2012? Over already? Blimey. Here it is, the world(s) of Doctor Who in one big snatch from the lesser stories to the big~hitters. All delivered in typical Blogtorian style, let's do it!
JANUARY
Matt also turned up on UK children's programme
Blue Peter kicking off the Script to Screen competition (
watch him HERE) whilst Karen popped up on
The Graham Norton Show (
watch HERE).
Fandom got INTRIGUED when actor
Adrian Lester told Graham Norton on his radio show that he was "actively seeking" a role in
Doctor Who (s
ee HERE) but then fandom was ROCKED to its very core when
Drive director
Nicolas Winding Refn revealed he was turned down for a gig on
Who (
read HERE). Perhaps not as ROCKED when
Fern Britton shocked the nation with her hateful rant against "dreary"
Doctor Who on
Room 101 (
watch HERE).
ROCKING the
Whoniverse, however, were some references on US television shows; step up
The Big Bang Theory and
Leverage. Also ROCKING was our buddy
Murray "MuGo" Gold with his piano version of
I Am The Doctor (
watch HERE)
Merchandise-wise, we got treated to the brilliant DVD release of the William Hartnell story,
The Sensorites, featuring the fascinating documentary,
Looking For Peter -
Blogtor's review HERE.
Big Finish also kicked off the year with a box set of unfilmed
Tom Baker tales in the
Lost Stories box set featuring
The Foe From The Future and The Valley Of Death;
review HERE.
FEBRUARY
The production team bounded into action filming the final five episodes for The Ponds and gave us
THIS promo pic.
Matt Smith popped up on
Daybreak,
watch his interview HERE, whilst
Alex Kingston graced
The Graham Norton Show (
watch HERE) and
John Barrowman was interviewed on
The One Show (
watch HERE).
In the merchandise arena, we were treated to the
Revisitations 3 DVD boxset featuring
Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors and
The Robots of Death (
Blogtor's review HERE) and the complete finale series of
The Sarah Jane Adventures (
review HERE).
MARCH
The world of merchandise threw up
The Face of Evil (
review HERE) and the Pertwee classic,
The Dæmons (
review HERE) on DVD whilst the "unfinished" Douglas Adams "classic" Shada got finished by Gareth Roberts in a novel.
Lalla Ward lended her tones to the audio book,
review HERE. The former Mrs Tom Baker popped up on Graham Norton's radio show to promote it too! (
Listen HERE.)
Other
Who alumni hitting the media that month were
Sophie Aldred on
BBC Breakfast (
watch HERE) whilst
Mark Gatiss guested on
Being Human (
pics HERE) and
David Tennant promoted his film
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! on
The One Show (
watch HERE).
References weren't short on the ground with
Eastenders and
Watson & Oliver proving some mentions
HERE. Finally,
Tom Baker gave a wonderful tribute to
Who legend
Philip Madoc (pictured right in
Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.) who sadly passed away;
listen to it HERE.
APRIL
The man a lot of
Who~fans hated in the Eighties,
Michael Grade, presented a radio show which took in the return of
Doctor Who in 2005. Chatting with him were
Russell T Davies,
Jane Tranter,
Lorraine Heggessey,
Mal Young and
Steven Moffat - listen HERE.
Colin Baker, now a reality show favourite, made a fan's life easier by helping him sell off his collection of
Who goodies,
watch Get Your House In Order HERE. Lovely
Murray Gold showed up on YouTube again showing off his talents, this time a guitar-laden Western-themed version of the
Doctor Who theme tune,
watch HERE.
As a special treat, Tom Baker classic
Nightmare Of Eden was released on DVD,
review HERE. My legs, my arms, my everything!
MAY
Fandom SIGHED a SIGH of relief as some ACTUAL new
Doctor Who was aired.
Good As Gold was a magnificent minisode broadcast on
Blue Peter and written by schoolchildren in the Script To Screen competition -
watch it HERE.
Fandom then SWOONED as
Matt Smith and
Benedict Cumberbatch shared a... stage to award
Steven Moffat at the BATFAs. You can
watch that HERE.
Speaking of swooning, BBC Four aired
Tales Of Television Centre, a documentary which included Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Katy Manning, Louise
Jameson, director Graeme Harper and
some very rare outtakes with
Peter Davison and also
Tom Baker with
John Cleese - (
available HERE).
JUNE
The new
Doctor Who studios in Cardiff opened, and the gang introduced as all to Roath Lock
HERE. Nearby,
Matt Smith RAN, sort of, with the Olympic Torch. Fandom was DISAPPOINTED when Mazza was dressed in a tracksuit and NOT as The Doctor. (Not really.) The Smithster also turned up at
The 11th Hour Convention - check out Blogtor's review of the event HERE (which also featured
Who alumni such as Mark Sheppard, Neve McIntosh and Frances Barber, amongst many others).
Fans got EXCITED when some behind~the~scenes footage from the first Dalek movie was unearthed (
details HERE) whilst, in other Dalek news,
Death to the Daleks popped up on DVD
(review HERE). Some fans got APOPLECTIC as
David Tennant and
Billie Piper were reunited, sort of, on telly in mini-series,
True Love (pics
HERE and
HERE).
Sadly, actress
Caroline John passed away on this month; best known to
Who~fans as Liz Shaw during Jon Pertwee's first series. You can read the BBC's
obituary HERE.
JULY
More sad news for
Who~fans came with the news that another former companion
Mary Tamm had passed away. Tamm played the original Romana and prefect foil to Tom Baker's gregarious excess.
You can read the BBC obituary HERE.
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
Or
Who~ember, as no one called it
(despite Blogtor's repeated attempts).
Series 7 landed on its very first day with
Asylum of the Daleks (round~up of all its news, pics and clips HERE) and popularity was higher than ever with the
episode setting a new international simulcast record. Check out all the details on the rest of the series in the links here -
Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, A Town Called Mercy, The Power of Three and
The Angels Take Manhattan.
And, if that wasn't enough, you can
download all the audio commentaries for the episodes HERE.
To promote the "series",
Matt Smith chatted with Alan Carr on
Alan Carr: Chatty Man (watch HERE, but best not with the kids)
whilst
Karen Gillan went Stateside to speak with Conan O'Brien (
watch HERE).
Staying in the US, kids show
Sesame Street managed to do a song about
Doctor Who. No, really.
Watch it HERE.
Back in Blighty, long-running "quiz" show Mastermind included a Doctor Who round, how did you fare?
Merchandise-wise, the magnificent
Remote Control Sonic Screwdriver hit the streets with trouser~tightening delight -
check out Blogtor's thoughts on the lovely bit of tech HERE. The Colin Baker "classic"
Vengeance On Varos got another home release and, for the first time ever, Blogtor let someone else do a DVD review,
check it HERE.
OCTOBER