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.

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!

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...

Casting Update For 'An Adventure In Space & Time'

A few more names have been added to the cast list for the upcoming Doctor Who origin Drama, 'An Adventure In Space And Time.' The production is in it's final week and the finished programme will be shown in November to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

Cast

William Hartnell David Bradley

Verity Lambert Jessica Raine

Sydney Newman Brian Cox

Waris Hussein Sacha Dhawan

William Russell Jamie Glover

Jacqueline Hill Jemma Powell

Carole Ann Ford Claudia Grant

Delia Derbyshire Sarah Winter

Heather Hartnell Lesley Manville

Patrick Troughton Reece Shearsmith

Jackie Lane Sophie Holt

Peter Hawkins Nicholas Briggs

Mervyn Pinfield Jeff Rawle

Rex Tucker Andrew Woodall

Richard Martin Ian Hollard

Peter Brachacki David Annen

Harry William Russell

Alan Reece Pockney

Writer Mark Gatiss

Director Terry McDonough

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary To Be Shown In 3D & In Cinemas!

It was recently announced as part of a press release from the BBC that as part of the BBC's blockbuster celebrations to mark the Doctor turning 50, fans will be able to see the Time Lord and his adventures like never before - in 3D! 

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, said: 

“It's about time. Technology has finally caught up with Doctor Who and your television is now bigger on the inside. A whole new dimension of adventure for the Doctor to explore."

The last time Doctor Who used 3-D was in the best-forgotten Children In Need and 30th Anniversary special "Dimensions In Time." Let's hope that Moffat has something a little better than that to hit us with for the 50th.

[Source]

There are also some rumours circulating in the Guardian that the 3D Special will be shown in special screenings at selected Cinemas. Perhaps the closest we'll get to a Doctor Who Film. Who has been advertised in cinemas before but hasn't seen an on screen release since the Two Dalek films. 

Ben Stephenson, the BBC's Controller of Drama said that the anniversary of the time-travelling show would be a national event and compared it to the Queen's diamond jubilee and the Olympics. He also commented:

"We will be doing it on cinema screens as well. We are working out the logistics of that at the moment because we need to make sure the main BBC1 experience remains absolute value for money for the audience."

Details are still a little hazy. But more will surely follow shortly.

[Source]

BFI Announce Guests for Mind of Evil Screening

The special guests for the screening of The Mind of Evil at the BFI were announced at the screening of The Tomb of the Cybermen.

The screening on Sunday 10th March at 2pm will include the following guests:

Katy Manning - companion Jo Grant

Richard Franklin - Mike Yates

John Levene - Sergeant Benton

Tim Combe - Director

Terrance Dicks - Script Editor

Stuart Humphryes - Recolouriser

The screening sold out in 7 minutes after going on sale to BFI members.

BFI: William Hartnell "An Unearthly Child" Screening

Jessica Carney, Donald Tosh, Waris Hussein, host,
William Russell, Carole Ann Ford & Jeremy Young.

I had an absolutely marvelous time at the screening of An Unearthly Child at the BFI today, for the first of 11 events (1 for each Doctor) set for this year to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

There were a number of brilliant guests including: Waris Hussein (Director); Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman); William Russell (Ian Chesterton); Jeremy Young (Kal the Caveman); Mark Gatiss; Donald Tosh (Hartnell Era Script Editor); Brian Hodgson (Radiophonic Workshop, creator of the TARDIS sound effect); Clive Doig (Vision Mixer) and Jessica Carney (William Hartnell’s grand-daughter and biographer).

It was great to see An Unearthly Child on the big screen and with an audience, but for me finally getting to meet William Russell and Carole Ann Ford in the flesh was the biggest highlight.

The next event to celebrate Patrick Troughton will take place on February 9th. The event is already sold out, but for those of you who snapped up some tickets, I'll see you there.

BFI To Celebrate 50th Anniversary By Screening Doctor Who

The British Film Institute have been a big part of Doctor Who for many years, so like the rest of us they're celebrating the fantastic 50th Anniversary of a certain Time Lord.

Each month the BFI will screen an iconic episode of Doctor Who for each Doctor, starting with William Hartnell and An Unearthly Child, then going on to Patrick Troughton and The Tomb of The Cybermen, a special advance screening of the colourised version of The Mind of Evil for Jon Pertwee. These three are the only ones announced thus far, but a story per Doctor is expected each month. 

Also! The BFI are planning a very special Preview screening of the inception of Doctor Who Drama: An Adventure in Space and Time penned by Mark Gatiss.

Each screening will feature a guest or guests involved in each story. The announced screening thus far include:

An Unearthly Child Saturday January 12th 15:30pm

The Tomb of the Cybermen Saturday February 9th 14:30pm

The Mind of Evil (Recolourised) - March - Date and time TBC

An Adventure In Space and Time - November - Date and time TBC

All in all it's shaping up to be a very exciting 50th Anniversary.

Doctor Who Planet Of Giants DVD Review

Go on over to The Gallifrey Times and check out my review on the Planet Of Giants DVD which is released in the UK on 20th August, in Australia on 9th September and in the US on 11th September.

Click here and check out my review