Doctor Who Gets No Rest In Comics

 

If you enjoyed IDW's recent Doctor Who: The Forgotten mini-series, you'll be happy to hear that its writer, Tony Lee, will be taking on the character on an ongoing basis soon for a monthly series.

Announced at yesterday's IDW panel, Lee said that he'd presented the BBC with "a massive six thousand word pitch" about the new series, complete with his reasons why he didn't want to use any of the existing companions, but instead come up with his own:

If you do a new Martha story everybody knows how it ends [but w]ith new companions, you can do things people don't know.

That said, Lee plans to make sure you'll see familiar faces throughout the series, whether they're old-school aliens from the original series, or real life figures (The series' first story will guest-star Charlie Chaplin). Some familiar faces you won't see in the new series, however, will be former incarnations of the Doctor himself; the BBC have forbidden any more use, citing issues surrounding actors' likenesses.

The new series will launch in July.

David Tennant's Comic Relief Launch Video

As previously reported, David Tennant will be presenting the first hour of this year's official Comic Relief telethon on the thirteenth of March alongside Davina McCall. Not only is David going to present the first hour of the telethon, he has also recorded a special Comic Relief launch video to try and help raise some more money for the charity. The video was previously shown at the Empire Cinema and can be viewed below;

On top of this, David also narrated a special documentary earlier this week called 'Comic Relief: The Fool's Guide'. The documentary aired last Tuesday and is now available to view here on BBC iPlayer. All money raised for Comic Relief goes to a fantastic cause and you can visit the official website for Comic Relief here. Red noses are available for purchase in most stores and you can view more Comic Relief images of David Tennant here, here and here.

Freema on Doctor Who Return

It would certainly seem that Freema is open to a return to Doctor Who - and from the impression that this video interview with Digital Spy gives, it's more of a case of when than if...

Revealing that such a piece of casting has not yet been confirmed, Freema seems to be pretty bad at keeping secrets - but then that's just my impression from an interview in which she quite clearly states that there is no rift between her and the Doctor Who production team at BBC Wales.

Which kind of begs the question: where are these stories coming from?

Part way through the 2007 series, Freema Agyeman was revealed to be leaving by The Sun just weeks after joining the show as companion - because in their words she wasn't good enough.  Her departure was of course accurate, but the reasons for it were very wide of the mark, and she would return as Martha Jones in 5 episodes in 2008.

Then there's the Torchwood connection - Agyeman appeared in 4 episodes of Torchwood in 2008, and was expected to appear as a full member of the team following the events of Doctor Who's 2008 finale Journey's End.  Schedules didn't allow this, however, leading to some interesting reports recently in one tabloid newspaper pretty much accusing Ms Agyeman of betraying the Doctor Who production team by taking a role in the UK version of Law & Order when plans were being made for Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Yet here we are with Freema steadfastly refusing to rule out a reunion with the Doctor...

Doctor Who The Dalek Project Graphic Novel

 

Thanks to Doctor Who Online for the above image.

BBC Books have recently released some details about an upcoming Doctor Who graphic novel called The Dalek Project. The Dalek Project will be written by Justin Richards, illustrated by Mike Collins who has worked on many Doctor Who Magazine comic strips and feature an introduction by Russell T Davies. It will be the first Doctor Who graphic novel to be released by BBC Books and the publication's official synopsis can be viewed below;

1917: The Great War is at its fiercest and most terrible. But things are about to get even worse… When the Doctor arrives at Hellcombe Hall in England he discovers a house full of mystery. There are locked doors and forbidden rooms, dustsheets cover guilty secrets, the maid Mary Carter is scared of the ghosts... And that’s before Corporal Anderson finds that his muddy corpse-filled trench ends in the drawing room.Armaments manufacturer Lord Hellcombe has a new secret weapon he believes will win the war. But when the Doctor witnesses the final demonstration he begins to realise how much danger everyone is in. Because Lord Hellcome claims to have invented the Dalek. Except, of course, that nothing is quite what it seems.The Doctor and his new friends must draw on every type of early 20th century technology and every element of human ingenuity and bravery if they are to discover the truth and to survive. If they are to prevent the entire Western Front of World War One from becoming part of The Dalek Project.

The Dalek Project will be released on the twenty fourth of September and go on sale at an RRP of £14.99. Justin Richards, the author of this graphic novel, commented that he's very excited about this book as the graphic novel format lends itself to storytelling on an epic scale. He then said told us that because of this we can expect to see the Daleks at their most cunning and awesome, and the Doctor at his most brilliant and heroic. What do you think of the book's cover and synopsis? Will you be buying The Dalek Project when it's released?