Due to a recent bereavement, updates to eyeofhorus.org.uk will be postponed until the beginning of February.

This will be from 9 February at the very earliest.

Apologies, and thank you for condolence emails.

THIRD UPDATE: According to play.com, more stock is available for despatch to customers next week.

The BBC has officially licenced a limited edition metal replica of the Master's Fob Watch as seen in SERIES 3's UTOPIA.

The item is limited to only 1000 units worldwide, engraved with the "number" and delivered with an hand-signed by Derek Jacobi certificate and is available for a limited time via PLAY.COM - see link below:

THE MASTER'S FOB WATCH - Limited edition metal replica £69.99

A true collectors piece.

A minor update.

ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN is due on DVD, and here's the DVD EXTRAS:

00:22:48:18 THE CYBER STORY (FEATURETTE)
00:01:03:17 THE CYBERNETIC AUTONOMOUS DALEK (EASTER EGG)
00:08:06:21 HUMAN CYBORG - THE CYBERNETIC EXPERIMENTS (FEATURETTE)
00:08:09:03 ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN - PHOTO GALLERY
00:07:47:22 THE CYBER-GENERATIONS (PHOTO GALLERY)
00:03:08:22 DOCTOR WHO (TRAILS & CONTINUITY)
00:27:25:05 THE COLD WAR (FEATURETTE)

A minor update.

IMAGE OF THE FENDAHL is due on DVD, and here's the DVD EXTRAS:

00:26:19:01 AFTER IMAGE (MAKING OF)
00:11:26:18 IMAGE OF THE FENDAHL - DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES
00:05:34:07 IMAGE OF THE FENDAHL - PHOTO GALLERY
00:00:37:07 (EASTER EGG) (LOUISE JAMESON INTERVIEW)
00:00:19:10 DR WHO - NEXT SATURDAY - 6.10 (TRAILER

Due to a recent bereavement, updates to eyeofhorus.org.uk will be postponed until the beginning of February.

Apologies.

2|entertain has revealed complete details of DOCTOR WHO DVD boxset for William Hartnell's THE RESCUE and THE ROMANS (RRP £29.99).

THE RESCUE

Arriving on the planet Dido in the late 25th Century, the time travellers come upon a crashed spaceship from Earth. Its two occupants - a paralysed man named Bennett and a young girl, Vicki - are living in fear of a creature called Koquillion, a native whose people have apparently killed the other members of the human expedition.

However, the Doctor quickly deduces that Koquillion is in fact Bennett in disguise; it was he who killed the others in order to conceal an earlier murder he had committed on the ship.

• Commentary with actor William Russell, director Christopher Barry and designer Raymond Cusick.
• Mounting The Rescue - cast and crew look back on the making of the story. With actors William Russell, Maureen O'Brien and Ray Barrett, director Christopher Barry, designer Raymond Cusick.
• Photo Gallery + Coming Soon Trailer + Programme Subtitles

THE ROMANS

The four time travellers are enjoying a rare holiday, staying at a villa not far from Rome in the year 64 AD. The Doctor soon becomes restless and sets off to visit the city, taking Vicki with him. In their absence, Ian and Barbara are kidnapped by slave traders.

Having been mistaken for the famous lyre player Maximus Pettulian and asked to perform at the Emperor Nero's Court, the Doctor has to devise ever more elaborate schemes to avoid revealing that he cannot actually play the instrument.

Ian meanwhile becomes a galley slave, while Barbara is sold to Nero's slave buyer Tavius at an auction in Rome. Ian and a fellow slave named Delos escape from the galley when it is wrecked in a storm and make their way to Rome to try to find and rescue Barbara.

• Commentary with actors William Russell, Nick Evans and Barry Jackson, and director Christopher Barry.
• What Has 'The Romans' Ever Done For Us? - actors, crew and historians look at both the reality and fantasy behind the story of 'The Romans'. With actors William Russell, Kay Patrick, Barry Jackson, Anthony Andrews and Christopher Biggins, director Christopher Barry, designer Raymond Cusick, historian Dr. Mark Bradley, writer James Moran, Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury and 1960's viewer Ian McLachlan. Narrated by John Bowe.
  - Roma Parva - director Christopher Barry demonstrates the use of a model of the studio set in the planning of camera positions and moves during recording.
• Dennis Spooner, Wanna Write a Television Series? - a look at writer Dennis Spooner's work on Doctor Who. With actors William Russell and Peter Purves, script editor Donald Tosh, writers Brian Clemens and Rob Shearman, and Spooner's friend Jane Clemens. Narrated by Anna Hope.
• Blue Peter - The Blue Peter team hold a Roman banquet in the studio.
• Girls! Girls! Girls! The 1960's - an affectionate look back at the sixties Who-Girls. With actors Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Peter Purves, Anneke Wills, Deborah Watling, Frazer Hines, Jean Marsh and Honor Blackman, script editor Donald Tosh and director Christopher Barry. Narrated by Dona Croll.
• Photo Gallery + Coming Soon Trailer + PDF Material + Programme Subtitles
  
  

Review of DOCTOR WHO - THE NEXT DOCTOR (2|entertain DVD) - the DVD includes the wonderfully joyous DOCTOR WHO AT THE PROMS event.

The DVD is released on 19 January 2009 RRP £15.99.

With thanks to the 2|entertain.

On 14th January 2009 GE Fabbri, the publishers of DOCTOR WHO BATTLES IN TIME, will launch an exciting new DOCTOR WHO DVD and magazine series. DOCTOR WHO DVD FILES builds up every fortnight into the ultimate Doctor Who collection. Every issue comes with a DVD featuring two full-length episodes and a unique pull-apart magazine that quickly becomes the ultimate reference work about everyone’s favourite Time Lord, his allies and his enemies.

In the first issue we join Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor as he meets Rose Tyler in the opening episode of the new series, ROSE and see how she reacts when he takes her to THE END OF THE WORLD. Subsequent issues then follow the series through in broadcast order as the Doctor and his companions travel the universe, facing monsters such as the Daleks, Slitheen and Cybermen, and villains such as the Editor and Cassandra, the last ever human. The series will include the very latest episodes, right up to THE NEXT DOCTOR.

DOCTOR WHO DVD FILES is something unique – it’s not just a chance to collect every episode of the series since the Doctor’s return, the pull-apart magazine is incredibly ambitious. You get 24 pages every fortnight packed with insider information and specially-commissioned artwork produced by members of the Doctor Who art department. Because of the way it builds up you’ll soon have hundreds of pages of invaluable information,” says GE project manager Ben Robinson. The magazine features never-seen-before photography, exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews, episode guides, profiles of monsters, heroes and villains, new artwork showing classic moments from the show’s history and specially created diagrams and cutaways produced by members the Doctor Who art department.

For more information and exclusives visit at www.dwfiles.com

The collection is available fortnightly at £6.99 per issue from all good newsagents.

The official BARB TV viewing figures for DOCTOR WHO - THE NEXT DOCTOR has been published.

The episode became the fifth most watched programme of 2009 (the new animation WALLACE AND GROMIT - A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH was the most watched in 2009 with 16.15 million viewers) with a final figure of 13.1 million viewers.

The preview DVD for the story (and extras) will be reviewed and online by Monday 12 January. The DVD is released on 19 January 2009.

With thanks to the 2|entertain.

A number of UK fan-websites had written off 2|entertain after the demise of parent company WOOLWORTHS went into administration. It is - and always was - very healthy.

The company's DOCTOR WHO 2009 CLASSIC SERIES releases have been announced (though several release dates have yet "to be confirmed").

• 26.01.2009 - THE E-SPACE TRILOGY - essential viewing for new fans
• 23.02.2009 - THE RESCUE + THE ROMANS
• 16.03.2009 - ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN
• TBC - THE KEYS OF MARINUS
• TBC - DELTA AND THE BANNERMEN
• TBC - IMAGE OF THE FENDAHL
• TBC - THE WAR GAMES
• TBC - THE DEADLY ASSASSIN
• TBC - THE DALEK WAR boxset including FRONTIER IN SPACE + PLANET OF THE DALEKS

The BBC has announced that Matt Smith has been cast as the 11th Doctor.

Official BBC PRESS OFFICE Biography of Matt Smith

18:00GMT: DOCTOR WHO returns on CBBC? But then again I'm not the "target" audience for DOCTOR WHO - something for the under tens, I guess.

17:58GMT: Pending.

17:50GMT: 26 year old. James McAvoy?

17:39GMT: Oh?

17:37GMT: BUT HE IS THE YOUNGEST DOCTOR EVER...! Is that what Tenannt just said..? Yes, Moffat just said that...

Filming starts in June 2009 for a 2010 broadcast. The Executive Producers will be Piers Wenger and Steven Moffat

Editorial comment 02.01.2009 pre-announcement

The BBC will announce the name of the 11th actor to take on the role of "The Doctor" in DOCTOR WHO SERIES 5 (Autumn 2010 broadcast) from 17:35 during a special DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL episode.

This will be broadcast on BBC ONE 3 January 17:35 - 18:10.

BBC NEWS - The source of this information

Avoid the internet for the day, and have a nice surprise at Teatime.

Editorial comment 02.01.2009 pre-announcement

The next episode of DOCTOR WHO, starring David Tennant, is titled PLANET OF THE DEAD and will be broadcast at Easter 2009.

That should make the Christian festival of "resurrection" interesting. Filming starts on 17 January with four days of filming outside the UK. One of the 2009 specials features an Egyptian theme (according to a BBC WALES Source).

There will be four specials: