Filming shots see Luke almost run over by a car, the Doctor saving him, Luke fetching Sarah-Jane from her house, and the pair watching the Doctor depart in the TARDIS. Despite this, it is likely they will appear again later in the Christmas special. Also set to appear is Jacqueline King, who will return to her role of Sylvia Noble in the specials, presumably making sure the Doctor doesn't ruin Donna's wedding (oh yes, did I forget to mention? One shot shows Tate in a wedding dress, ready to walk down the isle)

Also rumoured to return are Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), however no one has yet spotted either of the actors on set recently. One man who has been spotted, though, is John Simm. Simm, who played the Master (a renegade Time Lord) in the Season Three finale: Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. However, this time he was seen sporting a blonde hair do, and as RTD has recently said, in these specials, nothing is at it seems, and there will be some fantasy and nightmare sequences, so perhaps the Master will not properly appear (but by darn it would be interesting to find out what happened to that ring at his cremation!). Another confirmed returnee is Jessica Hynes, who played Joan Redfern in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, but far from playing a senior version of her character, she is playing an author named Verity Newman (Verity taking from late producer Verity Lambert, and Newman taken from Sydney Newman, a well regarded Who director), who has salvaged John Smith's Journal Of Impossible Things, and written a book on it.

While filming the scene in a bookstore, Hynes' character sees the Doctor walk into the store, speaks to him, and the Time Lord gave Newman a dark and sad look, and then walks away. All of these announcements seem very exciting, in my opinion, and seem to prove that we're in for one heck of a special (excuse the pun) finale. What do you think of these announcements?

Spooky Science Fiction Prophecy- He Will Knock Four Times...

Planet of the Dead aired as expected at 6.45-7.45pm on the 11th of April, and in my opinion was a fun and lightweight episode to watch, although not containing nearly enough in the way of proper Who. At the end of the episode, this lightness seemed to continue, however, as only the dumbest of the viewers will have failed to notice, it briefly faded away in favour of what Russell T Davies soon described on Confidential as a "spooky science-fiction prophecy" from psychic character Carmen. Carmen had been revealed to be able to predict small snippets of the future earlier on in the story, claiming to always be able to get her husband and herself just £10 on the Lottery. As she and her husband began to leave, they approached the Doctor by the TARDIS, and Carmen said that he should take care, generally seen as a leaving compliment when people say goodbye, but when the Doctor replied that they hoped they enjoyed their "lovely" dinner of chops and gravy, Carmen revealed that she truly meant this as a warning. The Doctor was left unnerved as Carmen said to him "It is returning...it is returning through the dark...and then, oh but then...he will knock four times." What do you think this spooky prediction could mean?

Fans have already guessed that "he" could refer to the Master, Bernard Cribbins, the monster on the planet Midnight or the Grim Reaper, but Russell T Davies said when asked about John Simm's reappearance on set (see the next post) that "It's not quite as easy to guess what's happening as you think - there's nightmare sequences, and layers of fantasy, because the Doctor's coming to the end of his time. ".

In the commentary for POTD, when David Tennant was talking to Julie Gardener of the prophecy, Julie said "And as we know, David, he really does knock four times.", to which David replied "Absolutely, and if you think you've figured out what it means, you're wrong!". Julie said after this, though, that "when you do figure it out, it's a sad day."

Also, during the POTD based episode of Doctor Who Confidential, Julie Gardener said that the phrase will "definitely return in the second special, set on Mars, and in the Christmas episodes." and Russell T Davies said that "the Doctor doesn't know how bad things are going to get. And believe me, things are going to get bad. Oh, it'll be bad!" Both David Tennant and Julie have already said that the scripts for the finale specials made them cry, which implies the death of the Tenth Doctor is going to have major reprecussions for the whole series. Are you looking forward to the finale, and what do you think Carmen's prophecy, along with other announcements, could mean for the Doctor? Feel free to leave comments on these, and on the quality of the site!

Attack of the Cybermen Released- £14.99

Two weeks ago, on the 7th of April, a classic story taken from the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) era was released, named Attack of the Cybermen, at an RRP of £15. The DVD has just one disc, featuring the full story, spanning two 45 minute episodes, not unlike the format of a two-parter in new Who, and a new documentary focusing on the history and continuity of the Cybermen, named The Cyber Story. I have not yet bought the DVD, but reviews by Total Sci-Fi and DWM seem to suggest that neither the story or the documentary offer much in the way of excitement or decent quality. However, some fans have said that this is a brilliant sequel to Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) story Tomb of the Cybermen. Will you be buying this DVD?

The Cybermen Collection Released- £14.99

Last Monday (14th April) saw the release of new DVD box set The Cybermen Collection in stores such as HMV and WHSmith, at a RRP of £14.99. The set includes the four episodes featuring the Cybermen in Series Two: Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, Army Of Ghosts and Doomsday. but not the recent Christmas special The Next Doctor. On Amazon.co.uk, the set can be found for around £10, and in HMV, for around £13. I will not be buying this set as I already own the Series 2 box set, and do not find the "Top 25 Cybermen Moments" documentary is incentive enough to spend an extra £10 for. If you have the episodes already, my reccomendation is you avoid this release, but if you don't, go out and get this as soon as you get the chance! Will you be buying The Cybermen Collection?

Welcome to TARDIS HQ

Hello, Doctor Who fans everywhere! My blog, TARDIS HQ, is based around everything to do with the best science fiction show ever created, plus all of its respective spin-offs. That means you can expect all the latest and greatest news on Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and every item released that is based on any of these. Whether you're a new fan who only joined in Series Three or Four, wondering what new novels are coming out to bridge the gap between the 2009 specials, or a diehard fan (wow, you must be over 40 by now!) who's seen every single episode of every single story wanting to find out which classic stories are being released each month, I can pretty much guarantee TARDIS HQ will keep all fans satisfied. Right, so on to business, in the next couple of posts, I'll recap Planet of the Dead, recent filming news, and some classic DVD releases recently and soon...