Christian Cawley's Blog, page 316

Redgrave: “Doctor Who Is Like Joining MI5!”

Drew Boynton 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.

What can you ask an actor when they have to be more secretive than a top-secret UNIT secret mission?

Well, it turns out…not much, really. At least in a new interview with Gerard Gilbert of The Independent, Jemma Redgrave is game to answer as much as she can. We know that she will be appearing in The Day of the Doctor as UNIT’s Kate Stewart, but she was pretty much sworn to secrecy by the Moffat mafia.

She tells interviewer Gilbert about her greatest secret:

“What can I tell you about the 50th anniversary? Practically nothing… When the job offer came in my agent said, ‘You mustn’t tell anybody about this,’ and I thought, ‘What am I going to tell the kids?’ It’s like joining M15.”

Redgrave genuinely seems excited to be part of the Doctor Who family – her character is the Brigadier’s daughter, after all – and was relieved that she could finally reveal a little about the 50th anniversary when some filming publicly took place in Trafalgar Square earlier this year:

“The news hit the Twittersphere and within half-an-hour of our being there, there were people with Tom Baker scarves on… people with TARDIS safety covers on their iPhones. It was a huge relief to be able to tell people.”

She was a fan of the show as a young girl in the 1970s and now gets to act right alongside the Doctor(s)…and his scary best enemies.

“My dad said he would take me to the BBC studios so I could see the Daleks – and that frightened me even more… Yes, I come across a Dalek [in The Day of the Doctor]. There was no acting required. It was a scarifying moment.”

She also reveals:

“I work with more than one Doctor… Oh, and I worked with more than one TARDIS as well.”

And that’s about all she can say about The Day of the Doctor! She does have some high hopes for Doctor Who‘s future, though:

“Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was such a loved character and I think people were very open to his daughter making an appearance and, hopefully, touch wood, making more appearances in the future. I think Peter Capaldi is a very exciting prospect as the new Doctor, so that would be wonderful.”

It sounds like Jemma Redgrave has very much enjoyed her Who appearances, and would come back at the drop of a hat. Kasterborites, would you like to see her back, possibly yelling “Five rounds, rapid!” to some soldiers?

Read the full interview here.

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Hurt: The War Doctor Was One Of My Toughest Roles

Rebecca Crockett 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.

For a man with a vast and storied career, having played everyone from an old, crazy wand maker to someone with serious physical deformities to the victim of a viscous alien, one might think playing the part of the Doctor would be easy. Decide on your Doctor’s characteristic traits and play on them.

But John Hurt has said this new role, for him, was far from easy.

In speaking with The Daily Mail, Hurt spoke of his experience as part of Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary as one of the ‘toughtest’ of his career.

It was one of the toughest parts I have had to learn, as difficult as anything I have done. There is a lot of quasi-scientific nonsense which doesn’t stay in your head that easily and that meant entire weekends spent on solid learning. I remember Matt said I’d have to give my life over to it because there is a lot of learning and very little time to shoot.

When asked specifically about what happens in the episode, Hurt gave nothing away, but spoke of what it was like to be the third version of a character meeting with two other versions of himself.

You have three people playing one person. It’s the holy trinity. The War Doctor is not as quicksilver as the Matt and Davids of this world because he comes from a very different place. He is a little stiller and more reflective – a little more world-weary.

Hurt also revealed that when approached for the role, his agents were not very keen at first on him accepting the part.

One of my agents didn’t reckon Doctor Who, but I said, ‘wait a minute, it sounds intriguing. It sounds like an event’…

An event indeed! One made only greater with the addition of such a superb talent as John Hurt.

The Day Of The Doctor will air in a worldwide simulcast on 23rd November.

(via Mail Online)

The post Hurt: The War Doctor Was One Of My Toughest Roles appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

See Blue Box Messiah in Newcastle

Drew Boynton 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.

Are you a Doctor Who fan who is ready to laugh… and think a little at the same time? Then Illumination Theatre has the show for you!

The Newcastle-based theatre company will be celebrating Doctor Who‘s 50th birthday with a comedic play about the show’s potential as a religion, entitled Blue Box Messiah. It features a cast of various vicars, aliens, policemen, an ex-Santa and a little girl called Susan, all of whom are played by two actors.

Sunderland-based actor Lee Shillito, who plays Matt, says:

“It’s quite a challenging play to perform, as we both play a dozen very different characters, and we’ve even had to learn puppeteering.”

The other half of the two-man show, Adam Lightfoot, who plays Luke, says:

“I’m a huge fan of the Doctor, so it’s been enormous fun to work on this show. Doing the research for the part has been particularly enjoyable, as I’ve been watching all the old episodes!”

Blue Box Messiah is an hour-long performance and “was written by Michael M Gilroy-Sinclair, who has previously written the Doctor Who astrology book Whostrology.  Michael, originally from Wallsend, is a life-long Doctor Who fan who is also the host of the popular Tin Dog Podcast.”

Laughs, the Doctor, puppetry, and religion all in one show? It’s not possible! But you can witness it for yourself on November 21st and 22nd in Newcastle and at a special performance at the Jam Jar Cinema in Whitley Bay on Tuesday, November 26. Tickets are only £5 and can be booked by visiting their site - and the transcript is available as an ebook on Amazon UK. Shakespeare only wishes he had a TARDIS!

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PodKast Previews Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Episode & Docudrama

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.

What else could we discuss this week other than The Day of the Doctor, An Adventure in Space and Time and some of the other BBC TV and radio programming celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who?!

Christian Cawley, James McLean and Brian Terranova get together for the last podKast before the big day to discuss their hopes and fears for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary. Along the way they may or may not mention Stef “The Dark” Coburn, the vast number of events taking place around the UK on TV, radio and in public buildings, the brain melting madness of an international simulcast and going to the cinema to watch Doctor Who and we’ll even find out what Brian thought of The Night of the Doctor (he was unavailable for last week’s reaktionKast).

Although given that Brian is a massive Eighth Doctor fan, you might as well skip this bit…

Kasterborous PodKast Series 3 Episode 42 Shownotes

The Daleks’ Master Plan graphic novel for Children in Need
The Science of Doctor Who
An Adventure in Space and Time Preview
Event Whorizon on the Radio
Event Whorizon on TV
Event Whorizon: How to Celebrate
Doctor Who at Fifty in Manchester
The Day of the Doctor International Simulcast
The Day of the Doctor trailers
The Night of the Doctor

 

Listen to the PodKast

There are several ways to listen. In addition to the usual player above, we’re pleased to announce that you can also stream the podKast using Stitcher, an award-winning, free mobile app available for Android and iPhone/iPad. This pretty much means that you can listen to us anywhere without downloading – pretty neat, we think you’ll agree! (Note that it can take a few hours after a new podKast is published to “catch up”.)

What’s more, you can now listen and subscribe to the podKast via our Audioboo channel! Head to http://audioboo.fm/channel/doctorwhopodkast and click play to start listening. You can also comment and record your own boos in response to our discussions!

Meanwhile you can use the player below to listen through Audioboo:

You haven’t clicked play yet?! What are you waiting for? As well as our new Stitcher and Audioboo presence you can also use one of these amazingly convenient ways to download and enjoy this week’s podKast.

Use the player in the top right of the Kasterborous home page, or visit the podKast menu link.
Listen with the “pop out” player above, which also allows you to download the podKast to your computer.
You can also take advantage of the RSS feed to subscribe to the podKast for your media player, and even find us on iTunes!

Incidentally, if you are listening on iTunes, please take the time to leave a rating and review and help us to bring in new listeners to the podKast!

The post PodKast Previews Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Episode & Docudrama appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty Coming to BBC Three

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.

The day is almost upon us. Only five more days until the big one, and once its done those of us who aren’t sat in a cinema will be able to switch straight over to BBC 3 for Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty.

Billed by the Beeb as being a show to “celebrate all things Doctor Who“, the show will be coming live from London’s Southbank and will be presented by Zoe Ball and Rick Edwards who will be joined by Matt Smith and a host of as yet unnamed special guests, simply teasing us with the mention of “a host of previous Doctors and their time-travelling companions in the ultimate celebration of 50 years of Doctor Who“.

As well as all the gossip on the The Day Of The Doctor, there will be exclusive interviews, show-stopping monster moments and fans around the world will be giving their reaction, as they showcase how they are celebrating the special anniversary. Zai Bennett, controller of BBC Three (and the man who cancelled Doctor Who Confidential!), said:

“The 50th anniversary is going to be a huge party for Doctor Who and we’re delighted that BBC Three will be able to give the fans all the backstage access to the stars at the hottest ticket in town.”

One Direction will also be joining the party as they gate-crash the show live from LA to wish the Doctor a happy birthday.

Other than 1D appearing, which has been covered massively already across the net, this promises to be a cracking show, and a fitting way to top off what will inevitably be a fantastic night for fans around the world.

So the question of the moment is will you be watching? Or will you, like myself have to hit it up on iPlayer once you get in from the cinema? Or are you one of those who shall be boycotting the show (as I know some are doing) on the grounds of One Direction “gate crashing”. Let us know people; we are all ears.

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Super Rare Doctor Who Figures, Assemble!

Andrew Reynolds 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.

Hidden in Character Options’ millions of Series 2 Character Building Doctor Who Micro Figures are a brand new set of super rare collectible figures – so the hunt is on!

While in Series 2, there were millions of tiny Doctors to assemble, there were only be 500 of the Hologram Silent and an alternate River Song in her Denim and fire arm look from The Impossible Astronaut, 250 of Rory as the Last Centurion from The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang and Amy in her Pirate get-up from The Curse of the Black Spot, and if you’re incredible lucky/have a massive amount of money to blow, you’ll nab one of only 100 bearded, straight jacketed Doctor’s from Day of the Moon.

Series 3, meanwhile, features even more rare figures, including a Voyage of the Damned Tenth Doctor, in that classical black-and-white suit.

Each one of these coveted figures comes with an exclusive Doctor Who Gold display base and a Golden Ticket (altogether now: “I got a Golden Ticket…”) of authenticity.

If you’re wondering, “How can I bankroll such a toy based endeavour?” take a lesson from the series 1 super rare figures which in some cases went for over 60 times their original evaluation of £1.99 on eBay (that’s roughly around £120!)

Some have even been asking nearly £150 for a super-rare Raggedy Doctor figure… though, unsurprisingly, there were no bids.

Incidentally, my ultra-widely-available, partial-chewed-by-the-cat Doctor Figure is available for 27p (o.n.o).  Accessories are currently being digested.

The whole series 2 set are available for £1.99 each. To view the whole set head over to Character’s website.

Good luck, figure hunters!

The post Super Rare Doctor Who Figures, Assemble! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Introducing: An Unearthly Child (Part Two)

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.

As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, we’ve looked back at some of the important, fan-favourite tales of all of time and space, taking on one Doctor each month, including Wirrn Dawn, Mawdryn Undead and The Unicorn and the Wasp. And it all concludes with this month’s An Unearthly Child… (Don’t forget to check out Part One!)

Thanks to Sydney Newman, Doctor Who had a main character: a tetchy old man, cut off from his distant home planet. And that man’s name is the Doctor.

An Adventure in Space and Time scribe, Mark Gatiss, wrote in the recent anniversary book, The Doctor: His Lives and Times:

“They say no one ever built a monument to a committee. But between them, Sydney Newman, Waris Hussein, Verity Lambert, David Whitaker, [and] Anthony Coburn conspired to create something magical… The alien we will come to know and love is a very different character [in An Unearthly Child]. The Doctor, like us, is only at the beginning of a journey.”

Whilst the creative side of things were finally coming together, the practical side would prove just as challenging – and, as Gatiss says, the reason Doctor Who became such a success is purely down to an incredibly dedicated team.

What Lurks Down The Lane?

The new family-friendly show was allocated Studio D at Lime Grove, in which they needed to create not only the Doctor’s means of travel, but also all of time and space. Each episode was given a budget of £2, 300, and a further £500 would be used to realise the as-yet-unnamed TARDIS interior. A memo on the series’ direction, however, stated that “hardly any time at all is spent in the machine: we are interested in human beings” (though the production crew soon flew in the face of this idea – out of necessity – in the third adventure, The Edge of Destruction).

There were many concerns over the limited space available at Lime Grove, as well as the old lighting equipment. It was hoped that filming could move to the more-extensive Ealing studios, but by June 1963, it was apparent that Studio D was the only place available.

Nonetheless, the series was still being planned out. In May, the show was given a proper name: Dr. Who after the mysterious central time traveller. Other characters included 15-year-old ‘it’ girl, Bridget (nicknamed Biddy); the “physically perfect, strong and courageous” Cliff, in his late 20s; and the school mistress, Miss. McGovern (24), who is “timid but capable of sudden rabbit courage.”

The exterior of “The Machine” (later “The Ship”) could’ve been achieved one of two ways: as “something humdrum… such as a night-watchman’s shelter” or as invisible (“a shape of nothingness”). Because of this latter suggestion from writer, C.E. Webber, the introductory episode was provisionally titled Nothing at the End of the Lane.

The Doctor was to have two main secrets to be either slowly revealed or simply hinted at over time. The memo stated:

“In his own day, somewhere in the future, [the Doctor] decided to search for a time or for a society or for a physical condition which is ideal, and having found it, to stay there. He stole the machine and set forth on his quest.”

We now know that the Doctor did steal the TARDIS, though he journeys on simply to see the universe, not to search for an ideal. His second secret also forms the basis of Time Lord society – though there is a massive deviation from the character we know now:

“The authorities of his own (or some other future) time are not concerned merely with the theft of an obsolete machine; they are seriously concerned to prevent his monkeying with time, because his secret intention, when he finds his ideal past, is to destroy or nullify the future.”

Newman didn’t agree with the Doctor’s secrets at all, even branding the second one as “nuts”! He didn’t like Webber’s notion that the machine would be invisible either, instead wanting a “tangible symbol.”

Whilst the exact circumstances are greatly debated, the team finally agreed what the TARDIS would look like outwardly; further notes on the series noted it would have “the appearance of a police telephone box standing in the street, but anyone entering finds himself inside an extensive electronic contrivance.”

Verity

Story plans were being worked on too: the series would debut with Webber’s The Giants, in which the main concept of the show would be introduced before a first adventure saw the characters “reduced to the size of pinheads” and trapped in Cliff’s laboratory. The following story, to be written by Anthony Coburn, would be set in the Stone Age. But the two stories soon changed position and Coburn’s first episode was rewritten as an introduction to the show.

Dr. Who would also be “recorded as if it were going out live,” so many sci-fi concepts had to be toned down; notable is Newman’s insistence that “BEM” (Big-Eyed Monsters) would be impractical.

Of course, an abundance of BEMs would soon enter the series and become a staple of Doctor Who, and this is largely due to the persistence of Verity Lambert.

Lambert meets Waris Hussein in docudrama, An Adventure in Space and Time.

Newman approached only a small number of potential producers for the series: firstly, Don Taylor as a peace offering (Taylor disliked that Newman was given such an important role at the BBC); and then Shaun Sutton, who had a history of producing children’s dramas and, though eventually taking a part in Doctor Who, turned down the offer as he wanted to move onto more ‘adult’ programmes.

Sydney remembered a young production assistant working in the drama department when he worked for ITV, and particularly how gutsy she was. He described finding Verity as “the best thing I ever did on Doctor Who.”

Vision mixer, Clive Doig said:

“She was a feisty, exciting person. She instilled a great passion into Doctor Who. It was her first big series and she really, really loved it all.”

Newman asked her what she knew about children, and Verity replied, “Nothing.” Nonetheless, she was invited to talk about Doctor Who with Sydney and Donald Wilson – and on Friday 24th June 1963, she arrived at BBC Television Centre as the first female drama producer.

Doctor Who Hassle

Verity immediately got on with Waris Hussein, a young Indian charged with directing the first episodes of the series, both acknowledging that they were out of their depths. But that didn’t stop them – quite the opposite, in fact!

There was a lack of confidence in Doctor Who, however; Sydney received a phone call from the Assistant Controller (Planning) Television, Joanna Spicer, in which she complained about the lack of scripts, lack of proper procedure, and the stress it would put on several departments including design. Newman replied in a memo dated 27th June 1963 that, with only five weeks until expected broadcast, of course they were keen to cast actors and actresses able to “wear well over something like 52 episodes” and that the limitations were out of his hands.

The argument left Doctor Who’s running time reduced and transmission date delayed a further eight weeks. Newman did the team proud, though, and showed confidence in them and the series. Both sides were right to some extent: the show’s genesis certainly was hassled. Only on 10th July did a designer get attached to the first serial – Peter Brachacki, who wasn’t particularly enamoured with Doctor Who regardless – and the search for who would fill the four lead roles was ongoing.

The series’ direction was coming together, however, with Terry Nation (Survivors; The Avengers) drafted in to script a serial, as well as John Lucarotti (City Beneath the Sea; The Troubleshooters), who would write about the TARDIS crew journeying with Marco Polo.

Hartnell in Carry On Sergeant.

Verity suggested her friend, Jacqueline Hill should play Barbara, and Carole Ann Ford’s appearance in Z-Cars led to her casting as Susan, now established as the Doctor’s granddaughter (Anneke Wills, aka. Polly, was in the running too, but her agent forgot to tell her about the audition!); meanwhile, William Russell, best-known from his titular role in 1956’s The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, was taken on as Ian Chesterton. But what of the leading man? Doctor Who, exactly…?

Director-producer, Rex Tucker (The Gunfighters) had approached Hugh David (The Invisible Armies; Swizzlewick) for the part of the Doctor, but he turned the offer down because he was concerned over carrying another high-profile role following his performance as Stephen Drummond in Knight Errant Limited.

The job of casting the Doctor went to Verity and Waris, the former having seen William Hartnell in The Army Game and This Sporting Life, and had been impressed by his performance. She offered him the job and though he was initially uncertain, both Lambert and Hussein talked him into it. (Hartnell even called the producer a “loveable and charming person.”) Hartnell fell in love with the Doctor, affectionately noting that “Dr Who isn’t a scientist. He’s a wizard.” Most famously, he said:

“If I live to be 90, a little of the magic of Doctor Who will still cling to me.”

I wonder what he would make of Doctor Who’s success today…

The post Introducing: An Unearthly Child (Part Two) appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Tom Baker and Lalla Ward Reunited at Big Finish!

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.

They say that time heals all wounds…which seems especially true with regards to Tom Baker and Lalla Ward!

The duo, who portrayed the Fourth Doctor and the Second Romana on-screen in the late 1970’s, have agreed with Big Finish to record all new Doctor Who adventures to start from 2015! After so many years of these two staying well out of each other’s way, Big Finish have once pulled the rug out from everyone else’s feet and achieved the impossible. Executive Producer Nicholas Briggs had this to say:

It’s so exciting to be able to tell stories from another era of Doctor Who that we all love, with characters that worked so brilliantly together. The Doctor and the Second Romana had such a lovely dynamic – two equals, out exploring the universe and having fun with the universe. There’s a lovely, unique spirit in their stories.

Starting in 2015 with a very special box set release entitled The Fourth Doctor…by Gareth Roberts, Big Finish will release two audio adaptations, adapted by John Dorney, from the Virgin Missing Adventures range. These titles will include The Romance of Crime and The English Way of Death, two of Roberts’ greatest Doctor Who novels and wonderfully true to the era they are based on. A third adaptation for The Well-Mannered War, the finale in this trilogy of books from the 1990’s, is hoped to be recorded at a later date.

But that’s not all! Whilst this exciting box set has already been recorded, Big Finish have also announced that Tom and Lalla, as well as John Leeson as K-9, have already started recording a new series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures for release in 2016. Theses 8 stories will take the TARDIS crew from 1960s London, Budapest, alien worlds and will also complete a story arc that started a very long time ago.

For further details, visit Big Finish

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Doctor Who Official Sonic Screwdriver App Now Available

Nick Kitchen 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.

First and foremost, as it is a question every Whovian must be asking themselves at this moment: no, it still doesn’t work on wood.

Now, with that out of the way, the BBC and Useless Creations have released an official Doctor Who: Sonic Screwdriver app, just in time to sonic along with the Doctor on the Day of the Doctor! Helen Pendleberry, BBC Head of Brand Licensing and Live Entertainment had this to say:

We’re really pleased to bring fans this fun,  interactive Sonic Screwdriver app as they get ready for Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary.

The app features four highly detailed models of the Doctor’s sonic: Eleventh and Ninth/Tenth’s, as well as the Third and Fourth Doctor’s. The Eleventh’s sonic also extends when you shake your iPhone! The app also employs a bit of augmented reality as well, using your device’s camera to allow you to sonic things around you (or if you prefer a bit of pretending your out in Time and Space with the Doctor, there is a Deep Space background option). Pressing down on the sonic screwdriver causes it to activate and also doubles as a flashlight. Moving the phone around alters the authentic sounds from the show, and moving your finger up and down the sonic will also yield a change in your sonic’s frequency.

I gave the app a spin and although it didn’t cause my work phone to reroute when my boss called or blow up, it was a rather enjoyable time. While iOS 7 already provides you with a quick access flashlight, I can promise that using the sonic screwdriver is infinitely more fun.

Besides, the stock flashlight doesn’t extend when you shake your phone; so you can place a tick on the board for the sonic screwdriver app when it comes to that. Honestly, the only real complaint to be had with the app is that it is an Apple exclusive (although available in the Global App Stores), so if Windows Phone or Android is your cup of tea, you’re going to be sitting this one out.

While it’s not nearly as annoying as making the newly recovered Troughton episodes an iTunes exclusive until the DVDs release, it may not sit too well with the non-Apple users in our fandom.

The app is available from the App Store and will set you back $1.99. Anyone fancy having a sonic on their iPhone?

The post Doctor Who Official Sonic Screwdriver App Now Available appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Tennant & Piper Named Favourite Doctor Who Star Combi

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.

David Tennant and Billie Piper have been voted the nation’s favourite Doctor and companion of all time in a poll of more than 20,000 RadioTimes.com readers to mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.

In a surprisingly obvious result, Tennant romped home in the best Doctor vote attracting 56% of the vote. Despite picking up a healthy 15%, incumbent Doctor Matt Smith was left a distant second, narrowly ahead of classic Who icon Tom Baker (10%) who played the Fourth Doctor between 1974 and 1981.

Christopher Eccleston, meanwhile, took fourth place, with a little under seven per cent of the vote, while no other Doctor managed to get above three per cent of the vote; Colin Baker finished bottom of the pile with less than one percent of fans selecting him as their favourite star.

Says RadioTimes.com Editor Tim Glanfield

Not even parallel dimensions can keep the Doctor and Rose apart. It’s clear from the results of our poll that they define a golden era of Doctor Who and helped introduce a whole new generation to the show – how fitting that they’ll be reunited next week for the 50th anniversary special.

In the companions vote, Rose Tyler actress Billie Piper topped the best companion poll, with a quarter of all votes.  Behind her, the late Elisabeth Sladen, who played Sarah Jane Smith alongside Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker between 1973 and 1976 came second with 15 per cent of the vote.  Sladen, who died in April 2011 aged 65, is also fondly remembered for reprising the character in spin-off series K-9 and Company, and latterly The Sarah Jane Adventures which ran for five series on CBBC.

Third was actress and comedian Catherine Tate, with nine percent of the vote, followed by Alex Kingston (River Song) and then Karen Gillan (Amy Pond). Surprisingly current companion Jenna Coleman, who plays Clara Oswald, could only manage ninth position in the poll behind John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Sophie Aldred, Sylvester McCoy’s companion, Ace.

 

Here are the results in full:

 

Best Doctor                                                                    Best Companion

David Tennant                 56.1%                                   Rose Tyler (Billie Piper)                                                              25.09%

Matt Smith                         15.93%                                Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen)                                      15.42%

Tom Baker                         10.05%                                Donna Noble (Catherine Tate)                                                  12.32%

Christopher Eccleston  6.59%                                   River Song (Alex Kingston)                                                        9.09%

Patrick Troughton         2.86%                                   Amy Pond (Karen Gillan)                                                            4.79%

Jon Pertwee                      2.38%                                   Jamie McCrimmon (Fraser Hines)                                          4.1%

Peter Davison                   1.59%                                   Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)                         3.49%

Sylvester McCoy             1.36%                                   Ace (Sophie Aldred)                                                                      3.09%

Paul McGann                     1.35%                                   Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman)                                 2.65%

William Hartnell             0.9%                                     Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman)                                           2.54%

Colin Baker                        0.88%                                   Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney)        2.39%

 

In total 21,384 valid votes were cast in the two polls on RadioTimes.com in October and November 2013.

(Via RadioTimes.com)

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