The WIDWWA Newsletter - Issue 7

Welcome back to the WIDWWA Newsletter. You’ll notice we’re quite a bit shorter this month, and that’s for a reason. A few weeks ago, I announced a few changes to the Newsletter going forward. These changes aren’t huge, but it will mean a distinctly different WIDWWA Newsletter to what you have been used to for the last few months.

The main change is that, to ease the pressure off me, The Companion Factor, Logo-polis, and Time Capsule will be suspended until following the publication of the first WIDWWA book. They won’t be gone forever, but for the next few months, these features will be absent in the WIDWWA Newsletter. To replace them, I will be reorientating the Newsletter to focus more on fan-led content, which don’t rely as heavily on having to write several long features every month.

There will also be some other cosmetic changes, however these won’t be as drastic as what we saw earlier this year. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading the WIDWWA Newsletter in this new phase of its life, and that you don’t miss the three suspended features too much, as they will be back later this year.

Fan led content has already been filtering into the newsletter but not quite as much as I’d have hoped. So if you have an article you’d like to write, please email me and if it’s good enough, I’ll see about including it in here. From this issue, we are bringing back the Fan Fiction section of the Newsletter, as while it wasn’t absent by choice, it was because many of your stories are taking quite a while to fully develop and write. However, please please keep

May Releases

7 May - 19:00

Dokter Wie - Season 3, Episode 7

8 May - 20:00

Dokter Who - Season 56, Episode 1

14 May - 19:00

Dokter Wie - Season 3, Episode 8

15 May - Time Slot TBC

Dokter Who - Season 56, Episode 2

21 May - 19:00

Dokter Wie - Season 3, Episode 9

22 May - Time Slot TBC

Dokter Who - Season 56, Episode 3

28 May - 19:00

Dokter Wie - Season 3, Episode 10

29 May - Time Slot TBC

Dokter Who - Season 56, Episode 4

Releases will appear on the WIDWWA Wordpress (widwwa.wordpress.com) at the time specified on the release schedule, on the day specified on the release schedule. All times are in UK time.

submitting, as filling these pages up, really does take the burden off me, while I’m writing the book. Finally, Season 56 starts this month, and once again, it’ll be presented to you like Season 55. Every week at it’s BBC One transmission time, I’ll publish it on the WIDWWA Wordpress. Then, 50 minutes later, I’ll exclusively release a short Next Time trailer on the WIDWWA Discord Server. So if you’re not a member of the server, and want to see these, contact me and I’ll see about getting you an invite link.

So, I really hope you enjoy these episodes, and if you have anything you want to say about them, please write in for a chance to be featured in the newsletter next month. Your opinion matters, and the community really loves seeing different peoples viewpoints.

Karey Kirkpatrick Departs Doctor Who VIII as Screenwriter

20 April 2022

Screenwriter, Karey Kirkpatrick, who was announced to be writing Doctor Who’s eighth film, and 60’’ Anniversary celebration, has departed the project, due to creative differences with director, Mick Jackson, and Paramount Pictures.

Kirkpatrick previously wrote the screenplay for Doctor Who: The Upgrade from Tomorrow. A new screenwriter will be announced in due course.

The film, itself, is expected to begin filming in the late summer, following the TV show’s current production, which is expected to end in June, and a summer break. The film will be one of the first productions by WhoStudios, who will be producing it alongside BBC Films and Paramount Pictures.

No additional reasons were given for Kirkpatrick’s departure.

Episode Titles, Writers & Directors Announced!

5 April-4 May 2022

It has been announced that the first episode of Season 56, will be entitled ‘The Carnivorous Jungle’ and will be written by Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Rachel Talalay. Talalay will also direct Episode 5 and Episode 7.

Episode 2 will be titled ‘The Guardian’s Tale’ and written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson. Episde 3 will be titled ‘The Face of the Enemy’ and written by Ira Steven Behr. Both episodes will be directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan.

Episode 4 will be titled ‘The Cry of the Past’ and will be written by Matthew B. Roberts. John Dahl will serve as director for the episode.

David Weddle, Bradley Thompson, Ira Steven Behr & Matthew B. Roberts will be serving as CoExecutive Producers on the series.

Doctor Who: The Daleks’ Master Plan Trailer

Released

25 April 2022

A 40-second TV trailer for The Daleks’ Master Plan, premiered on BBC One, in a bumper between EastEnders and Panorama.

This was followed by a longer 108 second trailer being released online, through various social media platforms, including the official Doctor Who YouTube Channel and the Paramount+ YouTube Channel.

The 40-second TV trailer continued to be aired across linear BBC channels, up until the 8 May premiere. A 30-second edit of the trailer was frequently seen on both CBS, and internationally around the world, advertising it’s Paramount+ premiere.

All the important announcements from April from the WIDWWA universe!

Review by Tadeusz Cisłak

The following are reviews for episodes in the ‘What if Doctor Who Wasn’t Axed?’ universe from March 2022. If you have not read any of these episodes, you can do so on the WIDWWA blog which is at www.widwwa.wordpress.com

Dokter Wie: Eindspel Episodes 1-6

So the last few episodes of Dokter Wie, uhm... existed?

Sorry, guys, this time I don’t have much for you. The more I try to say something about them, the more I have nothing to. I raised my eyebrow when Gallifreyan Panopticon had virtually no knowledge about Gallifreyan weapon designed by legendary Gallifreyan engineer... And that would be it. Pipe Dreams happened, stuff in the Matrix happened, Museum heist... Wait, there was a museum heist in Endgame?

I think I finally figured out why I didn’t like Endgame initially. I focused on the plot and the plot, uhmm, honestly there isn’t much to it in this movie. Some planet gets wiped out by the Daleks, Rogue calls The Doctor to the Pleasure Planet, then Pleasure Planet gets wiped out, Chris dies, Doctor falls into grief but after a pep talk from Zenla goes to fight Valeyard in the Eye of Harmony, where they both die. The end. Not that much of substance. What makes this story are character dramas, bonds

between the audience, Doctor, Zenla and Chris, and it was only after a couple months after Endgame that I truly felt those bonds.

While I have some sympathy towards Wendy Van Dijk’s De Dokter, her companions are no Zenla and Chris, I’m not able to just project their British counterparts onto Evert or Berendjen to care about them, and last two seasons haven’t make me like them. Thus in this season I’m once again left indifferent to the events happening with them, and neither the plot characterization are good enough to change that. I guess Dutch broadcaster wasn’t the only one not to miss this show. When it comes to Borusa taking over as big bad, it’s a decent move to shake things up in the plot a bit, but still not something that would hook me on at this stage. I applaud writers for at least trying though.

Episode Previews

Season Three - Episode Seven

Season Three - Episode Eight

If you’ve used Google Translate, this one should be pretty obvious to you. Yes, it is an adaptation of Season 31 story ‘The Sanctuary of Confession’. If you remember the context of last week, you’ll realise that the Dokter is in a pretty low state right now, following the apparent victory of the Daleks and Borusa, and a visit to the oldest temple in the universe for some quiet reflection is just what she wants right now... But it’s Dokter Wie, so of course it isn’t entirely quiet.

Season Three - Episode Nine

The title of this one translates to ‘Empire of the Daleks’, and we’re right back in the action with the Dokter’s most fearsome foes. This one takes us all the way up to the Daleks’ arriving at the Eye of Harmony in ‘Endgame’, but it does so in some surprising ways. Additionally, we send some more time on Gallifrey, as Borusa begins to feel his people turn against him. There’s a lot more going on in this episode, but I don’t wish to spoil it too much.

Season Three - Episode Ten

The translation for this one is ‘Battle for the Universe’.... if you know ‘Endgame’ you’ll know what’s going on here. While ‘Endgame’ was a major motion picture, with a large budget, the Dutch decide to try and up it, and take the battle to a whole other level, on a micro-budget... does it work??? Well that’s for you to decide. Let’s just say, we have 45 minutes of a ‘Battle for the Universe’ and it’s about as epic as they could possibly make it.

The final episode of the season is ‘The End of the Universe’, and it’s also the final episode of the show. It’s not a fun episode. The Dutch decided to end their show in perhaps the most heartless and downright depressing ending possible. There’s none of the bittersweetness of the real ‘Endgame’ here, for the promise of a resolution, instead everything is about as bad as it can get.

A large part of the most iconic material from the original ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ is from the first two episodes, alongside ‘Mission to the Unknown’. This opening episode is that. It’s a modern retelling of all that iconic jungle based action on Kembel. Think Daleks with flame throwers, or secret meetings led by Mavic Chen, and constant danger from evil Varga plants. Additionally, we get a lot of action on Earth, which wasn’t quite there in the original, focusing on Sara Kingdom... Expect the usual Moore flare here, mixed in with the original Terry Nation.

While this episode doesn’t divert us entirely from the larger story, we do, as the title suggest, spent a lot of the runtime focusing on Mavic Chen, the Guardian of the Solar System. Some of this is in the present, but there’s also a lot delving into the backstory of the most popular, and most evil man, in the Solar System. To be nice, I’ll leave you with one teaser, something you might not be expecting, but so very Ronald D. Moore... Mavic Chen grew up in the graveyard of the Gaian Empire, and let’s just say the Gaians are to him what the Romans were to Hitler.

Season Three - Episode Five Season Three - Episode Six

There’s not much I can say about Episode 3 without major spoilers, but what I will say is this is the game changer. The whole story is not the same following this episode, and the cliffhanger... well that might just shock everyone. Not only do we have elements of the original serial really developing throughout, but we also have story arcs beginning to form... and our first mention of the Restoration, and therefore our first hints to what frightened the Intendent so very much.

Episode 4 begins the Sixteenth Doctor’s journey into exploring his past, and the past that has been revoked from his memories. We begin to find out just why and for what purpose. There’s also a lot of focus on Mavic Chen’s regime in this one, as the Daleks begin to turn their back on him, and he resorts to desperate measures. Again, not much I can say here, but stayed tuned, as this is where things get really exciting!

Season Three - Episode Three Season Three - Episode Four

Ronald D. Moore is back... with a

Back in November, it was announced, at ODWC, that Ronald D. Moore would be returning to reimagine ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ in a 6x50 minute serial, which would also launch Doctor Who as a Paramount+ Original, outside of the United Kingdom. I went into the story behind why this happened and what happened in Issue 2 of this Newsletter, so I shan’t repeat myself, however, what I can give you is an extended preview into the next six weeks of Doctor Who!

So, first of all let’s get some basic questions answered first. Is this a remake? Yes and no, it’s a reimagining of the original 1965/66 serial, but not a beat-for-beat remake. The general idea is... what if instead of the First Doctor, Steven and Katarina arriving on Kembel, the Sixteenth Doctor did instead... however, this is all part of the story, so please wait around for a few episodes and you’ll know exactly why that is.

The second question I’ve had a lot is simply... why? Why has this been done? Well, the in-universe story is that following ‘The Martian Equinox’, which was a pseudo-sequel to ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’, Moore had expressed interest in revisiting the (largely missing) story in some form, as he felt the setting it created had a lot of untapped potential to be explored. Initially, Moore had planned a pseudoremake of the serial for the opening two-parter of Season 53, which would set up the season arc with someone tampering with the Doctor’s memories and timeline. Additionally, peppered throughout the season, but not every episode, would be additional

reimaginings of missing serials. Moore’s original idea was for it to all tie into a time-hopping paradox created by the Ascended Daleks (from Panopticon), which would all collimate in his planned Season 53 finale. Obviously none of this came to be after Ronald D. Moore was fired and Season 53 was handed over to Adrian Hodges. In 2021, after Mal Young and Jane Espenson had settled on their 3-serial format for Season 56, Espenson approached Moore about showrunning the first one. Initially, Moore did say no. He had reservations about returning to Doctor Who, especially after what had happened in 2017, but he had maintained a friendship with Espenson over the years, so shrugged the offer off as her being very gracious. He was also busy with showrunning Apple TV+’s ‘For All Mankind’. However, upon discussing the offer with Ira Steven Behr, over dinner, Behr encouraged Moore to reconsider, telling him that he never got to finish his time on Doctor Who properly, and Espenson’s offer was one that probably wouldn’t come around again, especially as she was going to be leaving the franchise. After some consideration, Moore did eventually meet with Espenson again, where she discussed a list of possible things they could do for the serial, which, finally managed to win him round and Moore accepted the offer. Unbeknownst to Moore, Espenson had asked Ben Aaronovitch to fill his place, but Espenson terminated the agreement, following Moore accepting to come on board. While in his early discussions with Espenson, Moore reminded her

MASTER PLAN!

of his ideas for Season 53, and said that a full-on ‘Battlestar Galactica’ style reimaging of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ could work well for a 6-episode serial format, and Espenson instantly enthusiastic.

As work began, Moore was bound to strict secrecy, as Mal Young, in his usual showman-like style, decided that everything would be kept confidential until late-November at the Official Doctor Who Convention, meaning that production would already be a month in at this point, let alone the amount of time it’d have to remain secret in pre-production. It was decided that until after the convention, Moore would work remotely for the United States on the show, in order to prevent fans connecting the dots,

if he was sighted in Scotland. Moore also had to delay Season 3 of ‘For All Mankind’, but in order to prevent fans from being suspicious, it was officially cited as being because of “the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic”. Moore vowed to return to ‘For All Mankind’, as soon as his work on Doctor Who had wrapped.

As showrunner, Moore decided not to “go it alone”, instead calling up his back-catalogue of writers, from his era, to contribute to the serial. He also assembled them, once again, in a (zoom) writers’ room, to help with storylining. These writers were Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, Ira Steven Behr and Matthew B. Roberts. For two weeks, they storylined

the serial, and worked out who would write which episode. They were once again given the credit of CoExecutive Producer – the first time Ira Steven Behr had held this credit on Doctor Who.

Moore similarly consulted directors he was used to working with, hiring Rachel Talalay, John Dahl and also Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, who he’d met on Battlestar Galactica and wanted to use on Doctor Who for years, but was always unavailable.

After coordination with Espenson it was decided that Block 1 would be handled by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, and cover Episodes 2&3, while Block 2 would be handle by Rachel Talalay, and would shoot in Vancouver on the Pixomondo AR Wall. Additionally, this Block, for production reasons would cover the Centenary Special, as well. This meant Espenson would be shooting a Block of 3 episodes, covering Episodes 1, 5 and 7.

After filming completed in America, the Block wrapped with a day of filming on the TARDIS set in Block 3 was handled covering Episodes 4 and 6, and were both

Scotland. Blocks 4, 5 and 6, were then shot, for Renwick’s 2023 serial. Block 6 is expected to complete filming in June 2022. It has not yet been revealed which 3 directors will be handling those shooting blocks. Producer wise, Moore hired Nikki Wilson for Block 1, Seth Edelstein for Block 2 and Brian Minchin for Block 3.

Casting wise, Moore was happy to work with Andy Pryor, again, especially while casting the returning legacy characters. Suranne Jones was suggested very early on, in discussions, and she was invited for a screen test for, a 6-episode Doctor Who recurring character, called Jean Morgan – a pseudonym (in order to keep the secret) created from Jean Marsh (Sara Kingdom’s original actor), and Morgaine (the character Marsh played in Battlefield). It was only after Jones accepted the role, that she was told the truth, and then forced to sign an NDA. In preparation for filming, Jones met with Jean Marsh to discuss the character of Sara Kingdom. It was during this meeting that the two came up with the idea of Marsh cameoing as an old Sara Kingdom in Episode 6. Jones presented this to Moore, who instantly loved the idea and wrote it into the script. Although wanting to keep it a surprise, Mal Young was told, in April, that news of Marsh’s appearance was likely to leak, so the upcoming trailer for the season was adjusted to include Marsh at the end, allowing for Young to officially reveal the news.

Moore had agreed, early on, with Pryor, that for Mavic Chen they wanted to cast a genuine Asian actor, as while Kevin Stoney’s performance was popular with Doctor Who fans, it would be simply racist to use a white actor in the role. Therefore Pryor set about auditioning Asian men between the ages of 60 and 80 for the role of Vaughn Chang, another pseudonym. Togo Igawa was eventually cast in the role, and then told exactly who he’d be playing. In 1995, Igawa had previously appeared in the Season 32 serial ‘Saint Anthony’s Fire’ as the character, Hovv. Further recurring legacy characters were auditioned with pseudonyms, as well, in the months leading up to production.

Production officially began at BBC Scotland on 18 October 2021, the day after the broadcast of ‘The Highland Beast’ in complete secrecy. The production had been plagued with leaks recently, and the team at BBC Scotland were

extremely nervous about more leaks travelling out of the set. As a precaution, all the call sheets, scripts and paperwork included false character names, with some scripts containing different scenes, as well, so if something did leak, it could be tracked back to who. Unfortunately for the production team, a call sheet did leak to the Mirror, however, due to the use of pseudonyms the surprise was (largely) kept. Although some fans on the internet had manage to crack the code, and work out what the pseudonyms were hiding, the theory wasn’t widespread, so most fans were genuinely surprised at ODWC, when it was announced.

Although Ruth Barrett had been Doctor Who’s composer for the past two seasons, Moore called upon Bear McCreary once again to handle the music, however, Jeff Russo’s theme did remain. The title sequence remained the same as Season 55 too, with the only change being the logo, which now remained on screen for less

time as it moves off the screen and then is replaced by a ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ main ‘Doctor Who’ logo. Everything

Jones”, “and Togo Igawa”, remained the same as Season 55. The title cards remained the same, except above the episode title a smaller “Episode One”

So, with the first episode coming out Season 55 completed airing, let’s buckle up to relive a reimagined Master

The End Board INTO H-D

FEATURE BY

Welcome to the third part of our guide through Who endboards, as we look at the history of endboards used at the end credits for Doctor Who.

This time, it’s the turn of Seasons 44-50, the Joseph, Suchet and Bond eras.

Beginning with Season 44, the debut of Paterson Joseph as the Doctor, and the endboard style remains the same as the previous season, only with it now in HD and the change in copyright year. This was also used for Season 45 as well as the first series of Panopticon.

In late-2008, BBC Wales had been renamed BBC Cymru Wales, and thus introduced a new, animated logo. This was first used in the endboard for the 2008 Christmas special, ‘The One Doctor’, replacing the previous BBC Wales logo and small adjustments made to fit the new logo in. This style was also used in Panopticon Series 2.

On 17th May 2009, CBS Paramount Television was renamed CBS Television Studios, marking the end of the Paramount name after over 40 years and over 10 years in the endboards. A new logo for the refreshed company was introduced and made its debut to the endboard for Season 46. Similar to the inclusion of the BBC Cymru Wales logo, changes were afoot. But it wasn’t just a case of replacing the logo; with Paramount no more, the copyright line was simplified as ‘BBC/CBS MMIX’. This would also be used for Panopticon Series 3, and Season 47.

Here’s Panopticon’s endboard style from Series 4-7. Unlike Leftover, Panopticon’s endboards were more consistent; helped with it and Who being produced by BBC Cymru Wales, and sharing similar production teams, so there’s no chance of going wrong here!

In early 2011, BBC Cymru Wales refreshed its logo slightly, with a new animation.

Once more, the endboard saw little change with adjustments to the text to fit the snazzy new image of the company. This style debuted in Panopticon Series 4, and was last used on Doctor Who for Season 48 ahead of its hiatus, but stayed in use for the remainder of Panopticon’s run, up to its seventh and final season in 2013.

For Season 49, Doctor Who’s new coshowrunner Ronald D. Moore took the decision to relocate the show to Scotland to show off the plethora of locations it offered. This meant Doctor Who was now produced by BBC Scotland, and like everything else in the season, the endboard had a number of changes. Firstly and obviously, BBC Scotland’s logo replaced Cymru Wales, with it’s rotating symbol being part of its image since 2009.

Another change was that the ‘co-production’ credited section was now dropped, in favour of ‘Drama Production’ underneath the BBC Scotland logo. This was part of something the BBC had been doing since 2013, by naming their production genres and locations in most of their programme endboards. The CBS Television Studios logo returns mostly untouched, as does the copyright line, and this style remained the same up to the end of Season 50.

We’ve nearly made it to the present day, as I bring you the conclusion to the endboards saga, for now... until next year once WhoStudios gets into gear. Still, quite a lot to look forward to in the last look for now. Seasons 51-55: new aspect ratio, the invasion of BBC Studios and some sort of footprint logo that’s also invaded nearly every UK TV programme endboard. We’ll talk more about that in part four. See you then.

WIDWWA

Throughout the history of WIDWWA, we’ve very rarely looked at anything secondary to the TV show, however, now that this newsletter exists, we can shine a light on some of the things that would’ve accompanied it. One of the longest-running and most loved for (in-universe) Doctor Who fans would’ve been ‘After Who’, a BBC Three aftershow which ran from 2004-2016, airing directly after it’s corresponding episode. The best comparison for real-life Doctor Who fans would be the reallife behind-the-scenes aftershow ‘Doctor Who: Confidential’ which aired on BBC Three between 2005-2011, however After Who, while similar, was still distinctly different.

Originally conceived for Season 40 in 2003, it took another year for BBC Three’s Doctor Who aftershow ‘After Who’ to launch, coinciding with the premiere of Season 41. Alongside Ira Steven Behr & Julie Gardner, experienced unscripted TV producer, Guy Freeman, was appointed Executive Producer of the series. Freeman was the defacto showrunner of ‘After Who’, and it was he who put together the show’s format. The format was originally a 15-minute pre-recorded show, which saw host, Jo Whiley, interview three guests involved in the episode, together on a sofa. The general rule of thumb for the three guests tended to be “two actors & one creative”. For example, the first episode, featured guests, Anthony Head, Don Warrington & Ira Steven Behr. In addition to the sofa interview, the show usually featured two short featurettes which went into an aspect of the ‘making-of’ the episode, these were interspersed throughout the run, breaking up the sofa interview. These featurettes are much more like the kind of thing you’d see in ‘Doctor Who: Confidential’ albeit in a much smaller format. The show was shot at BBC Wales, during the shooting of Season 41, and didn’t feature a studio audience. Each episode was also given its own title, which was often either the working title for the episode, or some sort of pun about said episode.

When the fourth season of Leftover aired in Summer 2005, the decision was made to broadcast 13 After Who shows for it on BBC Three These were slightly differently, in that, while still prerecorded, they weren’t recorded at the same time as production, as production was in the United States,

and After Who was being made in Wales, as well.

Therefore, a few weeks before broadcast, all 13 episodes were recorded over a period of 3-days at BBC Wales, again, without a studio audience. The featurettes were the only part of the production produced, in the United States, on set.

The format remained pretty much the same for the next two series, accompanying Season 42 & Season 43. The only difference that occurred was for Season 43, the title sequence was updated to feature a 3D version of the ‘After Who’ logo, like with the main show. The After Whos for Rebel Zero were produced at the same time as the rest of Season 42, and unlike Leftover’s, did not feature a Rebel Zero subtitle, just looking like four additional Season 42 ‘After Who’ episodes.

Following Season 43, Guy Freeman departed ‘After Who’, with Mark Cossey taking over as Executive Producer. Some big format changes occurred, especially as a whole new era was being launched. The decision was made by Cossey to replace Jo Whiley with Zoe Ball, as host, and for the show to be doubled in length to 30 minutes. Additionally, the programme was recorded in high-definition, to match the main show moving to the format, which meant that (most of the time) ‘After Who’ followed ‘Doctor Who’ on BBC HD, as well as airing on BBC Three. With its increased timeslot, more behindthe-scenes featurettes were included, throughout the run time, with a lot more focus on the script to screen process, but also on specialist aspects such as music or costume design. Additionally, as well as a sofa interview with the three studio guests, Cossey introduced occasional challenges, quizzes, and games for them to do. Some of these were entirely random, focusing on nothing related to Doctor Who at all, while others were about Doctor Who trivia and knowledge.

Following Season 44, ‘After Who’ were commissioned to make a series to accompany ‘Panopticon’, which was given the title ‘After Who: Post Panopticon’. These, while produced separately to the main ‘After Who’ series, pretty much kept to the same format established by Cossey for Season 44.

This format, with Cossey as Executive Producer, Zoe Ball as host, and generally everything I’ve just

described, survived from 2007, all the way to the end of Panopticon Series 4, in 2011. During this time, ‘Space and Time’ and ‘Time Crash’ both received short 10-minute ‘After Who’ shows, aired later on during their respective Children in Need telethons. Also, while the movies never received ‘After Who’ shows, for obvious reasons, ‘Doctor Who: Vengeance’ did receive one, following the broadcast of Panopticon’s ‘Vengeance, Part I’ and ‘Vengeance, Part II’. These shows also employed the standard Paterson Joseph era branding, omitting the ‘Post Panopticon’ subtitle, and focused primarily on the movie itself, especially as it featured such guests as Paterson Joseph, Dougray Scott, Juliet Landau, Siobhan Redmond, Gareth Roberts and Robert Shearman, across its two-weeks. ‘Leftover: End of Days’ also received three-after shows, in much the same manner as Season 4’s shows had been done five years earlier.

Things changed, in 2011, when for Season 48, a revamp of the show took place. This occurred due to the fact Zoe Bal had decided to move on from the show, and BBC Three saw this as an opportunity to refresh the programme. Cossey remained as Executive Producer, however, many of the changes that took place were made by executives at BBC Three. The new host for the show was comedian and self-confessed Doctor Who fan, Rufus Hound, who garnered a mixed response from viewers, with many applauding his Doctor Who knowledge, but others finding his persona irritating. Additionally, the show was changed to being broadcast live, with a studio audience, a stark departure from the previous 7 years’ worth of pre-recorded shows. Also, the episode titles for the show were dropped, after 116 episodes, with every episode from Checkmate onwards being given the title ‘After Checkmate’, ‘After Broken Shackles’ etc... This was explained by Cossey as being because they simply “ran out of titles” after seven years. The studio, itself, was given a massive revamp, with a LED wall being introduced, at the far side, which not only played the episode live for the studio audience, beforehand, but also showcased the featurettes throughout the show, and during the interviews featured animated background graphics of the ‘After Who’ logo. With the audience present, Hound took the opportunity to extensively interact with them throughout the shows, often calling members up onto the sofas, to ask questions to the studio guests, or partake in challenges.

Like with ‘Panopticon’, when ‘Cold Front’ launched, it received ‘After Who’ shows, too, in the same format. This led to the much-mocked title for one of its episodes ‘After Aftermath’. With ‘Doctor Who’ being off air, though, and only ‘Panopticon’

and ‘Cold Front’ after shows being made, the ratings inevitably did go down, over time, and Rufus Hound’s hosting style, which wasn’t universally popular, didn’t help either. Criticisms began mounting that the show was too long, too unfocused, and overall boring. The decision was made in early 2013, that for Season 49’s shows, both Cossey and Hound would depart with a new Exec Producer and Host taking over. However, this era did end on a very high note, as the After Who for ‘Doctor’ garnered a record amount of viewers, following the reveal of Samantha Bond as the 14th Doctor, and the unbilled appearance (but trailed in the BBC One continuity) of Samantha Bond on the show. Bond therefore was able to give her first interview about ‘Doctor Who’ to After Who, and Ronald D. Moore was also able to tease his upcoming era too.

For the Season 49’s shows, BBC Three decided to strip back the show and literally go back to basics as they rehired Guy Freeman, to take over as Executive Producer, and he then rehired Jo Whiley as presenter, with the show essentially going back to its original format. The show stayed in the 30-minute slot, as BBC Three were happy with it, but the challenges and quizzes were taken out of the show. Apart from “big” episodes, such as premieres and finales, the live audience was scrapped, with the show (largely) going back to being pre-recorded. This allowed Freeman to introduced “insert interviews” with actors or creatives unavailable at the time of the show being recorded, which were shot at an earlier or a later date, and then inserted into the show. The same set as used during the Rufus Hound era was used, but slightly modified. A TARDIS was put at the rear of the studio, for guests to walk through the TARDIS doors at the beginning of the show, before sitting down.

When the Elysium launched, 6-epsidoes were produced, too, but these didn’t do so well in ratings, as The Elysium’s target audience was different to that of the other Doctor Who shows. During the run of Season 50: Part Two’s episodes, it was apparent that BBC Three would be closing down, so the decision was made to put all 8 episodes on BBC Two. However, apart from ‘After The Third Planet, Part I’, which featured Adjoa Andoh, like with ‘After Doctor’, the show garnered low viewers for BBC Two, and therefore the decision was made, after 202 episodes, and 12 years, to end ‘After Who’.

That’s not quite the end of the story though, as in the years since, the BBC have made several attempts to replace ‘After Who’... with varying degrees of success, but that is something we’ll cover next time.

Fan Fiction WAR WORLD

by Jack Murray-Bell

It was a dull and cloudy day in 1945, and at a German base, the atmosphere was calm and calculated. Nazi soldiers marched across the grounds, wielding rifles.

In a far corner of the grounds, a strong wind suddenly began to blow, which was followed by a wheezing, groaning sound. The TARDIS began to fade in and out of existence before finally becoming fully solid and making a soft thump.

The door swung open and the Doctor stepped out, followed by Bernice.

“Doctor, this doesn’t look much like Blackpool to me,” remarked Bernice in confusion, “Looks more like some sort of army base.”

“Yes, it does,” replied the Doctor sheepishly, “We appear to be in the 20th Century, though I can’t be sure when.”

“Uhhh, Doctor, I’ve got a pretty good feeling it might be the 1940s.” said Bernice nervously.

“Yes, that does sound about right,” answered the Doctor in astonishment, not fully paying attention to his surroundings, “How did you work that one out?”

“Ohhh, the Nazi soldiers running towards us is a pretty good clue.” informed Bernice in alarm.

The Doctor looked towards where Katie was pointing and saw that a group of Nazi soldiers were indeed marching towards them.

“Ah,” said the Doctor before turning to Bernice, “Bernice, when I tell you to run, run.”

The soldiers got closer.

“Right, run!” barked the Doctor.

The Doctor and Bernice ran in opposite directions. “HALT!” yelled one of the soldiers.

The large group of soldiers divided into two smaller groups; each one perusing the Doctor and Bernice. Bernice ran towards the barbed wired fence, but soon realised that it was too high to climb. Bernice turned

and saw the soldiers aiming guns at her.

The Doctor soon found himself surrounded by the other group of soldiers, who were aiming rifles at him. The Doctor slowly raised his hands in surrender.

“Gentlemen, I can explain.” insisted the Doctor, smiling sheepishly.

The Doctor and Bernice were frogmarched into the building, down a corridor and into a large office. A middle-aged man with blonde hair sat behind a desk. This was Major Klause Schmidt. Klause glared at the Doctor and Bernice.

“Who are you, and how did you get on to this base?” asked Klause.

“I’m the Doctor and“That is not a name!” barked Klause, “Are you British spies perhaps? Here to spy on us. Your clothing and British Police Box aren’t the most subtle disguises.

Klause let out a dark chuckle. “Take them away!” he ordered, “You two are spies, and shall be dealt with in the appropriate manner. Guards!”

“Yes Major.” replied two guards in unison as they approached Bernice, while another pair approached the Doctor

“But we’re not spies.” insisted Bernice as the soldiers began dragging her and the Doctor away.

Bernice suddenly twisted the arms of the two guards holding her before spinning round and punching both of them in the face, knocking the two guards to the floor.

“The female prisoner is escaping” barked one of the guards.

Bernice ran down the corridor before quickly sidestepping through a nearby door. The guards ran by the closed door.

Bernice found herself in a large laboratory area

filled with various pieces of equipment. Bernice began exploring and noticed various futuristic weaponry scattered about. Bernice recognised these weapons and knew straight away that something was wrong, as these weapons were too advanced for this time period.

Bernice quickly ducked behind a shelf as Klause entered the lab. He looked around as if making sure that nobody was watching before raising his voice. “Are the weapons ready?”

Bernice’s eyes widened in shock as a large humanoid figure covered in metal armour appeared from nowhere.

“Yes, Schmidt,” replied the figure, “Soon, you will be able to crush any resistance to the Nazis.”

“Excellent.” replied Klause before letting out a dark chuckle.

Bernice stayed in her hiding place and waited until both Klause and the figure had gone.

Bernice stayed where she was for a minute before stepping away from her hiding spot and quietly exiting the room.

Bernice crept around the hallways for several minutes; attempting to find the prison cells while also avoiding patrolling guards. Bernice eventually found the door to the cells, which she gently opened. Bernice peered inside and saw a burly looking guard with his back turned to her: a set of silver keys hung from his belt

Bernice slowly crept up behind the man, raised her fist and brought it crashing down towards fhe guard. The guard grunted in pain, wobbled slightly and then fell to the floor with a thud.

Bernice smirked before racing over to the man and grabbing his keys, she then raced down the corridor, making sure to peer into each cell. Finally, Bernice reached the last cell and grinned at the sight of the Doctor sitting on a small bed. The Doctor looked up. “Good to see they didn’t lock you up as well.” he said in relief, standing up and walking over to the bars.

“I managed to give them the slip,” informed Bernice as she unlocked the door with one of the keys, “I’ve found a lab with futuristic alien technology in it.”

“How did a bunch of Nazis get their hands on that?” asked the Doctor in shock as he exited the cell.

“There’s some alien thing that’s been helping them,” replied Bernice, “I think they’re trying to change history by allowing the Nazis to win the war.”

“Well, we can’t have that, can we,” stated the Doctor firmly, “I think you’d better show me this lab.”

Bernice slowly led the Doctor to the lab; avoiding guards as they did so. The two then entered the large lab. The Doctor’s eyes widened in shock at the very futuristic weapons.

“This is very bad,” remarked the Doctor in a grim voice, “We need to find a way to destroy all this technology before Schmit and his army end up causing serious damage to the timeline.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I can’t let you destroy all our hard work.” sneered a familiar voice from behind.

As one, the Doctor and Bernice slowly turned around, whereupon they were greeted by Klause and a trio of guards aiming guns at them.

“You don’t seem to understand what you’re dealing with here,” said the Doctor nervously, “These weapons could cause untold damage.”

“Yes, untold damage to all of our enemies,” smirked Klause, “With this weaponry, the Furer and the German empire shall rule over Europe for thousands of years to come.”

“I’ll take it your alien friends will rule alongside you?” asked Bernice, “Or will you try and backstab them the first chance you get.”

“You know too much for a girl,” snarked Klause, “The Regorions have agreed to rule certain parts of the world with us. They are the ones who provided the weapons. They will not betray us.”

There was a sudden blinding flash and just like that, the same armour covered humanoid from before appeared in the room, flanked by two identical looking creatures.

The three Regorions pressed a button on the sides of their helmets before removing them; the helmets emitting a hissing noise. Bernice gasped as she saw the faces of the Regorions.

The Regorions had sickly green faces with two small horns and two sharp fangs.

“Captain Ranock, kindly kill these two intruders!” ordered Klause, pointing a firm finger at the Doctor and Bernice.

The Regorion in the middle turned towards Klause and chuckled darkly.

“What are you waiting for? Do it!” barked Klause.

“You foolish human,” sneered Ranock, “Did you really think we were going to let you share this planet with us?”

“W-what do you mean?” asked Klause nervously.

The room suddenly shook as a muffled explosion could be heard from outside.

“What have you done!” cried Klause in horror.

“Things don’t seem to be going your way, do they.” said the Doctor, trying his best to hide his confusion.

“Shut up!” snapped the man.

“The British Army are now infiltrating this base,” stated Ranock, “We have given them the same type of weaponry that you have in this lab.”

“Why are you doing this! We had a deal!” seethed Klause, who’s face had turned brick red.

“For conquest,” informed the Regorion captain, “We plan on distributing these weapons to all sides of the war; pretending that we wish to help them win. Then, all sides will wipe each other out, and once this planet no longer has any defences, we shall become the new rulers. You were all simply guinea pigs.” the

“You’re mad.” said Bernice.

“Kill them!” ordered Klause, pointing to the Regorions, “Kill them all!”

The three guards stood in front of the Regorions, aimed their guns and fired. The bullets pinged harmlessly off of their armour. One of the Regorions leveled a futuristic looking gun at the trio and fired three red energy beams, which struck each guard and reduced them to dust.

Klause just stood there, looking completely shocked. “You can’t do this!” he cried in horror.

The sounds of muffled gunfire and explosions could be heard. The Regorions suddenly teleported away. Klause growled furiously before running from the room.

“Doctor, what do we do?” asked Bernice nervously.

“I’ve got one idea that might work,” said the Doctor, “We need to create an EMP wave that will hopefully destroy all this weaponry. Maybe there’s some equipment in this room that might help.”

Bernice nodded in agreement. The two then began looking around the room, picking up various pieces of futuristic technology. Soon enough, the two were able to create an EMP device that was shaped like a fat remote controller with a single red button in the middle.

“Are you sure this will work?” questioned Bernice.

“No,” answered the Doctor, “But it’s the best plan I’ve got, my dear.”

The Doctor then pressed the button, causing the small antenna on the end of the remote to light up with a red light.

Throughout the rest of the base, a battle between the German soldiers, guards and British army was taking place. They all wielded futuristic weaponry, such as guns and grenades, which vaporised the target in a single blast. Both sides had nearly wiped each other out. There were only a few men on each side left.

Quite suddenly, all the weapons sparked and smoked, causing their users to drop them in shock. The weapons then blew up in miniture explosions, leaving nothing left but smoke and some very confused soldiers.

In the lab, the Doctor grinned in triumph, while Bernice still looked concerned.

“That’s all the weapons destroyed.” declared the Doctor in triumph.

“Yes, but what about the Regorions?” asked Bernice. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about them, my dear,” replied

the Doctor, “I calibrated the range of the EMP wave so that it will reach their spaceship.

“So, they’re in for a very nasty surprise.” said Bernice, grinning in realisation.

“Exactly.” said the Doctor.

Up in space, the Regorions spaceship was hovering above the Earth.

Inside the spaceship, alarms were wailing as a Regorion looked at a computer screen with a worried expression on his face.

“What’s happening!” barked Captain Ranock in alarm as he came to stand next to the Regorion.

“Our sensors picked up an EMP wave spreading throughout the base, then the planet,” informed the Regorion, “All the weapons have been destroyed, and the wave is heading straight for us.”

Ranock screamed in fury as all the equipment in the ship began to spark and smoke.

The ship exploded in a large fireball; debris flew in all directions.

Back on Earth, the Doctor and Bernice raced through the building; both deciding that they’d been there long enough. The two ran past baffled looking soldiers and guards, through the main doors and out into the grounds, where they saw the TARDIS, and made a beeline straight for it.

“Who the bloody Hell are you?” asked a confused voice with a posh English accent.

The TARDIS duo turned to see an obese man with grey hair, and wearing a military uniform staring at them in bewilderment, “What are you doing with that box?” he asked.

“Well, young man... that is... a bit difficult to answer,” replied the Doctor sheepishly as Bernice unlocked the TARDIS door and stepped inside, “But if you just allow me to step inside, I’ll explain everything.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” snapped a familiar voice.

The Doctor and the other soldier turned and saw Klause aiming a gun at them; a look of rage plastered on to his face.

“Ahh, Major Klause, I see you survived.” said the Doctor.

“You ruined all of our wonderful plans, Doctor!” spat Klause, “Now I will kill you and your friend.”

“Killing won’t help you succeed,” said the Doctor, “If the Regorions hadn’t backstabbed you, you may well have won. But sadly for you, the odds were stacked against you.”

“Do not try reasoning with me, Doctor.” hissed Klause as he prepared to pull the trigger.

Suddenly, a loud bang rang out. Klause dropped to the ground, dead. A nearby British soldier lowered his gun. As the others ran over to Klause’s body, the Doctor quickly stepped into the TARDIS.

After a few moments, a strong wind picked up, followed by the wheezing and groaning sound that was the TARDIS dematerialising. The soldiers looked up just in time to see the TARDIS fade out of existence; the lamp on the roof flashing. “What on Earth!” exclaimed one of them.

Inside the TARDIS, Bernice was standing at the console, while the Doctor sat in a chair; his coat was hanging on a nearby coat stand.

“Boy, am I glad that’s over with.” commented Bernice, “Now, hopefully we can actually get to Blackpool this time, and just relax.”

“I hope so too, Bernice,” replied the Doctor, “All that running around has completely worn me out.”

The two friends chuckled as the TARDIS continued to sale through the vortex.

next issue... Six Years of WIDWWA!

Join the Communuity!

The WIDWWA community has been based on Discord since May 2021, and is currently a thriving community with over 45 members. But we don’t want to stop there... as long as your a WIDWWA fan and want to contribute a positive non-toxic discussion, and follow all the rules of the server - please come along and join.

Details on how to join the Discord server can be found on the twitter account @ WIDWWA. Additionally, there is some information on the YouTube community tab. If you still can’t get on, don’t be afraid to email DDWF at widwwa1989@gmail.com

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Submit Fan Fiction

Your fan fiction could be here next month and in future months! All you need to do, to be in with a chance of being featured, is to come up with a title, synopsis and the first 200 words of your story and then send it to widwwa1989@gmail.com, whereby if I like it, I will ask you to write a full 2500-3000 word story, which will be featured in a future issue.

If you do not receive a response, then I will have chosen not to go ahead with your story, at this present time.

Please can all stories be original, feature a WIDWWA TARDIS team and not feature any returning monsters, unless I ask you to during the writing process.

To submit a story, please email widwwa1989@gmail.com