I'm back with some more exclusive Doctor Who goodies! A collector has recently acquired a load of old Who prop phones - and I'm working with them to identify which episodes they're from. You might remember Series 8's "In the Forest of the Night. It's the kid-heavy episode with lots of unidentified phones. At the time, I wasn't able to get a clear enough view of the phones to work out what they all were. Thankfully, the props team gave the kids real working phones. And you know what kids do …
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If you're a Doctor Who fan - I promise that this post is going to please you greatly! The Internet is a weird and delightful place. For years now, I've been running a blog series about the Mobile Phones of Doctor Who. I went through every episode and painstakingly identified every mobile the cast used. People chipped in with their suggestions if I wasn't able to definitively state which phone was on screen. Hey, don't go yucking my yum, OK? Anyway, a few days ago, someone emailed me out of…
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If you're a Doctor Who fan, this post contains a lovely little surprise at the end. I promise you it'll be worth it. For a few years now, I've been running a blog series about the Mobile Phones of Doctor Who. I'm only human, so I occasionally miss some of the devices. A reader contacted me to say I'd missed three phones from the Series 10 episode Pyramid at the End of the World. Firstly, a boring one. Erica's husband/boyfriend/housemate smashes her glasses because he's busy on his phone. …
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So, farewell Jodie! What a brilliant Doctor she has been. I started this series of blog posts four years ago to celebrate her becoming ther new Doctor. As ever, I've identified all of the mobile phones used in Doctor Who. This blog post goes through the 2022 specials - three cracking stories to round out Jodie's tenure. Eve of The Daleks Classic time-loop episode where - for once - a mobile phone saves the day! Sarah Sarah's mammy keeps video-calling Sarah's Samsung. Thankfully, the props…
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London is slowly opening up - and TodayTix had tickets for half-price. So I thought me and my girl would go on a date! Nestled at UNIT HQ - just by Bond Street station - is an brilliant immersive theatre experience. This isn't like Secret Cinema - too many people in desolate wasteland queuing up for over-priced drinks from bored vendors. Instead, it's a cosy and tightly controlled experience, where the whole cast take their roles very seriously. Even the cloakroom attendants were dressed in…
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Drawing on unseen and iconic material from the BBC archive and private collectors, The Vault is an unforgettable journey through 50 years of Doctor Who, via carefully selected photographs, props, costumes designs, production memos, letters, scripts and more. This is the full and official story of Doctor Who, from the first pre-production memos in 1963 to the most recent props created for the 2013 series, including interviews with key contributors and scores of prop photos, design sketches…
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A box set of late-era Tom Baker stories. And they're a bit of a mixed bunch. Full Circle First up, Full Circle - which introduces us to Adric. Ah, poor sweet Adric. He's an exercise in wish-fulfilment. Getting a nerdy, 17 year old, Who-geek to write a teenage nerd to appeal to other teenage nerds. I don't think the character quite works because, in my opinion, the Doctor needs a slightly dimmer foil in order to explain things to. And because, sadly, no-one likes watching grumpy know-it-all…
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This is the semi-mythical "lost" serial from Doctor Who. Written by Douglas Adams at the height of his powers, and cruelly lost to an industrial dispute. There have been many attempts to recreate the show - but this is the definitive edition. All the missing sequences have been animated - with the original cast providing their voices. And what a show it is! The dialogue is sharp - rarely a wasted word - and funny. The technobabble doesn't take itself too seriously. The mythos building of The…
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This is not one of the best Doctor Whos. But it is fascinating as a template for New-Who. A cold open on an alien planet! A celebrity comedian cameo! A feisty female companion! Wales! On paper, Delta contains all the ingredients for a great serial. What if all the weird people at your holiday camp are weird because they're aliens?!!? Is that bus really a spaceship? What if your best friend's older sister is on the run from space bandits? Explosions! Motorcycle chases! Rock and roll music! …
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This is a rambly rant because I can't be bothered responding to every troll on the #DoctorWho hashtag. I've loved Flux - the latest season - and it fits in perfectly with the ethos of Doctor Who. So, let's knock down some common complaints, eh? iT's To POLIticALly CorREct wItH alL ThE GENdeR EqUAliTy The very first episode of Doctor Who had two men and two women in the lead roles. It has always strived for gender balance. Even in the Peter Davison era there were two female and one male…
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This is such an unfairly maligned Doctor Who story. It is chock-full of brilliant high-concept Sci-Fi ideas. Even the spelling on the stencilled doors and windows rewards the careful viewer with little insights into the far future. This is heavily "inspired" by Fantastic Voyage - and I think that's great; Doctor Who has always ripped off other sci-fi. It introduces younger viewers to concepts that they are going to encounter in the future. The mad scientist has the requisite German accent,…
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How do you build a Tardis? What are the secrets of teleportation? Could Cybermen take over the world? Is telepathy possible - even for an alien? Will extra-terrestrials one day visit planet earth on their travels through the galaxy? Can a robotic dog catch a cold ...? Take a journey with the Time Lords as Michael White guides us through the real science behind Doctor Who. Here he shows us how one of the world's best-loved science-fiction programmes is actually based on genuine theories …
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