Doctor Who Feeds

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The new Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition is out now, celebrating 30 years since the TV Movie

Three decades ago, the world’s favourite Time Lord returned, and it was about time! The Doctor Who TV Movie is unique in the show’s history, yet also a missing link between the 20th and 21st century incarnations of the show. The charismatic, romantic new lead Paul McGann took his new friend Grace by the hand and led her through motorbike chases, daring heists, and his the vast dark chamber that is his TARDIS, as they try to stop the Master’s plan to wipe the entire planet from existence.

Since then Paul McGann’s incarnation of the Time Lord has starred in just under 500 audio plays, novels, comics, and more, including returns to television for Night of the Doctor and The Power of the Doctor.

Now, Doctor Who Magazine marks 30 years of the Eighth Doctor with a special edition revisiting the 1996 TV movie and celebrating Paul McGann’s extraordinary tenure in the role.

Exclusive interviews include: Paul McGann (the Doctor), Daphne Ashbrook (Grace Holloway), Eric Roberts (the Master), Geoffrey Sax (the TV movie’s director), Steven Moffat (The Night of the Doctor writer) and many more. There are also contributions from Sylvester McCoy (the Old Doctor) and the team behind the new 4K restoration of the movie.

Other highlights include a new short story by Matthew Jacobs, the writer of the TV movie, and an afterword by Philip Segal, its executive producer.

 

DWM Special Edition: 30 Years of the Eighth Doctor (c) Panini DWM Special Edition: 30 Years of the Eighth Doctor

DWM Special Edition: 30 Years of the Eighth Doctor is on sale Thursday the 23rd of April from the online Panini store, TG Jones and other retailers priced £10.99 (UK). Also available as a digital edition from Pocketmags for £9.99. You can also save with a subscription, as well as receiving exclusive, text-free covers.

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The new Target novelisation of Aliens of London revisits the Powell Estate we know and love, while subtly expanding its links to the rest of the Whoniverse

 

Appropriately enough, Aliens of London starts at the beginning. Not the beginning of the episode, mind; not the TARDIS fading into existence on the Powell Estate, twelve months late. No, it flashes forward to the Doctor chasing down a corridor after an escaped space pig. That’s the very first scene Christopher Eccleston filmed, back in 2004; the very first Doctor Who filming in eight years. It also acts as a perfect miniature model of the era: the silliness of a pig in a spacesuit, the frenetic action of the chase; the tragic violence of humanity’s fear of the different as a panicking soldier shoots it dead; and Christopher Eccleston acting his socks off to sell it all, flitting between excitement, sorrow, and anger from one moment to the next.

 

Author Joseph Lidster expands on some of Russell T Davies’ throwaway references in joyously niche ways

For his Target novelisation of Russell T Davies’ script, author Joseph Lidster makes few major changes. However, he does ease it more smoothly into the wider character arcs. In these early episodes, both Jackie and Mickey represented everything Rose was running away from. As time passed their characterisation became deeper and more subtle, and the Target Aliens of London captures that. Jackie is the woman everyone on the Powell Estate knows they can rely on in a crisis, and whose loss of her husband Pete fuels her refusal to accept her daughter’s disappearance. Mickey is a much more sympathetic figure, too, with fewer comedy pratfalls and more heart.

There are other small tweaks too. The text retains Rose’s use of “you’re so gay” as an insult, but reframes it as a moment of failure. Meanwhile, links between this story and The Christmas Invasion, Boom Town, and even Torchwood’s Exit Wounds are smoothly expanded upon as if it was one big plan all along. The addition of a supporting cast member from Big Finish’s Ninth Doctor Adventures is a delightful surprise too. Similarly, expanding upon the original’s split second DWM comic strip reference is a niche joy even by Target standards.

 

From the tragic backstory of a pig in spaaaace, to the sibling rivalries of the Slitheen, the Target retelling delivers a broader and deeper version of the familiar story

Other minor changes seem more arbitrary, and don’t always entirely work, such as the new version of how Harriet Jones (MP for Flydale North) discovers the Slitheen’s secret. There’s also an element, common with some other recent novelisations, of assuming the reader is already familiar with the episodes. This is in contrast to the Target Books of the 1970s and 80s were there was a clear awareness many would never have seen the television versions before picking up the books. The new approach results in some oddities, like the reader receiving only a vague idea of what Slitheen actually look like. Even some dialogue is rather flatly transcribed, relying on our memories of Eccleston and Piper’s performances.

The novelisation is at its strongest during its own additions, like showing early events from the point of view of Barry the Space Pig, or the relationships between the Slitheen themselves. The overall result of these additions and small changes is a novel that feels like the closest thing to a Special Edition of Aliens of London, until the inevitable Collection boxset provides optional new special effects. It’s absolutely the same story, but given more room to breath, and to connect with the whoniverse around it.

 

Doctor Who: Aliens of London. Cover by Dan Lilles (c) Target Books Doctor Who: Aliens of London

The Doctor brings Rose home a year after she left… to find London in chaos. A spaceship has crashed into the Thames and an alien body lies in the wreckage. The Doctor uncovers a chilling conspiracy at the heart of Downing Street as ruthless alien invaders take control – members of the Family Slitheen.

The Doctor, Rose, and the MP for Flydale North must fight to expose the Slitheen infiltration – before the Earth falls prey to a deadly interstellar con that will ignite World War Three.

You can buy Aliens of London in paperback, ebook, or as an audiobook read by Camille Coduri from your preferred retailer at the links here.

 

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Between July and November, five new Doctor Who action figure sets

A new wave of Doctor Who action figures is arriving this year, with brand new figures from across the show’s history, from the 1960s to the 2020s. The line contains five exclusive Vortex Edition sets, with each box to include a part of a buildable character. Fans who collect all pieces from across the five packs will be able to complete a scaled replica of the Yeti from 1967’s The Abominable Snowmen.

These sets will be available exclusively through the Character Options website, monthly from July.

 

Details of the five sets

The 2026 Collect & Build offering recognises some of Doctor Who’s most memorable chapters, with five iconic Vortex Edition characters to discover – plus the buildable Yeti. In order of their release, the sets are as follows:

 

The Cybermen Set, available from July 2026 Cybermen Set, July

This set includes two Cybermen featuring the sign introduced in 2013’s Nightmare in Silver, including a swappable gun-arm. It also contains the first part of your collectable Yeti: the head

 

The Fifteenth Doctor action figure set, available August 2026 Fifteenth Doctor Set, August

August’s set stars the Fifteenth Doctor himself, in his costume from 2024’s Joy to the World along with red and gold sonic screwdriver. He comes with in-scale figures of Lux’s Mr. Ring-a-Ding, and Dugga-Doo from The Interstellar Contest. The set contains the Yeti’s upper torso.

 

The Fourth Doctor action figure set, available September 2026 Fourth Doctor Set, September

In September, Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor gets a figure, this time based on his appearance in 1978’s The Invasion of Time and including his sonic screwdriver (though even that won’t get him out of this one.) There’s also a swappable head, giving a choice between a smiling Doctor wearing his fedora, or a serious one without. The Fourth Doctor set comes with the legs and feet for your Yeti.

 

The Season Seven action figure set, available October 2026 Season Seven Set, October

The next set focuses on the Third Doctor’s earliest adventures. It includes his original companion Liz Shaw, depicted in her costume from Doctor Who and the Silurians. She comes alongside Inferno’s Professor Stahlman, after his mutation into a vicious Primord by ooze from the Earth’s core. You also get accessories including a Nestene control sphere as seen in Spearhead from Space and Terror of the Autons. The promo photo for the set also shows a Metebelis III crystal, though that’s not from Season Seven, so is possibly a mistake. The set includes the Yeti’s right arm.

 

The Wirrn Set, available November 2026 Wirrn Set, November

The final set in the range features the Wirrn from 1975’s The Ark in Space. You get two Wirrn, representing the two stages of their development. There’s the giant, insectoid adult form, and the caterpillar like pupal stage. You’ll also complete your Yeti with the inclusion of its left arm.

 

 

The completed Yeti action figure, once you collect all five parts The Collect & Build Yeti figure

The Yeti debuted in 1967’s The Abominable Snowmen. Disguised as the mythical creatures, they were actually the robot servitors of the Great Intelligence. They later returned for two other battles with the Doctor, in The Web of Fear and The Five Doctors. Now figure collectors have the chance to collect this large figure standing nearly 16 and a half centimetres tall, with multiple articulation points. This version is based on their original design.

The complete Yeti buildable figure can be completed only by collecting the individual body sections spread across the five Vortex releases for this year. The figure has a lot of moulded in details. These include the fur effect that has been achieved using a base mould colour plus multiple sprays and washes. The head features the eyes and prominent fangs of the original Yeti that were near impossible to see on-screen, but were unmissable in a behind-the-scenes documentary of the story creation.

 

“Something bigger and better with a modern take”

Al Dewar, Character Options’ Creative Director, said, “This is a very interesting year for the Character Options Doctor Who range. It’s the first time we’ve introduced a Collect & Build figure for over a decade and a half. Plus, for the very first time we are showcasing the sets that we will be releasing up front!

“The Collect & Build Yeti figure should be a great surprise to most folk. Yes…  it’s been well known for years that we created a Yeti sculpt for the 1968 Web of Fear version but when we examined that sculpt, we realised the scale was wrong and some minor damage had occurred. So, it seemed sensible to go back further to where it all started, up in Tibet, near the Det Sen Monastery in 1967, with the original Abominable Snowmen. The Yetis are ‘big ole beasts!’ and I think we’ve brought something bigger and better with a modern take that lends itself well to articulation and play.

“Of course, the Collect & Build figure is just one of many things to look forward to, with five stunning new figure sets coming through – all upgraded to Vortex levels. Even the pre-existing Liz Shaw figure has been refined to be as good as it can be! The team has put their all into getting everything ready in time, and we can’t wait to bring the collectors something that’s so completely different.”

Further information on the collection is now available on the Character Options website. Fans can also register there to receive pre‑launch updates. More details on each Collect & Build set will be revealed in the lead‑up to each release.

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The recovery of The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet further confirms The Daleks’ Master Plan as possibly the best Dalek story of the 1960s

 

The universe, as we know, is vast and complicated. Sometime, seemingly impossible things happen, and we call them miracles. This latest miracles comes courtesy of the angels at Film is Fabulous! Like all real miracles, of course, the first return of missing Doctor Who episodes since 2013 is really the result of patience, hard work, and more than a little luck. With a remit far beyond just the Doctor’s adventures, the FiF! team tracked down a true treasure trove of archive film in a private collection, and negotiated permission to assess and archive it, all while bravely managing the expectations of a certain type of fan who would struggle to find perspective if you marked it on a map.

This would be a red letter day in the Whoniverse under any circumstance. But what a treat that The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet are not only episodes from one of the most exciting serials of William Hartnell’s era as the Doctor but, as it turns out, absolute bangers.

 

Doctor Who: The Devil’s Planet (c) BBC The first half of The Daleks’ Master Plan plays out like a political action thriller in space

Unlike some recovered episodes, this isn’t a case of radically reappraising a once underrated story, as with Enemy of the World. No, anyone who’d already listened to the soundtrack knew that Terry Nation’s script delivered a tense and atmosphere political action thriller – Jack Ryan in space. The Doctor has brought the TARDIS and his new companion Katarina to the planet Kembel in the 41st century, desperate to find medical aid for his other companion Steven. But he find himself instead in the middle of a vast intergalactic conspiracy. The Daleks and their allies are plotting the conquest of the entire galaxy. They need only one last thing to end human civilization forever, and only the Doctor can keep it from them. But who can he trust when the Daleks have already corrupted the highest levels of Earth’s government?

All that said, actually being able to see the episodes reveals so much, and makes them oh so better.

 

The Doctor finds some missing film in the newly recovered Day of Armageddon (c) BBC Studios Douglas Camfield was one of Doctor Who’s finest directors, and these episodes contain some of his most dynamic work

Douglas Camfield was a genius at directing Doctor Who and The Daleks’ Master Plan is a masterpiece that ultimately left him exhausted. The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet shows all that same dramatic flair and technical ability, if anything enhanced by how fresh and energetic he must have been at these early stages of the 12 week run. Arguably the Daleks have never looked better, before or since, emerging from the thick jungles of Kembel, looming over the doomed Kent Gantry, or the pristine Supreme Dalek gliding into view alongside the others in their control room.

Surprises include communication officer Roald miming along to politician Mavic Chen’s often repeated tropes about universal peace, or the truly brutal shot of Gantry’s corpse. Meanwhile, after more than six decades, we finally get to see Zephon’s seaweed like face without his hood. The hairy, cave-dwelling prisoners of penal planet Desperus suddenly feel like a sequel to An Unearthly Child, with leadership battles over their only knife in place of the secret of fire. Desperus itself is an imaginative vista of foreboding mountains looming of the flaming torches of the prisoners, pin pricks in the darkness as they advance on our heroes.

Only the Screamers of Desperus had a better life on audio, Devil’s Planet revealing them to be slightly disappointing rubber bat like props, swinging back and forth of strings.

 

The Doctor (William Hartnell), Brett Vyon (Nicholas Courtney) and Katarina (Adrienne Hill) in The Nightmare Begins (c) BBC Studios We finally get to see more of short lived companion Katarina, and Adrienne Hill’s surprisingly charming performance

However, the greatest beneficiaries of these moving pictures are the cast themselves. William Hartnell may be having a very bad wig day, with props conspiring to send his locks into wild abandon more than once. But he’s also fierce and determined, more than anyone else selling the galactically high stakes. Indeed, the power of his performance somehow makes his occasional line fluffs more forgivable. (And we do get some absolute classics here, like his insistence that “the Daleks will stop at anything.”)

Of his companions, new ally Bret Vyon, as played by future Brigadier Nicholas Briggs, is just effortlessly smooth and cool, while an oiled up and dirty Steven, stripped to the waist, is an early, not entirely unpleasant, shock. The big winner, however, is Adrienne Hill as Katarina. The Trojan handmaiden was a victim of changes behind the scenes, written out almost as soon as she joined as a companion. Thanks to this recovery, three of her five episodes now exist, and with it a new appreciation of Hill’s performance. It’s full of an otherworldly charm that fails to come across on audio. There’s a sparkle in her eyes as she looks adoringly at the Doctor, and a delight as she successfully operates control panels under his instruction.

The powers that be thought a companion from the past would be too limiting, but to an extent these episodes prove them wrong. They suggest she could have been almost as entertaining as Jamie would be later. Quickly learning her way around the flight deck of spaceships, but still slightly baffled by a tablet, and always trusting of the Doctor to guide her.

 

Doctor Who: The Daleks’ Master Plan – The Devil’s Planet (c) BBC The exceptional recovery work from Film is Fabulous! gives fresh hope that there might still be more to come from the lost world of 60s Who

At 12 episodes, The Daleks’ Master Plan is one of the most ambitious epics Doctor Who ever attempted. The very fact that almost half of it is now available for fans to watch is incredible, especially with the previous return of second episode Day of Armageddon meaning we now have a clear run of the first three parts. Indeed, most of the first half of the story, containing some of Terry Nation’s finest writing for Doctor Who, now exists. Interestingly, this may well increase the narrative whiplash for viewers for any future Blu-ray release, as the bleaker, tenser, mostly live action Nation episodes give way to a presumably mostly animated, and somewhat broader and sillier, episodes 7-12 from writer Dennis Spooner.

However, that assumes there’s not more yet to find. Every time new discoveries are made, fans wonder if it they will be the last. The collector who held The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet was far from the only enthusiast maintaining such personal archives. Many wish to retain control of those collections in their lifetime. But perhaps we can hope their legacies will ultimately mean future generations still have even more new old Doctor Who to enjoy in the future.

After all, the universe, as the Doctor says, will always surprise you.

 

You can watch The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet for free now in the UK and US. Full details here.

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It’s almost time for Torchwood’s curtain call as Bilis Manger returns with one final terrifying plot

The latest Torchwood audio adventure is the 99th and penultimate release in the Doctor Who spin-off’s regular range. Curtain focuses on a mysterious character who has loomed large over Torchwood’s history: Bilis Manger.

Three actors receive invitations to reunite at a theatre where they once shared a terrible experience. There’s hasbeen Dermot Lacey (Cyril Nri, Class, Sarah Jane Adventures), and former grand dame Mathilde Balfour (Sarah Douglas, Superman II). Then there’s the massively successful Roger Cartney (Robert Bathurst, Flux).

Here, they find themselves tormented by a figure calling himself Bilis Manger (Colin Ryan, Knock Knock). But how does he connect to the Bilis, previously encountered by Torchwood? And is he angel, demon, or something else entirely?

Murray Melvin originated the character of Bilis Manger on television, before returning to the role numerous times for Big Finish. Curtain’s development began before his death in 2023. The production team subsequently reworked the story to act as a tribute to both Murray and Bilis.

 

Curtain is about performances and the masks people wear

Director Scott Handcock said: “The influence of Bilis Manger stretches far and wide throughout Torchwood – and Curtain is no exception. It’s a play about performances and the masks people wear, consciously and subconsciously, and it was a delight to work with such a talented band of actors on a script about acting!

“We had the best of times with Murray Melvin, and I know the idea of one more story with Bilis after he’d gone always tickled him. We all miss him a very great deal.”

 

“Bilis Manger truly deserves one last ovation”

Writer and producer James Goss added: “Curtain’s the release you listen to if you want a slice of horror – three people trapped in a haunted theatre with the devil playing deadly tricks on them.

“It’s a release that we’d have absolutely loved Murray Melvin to be around for; indeed, he suggested the notion of Bilis Manger in a theatre, as he loved lighting up a green room with theatrical anecdotes. Actors adored Murray, and it seemed irresistible to do a story in which Bilis sunk his teeth into three actors – a success, a has-been and a never-quite-was, all broken in their own ways.

“Sadly, of course, Murray died before we could get a script ready, and we were left with a corking idea and the burning need to give Bilis a soaring send-off. Bilis was such a great part of the Big Finish Torchwood range, he couldn’t just go out without a big bang. And so we came up with the notion of Curtain – there is a character called Bilis Manger in it, but who is he?

“The recording was a blast – there’s nothing actors love so much as taking the mick out of themselves and each other. Honestly, it’s a great curtain call for Bilis Manger, and he truly deserves this one last ovation.”

 

Torchwood: Curtain. Cover by Grant Kempster (c) Big Finish Torchwood: Curtain

Many years ago, the Palace Theatre burnt down during a performance that accidentally summoned the devil.

Now the cast have been invited back to the grand reopening by a mysterious figure. Who is Bilis Manger?

 

Torchwood: Curtain, scripted by James Goss from a story by David Llewellyn, is now available to own for just £8.99 (download to own) or £13.99 (download to own + collector’s edition CD), exclusively here. Please note: the collector’s edition CD is strictly limited to 1,000 copies and will not be re-pressed. 

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What’s the matter? Haven’t you ever seen a Whoover before?

The Whoovers fan group’s Whooverville convention returns in September for a seventeenth year. The popular East Midlands convention for fans of the BBC’s Doctor Who is now in its seventeenth year will once more take place at the Derby QUAD. And they’ve just revealed that they’ll be joined by the fairest, if most wicked, Time Lady of them all: the Rani, as played by Anita Dobson. Her character first appeared in The Church on Ruby Road as ‘Mrs Flood,’ Ruby Sunday’s slightly spiky, but generally good natured neighbour. However, she became one of the great mysteries of the Ncuti Gatwa era, ultimately revealed as the Doctor’s old enemy the Rani.

Dobson has proven to be just as witty, but significantly less evil, in her public appearances and quickly become a fan favourite at conventions.

She joins the previously announced Sophie Aldred, who was the Seventh Doctor’s companion Ace, and Janet Fielding, who was Tegan Jovanka, companion to the Fourth and Fifth. Both Aldred and Fielding have returned to the Whoniverse in recent years, most notably in the Thirteenth Doctor’s final story The Power of the Doctor.

You can also meet David Banks, who played the Cyberleader throughout the 1980s in stories such as Earthshock, Attack of the Cybermen, and Silver Nemesis.

The Whoovers tell fans to expect a day jam-packed with activities, including celebrity guest panels, autograph and photo sessions, displays and dealers, and above all a chance to meet fellow fans in a relaxed and fun environment.

Tickets for the event, which takes place on Saturday the 5th of September, are on sale now. Standard tickets cost £60, while concessions are £50, and tickets for accompanied children 12 and under are £20.

You can book your tickets on the Derby Quad website here.

 

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