#novelisation of tv episode

[reviews-by-raven]

Rogue (Doctor Who) by Kate Herron & Briony Redman

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[being-of-rain]

So the last few years of TV Dr Who have done a lot of new things with the Doctor's ability to regenerate, and at no point is it very clear what does and doesn't count towards the limit of the Doctor's new regeneration cycle that they received in The Time of the Doctor. You could debate whether a few of the changes are exceptions to the limit, and whether the new regeneration cycle is still something that applies after the retcon that the Timeless Child apparently has more than twleve regenerations in the first place.

But, assuming the new cycle is still a limit, and that each change of body may count to the total, is the Doctor already more than halfway through it? Let's count.

1st incarnation: Old Man Matt Smith. Remember that he counts as the first incarnation out of thirteen, because there are twelve death-saving regenerations in a cycle (so an original body followed by twelve additional bodies). Almost immediately after gaining the new cycle, he starts using it up by dying of old age (because that body is more than a thousand years old by that point).

2nd incarnation: Peter Capaldi, who after a century or so gets electrocuted by a Cyberman and takes two full episodes to die from it.

3rd incarnation: Jodie Whittaker, who seemingly spends most of her decades-long life in prison. Halfway through The Power of the Doctor she's force-regenerated into...

4th incarnation: Sacha Dhawan. This incarnation is artificially created by the Master, not regenerating for any stated mortal wound, but Patrick Troughton regenerated for the same reason and he still counted to the total (...unless you wanted to say that Troughton's change didn't count, and he turned into Jo Martin, who later turned into Jon Pertwee, which is a theory I'm not opposed to). In any case, three quarters of the way through The Power of the Doctor, Dhawan turns into...

5th incarnation: Jodie Whittaker Again. That change might be the least likely to count towards the cycle total, because the Master's tech and the regeneration energy of the CyberMasters are used to "reverse" and cause a "degeneration". I like to count it though, because I think it's funny, because literally ten on-screen minutes later the Doctor is hit by the energy of the Qurunx redirected by the Master, and she turns into...

6th incarnation: David Tennant Again (Again). It literally only just occurred to me that turning back into David Tennant might have been an after-effect of the degeneration ten minutes earlier. The Doctor's body was still set on reverse. Anyway, around fifteen hours later (according to The Giggle's novelisation) the Doctor is shot with a galvanic beam by the Toymaker.

Then the 'bigeneration' happens. Now, it's established in the Tardis at the end of the episode that Gatwa's Doctor is somehow taken from the future of Tennant's retired Doctor (he's "older" than Tennant, after he "fixed himself"). So my question is: is there technically two regenerations between the Doctor at the start of The Giggle and the Doctor at the start of The Church on Ruby Road? See, the bigeneration stopped Tennant from dying by laser beam, resulting in...

7th incarnation: David Tennant Again Again Again, who retires to live with Donna's family and presumably has a series of low-stakes wacky domestic adventures. And possibly at some point in his future he suffers another fatal injury, resulting in...

8th incarnation: Ncuti Gatwa, who is pulled down his timeline to 2023 UNIT tower. This could've been straight away, or a bit later in this incarnation's life, and he could've been the result of another fatal injury or not, we can only speculate.

So at the very most, that's eight incarnations out of thirteen. That's over halfway through the new regeneration cycle. That's like the entirety of Classic Who and the TV Movie, this time over ten years of intermittent TV. To quote Susan when she's reunited with the Doctor in the audio An Earthly Child and asks about his regenerations, "Eight?! How did you manage that! That's just throwing them away!"

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Do you have any recommendations on Dr. Who books/audio format things? I haven't watched the show in a bit because Moffat wasn't my thing and I can't seem to find the old stuff. (If you have any advice on where to find that too I would be very grateful) Following your blog has been a nice reminder of why I liked the show so much. Hope you have a good day!

Aw thank you! Depending on your location, you can find classic who episodes either on BBC iPlayer or Tubi (with ads).

As for books/audios, I'll try to keep this brief as I could write an essay on this.

For books, my favorite author is Kate Orman. Orman writes wonderfully, and my personal favorite is The Year of the Intelligent Tigers. I also really liked Goth Opera, Camera Obscure, History 101, Autumn Mist, Lungbarrow, Divided Loyalties, Somewhere Never etc etc etc etc (so many more but I'm forcing myself to stop here). You can often find free versions of basically every novel (at least all I've looked for) on the internet either as pdfs or epubs or whatever. The Internet Archive is particularly useful. Some examples:

And now for the audios! I personally have sold my soul to Big Finish. I have literally hundreds of recommendations. They do have some audios for free, such as those that came from the Paul Spragg Memorial Competition. You can also find a lot of them (up until Zagreus I think) for free on Spotify. There is also almost always a killer sale going on on the website on top of that too.

As for my recommendations, it's pretty dependent on what Doctor or companion you want to listen to. They even have series centered on UNIT, Romana's Gallifrey, Benny Summerfield, and a ton of other things (including a Masterful special that just had a bunch of Masters fucking around and finding out). I'll put in some of my favorites, one for each Doctor, from what I own (which is far from everything, but I do my best).

One: The Sontarans. It was the first time the Doctor had ever encountered the Sontarans, so he was unfamiliar with them. It takes place during Dalek Master Plan, so Steven and Sara are there.

Two: Lords of the Red Planet! It's a good Ice Warrior origin story and has Jamie and Zoe in it. :)

Three: Terror of the Master. I had pre-ordered it as soon as I heard about it. Three....Delgado Master....what more do you want from an audio? It's narrated by Jon Culshaw.

Four: The Wrath of the Iceni. It was a brilliant historical with Four and Leela and Boudica. Leela gets quite a lesson in this one, first being mad at Four for not helping Boudica and then at Boudica for being cruel.

Okay now we are getting into my favorite Doctors (5-8), so these decisions are going to get difficult.

Five: The Kingmaker! Shakespeare spikes Five's drink to get him absolutely wasted to sneak on the TARDIS, the TARDIS gets hiccups as a result, leading to Peri and Erimem being separated from the Doctor. Shenanigans ensue.

Six: Doctor Who and the Pirates. Six and Evelyn have a really meaningful discussion with one of her depressed students. The third part is a musical!

Seven: The Shadow of the Scourge. Benny Ace and Seven against 8th dimensional eldritch abominations. Seven gets turned into one of these insectoids, and body horror ensues.

Eight: Oh dear I can't choose. At the moment, probably the Great War from Dark Eyes 1. Eight meets Molly and is still grieving here. He is very much doomed by the narrative.

War: The Neverwhen. Lots of the War Doctor is good if you like Time War horror, but this one has a lot of time-as-a-weapon and is well written.

Nine: Battle Scars. A nice short story about that one family Nine saved from the Titanic mentioned in the episode Rose. Has a really fantastic girl in it and a Nine dripping in PTSD.

Ten: The Time Reaver. Ten and Donna! There's this gun that basically slows down time for a single person, so that a few minutes for everyone else is centuries for them. Ten is a self sacrificing dope.

Eleven: The Geronimo boxset is the best in my opinion, but I haven't been able to listen to many of these yet.

Twelve: Another one I haven't managed to buy a lot of yet, but Dead Media is amazing. It's written to sound like a podcast with adverts and everything and is set during his time at St. Luke's. And I cried at the end.

Anyway, I'll shut up now. This was so much fun! Thank you!

[edapparently]

Rogue [Novelisation] by Kate Herron & Briony Redman - My Thoughts

Doctor Who has always been a special thing for me. When I was younger and dealing with a lot of homophobia being directed at me, it was one of my few safe spaces Knowing that for a few weeks, every Saturday, I could escape and indulge in science fiction was a big drive to keep me going during that time So, naturally, it was a very big moment for me to watch The Doctor fall into a gay romance, even just for an episode and even after I had long left that toxic environment behind me I sobbed at the end of the TV episode. It was everything I had been waiting for, if 13 year old me had seen Rogue he probably would have fainted And then, a little while ago, I was in Waterstones with @spiritbox713 (a dangerous combination) and I spotted the Doctor Who books on the shelf. I remember thinking the new blue spines and covers were beautiful and then actually noticing which stories were there All 3 of the 60th specials (get in!), Space Babies (meh), 73 Yards (oh?) and Rogue (OOHH!!!) I was then stuck for a good few minutes deciding which ones I wanted to get. That is aside from Rogue, I knew I was taking that one home I decided on 73 Yards, not that it mattered, as @spiritbox713 decided he would buy the rest of them for me anyway behind my back. Like the amazingly generous and cunning best friend that he is (I love you dude, I owe you a lot (told you it was dangerous)) And so I read the books in order, like the nerd that I am, and finished Rogue last night and I cannot praise it enough I am, as is the case with every one of my book thoughts posts, completely biased towards my own opinions and emotional attachments And I am totally and absolutely biased in thinking that Rogue is one of the best Doctor Who novelisations out there I love the balance of the period piece with the interjections of sci-fi, my particular favs being the flash back at the beginning (along with all of Art's moments ngl) and the chapter that attempts to describe what is known about the Chuldur And I love how drenched in camp everything is with the period characters. The Duchess and Lord Barton (Chuldur and non-Chuldur) are so entertaining to read and it makes perfect sense for the Chuldur to want to invade this particular party Speaking of the Chuldur, I honestly think they're pretty underrated, though there are some lines they have I'm not the biggest fan of. They remind me, funnily enough, of toxic fan culture. Of someone's ego making them feel they HAVE to be the interesting or main character And, as I have already said, I am a huge sucker for The Doctor and Rogue's romance. Even with how brief it is In short, Rogue (the book) is one of my all time favourite Novelisations and I look forward to seeing and reading more from Kate Herron & Briony Redman

[pers-books]

⚡ FLASH SALE ⚡

Save on BBC audiobooks WHILE STOCKS LAST!

Offer ends no later than 23:59 (UK time) 7th November 2024.

BBC Audiobooks (formerly AudioGo) provide a whole universe of stories to explore, featuring all thirteen Doctors, Torchwood and Sarah Jane.

You can discover lost episodes and adventures from the early TV series, go on brand new ones and enjoy dramatic readings of the Doctor's novelised exploits from both the classic Target days and more recent BBC Books releases.

**PLEASE NOTE: we are not able to provide digital downloads for these purchases**

These BBC Audiobooks are available in a limited quantity, and once our allocation has been sold, the offer will be withdrawn.

We have stock on hand for immediate despatch. Please note however that all deliveries - and in particular international orders - may take longer than usual to reach you.

The UK postage cap does not apply - a fee will be applicable for each BBC Audiobooks purchase you make.

Purchase of each bundle is limited to one per customer - additional orders placed will be cancelled and refunded.

[please-attend-carefully]

Terror of the Autons, Book Review

Terror of the Autons (Novelisation) by Terrance Dicks, 1975

Terror of the Autons is the novelisation of the 1971 Serial with the same name. It is the introduction to The Doctor’s new companion, Jo Grant, and also rival Time Lord, The Master. 

This book builds on the already strong premise of the Television serial, expanding it in a way that is both faithful and interesting. Conversations are extended, characters given more depth to motivations and actions in ways that would slow down the snappy pace of a 25 minute episode. Scenes are connected together, and re-written to allow for a flowing narrative on the page, rather than cutting back and forth between multiple scenes like you would see in the visual medium of Television.  The written form allows expanded scenes where characters challenge one another, and don’t just have to accept the orders given to them for the sake of pacing. Characters are able to act in ways that may have been restricted by the physical capabilities of the actors on screen. My favourite example of this is the Master’s introduction. 

Both the Protagonists and Villains of the story are given more rounded characterisation, and have their own internal conflicts amongst themselves. The friction is not restricted to just good vs. evil. Jo and Yates put up a fight when they are ordered to remain on base while the Doctor and Brigadier go out to investigate Farrell’s plastic factory, which feels more natural for the two of them wanting to accompany their superiors instead of sitting around UNIT headquarters drinking hot chocolate together. In the TV serial Jo is seen flirting with a member of the science department to acquire equipment for the Doctor, which the novel brilliantly informs us that she is doing this intentionally to butter up the man on the end of the line, and is not in fact just flirty with her colleagues. For her introductory story, her internal dialogue is key to learning about her intentions and actions, rather than accepting the watered down plight of a woman in a male dominated workplace. Additions like this create a more rounded version of the characters and adds to them rather than just imitating their on screen counterparts. 

Dicks is able to show UNIT in a far more capable light, with their military operations not limited by a pre-watershed time slot and BBC budget restrictions. Their weapons are effective, and they patrol around in appropriate military Jeeps instead of the blue sedan seen on TV. Their anti-tank missiles make quick work of the plastic Autons, with the line “Firearms won’t work on them!” cut completely. The lack of budget limitations extends to the plastics factory and the Autons, with more sinister visuals of bubbling chemicals and churning production lines bringing the villain's base of operations to life. This imagery creates a greater sense of danger, and shows that the Master is producing a large scale army ready for invasion. The climax of the story even gets an overhaul, with a giant octopus crab monster being drawn through the radio tower signal, rather than just the flashing lights seen in the original broadcast (the recent blu rays have since added the monster in) Again, this helps to give UNIT more to do, bigger and more numerous threats equals more need for heavy artillery and UNIT presence. Illustrations throughout the novel help to highlight some of the creative changes, including an updated version of the Master’s killer plastic doll.

Dicks corrects slight continuity areas, and adds in details that at the time were unavailable to them. The Sontarans wouldn't be on our screens for another two years after Terror of the Autons, but with their creation, Dicks can add details of their weapons into the text of the novel, arming the Master with Sontaran Grenades. This gives a wonderful expanded identity to the Master’s arsenal, bringing together lore from the Universe around him and connecting ideas together that the TV Serial wasn’t able to at the time. 

Ending the novel, Dicks expands the Doctor's thoughts on the Master returning, giving us more than "Actually, I'm rather looking forward to it!". His sentiment in the book mimics the Master's line from The Five Doctors, "The cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about.” A line that Dick's won't write for another 7ish years. It shows how the Master and the Doctor clearly share the same thoughts about one another, despite being so different. They define their relationship in the same poetic way, and given that the same author wrote both lines, it's clearly intentional.

Terror of the Autons is a strong adaptation, and the standard I will be measuring other novelisations against. It has everything that you would look for in an adaption; character’s interactions and choices explained and expanded, imagination and visualisation unhindered by lack of budget, and additions of lore that connect it to the wider universe of Doctor Who. I couldn’t recommend this enough if you are looking for more Doctor Who content to consume.  

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 2 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Human Nature

Synopsis

""Who's going to save us this time?""

April, 1914. The inhabitants of the little Norfolk town of Farringham are enjoying an early summer, unaware that war is on the way. Amongst them is Dr John Smith, a short, middle-aged history teacher from Aberdeen. He's having a hard time with his new post as house master at Hulton College, a school dedicated to producing military officers.

Bernice Summerfield is enjoying her holiday in the town, getting over the terrible events that befell her in France. But then she meets a future Doctor, and things start to get dangerous very quickly. With the Doctor she knows gone, and only a suffragette and an elderly rake for company, can Benny fight off a vicious alien attack? And will Dr Smith be able to save the day?

Propaganda

the tv adaptation of this has tighter writing but the book has. idk a lot of stuff in it that's interesting that unfortunately didn't make it into the episodes. i think they should fight (October)

Doctor Who and Shada

Synopsis

The Doctor and Romana visit Professor Chronotis, a retired Time Lord living at Cambridge University. The Professor wants to return an ancient and very powerful book to Gallifrey - but the book has gone missing.

Skagra, an evil scientist, steals the book and the Professor's mind - and also takes Romana and the TARDIS.

In order to stop Skagra, the Doctor must discover the secrets of a notorious Time Lord criminal, and a long forgotten prison called Shada...

Propaganda

The first ever adaption of Shada and one of the only fan novelisations (anonymous)

[mostlynotwork]

A fun novelisation of an iconic Dr Who story, with a mix of villains, time travel shenanigans, historical references and general Whovian fun.

Another Dr Who story by Douglas Adam? Yes, yes it is.

As a fan of both Dr Who and Douglas Adams, there was no way I could walk past this book and leave it in the store. And yet, it became another book that sat on the shelf for an extended time waiting to be read. 

That’s a pity because the playful adventure that is ‘City of Death’ was the sort of pick-me-up I’ve been in need of to reignite my enthusiasm for reading. Its one thing to be slowly working through a bunch of semi-work related non-fiction books. (More on that in the next few months). But it’s another thing to be racing around Paris with The Doctor and Romana as they try to save the human race again.

City of Death has all the elements that make Who so much fun.

The problem with trying to describe where a Dr Who story starts is that time is this kind of wibbly wobbly ball of timey wimey stuff. Perhaps our story starts when The Doctor and Romana land in 1970’s Paris hoping for a quiet vacation - some sightseeing, some food, and soaking up the atmosphere. Or maybe it began with the sole survivor of an ancient alien race, millions and millions of years ago.

This being Doctor Who, these two things of course overlap. We're treated to an adventure that involves an ancient alien conspiracy, some of humanity's greatest achievements, Romana being tasked with stealing the Mona Lisa and that kind of special  pomposity and playfulness that comes with the the fourth Doctor (as played in the TV version by Tom Baker).

This is strangely familiar 

As I alluded to earlier, it was Douglas Adams’ contribution as a co-author that drew me to this story. When I started reading it, I wasn’t actually thinking about the TV series at all - except for hearing in my head the voices of Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor) and Lalla Ward (Romana). 

As I went further on though, there was a strange feeling of deja vu. Had I read this book already? A quick scroll through my Tumblr posts, and no, I hadn’t read this before. And then one particularly vivid scene had me going - “I’ve seen this before”. 

It was at this point I actually did a Google search on the story. I discovered what I was holding was the novelisation of a TV serial from the Tom Baker era. And that’s why it was familiar - many years ago I'd watched this particular series when one of our tv networks had been doing a “best of Dr Who” event. 

A fun novel for anyone who enjoys time travel and adventure 

So who would I recommend this book to? If you’re a fan of either Dr Who or Douglas Adams then you’re very likely to enjoy this book. The absurd humour of Adams finds its way into the story in various ways, while Who fans get to enjoy the Doctor and Romana having an adventure in a setting that is both familiar (Earth) and yet also alien to most contemporary readers (1970’s Paris). If you’ve not seen the TV episodes, then I’d recommended grabbing the book first, as it does contain additional elements that were in the original story but not in the TV version.

For everybody else, this is still a light, fun and well paced adventure that almost anyone can enjoy. It might not be something you go looking for, but if chance should bring it into your orbit, it will deliver its asking price in entertainment and joy, despite its grim title.  

[tindogpodcast]

TDP 1362: #DoctorWho #DisneyWho TV Doctor Who Review Lux

https://m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=tindogpodcast&_pgn=1&isRefine=true&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l49496

  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

314 – "Lux" Doctor Who episode

Promotional title-card

Cast

Doctor

Ncuti Gatwa – Fifteenth Doctor

Companion

Varada Sethu – Belinda Chandra

Others

Ian Shaw – Newsreader

Cassius Hackforth – Tommy Lee

Ryan Speakman – Husband

Linus Roache – Reginald Pye

Alan Cumming – Mr Ring-a-Ding

Millie O'Connell – Sunshine Sally

Lewis Cornay – Logan Cheever

Lucy Thackeray – Renée Lowenstein

Jane Hancock – Helen Pye

William Meredith – Policeman

Samir Arrian – Hassan Chowdry

Bronté Barbé – Lizzie Abel

Steph Lacey – Robyn Gossage

Anita Dobson – Mrs Flood

Production Directed by Amanda Brotchie Written by Russell T Davies Script editor David Cheung Produced by Chris May Executive producer(s)

Russell T Davies

Julie Gardner

Jane Tranter

Joel Collins

Phil Collinson

Music by Murray Gold Series Series 15 Running time 43 minutes First broadcast 19 April 2025 Chronology

← Preceded by "The Robot Revolution" Followed by → "The Well"

List of episodes (2005–present)

"Lux" is the second episode of the fifteenth series of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Russell T Davies, the Doctor Who showrunner, from a concept first developed over two decades prior, and directed by Amanda Brotchie.

In the episode, the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion, Belinda Chandra, land in 1952 Miami, Florida, while trying to make their way back to 2025. After doing so, they discover a mysterious cinema where fifteen people have disappeared. The pair stay to investigate and ultimately confront an animated God, Lux (voiced by Alan Cumming), who traps them in film.

"Lux" is unusual for the programme in that it features a mixed live-action and animated format. Filming for the episode took place in Penarth, Cardiff and at Wolf Studios Wales in January 2024. Some voice-over work took place internationally in New York City in June. Animation and other post-production work continued later into the year, with some tasks still being completed as late as September.

The episode includes references to popular culture, fourth wall breaks and meta-references to its own fan base. It was released on BBC iPlayer, BBC One, and Disney+ on 19 April 2025. Reception to the episode was positive, with critics praising its use of animation in a live-action setting. A novelisation written by James Goss is set to be released in July 2025.

Plot

[edit]

Unable to return to 24 May 2025, the TARDIS lands in 1952 Miami, where the Doctor and Belinda find a cinema that is chained shut. At a diner, they speak to the mother of one of fifteen people who disappeared from the cinema, which continues to play movies at night. Although racial segregation is still enforced, the waiter allows them to stay.

Inside the cinema, the pair discover a living cartoon, Mr Ring-a-Ding, the embodiment of Lux Imperator, God of Light, is responsible. The projectionist, Reginald Pye, plays films for Lux, who uses his power to recreate Pye's dead wife. Lux has trapped the missing people in a film reel. He similarly traps the Doctor and Belinda, and turns them into cartoon characters, until they regain their usual forms. They flee to another false reality, where a racist NYPD cop challenges them. They escape through a television watched by Doctor Who fans. Though delighted to meet the Doctor they reveal that their world is the fake one, and encourage him to return and defeat Lux, even though they will then cease to exist.

Back in the cinema, the Doctor heals his injured hand using residual regeneration energy. Lux steals the energy to create a solid body. Belinda attempts to burn film reels to cause an explosion, but encouraged by his wife, Pye sacrifices himself. The explosion exposes the cinema to sunlight causing Lux to expand infinitely until he becomes one with the universe. The missing people return.

As the Doctor and Belinda leave, Mrs Flood encourages the bystanders to watch the TARDIS dematerialise, claiming this "show" is a "limited run" that ends on 24 May. The Doctor's fans critique the episode, realising that they still exist.

Production

[edit]

Development and production design

[edit]

"Lux" was written by Russell T Davies.[1] He had wanted to do an episode that included a living cartoon for a long time,[2] but was unable to do one until now for funding reasons. He also revealed that he had considered variants of such an episode, including one two decades prior that would have featured a hologram rather than a legitimate animation as a result of the budgetary constraints.[3] The story also contains mentions of segregation and racism in which Davies said he added to address issues in present-day society. It was also used as a subversion to the Doctor usually situating themselves as the main authority figure. While including such themes, he didn't want it to be the dominant subject.[4] Among these are the NYPD officer saying the cinema is a space "reserved for white folk" and prejudicely assuming that Belinda is Caribbean.[5] Other motifs present explore grief, hope, friendship, and sadness.[3] Popular culture references to Rock Hudson and the Scooby Doo character Velma were included.[6] Additionally, Davies has continued a recent trend of breaking the fourth wall.[7] Also unusual for the show, the episode featured a mid-credits scene.[8]

Costume designer Pam Downe created the Doctor's and Belinda's outfits using the complimentary colours of blue and yellow. Sethu's dress was inspired by a similar one worn by Anita (Ariana DeBose) and designed by Paul Tazewell in the 2021 adaptation of West Side Story.[2][9] Meanwhile, Gatwa's blue suit was influenced by American musical artists of the 1950s.[2] These hues were intended to further contrast with the red interior of the cinema by ultimately using all three primary colours.[10] Downe ultimately wanted to successfully convey movement during the episodes action scenes. As such, three different wigs were considered for Sethu to wear and her dress had multiple underskirts.[2]

The concept of Mr. Ring-a-Ding was inspired by animations from Fleischer Studios.

Ian Spendloff worked as a creative designer for the episode, and was the designer of Mr. Ring-a-Ding. Davies compared the concept of Mr. Ring-a-Ding to Fleischer animations from the 1930s.[2] Spendloff drafted thirty different sketches that were considered before finally settling on the one used in the episode.[4] Each one featured variations in noses, hair, and other elements. Mr. Ring-a-Ding was ultimately given a pig-like nose and blue skin to reflect characteristics of cartoon characters from the time period, with Davies wanting the character to look vaguely human but not be immediately identifiable as something else.[2]

Meta-references to Doctor Who fans were also present in the episode because Davies recalled his enjoyment of cartoons while writing it, which made him consider people who loved the programme.[2] Within the episode, the fans wore Doctor Who apparel (including a Fourth Doctor scarf, another a��Cyberman "Telos" sweatshirt) and declared "Blink" (2008) as their favourite episode.[6] One of them also mentioned the impending cancellation of the show.[11] They then point out the "obviousness" of the episode's foreshadowing, and made references to online leaks. The show's BBC ident appears on the screen of their television. Although they say they are too inconsequential to be given surnames, all three characters—Hassan Chowdry, Lizzie Abel and Robyn Gossage—are fully named in the credits.[12]

The concept of Doctor Who existing within its own universe had previously been briefly explored in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) and other expanded media. Following this instance, such an idea was considered quasi-canon.[13] This scene raised suspicion that Davies had potentially been planting spoilers online himself regarding upcoming episodes as well as rumours that the series would enter into another hiatus. When the fact that the episode was written and filmed well before the leaks began appearing was considered, it was compared to the futuristic predictions commonly seen in The Simpsons.[11]

Casting

[edit]

The episode stars Ncuti Gatwa as the fifteenth incarnation of The Doctor and Varada Sethu as his companion, Belinda Chandra.[14] Alan Cumming voices the antagonist, Mr. Ring-a-Ding. It marks Cumming's second appearance in the show after his role as King James VI and I in the 2018 episode "The Witchfinders".[15] Davies said that he and the production team had considered whether it was too soon to cast Cumming again and that had it been a live action role, he likely would not have been.[4] Mr. Ring-a-Ding is the "God of Light" and part of the "Pantheon of Gods" that Davies has been developing since "The Giggle" (2023).[16][17] Linus Roache stars as Reginald Pye, the theatre's projectionist and Lewis Cornay plays a diner worker who helps the Doctor and Belinda investigate the disappearances. Anita Dobson also makes a brief appearance as recurring character Mrs. Flood.[18] The trio of fans were portrayed by Samir Arrian, Bronte Barbe, and Steph Lacey.[19]

Filming and post-production

[edit]

Exterior shots for the theater were filmed at Penarth Pier Pavilion. The wooden ramp can be seen at the bottom of the photo.

The story was filmed in the series' third production block, along with the following episode, "The Well".[20][21] It was directed by Amanda Brotchie and recorded in late-January 2024.[22][4] Location shooting took place in Penarth, Cardiff. The surrounding area was made up to look like an American city in the 1950s by adding vehicles and American flags. Penarth Pier pavilion was used for exterior shots of the theatre. The production team painted the building, added a period theatre sign, and removed a modern ramp at the front of the building. Its removal led to the discovery of rotting wood that had to be replaced at the show's expense. The episode was shot during Storm Jocelyn causing the cast and crew to struggle with unexpected rain and winds, requiring hot water bottles to keep warm during takes. Interior shots for the studio were filmed on soundstage 4 at Wolf Studios Wales. Pieces of that set were reused from "The Devil's Chord" (2024).[23][4]

As a result of Mr. Ring-a-Ding being an animated creation, the performers had to interact with a two-foot acrylic cutout of the character or a thin green pole on set.The scenes were then edited during the post-production process. References for Mr. Ring-a-Ding's movement were filmed by crew, and then drawn directly into the scene by animators[4] from Framestore.[24] Cumming voiced his scenes in New York City on 28 June 2024. Elements of Cumming's facial expressions during this recording for were incorporated into Mr. Ring-a-Ding.[4] The scene where the Doctor and Belinda are turned into cartoons were first recorded on a green screen, in which Gatwa and Sethu had to portray the characters in a rigid and cartoon-like manner. The animators used this as a reference for interaction between the two characters when redrawing them as a cartoon.[2] Animations were done at twenty-five frames a second, requiring twenty-five drawings for each second of screen time, or fewer if characters' movement was limited.[4]

Foley artists recorded sound effects at Bang Post Production in Cardiff, Wales on 4 September 2024.[4] The episode's soundtrack included two singles: "Roll Over Beethoven" by Chuck Berry, and the Marlena Shaw rendition of "California Soul". Despite the episode taking place in 1952, the tracks were not released until 1956 and 1969, respectively.[6] Murray Gold, the show's composer, also included the song "The Sad Man With A Box", a piece that he originally composed for series 5.[25][26]

Broadcast and reception

[edit]

Professional ratings Aggregate scores Source Rating Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer) 100%[27] Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score) 7.70/10[27] Review scores Source Rating The A.V. Club B[28] Bleeding Cool 10/10[29] The Daily Telegraph [30] Evening Standard [31] GamesRadar+ [32] IGN 9/10[24] Radio Times [33] Vulture [34]

Broadcast

[edit]

"Lux" was simultaneously released on BBC iPlayer at 8 a.m. British Summer Time (BST) in the United Kingdom and on Disney+ in the United States at 12 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on 12 April 2025.[35] A BBC One broadcast followed at 7:15 p.m. BST.[36] Disney also handled international distribution of the episode.[37]

Ratings

[edit]

The episode received overnight viewing figures of 1.58 million, the lowest broadcast ratings in Doctor Who's history. It was the fourth most-watched programme of the day on BBC One, with one show on ITV1 also achieving higher numbers.[38]

Critical reception

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 10 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.70/10.[27] Robert Anderson, writing for IGN, praised the episode, highlighting Mr. Ring-a-Ding, several individual scenes, such as the fourth-wall-breaking scene, and the performances of Gatwa and Sethu.[24] The Guardian's Martin Belam responded positively to the episode, praising Cumming's performance and the fourth-wall-breaking scene.[39] Will Salmon, writing for GamesRadar+, highlighted Mr. Ring-a-Ding and Gatwa's performance, though felt Murray Gold's musical score "drowned out" some scenes.[32] Adi Tantimedh, writing for Bleeding Cool, found the episode to be the strongest out of the episodes headed by Davies in his second tenure as showrunner.[29]

Andrew Blair, writing for Den of Geek, highlighted the characterization of Mr. Ring-a-Ding, but criticized the episode's similarities to "The Devil's Chord", which he felt made the episode feel repetitive and weaker than it should have. He also felt the episode's handling of race was not effective, as while he felt the episode's inclusion of the topic was commendable, he felt the Doctor's in-universe way of handling it "can't help but scrape awkwardly against our real-world knowledge."[25] Vicky Jessop, writing for the Evening Standard, criticized the inclusion of the scene featuring Doctor Who fans, stating that while it was initially entertaining, it quickly became "strained".[31]

    A new Tin Dog Podcast

[markhodderauthor]

I just read SPACE 1999: BREAKAWAY by E. C. Tubb (1975). Tubb's DUMAREST series is pretty good but you'll not find the same quality of writing here. Plainly, this was a means to a fast buck and nothing more. So, we have a workmanlike retelling of episodes 1, 13, 19 and 10 from the first season of the cult Gerry Anderson live-action TV series. Why those episodes in that order, I don't know. This would have been a great opportunity to explain away the batshit crazy science (or rather the lack of science) at the heart of the show's concept but…. nope. Just a straight narration, a short and easy read, put it aside and forget. I shall skip the remaining 11 novelisations and limit myself to the handful of original novels.

[transatlanticwho-now]

THE 1996 TV MOVIE

Well that didn't take long

Second episode i show him and the Americans have already shot him dead!

Seriously though, the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie occupies an intresting space in the history of this show. After the show's cancellation in 1989 Doctor Who went into limbo entering whats known as the Wilderness years where the Doctor's adventure's continued via novelisations which got very weird.

Big names where always attached to the Doctor Who revival including at one point Steven Spielburg but it always fell through. Geoffery Sax would eventually be the one to direct and actor Paul McGann would play the titualr role (sans his hair - which he shaved off before production began, so he wore a wig).

Joining him would be a whole new cast of characters including: Chang Lee - Yee Jee Tso The Master - Eric Roberts Grace Holloway - Daphne Ashbrook

The Americanisms of the TV Movie sat well with Luke who enjoyed it more than I thought he would, from both an aesthetic and plot perspective. though it hard to deny that this movie is dripping with style.

Before this movie Luke didn't understand how the dinky Tardis of classic Who became the vast corral chamber of the revival. Paul McGann fits seemlessly into the Whoniverse as the Doctor even despite the questionable retcons this movie attempts to make.

The TV movie was following an entirely different continuity where the Doctor and the Master would have been brothers and they were chasing after their Dad called Ulysses but the Doctor was half human? it was very confusing and very anti the Cartmel Masterplan. the 8th Doctors contributions to Doctor who lore after this movie were a lot more intresting. Luke's first encounter with 8 was in the Night of The Doctor Minisode where he dies (Lots of the doctor dying in this post).

All in all this movie really is a grand old time especailly if your're watching with an American but i'd rather be in more familiar British territory with Doctor Who.

[thenugking]

For everyone wondering how Doctor Who would look if you included the expanded universe, gaze in horror at tardis guide's graph on the number of new Doctor Who (and spin-off) stories produced every year, aka, the reason I genuinely think Big Finish need to have their Doctor Who license taken away from them.

(If it doesn't show up well in the image, blue is TV stories, green is books, and red is audio stories.)

There's already been fifty three Doctor Who audio releases this year (for future context it is April 28th as I type this). In contrast, the upcoming TV series is only set to have eight episodes.

It's worth noting that the graph I linked shows number of distinct stories, rather than number of hours like the original. Given the variation of story lengths between Classic Who, New Who, various TV spin-offs, and various audio runs, it is impossible for me to work out an average length for a Doctor Who Story. That said, the audio plays are usually at least an hour in length, making them longer than the majority of New Who one-part serials.

(On the books: I'm not certain if licensed reference books are included here, but I don't believe so. A lot of the books in the graph, particularly early on, are novelisations of TV serials, but starting in the 90s when Classic Who went off air, we started getting a lot of original novels, and there are now literally hundreds of them. I'm unsure if the various comic ranges are included here, either.)

tl;dr there's too much Doctor Who and i'm scared of it.

Star Trek's crazy ass 28 day total runtime leaving everyone else in the shade

[camestrosfelapton]

Smith Rewatch: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood

As an adult fan of Doctor Who, I’ve never really engaged with non-TV spin-off media. I’m not into Big Finish audio dramas and even things like restored lost episodes of the classic series don’t really interest me. As a kid though…the Target novelisations of Doctor Who were things I just gobbled up. At the time that was really the only way to engage with the show’s history and stories like The Web…

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

‘The Grip of Evil’, novelisation based on Australian TV drama Number 96, episode 143 - Arkon ( Angus & Robertson ) - 1973

[exnihilo-etc]

im packing to move soon and i thought as long as im packing i could show off my bookshelf, one row at a time, starting with the bottom: graphic novels, comics, and puzzle books

most of ex nihilo i still have in its original physical form. im not too sentimental for it, but it is hard to throw it away. if theres literally anything ive drawn that you want, just lmk and ill ship it to you 👀

my old notebook

i fucking LOVE this graphic novel. i found it at a thrift shop, signed by the author, which probably means whoever this belonged to was a kickstarter backer for the project. it tells the story of a young artist and his wife being revisited by an old friend just released from prison. a story about drug use, lost friendships, and how your own memory can lie to you, and by extension, lie to your loved ones. maybe the very last line of the novel inspired the name of my comic?

seconds is an amazing graphic novel by bryan lee o'malley, who might be better known for creating scott pilgrim. this is a contemporary fairy tale of the disastrous consequences you might face if you could literally undo anything that might happen to you during the day, and how katie, a restaurant manager learns to abuse that power to send her own world crashing down around her. find it, i know its for free online somewhere but if you buy it thats even better!!

moon moth started as a short story by jack vance (who in his own right created rules for an internal magic system within his stories now called "vancian magic") about a sci fi murder mystery on a utopian planet called Sirene, a planet so accustomed to luxury that crafting and artistic expression are the sole pastime. everyone always wears a mask on sirene, and the social order is complex to learn and navigate...all communication is done through musical accompaniment as well. how will ambassador edward thissel know who is friend or foe??

i havent read 'everything is teeth' yet

a graphic novelisation of one episode of angel where a tv station is sucking souls out of kids and angel becomes a felt puppet

a great graphic novel going over the history of anti scientific conspiracies, like why ppl think the moon landing was fake, homeopathy, the quack history of chiropractics, anti vax, global warming denial, evolution misunderstandings, and fracking

what the hell?

a collection of wondermark, which i would classify as having the old found artstyle of married to the sea, plus the zany writing of oglaf. its a webcomic, look fer it!

part graphic, part novel. the fog mound explores a world of talking animals where humanity's existence is rumored as a legend. but thelonious chipmunk has proof: an old postcard with a human city on it. when thelonious accidentally gets lost and finds himself in the very city on his postcard, he has to wonder...where did the humans go? are there any left?

i met jeremy at an expo a few years ago and regularly visit him every year now whenever hes at a showcase or expo. putting watercolor illustrations to music, writing little creepy poems, fan art of all kinds of franchises, i just really vibe with his artwork.

like isnt she just gorgeous???

issues 3-6 of kingdom of loathing bc ill always be such a die hard fan of the loathing games, especially the stick figure mmo that started it all

[clarecgreenstreet]

You can get the missing episodes on audio. I've got a lot of them on CD and even cassette tapes of them in boxes in the spare room. And they're not audio books of the Target novelisations (although those are available too) but the audio of the whole episodes from off-air recordings fans made at the time. Because pirating your favourite TV shows any way you can has clearly happened since TV began.

Also look out for the Doctor Who magazine Special Edition on second hand websites as they have telesnaps of some of the missing episodes. Can't get to my copy of the First Doctor issue to see if Myth Makers is there but it's not completely lost.

the hardest thing about being really into the black and white era of doctor who is how much of it is not only missing, but completely gone. No 16mm copies, no set photography, no audio... the *entirety* of the Myth Makers serial is unavailable! Vicki Pallister's exit is completely gone! Of course, many episodes did start turning up again, over time, but there's a good chance a few are totally lost and unrecoverable... :(