Playing the Fifteenth Doctor

Fifteen is good at talking his way out of mundane situations, especially by being helpful.

The Church On Ruby Road

The Church On Ruby Road is the first Christmas special in six years and the first as the first full adventure for a new Doctor since 2005, introducing a new companion as well.

A big goofy singing goblin adventure too. (With a deeply sad bit.)

Ruby being established as having heroic tendencies right away.

And Davina McCall as well!

Lovely little bit with the policeman’s reaction to the Doctor’s assurance, happily ignoring the police box disappearing.

Which I thought was going with Mrs. Flood’s equally casual reaction to establish that the Doctor isn’t unknown in this version of the present, but apparently not... Hmm...

The reveal of the King reminded me of Wizards Vs. Aliens, which also had a massive power-eating king behind a spaceship door in that case.

And a Buffy shoutout when mentioning the musical number in Unleashed!

As well as Long Lost Family being a visitor from ITV.

I knew Ncuti Gatwa lived in Edinburgh in his youth but I didn’t know he was round the corner in Oxgangs!

Non-Unleashed behind the scenes bit

See you lot in May!

Doctor Who: The Official Annual 2024

A Merry Christmas to all of you at home!

Having a new Doctor and companion debut at Christmas means you can’t have much merch for them, but Ncuit Gatwa gets to share the Annual cover with David Tennant (as well as all the magazines - so many magazines!) and the back pages, after the story and comic section in between features and mostly puzzles.

Imagine Russell T Davies

Alan Yentob talked to Russell T Davies on BBC One arts series Imagine, even with a moment on Dark Season. And a new to me bit about what the 60s episode next year is going to be about.

The Goblin Song

No Doctor Who epioode for another ten days! But a preview of The Goblin Song, on all the music platforms with proceeds going to Children In Need.

(It sounds more big band and less Labyrinth than I would have guessed from the goblins’ look. With their black eyes and pallid greenish skin they actually most remind of the Gnome who was so excited to be a monster in D&D 4e!)

Sarah Jane's 50th anniversary

Sarah Jane Smith made her debut in The Time Warrior, fifty years ago today. A hero in her own right as embodied by Elisabeth Sladen.

The Giggle

One more special and we could have been weekly!

Still, there’s quite a lot to unpack here.

Bear in mind that this is the casual viewer friendly version of Doctor Who. Doctor Who is a weird show.

(Extra behind the scenes featurette where the end about what come next repeats the Unleashed episode)

The Toymaker!

Creepy puppets!

The Toymaker having a creepy puppet copy of the Doctor, as seen in the first Eighth Doctor comics!

Mel!

Wild Blue Yonder

Quite Midnight but also very Eighth Doctor comics. Also showing off the virtual set bit, while also being a bottle episode.

It does feel like we got one “normal” episode in a very compressed season as a result. (Not necessarily a complaint - I wish the nine episode Buffyverse audio drama Slayers had had standalone episodes - but odd when we only have three, like Sherlock.)

The Nobles

Caroline Siede of Girl Culture and formerly the A.V. Club on The Star Beast, the Doctor’s feelings, and the Nobles in particular.

The Star Beast

It’s so weird seeing such a close adaptation (in the middle of other fun stuff) if a story I’ve loved since I was six. And yes I want a Meep toy.

The Daleks! In Colour!

Now in colour and probably on a bigger screen than TVs had in 1963, unless you watch it on a smaller screen which is also an option!

Fifty by Morgan Davie

Morgan Davie presents Fifty, an adventure written for the fiftieht anniversary, for its tenth anniversary.

Happy anniversary!

Doctor Who premiered on this day sixty years ago.

An incidentally, a happy Thanksgiving to all of you at home in the USA!

We are, in a very real sense, back

Davros presents his Mark III Travel Machine in the Children In Need mini-episode. It’s about as RTD as RTD can be. This was so Russell T Davies in funny mode that I’m surprised he didn’t narrate it himself.

The Whoniverse

We’re really calling it that now. It has a logo. And short reunion stories highlighting some classics. And nearly everything available on iPlayer.

K9 And Company!

Big Who Stuff Humble Bundle

Humble Bundle has the first edition (well, last edition of first edition) RPG rulebook and sourcebooks along with various comics collections and audio dramas to download for about fifteen quid, with a chunk going to Children In Need.

The new theme

The new version of the Doctor Who theme, as premiered online and on radio.

I don’t like it!

Which delights me, getting to tick off a classic Doctor Who Fan Bingo square.

Doctor Who iPlayer rollout

Want some Doctor Who on streaming? How about all of it that we have? Starting November 1st. Which is nice.

Doctor Who anniversary specials trailer

“Sometimes I think there’s something missing...”

When Rose Met Doctor

Caroline Siede, former AV Club “When Romance Met Comedy” columnist, has a substack for general media talk, Girl Culture, and this week starts a Davies era Doctor Who rewatch!

Doctor In Theatre

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe once again has an improvised Doctor Who show (as well as an improvised Jane Austen show, an improvised Shakespare show...) but as distinct from the people playing D&D for an audience shows it does not use RPG rules.

Ncuti Gatwa interview

Ncuti Gatwa talks about being the Doctor at Rolling Stone. Thanks to io9 for the heads up.

International Museum Day

International Museum Day, a day Doctors would approve of.

The Anniversary Specials

The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle.

And yes, they rally are doing one of the formative stories of our people.

Dressing Up Docs

How often do TARDIS crews dress for the occasion?

Between the shot in the specials trailer, two behind-the-scenes looks at variations of the main costume, and the Swinging 60s and Regency outfits we’ve had official photos for, I’ve already seen Fifteen in as many different looks as Thirteen in her entire run.

Of course Thirteen avoided historical clothing because a lot of it is heavily gendered and the show kept her in trousers the whole time. (Yaz had a few historical feminine looks, but not often either - Ruby is already approaching her number before we actually see her in an episode.)

Where do you and your Doctor Who characters land on this?

World Book Night

Happy World Book Night! Not the night of World Book Day.

Aladdin Sane at 50

Aladdin Sane isn’t the best known of David Bowie’s regeneration names, but it’s the one with the lightning bolt makeup.

Comic Relief

After Sir Lenny Henry regenerated, David Tennant did well as ain presenter of Red Nose Day, handling msot of the serious bits and giving us the occasional OH YES!

UNIT

Looks like we’re getting a Kate Stewart UNIT spinoff. Which is nice.

World Book Day

Happy World Book Day!

Vworp Vworp! Volume V

Vworp Vworp! returns, with a sequel to The Iron Legion, a feature about various unmade Doctor Who animations, and a full cast audio adaptation of a Nelvana episode.

Nineteen plots from David Bowie's Outside

For David Bowie’s birthday, his 1995 album Outside has enough tracks for a long TV season if you include the Segue tracks. And a plot. Which I’ll use a bit of.

After album titles, ★, The Next Day, Reality, Heathen, Hours and Earthling, adventures based on the album’s song titles...

Leon Takes Us Outside

A group of friends meet a mysterious man, each of them sure that someone else in the group knows him, and go with him to a party...

Outside

... on the moon.

The Hearts Filthy Lesson

A Time Lord gives up one of her hearts for a transplant into a human ally. But now he can feel the turn of time.

A Small Plot Of Land

The travellers meet a group of amateur metal detectorists, about to unearth a long buried Sontaran cloning barrack ship.

Segue – Baby Grace (A Horrid Cassette)

A modern Earthling companion visits his sister and her new baby, and sees something on the baby monitor that shouldn’t be there.

Hallo Spaceboy

If Donna Noble can’t remember her time in the TARDIS, who wrote this tell-all book about it?

The Motel

A dingy backroads motel in 1950s America, where all attempts to drive away lead back to it.

I Have Not Been To Oxford Town

A medieval pilgrimage, well organised as a package holiday, taking in all the sacred sites of southeast England... and one that shouldn’t be there.

No Control

The TARDIS answers a call from an unknown outside source. Something important, and dangerous, is going to happen here and now. But what, and who could summon the travellers to it?

Segue – Algeria Touchshriek

The travellers accidentally become a support act for a 1980s shock rock superstar.

The Voyeur Of Utter Destruction (As Beauty)

An intergalactic tourist cruise to see black holes, supernovas, and the ultimate fireworks show of the end of a solar system. But this solar system isn’t supposed to end for another million years. And there are people in it.

Segue – Ramona A. Stone / I Am With Name

A “found footage” episode charting someone attempting to find an explanation for the disappearance of a friend - one of the companions.

Wishful Beginnings

Make a wish and throw a coin into this particular fountain and it might just come true.

We Prick You

Can the travellers escape a witch hunt?

Segue – Nathan Adler

A detective in a small Oxford town tries to solve a murder. But one of the travellers knows this story, it's just a TV show, Isn’t it?

I’m Deranged

The Stranger’s previous incarnations come back to haunt her when an alien spy hits her with a mental regression beam.

Thru’ These Architects Eyes

(With apologies to Douglas Adams and Alan Moore)

A planned community spells something out in an alien language.

Segue – Nathan Adler

The travellers meet the creator of the Nathan Adler mysteries, who turns out to be - that would be telling.

Strangers When We Meet

The Stranger meets a future incarnation. Or does she?