For the first time in a long time, we will not be getting a Doctor Who Christmas Special. Instead, this year we will be getting a New Year’s special. So in the absence of a much-missed Doctor Who tradition, we look into some of the great Christmas Specials from years gone by…

After the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) has escaped the revenge of the Master (John Simm / Michelle Gomez) and the Cybermen, he finds himself face-to-face with his first incarnation (David Bradley) in a world frozen in time. Together the Doctors must find their way out of the frozen time, from which they both have moments in destiny to fulfill…

During TARDISblend 113, we talk about the long-awaited arrival of Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor, we explore the interactions between the First Doctor and the Capaldi Doctor, and comment on presumably Steven Moffat‘s final goodbye from Doctor Who after seven years as showrunner.

All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!

Doctor Who: The Time Lord Letters
Hardcover | Kindle
by Justin Richards
Harper Design | HarperCollins Publishers
Release date: September 29, 2015

Ahhh, what would it mean to know the mind of a Time Lord? It must be something to know what a Time Lord saw. There must be wit! There must be wisdom! There must be an ambivalence, a humor about the mundane moments. There must be perspective that comes from the understanding of time and history as a sometimes malleable thing. So, we are presented with a book called Doctor Who: The Time Lord Letters. What does it tell us?

In the end, it doesn’t tell us much. It tries to create a narrative of Doctor Who history that is approachable for younger television viewers. The actual history of the show is far more complex than that, due to reasons that have little to do with good storytelling. The full-color hardcover title does little to weave together all the historical threads of the Doctor’s lives. Instead, the book’s best appeal is to provide both older and younger viewers with an excellent photo collage of the entire history of Doctor Who. That, I think, is what will keep readers coming back to this book.

With Doctor Who starring Peter Capaldi set to return to television screens for Season 9 of the revived series, it seems like a good time to go back in time about 50 years and revisit some lesser known aspects of the series’ beginning. Though Doctor Who began with a historical serial now commonly known as “An Unearthly Child,” it rocketed into the national consciousness with its second serial, now called “The Daleks.” In a show much known for its monsters, the Daleks were the originals. They put the show into a format that we recognize today. They also caused a craze in Great Britain that came to be known as Dalekmania and brought the series audience figures of over 9 million viewers a week. It has only periodically equaled those numbers in the 50 years since.

The story of the Daleks was told in three different ways, with two different Doctors. First, there is the teleplay by Terry Nation. Being part of a weekly adventure series, it tells the story of how the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and her schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright arrive on the radioactive world of Skaro and meet the Daleks. The Daleks are mutated survivors of an atomic war who hate any creatures who are not like themselves. This is original version and, excepting certain accommodations for budget and pacing for a half hour television serial, it is the best. It is also canonical.

The month of Doctor Who celebratings is in full swing, with lots of original programming planned for the long-running series’ 50th anniversary. Along with The Day Of The Doctor special, which will bring together familiar faces of Who past, comes An Adventure In Space And Time, a new BBC special starring David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones) as William Hartnell, the first Doctor, and tell the real-life story of how the Doctor Who television series came about in 1963.

BBC has released a trailer for upcoming 90-minute special – watch it here below.

An Adventure In Space And Time will air on BBC America on November 22, 2013 at 9PM ET/PT and on BBC Two on November 21, 2013 at 9PM.

While audiences are gearing up for The Day Of The Doctor, Doctor Who fans can also expect another great special coming from the BBC called An Adventure In Space And Time – telling the story of how Doctor Who came to be in real life, 50 years ago on November 23 – an valuable depiction of the beginning of what would become a cultural phenomenon and the longest-running sci-fi series in history.

Mark Gatiss, of Doctor Who and Sherlock fame, writes and produces the special, which features David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones) as William Hartnell – the first Doctor – in a piece of casting that sees Bradley look just like Hartnell. The similarities are eerie.

An Adventure In Space And Time tells of how the television show came into being, the importance of first showrunner Verity Lambert (played by Jessica Raine), and the world-shattering approach in the impossible task of trying to tell stories on poor budgeting and how much of a phenomenon the series quickly became.

Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time #1
Written by Scott & David Tipton
Art by Simon Fraser
Colors by Gary Caldwell
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 30, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Fantastic! Grab your bow ties, scarves, recorders, celery sticks, and sonic screwdrivers for some wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey lunacy: 2013 is going to be a squall of a year for Whovians. Being the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, aside from the broadcast plans from the BBC, there are bound to be a variety of other celebrations in a range of media for us all to sop up. And IDW are jumping on the celebratory TARDIS with their special series for the anniversary, entitled Prisoners of Time.

Ostensibly a limited series that will eventually include every single incarnation of the Doctor, Prisoners of Time #1 begins with the inevitable nemesis, shrouded in darkness and hidden from our view, drawing his/her designs against the Time Lord. Meanwhile or later or yesterday or after breakfast or whenever, the First Doctor arrives at the Royal College of Surgeons in London in 1868, with his three companions.

The Cast Of Doctor Who
Written by Paul J. Slamoff
Art by Jaime Martinez Rodriguez
Colors by Dario Reyes
Cover Art by Joe Phillips
Bluewater Comics
Release Date: March 14, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Bluewater’s unauthorized The Cast Of Doctor Who takes a glance into the backgrounds of a few of the actors who have taken on the role of The Doctor through the years. Without a standard comic storyline, the book serves more as an introduction to the series, specifically designed for newer fans that are interested about the Classic Doctor Who series.

The comic book oddly only looks at four official Doctors (plus a fifth outside canon which we will get to later). I’m guessing this limited examination was restricted based on space available for the publication of the comic. Overall, the comic examines William Hartnell as the First Doctor, Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, and Matt Smith as the current Eleventh Doctor.

For Doctor Who fans, the countdown to the fiftieth anniversary of the long-running television show is a road that goes ever on and on. Despite the fact we still have some time until November 23, 2013, some fans are already gearing up for the celebrations.

YouTube video maker, BabelColour, has released an updated tribute that is essentially all 224 adventures (which adds up to 784 episodes) of Doctor Who in ten minutes. You can view the video at the bottom of this post.

There’s been a cool little crafty fan movement online for some while now, especially from the folks over at Cubeecraft, for people to put together their own cuby geek goodies using paper craft. Now, thanks to some dedicated time and modifications by Chris aka ~CyberDrone over at Deviantart.com, you can now construct your own TARDIS from Doctor Who.

And it’s not just one TARDIS we’re talking here… there are several variations including the Bad Wolf TARDIS from the David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston periods, a classic black and white TARDIS from the early William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton days, and even the rare pink TARDIS from one of Sylvester McCoy‘s episodes. Yes, you read that correctly: a PINK TARDIS!