"An Adventure in Space and Time" Review

What a fantastically piece of heartbreaking television. Hats off to Mark Gatiss. He managed to create the perfect celebration of the birth of the best television show in the universe! There was many a moment there for die hard fans to just cheer out at yet it was also very watchable for people who don't watch Doctor Who. There was many a tear throughout the show. The first one for me was during Bradley's recreation of the farewell speech. It just genuinely moved me. And then the ending. Wow! So heartbreaking. From the breaking down to the last days filming.
Right, lets talk about the casting. I think the main cast was perfectly cast. Especially Sydney Newman, Waris Hussein, Verity Lambert and William Hartnell. The credits where they showed side-by-side pictures really showed this. And not only did they look the spitting image of who they were portraying, they were fantastically played as well. The smaller parts were not as good really but you don't really mind since they were only very small scenes. I loved the cameos from the original cast members. It was a brilliant inclusion of William Russell, Carole Ann Ford, Anneke Wills and Jean Marsh.

This drama shows how much faith Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert had in the series. If it wasn't for these 2 people (and there are many others too), we really wouldn't have the series today. It would have ran for a few weeks and that would be it. It was great how Sydney brought in 2 people in which people had no confidence because they were different to the normal way and with them they created history.
The whole ending was beautiful. From when Verity was told that Hartnell was ill I had a tear in my eye. And then when he broke down by the fire I was close to breaking down also. It was so moving to see that stern front just break away and show the true side of the legend beneath. And then onto the regeneration and the surprise cameo. I'm not naming who it is as I don't want to ruin the surprise but I was hoping they would include this person so was happy to see him. The look on Hartnells face was perfect. The twinkle in the eye, the happiness and yet the sadness at losing a massive part of his life.
There is only one score I can give this episode. 10/10. A fantastic celebration of the show we all know and love. A definite highlight of the 50th Anniversary. Thank you so much for sharing this Mark. Absolutely Fantastic!

"The Night of the Doctor" Review

The Fiftieth Anniversary of Doctor Who officially started today with the release of the new Mini Episode, The Night of the Doctor. And what a way to start with the return of The Eighth Doctor who was last seen on screen in 1996 in his only television story. I love that little nod of a line to us of "I'm a Doctor, but probably not the one that you are expecting." While there had been rumours floating about for months about this episode, it was still a fantastic surprise to see Paul back.
The first part of the episode was focussed around the Doctor trying to save Cass off the crashing spaceship though she refused to be helped after learning that he was a Time Lord. This just shows how much the Time Lords had become hated during the Time War. This is keeping in line with the End of Time and I presume it will be referenced again during the Day of the Doctor. Another great thing is that we finally get the chance to see the Eighth Doctor regenerate in this episode. A mystery which has been kept secret since 2005. I read a comment online which said they were disappointed in the fact they didn't like the Doctor died in a spaceship crash. I think this was still a fitting way to die. He could have just gone and left Cass but instead he stayed on board incase she changed her mind, sacrificing himself once again for one person.

In the second part of the episode we see another return. The sisterhood of Khan, last seen in the Brain of Morbius with Tom Baker. This was a fantastic surprise and made sense really with there history with the Time Lords. While The Doctor did switch rather quickly from staying one of the good guys to the warrior, this was needed since the episode only had a short amount of time to tell this story. He realised that if he didn't change and go on, countless more lives would be lost so he needed to turn into the War Doctor.
We also see the Big Finish Companions mentioned here, officially making the audio adventures canon to those who doubted it. This is one of the things that made my day. These stories are fantastic and deserve to be recognised. If you haven't heard them go buy one now in the Big Finish sale. You won't regret it!
"Physician Heal Thyself" I think this was a perfect last line for Eight. Following on from him saluting his companions. It felt really true to what his Doctor would say. I loved that when we finally saw Hurt, they had used a younger version of him showing how long he ended up fighting this war.
This episode really was a fan letter to the fans. So many things to make us happy. From the return of Eight, to the audio companions reference, to 8's regeneration and the Sisterhood of Khan. What a fantastic 7 minutes. It still feels like a dream... 10/10 I am now looking forward to what the rest of the anniversary has in store!

The Day of the Doctor UK Cinema Screenings

Today, BBC Worldwide announced details of the UK Cinema Screenings for Day of the Doctor. A total of 216 UK cinemas will be screening the 75 minute episode. The press release reads

In addition to the global TV broadcast, hundreds of cinemas in the UK and around the world are also confirming their plans to screen the hotly anticipated special episode simultaneously in full 3D, giving fans another unique opportunity to be part of a truly global celebration for the iconic British drama series. 216 VUE, Cineworld, Odeon, BFI and Picturehouse cinemas in the UK and Ireland have already confirmed their participation, with tickets for the anniversary screening set to go on sale this Friday October 25th at 9am.

On top of that cinemas in Germany, Russia, America and Canada will also be screening the episode as well as the 75 countries which will get a simultaneous TV airing. A total of 400 cinemas around the world will be showing the episode. This is fantastic as it means more people can get to enjoy this event television than ever before.

The Doctor Who Celebration which is being held over in London that weekend have yet to announce whether or not they will be screening the episode. I know I for one am rather annoyed with this. Up to now, I havn't really minded the lack of details and information that they have been giving but now with one month to go and the cinema tickets going on sale on Friday, I think they really need to get a move on and announce some details.

9 Classic Episodes Returned!

Sadly due to the cost of tape in the 60's/70's, Episodes of BBC tv shows were wiped so to make room for more programs. Due to Doctor Who being sold abroad by BBC enterprises, many episodes of the show have been tracked down, Today the BBC have announced that 9 more episodes have been found at a television relay station in Nigeria. The Enemy of the World episodes 1, 2, 4, 5 + 6 and The Web of Fear episodes 2, 4, 5 and + 6 have been returned to the BBC 46 years after they aired on TV. That means we now have the complete story of The Enemy of the World and all but episode 3 of The Web of Fear.

Philip Morris, who found the episodes, said

I remember wiping the dust off the masking tape on the canisters and my heart missed a beat as I saw the words Doctor Who. When I read the story code, I realised I’d found something pretty special.

Fiona Eastwood, director of consumer products at BBC Worldwide, said

We are thrilled with the recent discovery of The Web Of Fear and The Enemy Of The World and we’re very happy to be launching re-mastered versions of these treasured episodes to fans as we celebrate the 50th year of Doctor Who.

These stories are the perfect present for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. The Enemy of the World is the second complete story we have of Victoria after Tomb of the Cybermen and The Web of Fear marks the first outing of the popular character, Brigadier, then Colonel, Lethbridge-Stewart.We now down from 106 missing episodes, to 97. There are rumours that more episodes have been recovered but only time will tell the truth.

The Episodes will be available on iTunes now with The Enemy of the World out on DVD on November 22nd with Web of Fear following in Early 2014. The missing episode 3 of The Web of Fear has been recreated using 37 still images and the original episode soundtrack for the iTunes release.

The Enemy of the World - Buy now on iTunes
The Web of Fear - Buy now on iTunes

I would like to pass on a big fan to Phillip Morris and whoever else was involved in the recovery of these episodes. Thank you so much for a fantastic 50th Anniversary Present

Doctor Who - Missing Episodes Reveal 2013

The rumour that some new Missing Episodes of Doctor had been found has been circulating around the internet for the majority of the year. The news came to the forefront on Sunday when the Sunday People published a story that "that 106 BBC programs have been unearthed featuring the first two doctors." This artical was very suspicious though since 106 episode are currently missing from the archives and it would be close to impossible that all of the missing episode had been recovered.
Later that day though, the Radio Times published that "missing episodes of Doctor Who will be made available for sale to the public this Wednesday" and that there would be a press conference on the Tuesday. This added a lot of credit to that some missing episodes had been found. But it still was not definite news since the BBC had yet to give an official comment.
The next day the Radio Times tweaked the aritcal stating that the press conference had been pushed back to "later this week". The Guardian then picked up the story stating that the press conference was to be hold on Thursday. There was still a big doubt in the air since the BBC were staying quiet on the matter. Yesterday, the BBC News picked up on the news with Lizo backing up that missing episodes were due to be announced this week. With the BBC News also picking, this pretty much confirmed that missing episodes had been found.
Today, a notice appeared on the official website of Deborah Watling (who played the 2nd Doctors companion Victoria) stating that "Deborah, along with Frazer Hines, will be helping the BBC to launch the newly found Dr.Who episodes this Thurs (10/10/13), betwwen 3.30pm and 7.00pm approx." Although the press conference is taking place tomorrow afternoon, The Telegraph have tweeted saying we will not get to hear which episode have been discovered until Friday. It is looking like a midnight embargo however so there is not much of a delay to wait.
It is currently rumoured that the episodes that have been found are The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear, however Marco Polo, The Savages and The Ice Warriors have also been mentioned. We will have to wait until Friday to find out for definite which episode have been found. After months of speculation, it is nice to finally have some firm news. I for one cannot wait to hear some official news when it is released and find out what has indeed been found.

When will the Twelfth Doctor's first adventure air?

There is some debate going around at the moment when the Twelfth Doctor will make his debut. The official word at the moment is that 11 will regenerate him at Christmas but there is a few conflicting articles going around. Here is a just a few options floating around at the moment.

Regeneration in 50th, 12's Debut story at Xmas
This would be nice as it would make the regeneration come as a surprise which hasn't been done for a while. (well, not the Doctors regeneration anyway) I do think that this is unlikely though as they seem amendment that Matt is in the Xmas special.

Regeneration early to midway through Xmas special
This is what I would quite like. The Doctor has nearly always (bar the TV Movie) regenerated at the end of the adventure but I think that it would be interesting to see the villain actually cause the regeneration and the new Doctor carry on and then save the day. It will also give us a bit more of a glimpse of the new Doctor. I know Steven Moffat has said that its going to be a traditional regeneration at the end of the episode but as we all know. Rule One - Moffat Lies.

Regeneration at the end of Xmas, 12's Debut Story in Autumn 2014
I think at the moment, this seems the most likely of the 3 I have listed. I think Moffat will want to give the whole special to Matt as his swansong. (and quite right too!) The thing with this though, is the fact we will have to wait 8 months after the regeneration to see 12 in action and this just seems like such a long time. I do hope that they consider doing a special at Easter or something so we can get to properly meet the Twelfth Doctor earlier than August.

Peter Capaldi is the Doctor!

I could not be happier with the announcement that Peter Capaldi has been cast as the Twelfth Doctor. As I said in a previous blog post, I was really hoping that Moffat would cast older with 12 but I did have my doubts that he would after the success that they had with Matt. The majority of the fanbase agree that this is fantastic news that we have such a talented actor on board to bring the new incarnation of the Doctor to life. I have seen on Facebook and some other places people saying he's too old and not "fit" enough but why does the doctor have to be young. He is afterall a 1,100 year old Time Lord who can change his face. Why would he always go for a younger appearance

I was in shock when Zoe Ball announced that Peter had got the part. I was slightly expecting Moffat to go with a younger unknown again but this is a fantastic move. It is going to bring a fantastic new angle to the Doctor and his relationship. I cannot wait for his regeneration and to see his first series in August 2014. I just wish the series was back in the Spring again so the wait would be shorter. But before that of course we have the 50th and Christmas too look forward too and the Fall of the Eleventh. Matt will be missed greatly but I just cannot wait to see what Capaldi brings to the Role

THE DOCTOR IS DEAD - LONG LIVE THE DOCTOR