Eighth Doctor

The announcement trailers for new entries in Doctor Who’s classic-era remasters just keep getting more and more involved. At first, it was just a cute way to bring back a classic companion for a fun moment or a short skit, but now they’ve gotten so big the latest gives us a whole new look at the final days of The Last Great Time War.Are You Rich Enough to Buy This Folding TV?Made to announce that season 15 of classic Who is the latest to get the Collection treatment, “The Final Battle” brings back Louise Jameson’s Leela,…

When you’ve been around for 60 long years like Doctor Who has, growth and evolution is the name of the game. Not just in new places each week, new heroes and friends and villains along the way, but the show has adapted and built its own riff on genre after genre of storytelling thanks to its remit. But as Doctor Who entered a new era this holiday season, it did so making its latest change feel a little bit bigger than usual.Gizmodo’s Top Five Gadgets of 2023Simultaneously a lot and not much at all goes on in “The Church…

In contemporary fandom, canon is king. This is not a jab against an admiration of an ordered continuity and worldbuilding, the necessary aspects of creating a story to be lost in. But what goes beyond it—a yearning for raw, wiki-able data and facts that can be collated and held in amber, where interpretation gives way to a singular thesis—often threatens to override it. Which is why for Doctor Who, a show that has spent 60 years growing and changing and writing over and under itself, its latest shock is less about…

For a show that is often so optimistically forward thinking—and where change is baked into its hearts—Doctor Who often has a bittersweet view of its own past. Heroes and friends come and go, goodbyes are frequent and brief, and a lot of them are permanent, especially when part of the key to its longevity is that its main character dies every few years. But as a wise Time Lord once said, every once in a while, just occasionally, everybody lives.'Even AI Rappers are Harassed by Police' | AI Unlocked“The Giggle,” the third…

After Doctor Who’s triumphant return this past weekend in “The Star Beast,” all eyes are now on this weekend’s second of three 60th anniversary specials, “Wild Blue Yonder.” But the fact that those eyes are upon it and the BBC is not willing to say almost anything of substance about it is leading Doctor Who fans to go a little bit doolally with the wait.“Even AI Rappers are Harassed by Police” | AI UnlockedWe knew a lot about “The Star Beast” in the run up to its release—it’s arguably the special we saw the most of in…

Human drama suffused with alien weirdness? A shotgun blast of emotional sincerity to sweep you away from barely coherent sci-fi technobabble? The power of love, specifically encapsulating queer love? David Tennant and Catherine Tate running around the place having the time of their lives? Do not adjust your clocks friends: it is indeed 2023 rather than 2008. But for one November night, Doctor Who certainly made it feel that way.Who’s This Thing Actually for? | PlayStation Portal Hands On“The Star Beast,” the first in a…

For a show that is about the capability to be everywhere and anywhere, any period in time, Doctor Who is a show that is arguably burdened with context. Now 60 years old today, the thought of navigating any of its stories without an awareness of its place in that history is almost unthinkable. But every once in a while, in a very long while, Doctor Who wields that context to set itself free.Alan Cumming on playing King James in Doctor WhoThat’s the paradox—as well as the philosophy of John Rawls—that sits at the heart of…

Image: BBCThe 14th Doctor has arrived—a little earlier than we first expected. Although Doctor Who will return to TV in a little over a week in a big way to celebrate its 60th anniversary in a trio of specials, tonight the BBC released a short scene marking the first onscreen adventure for David Tennant’s latest take on the Time Lord.Alan Cumming on playing King James in Doctor WhoAired as part of the BBC’s annual charity telethon Children in Need, this clip sees the 14th Doctor cross paths with a mysterious man (Mawaan…

Image: BBCDoctor Who’s new 14th Doctor—with that old face—has already gone on his first adventures in the pages of the show’s official magazine. But he’ll be making his televised debut a little earlier than anticipated... and bringing some old foes with him.Alan Cumming on playing King James in Doctor WhoThe BBC has confirmed that, as is now tradition, Doctor Who will be a part of this week’s charity telethon for Children in Need with the broadcast of a special exclusive scene starring David Tennant’s 14th Doctor on…

Image: BBC... Because the 40th Anniversary was marked in several ways, but most notably “Scream of the Shalka,” an all-new animated webcast featuring a brand new incarnation of the Doctor: the Ninth Doctor, played by Richard E. Grant.Elsewhere, audio publisher Big Finish released a series of special stories—a trio of classic villain tales featuring Omega, Davros, and the Master, who all had connections to past anniversary specials, and Zagreus, a multi-Doctor special starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy,…