With The Doctor and new companion Clara ‘Oswin’ Oswald returning to our telly boxes with the superb ‘The Bells of Saint John‘ on Saturday, I though it would be a good time to do a little round up of news about November’s up-coming 50th Anniversary celebrations (obviously some spoilers).
The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary TV Special
2 Doctors together at last!
This special feature length episode will be penned by head honcho Steven Moffat, and sees at least 2 Doctors united, with David Tennant reprising the 10th Doctor, along with Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler. It’s also been revealed that veteran actor John Hurt (probably best know to the younger members of the Doctor Who audience as the voice of the dragon in Merlin) will be taking a role, as will Gavin & Stacey’s Joanna Page.
The villains (or at least one of them) will be the Zygons! Last seen properly in the 4th Doctor’s ‘Terror of the Zygons’, they did also pop up briefly in ‘The Pandorica Opens’ crowd scene at Stonehenge, but have been a fan favourite for a long time so it’s nice to see them get a full outing again! Despite the Beeb announcing their return, I rather suspect there are more villains to come… After all, it’d need to be something really big to bring multiple Doctors together…
For those of you with posh TVs, The show is being shot in 3D. For those of you without, it’s also getting a limited cinema release! It’s expected to be broadcast 23rd of November 2013.
Doctor Who biopic ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’.
David Bradley to play the 1st Doctor
Another part of the 50th Anniversary will include a biopic of the early days of Doctor Who, penned by Moffat’s Sherlock writing partner (and occasional Who scribe) Mark Gatiss. David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones… and Doctor Who) has been cast as 1st Doctor, William Hartnell, with Gatiss’s fellow League of Gentlemen-er Reece Shearsmith playing 2nd Doctor, Patrick Troughton.
Waterloo Road’s Jamie Glover and Jemma Powell (Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland) will take on the roles of William Russell and Jacqueline Hill, who played the first companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. Relative newcomer Claudia Grant will play Carole Ann Ford who portrayed the 1st Doctor’s granddaughter Susan Foreman… This is where things get a little more complicated… William Russell (who played Ian Chesterton in the original series) will be playing a character called Harry, and Carole Ann Ford (who was Susan in the original series) will play a character called Joyce! Current ‘voice of the Daleks Nicholas Briggs also has a role in the biopic as original voice of the Daleks, Peter Hawkins! Got all that? My brain hurts…
Doctor Who Stamp Sets
Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Stamps!
If 2 tv shows aren’t enough (and I’m sure the BBC has a lot more ‘as yet unannounced’ stuff planned), you also have the chance to collect all the Doctors in stamp form!
The Royal Mail are issuing a number limited edition stamps including all 11 faces of the Doctor for you to collect and keep, or use and mail to your friends. There’s a whole range of different collectible and framed sets to choose from, and you can find all the Dr Who Royal Mail stamps on the Royal Mail website. :)
