Category: News

Doctor Who viewing stats

Here’s a subject nobody ever gets bored of hearing. Doctor Who’s overnight viewing stats.

Doctor Who Survivors of the Flux was watched by 3.82 million viewers, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The figure is a slight increase from last week’s episode, The Village of Angels, which received an overnight of 3.45 million in the overnights. The seven-day consolidated figure, which includes all those who watched the episode within one week for chapter four was 4.55 million. This is the lowest seven-day consolidated rating since the series returned in 2005.

What do these figures mean? Absolutely nothing. The way we consume our media has changed dramatically over the past decade. We’re no longer beholden to broadcast times, people time-shift and record it. Others watch on iPlayer. My kids for example have absolutely no idea what day their favourite TV shows airs, having to watch it “live” would seem like a bizarre concept to them. However, they know exactly how to access the shows they like via streaming services.

Although the figures seem low in a traditional sense, Doctor Who is still performing strongly. It was the 8th most-viewed programme on BBC Television for the week and the 21st most-watched across all British television.

More than just an impression-episode 2

Chris has released episode two of his brand new podcast, more than just an impression. Known for his renowned Patrick Troughton performance and more. He interviews other well-known talented individuals who continue the legacies of big stars no longer with us. Listen to how their opportunities began, how they craft their performance and much more.

In this episode, he’s joined by legendary actor and impressionist Jon Culshaw. The pair talk about Jon’s career, Dead Ringers and his recent work playing Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart for Big Finish, a role made famous by Nicholas Courtney.

The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and, Anchor FM.

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A new synopsis for The Batman released

Warner Bros. has released a new synopsis for director Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Over the past year, we’ve seen a couple of trailers. But this is the first full synopsis released by the studio.

“Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.

When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City”.

It’s not mentioned in the synopsis, but DC is really leaning into the multiverse with the release of this. The Batman is confirmed to be taking place on Earth 2. That doesn’t mean we’ll get to see other versions of Batman pop up, but it is interesting that studios now view these as different universes. Instead of reboots.

The Abominable Snowmen to be Animated

The BBC has announced that an animated version of the 1967 story The Abominable Snowmen will be released next year. 

The story stars Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Jack Watling and Deborah Watling. The serial was the second story of Season 5 and features the Doctor’s first encounter with the Great Intelligence. It was originally broadcast between 30th September 1967 – Saturday 4th November 1967.

As videotape was really expensive back in the day, the BBC took to wiping them for re-use. A lot of early performances of The Beatles, episodes of Dad’s Army and, Doctor Who is now missing. Of this six-part story, only episode two still exists. 

All six episodes have been animated and will be released, with the existing episode two.

Russell Minton, the Executive Producer of The Abominable Snowmen, said:

“We’re delighted to announce Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen, something Doctor Who fans have been waiting patiently for over the years. We’re grateful for the surviving audio-only recordings, which we are very lucky to have, courtesy of several Doctor Who fans, which have allowed us to create another exciting and action-packed chapter in the Doctor’s story.”

Galaxy Quest TV series in development

Actor Justin Long has revealed that Simon Pegg is writing a Galaxy Quest TV series.


On the latest episode of his podcast ‘Life is short with Justin Long‘. He told his guest, Impractical Joker, Joe Gatto. “I don’t know if I should say this. But they’re doing a series, a Galaxy Quest limited series. Simon Pegg is writing it. He text me asking what my character’s last name is, so I hope I’m in it. I’m excited”.

Galaxy Quest was a 1999 sci-fi/comedy, starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub and, Sam Rockwell. In which, the alumni cast of a space opera television series has to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help. However, they also have to defend both Earth and the alien race from a reptilian warlord.

The film is a cult classic and is often regarded amongst fans, as the best Star Trek movie of all time. The franchise has continued over the years in the form of comic books by IDW publishing. In 2019 there was a documentary made about the film called ‘Never surrender: A galaxy Quest documentary.’

There were talks of a TV series around 2015, but production stalled after the sad passing of Alan Rickman in 2016. Rickman played Alexander Dane, an old-school British thespian, bitter that his best-known role is on a low-budget sci-fi series.

The film went on to spawn the careers of actors who are now household names, including Justin Long, Rainn Wilson and, Sam Rockwell.

It’s currently unknown which of the original cast members will return, although they’ve all been open over the years about their desires to do a sequel.

Alan Rickman isn’t the only cast member to have since passed away, Sam Lloyd and Robin Sachs are sadly no longer with us. It will be interesting to see if they retire or re-cast those characters.

Listen to Justin Long’s podcast here.

Superman & Lois finally heads to the UK

After a seemingly-long wait for a UK broadcaster, fans were delighted to hear BBC One has announced that they’ve picked Superman & Lois.

Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch appear as the titular characters, in the critically acclaimed CW drama. Which will premiere on Saturday nights in December.

The series is a spin-off to the hit CW series Supergirl, Hoechlin has been a fan-favourite as Clark Kent, ever since he first appeared to help his super-powered cousin. Tulloch’s Lois Lane was introduced for the multi-show crossovers Elseworlds and Crisis on Infinite Earths, as part of Greg Berlanti’s ‘Arrowverse’.

The summary for the series, which aired in the United States this summer, is below:


After years of facing megalomaniacal supervillains, monsters wreaking havoc on Metropolis, and alien invaders intent on wiping out the human race, the pair come face-to-face with one of their greatest challenges ever – dealing with all the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today’s society.

Complicating the already daunting job of raising two boys, Clark and Lois must also concern themselves with whether or not their teenage sons Jonathan and Jordan could inherit their father’s Kryptonian superpowers as they grow older. Returning to Smallville to handle some Kent family business, Clark and Lois are reacquainted with Clark’s first love, Lana Lang-Cushing, a local loan officer, and her Fire Chief husband Kyle Cushing.

It’ll be interesting to see if the show follows the recent Jon Kent series of comics, where the character came out as bisexual.

Older readers may remember that Saturday nights on BBC One was the British home for another Superman series in the 90s ‘Lois & Clark: The new adventures of Superman’.

The series will debut on Saturday 4th of December.

Episode 266: Returning T Davies

As nobody else on the internet is talking about it, Martyn, Sam and their friend Antoni felt duty-bound to tell that world that legendary screenwriter Russell T. Davies, who was was responsible for reviving Doctor Who in 2005. Has announced that he will be returning to helm the show once again.

Davies was the showrunner for the first five years and oversaw the ninth and tenth iterations of the Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. During his tenure, he also launched two spin-offs ‘Torchwood’ and ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures.’

He will be coming back to the series for the 60th anniversary and beyond. He’ll be taking over from current showrunner, Chris Chibnall, who is leaving the series. Chibnall has been showrunner since 2016 when he took over from Steven Moffat and has been a very divisive showrunner amongst Doctor Who fans. He and Jodie Whittaker announced that they will be leaving the show together.

Russell T Davies said in a statement, “I’m beyond excited to be back on my favourite show. But we’re time-travelling too fast, there’s a whole series of Jodie Whittaker’s brilliant Doctor for me to enjoy, with my friend and hero Chris Chibnall at the helm – I’m still a viewer for now.”

Chris Chibnall added, “It’s monumentally exciting and fitting that ‘Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary will see one of Britain’s screenwriting diamonds return home. Russell built the baton that is about to be handed back to him — ‘Doctor Who,’ the BBC, the screen industry in Wales, and let’s be honest everyone in the whole world, have so many reasons to be Very Excited Indeed about what lies ahead.”

BBC director of drama Piers Wenger said, “As the 13th Doctor prepares to embark on new and extraordinary adventures, the winds of change are blowing… bringing with them news to delight ‘Doctor Who’ fans across the globe. We are thrilled that Russell is returning to Doctor Who to build on the huge achievements of Chris and Jodie. Thank you to the two of them and the team in Cardiff for all they continue to do for the show and hello Russell, it’s wonderful to have you back.”

Joining Russell on this new adventure will be Bad Wolf. A production company established by former Doctor Who producer, Julie Gardner.

Personally, I think this is tremendous news. Russell T Davies has written some phenomenal drama post-who, so I’m excited to see what he brings to this new era.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Spotify, Amazon Music,Podchaser, Player FM,Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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Artwork by Penny Smallshire.

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Equipment used in the creation of this feature was purchased through a grant from Graeae and The Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

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Terry Silver confirmed for series 4 of Cobra Kai

After his appearance was teased at the end of series 3, Terry Silver has officially been confirmed for Cobra Kai Season 4.

Netflix made the announcement, with a teaser trailer that gives us a look at the return of the villain, who made his debut in The Karate Kid Part III. Thomas Ian Griffith is returning to the role.

In the teaser below, Griffith stands with his back to the camera as some of Silver’s dialogue plays in a voice-over: “If a man can’t stand, he can’t fight. If a man can’t breathe, he can’t fight. If a man can’t see, he can’t fight.”

Terry Silver is the founder of the Cobra Kai dojo, we even got to see some of his backstory in a series 3 flashback involving John Kreese.

Executive producers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg said in a statement:

“Since the beginning of the series, we’ve been carefully orchestrating the right moment to unleash Cobra Kai dojo co-founder Terry Silver back into the universe. That moment is now. We can’t wait for the whole world to experience Thomas Ian Griffith’s majestic return to the franchise.”

Aaron Taylor-Johnson set to play Kraven the hunter

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) has been cast in Sony Picture’s upcoming Marvel film ‘Kraven The Hunter’. It’s an unexpected, but very interesting choice. It will mark the actors third outing as a comic book character.

In the comics, Sergei Kravinoff a.k.a. Kraven the Hunter is an obsessive big-game hunter. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Over time, Kravinoff moved away from using the tools of a regular hunter and started taking down large animals with his bare hands. After taking a potion, he developed enhanced physical powers giving him the strength, speed and senses of a jungle cat. The potion also extended his life, health and vitality.

Sony’s casting description lists Kraven The Hunter as being of Russian origin, with “superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes. The maniacal big-game hunter seeks to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world.”

Directing duties will be taken up by J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier). With Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man) writing the scripts.

Kraven the Hunter is set for release on January 13th, 2023.

Source: Variety

Captain Jack removed from Time Fracture event

The creators of Doctor Who: Time Fracture have made the decision to no longer include John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness, as part of their immersive experience premiering in London later this month. Barrowman had filmed the cameo a couple of weeks ago.

This decision comes after The Guardian broke news about allegations surrounding Noel Clarke. After the article was published, social media users started sharing videos of Barrowman’s former castmates talking about his on-set antics.

Immersive Everywhere said:

“Immersive Everywhere has taken the decision to remove this pre-record from Doctor Who: Time Fracture. We will continue to include content that pays tribute to this brilliant show that is Torchwood so as not to disappoint its fans, and are working on an exciting storyline to be announced soon.”

After he was contacted by The Guardian journalists, Barrowman said:

“With the benefit of hindsight, I understand that upset may have been caused by my exuberant behaviour and I have apologised for this previously. Since my apology in November 2008, my understanding and behaviour have also changed.”

Doctor Who: Time Fracture opens 26 May. Tickets are available for pre-order here.