Farewell to 12 - Doctor Who - Flatline Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
Flatline
By
Jamie Mathieson

"I don't know whether you're here to invade, infiltrate, or just replace us. I don't suppose it really matters now. You are monsters! That is the role you seem determined to play. So it seems that I must play mine: The man that stops the monsters."

When Steven Moffat told writer of Kill the Moon Peter Harness to Hinchcliffe the $#@% out of it I don’t think he meant that one story but I believe he meant Series 8 in general.  In fact Flatline is the closest a new Who story has come to achieving this and it would make Robert Holmes smile.  I’m sure he is smiling from heaven as Jamie Mathieson has so far been able to replicate his style of horror in Doctor Who.

Details for Doctor Who - The Thief Who Stole Time

Out this month is the second part of the 6th series finale for the 4th Doctor Adventures.  You can order this audio adventure featuring the 4th Doctor and Romana from the Big Finish website.
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-thief-who-stole-time-1241

A god has died. A crime has been committed. And an even greater threat lies beneath the surface.

On the ocean world of Funderell, Romana has been reunited with her old friend from Gallifrey, Sartia, and the Doctor is investigating the history and religion of this strange world. But events have quickly spiralled out of control.

Why is this planet of such interest to the Time Lords? What lurks in the depths?

The life of more than one world is at stake. But time is running out.

Written By: Marc Platt
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast
Tom Baker (The Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), Joannah Tincey (Sartia), Alan Cox (Eamonn Orensky), Kieran Hodgson (Klick Chervain), Des McAleer (Blujaw Skaldson), Alex Wyndham (Linnis Skaldson), Jamie Newall (Greygul), Jane Slavin (Frithra), John Banks (The Sleek)

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor John Dorney
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Details for Doctor Who - The Night Witches

Out this month is the start of a new series of The Early Adventures with the Second Doctor era taking center stage.  This story focuses on the early part of his era with his original companions.  you can order this adventure from the Big Finish website.
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-night-witches-1319

When the TARDIS materialises north of Stalingrad in 1942, the Doctor, Jamie, Ben and Polly are captured by the Night Witches, an all-female unit of flyers tasked with disrupting the German forces nearing Moscow.

They suspect that the travellers are spies - part of the Germans’ Operation Barbarossa. Despite their pleas they are locked up while it is decided what to do with them.

Polly, however, is receiving strange looks from the pilots and clearly unnerving them. When the TARDIS crew discover why this is, it becomes clear that they’re about to get far more involved in the war than they could possibly have imagined.

Written By: Roland Moore
Directed By: Helen Goldwyn

Cast
Anneke Wills (Polly Wright/Narrator), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon/The Doctor), Elliot Chapman (Ben Jackson), Anjella Mackintosh(Tatiana Kregki), Wanda Opalinska (Nadia Vasney), Kristina Buikaite (Lilya Grankin).

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor John Dorney
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Farewell to 12 - Doctor Who - Mummy on the Orient Express Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
Mummy on the Orient Express
By Jamie Mathieson

“To our last hurrah.”

When I saw that Doctor Who was going to do a story called Mummy on the Orient Express it had me worried.  Being a fan of Agatha Christie’s novel murder on the Orient Express I had reservations that it would be stupid and be a cheap knock off of the Christie novel.  When I saw the trailer and saw that it was in space and the premise of whoever sees the mummy has 66 seconds to live well I was a bit more interested than worried.

Into The Time Vortex Podcast - Episode 57 - Doctor Who - Utopia - The Sound of Drums - Last of the Time Lords

Farewell to 12 - Doctor Who - Kill the Moon Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
Kill the Moon
By Peter Harness

“Get back in your lonely bloody TARDIS and you don’t come back!”

Kill the Moon is here and if you go from the trailer it looked like it was supposed to be really scary.  Behind the sofa kind of scary that makes you scream out in fright.  Steven Moffat was quoted as saying to writer Peter Harness to “Hinchcliffe the $#@% out of it.”   That gave me some hope for this episode as I really enjoyed the Philip Hinchcliffe era of Doctor Who with its Gothic horror and smart storytelling.  Let’s face it. After the two light hearted stories we have had lately it was time to get the scares back into the show.   So bring on the scares and give people nightmares as I’m ready for a scary one.

Details for Doctor Who Magazine 517

Out now is the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine in which they celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Sylvester McCoy era of Doctor Who. Issue 517 is out now in the UK and everywhere else next week.

ISSUE 517 OF DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF THE SEVENTH DOCTOR WITH SYLVESTER McCOY!

Thirty years after he first appeared as the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy reflects on the role that changed his life…

“We didn’t know that we were breaking rules. And I think we were also blessed by the fact that we didn’t have all that baggage of the past to get in the way…”

“We didn’t know that we were breaking rules. And I think we were also blessed by the fact that we didn’t have all that baggage of the past to get in the way…”

ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

DEBORAH WATLING TRIBUTE
DWMremembers the late Deborah Watling, who played the Second Doctor’s companion Victoria from 1967 to 1978, with contributions from Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Frazer Hines.

VICTORIA’S SECRETS
A previously unpublished interview with Deborah Watling from 1990.

VICTOR PEMBERTON TRIBUTE
Remembering the late Doctor Who writer and story editor Victor Pemberton.

GAIL BENNETT
An interview with original American Doctor Who superfan Gail Bennett.

FURY FROM THE DEEP
This month’sFact of Fiction explores 1968’s Fury from the Deep, the last story to feature Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield.

THE PARLIAMENT OF FEAR
Part Three of our brand-new comic strip adventure, The Parliament of Fear, featuring the Doctor and Bill; written by Scott Gray and illustrated by Mike Collins.

DOMINIC GLYNN
The composer recalls writing and recording the score for 1989’s

THE TIME TEAM
The Time Team continues its mission to watch every episode of Doctor Who with 2012’s The Doctor’s Wife.

PLUS! Previews, book and audio reviews, news, the Watcher’s column, prize-winning competitions and much, much more.

Doctor Who Magazine 517 is on sale from Thursday 21 September, price £5.99.

Details for Doctor Who - A Heart on Both Sides

This months Short Trips features a story from the Time War where the 8th Doctor meets up with an old friend.  You can order this download only story from the Big Finish website.
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/a-heart-on-both-sides-1364

After her medical work on Terminus, Nyssa is now the controller of a hospital ship, the Traken. As the universe burns in the crossfire of the Time War, she and her assistant travel to a planet close to Gallifrey where they are needed more than ever. A long time ago, Nyssa knew a Time Lord and understood his people. But it seems they can change...

Producer Ian Atkins
Script Editor Ian Atkins
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Written By: Rob Nisbet
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast
Sarah Sutton (Narrator)

Doctor Who Comic Book Releases for September 20th

Out today is one Doctor Who comic book featuring the 12th Doctor and Bill and written by Richard Dinnick.  You can pick this issue up today at your local comic book store.


​Doctor Who: Twelfth Doctor Year Three #7
Writer: Richard Dinnick
Artist: Brian Williamson
FC – 32pp - $3.99 – On sale: September 20, 2017

New companion Bill Potts has joined the Twelfth Doctor on a brand-new adventure, taking them to an island in the Atlantic in the 9th century CE. Caught in the middle of a stand-off between a group of Vikings and Ice Warriors, Bill and the Doctor had to ensure the mighty battling forces united against an even greater threat – a sentient disease-carrying Flood!

But who is responsible for all of this? The Doctor has a hunch, and it can only bring more devastation if he’s right...

Cover A: Claudia Ianniciello​
Cover B: Photo  ​
​Cover C:​ ​Andy Walker

Farewell to 12 - Doctor Who - The Caretaker Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
The Caretaker
By Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat

“Well you’ve explained me to him but you haven’t explained him to me.”

Gareth Roberts who wrote the 11th Doctor stories The Lodger and Closing Time returns and gives us his first 12th Doctor story The Caretaker.  I enjoyed Gareth Roberts 11th Doctor stories with Craig as they were fun to watch and had a bit of comedy to them.  Not too much comedy and the stories were usually pretty good with The Lodger being the stronger of the two stories.  The trailer for The Caretaker did look like it would be a funny lighthearted story which for the way the series has gone lately would be a good change considering Series 8 has by far been the darkest since the show has returned.   The Caretaker sees The Doctor going deep undercover at Coal Hill School where Clara works to fend off an alien that can destroy the Earth.  What follows is anything but stellar.

Big Finish Brings David Bradley Back to Doctor Who in The First Doctor Adventures

Big news out of Big Finish today as they have announced a series of The First Doctor Adventures starring David Bradley and his TARDIS crew from the docudrama "An Adventure in Space and Time" .  The first box set will be out in December with another box set out in July.   For fans of the 1st Doctor and the early years of the show this box set will be perfect for you and for all fans of the classic series.  i for one can't wait to listen to these sets.  For more information and to preorder this audio adventure follow the links below to the Big Finish website.

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/david-bradley-returns-to-the-tardis-in-doctor-who-the-first-doctor-adventures

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-first-doctor-adventures-volume-01-1692?range=105

Goodbye to 12 - Doctor Who - Time Heist Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
Time Heist 
By Steven Moffat and 
Steve Thompson

“Shut up. Everybody shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shutitty up,up, up!”

I was never a fan of movies that were centered on robbing banks like the Ocean 11 movies.  Well, I take that back I did enjoy both versions of The Italian Job but never the less I was never a big fan of that type of movie.  So when I saw the trailer for Time Heist I had reservations about it.  But then I saw who co-wrote it with Steven Moffat and my mind was set at ease a little bit.   I did like Steve Thompson’s previous work on Who and Sherlock so there’s a chance I will enjoy Time Heist.

Doctor Who Books to Release Lost Douglas Adams Story "The Krikkitmen"

Doctor Who Books will yet again be releasing a Douglas Adams story.  This time a rejected screen play from 1976 that he eventualy retooled for his third Hitchhikers novel "Life, the Universe and Everything".  The book will again be adapted by James Goss who also novelized "The Pirate Planet" which came out earlier this year.  The book will be released in January of 2018.

Intergalactic war? That’s just not cricket … or is it? 

The Doctor promised Romana the end of the universe, so she’s less than impressed when what she gets is a cricket match. But then the award ceremony is interrupted by eleven figures in white uniforms and peaked skull helmets, wielding bat-shaped weapons that fire lethal bolts of light into the screaming crowd. The Krikkitmen are back. 

Millions of years ago, the people of Krikkit learned they were not alone in the universe, and promptly launched a xenophobic crusade to wipe out all other life-forms. After a long and bloody conflict, the Time Lords imprisoned Krikkit within an envelope of Slow Time, a prison that could only be opened with the Wicket Gate key, a device that resembles – to human eyes, at least – an oversized set of cricket stumps…

From Earth to Gallifrey, from Bethselamin to Devalin, from Krikkit to Mareeve II to the far edge of infinity, the Doctor and Romana are tugged into a pan-galactic conga with fate as they rush to stop the Krikkitmen gaining all five pieces of the key. If they fail, the entire cosmos faces a fiery retribution that will leave nothing but ashes…

Details for Doctor Who - Time in Office

This month we have two main range releases with the second release featuring a story set on Gallifrey with the 5th Doctor, Tegan and Leela.  It looks like the Time Lords have a need for The Doctor yet again.  You can buy this release from the Big Finish website.
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/time-in-office-1260

The Doctor's adventures in time and space are over. The Time Lords have recalled him to Gallifrey – but what he faces on his home planet is worse than any trial. Following the disappearance of President Borusa, the High Council condemned him to the highest office - and he can't evade his responsibilities a nanosecond longer...

So all hail the Lord High President! All hail President Doctor!

Rassilon save him. This time, there's really no escape.

Written By: Eddie Robson
Directed By: Helen Goldwyn

Cast
Peter Davison (The Doctor), Louise Jameson (Leela), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sheri-An Davis (Castellan Lowri), Julie Teal (Chancellor Vorena), Michael Hobbs (Arcantis), Tim Scragg (Crex), Tim Sutton (Scandrius), Jenny Lee (Kasnegar). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor Alan Barnes
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Into The Time Vortex Podcast - Episode 56 - Doctor Who - The Two Doctors

Details for Doctor Who - The Silurian Candidate

This months main range release sees the 7th Doctor going up against the Silurians.  You can order this Doctor Who audio adventure from the Big finish website.
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-silurian-candidate-1259

The year is 2085, and planet Earth remains on the edge of a nuclear precipice. At any moment, either of two vast rival power blocs, to the West and the East, might unleash a torrent of missiles, bringing about the terrible certainty of Mutual Assured Destruction.

But there is another way – or so Professor Ruth Drexler believes. Hence her secret mission deep in Eastern bloc territory, to uncover a hidden city, never before glimpsed by human eyes: the Parliament of the Silurians, the lizard people who ruled the Earth before humankind.

There, she’ll encounter a time-travelling Doctor, who knows the Silurians well. A Doctor on a secret mission of his own.

Written By: Matthew J Elliott
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast
Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Bonnie Langford (Mel), Fiona Sheehan (Ruth Drexler/ Avvox), Nicholas Asbury (Chairman Bart Falco), Nicholas Briggs (Chordok), Caitlin Thorburn (Karlas), Ignatius Anthony (Gorrister), Louise Mai Newberry (Director Shen).

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor Alan Barnes
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Goodbye to 12 - Doctor Who - Listen Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
Listen
By Steven Moffat

“What’s that in the mirror, and the corner of your eye? What’s the footstep following, but never passing by?”

We all have had nightmares.  Waking up in the middle of the night in a fright and being scared for no apparent reason as our subconscious has a little fun at our own expense.  We have all been there. But what is the cause?  Is it an invisible creature under the bed waiting to get us? Those of us with kids have to deal with the inevitable nightmare in the middle of the night that wakes us in a startled state.  But what happens when a Time Lord has a nightmare?  What happens when he thinks he is not alone?  We found out after watching “Listen” or did we.

Doctor Who Comic Book Releases For September 6th

This week sees only one Doctor Who comic book and it is part of The Lost Dimension and it is the second installment of the crossover.  You can pick this comic book up at your local comic book store.


DOCTOR WHO: THE LOST DIMENSION #2 - NINTH DOCTOR SPECIAL
Writer: Cavan Scott
Artists: Adriana Melo, Cris Bolson
FC - 32pp - $3.99 - On sale: September 6, 2017

An unknown force is striking from the depths of space, emerging as impossibly-large white holes over civilized planets, absorbing or annihilating everything that lives.

Captain Jack Harkness and Tara Mishra, companions of the Ninth Doctor, were caught up in one such white hole event, and – despite the valiant efforts of Jenny, the Doctor’s daughter – were caught by the white hole and absorbed!

But the Ninth Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler know nothing of this...Yet.

COVER A: Adriana Melo
COVER B: Photo - Will Brooks

Goodbye to 12 - Doctor Who - Robot of Sherwood Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
Robot of Sherwood
By Mark Gatiss

“Shut it, Hoody!”

Being a fan of Robin Hood I was somewhat lukewarm to the prospect of Doctor Who doing an episode centered on him and Sherwood Forest and the overall Robin Hood legend. That and the writer for this episode was Mark Gatiss who has been really hit or miss with his stories.  In Series 7 he wrote the good “Cold War” and the very bad “The Crimson Horror” and of course how could we forget the very bad “Sleep No More” in Series 9 but he does have some good stories also like “Empress of Mars.”  So now we look at his first 12th Doctor story “Robot of Sherwood” and from looking at the trailers, when it first aired, it looked like it could be one that could very well be uneventful and not all that good.

Goodbye to 12 - Doctor Who - Into the Dalek Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
Into The Dalek
By Phil Ford and Steven Moffat

“I am not a good Dalek. You are a good Dalek.”

The 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi has his first encounter with the Daleks.  Well it was inevitable that he would as every Doctor has faced the blobs encased in Dalekanium.  We didn’t have to wait long as in the second outing for the 12th Doctor we get to see that meeting in the little bit different type of story and I do mean little as Into the Dalek actually takes us inside a Dalek.