Danny_Weasel is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Eighth Doctor extraordinaire Paul McGann can currently be found treading the boards in his debut role at Ireland’s famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin where he is appearing in a production of Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara.

Regarded as one of Bernard Shaw’s most intelligent and witty plays, this bittersweet comedy reveals the conflict between power and poverty.

Major Barbara is a woman on a mission to save the poor of society. She is a devoted officer in the Salvation Army until a reunion with her arms-manufacturing, millionaire father, Andrew Undershaft, shakes the foundations of her beliefs

Paul McGann is playing the role of the millionaire father Undershaft, a part that has previously been played with award winning gusto in 2001 by fellow Doctor Who Alumni David Warner who was most recently seen as Cold War‘s Professor Grisenko, not to mention two outings as an incredible alternate Third Doctor in Big Finish’s Unbound range amongst other appearances.

To promote the show, Paul gave a wonderful in-depth interview that covers the role, the play as a whole and dips into some wonderful other bits and pieces like Withnail and I and yes, he briefly touches on Doctor Who: The Movie too. It can be found on the Abbey Theatre Sound Cloud page.

The show is running until September 21. Tickets (€13-€45/conc. €13-€23) can be booked at the theatre’s website or (01) 878 7222.

The post Paul McGann Performs in Dublin appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Meredith Burdett is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Whilst the finale to 2012’s run of Fourth Doctor adventures ended on an excellent high, it was only a self contained adventure. In 2013, writer and Executive producer Nicholas Briggs clearly wanted the Fourth Doctor and Romana to have more of a ‘series arc’ that we’re used to watching in the new era of Doctor Who on television. Seeds that were sown in The Sand of Life and War against the Laan are finally paid off in The Dalek Contract and The Final Phase and upon this reviewers word, the latter two are some of Briggs’s best ever work.

First things first, The Dalek Contract and The Final Phase are one big story that pits the Fourth Doctor against the Daleks. Yes, that’s an obvious statement but also an important one when considering whether you’ll purchase this particular adventure. Put simply, the two stories will need to be bought as one to be fully enjoyed, hence why this review is for both plays rather than just the one. But don’t worry; because the rewards will speak for themselves, this is Doctor Who storytelling at its most fun. The mad fourth Doctor, the resourceful and elegant Mary Tamm incarnation of Romana, K-9 finally getting to fight the Daleks, the return of the megalomaniacal Cuthbert and his lizard-like assistant Mr Dorrick and, of course, the Daleks. If you take all of these wonderful characters and place them in a rather epic plot then The Dalek Contract/ The Final Phase is what you end up with.

The Doctor and Romana finally find themselves in the Proxima System, first mentioned back in The Sands of Life, where Cuthbert’s mysterious ‘experiment’ is reaching its final conclusion. The ramifications of said experiment have had an adverse affect on the planet Proxima Major and the locals are none too happy with the company responsible of the foot soldiers that Cuthbert’s hired to keep everyone in line, of course it’s the Daleks.

What Briggs has cleverly done is make the Daleks cunning in this story, Cuthbert believes that they work for him; the listener (and the Doctor and Romana) know very well that this isn’t the case and that the tin pepper pots have their own agenda but the drama is in the finding out. Cuthbert truly believes that the Daleks are nothing more than his foot soldiers, mercenaries for hire but those who know the Daleks realise early on that its Cuthbert’s enigmatic experiment that they wish to hijack. As to why the Daleks want to do this is not revealed until the end of episode 3 but you won’t mind waiting to find out as this adventure is littered with moments of greatness that will keep you thoroughly entertained.

From K-9 bravely facing off against Skaro’s finest, Romana advancing her relationship with the Doctor by admitting that she’s grown quite fond of him (an excellent bit of writing from Briggs that also gives older Doctor Who fans more of a reason as to why Romana never went back to Gallifrey straight after all that business with the Key to Time), the Fourth Doctor on tremendous form against the Daleks with far more vitriol and venom towards them then he had in 2012’s Energy of the Daleks and last but not least, the Dalek Supreme. Briggs clearly demonstrates that he’s learned plenty from the school of Russell T Davies here; his version of the Supreme Dalek is stubborn, arrogant, clever, deadly and downright cunning. You can truly believe that this is the same Supreme Dalek who later ends up in a red casing and steals planets from the sky.

Where The Dalek Contract/The Final Phase really impresses is in its final episode. Cuthbert’s plans have been revealed and they’re not your typical megalomaniacs’ plans (or rather, they are but they’re presented in a new and interesting way), of course the Daleks have their own intentions and intend to use what he has achieved to facilitate their own plans. This reviewer won’t spoil anything for you but will conclude that it’s a powerful and satisfying ending to the 2013 run of Fourth Doctor Adventures that sets up a few more storylines along the way.

Forever though, this year’s series will always be about the wonderful Mary Tamm. Throughout the reviews of the Fourth Doctor Adventures, we’ve kept references to her sad passing out of the equation and focused on each of her new stories as they’ve been released so that her work can be celebrated rather than mourned. Now that these stories have finished their release cycle it has to be said that there is a final mourning period to be had as Tamm was simply beautiful with her portrayal of Romana in each of these stories. Her incarnation of Romana on audio was just as elegant, brave, witty, sexy and charming as when she played the role over 30 years ago on television. These treats (for treats they are) that Big Finish have captured are not only a huge step forward for her character after her one and only year on Doctor Who but also a wonderful set of examples of how to play a Doctor Who companion without being in love with the old Time Lord. Tamm will be sorely missed but thanks to these seven stories, we can enjoy more than just one encounter with Romana I.

Let’s hope that in 2014’s Fourth Doctor Adventures we get more of the series arcs that we’ve been given this year as it helps to give Tom Baker’s new ear on Doctor Who a far more epic feel and if the Dalek Supreme wants to menace the Fourth Doctor in the future at Big Finish, that would be no bad thing at all.

The Dalek Contract/The Final Phase is available from www.bigfinish.com now on CD for £10.99 each or via download for £8.99 each.

The post Reviewed: The Dalek Contract/The Final Phase appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Released last month, The Doctor: His Lives and Times tells the definitive story of 50 years of Doctor Who. Stunningly designed and brilliantly extensive, the book explores each Doctor and each story with fictional ads, diary entries, letters, blog posts, book covers – and so much more! Sections conclude with an in-depth tour through every serial, guided by those who made them as an ‘oral history.’

Kasterborous spoke to co-author, James Goss, about the remarkable tome…

 Where did the idea for The Doctor: His Lives and Times first come from?  

Shamefully neither Steve nor I can claim any credit. Albert DePetrillo, the Commissioning Editor at BBC Books said “would you like to do this?” And we did.

 We have Susan’s diary; Mickey’s blog; the Brigadier’s memoir: how did you decide who should be the main narrator for each Doctor?  

I always hate it when people say, “we talked it over at the pub quaffing many pints of the special ale”. [Sighs] We talked it over at the pub. A big pile of paper, some fun ideas, some “oh, wait, could we do….?” There was an initial suggestion from somewhere, “Can it all be the Doctor’s 500 Year Diary?” We immediately ran away from it and ended up roughly where we wanted to be.

The thing is, though, there are so many different paths through – we could write the book another dozen times. Perhaps from Ann Travers’ point-of-view of the Second Doctor, or Jo Grant’s view of the Third, or Barbara Wright’s view of the First…

 After the success of A History of the Universe in 100 Objects, were you at all intimidated about creating another original idea?  

It was just so nice to be doing it again. You get paid to sit on a sofa for a couple of months pretending to be Sarah Jane Smith!

 You told Doctor Who Magazine that the ‘oral history’ document, which concludes each Doctor’s section, comes to over a quarter-of-a-million words, so naturally had to be edited down – a lot. Do you have any favourite interviews or quotes? And were there many gems you loved but were forced to edit out?  

The oral history was a labour of love. We got so much in – we genuinely had a team working on it, with Andrew Pixley finding rare gems, and Tim Leng typing up old fanzines and Tom Wicker and Darren Scott interviewing people; so many wonderful things came in.

It was a joy re-reading Malcolm Hulke’s book about Writing For Television and finding a lovely interview with Dennis Spooner (none of which made the book), or Bonnie Langford’s recollections of being chased by Killer Bees. Just so many brilliant and lovely things. But we prepared each oral history long, very long, and then Steve Tribe came in and pared it down – from 30,000 words to 3,000. Hopefully the full things will some day be printed.

 What Doctor Who reference books did you grow up with, and have you revisited them for inspiration?  

Everyone mentions A Celebration, and rightly so. There’s a tribute to it in the margins of every page.

 How difficult was it to actually collaborate with Steve Tribe, designer, Paul Lang and illustrator, Matthew Savage?  

It was about lists. Paul assembled a brilliant team of designers who grabbed a section each. Richard Atkinson is a true hero because he delivered his pages first and they were so delightful that we suddenly knew exactly how the book was going to look. It was also a joy working with Matt Savage, because he’s just such a lovely man and has a real sense of humour. We’d say, “can you just do X?” and he’d provide X, Y and Z.

 How do you tackle writing such a mammoth book? It’s not a book with straight prose, but instead made up of ads and newspaper cuttings and poems, so I imagine the copy was full of notes to Lang and Savage!  

Pretty much. I can’t speak for Steve’s sections, but I wrote a lot of my first drafts on train journeys, just darting through bits and then going, “oh, it’d be fun to do this, and then that, and…” – Basically getting distracted. Heaps of it all went off to Steve, who then combed through it and tidied it up and added Actual Facts and Brilliant Bits and then it went off to a designer. Who would then make it all look very pretty.

 I remember Russell T. Davies being annoyed at himself for throwing away his ‘Sycorax Phrasebook’, but I see the Sycorax- English vocab in the Tenth Doctor section; did either you or Steve literally watch The Christmas Invasion over and over and transcribe what you could?  

The simple answer is that Russell compiled it for the Doctor Who website in 2006. We were doing a game that required a Sycorax translator, and I pulled a list of words from the script then, and sent it off to Russell with a list of other words that we could do with the Sycorax for, which he duly supplied. It’s one of those things that seemed a nice thing to fit into the book, especially as the Sycorax translator is no longer online.

 I’m also enjoying playing Spot The Clara. Do you know how many Claras have made it into the Classic Who section… and have you found them all?  

I can’t remember the total number. Michael Dinsdale did such a brilliant job of hiding them in some quite unexpected places. Even now they make me smile.

 What’s your next project for the BBC?  

I’m currently working on the follow-up to The Doctors Revisited documentaries. But they’re about a completely different programme, so this answer may not make any sense.

 Thanks, James! 

The book boasts contributions from all eleven Doctors; Steven Moffat; Waris Hussein; Donald Tosh; Tom MacRae; Patrick Troughton’s grandson, Harry Melling; Marc Platt; Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the internet… and then some! There’s even a look at the 50^th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, with Matt Smith describing his pairing with David Tennant as “having Stan Laurel and Stan Laurel, and not having Hardy anywhere.”

With an RRP of £20, The Doctor: His Lives and Times is available now from all good booksellers – or you can get it for just £12.00 from Amazon UK.

Also, don’t miss James Goss’ exclusive short story, The Book

The post James Goss on The Doctor: His Lives and Times appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Apparently it’s really tough to get a psychological assessment on a hunch. If it wasn’t, the men in white coats would surely have descended upon Big Finish by now as the producers of Doctor Who audio have announced yet more special offers, this time to celebrate tomorrow’s Big Finish Day 6!

Just a few days after their 12 Days of Big Finish-mas event closed, they’re making eleven connected adventures available for purchase at just £5 (CD or download, unless otherwise stated):

Doctor Who – Circular Time
Doctor Who Unbound – Sympathy for the Devil (£2.99 on Download)
Doctor Who Unbound – Masters of War (£2.99 on Download)
Doctor Who – The Companion Chronicles: Empathy Games
Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: The Children of Seth
Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: The Rosemariners
Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deimos
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Sands of Life
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: War Against the Laan
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Dalek Project
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Final Phase

“But they’re not connected!” I hear you say. Ah, but they are in a way… each features the silky voice of British TV and cinema veteran David Warner (Cold War), who is one of the guests at Big Finish Day 6.

This offer will close on Monday morning, so if there is a title in the list that you fancy (and the two Unbound options are particularly interesting, with Warner as an alternative Third Doctor), get your orders in now!.

The post Celebrate Big Finish Day 6 With ELEVEN Special Offers! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Following the success of The Worlds of Doctor Who, released last September, the audio company has announced a new limited edition boxset, The Worlds of Big Finish – and this time, it’ll collect together characters from the Whoniverse and beyond!

Out in May, the set will feature Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, Nicholas Briggs as Sherlock Holmes, Katy Manning as Iris Wildthyme, Alexander Vlahos as Dorian Gray, Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington as Abby and Zara (from Graceless), and Chase Masterson as Vienna Salvatori.

“David [Llewellyn, writer]’s done a fantastic job of devising a storyline that works as six standalone episodes in their own right,” Scott Handcock, the four-disc set’s director, says. “Each one is very much in keeping with their parent range – but also bleeds and feeds into the other storylines to form one great big epic Big Finish adventure! It’s been great to see the various elements develop and interconnect, and to play with so many different characters – including the revival of Graceless and Iris Wildthyme!”

Guest starring Terry Molloy (Davros), David Warner (Cold War), and Dalek operator, Barnaby Edwards, Big Finish teases:

“From the streets of Edwardian London to the corridors of a near-infinite library in the distant future, a single book holds the key to the fate of life on Earth.

Some believe it predicts our future – and the apocalypse – with unnerving accuracy. Others will stop at nothing to destroy it, and will chase it from one side of the universe to the other; from a country house in the Roaring Twenties to the casinos of Mars, and from 221B Baker Street to the terrifying desert world of Sisyphus IX…

This release includes a fourth bonus disc – Round the Worlds – where director Scott Handcock leads a roundtable discussion with writer and cast about this special adventure, plus a selection of outtakes from recording.”

You can pre-order a physical copy for £20, or download for £18 right now – and do it before May, because the price is likely to go up to about £45, similar to The Worlds of Doctor Who!

The post Iris Wildthyme and Graceless Return In The Worlds of Big Finish appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Tony Jones is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Those infamous investigators of infernal incidents, Jago & Litefoot, are back for their ninth boxset. Yes ninth! Not bad for a spin-off from a single fourth Doctor story, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, all those decades ago. Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin are in their usual fine form as this time they go on a much needed cruise holiday.

If you don’t know, the Jago & Litefoot series each comprises four CDs plus a fifth packed full of behind the scenes interviews. This series kicks off with The Flying Frenchmen by Jonathan Morris and the good ship Fata Morgana encounters a mysterious fog then a sequence of ever more mysterious ships caught with them in the same worrying weather formation. All very jolly, and also introducing the various passengers and crew while setting up the rest of the series.

Justin Richards (the script editor) wrote two episodes in this series, and the first of these is the next story The Devil’s Dicemen where the Fara Morgana finds itself in Monte Carlo, where Jago takes to the casino. Professor Litefoot makes the acquaintance of Dr Betterman (David Warner) and this is a strong story of dastardly deeds, glamorous women (such as Miranda Raison’s Madam Diabolique) and murder!

The third story is by bafflegab’s Simon Barnard and Paul Morris. Called Island of Death it has shades of Chthulu and Dr Moreau along with more than a few twists and another Frenchman, Victor Bataille (Anthony Howell). In the middle of some very grim circumstances this manages to brim over with humour and is a joy to listen to. The ever versatile Dan Starkey is good value of mild-mannered Neville Tibbs and this story is over too soon.

Finally matters get resolved, mysteries explained and events take the key players back to London and the Red Tavern where barmaid Ellie Higson (played by director Lisa Bowerman) gets a few scenes along with Inspector Quick (Conrad Asquith) as evil is faced, wrongdoers punished and there is still time for a pint.

Fans of this spin-off series need not worry about any lack of momentum, the writing and performances are all spot on and October’s next instalment can’t come too soon!

More so than most, this series would make a good jumping on point for new listeners and we are promised at least two more (plus a few other appearances in specials). Corks!

Jago & Litefoot Series 9 is available to purchase on CD or download now from Big Finish.

The post Reviewed: Jago & Litefoot Series 9 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Chris Swanson is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

From the streets of Edwardian London to the corridors of a near-infinite library in the distant future, a single book holds the key to the fate of life on Earth.

Some believe it predicts our future – and the apocalypse – with unnerving accuracy. Others will stop at nothing to destroy it, and will chase it from one side of the universe to the other; from a country house in the Roaring Twenties to the casinos of Mars, and from 221B Baker Street to the terrifying desert world of Sisyphus IX…

Featuring Abby and Zara, Sherlock Holmes, Dorian Gray, Iris Wildthyme, Vienna Salvatori and Bernice Summerfield, The Worlds of Big Finish brings together some of Big Finish’s best-loved characters in an adventure spanning thousands of years!

Written By: David Llewellyn
Directed By: Scott Handcock

Cast

Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield), Nicholas Briggs (Sherlock Holmes), Laura Doddington (Zara), Ciara Janson (Abby), Katy Manning (Iris Wildthyme), Chase Masterson (Vienna Salvatori), Alexander Vlahos (Dorian Gray)

1. Graceless: The Archive

Barnaby Edwards (Romulus Chang), Hugh Skinner (Lucian Theta-Singh), Lisa Bowerman (The Archive), David Menkin (Security Drones)

2. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Bloomsbury Bomber

David Warner (Mycroft Holmes), Michael Thomson (Alexander Korvo), George Rainsford (Albert Taylor), Katy Manning (Mrs Waters), Terry Molloy (Mr Robins),Barnaby Edwards (Alfred Vandermeer)

3. The Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Feast of Magog

George Rainsford (Evan Morgan), Rebecca Night (Pamela St John-Edwards), Michael Thomson (Alexander Korvo)

4. Iris Wildthyme: Kronos Vad’s History of Earth (Vol. 36,379)

Hugh Skinner (Captain Turner), Katharine Mangold (Jenni Marcel), David Menkin(Zack Hoffman), Barnaby Edwards (Mr Vandermeer), John Dorney (Bridge Controller)

5. Vienna: The Lady from Callisto Rhys

Rhys Jennings (Cage Zorn), Rosanna Miles (Magenta Dotrice), Rebecca Night(Lara Memphis), John Dorney (Rodrigo), David Menkin (Check-In Attendant), Katharine Mangold (Passenger), Terry Molloy (Driver)

6. Bernice Summerfield: The Phantom Wreck

Terry Molloy (Captain Quinn), Rosanna Miles (Selina), Rhys Jennings (Phillips), John Dorney (O’Neill), Katharine Mangold (Jenni Marcel), Barnaby Edwards (Romulus Chang)

For the last fifteen+ years, Big Finish has been responsible for some of the best Doctor Who ever made. They helped the Eighth Doctor to become more accepted among fandom, made the Sixth Doctor a fan favorite, and let some of the more neglected characters, like Sara Kingdom and Mel, really have their moment in the sun.

Along the way, they also created audio adventures with a staggering cast of characters both original and adapted. These include, but aren’t limited to, Sherlock Holmes, Dorian Grey, Iris Wildthyme and, of course, the amazing and wonderful Bernice Summerfield.

Last year the company released The Worlds of Doctor Who, and took their popular Doctor Who spinoff series (Jago and Litefoot, Counter-Measures, and Gallifrey), and put them into a gigantic linked adventure. It worked and worked well, giving us a wonderful story. This year they decided to do the same with their other series. Is the result every bit as excellent as what we’d hoped?

Well, just about. Some of the stories work incredibly well; others not so much. But they’re all entertaining.

Of the six stories, the weaker of the two were the first; The Archive and The Adventures of the Bloomsbury Bomber. Again, neither were bad, but neither really “did it” for me, either. The Graceless story was fine, but aside from Big Finish’s wonderful The Key 2 Time series, I haven’t had much exposure to the characters of Abby/Amy and Zara. I know they have their own series, but I haven’t worked my way up to it yet. As for the Holmes story, it was fine, but it was only that. Fine. It wasn’t truly excellent, as I’d wanted it to be. This is perhaps simply due to the format of the story and the limitation of the story length. That said, Briggs is his usual exceptional self, and it was very great to have David Warner show up as Mycroft Holmes.

The two middle stories, featuring Dorian Grey and Iris Wildthyme, respectively, were my favourites. I’m not as up on the Dorian stories as I should be, either, but I find the character generally interesting, and Vlahos does a good job of portraying him as someone you might want to get to know… but then again you might not. A cameo by another character from a different series was also welcome. As for Iris… Well, Iris is always fantastic and Manning’s performance as her is something that has to be heard to be believed. She really is just great, and while she’s not to everyone’s tastes, I will say that I think even most of her detractors will enjoy her in this smaller dose. Her new companion is alright, too, but I do miss Panda.

We round out the stories with Vienna and, of course, Bernice, in The Lady from Callisto Rhys and The Phantom Wreck. I had only previously encountered Vienna in her main range appearance alongside the Seventh Doctor. I found the character to be ok, but nothing great. She’s changed quite a bit by this point, however, and I found her much more engaging in this story. As for the story itself, it was, again, fine. I liked it more than the Holmes story, but it was missing that last little bit of something that might have made it truly exceptional. The same must be said of Bernice’s story, though really one should probably view them as the same basic story. I still liked it quite a lot, and Bowerman is always wonderful as Bernice.

Now all that said, do I recommend this set? If you’re a fan of Big Finish’s various series, then you do sort of owe it to yourself to give it a go, even if there are only one or two on this list that you really are into. But absent that… I can’t really recommend it to a casual fan, not even as a “sampler set”. If you’re someone just starting out with Big Finish, there are probably better places for you to begin.

Ultimately, I give this set a good, solid B.

The Worlds of Big Finish is out now: the download version will set you back £20, and a physical copy costs £25.

The post Reviewed: The Worlds of Big Finish appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Movie and TV star David Warner – known to Doctor Who fans as Professor Grisenko in Cold War as well as the Doctor himself in Big Finish’s Doctor Who Unbound series – is among the interview subjects in Doctor Who Magazine 488…

Also in this issue is Ingrid Oliver, who tells DWM about her joy at Osgood’s unexpected return.

“When I died, I was like ‘Oh. That’s a shame. That is a shame.” I really didn’t think I would return,” Ingrid tells DWM, revealing that she was shocked at the response to the UNIT operative’s demise. “I can’t watch myself on TV, so I deliberately made the decision to go out. And then I got a text from my agent saying, ‘Oh my God, you’re trending on Twitter!’ It was absolute insanity to me.”

ALSO INSIDE ISSUE 488…

• DANNY HARGREAVES’ BIG BANG!
  Doctor Who’s resident special effects supervisor Danny Hargreaves reveals the science behind blowing stuff up – but don’t try this at home!
• DAVID WARNER WAS THE DOCTOR?
  Cold War’s Professor Grisenko ­– movie and TV star David Warner – chats about his brief era as the Doctor, and shares some fascinating stories from a career spanning six decades.
• A NEW FORMAT – AT LAST!
  DWM’s history of Doctor Who on home video reaches its final part, with the dawn of a new shiny new format. DVD took the series into remastered territory, and made it look better than it ever had before.
• REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN!
  The Fact of Fiction heads to Voga – the planet of gold – to reveal fascinating facts about the 1975 Fourth Doctor adventure Revenge of the Cybermen.
• BLOOD AND ICE!
  Will the Doctor and Clara defeat the macabre plans of Dr Audley, and has Winnie really betrayed them? The comic strip adventure Blood and Ice – written by Jacqueline Rayner and illustrated by Martin Geraghty – reaches its thrilling conclusion.
• STEVEN MOFFAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS!
  Showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers’ questions and pays tribute to 1980s Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner.
• COMING SOON…
  DWM talks to Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, novelist AL Kennedy and actor Jon Culshaw to preview upcoming books and audios from the worlds of Doctor Who.
• PLUS! All the latest official news, reviews, Relative Dimensions, The Time Team, competitions and The DWM Crossword.

Doctor Who Magazine 488 is on sale from Thursday 25 June 2015, price ￡4.99.

The post David Warner Recalls Doctor Who Unbound in DWM 488! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

John Hurt’s War Doctor is gearing up for his next battle against the Daleks, as Big Finish announce the second boxset in The War Doctor‘s audio series, Infernal Devices.

To be released in February 2016, the set sees the Doctor joined once more by Cardinal Ollistra, played by Jacqueline Pearce. The War Doctor makes his audio debut in Only the Monstrous, due out on Monday 14th December, but there are four boxes planned in total so far, plus an Eighth Doctor prelude to the Time War.

Infernal Devices features three stories, directed by Nicholas Briggs who’s also the voice of the Daleks.

Legion of the Lost by John Dorney

In a time of war, every means of victory must be explored. In the Time War, the unthinkable must be thought, and neither side can afford to be squeamish about their methods.

When the destruction of an obscene weapon leads to the Time Lord once known as the Doctor uncovering a secret Gallifreyan initiative, he cannot believe what is being considered.

Should victory be sought at any cost? Or are there worse possibilities than losing to the Daleks..?

A Thing of Guile by Phil Mulryne

The Daleks are developing a secret weapon on Asteroid Theta 12. It is imperative that their plans are uncovered.

Cardinal Ollistra has her hands full studying the range of ancient and mysterious armaments the universe has to offer, but she makes it a personal mission to investigate the Dalek project.

On this dangerous assignment, there is one particular Time Lord she wants at her side – and he will be accompanying her whether he wants to or not.

The Neverwhen by Matt Fitton

On an isolated world ravaged by battle, time itself has become a weapon, laying waste to all who live and die there. Arms and technology are in a state of flux – and it seems that everlasting war is their only option.

The arrival of one battered Type Forty TARDIS inside this nightmare offers hope to the combatants trapped within.

But when he discovers the truth, the horrors of the Neverwhen will shock even the War Doctor…

Infernal Devices also stars David Warner as Shadovar, Jamie Newall as Co-ordinator Jarad, Zoë Tapper as Collis, Robert Hands as Captain Solex, Oliver Dimsdale as Commander Trelon, Laura Harding as Navigator Valis, Barnaby Kay as Commander Thrakken, Jaye Griffiths as Daylin, Tim Bentinck as General Kallix, and Tracy Wiles as Commander Barnac.

The War Doctor’s adventures continue in September 2016 with Agents of Chaos.

You can pre-order Infernal Devices (and Only the Monstrous!) for £20 each.

The post Big Finish Announce The War Doctor: Infernal Devices appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame… except when that “lesser man” is John Hurt. That lesser man is, in fact, great, and you can experience such greatness with Big Finish’s latest War Doctor boxset, Infernal Devices.

You can get your mitts on three new adventures for this lost incarnation of the Time Lord, written by John Dorney, Phil Mulryne, and Matt Fitton. Here’s what the Doctor has to face:

2.1 Legion of the Lost

In a time of war, every means of victory must be explored. In the Time War, the unthinkable must be thought, and neither side can afford to be squeamish about their methods.

When the destruction of an obscene weapon leads to the Time Lord once known as the Doctor uncovering a secret Gallifreyan initiative, he cannot believe what is being considered.

Should victory be sought at any cost? Or are there worse possibilities than losing to the Daleks..?

2.2 A Thing of Guile

The Daleks are developing a secret weapon on Asteroid Theta 12. It is imperative that their plans are uncovered.

Cardinal Ollistra has her hands full studying the range of ancient and mysterious armaments the universe has to offer, but she makes it a personal mission to investigate the Dalek project.

On this dangerous assignment, there is one particular Time Lord she wants at her side – and he will be accompanying her whether he wants to or not.

2.3 The Neverwhen

On an isolated world ravaged by battle, time itself has become a weapon, laying waste to all who live and die there. Arms and technology are in a state of flux – and it seems that everlasting war is their only option.

The arrival of one battered Type 40 TARDIS inside this nightmare offers hope to the combatants trapped within.

But when he discovers the truth, the horrors of the Neverwhen will shock even the War Doctor…

This set follows December’s Only The Monstrous, and once again takes us into the Time War. John Hurt is joined by Jacqueline Pearce (Cardinal Ollistra), David Warner (Shadovar), Jamie Newall (Co-ordinator Jarad), Zoë Tapper (Collis), Robert Hands (Captain Solex), Oliver Dimsdale (Commander Trelon), Laura Harding (Navigator Valis), Barnaby Kay (Commander Thrakken), Jaye Griffiths (Daylin), Tim Bentinck(General Kallix), Tracy Wiles (Commander Barnac), and Nicholas Briggs as – you guessed it – the Daleks.

Infernal Devices is out now, exclusively from Big Finish for just £20!

The post Out Now: The War Doctor – Infernal Devices appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.