After the success of their first online convention last weekened, Fantom Events will be presenting another this afternoon (Saturday 3rd April), this time focusing on the missing episodes of Doctor Who.

Running from 2pm to 5pm, Time Space Visualiser will include a mixture of new interviews archive material and some specially recorded features for the afternoon, with each hour following a theme:

• The first hour looks back at the making of The Savages, with a 2013 stage interview with Andrew Lodge (First Assistant) and Peter Thomas (Captain Edal) together with an interview recorded this week with Kay Patrick (Flower).
• The second hour looks at family connections with a specially recorded interview with David Troughton, and an archive interview with Carole Ann Ford and Jessica Carney looking at the parallels of being and playing the Doctor’s Granddaughter.
• The final hour sees Andy Futter talking to Peter Purves in a brand new interview shot for this event, followed by an archive stage panel with William Russell and Anneke Wills from 2013.

You can watch the event live from the Fantoms Events YouTube channel, where you can also find the complete event from last weekend, plus individual interviews including its own "missing" recording with Nicola Bryant!

Time Space Visualiser will be followed in the evening by what's becoming a regular pasttime for Doctor Who fans, a planned worldwide simulcast viewing of a story to tweet along to; tonight's will be the most recently recovered complete story, The Enemy of the World, which will also includes tweets from Philip Morris, the discoverer of the long-lost Patrick Troughton adventure in Nigeria.

To join in, simply pop in your DVD of The Enemy of the World, or access a streaming service such as iTunes or Britbox, and then hit play at 6:00pm BST / 1:00pm EDT / 3:00am AEST / 5:00am NZST and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #Salamander

To tie in with the 'watchathon', Fantom have also made the first episode of their alternative commentary for the story available for free to listen to this weekend via YouTube.

Related Articles: Time Space Visualiser: a free worldwide online event (24 Mar 2020)

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The Doctor Who Appreciation Society, DWAS has released a half hour documentary showing the installation of a William Hartnell heritage plaque at Ealing Studios last month.

The video features interviews with family and friends of William Hartnell, and also includes the Carney family unveiling the plaque itself. Other videos and interviews from past DWAS events are also available.

The funds for the plaque were raised by DWAS members and other fans. It is still possible to support the fundraising.

Twenty mini-plaques were produced and three of these remain available. The last three have been signed by family, friends and colleagues of Hartnell who attended the unveiling. Each has a DWAS Certificate of Authenticity attached and the Society is now auctioning number 1 of 3 at their eBay site.

Also available to buy rather than bid on, are DWAS postcard sets and a limited reprint of Cosmic Masque issue 1, the original fan fiction magazine from 1977.

The DWAS Plaque fund raises the money needed for the plaque, installation and ceremony. Any surplus funds raised will be donated to a charity chosen by the Carney family.

 

William Hartnell Plaque Unveiling At Ealing Studios, October 2018

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The Doctor Who Appreciation Society, DWAS, has honoured the actor who played the first Doctor, William Hartnell, by producing a Blue Plaque marking his work in Film and Television.

The plaque was unveiled in a ceremony at Ealing Studios by Jessica Carney, Granddaughter of William Hartnell, who attended with her mother, William Hartnell's daughter Anne Carney and her brother Paul Carney.

Jessica Carney is the author of a book on the life of her Grandfather. She said Hartnell would have been delighted with the recognition.

I think he would be so thrilled, so overwhelmed at the thought of someone putting up a blue plaque to his work. The thought that Doctor Who is still so successful today would have thrilled him. The fans were so excited and involved with it. Whole school classes wrote to him about Doctor Who. It just captured everyone's imagination and clearly still means a lot to an awful lot of people.

This would have meant everything to him.

The ceremony was attended the surviving members of the very first TARDIS crew, Carole Ann Ford who played Susan and William Russell, who played Ian. Other guests included actor Julian Glover, who worked with Hartnell in The Crusade, Michael Imison who directed him in The Ark, Timothy Coombe who worked with Hartnell as a Production Assistant and actor Frank Williams who worked with Hartnell in the ITV comedy The Army Game.

Former Companion Peter Purves was unable to attend but sent a message.

His iconic performance as the original Doctor Who is where his real legacy lies. The lasting appeal of Doctor Who is today is because of what he and his original companions created in 1963. The conventions and wide world audiences for the show would never have taken place were it not for the originality and quirkiness he brought to the original concept. This plaque is the perfect way to remember a wonderful actor

William Hartnell worked at Ealing studios on two feature films, The Goose Steps Out and The Bells Go Down. It was here that the first dramatic filming for Doctor Who took place. The shot, filmed on Thursday 19th September 1963, was from the very end of episode one, when the TARDIS is seen having landed in prehistoric times, being overlooked by the shadow of a human

The Doctor Who Appreciation Society, has previously marked the achievements of third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, with a blue heritage plaque at the New Wimbledon Theatre in London and first producer Verity Lambert with a plaque at at London's Riverside studios.

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As previously reported the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, DWAS, is raising money to pay for a Blue Plaque to honour first Doctor William Hartnell.

The society now has a number of signed photos and other items, many from the early years of Doctor Who, for auction at their eBay site.

The money raised will go towards a William Hartnell heritage plaque to be located at Ealing Studios.

Visit the Ebay site to view and bid.

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The Doctor Who Appreciation Society, DWAS has announced the first in a series of fund raising events, raising money to pay for a Blue Plaque to honour first Doctor William Hartnell.

A set of eight colour postcards have been released, selling for £5-99 at the society's eBay store, along with some recently released A2 posters.

Link to Auction

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The Doctor Who Appreciation Society, DWAS has won permission to honour the man who played the First Doctor, William Hartnell, with a blue heritage plaque.

The plaque is to be placed at Ealing Studios in West London, the place where the first dramatic filming for Doctor Who took place. The shot, filmed on Thursday 19th September 1963, was from the very end of episode one, when the TARDIS is seen having landed in prehistoric times, being overlooked by the shadow of a human.

Ealing Studios were often used throughout the 1960's for filming insets for Doctor Who, which required complicated setups or rapid cutting, and which were not possible to achieve in the electronic studios where stories were recorded 'as live'

Before the plaque can be made DWAS needs to raise the funds to do so. In the past, fans have supported the Society’s heritage plaques for Verity Lambert at Riverside Studios in 2014, due to reopen in 2019 and for Jon Pertwee at New Wimbledon Theatre in 2016.

In the coming weeks, the society will announce a number of ways that people can join in. The plan is that everyone who wants to take part in the fundraising will be able to do so without the need to part with large sums of cash.

Every fan who helps raise funds will be able to enter a competition to win tickets to the unveiling which will take place in the company of friends, colleagues, and family.

Updates on the project can be found on the DWAS website and on Facebook.

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William Hartnell's annotated copy of the script of the very first episode, An Unearthly Child, was sold yesterday for £6,200.

The script was an item in the Aston's Auctioneers and Valuers Film & Music Memorabilia & Comics Auction.

Including fees, the grand total for owning this unique item of Doctor Who history came to to £7,500.

Related Articles: Original Unearthly Child Script Up for Auction (10 Apr 2018)

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The script for the very first episode of Doctor Who, as used by the first Doctor himself, William Hartnell, is being auctioned next month.

The script for An Unearthly Child is 43 pages long and contains blue pencil annotations made by William Hartnell as he was developing the character of The Doctor.

It was discovered by the vendor's grandfather whilst refurbishing the home lived in by Hartnell, and his wife Heather, during the time he was working on the series. The script featured in an episode of the Antiques Roadshow shown last Christmas.

The script is being sold by Aston's Auctioneers and Valuers at their Film & Music Memorabilia & Comics Auction on Thursday 3rd May. It is expected to raise between £5,000 and £7,000.

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Koch Media are to release the fourth in their collection of interviews from Reeltime Pictures with stars from Doctor Who, this time focussing on the first Doctor, William Hartnell's era.

The Doctors: The William Hartnell Years
Produced by Keith Barnfather (order from Amazon)

A new double-DVD release in the highly regarded series exploring the world of TV’s Doctor Who in what will build into a complete work on The Doctors.

This is the definitive set of interviews with the team of actors who brought the WILLIAM HARTNELL era of doctor who to life.

• Includes a special tribute to WILLIAM HARTNELL (the first Doctor), containing messages from a host of stars and production staff from Doctor Who.
• Presented by voice of the Daleks Nicholas Briggs.
• This double DVD also features the best in-depth interviews ever undertaken with, Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara), William Russell (Ian), Peter Purves (Steven) and Jackie Lane (Dodo).
• This 2 DISC special collectors edition is 5 hours of pure nostalgia, which will give you a whole new insight into the making of Doctor Who.
• For all Doctor Who fans, this two-disc Special Collector’s Edition is 5 hours of pure nostalgia, which will give you a whole new insight into the making of your favourite science fiction series.
• Includes special introduction by Nicholas Briggs & Producer Keith Barnfather.

William Hartnell Years Competition

To be in with a chance to win a copy of The Doctors: The William Hartnell Years courtesy of Koch Media, simply answer the following question:

Which of the interviewees featured in this set appeared in the television again in later years playing a different role?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-williamhartnellyears@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Hmm!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 19th November 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Dæmons of Devil's End Competition

As reported last week, this month also sees the release of The Dæmons of Devil's End. To be in with a chance to win a copy of the DVD set, courtesy of Koch Media, simply answer the following question:

What does Olive Hawthorne always carry with her?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-devilsend@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Beltane". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 19th November 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Both DVD Sets will be released on 13th November 2017.

Related Articles: The Jon Pertwee Years (22 Feb 2017), The Pat Troughton Years (14 Jun 2017), Tom Baker Years (24 Sep 2017), The Daemons of Devil's End (1 Nov 2017)

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It was on Saturday 16th July 1966, fifty years ago today, that the third season of Doctor Who came to an end.

At the end of episode number 126 the series would take its now traditional summer break, ready to return refreshed in the autumn.

Production on that new series was continuing and during the week William Hartnell had been in London working on the first story of the next series, episode two of The Smugglers. After four days of rehearsal, the episode had been recorded at Riverside studios, finishing late on Friday evening. It was the usual pattern for the series, a pattern Hartnell had been following it for three years. However, this week was different. When Hartnell returned home, to Old Mill Cottage near the quaint village of Mayfield, in the heart of the Sussex weald, he had some momentous news for his wife Heather. He had agreed to give up the role of the Doctor.

Hartnell told his wife he would only record six more episodes. His final story would be broadcast in October and then he would leave the series. His time as The Doctor was nearly over.

Replacing the lead actor is a difficult decision for any producer to take, especially one where the entire story revolves around a central character. But it had become clear that Hartnell couldn't continue in the role. The actor was suffering from Arteriosclerosis, a thickening, hardening and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries, which affected his memory as well as his physical health.

The disease meant Hartnell was becoming increasingly difficult to work with. Recently he had lost his main support when Peter Purves had left the series and had not formed a close relationship with the new companions played by Anneke Wills and Michael Craze. His poor health, along with declining ratings, down to around 5 million from an average of 8 million the previous summer, convinced producer Innes Lloyd a change was needed. He gained approval from his bosses, including Sydney Newman, to seek out a new Doctor and to replace William Hartnell.

In spite of his health, Hartnell was devastated to be leaving the series. In 1983 Heather Hartnell gave an interview to Doctor Who Magazine.

When the time came for Bill to leave the show, purely because of his ill health, it broke his heart. Having told the press that it was going to run for five years, he was determined to play it for five years. But he couldn't remember his lines, plus his legs were beginning to give way at times. Between the end of 1966 and when he made ‘The Three Doctors’ in 1972, he got progressively weaker mentally and physically. That’s the awful thing about arteriosclerosis, as the arteries close up the flow of blood is not only weakened to the limbs but to the brain as well.

Hartnell's professional life before Doctor Who had consisted mainly of playing villains, in numerous British films. He had been a solid character actor, firmly on the B list. All that changed in 1963. Playing the Doctor had brought him into the homes of millions of families each Saturday night. It had made him a celebrity, a role model, adored by children across the nation.

Heather Hartnell told DWM.

I’ll always remember he opened a big annual fete at Pembury Hospital in about ’64, ’65, and a great friend of his had a lovely pre-1914 war car, a real veteran. Anyway, this friend drove the car into Tunbridge Wells where he met Bill, who had changed into his Doctor’s costume complete with wig, stick and cape that the BBC had lent him. Bob pulled up in this open tourer and Bill got in front and I in the back, and off we set for the hospital. By the time we had gone three odd miles to the fete, there was a stream of kids and cars and bicycles behind us. It was fantastic.

Hartnell's career was virtually over after he left the series. He had a short run in pantomime the following Christmas, touring the country in Puss in Boots. He would return to Doctor Who in 1973, appearing in The Three Doctors. By then his health had declined so much his appearance was restricted to a few filmed inserts.

William Henry Hartnell died in April 1975, but his greatest legacy lives on.

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A long lost interview, featuring William Hartnell, has been recovered in part by the BBC.

Hartnell was interviewed by Roy Plomley, for the Home Service radio programme Desert Island Discs in 1965. The edition was transmitted on 23 August while Hartnell was at the height of his powers as the Doctor.

The recording was thought lost, erased by the BBC. However it is understood that a 16 minute section has been recovered and will shortly be available on the BBC iPlayer. The recording was available for a short period earlier today, but was removed pending an official announcement.

Desert Island Discs celebrates its 73rd Anniversary today, having been running continuously on BBC radio since 1942. In the programme guests chose the music they would take to a desert island if they were stranded there alone. Jon Pertwee and David Tennant have both also appeared in the series.

Related Articles: Desert Island Who (31 August 2011)

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The latest in our ongoing feature centring on significant Doctor Who occasions sees the show accorded a very special publishing honour - but just like the programme itself, it wasn't without wrangles before and after . . .

In the run-up to Doctor Who starting, hopes had been high that the first episode would be given a prestigious publicity boost by the BBC's much-respected listings magazine Radio Times in the form of a cover feature. This was, after all, a show like no other: it was innovative and ground-breaking, with skills, experimentation and imagination pushed further than ever.

However, it was not to be. After initial interest, the magazine had a change of heart at the last minute, falsely believing that the corporation itself didn't have much faith in the programme, and despite protestations by head of serials Donald Wilson editor Douglas Williams ditched the idea, although the show was granted a mention on the relevant cover and an article was included that gave a taster of what adventures might lie ahead - with one of them being the possibility of a journey "to far Cathay in the caravan of Marco Polo."

And it would be that very journey that would see Radio Times finally give in and award the much-coveted prime spot on its cover to Doctor Who - in all probability helped by the fact that with the arrival of the Daleks a few weeks previously, the show had rapidly seared itself into the national consciousness.

With The Roof of the World going out on 22nd February 1964, the cover of the corresponding week's Radio Times - number 2102, volume 162 - depicted lead actor William Hartnell with guest stars Mark Eden as Marco Polo and Derren Nesbitt as Tegana. It was accompanied by an unbylined feature on page 7 that set the historical scene after a brief recap of the previous two adventures. (It should be noted that back then Radio Times also printed its publication date at the top of the pages, hence the references to "February 20, 1964".)

Although the feature's picture included all the companions, the fact that the three actors hadn't appeared on the cover with Hartnell caused some upset. The day after the broadcast of The Roof of the World, William Russell, who played Ian Chesterton, contacted his agent, T Plunkett Green, with a number of concerns relating to the programme as a whole, one of them being the fact that the co-stars had been bumped in favour of the guest stars on the cover of the listings magazine. This grievance would be relayed to Wilson, who subsequently apologised to the agent, saying it had been "confidently expected" by the production team that one of the photos including all the regulars taken at the photocall would be used as a cover image. Wilson assured Plunkett Green that he would complain about it to the magazine.

From a somewhat hesitant start, Doctor Who and Radio Times would, over the years, continue to have something of a love-hate relationship, ranging from the highs of the stunning artwork by Frank Bellamy gracing its pages during the early-to-mid-1970s, as well as special editions, to the lows of the Tom Baker era when it would merit few articles and no covers at all, back to the embarrassment of riches we have in terms of coverage in the 21st century. Today, though, on the 50th anniversary of the broadcast of the opening episode of the seven-part epic - ironically, the earliest Doctor Who story to be missing from the archives - we mark an auspicious event in that relationship between programme and publisher with Doctor Who's first Radio Times cover . . .

Related Articles: An Unearthly Series - An Absolute Knock-Out (5 Nov 2013); The Radio Times Doctor Who Cover That Never Was (30 Jul 2013)

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An Adventure in Space and Time had an audience of 2.2 million viewers, according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.

The drama which had a 9.7% share of the audience, was placed against I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! on ITV, which dominated the day with 9.7 million watching, a massive 41.1% share. BBC One showed Britain's Secret Terror Force at 9pm, which got slightly fewer viewers than An Adventure in Space and Time.

Overall the docu-drama was the 22nd most viewed programme of the day on British Television and the second highest on BBC Two for the day.

On BBC Four the repeat of the original Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child, had 0.67 million watching, roughly equivalent to those watching the BBC Three repeats earlier in the week. The episode had a 4.3% share of the audience and was the second highest rated digital programme in its timeslot, with I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here Now getting top spot.

Episode Two of the story, The Cave of Skulls, had 0.59 million watching and a 4.8% share of the audience. The Forest of Fear got 0.41 million,a 4.5% share and the final episode, The Firemaker, shown at 11.45pm, had 0.36 million as 5.4% share.

Final figures will be released next week and will include those recording the show and watching within one week of transmission.

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The BBC has announced a new short documentary on the first Doctor William Hartnell will be screed on BBC Two tonight, directly following the Mark Gatiss docu-drama An Adventure in Space and Time.

William Hartnell: The Original is five minute programme which looks at what happened to Hartnell after he left Doctor Who. The documentary features rare archive footage and brand new interviews with many who worked with him, including Carole Ann Ford, Peter Purves and Waris Hussein as well as Matt Smith, Peter Davison and Hartnell’s granddaughter, Jessica Carney.

The programme is described as a revealing and affectionate portrait of a much-loved actor, and can be seen at 10.25pm on BBC Two

Note to those recording by EPG: this late addition does not currently have its own entry in guides such as the Sky Planner or even on the BBC's own iPlayer schedule - it isn't clear at present whether this will change, or that the current scheduling times of An Adventure in Space and Time will cover the documentary.

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The Gallifrey Archives 1
A new Fanzine, The Gallifrey Archives, launches in November and is now available now to preorder.

As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary, the fanzine goes all the way back to where it began with a 1963 issue

• The Genesis of Doctor Who: A look at the formation of the show
• The life and legacy of William Hartnell
• William Hartnell: In His Own Words
• The Creators Tale: The Career of Sydney Newman
• Groovy Baby: The events of 1963 and how they shaped the show we love
• Departure by John O’Rouke: Finally the story of the Doctor and Susan’s flight from Gallifrey is revealed
• An Unearthly Child: In Colour
• Scrapbook: Chronicling Doctor Who in the media
• Review of An Unearthly Child and episodes 1 & 2 of The Daleks

The print version of the Gallifrey Archives is available for preorder until November 1st, after this the print version will be unavailable. The online digital copy will be available the same week as print shipping.

The Terrible Zodin 16
Issue 16 of The Terrible Zodin is now available for free download.

As the only issue this year The Terrible Zodin clocks in at 125 pages.

In this 50th celebratory issue, 50 Brilliant Things About Doctor Who (And 11 More!) The review panel tackle Season 7.2 and there are interviews with Nick Briggs, India Fisher and Marnix van den Broeke. Also the results of the Classic Series poll – find out which story our readers voted their favorite as the wider Whoniverse is celebrated in audio, novel and comic strip form.

A brand new column focuses on the Past Doctor Adventures novels and the Back2theWhoture team tackle The Aztecs. In these pages there is a reappraisal of Dodo Chaplet, Captain Jack’s Guide to the Second Doctor, the politics of the Swampies and the Case for the Return of the Rani.

The editors would love to have your feedback, good or bad on what you think of the new issue.

Inferno Fiction 15

Issue Fifteen of Inferno Fiction is now available from the magazine's website

In the magazine

• THE SHADOW MAKERS by Andy Weston
PART THREE: The TARDIS brings the Doctor in his fifth incarnation back to the planet Manalex Alpha, to a point in time when a past companion, Steven Taylor was caught in the time distortion...
• PROGRESS by Ashley Myles
Mankind's progress on another world is witnessed by the Doctor and Romana...
• FISH FINGERS AND MUSTARD by Paul Parncutt
"There is a madman at my console. A brand new madman. The air around him tastes of regeneration and he makes strange noises as he flies about my room. I do not like him. I try to hurl him from my doors, eject him out into the world as London whirls away beneath us, but he clings and he claws and he crawls back inside me. His fingers scrabble at my heart and poke and tear at my brain, and I bite his skin with sparks and spit my smoke into his eyes but it makes him laugh all the harder and I do not like him. He tries to make me dance for him and blow sweet kisses through the universe and wrap the vortex round my skin but I do not bend to his will and at last he understands - I may be stolen but he is not my thief."
• LINE IN THE SAND by Nick Wheeler
A future incarnation watches as a world dies... "...the streets had fallen deathly quiet, leaving only scattered debris as evidence of the madness that had occurred...that’s when I saw him. Standing alone in the middle of the street, an old man...His clothes seemed unusually formal and antiquated..."
• THE FEAR OF ALL SUMS by Samuel Marks
PART ONE: The Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9 encounter a vagrant Time Lord, the future of law enforcement and a dire threat to all of time and space.
• THE THREE MARINERS by Michael Baxter Dr Who visits The Three Mariners Inn, a timber frame building on Seathorpe’s ancient seafront, an old tavern, now an antique emporium, with some ghostly going ons...
• MOMENTOS by Michael Falino
The Doctor rounded a bend, strolled down a corridor, made two left turns followed by three right turns, and had no idea where he was. How was this possible? He wasn’t sure it was even remotely probable. Nevertheless, it was undeniable. He was lost in his own TARDIS...

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The original script for William Hartnell's last story, The Tenth Planet, has been found, with one key difference from the transmitted version. The Doctor does not regenerate at the end of the story.

Michael Seely, author of the forthcoming biography of Dr Kit Pedler ‘The Quest for Pedler’ unearthed the original draft script, along with draft scripts for The Moonbase, known then as The Return of the Cybermen, among a very large collection of Pedler's papers which one of his children had kept in their attic.

Michael Seely
As I looked through it, I realised it was the first draft Gerry Davis prepared when Kit fell ill in June 1966.

The structure is more or less the same, though a lot of the dialogue is different. Some things were cut, especially involving the Cybermen. For example, the Cybermen planned to convert Polly and the Doctor into Cybermen towards the end of the story, and kept them prisoner in what they described as a waiting room. The most eye catching difference is what didn't happen at the end of the episode.

The relevance of this early draft, and the date it was prepared goes some way to illustrating the hasty nature of Hartnell’s departure:

Gerry Davis and Innes Lloyd were always very diplomatic and tactful in their interviews. Both died in 1991, long before 'warts and all' interviews became the norm. We know that William Hartnell was being persuaded to give up the role he loved over the summer of 1966, and that they were sounding out replacements. He only decided to leave in the middle of July, the month after this draft was written.

Michael Seely is no stranger to the work of Dr Kit Pedler, he has previously written two books (‘Prophets of Doom’ and ‘Deadly Dangerous Tomorrow’ – both available from Miwk Publishing) on the subject of Doomwatch.

Doomwatch fans will be interested to learn that over five original story lines were among Kit's papers, including several that did not get made. One of these was responsible for the BBC removing Kit's influence over the programme he and Gerry created as a warning over unchecked science and technology. There were a couple of radio plays too, which had been known about but remained a bit of a mystery since they were not made. Unfinished books and short stories, and proposals for television series. Environmentalists, though Kit did not consider himself to be one, and students of the 1970s environmental movement, will be pleased to learn that a lot of his writings, lectures and scripts for TV and radio, also exist within this collection.

Seely’s biography of Pedler will be released in early 2014 by Miwk Publishing. Authorised by his family and produced with their assistance, the book will tell the full story of Dr C.M.H. Pedler, MB. BS., Ph.D, M.C. Path. A research scientist well known to Doctor Who fans as the co-creator of the Cybermen, but in also a leading activist and campaigner for more sociably responsible and sustainable scientific research and understanding.

Pedler’s role in Doctor Who is also clarified:

He was not a scientific advisor. Kit wasn't there to throw in the science, or vet scripts for their accuracy. He was there to give plausible science fiction ideas, which Lloyd and Davis had no clue about.

He argued that we were conditioned to accept whatever science had to offer us as automatically a good thing, and not to enquire deeper. He used to describe himself as a 'defrocked scientist.' His words are still true today.

The Quest for Pedler: The Life & Ideas of Dr Kit Pedler By Michael Seely is now available for preorder.

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A TV interview with William Hartnell dating from 1967 has been unearthed and will feature on the DVD release of The Tenth Planet.

The news broke today following the BBFC's classification of extras, which included an interview with Hartnell among them.

Doctor Who Restoration Team member Steve Roberts confirmed that it was an in-vision interview - meaning that it was on screen as opposed to just being audio - and stated that it was fellow team member Richard Bignell who had discovered it.

The interview was conducted by Roger Mills for Points West - the BBC's regional news show - and was held in the dressing room of the Gaumont Theatre in Taunton, where Hartnell was appearing in the panto Puss In Boots less than three months after last being seen in Doctor Who. The interview aired on Tuesday 17th January 1967.

The extra runs for 3 min 16 sec, and Bignell detailed the discovery of what is now the only known on-screen interview with Hartnell to exist:

A few years ago, I was doing research into the article I was preparing for Issue 3 of Nothing at the End of the Lane on Hartnell's rather disastrous performance as Buskin the Fairy Cobbler in the pantomime Puss In Boots, which toured around four different venues in December 1966 and January 1967, just three months after he had completed work on The Tenth Planet.

Whilst doing some work at the BBC Written Archive Centre, I checked the respective Programme-as-Broadcast sheets for the period, looking specifically at the local BBC news programmes to see if Hartnell's appearance in panto was deemed worthy of a television report.

He was in fact interviewed twice. Once in the first week of the tour in Ipswich (shown on Look East on 27th December 1966) and again during the final week in Taunton for Points West, shown on 17th January 1967. As I'd built up some contacts in the BBC's regional news libraries working on the DVDs, I dropped the respective archives a line to see if there was any chance the two interviews survived.

The first interview for Look East had long gone, but the ladies in the Bristol News Library very quickly got back to me to say that the interview done in Taunton still survived. We arranged for the footage to be sent over to London, where it was duly transferred. It shows Hartnell in his dressing room doing his make-up for one of his performances, with his "Doctor's ring" on the table and a Berwick Dalek playsuit stuffed in the corner. Hartnell speaks about his problems acting against the Daleks and how pantomime isn't "legitimate" theatre! Enjoy!!

Roberts also revealed that David Bradley was shown the footage as part of his preparation for playing the role of Hartnell in the upcoming BBC Two drama An Adventure In Space And Time.

The Region 2 DVD will be released on Monday 18th November and is available to pre-order.

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Hot on the heels of the announcement of Jamie Glover as William Russell, it has now been confirmed by FlashForward Publicity that the actress Jemma Powell is to play Jacqueline Hill in the 50th Anniversary drama An Adventure in Space and Time.

The actress made her cinematic debut in The Hole, and has since appeared in a number of films, including Symmetry of Love, The Seasoning House, and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. On television she has played a range of roles including Foyle's War, Footballers Wive$: Extra Time and The Legend of Dick and Dom. On stage, her credits include The Storm by Alexander Zeldin in the West End.


The currently known cast for An Adventure in Space and Time are:

William Hartnell:	David Bradley
Verity Lambert:	Jessica Raine
Sydney Newman:	Brian Cox
Waris Hussein:	Sacha Dhawan
William Russell:	Jamie Glover
Jacqueline Hill:	Jemma Powell
Carole Ann Ford:	Claudia Grant

Related Articles: Jamie Glover as William Russell (8 Feb 2013); Claudia Grant as Carole Ann Ford (6 Feb 2013); Cast Announcements (30 Jan 2013)

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The actor Jamie Glover is to play the role of William Russell in the drama An Adventure in Space and Time, agent Curtis Brown has confirmed. Jamie (the son of Julian Glover and Isla Blair) has made a number of theatre and television appearances, most recently on television as Dr. Michael Evans in Father Brown and on the stage as Garry Lejeune in Noises Off. However, he is perhaps most recognisable from television as deputy head Andrew Treneman in the BBC series Waterloo Road.

With the role of Carole Ann Ford confirmed to be Claudia Grant earlier this week, Jacqueline Hill is now the only member of the original TARDIS crew still to have an actress announced.

Production-wise, Philip Kloss has now been confirmed as the Film Editor for the drama - his Doctor Who credentials include the David Tennant episodes The Doctor's Daughter, Midnight and The End of Time, and also Day One of Torchwood: Children of Earth. Meanwhile, Suzanne Cave is Costume Designer - her credits include Bert and Dickie (which featured Matt Smith), both The Hour and The Hour 2, Cricklewood Greats and Silent Witness.

Filming:

Filming has continued this week in a private residence in Chipstead made up to look like a 1960s home; writer Mark Gatiss teased followers with a profile of the actor David Bradley who plays William Hartnell and was present at scenes shot here. Today marked the first day filming for Brian Cox, who plays Sydney Newman, with scenes being filmed at the 1950s-style Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley.

Related Articles: Claudia Grant cast as Carole Ann Ford (6 Feb 2013)

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Principal Photography for the Mark Gatiss drama exploring the creation of Doctor Who, An Adventure in Space and Time, kicked off on Sunday 3rd February, with the writer proclaiming: It begins!, executive producer Caroline Skinner exclaiming: "I am on set - in 1963!!! An Adventure in Space and Time begins..........", and producer Matt Strevens commenting: "Standing on the set, day 1. Very exciting.".

As previously reported, the show's first Doctor is being played by David Bradley (with producer Matt Strevens describing him as "what a lovely man he is. Being very gentle. He's going to blow people's socks off in this.") Another of the original cast, Carole Ann Ford as Susan, has now been confirmed to be played by newcomer Claudia Grant - as reported by the agency run by William Hartnell's real-life granddaughter Jessica Carney! The actors to play the roles of William Russell and Jacqueline Hill have yet to be announced.

The set in question mentioned by Strevens was the lobby of BBC Television Centre itself, which had been made up to resemble the BBC Club as seen in the iconic photograph of producer Verity Lambert alongside the original season cast.

Day One's filming was successfully completed, with the producer concluding: "That's day 1 of An Adventure' in the bag. A very good day, lovely vibe on set. Outdoors all day tomorrow. Winter draws on." Outdoors Monday turned out to be on Wimbledon Common, where a police box prop was spotted during the day.

Filming for Tuesday was reported as taking place on a residential street, Wilton Road in Merton, with further filming to take place inside a house made up to resemble a residence suitable for the 1960s.


Talking about the casting of David Bradley, Mark Gatiss told the Radio Times:

I’ve had David in my head for years. I’ve been trying to do this [project] for years – I tried to do it for the 40th anniversary! And before that, really – it’s taken about 12 years.

Though details of the scope of the drama have yet to be formally announced, actor Peter Purves suggested at last weekend's William Hartnell Years convention that the drama would focus on Verity Lambert's time as producer (which would also encompass the start of his time on the show). Talking about the drama itself, Mark Gatiss also told the Radio Times:

It’s mostly the personal journey of William Hartnell and his relationship with [Doctor Who producer] Verity Lambert. Eventually he had to leave, and none of us like to find that we are replaceable.

Related Articles: Casting Announced (30 Jan 2013)

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