New target books on the way

BBC Books has announced that it will be expanding the Doctor Who Target range with five new titles in Summer 2022, all published on 14th July 2021, each with newly commissioned cover artwork by Anthony Dry.

Penned by the original scriptwriter the late David Fisher and adapted from his 2011 and 2014 audio novelisations, The Stones of Blood, and The Androids of Tara are now being released as two glorious Target books for fans to add to their collections.

These will be accompanied by a Target edition of The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran, as well as The Eaters of Light by Rona Munro and The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness.

For Doctor Who fans, the range of novelisations published by Target Books in the 1970s and 1980s holds a special place. There was a novel published for almost every Doctor Who serial between 1963 and 1989, with very few (five, actually) notable exceptions.

Since 2012, BBC Books has been successfully reissuing these classic paperbacks and expanding the Target range to include all-new novelisations of modern-era Doctor Who episodes. The Stones of Blood by David Fisher – An ancient stone circle becomes a battleground as the Fourth Doctor must outwit the deadliest alien criminal this side of hyperspace.

The Androids of Tara by David Fisher – The Fourth Doctor and Romana’s search for the fourth segment of the all-powerful Key to Time leads them to the planet Tara.

The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran – It is AD 79, and the Tenth Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii on the eve of the town’s destruction. Mount Vesuvius is ready to erupt and bury its surroundings in molten lava, just as history dictates. Or is it?

The Eaters of Light by Rona Munro – The Twelfth Doctor takes Bill and Nardole back to 2nd century Scotland to learn the fate of the ‘lost’ Ninth Legion of the Imperial Roman Army. 5,000 soldiers vanished without explanation – how?

The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness – It took three Doctors to broker a fragile peace between Zygons and Humans. Now the Twelfth Doctor must face the fallout alone. With his allies compromised and his companion believed dead, can he stop the world from plunging into war?

These latest additions to the collection, all by the original writers of the TV episodes, will help Target fans complete their classic and modern-era collections.

James Moran said:

“I’ve been watching Doctor Who and reading the Target books for as long as I can remember. The books were an essential part of my childhood, examining the amazing cover art, and “seeing” stories that aired before I was born. I loved learning new words from them, like “capacious”, and am beyond thrilled to become part of this publishing legend!”

Rona Munro said:

“It’s wonderful to have another chance to revisit the ideas of my last Doctor Who story, Eaters of Light, they are ideas that have been with me for a very long time and Doctor Who, as always, proved to be the largest and most exciting world in which to realise them.”

Peter Harness added:

“Like many, many others, I learnt to read and to love books by reading Target novelisations. The Saturday afternoon journey to Garland’s bookshop in Bridlington to see if any new Doctor Who stories had materialised on their shelves. Scouring markets and second-hand shops in hope of finding an old copy of Doctor Who and the Sea Devils. Desperately pester my poor cousin until he finally lent me his copy of Doctor Who and The Doomsday Weapon. Making my Grandad read me The Enemy of the World when he would’ve much preferred to fall asleep with the newspaper. There is a sense of magic and excitement about Target books which has stayed with me my whole life. And I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it feels to be writing my own Target book of one of my own Doctor Who stories.”

The books are due for release during the summer of 2022.

Review-Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures Vol 1: Ravagers


It’s hard to deny that the announcement of Christopher Eccleston’s return to the Doctor Who franchise took fans by surprise. After all, it had been sixteen years since his thirteen-episode run reignited the show and brought it to a new generation. But here we are, with The Ninth Doctor Adventures – Ravagers, the first in a four-volume set of audio adventures written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

On the one hand, Ravagers is an impressive and ambitious set. Eccleston’s return is a significant accomplishment for Big Finish, and it’s evident that he hasn’t lost his touch as the Doctor. The supporting cast, including Camilla Beeput and Jayne McKenna as Nova and Audrey, put in outstanding performances, and Dan Starky’s turn as Marcus Aurelius Gallius is thoroughly enjoyable. The music and sound design match the pace of Briggs’ excellent direction, and his passion for this era of Doctor Who is palpable.

However, the set’s most significant flaw is its plot. The 45-minute episode is stretched over 2 hours and 30 minutes, making the pacing drag at times. While Briggs’ love for the series shines through, the plot feels like an amalgamation of various stories he couldn’t get off the ground. We join the Ninth Doctor in the middle of an adventure and work backwards, a risky move for newcomers to the world of Doctor Who on audio.

Nonetheless, Ravagers is an enjoyable set overall, and fans of the Ninth Doctor will relish the chance to hear him once again. While a more straightforward structure would have been preferable, the set’s future promises exciting possibilities for the range.

⭐⭐

Review-The Ghost of Christmas (Ghosts Christmas special)

Alison and Mike are hosting Christmas at Button House, with his family joining them. Mike has taken control and is determined everything run as smoothly as possible. However, with a house full of ghosts and interfering parents, it’s not long before “the incredible sulk” has one of his annual meltdowns. As for the ghosts, they’re not big fans of Christmas.

It turns out the festive season isn’t much fun if you’re dead, Julian says “it’s just not the same when you’re dead. Can’t drink booze, can’t flirt with the filly’s at the Christmas Party if you can’t do that. What’s the point?”.



It’s Julian that takes most the focus of the special when a new arrival forces him to confront his old behaviour. Throughout the episode, he has a series of revelations that help all the ghosts rediscover the joy of Christmas.

The other ghosts mostly take a supporting role, with The Captain (Ben Willbond) taking offence to the Queen’s speech being televised “an officer and a gentleman should not be privy to the colour and thickness of the Queen’s curtain’s”. Robin (Laurence Rickard) believes Christmas is “just a fad”.

The special is full of everything you’d expect from this show. As always, the cast is uniformly great, Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe feel like an authentic couple. Mike’s family feel like a real family, his sisters irritate him in the way only siblings can. The jokes vary from clever to crude, with strong performances all round.

The Ghosts Christmas special is the perfect way to tide us over until series 3.

The Ghost of Christmas airs on BBC One, at 20:30 on December 23rd.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dalek tells humans to stay home

A Dalek has been spotted ordering people to stay indors.

Most of the UK is currently on a government-ordered lockdown as part of a national effort to save lives, although there are some members of the public who’ve been disregarding the guidelines this weekend, due to unseasonabily warm weather.

A video posted on Twitter has shown a Dalek, roaming the street in a countryside village.

As people have been so blatantly flouting the guidelines, I think we need Nicholas Briggs to redub this video with the official voice of the Daleks.

Episode 224: Series 12

In which two angry men, talk to one heavily medicated man, about the last three episodes of series 12 of Doctor Who. The trio discuss the strange times of Covid 19 and the recent positivity its brought about within the Doctor Who fandom. Which saw the likes of Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat and, Matt Smith join Twitter for a Doctor Who watch along. Episodes Included Rose, Day of the doctor, Vincent & The Doctor and, The eleventh hour.

Steven Moffat wrote a new short video, featuring Dan Starky reprising his role as Strax. Russell T Davies released a prequel and sequel to ‘Rose’. The prequel was written long before the concept of The War Doctor, was introduced by Steven Moffat. It featured the regeneration of Paul McGann’s incarnation of The Doctor, into Christopher Eccleston’s

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to;

Podchaser, Player fm, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts.

If you’d like to support the show, then please shop via our Amazon link. A small percentage goes our way, at no extra cost to you.

Check out our Youtube.

The intro is taken from We Sound Familiar.

Check out Comedians talking football.

Twitter:

Martyn – @BadWilf

Gerrod –@InGerrodsMind

Pete – @BeeblePete

Sam-@Sammichaelcomic

Chris-@ChrisWalkerT

Please assist us to serve you better, by filling out this survey. Takes less than 2mins.

Artwork by Penny Smallshire.

Jenna Coleman to attend Doctor Who festival 

BBC Worldwide announced today that Jenna Coleman will be attending both Saturday and Sunday of this year’s official Doctor Who Festival. This will be the last chance fans will see Jenna in the official Doctor Who universe before her exit as the much loved Clara Oswald. 

The Doctor Who Festival is the only official event this year to include appearances from Peter Capaldi, Michelle Gomez and Ingrid Oliver as well as Executive Producer Steven Moffat. An event for fans of all ages, the Festival offers a fantastic opportunity to get the inside track from the cast and crew of Doctor Who in this extravaganza of immersive and interactive opportunities.

Mark Gatiss will be joining the Festival for all three days, as well as joining the team from Millennium FX each day in its theatre show, revealing to guests how they create and build many of the monsters on Doctor Who. Mark and the team will take an in depth look at the new monsters that appeared on the screens for Series 9. 

As well as Mark Gatiss and MFX, theatre shows will also include Meet The Castand Meet The Writers panels, featuring all seven Series 9 writers over the three days. 

The daily Meet The Cast panel will see Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez and Ingrid Oliver discuss their experiences behind the scenes on the set of Doctor Who.
The minds behind Doctor Who will be quizzed in the Writer’s Panel; Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Sarah Dollard, Toby Whithouse, Catherine Tregenna, Peter Harness and Jamie Mathieson will talk through the development and design of some of the show’s favourite characters and compelling storylines over the three days.

Special Effects supervisor Danny Hargreaves and his team at Real SFX reveal what happens on a typical day’s filming and wow fans with their impressive live show.
Fans of the show can also enter the Doctor Who Festival Cosplay Showcase and be put to the test in the Fan Challenge.
Photo opportunities with Jenna Coleman are now on sale. There are also photos with Ingrid Oliver, Michelle Gomez, Mark Gatiss, Danny Hargreaves and Nick Briggs still available for purchase via the website. Photos opportunities with Peter Capaldi are now sold out.

Visitors will experience what it’s really like to be on the Doctor Who set in front of and behind the camera in the Drama School and Production Village featuring Big Finish, Nick Briggs and Douglas MacKinnon, giving ticket holders the opportunity to learn voice acting from the voice of the Dalek himself and discover how to act with CGI.

Two of the iconic sets from Series 9 will be on open display to all ticket holders, and the set of Clara’s Living Room will be available to ticket holders for photo opportunities.
The ticket price includes day entry to the Festival, access to three theatre shows, lanyard, show planner and access to all the activity in the Festival Hall. TARDIS tickets also include the brochure, lounge access, front block theatre show seats and a Limited Edition Doctor Who Festival 2015 T-shirt.

Tickets are still available to purchase from the Doctor Who Festival website. 

Jenna Coleman IS leaving Doctor Who

After a week of speculation, Jenna Coleman announced on Radio One today that she has indeed filmed her final scenes in Doctor Who as Clara Oswald. She revealed to presenter Nick Grimshaw that she will leave at some point during the series, which starts on BBC One tomorrow night. 

It was also revealed today that she will be playing Queen Victoria in the new ITV drama series, Victoria.
How do you feel about her leaving? Let me know @BadWilf 

River Song to return at Christmas

The BBC announced today that River Song will be joinging the Dcotor on his Christmas adventure.
The eleventh Christmas special started filming this week and is written by showrunner Steven Moffat and, is directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

The BBC also released this synopsis:

“It’s Christmas Day in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveller River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas”.

Alex Kingston said on her reappearance:

“To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special. Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humor and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through. We had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September?, why not!”

Steven Moffat added:

“Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who – and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song? The last time the Doctor saw her, she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time…”

The character of River first appeared in 2008. She’s often regarded as a marmite companion.
My feeling is that River is to Steven Moffat what Rose was to Russell T Davies. He’ll neve be able to resist bringing her back.

Episode 63: Upsetting the Status Quo

In which Pete and Ash go rogue and record outside a pub and next to a building site. Can the ambience and the alcohol add to a review of the new novelisation of Doctor Who’s lost story ‘Shada’?

Check out Ash’s other podcasts Nights at the round table and Hammered Horror.

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

Check out our Youtube.

If you’d like to support the show, then please shop via our Amazon link. A small percentage goes our way, at no extra cost to you.

Socials:

Twitter:

Martyn – @BadWilf

Gerrod –@InGerrodsMind

Pete – @BeeblePete

Instagram:

Martyn-@BadWilf



TV Review-Mongels Series 2:Episode 4

We start off at Vince’s wedding reception. Nelson is the best man. Vince only wants to be portrayed in a positive way, which means Nelson had to throw his original speech out, so Nelson turns to his friends for stories about Vince.

Nelson isn’t overly impressed when Marion brings up Vince’s weekends with his son and recounting the plot to various films, such as Twilight, Tron Legacy, and Freaky Friday with himself and Vince as the main characters. It worked quite well, but the joke wore a little thin after the second joke.
Nelson tells the story of when he and Vince were stranded on an island, a traffic island in the middle of a duel carriageway.  Vince tries to cook him. Nelson manages to talk him out of it.  Nelson then stops his story, after remembering he and Vince had sex.  This section is genuinely funny, with Nelson quoting “what happens on the Island, stays on the Island”.

Eventually, the truth about Vince comes out, which leads to a brilliant musical number called, Vince Is A Massive C***. After the song, the bride tells Vince that she loves him and says, “Kiss me you c***”. Vince kills her and is now widowed.



This was a great episode, let down only by the Kali flashback. Kali had a period in her life, where she thought she was Will Smith, this consisted of her just saying the titles to Will Smith movies. Frankly, it felt beneath Mongrels the joke suited a canned laugher sitcom.

Mongrels has truly hit the ground running, I await the announcement of the inevitable third series.

Mongrels airs on BBC3, on Mondays at 10:30 pm