Viewers Choice Night - The Choices

Hi again everyone.

The choices are in and sadly we didn't get as many as we had hoped.

So instead of the top 5 are only choices are:  Genesis of the Daleks, City of Death & The Curse of Fenric Special Edition.

To vote simply tweet your choice to #DWBarVC before 8:30pm GMT (UK Time) next Sat (28th Dec) and we will announce the winning story when we open our session at 8:45pm GMT that night and will press play all on our DVD's at 9pm GMT.  Remember the tweet has to have #DWBarVC in it to count.

Thank you once again for your support.

The Bar admins Voidy (aka @Via_The_Void) & myself (@SimonGa) once again wish you all a Happy Christmas (apologies if you don't celebrate it) and hope you all have a great 2014.

Viewers Choice Night

Here at The Doctor Who Bar we love our followers and those who join in with our sessions no matter how often you are able to.

As a small Christmas gift to you we give you Viewers Choice Night on Saturday 28th December.

How this works is tweet us your suggestion of a story (Christmas Specials excluded please) to #DWBarVC  for it to count you must tweet before 8:30pm GMT on Saturday 21st December and before our session that night we will announce the Top 5.

You then can vote again by tweeting again to #DWBarVC for 1 of those 5 before 8:30pm GMT on Saturday 28th December.  We will then watch the winning story at 9pm GMT that night.

Please remember only tweets with the tag #DWBarVC WILL count.

Finally Happy Christmas to you all.

The Time of the Doctor News & Speculation

The Time of the Doctor is to be broadcast on Christmas Day at 7.30pm GMT, and will star Matt Smith in his final outing as the Doctor.  Jenna Coleman stars again as Clara.

Orbiting the quiet backwater planet Trenzalore, the massed forces of the universe’s deadliest species gather.  They are inexplicably drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out through the stars. Amongst them is the Doctor himself. Rescuing his companion Clara from a traditional family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his best friend must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own destiny and that of the entire universe.

So what do we know about this particular episode!?  Well it's Matt Smith's final episode before he hangs up his Fez for good.  We know that the Doctor ages through this final episode and also loses one of his limbs.

But what of the plot arcs which have been left hanging from his other series.  What exactly are the Cracks in Time, and who or what are controlling them? 

We also know that despite him being the Eleventh Doctor, we will discover that he's really the Thirteenth and final incarnation of the Doctor.  So at the end of this story Doctor Who as a series will be finished, the Doctor has reached the end of his regeneration limit, time to draw the show to a close?

Of course, Doctor Who is not about to cease production, we already know that Peter Capaldi has been cast as the next Doctor and the show resumes production on it's next series after Christmas in January.  So how can the Doctor circumvent the established regeneration limit?

There is a precedent established in the Twentieth Anniversary special The Five Doctors where Lord President Borusa offers the Master "Regeneration, a complete new life cycle!" but surely we won't see the Time Lords so soon after The Day of the Doctor?  Not unless the Time Lords themselves have been attempting to contact the Doctor by some method?  Could they be responsible for his regeneration?

All we can do is wait patiently for Christmas Day, and the final performance of Matt Smith as the Doctor before he hands the role on to Peter Capaldi. So stay tuned everyone.

Article written by Via_The_Void

The Day of the Doctor

 

The BBC have at last revealed the transmission time for the Anniversary Special.  The Day of the Doctor will premiere on BBC One at 7.50pm GMT on the 23rd November, 2013.

The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure yet in this Fiftieth Anniversary special. In 2013, something sinister and terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; back in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in deep space an ancient battle reaches its final devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him, and the only way to fix it is for him to get help from himself!

Starring Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman, David Tennant with John Hurt and Billie Piper. The Special features appearances from the Zygons and the Daleks.  

Not much else is known about the Anniversary Special as it's been very carefully kept under wraps until transmission, but we do know that the ancient battle mentioned in the synopsis is likely to be the Time War!

So will we get to see any of the Doctor's from the shows original television run? Will the dastardly Daleks triumph over the Doctor by destroying his home planet Gallifrey?  Or will the Doctor himself cause Gallifrey's destruction?

Not long to go now as we countdown the Days to the Anniversary. 

List of Missing Episodes Recovered

Fans of the original run of Doctor Who know that many stories were wiped by the BBC.  Some of these were returned to the BBC and luckily the entire Jon Pertwee run has been in the archive for quite some time albeit some of it in Black and White only.  Those episodes have been painstakingly restored to colour as best as possible by The Restoration Team.

108 episodes were missing until the BBC announced the recovery of The Underwater Menace episode 2 and Galaxy 4 episode 3.

After whispers before and after that find, we have had months of speculation and rumour about possible discoveries, on Tuesday the BBC website stated that a number of episodes had been returned to the BBC.  The official announcement has just been made about which episodes have been returned.

The Enemy of the World episodes 1-2,4-6.  Episode 3 was already in the BBC archive.  The Web of Fear episodes 2, 4-6  This just leaves episode 3 missing as episode 1 is already in the archives.

The BBC have released these Patrick Troughton episodes via iTunes as downloads.

A DVD will be released on the 22nd November of The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear follows in early 2014.

There is speculation that this is not all the episodes that have been returned and there will be a further announcement at some point.

We at The Doctor Who Bar are very glad these episodes have been returned and we give grateful thanks to all those involved in returning these to the archives.

We also look forward to watching them in the Bar soon.

Weekend Matinees With Watch

Join us for some weekend matinees with Watch as they screen Classic Doctor Who omnibuses on Saturday's and Sunday's starting the 12th October.

They will also be screening The Doctors Revisited specials already seen in America, Australia and New Zealand.

The Bar will open at 1:45pm (UK) and we will tweet along with these specials at 2pm (UK) followed by the omnibuses after at 2:30pm (UK).

The dates and stories are as follows:

Saturday 12th The Aztecs
Sunday 13th Tomb of the Cybermen
Saturday 19th Spearhead from Space
Sunday 20th Pyramids of Mars
Saturday 26th Earthshock
Sunday 27th Vengeance on Varos

I would imagine we will get the Seventh and Eighth Doctors on the 2nd and 3rd of November.  We will probably also get Ninth and Tenth Doctors on the 9th and 10th and Eleventh Doctor on the 16th.

We will confirm that when listings are avaliable.

Please join us if you can.

Classic Doctor Who on Watch

I haven't seen this news anywhere else yet and I have just posted this information on Twitter.

As has been previously announced the UK channel Watch will be showing The Doctors Revisited specials.  Watch is part of the UKTV Network of channels and BBC Worldwide have a 50% stake in UKTV.

Looking at future listings I have seen that they are also going to be showing serials from the original series as Omnibus editions.

These are all October dates and will start at 2:30pm:

Saturday 12th The Aztecs
Sunday 13th Tomb of the Cybermen
Saturday 19th Spearhead from Space
Sunday 20th Pyramids of Mars
Saturday 26th Earthshock
Sunday 27th Vengeance on Varos

I would presume they will show a Seventh Doctor story on Saturday 2nd November and possibly the Eighth  Doctor TV Movie on Sunday 3rd November however no listings are available for these dates.

Watch is available in the UK on Sky 109 & Virgin 124.

Whilst I personally own all these serials on DVD I will watch them on TV to support the broadcasts and hopefully gain more in the future.

Views on 50th Coverage in UK

Disclaimer: This post is my own opinion and does not reflect the views of The Doctor Who Bar.  Despite being the 2nd in command of the bar I am writing this as purely a columnist.

The BBC have announced what wonders we can expect for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

I am completely underwhelmed and unsurprised by the poor output they are providing.

Here is a list of it courtesy of the BBC One Facebook page.

ON BBCTWO:
- In a special one-off programme, Professor Brian Cox will try to answer the classic questions raised by the Doctor – can you really travel in time? Does extra-terrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastical as the TARDIS?

-The Culture Show will present ‘Me, You and Doctor Who’ with lifelong fan Matthew Sweet exploring the cultural significance of the BBC’s longest running TV drama, arguing that it’s one of the most important cultural artefacts of modern Britain.

- BBC Two will then wrap up its coverage with the previously announced ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ written by Mark Gatiss

ON BBC Three:
-'Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains Weekend’ will countdown to the top Doctor Who monster as voted for by you.

- 'Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide’ will introduce those less familiar to the show to a wealth of archive material and act as a guide to all things Who.

- We also have one further exciting commission to be announced later this year which will see the celebrations finish with a bang.

ON #BBCFOUR:
- Audiences will be introduce audiences to the first Doctor, William Hartnell, with a special re-run of the first ever story, which marked the start of 50 years of history. The four episodes are being shown in a restored format, not previously broadcast in the UK.

There will also be programmes across #CBBC including two live #BluePeter specials.

ON BBC Radio 1:
- A documentary will look at 'Time Lord Rock (TROCK)' as a genre of music inspired by the Doctor and his journeys through space and time.

ON BBC Radio 2
- 'Who is the Doctor' will look at the lasting appeal of Doctor Who and ask how much of its continued success can be attributed to its basic formula.

- In ‘The Blagger’s Guide to Doctor Who’, David Quantick will give the iconic Doctor the Blagger’s treatment. He’ll be finding out the answers to questions such as why do Americans think Tom Baker is still Doctor Who? How many Doctors have there really been? Were the Daleks really named after an encyclopaedia?

- Finally, Graham Norton will be broadcasting his weekly Radio 2 show live (Saturday 23 November, 10am) from the Doctor Who Celebration in London.

I think the Graham Norton bit will annoy a few fans in the UK who remember his voice being heard during Rose and also his animated image popping up on screen in other episodes to advertise what was on next.

Some of those things appeal to me more than others but I am not posting this to slate what the BBC are saying they are showing.  Merely I am saying is that all?  Some may say what more do you want surely that is a lot.  Perhaps it is but let me explain about other countries 50th celebration of the show.

Australia and NZ have shown the following serials from the shows original run:

An Unearthly Child, The Aztecs, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The War Machines,  The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Dominators , The Mind Robber  The Seeds of Death Spearhead from Space, The Daemons, The Three Doctors, Death to the Daleks, The Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, The Hand of Fear, The Robots of Death, City of Death, Kinda, Earthshock, Snakedance, Frontios, Resurrection of the Daleks, The Caves of Androzani, Attack of the Cybermen, Vengeance on Varos, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks, Paradise Towers, Remembrance of the Daleks, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, The Curse of Fenric, Survival and the Eighth Doctor TV Movie

America has seen:

The Aztecs, The The Tomb of the Cybermen, Spearhead from Space, Pyramids of Mars, Earthshock, Vengeance on Varos, Remembrance of the Daleks and the Eighth Doctor TV Movie.

These markets have also seen a series of specials entitled The Doctors Revisited.  These specials as the name suggests have been looking back at each Doctor and are set to continue with 3 more specials for the Ninth to Eleventh Doctors.   The 1st 4 have also been released on DVD in America and 5-8 are scheduled for release at the start of October, with the final 3 being released in December.  I should also add these countries have aired the specials and repeats on BBC owned channels.

The UK has had none of this.  I have to ask why?  When we have a) probably paid for these specials to be made with our licence fee and b) when we pay for the show in itself to be made with our licence fee.  Yet we are getting treated like we do not count or matter.  I applaud the BBC for making the programmes for the UK mentioned above which may or may not get shown in other countries but why not show the revisited specials and why not make BBC Four a home for more repeats from the original run.  I run a Facebook page here which was originally set up after The Hand of Fear was repeated as a tribute to Elisabeth Sladen but now in the shows 50th year it really is something they should be doing.

Animate The Crusade for DVD release

The Crusade, like many stories from the 1960s, is incomplete in the BBC's archives. This four-episode adventure, first broadcast in 1965, is a victim of the BBC's junking of many Doctor Who episodes in the 60s and 70s - which has left 106 still missing.

Luckily, audio recordings were made by a handful of fans at the time of transmission, so while the original moving pictures of episodes two and four of The Crusade are gone, the soundtracks survive.

If you're a collector of the BBC's classic Who DVDs, you will have noticed a few stories with animated episodes springing up. The latest is The Ice Warriors, which has been released in the UK this week.

Some fans have launched a social media campaign to support a DVD of The Crusade, with its two missing episodes completed with the same technique. But why single out this story? Ian Redman, one of the fans behind these efforts, explained to The Doctor Who Bar:

Over recent months, we've heard that the budget for a classic Doctor Who DVD release can accommodate two animated episodes to fill the gaps of an incomplete story. (It would be great if that one day becomes three, but time will tell!) We're at the point now where almost all of the stories with one or two episodes missing have either been released, or announced for release, with animation used to complete them.

The only two stories which have not yet had such an announcement made are The Underwater Menace and The Crusade - both of these are four-part stories with two episodes missing. We know that The Underwater Menace will be receiving its own DVD release, but there has been no official word on plans for the two missing instalments. My gut feeling is that they will be animated, though - it seems very likely.

The Crusade, on the other hand, is looking like it might be running out of luck. The Doctor Who Restoration Team have said that they have not been commissioned to do any work for that story. This doesn't necessarily make it impossible for animation plans to be getting into motion in other quarters, but it's really not looking good. This is sad, because we are facing the very real possibility that The Crusade might end up being the one and only story with two episodes missing, that does not receive a DVD release with animation.

That brings us to the campaign. I'm really hesitant to call it a 'petition', and I would probably reject that description if anyone tried to apply it! What we are doing is attempting to politely demonstrate that there is support for the idea of animating The Crusade's two missing episodes. The Restoration Team themselves have recently encouraged people to write to BBC Worldwide to express support of further classic DVD releases.

But at the end of the day, I think this is one of those things that might just do some good, but it can't really do any harm. (Or a DVD might come out, but with this campaign having had nothing to do with it... but we wouldn't complain!) We're not standing outside the BBC's headquarters with pitchforks (not a petition, remember!), but if it gets thoughts ticking over in the mind of someone in the commissioning loop (and Worldwide do know about the campaign), then you never know! Of course, in the event that all this has no effect (and I'm not going to sugarcoat it - that's the most likely outcome!), we have done nobody any harm. We shall see!

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/animatecrusade

Twitter:

#AnimateCrusade

this mondays duke box

after being unable to host the duke box last monday (19th) i am going to host a session on monday the 26th instead.

for this story we are going to listen to one of big finish's numerous outputs.

august release (so its a new one guys).

starlight robbery 

starring sylvester McCoy. this infact will be a new story for me as i have as of yet not been able to listen to it, however reliable sources tell me its a bit on the good side.

hope you can join us in the bar from 8.00pm monday for this story. and if you don't have it yet then scurry on over to bigfinish's site and spend your pennys on it.

http://bigfinish.com/releases/v/starlight-robbery-7144

look i've even posted the link to where you can buy it either as cd or as download. because i'm nice like that :)

hope you can join us for this session and also don't forget to join us tomorrow for captain void's and simon's excelent new run through of the sarah jane adventures.

all the best 

The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Following on from her successful return to Doctor Who in 2006 for the episode School Reunion.  Elisabeth Sladen was given a second chance at her own Spin-off show.

The Sarah Jane Adventures had its pilot episode air on New Years Day 2007 and it was a hit, unlike K-9 and Company.

With a couple of tweeks a series of 10 episodes began airing in September that year.  A second series of 12 episodes was commissioned and aired from September 2008 this series sadly (in my opinion) saw the departure of Yasmin Paige who played Maria Jackson.

Series 3 containing 12 episodes aired from October 2009, this series had a guest appearance by David Tennant as The Doctor, the first time The Doctor had appeared in a spin-off show.  In October 2010 a 12 episode 4th Series began and this series had a guest appearance of Matt Smith as The Doctor.

A 5th series of 12 episodes was commissioned however sadly Elisabeth Sladen died in April 2011 whilst this series filming was underway.  Due to the way the filming to date had taken place, the first 2 stories along with the final story of the season had been completed.  These were screened in October 2011.

The reason for this article is not just to praise Elisabeth Sladen (although if it were I doubt many would object), it is to announce that The Doctor Who Bar Saturday sessions will be The Sarah Jane Adventures.  This will start this coming Saturday (24th August) with Invasion of the Bane and Revenge of the Slitheen.

We will continue to watch 2 stories (that is 4 episodes) every Saturday until the 16th November.  On that Saturday we will watch the 3 stories (6 episodes) that made up the final series.

I know primarily The Sarah Jane Adventures was children's show but I and I know many other Doctor Who fans enjoyed it.  This is a big step for The Doctor Who Bar to show this spinoff and I want to thank Captain Voidy :) (aka Via_The_Void) a bar founder for his faith and willingness to allow me (SimonGa) to put on and host these sessions.  I hope as many of you as you can will join me for these sessions.  As I would like to remind you that everyone is welcome to join in our sessions, even if you have never joined a session before or if you haven't joined in a session for a while you are welcome to join us.

In closing on behalf of myself as 2nd in command of The Bar and David (Via_The_Void) as a founder of it, thank you for all your support.  We really appreciate it.

the duke box not on tonight

Hi guys I know this is very late in the day but i am unable to host tonight's session of the doctor who bar duke box.

Had a bit of a hectic few weeks recently with stuff going on so not really been able to put the time into planning. 

However the session in 2 weeks will be held by SimonGa, and its power of the Daleks

"its a good one that" :)

Anyways guys once again I'm sorry but do continue checking back to the site for sessions etc etc 

Take care all and hope you will join us in future duke box sessions also in regular bar sessions.

The Dukebox Continues

The trial session of the Dukebox will continue.  We decided to try a couple more over the course of the next month.

Next Monday (19th August) will see us have a Big Finish Audio (To be confirmed) hosted by Legion Henderson.

Then on Monday 2nd September I (SimonGa) will be hosting the session and we will have the The Power of the Daleks.  This sadly missing serial from the BBC Archives is of course Patrick Troughton's first full story as The Doctor.  You can join in this session with either the BBC/AudioGo audio or if you have it the Loose Canon reconstruction.

I hope you can join us for either one or both of these sessions.

The Next Doctor Announced

After all the speculation the time has finally arrived and moments ago on BBC One in the UK and simulcast in the USA on BBC America, Space in Canada and in Australia on ABC 1, The Next Doctor was announced.

When Matt Smith bows out at Christmas Peter Capaldi will take over the TARDIS as the Twelfth Doctor.

For those who may be unfamiliar with Peter he may be best known to British TV Viewers as being Randall Brown in The Hour or Malcom Tucker in The Thick of It.   To Doctor Who fans he will be known as playing Caecilius in The Fires of Pompeii during David Tennant's third series.  He also appeared as John Frobisher in the Torchwood: Children of Earth serial. 

Obviously not all fans will be pleased with the choice and I hope those who have threatened to boycott the show if someone they did not approve of got the role, do not boycott it.

I will give him a chance as I have with every other Doctor.  Aside from Peter Davison and now Peter Capaldi, I had not heard of any Doctors before they were cast (of those cast in my lifetime) Davison coincidentally being the first and I knew him as the guy I liked on All Creatures Great and Small.

I know there will be (as always) people wondering how long he will stay.  The question that will need answering, either during Capaldi's reign or when the Thirteenth Doctor is cast, is will these be the final two incarnations of The Doctor.  I am sure there are many ways the production team can get around the twelve regenerations/thirteen live's situation.  However I guess that is a question for another time.

In the meantime on behalf of everyone at The Doctor Who Bar I would like to welcome Peter Capaldi to Doctor Who as The Twelfth Doctor.

Dukebox 4 (Possibly the last one)

Monday could be your last chance to join in a Dukebox session.

If you have not heard of it before, we either listen to a BF Audio or BBC/AudioGo Missing Story release. Of course you also can watch the Loose Canon recons if you have them for the Missing Story sessions.

In this session it is going to be The Moonbase. We open at 7:45pm and Play at 8pm BST

Episodes 2 & 4 of this 4 part story are in the archives and are on The Lost In Time collection and like the Hartnell story The Crusade on the same release (unless you have the R1 separate releases) the 2 missing episodes have the audio version as well.

The plan will be as follows: 8pm we play episode 1 audio (or again watch the Loose Canon recon of it if you have it). We will take a few minutes break after each episode to allow you navigate to the next one.

Please do support the Dukebox on Monday if you want it to stay. Barfleet Command are making a decision on the future of it after Monday's session.

SimonGa will be the host with the most for this session and everyone both old and new are welcome to join us in the #DWBar for this or of course any of our sessions.

The Twelfth Doctor to be announced on Sunday

The wait is almost over for all the Doctor Who fans, as the identity of the next actor to play the Doctor is to be announced in a special one-off programme called Doctor Who Live, to be broadcast on BBC One this Sunday August 4 at 7pm.

In front of a live studio audience, host Zoe Ball will unveil and interview the next actor to play the lead role,  which is one of the most coveted roles in British television.

The programme will feature Doctors old and new, companions, special guests and celebrity fans, all taking place against the backdrop of a swirling vortex with Daleks and the TARDIS appearing in the studio.

Earlier in the week the BBC had cleverly disguised the show in the TV listings, scheduling a fake ‘Celebrity Mastermind’ in the 7.30pm-8pm slot.

Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor  will finally end months of speculation over who will be taking over from Matt Smith, who departs at Christmas.  Peter Capaldi, Ben Daniels, Ben Whishaw and David Harewood have all been linked with the role, though an unknown actor is perhaps far more likely.

Executive Producer Steven Moffat said : ‘The decision is made and the time has come to reveal who’s taking over the TARDIS. For the last of the Time Lords, the clock is striking twelve.’

Moffat and Smith will both give interviews during the show, commenting on the role and what they believe it takes to play the iconic role of the Doctor.

Fans in America will be able to watch the unveiling live via simulcast on BBC America.

Charlotte Moore, the Controller of BBC One said: ‘BBC One is the home of big live events and this special live show is the perfect way to reveal the identity of the next Doctor and share it with the nation. The Doctor is a truly iconic role and I’m more than excited about the booking.’

Ben Stephenson, the Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning meanwhile, revealed how they have been using the codename Houdini for the actor.

He has said: ‘We can’t wait to unveil the next Doctor with everyone live on BBC One on Sunday night. Amongst all the speculation and betting, there has been lots of fun and intrigue at work as we’ve been using the codename Houdini as a decoy! It’s the biggest secret in showbiz, even those working with the new Doctor on other projects at the moment have no idea they are in the presence of the Twelfth incarnation.’

Rory Kinnear had also been tipped as a possible Doctor, but after insisting that he won’t be joining the show his denial was compounded by his signing up to the ITV drama Lucan, which films at the same time.  Also mentioned as a possible contender for the role was Domhnall Gleeson, son of Brendan Gleeson, who played Bill Weasley in the last of the Harry Potter films.

the duke box

a bit late in the week i know but my life has been hectic :).

Session 3 in the DWBar duke box is taking place on Monday. and for this session seen as its the last Monday in month 7 i thought we'd do a purely 7th doctor tale.

this Monday's story will be 45 by Big Finish productions. you can join in if you have the story on CD or a digital copy. here is link to the buying page of Big Finish's website for those who don't have it and want to join in.

http://bigfinish.com/releases/v/forty-five-281

As a post script me and the rest of the bar are strongly against audio piracy, so if you don't have this story buy it. don't torrent it.

At the bar have the upmost respect and support for BBC worldwide, AudioGo and Big Finish productions.

take care all

The Daleks return in the Anniversary Special

Everyone's favourite pepperpots are back in the Anniversary special!  The Doctor's greatest enemies the Daleks are back in scenes which will leave Doctor Who fans awestruck.  For these Daleks are believed to hail from the Time War, and it's a sure bet that we'll also get to see flashbacks of the Time Lords home planet heavily under siege from the might of the Dalek fleet!!

What more could a Doctor Who fan want? Well some classic Doctors in the Special would be good, and there are rumors that there is one Doctor pre-Eccelston in the Special!  Who could it be?

The imminent arrival of the Anniversary date would be good, but we're all gonna have to wait until 23rd November 2013 to watch it and find out!

The Dukebox

A reminder that our new trial session of The Dukebox is taking place on Monday nights at 8pm BST.

These either take the form of the recovered audios of a William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton missing serial or a Big Finish Audio Story.

Of course with the missing Hartnell or Troughton adventures there is also the ability to watch the Loose Canon Reconstructions, which are not for profit "fan-produced endeavours".

If you are interested in these (which in my own personal opinion are very good) then we of course still recommend purchasing the official audio as well. These are usually narrated by a member of the serials cast or a fellow Doctor.

I closing I would like to remind you all that The Doctor Who Bar fully support the BBC/AudioGo and Big Finish Releases.

We hope you can join us in the bar for these sessions.

Duke Box No 2.

Monday saw the 1st session of the Duke Box, the bar's new session for BF Audio's and missing serials.

Next Monday will see us having a missing serial. This serial will be the William Hartnell adventure The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve.

You have 2 choices with this. You can listen to the audio or if you have the LC Recon then you can watch that.

If you don't have either and want to join then you can purchase the audio as part of Doctor Who The Lost TV Episodes Collection No. 2

This is available from Amazon, BBC Shop and other places.

The bar opens at 7:45pm and the session will begin at 8pm BST.

As always everyone is welcome to join us even if you have only just started following us on Twitter.

Update to the Doctor Who Bar Duke Box

Just a quick update 1 and all. The audio session that was going to run tomorrow evening has been moved to Monday at 8.pm play time. Bar will open at 7.45 pm.

all times in British Summer Time (BST).

Take care all and hope to see you all there.

Five Reasons to Watch 'Fear Her'... and Enjoy It!

Fear Her has quite a distinguished reputation in the Whoniverse. Fandom generally perceives it as the wooden spoon, the pits, the dregs, the standard by which all 'bad' Who should be measured, (some subsequent stories have been awarded the unfortunate accolades of Fear Her Part 2 and Fear Her Part 3...) But is this torrent of negativity justified? Is there no good to be found in this quirky little number from 2006? If you sense a little reluctance every time you reach for that season two box set, here's a few reasons why you should give the lonely Isolus one more chance...

1) "Not you too, Bob...!"

Almost everyone loves the Olympics, (even me, the least sporty person in the world!) Fear Her is set against the backdrop of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and adds some wonderful (and unique) moments to the Who canon. Who didn't punch the air when the Doctor swooped in to retrieve the torch from the fallen athlete? And what's not to like about Huw Edwards' questionable, yet highly amusing, performance as the BBC commentator?
 

2) "I was a dad once..."

The Doctor and Rose's scene in the TARDIS is a historical one, because it is the first time the Doctor has ever admitted he was a father. Did this finally end the debate as to whether Susan Foreman was his biological granddaughter...? I love the fact that this game-changing revelation was slipped, so sublimely, into a good old-fashioned "romp." It's worth watching the ep for this scene alone.

3) "Cake...?"

One of the things that makes the episode - and the closing scene in particular - is Murray Gold's amazing score, conveying all the hope, joy and love that's prevalent in Fear Her, such as Rose's love for the Doctor, and the Isolus' love for Chloe Webber. It really makes that simple moment on a housing estate look, and feel, like the stuff of a Hollywood feature. It's just a shame that piece didn't make it on to the official soundtrack. An outrage!

 4) "Put it in a big book about tarmacing..."

An oft-forgotten player in the Fear Her saga. Kel the tarmacer, played by Abdul Salis, turns in a wonderfully comical performance as the eccentric man from the council. His scene with Rose, in which he declares the magnificence of his beautifully smooth tarmacadam, is amusingly written and very well acted. Nice one.  

5) "If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things..."

This episode would probably have frightened the life out of me had I watched it as a kid. Fear Her is quintessential Who, harking back to the shop window dummies from Spearhead from Space and the troll doll from Terror of the Autons. The idea that something very ordinary and real can suddenly become a major threat is the stuff of nightmares. Although the idea isn't as well executed as it could have been, (owing to the constraints of time and money), I think the concept deserves an appreciative nod.

Really, Fear Her struggles from the fact that it was written at the last minute, (with virtually nothing in the way of sets, budget, or CGI to help it along), and that it lives in the shadow of the epic two-part finale that followed, (featuring Daleks, Cybermen, Torchwood, Rose's departure AND Catherine Tate no less!) There is much to enjoy in those 43 minutes, and whilst it may never be anyone's Desert Island Who, there's something oddly reassuring about it... If this is as "bad" as the new series can get, then, really, we have nothing to worry about.   

Alex Skerratt

Introducing The Doctor Who Bar Dukebox

I'm writing to promote a small experiment I am running for the bar this coming Monday.

On Monday at 8.00 pm BST I am hosting the first experimental session of the Doctor Who Bar Dukebox (name probably to change in future) this session will be focusing rather than on a televisual story but that of an audio story. Rather than loading your DVD, iTunes or time space visualiser. we will be listening and discussing one of the many many many Doctor Who Audio stories produced by many different companies over the years. As its the first in the session and somewhat of an introduction, we shall be listening to the first ever Big Finish release. "The Sirens of Time" Starring Doctor number's 5, 6 and 7, released way back in 1999. you can partake in this session by either listening via use of a CD if you own it or Big Finish now offer sales of just downloads if you don't have the story.

I do hope to see you all there on Monday, but until then may you all live well. Take care.

Further Missing Episode Rumours

So if the BBC and T.I.E.A (Television International Enterprises Archives) thought the statements they released last week would put the rumours to bed then they were mistaken.

The latest I have seen from someone on a forum I occasionally visit has said Philip Morris is currently in Hong Kong negotiating for 2 episodes of the Wheel In Space. This person cites Caroline Skinner as his source for this information.

As I have said previously this person has been saying for months about the missing episodes being in existence and I am sceptical but do not disbelief him.

He advised yesterday morning to keep an eye on Bleeding Cool again.

Now Bleeding Cool did indeed make a post yesterday where they say the latest rumour is "a teaser trailer for one of the Missing Episodes, now returned, will appear on the end of September’s release of Doctor Who: Terror Of The Zygons DVD."

They go on to say "The rumour stands that whoever hold the films wants the films to be properly treated, with full restoration, the use of vidFIRE and the like, while BBC Worldwide wanted to release them quickly in the format they arrived in. And that has caused the delay, in negotiation and release.

Contracts have, however, been agreed with all concerned parties for BBC Worldwide for the return and release of Marco Polo, Enemy Of The World and Web Of Fear missing episodes. This would account for seventeen missing episodes, verified and in releasable condition.

But to the rest of the reported returned ninety missing episodes? They’re on hold for now. As are the many episodes that the BBC already hold, but that could exist in better condition in this recovered cache."

The Full article can be viewed here: Bleeding Cool Missing Ep on Zygon DVD Rumour

We will try and keep you updated when more information on this story emerges.

Missing Episodes Update

The Radio Times have tried to get to the bottom of this.

A BBC Spokeswoman issued a statement about saying:

“There are always rumours and speculation about Doctor Who missing episodes being discovered - however we cannot confirm any new finds,”.

The Radio Times asked them to clarify this and were told “We can’t confirm because it’s not true as far a I’m aware,”.

Asked if they were talking to Philip Morris of Television International Enterprises Archives who say they are the “world’s foremost archive recovery company” she replied “I don’t think so?”

So there are no episodes? “Not as far as we know.”

So that seemed as if the BBC would neither confirm or deny this.

A statement has now been released on Facebook by Philip Morris.

T.I.E.A. does not hold any missing episodes of the long-running Dr Who series. The original videotapes were wiped [and] subsequent film copies were either returned to the BBC [or] sent to landfill. Odd fragments have surfaced - two episodes on 16mm film - but that's it. The programmes in question, like many others, were destroyed as they had no further commercial value. They are not missing but destroyed. The end.

I am sorry if this upsets some people but these are the facts.

I have also become aware of the tracking of some of our clients' shipments. These are local cultural materials sent to us for migration to a modern format as the playback equipment in the country of origin no longer exists and as such is the best road to preserve international cultural heritage.

I will be making no more statements on this subject.

Philip Morris, Executive Director, T.I.E.A.

So this appears to be the last word on the subject. This rumour is something I have been hearing for a couple of months now. The person that told me said they had seen proof.

Now I have no reason to disbelief them but I am sceptical until I see proof or we have an announcement to confirm the existence of these.

We will keep you updated when we hear more.

Missing episodes might be found?

So... I go away from the world of Sci-Fi for a few days and come back to find lost episodes might be found. According to the site Bleeding Cool, not one not even two, but a mass stock of missing episodes from the 60s have been discovered in Africa in a stash kept by an engineer from the time. At the moment this is all speculation from Bleeding Cool but they do say they have two good sources. From reading articles it would seem that one of the recovered stories is the remaining episodes of  Evil of the Daleks.  In my mind the best Dalek story out there. I can only hope that this does come to something rather than shattering all our dreams. As soon as anything comes out to either deny or confirm these stories I will let you guys know.

Breaking News: Matt Smith to leave Doctor Who

The BBC has announced that actor Matt Smith is to leave Doctor Who at Christmas.  He has just recently completed filming the Doctor Who Fiftieth Anniversary Special, where he stars alongside David Tennant and John Hurt.   He will make one more episode, the 2013 Christmas Special before he bows out by regenerating into the Twelfth Doctor.

Matt Smith said: "Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show. I'm incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realise all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I'm incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years. 

Having Steven Moffat as show runner write such varied, funny, mind bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career. It's been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he's a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.

The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other; they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show (and speculate more about the future of the show) in a way that I've never seen before, your dedication is truly remarkable. Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation of the Time Lord, number Eleven, who I might add is not done yet, I'm back for the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special!

It's been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with 'the ginger, the nose and the impossible one'. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls. Thank you guys. Matt."

Matt Smith arrived in Doctor Who in the second part of The End of Time broadcast on New Years Day 2010.  He has stayed with the show for three years, which ironically is the duration many of the lead actors of the original Doctor Who series remained with the programme.

Everyone here at the Doctor Who Bar wishes Matt Smith all the best for the future.

However as to the future of Doctor Who itself, just who will be taking over when Matt leaves?  Ben Daniels has been mentioned.  We won't find out until Christmas. :-)

Happy Birthday River

Today the 31^st May 2013 is in WHO fandom the birthday of a character that for some splits us as a collective down the middle. Yes of course I’m talking of Professor River Song. Love her or hate her you cannot deny that the Moff man has well and truly made a mark by introducing a, for some, brilliant and new loved character to thicken the plot or at least back in 2008 it did. And for others introduce a character who really does your Swede in with all her smarmy flirty nonsense. But I digress. River is an example of several companions (if you class her as a companion) who has a love or hate relationship with the fans. In this blog entry I have chosen 3 fans that personally I love and another 3 that personally I hate. Before I begin well and true I apologize now if I offend anyone with my choices. But as some might say “thems the breaks.” Firstly I think I’ll get my least favorites out the way. 

Dorothea Dodo Chaplet - Dodo for me is an incredibly horrid creation of a character created for the first Doctors time. Her original use was as an every day girl to be whisked off to fantastical adventures in time and space. Introduced at the end of The Massacre when she mistook the TARDIS for an actual police box she ran in looking to call the police because she’d witnessed something iffy going on. In this first scene and the first episode or so of The Ark she used a regional accent. But funny enough the prim and proper BBC of the day didn’t like this and made her speak with the normal for those days RP accent. I was willing to let the accent issue go for a while but theres only so many times that you can stand hearing her wine “but Doctor?” “how Doctor?” and of course “Steven looooook”. If I’m gonna be honest I was thrilled when she was booted out of the show without even a proper goodbye scene in The War Machines. I’m sure if the writing staff had considered even a smidgen of character development I may have liked her some what more but nope nothing about her past or anything important to make us as fans like her. But anyways that's Dodo, lets jaunt on to my next least liked companion.

Adric - ah poor Adric of course joined the TARDIS during State of Decay and left in quite frankly the brilliant Earthshock. He was really a bit of a wet blanket wasn’t he? All he seemed to do was moan, trip and hurt his ankle, moan a bit more and then storm off for a jolly good sulk. However he did have one redeeming feature. That of his death. In TV history he was only the 3^rd companion to die after Katarina The Daleks Masterplan and Sara Kingdom also Masterplan. His way of death causing the destruction of the Cybermen on the space freighter and then crashing into the Earth is a pretty epic way to go if you ask me. When he joined he was meant to be a bit of a maths wiz kid but he couldn’t stand up on his own when on the TARDIS you had the Doctor himself an all round genius, Nyssa, again a bit of a clever clogs who also was a bit of a looker :) and Tegan, not really that clever yes but by heck she could definitely give the most frightening of space monsters a good yelling and telling off.

Amy Pond - yes I know she’s really only just left but I really cannot stand her. All she seemed to do was yell a bit and try and get off with the Doctor. If I were Rory I’d have shown her the door years ago. Yes she was head strong and had some brains I guess, when it came down to it was a bit of a tart who really didn’t care much for her own husband and kept trying to get some action from her 1100 year old son in law. What the Moff man was thinking when she was created I’ll never know.

Right after those 3 lets get on to the companions that I did like. Starting with:

Romana - introduced in The Ribos Operation played by the late great Mary Tamm and then after her frankly bonkers regeneration by the wonderful Lalla Ward.  Romana was what a companion should be. Not just a screaming shouty girl with no brains and a big buzzom. No, no Romana was brains, looks and a general brilliant assistant for the Doctor. She played off his eccentricity and  wasn’t afraid to correct him when he was wrong about something. I’m glad with Romana that when Big Finish started their audio plays, she was and is featured in some of them. Also its nice to see how the Doctor copes with a fellow Time Lord on board.

Wilfred Mott - you're probably thinking “waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh?” but yes I think Wilf was a brilliant character and I always thought that yes even though he is an old man he had a boyish air about him when the 10^th Doctor was about. They played off each other so well and it was truly brilliant to see how pained the Doctor was when he realized that it was Wilf’s fault he would have to regenerate. I always think that a meeting of Wilf and the 11^th Doctor would be fun to see.

Jamie McCrimmon - Jamie joined in the 2^nd Doctor’s 2^nd story The Highlanders and stayed with him right up until the end of The War Games. I always thought Jamie was great, his and the 2^nd Doctors chemistry was and is such a great thing to watch. A fine example of this is at the start of Tomb of the Cybermen. Jamie taken from the 18^th century came round to things quickly and always had something to say. I think that a primary male companion needs to be re-introduced, because when it was done in the 60s it worked, and I think it could work again today.

So there you have it, 6 companions half of which I don’t care for and 3 of which I do. Its been a nice little thing to write and has been a nice way to break my blogging mad head :). Its been nice to write for you all and I hope you enjoy this blog entry. I’ve been Legeon and I hope to write more blog entries in the future and also host some sessions for the Bar. But for now take care all.