#bbc new series adventures

[go-to-the-mirror]

Where might I find free Doctor Who (BBC New Series Adventures) audiobooks? Or just free audiobooks in general?

Preferably downloadable stuff and not spotify.

[tardis-technician]

Reblogging again because @cyanmountains you never need to apologize for writing essays in the tags on my posts. I love talking about this stuff. Spoilers ahead.

At the time I read this I wasn’t aware enough about Faction Paradox to consider them being involved, but I love that. Specifically, I love the fact that it’s never confirmed. It could be the daleks or it could be Faction Paradox, or even something else. It’s a very interesting thought experiment, but ultimately doesn’t matter to the narrative. (Again, not to say that’s it’s not extremely interesting to speculate, just that it’s separate from the premise of the book.) For me what hits so hard about the book is that for the Doctor it seems to be about a grief, and more importantly guilt, that is so large and all encompassing it cannot be spoken about or even acknowledged. I’m insane about this book. I’m currently undertaking the task of reading all 30 BBC New Series Adventures books from the tenth doctor era (I’ll probably read the other doctors after this) and having read 17 other books at this point this one is still in my top three.

Major spoilers for the tenth doctor novel The Eyeless (if you haven’t read it then go read it. 13/10 type of book.)

So Gallifrey built that weapon in The Eyeless like 100%. There’s tons of evidence (mostly the way the doctor acts in this) but the moment that stood out to me the most was when Asla talked about the four races involved in everything going on, and ten corrects her and says three. And Asla says something along the lines of “No, there’s four. The eyeless, us, whoever made the weapon, and whoever you are.” And ten says, “Ah. If you’re counting that way then that’s right.” I’d even go a step further and say the doctor was involved pretty directly in some way with whatever thing happened originally based on the interactions between them and some of the ghosts. I’m pointing out some pretty obvious things but I’m so obsessed with the concept that I need to talk about it. Especially the way it’s never explicitly confirmed. I think I like that even more than if they’d gone into it.

[immortalclarareborn]

"They [Amy & Rory] found the Doctor on his knees in someone's front garden, peering at the grass. The pair watched quietly from the other side of a bush as he first plucked individual blades from the lawn, inspected them and tossed them over his shoulder, then bent down even further and stuck his nose in the grass, breathing deeply. When he opened his mouth to start grazing, Amy decided it was time to step in and save him at least some dignity."

Nuclear Time by Oli Smith

[twojamie-o-clock]

Paradox Lost

11th Doctor New Series Adventure novel

I really liked this one! I was only really interested in 11’s NSA books in November, back when I was really obsessed with Rory, but this kind of rekindled my love for Matt’s era. I feel like it was all really well characterized - spoilers below

The Squall was an okay alien concept, I was more interested in Angelchrist, Rory, and RVN-73 (Arven). I feel like I would get bored by extra/original characters with overly detailed lives, but so far I’ve enjoyed all of them in BBC’s books. Angelchrist was fun, and he didn’t take over the plot because the perspective was fairly Rory-centric (which is exactly my cup of tea.) I feel like George Mann wrote all of the characters very well, and I could imagine it perfectly happening lol.

RVN-73 “Arven” was cool, because it’s always interesting to see a human perspective on an AI humanoid who benignly helps and ends up torn to shreds. They all shared a kinship with Arven, and they acknowledged that they couldn’t feel pain, weren’t human, etc. but still cared for them deeply when they were damaged & eventually chucked in the river. I liked their resolution living with Angelchrist, it felt like the first time where “dumping extras together” was kind of heartwarming.

Amy being excited by dangers but then thrown off when their lives are truly on the line was shown well, and how she watches the Doctor’s every move while Rory watches her was subtle and good imo. I love Rory and he’s very underappreciated and while I may not like some dynamics of Amy & Rory’s relationship, regardless it was shown really well in the book.

The Doctor was amazing, of course, and it’s always fun to see him trying on stupid hats. I like how the plot jumps around times, future & past, but like I said the squall were kind of underdeveloped and not that captivating. I would love to see more telepathic aliens and creepy writing like the prologue, but it didn’t feel explored properly. That was in favor of narrating Rory’s perspective, though, so I don’t mind.

Extra thoughts:

- confronting internalized biases w Gradius death scene was great!!! Bc I was also picturing a decrepit old man and went “oh.” when they found her. Thank you

- i loved the epilogue, loved angelchrist’s “my doctor” scene, bc it really shows how we are silly humans and we can acknowledge the Doctor is one person, but his face (11) still made an impact visually and it feels different when that one, the face you fought aliens and risked your life with, comes to see you.

Overall would give this like an 8/10 ? Which is mainly carried by Rory because I love him. But yeah if you are an 11 enjoyer go read it.

[mndvx]

DOCTOR WHO | TALES OF THE TARDIS

Welcome to the world where you can find every Doctor, every companion, and terrifyingly, hundreds of monsters that have appeared in Doctor Who. From the 1st November, The Whoniverse will become the official name, and dedicated home, for all shows within the orbit of Doctor Who which will live on BBC iPlayer.

With over 800 episodes of Doctor Who content already in the back catalogue, The Whoniverse will launch with a brand new logo, and every piece of Doctor Who content will carry a brand new ident, instantly bringing all the Doctor Who worlds together in one place and it will continuously expand.

The first exclusive content to land in the Whoniverse will be TALES OF THE TARDIS, a brand new six-part series that reunites beloved classic Doctor Who duos, as they board a very special TARDIS on a nostalgic voyage through space and time.

Reprising their roles as the Doctor and companions to go on a timey-wimey spin down memory lane in these unmissable adventures are; Maureen O’Brien as Vicki and Peter Purves as Steven, Frazer Hines as Jamie and Wendy Padbury as Zoe, Katy Manning as Jo and Daniel Anthony as Clyde, Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Janet Fielding as Tegan, Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri, and Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace.

These Doctor Who legends step back into character to reflect on their adventures and in the process they discover something new, leaving viewers with a new insight into the story of each timeless pair.

Over six parts, each episode of TALES OF THE TARDIS features a different duo, with brand new scenes woven together with classic episodes to create a feature-length omnibus episode.

With new scenes written by Showrunner Russell T Davies, and previous Doctor Who writers Phil Ford and Pete McTighe, TALES OF THE TARDIS allows fans to rediscover the stories they love whilst inviting new viewers to explore the vast mythology of the Doctor.

Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Showrunner says:

“The word Whoniverse was invented by fans, so it’s time to give it official status. And TALES OF THE TARDIS is one of the greatest delights of my career - to see old Doctors and companions reunited, still fighting the good fight, is a perfect way to celebrate the Doctor’s 60th birthday!”

[ineffable-endearments]

Movies that are less than 100 minutes long

While I totally get the anxiety about the cutting down of time on GO3, some people might find comfort in considering other stories that have been told in under 100 minutes.

A movie isn't just a smaller slice of media - it's a different storytelling format than a TV series. There are techniques the creative team can use in movies to convey plot information faster than they would in a longer format. There are skillful and unskillful ways to do this, so that's not to say it's foolproof by any means, just that it is totally possible. I don't think anxiety about the cut time is unfounded, but I also don't think it's particularly helpful to assume that it's impossible for it to be accomplished by anyone anywhere at Amazon or the BBC.

Note that the argument here is not that all these movies are actually similar to Good Omens. I'm just saying these are all popular, well-loved stories that pack a lot of entertainment into about an hour and a half.

The Emperor's New Groove, animated family comedy

Perfect Blue, animated horror mystery

A Hard Day's Night, musical comedy about the Beatles

The Babadook, psychological horror

Zombieland, horror comedy

John Wick, action thriller

Punch-Drunk Love, romantic comedy

Men in Black, action sci-fi comedy

Shaolin Soccer, action comedy

Stand By Me, adventure drama

My Neighbor Totoro, animated family fantasy

But I'm a Cheerleader, satirical teen romantic comedy

Rye Lane, romantic comedy

The Man from Earth, sci-fi drama

Bodies Bodies Bodies, horror comedy

Shrek, animated family comedy

Crank, action thriller

The Iron Giant, animated sci-fi drama

[alittlebitofsainz]

a place in this world - ch1

a dream come true. you, a race engineer in formula one, having built your way up through the ranks. sure, the 2020 season hadn’t exactly gone the way that everyone had expected, but this was your chance, your moment to prove to the world of racing what you and your driver, carlos, were made of. but carlos isn’t staying at mclaren forever, and eventually, you’ll have a decision to make…

pairing: carlos sainz x f! reader. slow burn colleagues to friends to lovers (please, from my own experience, don’t follow this pipeline)

info: reader lives in the uk due to working at mclaren, and is somewhat implied to be british. it is also implied that they listen to bbc radio 2 and support leicester city football club. this may or may not be because these things are true of me and I wasn’t planning on publishing this, sorry!

warnings: cursing, a lil’ bit of angst, very infrequent use of y/n, one (1) google translated spanish sentence, a dry british writing style xoxo a/n: hello! welcome to a little passion project I never thought I’d share with the internet. this will eventually become a sort of ‘choose your own adventure’ type series, where you can make decisions about your career that can eventually lead you to different teams and drivers. will be posting a masterlist soon with more info so bare with me! any feedback / comments are always welcome

Masterlist | chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4

Chapter One: … Ready for It?

it had started out like any other wednesday. except it hadn’t, not really. the nature of your job meant that there was no ‘any other wednesday’. most wednesdays meant that you were jetting off to some new country, your wide eyed face in the window seat, reflecting back off the pane of glass separating you from the dancing lights of some exciting new city, 5,000 feet below. race engineer to mclaren-renault formula one driver number 55, carlos sainz, wasn’t exactly what you had listed as what you wanted to be when you grew up, but you were far from disappointed that that’s what your linkedin profile now read, a metaphorical middle finger to everyone who’d said you’d never amount to anything in motorsports.

but by all accounts it had been a relatively uneventful wednesday in your life, in fact even more so than usual compared to the early morning check ins at Stansted airport that you’d grown accustomed to. this week was silverstone, your home race, if race engineers could call it that, and that meant no early mornings, no check ins, no flights, no decanting your liquids into tiny bottles and zipping them into a plastic bag to take through security. this wednesday was a stop at sainsburys to fill up the tank of your vw polo with petrol, and an 80 mile drive west towards silverstone circuit. the most exciting part of your morning was getting stuck in half an hour of traffic on the m25; you didn’t even need the dulcet tones of Richie Anderson on radio 2 to tell you there’d be traffic at Potters Bar. as a native southerner, you could just feel it in your bones.

still, only fifteen minutes late to track wasn’t too bad, considering your lengthy journey, and you were by far the last member of the team to arrive. you would’ve been even less late, but for the fact that you’d sat for the best part of five minutes in your car, engine off, staring at the notification on your phone. there were so many questions running around in your head, first and foremost of which was why on earth did dan from engineering have your number? but the second question, which was possibly the more important one, was why did carlos ask him for it? he said that it ‘might be useful to contact each other.’ if the current expression on your face could be summed up in a noise, it would be a very confused and very emphatic ‘huh?’.

sure, you and carlos interacted a lot during race weekends, that much was a given. you were forever catching up to discuss data, strategies, the car setup, the sandwich options at the hospitality, why the leicester city football team would beat real madrid in a fist fight. so okay, your conversations weren’t allstrictly work related, and you could’t deny that the two of you got on well and seemed to really understand each other, but that was all part of being a driver and race engineer duo; you had to be on the same wavelength. it was non-negotiable. but swapping phone numbers? you couldn’t imagine why the two of you would need to text or call each outside of work hours, and you had work phones for that. which led you to your third and fourth questions: number three, why did you suddenly feel so nervous and giddy with excitement when you re-read his message for the seventh time? (question three point five was why did you re-read his message seven times?) and number four, what the hell were you supposed to message back in reply?

you typed in a thumbs up emoji and then immediately deleted it. how fucking old were you, 65? what next, start talking to him about the cold war? no, you had to keep it fun and casual, not too overfamiliar but not too weirdly distant and cold. god, why was this so difficult? you felt like a schoolgirl with a teenage crush, constantly typing various replies and deleting them again, letter by letter. eventually you settled on a cool, calm and collected response, typing it out and shoving your phone into your pocket before you had time to overanalyse what you’d just sent. quickly gathering up your stuff from the boot of your car, you spammed the lock button on your car keys, just in case the first five times didn’t stick, and trotted off towards the entrance to the paddock.

as it was approaching the hour mark since he’d sent his text, carlos had been starting to worry that he’d overstepped an unwritten boundary. why had he even asked dan from engineering for her number in the first place? it just felt like something that he should have. lando had will’s number, he’d already asked him that. but once he’d sent the message he realised that he couldn’t really come up with an excuse as to why he’d needed it, why he couldn’t have waited until he’d seen her this weekend and ask for her number from herself. like a normal person. deep down he knew why, though he was in some sort of state of denial about it, and it was the same reason that he hadn’t asked for her number two weeks ago in Hungary, or at the previous race in Austria, or when he’d first met her at the start of the season. 

he breathed a sigh of relief when her reply came through, 57 minutes after he’d sent his message. well, the first one that is. the second message came two minutes after the first; god, he couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to forget to include who he was at the end of the text the first time around.

but it didn’t matter now, because she’d replied, and her words on the screen made him smile to himself, her voice in his head as he read them through three, now four times over. his fingers hovered over the keypad, contemplating a reply. he checked the time - it wouldn’t be long until she arrived at track anyway and they could chat in person, so he closed the messages app on his phone and tucked it away in his pocket, deciding against committing any words to the everlasting aether which was the iPhone messages app.

it was nearing the end of a lengthy strategy department meeting when your phone went off, a few pair of eyes glancing your way as you apologised profusely, eyes scanning over the text before sheepishly putting your phone on do not disturb and placing it back on the table face down. shit, this meeting wouldn’t be finished for another ten minutes at least, and by that time all the bacon and brie toasties would be gone (everyone knew they were the best lunch option). worse still, you hated the fact that you had to leave carlos hanging; pausing the strategy meeting to send off a quick text was equivalent to a cardinal sin, even if it was to carlos sainz. your eyes were flicking increasingly often down to the time on your laptop, the seconds crawling by as the time approached one o’clock. it felt like whichever godlike entity governed the laws of time was toying with you; surely it wasn’t possible for time to move this slowly? the head of strategy wrapped the meeting at 13:04, and you were out of your seat like a rocket.

amy, one of the strategists, fell into step beside you as you paced it down the corridor.

“you’ve heard about the brie and bacon being back on?” she asked; you only had to reply with a grin to give her the answer that she needed. she eyed you up, as much as anyone power walking down a busy corridor could whilst still maintaining maximum straight line speed.

“everyone from strategy and engineering has been in meetings. so who’s your source?” came her second question. you picked up your pace, under the guise of trying to get to the canteen quicker.

she had a habit of taking just enough time to respond to carlos’ messages to keep him guessing whether she actually would respond at all. it wasn’t entirely her fault, carlos realised; she’d apologised for earlier, explaining that she was busy driving. of course she was, how could he be such an idiot? maybe a part of him was hoping that she’d been acting coy, teasing him by waiting, purposefully trying to keep him on the edge of his seat.

carlos saw her enter the canteen, watched with a small, self satisfied smirk as her face fell, the rattan shelf where the brie and bacon toasties had been, now depressingly empty. he left it just long enough so that she was forced to consider which disappointing option to go for instead, before finally calling her over.

“Y/N!” carlos called, watching as her head whipped round, and he had to stifle a laugh at her confusion. he waved her over.

“sorry, I was stuck in a meeting.” she sighed, her voice slightly breathless. had she ran here? he fought back the urge to tease her about it, shaking his head slightly.

“don’t worry about it.” he replied, gesturing to the seat beside him as he spoke. her eyes lit up when her gaze fell on the plate on the table, in just the way he’d pictured in his head. god, he’d never get over the way the simple things pleased her, and he didn’t mean that in a bad way. over the past couple of months that he’d known her, carlos had learned that the little things really mattered, in a way that was almost rare in this environment. she looked upon a brie and bacon sandwich like it was the sun that shined, and if she’d have looked up at carlos in that moment, she’d have seen that he was looking at her in the exact same way.

“is that for me?”

“no.” carlos replied, deadpan. she shot him a look, her face screwed up in a pout that he’d grown more accustomed to the more he teased her like this. eventually he let out a soft chuckle, as a way to say I’m only joking, of course it’s for you, and she sat down in the seat next to him with a playful scowl, which only caused him to laugh more.

“thanks, carlos. you’re the best.” she told him through a mouthful of brie, bacon and toasted bread.

“I know.” he replied, a cheeky grin dancing across his face. “it was the last one as well.”

“amy’s gonna be pissed.” she giggled, glancing over her shoulder to watch as her colleague was forced to settle for regular ham and cheese.

a podium finish to p13. was it worse to fail because of your own shortcomings or because of something that was out of your control? if you’d asked carlos sainz right now, he would think about it for a moment, and then tell you to vete a la mierda.*

his phone screen lighting up in the darkness was the only thing that brought his attention to how dark it had become in his hotel room. christ, how long had he been sat there, staring at the wall, trying to process how frustrated and angry and upset he was? he’d put his phone on silent, tired of all the commiseratory messages that had been coming through, but apparently his bedtime reminder didn’t obey the laws of do not disturb. sighing, he unlocked the device, and quickly scanned down the many notifications he had been ignoring for the past few hours. one stood out above all the rest, because of course it did. he felt guilt clutch him as he noticed the message from well over an hour ago. from her.not only guilty at the fact that he’d not seen her message, but for some reason guilty for perceiving that he’d let her down at her home race. it was stupid, he knew, to feel that way - it wasn’t his fault that his tyre had blown out with just a few laps to go, but he knew how excited she’d been for her first ever british gp, and it had all ended in disappointment. his fingers hovered over the keyboard at the bottom of his phone for a moment, a million different emotions whizzing round in his head, bouncing off the sides like a demented pinball machine. no wonder he had a headache. he drew in a sharp breath before typing out his reply.

*I’m hoping this means somewhat akin to ‘fuck off’

you’d almost forgotten that you’d sent carlos sainz a message of commiseration, which was shocking considering how long you’d been deliberating over it only a mere hour ago. you were back in your own bed in your hometown, seeing no need to stick around seeing as there would be no celebrations this weekend, and carlos had disappeared as soon as the team debrief had ended, making it very clear that he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. which made it all the more surprising when you leaned over to your bedside table, bleary eyes blinking back sleep as your vision adjusted to the pitch black of your room, to pick up the phone which had woken you from your sleep.

your eyes blinked again against the harsh light of the phone, taking a moment to focus on the big bold numbers on your lockscreen. 01:03? who was texting you at this time? eyebrows knitted together in an increasingly deep frown, you scanned carlos’ message. as was becoming customary, you read it several times over, this time to check whether you’d read it right. why would he want to ring you, at this time of night as well? your mind started to reach for wild possibilities - was he in trouble? hurt? worse?

before he changed his mind, carlos hit the telephone symbol next to her contact details.

“Carlos, are you okay?” her voice came through almost immediately, sounding equal parts panicked yet somehow sleepy. shit, not only had he caused her to worry, he’d probably just woken her up in the middle of the night as well. what kind of dickhead rings a colleague that he’s only known for a few months at 1am? he cleared his throat.

“fuck, sorry, I woke you up.”

“don’t worry about it, I was awake.” she replied. a blatant lie, but carlos appreciated the attempt to make him feel better. 

“can I help you with something?” she continued, still sounding concerned. he shook his head even though she couldn’t see.

“yes, no. fuck, I don’t know.” he growled at himself for being so confused, so confusing, for not even really knowing why he’d called her. was he going insane, or did he just hear a soft sigh on the other end of the line? he squeezed his eyes shut, collecting himself to try again, but she beat him to it. 

“I’m sorry about today, carlos, it must be tough to deal with.”

sometimes it felt like she knew him better than he knew himself. he dragged a hand down his face.

“yeah, I’m- it’s not great.” he stumbled over his words slightly, his voice catching in his throat. usually he’d be reluctant to show this vulnerability, embarrassed even, but something about the late hour combined with how oh-so-soft her voice was… it made him forget his pride for just that moment. 

“I can’t stop thinking about it.” he admitted, feeling a ramble coming on but equally feeling powerless to stop it. “I know that it was a problem with the tyre, I know that it wasn’t my fault, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. and then there’s always a part of me that wonders whether there was anything that I could’ve done. like, maybe if I’d driven less aggressively or something, or changed the way I braked around a certain corner. I still feel like I’ve let myself down, let the team down, let you dow-“

“you didn’t let me down, carlos.” her abrupt reply broke him from his monologue, stopping him in his tracks and allowing him to fill his lungs with air, not realising how out of breath he was becoming with his run-on sentences.

“what?” came his soft reply. he’d heard perfectly clearly what she’d said the first time. but a part of him needed to hear it again.

“you didn’t let me down, carlos.” she repeated, with the same clarity, the same sincerity, the same low tone that he’d never heard from her before that made her sound so wise beyond her years.

“you didn’t let anyone down. this wasn’t your fault. I know it doesn’t make it any less frustrating or easier to deal with - there’s nothing I can say that will change that. but please, please don’t blame yourself for any part of it.”

there was silence on both ends for a moment, before carlos let out a long sigh.

“I- yeah, I guess you’re right.” there was something still on his mind, something that one am carlosknew that one pm carlos would never want to talk about, least of all burden his race engineer with it. but that was all the more reason to say it now.

“I just feel so much pressure to perform, now that I have the ferrari contract.” his voice dropped even lower as he spoke, as if whispering it quietly enough could make it not be true. “I feel like I have to earn my place there, you know?”

“carlos, you were P-fucking-3.” 

something about the way she stressed the syllables made carlos chuckle despite himself, and from the way she let out a small giggle on the other end of the phone, he guessed that that had been her intention all along. 

“anyone can see that you’ve earned that seat at ferrari. you’ve proved that time and time again already. this isn’t about anyone else, this is about you, and what you believe you deserve. the only person you need to convince is yourself.”

carlos chuckled again, feeling some sort of playful nature already coming back to him. maybe he’d finally figured out why he wanted to call her in the middle of the night, maybe it was even the reason he wanted her number in the first place. maybe it was because he knew that no matter how crappy he was feeling, talking to her always seemed to turn the day around. she always seemed to make him smile.

“very inspirational.” he replied, his tone almost teasing over her ‘believing in yourself’ speech. the corners of his lips curved upwards as he could practically hear her rolling her eyes on the other end.

“this is what I get for trying to be nice.” she muttered, but her tone was light, reciprocating the teasing. carlos smiled, his first genuine smile in several hours. probably since the last time he’d seen her.

“thank you, really. talking to you it… it always puts me in a better mood.” carlos confessed, glad that this was a phone call so she couldn’t see the way his cheeks lit up a soft shade of pink.

“anytime, carlos.” 

when they eventually hung up the call, carlos felt lighter than he had in weeks, like she’d melted all his problems away with her soft voice and warm heart. he slept easy that night. meanwhile, she was now wide awake.

you groaned when the sound of your phone pinging dragged you from your admittedly tumultuous sleep. it had been difficult to drift off again after that call with carlos, a million thoughts buzzing around your brain like a swarm of bees on cocaine. you felt bad for carlos, sure, but that wasn’t enough to keep you awake on its own. there was another feeling there; if you were to flip through an oxford english dictionary until you found a word that summed it up you might settle for ‘intrigued’. 

you were intrigued that carlos that had decided to ring you of all people last night; surely he had family, or at the very least close friends, that he would rather turn to? but you were also intrigued by your own reaction - why were you feeling so warm and fuzzy that carlos had chosen you, the knowledge that when he was feeling low you were the one he wanted to hear on the other end of the line creating some sort of feeling in your heart, like someone was squeezing it not-quite-too tightly?

it was these questions, and an incessant amount of bin lorries driving past at 5am, that kept you from falling back asleep, and were the reason that you were grumbling now, as you reached over to pick up your phone. the grumbling ceased the moment you read the message and saw who it was from, replaced by a softly murmured ‘oh’, and that strange feeling in your chest again.

as always feedback and comments are welcomed with massive appreciation and open arms! a second part is written and will be out soonish! much love, Katie x

[doctorkinktraveller]

Actor, comedian and writer Catherine Tate will host the Doctor Who Prom, which makes its much-anticipated return to the BBC Proms this year. Catherine Tate is known for playing the role of Donna Noble in the 2006 Doctor Who Christmas special, 2008’s fourth series, the subsequent 2009-2010 Christmas and New Year's specials, and the 60th anniversary specials in 2023, and previously appeared as a surprise guest at the 2008 Doctor Who Prom.

Catherine Tate says: "I’m delighted to be hosting this spectacular BBC Prom celebrating all things Doctor Who at the iconic Royal Albert Hall. I am so looking forward to immersing myself in the music of the brilliantly enduring, shape-shifting Whoniverse, and celebrating the Doctors' adventures (and maybe a few monsters) with you all."

[pers-books]

Obituary

William Russell obituary

Stage and screen actor who was part of the original cast of Doctor Who

Michael Coveney Tue 4 Jun 2024 17.40 BST

William Russell, left, as Ian Chesterton, with William Hartnell as the Doctor, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara and Carole Ann Ford as Susan in the Doctor Who serial The Keys of Marinus, 1964. Photograph: BBC

On 23 November 1963 – the day after the assassination of President John F Kennedy – the actor William Russell, who has died aged 99, appearing in a new BBC television series, approached what looked like an old-fashioned police box in a scrapyard, from which an old chap emerged, saying he was the doctor. Russell responded: “Doctor Who?”

And so was launched one of the most popular TV series of all time, although the viewing figures that night were low because of the political upheaval, so the same episode was shown again a week later. It caught on, big time, with Russell – as the science schoolteacher Ian Chesterton – and William Hartnell as the Doctor establishing themselves alongside Jacqueline Hill as the history teacher Barbara Wright and Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman.

Russell stayed until 1965, returning to the show in 2022 in a cameo appearance as Ian and, since then, participating happily in all the hoop-la and fanzine convention-hopping, signing and schmoozing that such a phenomenon engenders.

Before that, though, Russell had achieved prominence in the title role of the ITV series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956-57) – he was strongly built with an air of dashing bravado about him; he had been an RAF officer in the later stages of the second world war – and as the lead in a 1957 BBC television adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, transmitted live in 18 weekly episodes.

William Russell on the set of the 1950s television series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty Images

When Sir Lancelot went to the US, the first British TV import to be shot in colour for an American audience, Russell rode down Fifth Avenue on a horse in full regalia, like some returning, mystical, medieval knight in the heart of Normandy. The show was a smash hit.

By now he was established in movies, playing a servant to John Mills in The Gift Horse (1952) and a clutch of second world war action movies including They Who Dare (1954) opposite Dirk Bogarde, directed by Lewis “All Quiet on the Western Front” Milestone – he met his first wife, the French model and actor Balbina Gutierrez on a boat sailing to Cyprus to a location shoot in Malta – and Ronald Neame’s The Man Who Never Was (1956), the first Operation Mincemeat movie, in which he played Gloria Grahame’s fiance.

Until this point in his career, he was known as Russell Enoch. But Norman Wisdom, with whom he played in the knockabout comedy farce One Good Turn (1955) objected to his surname because he felt (oddly) that it would publicise a vaudevillian rival of his called Enoch. So, somewhat meekly, and to keep Wisdom happy, he became William Russell, although, in the 1980s, for happy and productive periods with the Actors Touring Company and the RSC, he reverted to the name Russell Enoch. Later, he settled again on William Russell. All very confusing for the historians. His doorbell across the road from me in north London bore the legend “Enoch”.

He was born in Sunderland, the only child of Alfred Enoch, a salesman and small business entrepreneur, and his wife, Eva (nee Pile). They moved to Solihull, and then Wolverhampton, where William attended the grammar school before moving on to Fettes college in Edinburgh and Trinity College, Oxford, where his economics tutor was the brilliant Labour parliamentarian Anthony Crosland.

But Russell didn’t “get” the economics part of the PPE (philosophy, politics and economics) course and switched, much to Crosland’s relief, to English. In those years, 1943-46, he worked out his national service and appeared in revues and plays with such talented contemporaries as Kenneth Tynan, Tony Richardson and Sandy Wilson.

Derek Ware, a fight co-ordinator, runs through a scene with Russell during a break in filming the Doctor Who story The Crusades at the BBC studios, Ealing, in 1965. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty Images

On graduating, he played in weekly rep in Tunbridge Wells, fortnightly rep at the Oxford Playhouse and featured, modestly, in the Alec Guinness Hamlet of 1951 at the New (now the Noël Coward) theatre. He had big roles in seasons at the Bristol Old Vic and the Oxford Playhouse in the early 60s, while on television he was in JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls with John Gregson, and was St John Rivers in Jane Eyre.

He played Shylock and Ford (in the Merry Wives of Windsor) in 1968-69 at the Open Air, Regent’s Park, before joining the RSC in 1970 as the Provost in Measure for Measure (with Ian Richardson and Ben Kingsley), Lord Rivers in Norman Rodway’s Richard III and Salisbury in a touring King John, with the title role played by Patrick Stewart.

His billing slipped in movies, but he played small parts in good films such as Superman (1978), starring Christopher Reeve, as one of the Elders; as a passerby drawn into the violence in the Spanish-American slasher film Deadly Manor (1990); and in Bertrand Tavernier’s Death Watch (1980), a sci-fi futuristic fable about celebrity, reality TV and corruption, starring Romy Schneider and Harvey Keitel.

With John Retallack’s Actors Touring Company in the 80s, he was a lurching, apoplectic Sir John Brute in John Vanbrugh’s The Provok’d Wife, possessing, said Jonathan Keates in the Guardian, “a weirdly philosophical elegance”; a civilised Alonso, expertly discharging some of the best speeches in The Tempest; and a quick-change virtuosic king, peasant, soldier and tsar in Alfred Jarry’s 1896 surrealist satire Ubu Roi in the Cyril Connolly translation.

Back at the RSC in 1989, he was the courtly official Egeus in white spats (Helena wore Doc Martens) in an outstanding production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by John Caird, and both the Ghost and First Player in Mark Rylance’s pyjama-clad Hamlet directed by Ron Daniels. In 1994 he took over (from Peter Cellier) as Pinchard in Peter Hall’s delightful production of Feydeau’s Le Dindon, retitled in translation An Absolute Turkey, which it wasn’t.

He rejoined Rylance in that actor/director’s opening season in 1997 at the new Shakespeare’s Globe. He was King Charles VI of France in Henry V and Tutor to Tim in Thomas Middleton’s riotous Jacobean city comedy, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. Many years later, in 2021, his son Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter movies), would play on the same stage as a fired-up Romeo.

Russell is survived by his second wife, Etheline (nee Lewis), a doctor, whom he married in 1984, and their son, Alfred, and by his children, Vanessa, Laetitia and Robert, from his marriage to Balbina, which ended in divorce, and four grandchildren, James, Elise, Amy and Ayo.

 William Russell Enoch, actor, born 19 November 1924; died 3 June 2024.

-- I'm a bit annoyed there's no mention of the fact that William continued to play Ian Chesterton for Big Finish.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Percy James Patrick, AKA Scottish actor, Sylvester McCoy who was born 20th August 1943, in Dunoon.

His father was killed in the Second World War a couple of months before he was born, and he was brought up by his mother, his grandmother and aunts.

He attended St. Mun’s, primary School in the town and as Percy Smith he trained as a priest, joining Blair’s College, a seminary in Aberdeen, for boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen he then gave it up and applied to become a Monk! This was rejected, as he was too young, so Percy returned to Dunoon and finished his education at Dunoon Grammar School.

On leaving school he took a holiday to the bright lights of London and ended up staying, taking a number of jobs, he sold insurance, acted as a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones, then gained a job selling tickets and keeping the books in a theatre box office. Eventually, he joined the Ken Campbell Roadshow. Along with Bob Hoskins, Jane Wood, and Dave Hill, McCoy started performing a range of sketches with the umbrella theme of “modern myths.”

McCoy found himself for a while in a double-act with Hoskins before Hoskins left to pursue his film career. When working with Ken Campbell in an improvised a circus-based act about a fictitious stuntman called Sylvester McCoy he thought it would be amusing if the program stated that this character was played by “Sylvester McCoy”. While at the Royal Court Theatre, one of the critics missed the joke and assumed that Sylvester McCoy was a real person. McCoy liked the irony of this and adopted the name of his stage identity

His big break came when McCoy was starring at the National Theatre in “The Pied Piper”, a musical play written especially for him, when he learned that the BBC was looking for a new lead actor to replace Colin Baker in “Doctor Who”. He later won the role as the seventh Doctor and the first Scottish one!

Following “Doctor Who,” McCoy continues to work extensively in theatre, films, radio, opera, and on television.He sees himself as an all round entertainer, his talents include,playing the xylophone and the spoons. He can also juggle and once gained a reputation for stuffing live ferrets down his trousers.

McCoy was considered for the role of Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and must have made a lasting impression on the filmmakers as they were later to cast him as Radagast the Brown in The Hobbit films.

Now in his 80's Sylvester has no less than seven projects on the go just now, he was last on our screens this year in Father Brown ,but has also appeared in 10 episodes on a podcast series calle Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor Adventures.

I love Sylvesters quirky outfits, and absolutely love the first three pics, the first in his hometown Dunoon, then in front of a police box in Glasgow, the third is a wee Sylvester.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/21/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Birthday Boy; Rachel House; Taika Waititi; You Wear 50 Well; #RhysRadness; Stats; Watch party Reminders; Articles; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

Wow, I'm sorry all, I literally fell asleep at the computer last night and just.. didnt get up til this morning. I apparently was pretty wiped out! So tonight's recap is this mornings recap! PS: Im behind on all my messages so please dont think im ignoring you :)

== Birthday Boy ==

As you can imagine, Rhys was everywhere today, on his birthday on this side of the world! Some more stills from Uproar from Caravancarparkfilms IG

He also posted some old and new pics of our captain!

Dan Schreiber Posted a video of Rhys starting to sing My Sharona! Thanks @kiwistede for getting that over to tumblr!

Samba also gave us some more pictures!

And then there was the merstede cameo he did!

= Rachel House =

I keep wanting to post more about Rachel's new movie The Mountain but there's been so much Rhys stuff going on I keep forgetting! So here's some sweet promos for the movie that's in select showings in Aotearoa right now!

== Taika Waititi ==

Great news all! Taika got your lovely letters :)

== You Wear 50 Well ==

More tributes to the birthday boy!

@nika_market

@The_MovieDweeb

= Tumblr Highlights! =

Lots more gorgeous tributes by our tumblr sibs!

@ammdakin

@emcolbs

@illustoryart

== Adopt Our Crew ==

Stede Bonnet won #RhysRadness! As well he should! Our leading man in his major leading role. Congrats Stede!

https://x.com/adoptourcrew/status/1770823288752640358?s=20

== Watch Parties ==

= Newark, Newark =

When: Saturday 23rd March @ 7 pm GMT / 3pm EST / 12 pm PST Where: BBC iPlayer, Now TV

Hosted by @lamentus1

Extra Note: The Rhys Darby Faction Discord will be streaming it as well at 5pm GMT / 1 pm EST / 12 pm PST

​Watch Party Hashtags:

#NewarkThePlank

#OurFlagMeansDeath

== Wrecked ==

Today is the series Finale!

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST. Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each. Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags: 

#WreckedPirates

#SaveOFMD

#RhysDarbyFaction

== Fan Spotlight ==

Today's cast card is none other than our fellow crewmate Hugo Pierre Martin! He's been supporting the SaveOFMD effort for a while as well as being a part of the show's cast! Thank you @melvisik for highlighting our lovely friend!

== Stats ==

Thank you @/meowzawowza_ on twitter for these awesome stats!

== Articles ==

‘Night Court’ – ‘The Duke’s a Hazard’ Post-Mortem Interview with Rhys Darby

== Love Notes ==

Hey Lovelies, I fell asleep last night writing so I'm gonna paste in something from our dear friend TheLatestKate today. Definitely get some rest if you can, we can all persevere tomorrow.

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika==

Today's Theme: Button downs and smiles Taika Courtesy of @kiwi-taika Darby Courtesy of @fandomsmeantheworldtome

[legok9]

The Saga of K9

1977: Bob Baker and Dave Martin create K9 for the Doctor Who story The Invisible Enemy. He was only supposed to be in that serial, but production made him a companion as he would be popular with kids.

After four seasons as a companion, K9 became an icon of classic Doctor Who. Due to a quirk of character rights at the time, Bob Baker and Dave Martin owned K9 as a character. This spawned decades of attempts to make a spin-off featuring K9...

1979: The Adventures of K9 and Other Mechanical Creatures:

1980: The Adventures of K9 books are published. K9 fights the Time Lord "Omegon" in one:

1981: A pilot episode is made for K9 and Company. The BBC does not pick it up for a full season:

1982: The K9 Annual 1983 is published:

1997-98: DWM 253 announces a four-part pilot for a K9 series is being developed. DWM 269 reveals concept art made by Rory McLeish:

2006: K9 returns to Doctor Who in School Reunion:

2007: K9 is relegated to small cameos in The Sarah Jane Adventures as Bob Baker is still developing his own K9 spin-off:

2007: Dave Martin passes away.

2009-10: A K9 spin-off series is finally made in Australia, independently from the BBC. K9 had to be redesigned because the BBC owns his original design. The series has mixed reviews at best and lasts one season:

2015: The Essential Book of K9 is published. It features another redesign of K9 in the comic Short Circuit.

2015: A film titled K9: TimeQuake is announced and slated for a theatrical release in 2017. It will feature K9 fighting the Time Lord Omega.

2017 comes and goes with no news.

2018: A multi-million dollar K9 TV series is being developed to lead into K9: TimeQuake:

2020: The anthology book K9: Megabytes is released and promoted as a prequel to TimeQuake.

2021: Bob Baker passes away. His obituary mentions he has written scripts for a K9 film and TV series:

2023: Concept art for K9: Omega Rises is shown at the conversion Invasion Blackpool. The concept art shows K9, a new male character, Omega, Matter Beasts, and Dinodragons. The status of this project is unknown.

[natequarter]

why did the bbc not call the new series adventures the future doctor adventures

[catsgetoutduringmidnight]

Aziraphale & Eddington.

Neil has confirmed us that David Tennant *actually* exists within the Good Omens universe. Thus, we may assume that the whole of his filmography, except for Good Omens, also exists. We may assume as well that Aziraphale has more or less followed Doctor Who over the decades, and that somehow, with time, the actor of his favourite doctor earned an eerie similarity to Job. But this isn't about him, right now. This is about his son in law.

I would like to think Aziraphale did enjoy the utterly handsome Eighth doctor, ending up glued to the screen and getting deeply excited about this incarnation. He probably got upset because of his only appearance on TV, but would still be delighted to see the series coming back to the BBC in 2005. The Ninth doctor may have appeared a bit tough to him at first, but there was something deeply endearing about him. Maybe it was the way he rocked that leather jacket, or his sense of humour, or his bravery, or his charming accent... He never really knew, but it was sad to say goodbye so soon again. "Who will be the new doctor?" He thought to himself. "Will they be blond? Taller? Will they wear a vest? A bowtie perhaps?". When the young man appeared on screen before Rose for the first time, Aziraphale was left completely mesmerised. The young man was... Different. He had slightly long hair and, honestly, he really liked how the leather jacket suited him too. Once the credits rolled, he found out his name: David. "Oh, that's a lovely name," he thought to himself. "That's the name of a king!".

He followed his seasons very carefully, blushing with his cheekiness, chuckling with his jokes, and loving how adventurous and fair the man was. Thanks to Crowley, he even dared to go to "the videoclub" and rent some of his earlier works. Oh, how handsome the man looked in The Last September, what a dear he was in Takin' Over the Asylum, how lovely he was in Duck Patrol, and what a cocky detective he was in Blackpool... Although, he admitted not being too focused on observing his labour as a detective there. The young man was rather handsome. Aziraphale flushed, could this be love? How silly of him! Falling in love with an actor! He was an angel! Which, inherently, also meant he was born to love. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't something bad. It could be silly, of course, but forgivable.

One afternoon, Aziraphale went to the videoclub on his own, and found a movie he hadn't checked out yet. Einstein and Eddington, a scientific movie it was. The young man looked wonderful in those glasses and stunning sandrift linen suit. Humans may say one mustn't judge a book by its cover, but this dvd already seemed perfect for him! Thus, the angel rented it and decided to treat himself with the film. He laid on his white cream sofa, got under his soft tartan blanket, and pressed the play button. A smile came across his face when he saw the man in those light refined clothes. What a delight to the sight that was.

The angel felt it deeply when he learnt that Eddington was in love with a man he couldn't have, but his heart did not only wrench there, no. It was when he saw the man stand before the orrery when things got clearer. He had to pause the video. Aziraphale got up and sat close before the screen, brushing his fingers against the image. "Crowley..." He mumbled. The only thing in his mind was the image of the spectacular ginger angel he met, in their neat white dress, creating a whole universe in front of his eyes. The way their thin fingers moved, the eagerness in their voice, the dark greenish of their gaze, way more breathtaking than the vastness of hues of the newborn nebulae. And when the blond saw, further on, the physicist crying desperately for his vanished love in the wide green garden, his heart shattered into shards.

He would not admit it, but he did not watch the movie just once that night. Not twice either. Eddington was just like his dear boy, not specifically the angel, nor specifically the demon. It was him. With their curiosity, and their passion, and their deep care, and hunger for answers and justice. He felt warm tears threatening to fall from his eyes and his mind started wandering. Because, what if. Just, what if Crowley had ever felt like Eddington? What if he was worried that one day he would never see his angel again? What if there were feelings trapped in his chest he feared never being able to express? Would he be like the astronomer and, once again, question God for her ineffable decisions? It took Aziraphale a good while to get away from the screen, from that eerily familiar image fueling his heart. It took him days for his sorrow over the fictional Eddington's life to lighten, after being the root of many, many wondering.

The next time the angel met his partner, he was certainly still caught up in his thoughts. The demon noticed, so he decided to ask him about his series and that actor that had truly drawn his attention. He didn't really know what he saw in him, but it didn't take much to notice the pure bliss in his blue eyes when he told him about his character's adventures. The way his words flowed in excitement and his hands often moved around to help with it. The angel was finally enjoying himself in something else than books and occasional music, and seeing him so cheerful did really brighten the demon too.

"How are things going with your binge watching? Have you gotten your hands on another series, or...?"

Aziraphale slowly lifted up his head and stared nervously into Crowley's eyes. He did not know what to say, how could he put into words his worry? Even worse, how to explain where all this came from? The ginger would probably laugh. Worrying that deeply about a character? A movie character? The angel got dewy-eyed. Please no, not in front of him, not like this, he prayed. The demon frowned, he sensed there was something his beloved couldn't easily tell.

"Aziraphale? Is everything alright?" The ginger asked softly. The principality breathed deeply and finally, managed to speak, as he fiddled with his vest.

"I- I just watched a movie, a sad one I must say. It made me think." The demon hummed, and answered.

"I get it. It's understandable, and if that David guy is really that good as you say, I bet his acting can move tons of people." Aziraphale's gaze brightened, he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "I mean, I can see him being very talented. From what you've told me, the man does really have a range for acting. That's always important, to be able to adapt-."

"You really listened." Crowley was about to keep on rambling when he saw the angel in awe.

"Well, I have ears, what else am I supposed to do with them if its not listening?"

Tears fell off the angel's eyes. Crowley did not hesitate to get closer, inviting him into his arms. In a matter of seconds, the blond was in his embrace. He hugged his Angel tightly, and let him cry as much as he needed, caressing his back. He could not help but mutter in a caring tone.

"You and your stories, Angel."

[sarztomo]

James Wilby joins the Famous Five series 2 two currently filming!!!

Can't wait to see James in this.

----------------------------

Joining the core cast are Maria Pedraza, Amir Wilson, James Wilby, Rita Tushingham, Jonathan Aris, Jamie Andrew Cutler and Jemima Rooper

BBC, Moonage Pictures (The Gentlemen) and Nicolas Winding Refn today announce filming has begun on a brand-new series of The Famous Five for the BBC in the UK, in co-production with The Mediapro Studio which also holds the distribution rights for the series in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America.

The 2 x 90min series is created for television and executive produced by Nicolas Winding Refn (byNWR) & Matthew Read (Moonage Pictures) and follows on from the highly successful first series which aired on the BBC. The premiere, The Curse of Kirrin Island, was CBBC’s number one rated episode in 2023.

Diaana Babnicova returns as George, alongside Elliott Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick and Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne. Making up the fifth member of The Famous Five and the gang’s faithful furry friend, is Kip, the Bearded Collie Cross playing Timmy the dog.

With Jack Gleeson, James Lance, Ann Akinjirin also reprising their roles, they are joined by new cast members, including Spanish actress Maria Pedraza (Money Heist, Elite), Amir Wilson (His Dark Materials), James Wilby (Poldark), Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey), Jemima Rooper (Geek Girl), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock) and Jamie Andrew Cutler (The Hurricane Heist). Rooper starred as George in the 1990s Famous Five TV series and now takes on the role of Angela Clutterbuck, a guest staying at a mysterious hotel.

The Famous Five is based on Enid Blyton’s iconic stories and follows the daring young explorers as they encounter treacherous, action-packed adventures, remarkable mysteries, unparalleled danger and astounding secrets. Series two takes our heroes into strange and challenging waters as they face life during wartime – and the hazards of growing up.

[companion-showdown]

Who is most important to the history of Doctor Who?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

propaganda under the cut

Douglas Adams – script editor for the late Tom Baker era

the obvious: wrote and helped write some of classic who's best episodes. infuriated everyone with romana's regeneration scene in destiny of the daleks. has had a massive impact both on doctor who specifically and on doctor who through his general impact on scifi, no one is doing it like him. and he's hilarious! (anonymous)

Rona Munro – only writer for both Classic and NuWho

Only person to write an episode for both classic (survival) and new who (eaters of light). responsible for: making the master a catboy and giving ace a cheetah girlfriend. 'death by Scotland' (anonymous)

Russell T Davies – revived Doctor Who

Russell T Davies wasn't just "some guy" they got to run the revival series; He lobbied the BBC to bring the show back and was in discussion talks in 1998 before the show was back on air. Davies brought the show back in a ginormous way and allowed a new generation to fall in love with the series, which translates into people going back and watching Classic Who as well. Under him, the show was immensely popular, regularly being one of the most watched things each week. Doctor Who would not exist today without him and I'm not even sure the classic show would have the same love it currently does without Davies introducing the series to a brand new audience. Also if we're including extended media not just the main show, Sarah Jane Adventures SLAPS. (anonymous)

Steven Moffat – showrunner for the eleventh and twelfth Doctors

This might be a hard sell on the website that, for some reason, can't seem to progress past 2011 when it comes to evaluating Moffat and his work, but I'm going to try anyway. Curse of the Fatal Death, advocate for female doctor since 1998. First onscreen biracial and bigender regeneration. Wrote some of the most iconic episodes of the series, including the 50th, Blink and Heaven Sent. Things like Weeping Angels, the Empty Child, the Silence, all instantly became part of the show's iconography because his concepts were THAT GOOD. Wrote Missy. The 50th special, again, was basically a love letter to the entire show. Brought Doctor Who to an even bigger audience than ever! It was airing in cinemas worldwide! Stuck around for s10 because there was no clear successor for showrunner position, because he loved the show that much. Took criticism to heart and always tried to better himself as a person and his writing, which - well, Doctor Who's longevity is in its willingness to change. Cast Peter Capaldi. Wrote Heaven Sent. Has written the most stories out of anyone in the show's history. Most of all, I think he understood the true heart of the series when he ends his first story with "Everybody lives Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!". He gets it. Also Capaldi run again I cannot stress this enough. (anonymous)

Chris Chibnall – showrunner for the thirteenth Doctor

invented gay people and sapphics <3 (anonymous )