BBC Officially Announces The Revelation of "A Number" Of Missing Doctor Who Episodes

It was announced today, after much speculation and rumour that, "a number" of missing episodes of Doctor Who have been returned to the BBC. Exactly how many and which episodes have been in found is yet to be confirmed. Expect this to announced at some point in the next two days.

It will be interesting to see exactly what is meant by: " How fans will be able to watch the recovered episodes are also expected to be revealed later this week." Possibly a DVD release scheduled for November, the 50th anniversary month itself?

The BBC News article stated:

A number of early episodes of Doctor Who, which were believed to have been permanently lost, have been returned to the BBC.

BBC Worldwide is expected to confirm the find at a press screening in London later this week.

It follows weeks of speculation that some lost episodes had been located.

A total of 106 episodes featuring the first two actors to play the Doctor, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, are currently missing.

The BBC destroyed many of the sci-fi drama's original transmission tapes in the 1960s and 1970s.

However, the majority of the episodes had been transferred on to film for foreign broadcasters. It is often these prints found in other countries that are the source of retrieved episodes.

In 1991, all four instalments of the Patrick Troughton adventure The Tomb of the Cybermen were discovered in Hong Kong.

The latest find comes as Doctor Who celebrates its 50th birthday. A special episode featuring the current Doctor Matt Smith and his predecessor David Tennant will be shown on the programme's anniversary on 23 November.

A raft of other programming to celebrate the long-running drama was also recently announced by the BBC.

Details of how fans will be able to watch the recovered episodes are also expected to be revealed later this week.

[Source]

50th Anniversary Title and Poster Revealed

50 YEARS OF DOCTOR WHO CULMINATING IN ‘THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR’

The countdown starts here as the BBC reveals its plans to take over TV and radio to mark the Doctor’s 50th anniversary

With special programmes planned across the BBC the celebrations will peak on 23 November with the anniversary episode, revealed as ‘The Day of the Doctor’. Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jenna Coleman with Billie Piper and John Hurt, the special for BBC One has been confirmed as feature length with 75 minutes of adventure. 

Matt Smith, who plays the Doctor, said:

“The Day of the Doctor is nearly here! Hope you all enjoy. There’s lots more coming your way, as the countdown to the 50th begins now.” 

Each channel will be home to unique content, celebrating the wealth of history and talent from the last 50 years.

BBC Two will broadcast a number of new commissions, focusing on telling the story behind the show. For one night only, Professor Brian Cox will take an audience of celebrity guests and members of the public on a journey into the wonderful universe of the Doctor, from the lecture hall of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (1x60mins). Drawing on the latest theories as well as 200 years of scientific discoveries and the genius of Einstein, Brian tries to answer the classic questions raised by the Doctor – can you really travel in time? Does extra-terrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastical as the TARDIS?

In an hour-long special, BBC Two’s flagship arts programme The Culture Show presents ‘Me, You and Doctor Who’ (1x60mins), with lifelong fan Matthew Sweet exploring the cultural significance of the BBC’s longest running TV drama, arguing that it’s one of the most important cultural artefacts of modern Britain. Put simply, Doctor Who matters. He’ll examine how the show has become a cultural force in its own right and tell the stories of some of the unsung cultural heroes, who pioneered its innovative music, design and storytelling. 

BBC Two wraps up its coverage with the previously announced ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’(1x90mins), which will tell the story of the genesis of Doctor Who and the many personalities involved. Written by Mark Gatiss the drama stars; David Bradley (the Harry Potter films); Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity), Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) and Sacha Dhawan (History Boys, Last Tango in Halifax).

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, Doctor Who said:

"50 years has turned Doctor Who from a television show into a cultural landmark. Personally I can't wait to see what it becomes after a hundred." 

BBC Four will introduce audiences to the first Doctor, William Hartnell, with a special re-run of the first ever story, which marked the start of 50 years of history. The four episodes are being shown in a restored format, not previously broadcast in the UK.

There will also be programmes across CBBC with 12 Again (1x30mins) bringing together CBBC’s super fan Chris Johnson, impressionist Jon Culshaw, Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Warwick Davis (Porridge), Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra), Dan Starkey (Strax) Louise Jameson (Leela) and the Seventh Doctor; Sylvester McCoy, to share their memories of watching TV’s top Time Lord when they were young. 

While Blue Peter will launch an exciting new competition giving viewers aged between six and fourteen the opportunity to design a new gadget that will become part of the iconic science fiction series. Two live Blue Peter specials will see presenters Barney, Lindsey and Radzi joined by aliens and monsters, with viewers challenging Matt Smith to answer their Doctor Who questions.

BBC Three will be home to several exciting entertainment commissions. Audiences will be encouraged to get involved and vote in ‘Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains Weekend’, as we countdown to the top Doctor Who monster. For those less familiar with the show, ‘Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide’ will introduce fans and viewers to a wealth of archive material and act as a guide to all things Who. A further exciting commission to be announced later this year will see the celebrations finish with a bang.

Danny Cohen, Director BBC Television said:

“Doctor Who is a titan of British television and I’m incredibly proud to have it on the BBC. It's an astonishing achievement for a drama to reach its 50th Anniversary. I'd like to thank every person - on both sides of the camera - who has been involved with its creative journey over so many years.”

It’s not just TV where audiences will be able join in the celebrations, programming across Radio 2, Radio 1 and Radio 4 Extra will each mark the 50th. 

BBC Radio 2 will ask ‘Who Is The Doctor?’ in a 90 minute documentary featuring newly recorded interviews and exclusive archive material. The programme will look at the lasting appeal of Doctor Who and ask how much of its continued success can be attributed to its basic formula. 

In ‘The Blagger’s Guide to Doctor Who’, David Quantick will give the iconic Doctor the Blagger’s treatment. He’ll be finding out the answers to questions such as why do Americans think Tom Baker is still Doctor Who? How many Doctors have there really been? Were the Daleks really named after an encyclopaedia?

Finally, Graham Norton will be broadcasting his weekly Radio 2 show live (Saturday 23 November, 10am) from the Doctor Who Celebration in London. In a special three-hour show, Graham will take a ride in the TARDIS and will also be chatting with some of the series’ stars and fans. 

Music is a key part of Doctor Who, from the famous theme tune to soaring melodies, but the show has also inspired a whole new phenomenon – Time Lord Rock (TROCK). Radio 1 will look at this genre of music inspired by the Doctor and his journeys through space and time with a 60 minute documentary.

Meanwhile Radio 4 Extra travels back to 1963 with a three hour special programme, ‘Who Made Who?’, to look at the world that inspired the television series. Doctor Who may have come from other times, but his roots were very much in the present of 1960s Britain. This distinctive programme combines audio from the archive, new interviews and extracts from audio versions of Doctor Who. Additionally, the station will broadcast readings and dramas featuring the great Doctor.

There will also be special content across the official website www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho and on the iPlayer.

The Twelfth Doctor is... Peter Capaldi

Scottish born Peter Capaldi, 55 has been announced as the actor who will play the 12th Doctor. He has appeared in Doctor Who before as Caecilius in the episode The Fires of Pompeii.

Amid much hype and speculation, Peter Capaldi was unveiled as the next Doctor during a special live television event on BBC ONE tonight. Widely regarded as one of the biggest roles in British television, Capaldi will be the Twelfth Doctor and takes over from Matt Smith who leaves the show at Christmas.

Peter Capaldi says: “Being asked to play The Doctor is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and delight. I can't wait to get started."

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer says: “It's an incendiary combination: one of the most talented actors of his generation is about to play the best part on television. Peter Capaldi is in the TARDIS!”

Doctor Who companion, Jenna Coleman says: "I'm so excited Peter Capaldi is the man taking on the challenge of becoming the Twelfth Doctor. With Steven's writing and his talent I know we'll be making an amazing show with an incredible incarnation of number 12. I can't wait to start this new adventure!"

Charlotte Moore, Controller BBC One says: “Peter Capaldi has all the genius and versatility needed to take on the mantel of the great Time Lord and make the role his own. He'll bring his own particular wisdom, charisma and wit to the Twelfth Doctor and take the show into an exciting new era.”

Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning says: “We started thinking Peter Capaldi might be the right person to take on this iconic part a few months ago. But it was only when he did a secret audition at Steven's house under the cover of darkness that we knew we had our man. He's an extraordinarily talented actor who can seemingly turn his hand to anything. We can't wait to premiere his unique take on the Doctor on Christmas Day and we are sure he's going to become one of the all-time classic Doctors."

Matt Smith To Leave Doctor Who!

The BBC has just announced that Matt Smith will be leaving Doctor Who later this year.

His last story will be this year's Christmas Special. The series will continue with Season 8 and with a new actor playing the Doctor. Jenna-Louise Coleman has said that she will be involved in Season 8.

Here's the official announcement.

"Smoke and Mirrors" Audio Review

Check out my review of AudioGo/Big Finish audio

"Smoke and Mirrors"

over at Blogtor Who.

"Mind of Evil" DVD Review

Check out my review of the 

Mind of Evil DVD

over at Blogtor Who.

"Shroud of Sorrow" Book Review

Check out my review of the BBC Books novel: 

Shroud of Sorrow

over at Blogtor Who.

"Plague Of The Cybermen" Audiobook Review

Check out my review of the AudioGo audiobook: 

Plague Of The Cybermen

over at Blogtor Who.

Action Figure Report: The Dæmons Collectors Set

The most recent classic Doctor Who action figure set to be released is from the Jon Pertwee story The Dæmons. So another Brigadier figure that (when this is released) we will always have two of, and a cool Master variant, and the new addition of Bok. I'm sensing a bit of a pattern here. Two old figures with a slight change or a different variant plus one new figure.

This set is £29.99 and available to pre-order from Forbidden Planet, it is meant to be released on 2nd September 2013.

"Doctor Who And The Tomb of The Cybermen" Audiobook Review

Check out my review of the AudioGo audiobook: 

Doctor Who And The Tomb Of The Cybermen

over at The Gallifrey Times.

70: The Time Warrior - Sarah Jane, Sontarans and Gallifrey! Oh My!

Written by: Robert Holmes.

Companions: The Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, the Brigadier.

Monsters/Villains: Linx (Sontaran), Irongron.

Brief Synopsis: In the Thirteenth Century a Sontaran is stealing scientists to repair is crashed spaceship.

Rating: 9/10.

"A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting."

This story's got a lot to say for itself: we've got a new set of titles (which just happens to be my favourite), a new companion, a new recurring alien race, a fantastic sci-fi/historical plot and we finally learn the name of the Doctor's home planet, all in all it's a cracking start to Pertwee's last season. I'm just sad it's nearly all over for my favourite Doctor.

My favourite Who titles sequence.

We should start with Sarah Jane Smith, the new companion; she's a real evolution from Jo Grant. Sarah Jane's character was envisaged to be someone to have a positive effect on the story. Where Jo might scream, Sarah would investigate. Where Jo would agree, Sarah might question. Where Jo might need rescuing, Sarah could come to the rescue. It took time for Jo Grant's character to find her way and grow up and by her departure she had certainly come a long way but Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah is excellent from the get go. Sure the stuff about being a journalist seems a little obvious, and caricature, but we soon bypass that and get to the heart of Sarah: she's a curious, strong, independent and resourceful woman.

Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.

We've got a new villainous race on our hands too; well one of them at least. Linx is a Sontaran. A war loving clone-race of potato-head looking soldiers with hatchings of 1 million cadets at each muster parade.

Kevin Lindsey as Linx.

Who knew back in 1973 that they would become a recurring adversary of the Doctor, and one would even almost make it to companion status. We also get a mention of the millenia long war between the Sontarans and the Rutans, who would eventually appear in 1977 opposite Tom Baker's Doctor.

Strax, the Doctor's Sontaran Butler/Nurse.

There's also an impressive assembled cast on hand, with David Daker as Irongron, Eastenders' June Brown as Lady Eleanor the returning Alan Rowe as Edward of Wessex, and Boba Fett himself Jeremy Bulloch as Hal the archer. David Daker wasn't the first choice to play Irongron, but was suggested by Bob Hoskins when he turned down the role.

David Daker as Irongron.

I have a personal connection to this story too. In one of my many performing jobs I once worked as a singing waiter, and did a wedding at a certain Peckforton Castle, in Cheshire which was used as the principal location for The Time Warrior filling in for both Wessex and Irongron's castles.

Peckforton Castle, principal location for The Time Warrior
and a rather unfortunate wedding.

And we learn the name of the Doctor's home planet: Gallifrey, although, in the script, it was originally Galfrey. The Time Warrior also marks the first story to use "Parts" instead of "Episodes" to name each installment.

June Brown as Lady Elanor.

The Time Warrior is a fantastic example of Doctor Who at it's finest. It's a cracking historical meets sci-fi story, where an alien crashlands and gives modern weapons to a tyrant from the middle ages. Robert Holmes does a great job with the story and script, Elisabeth Sladen is instantly loveable as Sarah Jane, Jon Pertwee is on particularly good form, the characters are believable and three dimensional and the guest cast is top notch; this one will always be a classic in my eyes.

Join me next time for one of my all time favourite stories, The Invasion Of The Dinosaurs.

David Tennant, Billie Piper & Zygons Return for 50th Anniversary!!

The BBC has announced that David Tennant and Billie Piper will be appearing alongside Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman in the 90 minute 3D 50th Anniversary Special, that will also receive a limited worldwide cinema release. John Hurt and Joanna Page have also been confirmed to appear. The story is written by Steven Moffat and will be directed by Nick Hurran.

Joanna Page, David Tennant, Jenna Louise Coleman and Matt Smith at the 50th Anniversary story read through.

On top of that the BBC has also announced that classic monsters, the Zygons will be returning to Doctor Who for the 50th Anniversary Special. The Zygons first appeared in the Tom Baker adventure Terror the Zyons (1975), which will be released on DVD for the first time on June 24th.

The New Design Zygon!

"The Rescue" Audiobook Review

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The Rescue

over at Blogtor Who.

"Babblesphere" Review For Blogtor Who

Check out my review of the AudioGo/Big Finish, "Destiny of The Doctor" story: 

Babblesphere

over at Blogtor Who.

"Vengeance of The Stones" Review for Blogtor Who

Check out my review of the AudioGo/Big Finish, "Destiny of The Doctor" story: 

Vengeance Of The Stones

over at Blogtor Who.

69: The Green Death - More Than Just Giant Maggots

Written by: Robert Sloman.

Companions: The Doctor, Jo Grant, the Brigadier, Captain Mike Yates, Sergeant Benton.

Monsters/Villains: BOSS, Stevens, Giant Maggots.

Brief Synopsis: The Doctor and Jo head to Llanfairfach, South Wales to Investigate Global Chemicals and a dead miner turned bright green.

Rating: 10/10.

The reputation of The Green Death proceeds itself: "the one with the giant maggots," but there's so much more going on here. Writer, Robert Sloman's "Soylent Green" inspired script simultaneously tackles the environmental issues of pollution, globalisation of the coal mines and the introduction of oil whilst also tipping to the polar opposite of the scale in an (at times) almost pantomimic haze. On paper this doesn't sound like it would be a strong combination, but the strange concoction brings a surprisingly joyous balance. 

Professor Clifford Jones and some other hippies.

We start this story with the Doctor fixing the space time coordinate programmer, a subtle moment which partially explains the TARDIS' improved accuracy of travel that would follow. The rapport in the scenes between Pertwee and Manning is breathtaking, you can really tell that we're gearing up for Jo Grant's departure. The Doctor is growing tired of Earth and it's problems, and with his new freedom, clearly wants to explore the rest of space and time. Whereas Jo is growing up and finds a new purpose in life with Professor Clifford Jones and his desires to discover alternative foods and fuels; she even discribes him to the Doctor as a "younger you."

A lovely Giant Maggot!

The Doctor goes on a brief tangent to pick up a blue crystal from Metebelis III, a planet where all the animals are giant. Random. We then head to Llanfairfach, South Wales, where UNIT is investigating a dead miner who's turned bright green. The situation escalates when vast quantities of a green substance and giant maggots are discovered in the abandoned coal mine. It soon becomes apparent that Global Chemicals are behind these aberrations; but who's behind Global Chemicals? Who's the Boss?

John Dearth is excellent as the voice of BOSS.

The answer is: the first 'Biomorphic Organisation Systems Supervisor,' the BOSS; a computer connected to a human mind, Global Chemicals' director: Stevens. 

Jerome Willis gives an inspired performance as Stevens.

There are some brilliant light hearted moments too. At one point the Brigadier takes a call from the Prime minister: Jeremy. This was a joke by the production team intended to suggest that the Liberal Party, then led by Jeremy Thorpe, could win the next General Election; Thorpe, of course never held that office.

Pertwee's background as a light entertainer is certainly used to it's fullest ever in Doctor Who in The Green Death. In order to infiltrate Global Chemicals the Doctor disguises himself as an old milk man and then to avoid detection as a female cleaner. We get so close to Pantomime at one point there is even a slosh bucket joke.

Yates: "I like your handbag."
Doctor (in dame voice): "Do you?
Well watch out I don't slosh you with it."

The Green Death stands the test of time well, Robert Sloman's words in Professor Jones' mouth ring true. It would take twelve years but in 1985 a nutritional fungus alternative to meat would turn out to be Quorn. And in terms of renewable alternative technology for energy: solar, wind turbines and hydro power have all evolved dramatically since 1973.

A giant Fly.

In the end the maggots grow in to giant flys but fortunately UNIT manages to defeat them with Professor Jones' fungus. The BOSS's ultimate plans to link up with other computers round the world and take over the human race are foiled when Stevens fights the computer with the help of the Doctor and the Metebelis III blue crystal. Stevens destroys the BOSS, sacrificing himself and the whole of Global Chemicals.

Stewart Bevan who played Clifford Jones and Katy Manning
who played Jo Grant actually dating when filming The Green Death.

And then Jo decides to leave. Professor Jones offers her the exciting proposal to go with him to the Amazon to search for a rare fungus, and then backs that up with possibly the least romantic marriage proposal of all time. "We'll just stop in Cardiff pick up our supplies, get married!" Jo replies: "Married? You didn't say anything about getting married." To which Cliff replies "Sorry love. You will though?" Hardly high romance yet Jo agrees. 

The Doctor offers his blessing to the couple and gives Jo the blue crystal as a present asking them to save him some wedding cake. However, as the party starts to get into full swing the Doctor quietly slips away, noticed only by Jo who understands why. The Doctor, upset by the departure of his good friend, gets into Bessie and after one final look back at the cottage, sadly drives away. It's a beautifully handled departure for the companion. It feels a lot closer to modern Who than any other departures to follow.

Jo Grant did eventually see the Doctor again, in his eleventh incarnation in the Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor. She is shocked to hear the Doctor is now travelling with a married couple in the TARDIS noting that she only left because she got married. 

Elisabeth Sladen, with Matt Smith and Katy Manning.

The Green Death is a wonderful farewell for Jo Grant and I have hopefully proven so much more than just Giant Maggots.

And so we have reached the end of Season Ten. The season in which we saw the return of the First and Second incarnations of the Doctor and met the infamous Time Lord Omega. We watched the Doctor and Jo escape a carnival of monsters. We saw the return of the Master, the Ogrons the Thals and the Daleks and met the wonderful Draconians and the invisible Spiridons. Finally we faced a crazed computer and some giant Maggots and bade farewell to Jo Grant. My favourite story in this season has to be this story The Green Death. My least favourite is Planet Of The Daleks. Out of a possible 50 points I scored Season Ten 32.5/50. Giving it an average score of 63/100 putting Season Ten in eighth place overall thus far. It was a real mixed bag of a season, with some well written and produced gems. I think it was a little too "adventure serial" heavy for my tastes, but I still enjoyed it throughly.

Jon Pertwee has really become my favourite Doctor and I'm sad that there is only one more season of his to go, but it's a real corker.

Join me next time for a new season, companion, title sequence and reoccurring alien race in The Time Warrior.

Future 'Pyramids of Mars' Sutekh Figure (With New Head & Glowing Eyes)

A documentary based around Doctor Who toys called Doctor Forever! - Celestial Toyroom was recently featured on the DVD release The Aztecs: Special Edition. In an interview with Alasdair Dewar from toy company Character Options this new Sutekh figure from the Doctor Who story 'The Pyramids of Mars' was demoed; it features a different head and light-up eyes. 

Above is the previous Pyramids of Mars Set, featuring Sutekh (with Osiran head) and two Robot Mummy Guards. So it looks like we'll have another Pyramids of Mars set to look forward to at some point in the future...

Action Figure Report: Claws of Axos Collectors Set

This lovely little set from the Jon Pertwee story 'The Claws of Axos' has just been announced and features the Brig, Jo and a humanoid Axon. It's a great set but perhaps a little badly placed just after the previous release of 'The Three Doctors' Collectors Set, featuring two of the same figures, albeit with different clothes. This little beaut is expected for release 31st July 2013 and is available exclusively online from forbiddenplanet.co.uk

The set features:

- Brigadier action figure in jersey with U.N.I.T. beret and pistol.

- Jo Grant action figure.

- An Axon in Humanoid form action figure.

All three look like pretty good sculpts. It'll be nice to be able to put together with other figures from The Claws of Axos.

[Source]

68: Planet Of The Daleks - Transparently Repetitive

Written by: Terry Nation.

Companions: The Doctor, Jo Grant.

Monsters/Villains: Daleks, Thals, Spiridons.

Brief Synopsis: The TARDIS follows a Dalek ship to the Planet Spiridon, where the Daleks are attempting to master invisibility.

Rating: 4/10.

So... Planet Of The Daleks features a band of Daleks on the planet Spiridon trying to discover the locals' secret of invisibility; the Pepper-pots don't manage to achieve this transparency but the plot's similarity to that of 'The Daleks' more than makes up for their failings. Terry Nation is behind this almost direct reworking of his original story and Planet of the Daleks contains a number of the same plot devices including: a group of Daleks in a city encountering the Thals on a ravaged planet; a deadly plague instead of a neutron bomb; someone using a Dalek shell as a disguise; the Doctor imprisoned in a cell, and the Daleks imprisoned in their city at the end of the story. It just feels like Nation is afraid to do another story, he's had success with his first Dalek story and doesn't want to break the mould. He's invented these wonderful creations but doesn't know where to go with them, he does go on to redeem himself before too long, but we'll have to wait until there's a new Doctor on the scene.

Terry Nation, writer and creator of the Daleks.

The story carries on right where Frontier In Space left off, Jo gets a chance to run the show as the Doctor is out cold, literally; this is similar to what happened to him in The Dæmons. On her journeys, Jo chances on the Thals, and a friendly member of the invisible Spiridon race. The Spiridons all wear big purple furs to keep warm, and presumably so as to not bump in to each other. Once the Doctor is up and about he too meets up with the Thals and tells them of his past encounter with their people on Skaro, even mentioning Ian, Barbara and Susan, which is a lovely moment.

Jo gets given more to do.

At first it appears the Daleks are on Spiridon simply to master invisibility; an invisible Dalek is a scary idea, although it really feels like this story line gets forgotten about very quickly. We later learn there are 10,000 Daleks in hibernation on the planet just waiting to awake and conquer the galaxy. Likewise we don't see much of the invisible Spiridons (no pun intended) until one dies and loses his camouflage.

A Spiridon.

There are some rather infortunate shots using tiny Dalek toys to fill in for the huge 10, 000 strong Dalek army. It's a great idea to have such a massive Dalek force but technology wasn't quite there yet leaving these shots best forgotten.

An army of tiny toy Daleks.

There is a rather wonderful scene in a cell where the Doctor gives a Thal a pep talk about bravery, stating: "Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway." This has a really genuine heart-warming quality, but unfortunately stands out as the only  such moment in the story.

The Supreme Dalek, or disco dalek if you will.

In the end the Daleks aren't destroyed but frozen by a wave of molten ice. The Supreme Dalek (which was adapted from one of the sixties film Daleks) also manages to escape, meaning we can surely expect the Daleks' return at a later date. 

Jo is given more to do and it's here that one can really see how far the roll of the companion has come during Jo's time as assistant. Her character has grown and developed from a screaming child into a responsible individual. At the end of the story Jo tells the Doctor that there is only one planet she wants to see: earth, home. This is perhaps a little sign post of Jo's departure in the next story.

The Doctor and Bernard Horsfall as Thal Leader Taron.

Overall Planet Of The Daleks isn't particularly memorable, we've seen it all before in previous Nation stories. The performances from the actors playing the Thals are two dimensional, with the exception of Bernard Horsfall. Like it's predecessor Frontier In Space, this story feels like an unwanted throwback to Doctor Who when it was at it's adventure/pulp sci-fi stage of development back in the sixties. 

It has to be said that a more up to date version of 'The Daleks,' which hadn't been seen since 10 years earlier would have been welcome at a time where repeats and DVDs were non-existent, but with hindsight the story just feels transparently repetitive. 

Join me next time for an absolute classic, Season 10's finale and a farewell to Jo Grant in The Green Death.

'The Ice Warriors' WILL Be Animated For DVD

Contrary to previous reports it has now been officially confirmed that the DVD release of Classic Doctor Who Patrick Troughton story 'The Ice Warriors' will have both it's missing episodes animated. 

The company being brought in to handle the animation is called Qurios. This is particularly good timing as the Ice Warriors are set to return to Doctor Who this year for the 50th Anniversary in a story written by veteren Who writer Mark Gatiss, set on a submarine.

The current release date is set as 26th August 2013. But that may change.

Here's a sample of the "work in progress"animation:

Qurios Entertainment’s previous work includes visual effects for sci-fi sitcom Hyperdrive, puppet comedy Mongrels and titles for Doctor Who DVD extra series Who Peter. Veteran producer of the classic Who range, Chris Chapman has overseen the animation, Niel Bushnell is the producer for Qurios and the animation director is Chris Chatterton.

An Ice Warrior, Jamie, the Doctor, & Victoria.

[Source]