8th Doctor

By now I will assume you have seen the latest episode of Doctor Who, The Angels Take Manhattan. If you have not, you may want to stop reading this until you have because this piece may spoil the episode for you. So consider this a spoiler alert (insert cloister bells here). 

In this next to last episode of the year 2012 we see the Ponds for the last time. Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) are doomed to live the rest of their lives in Earth's past without any further visits from the Doctor… Or we are led to believe at least. Though never say "never" in Doctor Who as it has been proven time and time again.

What did you think of their farewell? 

An unexpected change in the filming schedule for The Hobbit  means that Sylvester McCoy will no longer be able to attend for I-CON 31. But Icon quickly announced that Paul McGann will be joining them instead.

This is a very rare appearance by the actor that portrays the Eighth Doctor on screen and in the Big Finish audio adventures. He joins previously annouced guest and co-star Daphne Ashbrook.

There is a video message on YouTube explaining the change:

Traditionally at this time of the year, it is common to look back at the past year before leaping forward into the new year. We'll do one better… actually forty seven better by looking back at the past 48 years of Doctor Who in this timeline infographic. So before you ring in the new year, look back at the past years of your favourite Time Lord in this in-depth overview of the Doctor's adventures through the years on television along with his companions and iconic foes.

Special thanks to James of cabletv.com for allowing us to share this with you.

Doctor Who by the numbers… Track the Doctors through time and see how they each fared with viewers. Which Doctors do fans favour? Which episodes were the most viewed? Which episodes are the fans' favourite? How many on-screen adventures did we see for each Doctor? These questions and more are answered and visualized in the inforgraphic below.

(Special thanks to James at cabletv.com for offering us to share this with you).

"Look over there! On the other side of your galaxy, that's home."

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 238
Running Time: 0:48:29

Daphne Ashbrook joins us for a conversation on the 1996 Doctor Who movie DVD release in North America as well as her new CD - Grace Notes (iTunes), plus Gallifrey One 2011 reminders, Doctor Who news and more.

Hosted by Louis Trapani ( @LouisTrapani ) and James Naughton ( @JamesNaughton ).

"Grace, I came back to life before your eyes. I held back death."

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 229 EXTRA Edition
Running Time: 1:15:48

In this Extra Edition of Doctor Who: Podshock we include our interview and Q&A with Daphne Ashbrook (Grace from the 1996 Doctor Who movie) from last month's 25th anniversary event for the Gallifreyan Embassy.

Hosted by Louis Trapani ( @LouisTrapani ) and Ken Deep ( @kendeep ).

As we previously announced, the Doctor Who 1996 Movie will finally be released as a region 1 DVD in North America. It has long been available on region 2 (I had my copy for some time now), it has been tied up in release rights issues between the studios involved (BBC, Fox, Universal) for a region 1 DVD release since the movie first aired.

We were pleased to report that it would finally be coming to region 1 with the recent revisiting of the DVD (a new re-release edition). Up until now, we didn't have a release date other than 2011 for this 8th Doctor adventure starring Paul McGann and Daphne Ashbrook. Now according to tvshowsondvd.com, BBC and Warner Home Video have announced that it will be released on February 8th as a 2-disc set titled, 'Doctor Who - The Movie: Special Edition.'

It coincides with the release of another 2-disc set 3rd Doctor story, 'The Mutants' starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant on DVD.

The moment you all been waiting for… I reveal my new costume for The Sonic Newsdriver in this latest episode released today. That and other fashion news of the Doctor Who world are covered as well as some non-fashion related DW news.

Sonic Newsdriver (26 October 2010) -

The Sonic Newsdriver 20101026
Selected Doctor Who related news delivered sonically.
For Earth-date: Tuesday, the 26th of Oct. 2010

Doctor Who related news covering Death of the Doctor, Better Late Than Never, It May Be A Mystery To You, We Will Rock Children in Need, Happy Anniversary Frazer, Fashion - Turn to the Left, Fashion - Turn to the Right, and much more!

read more

[Art Trap Productions]

It seems that not only 8th Doctor wants a costume change, Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor) is reported stating that he would like some changes in his costume. Specifically, a warmer coat, perhaps in addition to his tweed jacket.

As for a hat, he said he wanted a hat back in April when he was in New York for the premiere of the 2010 series of Doctor Who. So this comes as no surprise. We already know that fezzes are cool.

Television - News - Matt Smith wants 'Who' outfit changes - Digital Spy: "'I know I want a coat,' he said. 'You get cold in only a tweed jacket. And I want a hat. Not all the time. Just now and again. It feels Doctory and right for my Doctor. I think it can evolve and give it that variety.'

"Hold on there, old guy, Chang Lee will help you out."

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 222
Running Time: 1:50:32

Interview with Yee Jee Tso (Chang Lee in the 1996 movie), Tara Wheeler talks about tracking down David Tennant, Billy Davis files a report from Dragon*Con with Frazer Hines, Doctor Who: The Forgotten Army and Doctor Who: Podshock in New York City, join us for the next 25th anniversary event for the Gallifreyan Embassy, and more. Dedicated to the memory of David Jennings ("Adric Antfarm").

Hosted by Louis Trapani ( @LouisTrapani ), Ken Deep ( @kendeep ), with Tara Wheeler ( @TARDIS_Tara ).

You know how the Gallifreyan Irregluars just dig on Mr. McGann. If you're lucky enough to be near Bristol, check this out:

http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/films/details/735

Not only do you get to hear McGann reading extracts from Shackleton's diary, but you get to see a Silent Film. It will be good for you and you will thank me later. And here's an image from a cool new website called, well, Eff Yeah Paul McGann. You're geeky; you'll find it if you want to. 

Earlier today I got some brilliant news for all North American Doctor Who fans. Fellow Doctor Who podcaster, David Hooie released an unusual for him short podcast. Within the podcast one of the guys in charge of the Restoration team had the excellent news That the 1996 TV movie had just got the go ahead for a US release, after some hard negotiations with Universal, the owners of the rights in the US and Canada. For the full story follow this link. 

The Eighth Doctor returns to BBC Radio 7 Sunday 16th may when the station begins airing selected stories from the third series of the Big Finish Eighth Doctor Adventures.

Four out of eight stories will be broadcast, from the series first released by Big Finish in 2009. Radio Seven has previously broadcast the first two series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures.

The series starts on BBC Radio 7 on Sunday 16th May at 6pm with a repeat at midnight BST.
Radio 7 can be heard around the world via the BBC Website.

"I know who I am! I… AM… THE DOCTOR!"

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 180
Running Time: 1:18:47

Conclusion of our Paul McGann and Daphne Ashbrook interview, news, feedback, Gallifrey 2010 report, some discussions on The End of Time, and more.

Hosted by Louis Trapani, James Naughton and Ken Deep.

Cover art for Doctor Who: Podshock 180 which includes our conclusion of our interview with Paul McGann and Daphne Ashbrook from the 1996 TV movie.

"This song is ending. But the story never ends."

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 179 EXTRA Edition
Running Time: 1:40:21

We review all 10 Doctor's eras of Doctor Who in this Deca-Doctor Special of Doctor Who: Podshock. As we approach the new 11th Doctor era, we review where we came from with the previous 10. Included are interviews we conducted over the years with various actors to play the Doctor (including Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann), some of which have never been featured on Doctor Who: Podshock before.

"My last incarnation… oh, I was never happy with that one. It had a sort of feckless "charm" which simply wasn't me!"

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 173
Running Time: 1:32:35

Paul McGann and Daphne Ashbrook interviewed together (part 1), The Twin Dilemma reviewed, Germany report by Graeme Sheridan, Episode 6 of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Whoverse by Eric Escamilla, feedback, and more.

To make up for having to miss out on going to meet the man himself at Chicago TARDIS, I settled instead for the pleasure of listening to the recent Big Finish 8^th Doctor audio – “The Company of Friends”. And a real delight it was too (more details on that below!). While listening to it, I marveled at the breadth of “friends” (or companions) that the 8^th Doctor has accumulated, across a wide range of mediums. In fact, all told, it is possible that the 8^th Doctor may have had more companions (15, by my rough count) than any other incarnation! This is all the more astonishing given the brevity of his television appearances – about 50-55 minutes of a 90-minute TV movie.

Cover art for Doctor Who: Podshock Aftershock 20091128 with Paul McGann and Daphne Ashbrook (Paul is wearing Daphne's scarf knitted by Doctor Who: Podshock Correspondent Tara Wheeler) at Chicago TARDIS.

Photo by Ken Deep