Ready to play a Doctor Who trading card game? Wizards of the Coast has announced that it’s making a Doctor Who crossover with the popular Magic: The Gathering, the tabletop and digital collectible card game first released in 1993. Magic will include new cards and four unique commander decks featuring Doctor Who characters during late 2023. And while that will surely excite a lot of card game…

I find that Doctor Who fans tend to be an inquisitive bunch. With all of time and space as its scope, the show means we learn about all sorts of fascinating topics — but chiefly history and science. And no, Doctor Who doesn’t always get them right, but it makes a great effort to educate (as per its original mission). With that in mind, we want to explore wider space-time a bit on the DWC, and…

When Arthur Darvill starred in Big Finish’s adaptation of Frankenstein, I wondered how long it would take for him to return as Rory Williams. His turn as the villainous Frank Layton in Torchwood: Believe was so good and different to his other roles, that I didn’t realise it was him at first. Even though he was now doing audios, I didn’t think we would see the return of Rory until Matt Smith and…

Yesterday was 11 years since The Eleventh Hour debuted, introducing us properly to the Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith, plus Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams. Now, the latter is back, this time for Big Finish, in The Lone Centurion – Volume One: Rome, released today! Companion to the Eleventh Doctor. Father of River Song. And, for 2000 years (or thereabouts),…

Arthur Darvill is returning to Doctor Who for Big Finish’s upcoming series, The Lone Centurion, and so the audio company caught up with the actor, who played Rory between 2010 and 2012. In the interview, Arthur revealed he was reluctant to return, but was won over by the scripts. He says: “If it was dark and moody, I wouldn’t have been interested. The amusing comedy side of it really appealed…

Following on from Scratchman written by Tom Baker and At Childhood’s End by Sophie Aldred, BBC Books continues its range of titles written by Doctor Who actors telling stories about the character they played on TV: this year, it’s Alex Kingston’s turn to deliver The Curse, a novel featuring Professor River Song! Her tale seems to wind in plot strands from several TV tales, including The…

Looking forward to hearing Arthur Darvill return as Rory Williams for audio company, Big Finish? Join the club. And now, our appetites have been further whetted, with the cover artwork and synopsis for The Lone Centurion – Volume One: Rome, due for release in April 2021. The centurion from Leadworth face emperors, assassins, and certain death – if only he wasn’t immortal. This brand new series…

The first Chemistry we were set (in about 1975) was to explain how the universe came into being. We were not allowed to cite Genesis Chapter 1. In those days, ‘universe’ meant all of creation: today, we would say ‘cosmos’. I turned in a short paragraph about the Big Bang and earned the comment “where did the first particle come from?” Scientific thinking (at least at pre-O level standard) had…

I used to hate Matt Smith. I thought he was a dreadful choice for a new Doctor. Too young, too inexperienced, not taking it seriously. Just not ready, somehow. Karen Gillan was no better. They looked like two teenagers who’d hotwired the TARDIS and were taking it for a joyride through Stretham. Worst casting decision ever. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, Doctor Who died that day.

Th…

An exploding TARDIS… Who’d have thought it’d prove so popular with fans?! It’s odd, in a way, particularly given that the famous space-time ship is the cornerstone of all Doctor Who, without which we would have no series. (Not that it did the Third Doctor any harm…)

Anyway, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain: in the Series 5 episode, The Pandorica Opens, the painter…

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit weird?”

“They never really stop.”

Written by Gareth Roberts and directed by Catherine Morshead, The Lodger is a mostly lighthearted romp of an episode. And even though it just turned 10 years old, it still remains one of my all-time favourite Doctor Whoepisodes. Not bad for an story where the Doctor gains most of his information by talking to a…

Later this year, Obverse Books will be accepting pitches for new editions of The Black Archive, 20,000– 40,000-word analyses of individual Doctor Who TV stories. Previous open pitch window submissions have resulted in a number of new titles in the range, including The Black Archive #44: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang (written by me).

The submission window opens in September 2020 and runs…

Arthur Darvill is back as Eleventh Doctor companion, Rory Williams, for audio company, Big Finish, as we explore the legends of The Lone Centurion!

Rory returns in his own full-cast audio series, as the guardian of the Pandorica for nearly 2000 years.

Legend tells of the Lone Centurion — a mysterious figure dressed as a Roman soldier who stood guard over the Pandorica, warning off those who…

The Black Archive from Obverse Books is a series of book-length essays, each of which looks at a single Doctor Who story from 1963 to the present. Now running to more than 40 volumes, the back catalogue features some leading names in Doctor Who writing including Jonathan Morris, Kate Orman, and Una McCormack.

Philip Bates may have felt daunted to be in this kind of company when he started out…

The latest edition of Obverse Books’ Black Archive range of monographs is out now, examining the Doctor Who Series 5 finale, The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang – and it’s written by me!

I’ve been working on this book for around two years now, involving some writing and a lot of research. I’ve looked into quantum entanglement, anomalies, time loops, the heat-death of the universe, and theories…

The latest Black Archive title from Obverse Books covers my favourite Doctor Who story ever – which is just as well because I wrote this book! Yep, you can now pre-order The Black Archive #44: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, which is written by me – but don’t let that put you off.

The Series 5 finale, written by Steven Moffat, features Total Event Collapse: the TARDIS explodes and takes all…

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

“Three things will last forever —…