3rd Doctor Comics Coming

Starting August 31, Titan Comics will be releasing a 5-part miniseries starring the 3rd Doctor, Jo Grant, and Brigidier Lethbridge-Stewart. The Heralds of Destruction will be written by Paul Cornell and drawn by Christopher Jones.

When something enormous and extraterrestrial crashes into Bedfordshire, the Doctor, Jo Grant, and the forces of UNIT under Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart mobilize immediately to investigate – and find themselves in the middle of a pitched battle against a terrifying invader! But the shocking face that awaits their return to base may tip their whole world off its axis.

The Web of Fear and The Enemy of the World Found

The results of today's press conference are still embargoed until midnight, but the Northern Echo has leaked the results (and subsequently pulled them). Apparently all of The Enemy of the World and part of The Web of Fear have been found in an archive in Nigeria. Apparently part three of The Web of Fear is still missing.

Both Patrick Troughton stories were uncovered by Philip Morris, director of Television International Enterprises Archive. They include the introduction of then-Colonel Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (better known as the Brigadier). The Web of Fear also includes the villainous Great Intelligence, recently brought back by Steven Moffat for Series 7. Both stories will be made available on iTunes and DVD.

FOUR decades ago, Dr Who’s encounter with the mythical Yeti left a generation of children terrified and enthralled. The six part serial Web of Fear became one of the best-loved serials of the Patrick Troughton era. Sadly, in the 1970s the well-travelled time lord faced an enemy far deadlier than the Daleks – BBC beancounters.

In an effort to save money, tapes of classic shows were wiped and recorded over. In a matter of months some of the Doctor’s greatest adventures were lost… seemingly forever. The Web of Fear is one of the most missed serials, along with another Troughton era adventure, The Power of the Daleks. But now all six missing episodes have been found – in a dusty storeroom in Nigeria.

The previously lost nine shows were among 11 traced to a television relay station and the find brings back to life an entire six-episode story, while another is almost complete. The newly found programmes – which introduce the character of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, better known to audiences as The Brigadier – will be available on iTunes from today and will later come out on DVD.

Phillip Morris, the director of Television International Enterprises Archive, unearthed the programmes by looking up the records of overseas shipments of tapes made by the BBC.

The stories, The Enemy Of The World (1967) and The Web Of Fear (1968) and both starring Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor, have now been remastered by BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s commercial arm.

Mr Morris said: ‘‘I remember wiping the dust off the masking tape on the canisters and my heart missed a beat as I saw the words Doctor Who. When I read the story code, I realised I’d found something pretty special.’’

Only one episode of The Enemy Of The World – which featured Deborah Watling as companion Victoria and Frazer Hines, later to find fame in Emmerdale as Jamie – had remained in the archives, so the addition of programmes one, two, four, five and six have completed the story.

Fiona Eastwood, director of consumer products, BBC Worldwide, said: ‘‘We are thrilled with the recent discovery of The Web Of Fear and The Enemy Of The World and we’re very happy to be launching re-mastered versions of these treasured episodes to fans as we celebrate the 50th year of Doctor Who.’’

The BBC still had the first edition in the Web Of Fear story, and the new finds mean only number three is missing. The tale introduced Nicholas Courtney as Lethbridge-Stewart, who began with the rank of Colonel but later became Brigadier.

The missing episode has been recreated using 37 still images which were available and the original audio which survived.

Destiny of the Doctor: Vengeance of the Stones Review

I'm doing a series of reviews on the AudioGO/Big Finish audio adventure series Destiny of the Doctors. This month, it's Vengeance of the Stones, written by Andrew Smith and featuring the third Doctor, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and Lieutenant Mike Yates.

This is basically another one of your classic third Doctor-UNIT stories. It appears to be the first time the Doctor and the Brig meet Mike Yates, which would put it sometime in the first couple of seasons of the third Doctor.

The science in the story is completely rubbish. I mean some stuff on Doctor Who could actually happen, such as time travel and chameleon circuits, but stones as energy sources? Connecting with them telepathically? I mean, I can understand connecting with living things telepathically, but a rock? Come on!

The same thing that happened in the last two stories happened again. I'm really not sure what the Doctor is getting at, with a special telepathic rock and some data on a civilization of pure energy. He obviously needs them for something, but I can't tell quite what. I have a feeling that it may not be until the new series Doctors that we get an idea of what's really going on.

I like the idea of UNIT having a mobile command post in a C-130 Hercules. I'm not sure if they had that in the classic series (I doubt the BBC could have afforded to rent one), but it's definitely the type of thing UNIT would have.

I also like the inclusion of perception filters, which is not something you would have found in any classic series stories. I'm not sure how often Big Finish stories about classic Doctors borrow things like perception filters and psychic paper from the new series. I really haven't listened to enough of their stories to know.

Coming up next month, it's Babblesphere, written by Jonathan Morris and starring the fourth Doctor and Romana.