THE COST OF PROSPERITY?

Arrived on a seemingly benign, peaceful world of intelligence and advanced technology the Doctor and his companions have, but what devastating secret are the society there hiding behind their prosperity, and how will it affect the Doctor's once respect for them?

A classic image from the underrated and sadly lost Ian Stuart Black sci-fi tale, The Savages (aka Dr. Who and the Savages, as officially indicated at the end of The Gunfighters finale episode).

AN ACE UP HIS SLEEVE!

Locked and loaded with rocket launcher firepower, Ace is ready to take on those Dalek 'tinheads' in this great publicity image of Sophie Aldred in character, during the London location filming of Remembrance of the Daleks.

It was nice to see Miss Aldred recently return to the character, in her post Seventh Doctor adventures, for an all-new present day tale: At Childhood's End, out now from BBC BOOKS.

Info and get it here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Childhoods-End-Dr/dp/1785944991/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=doctor+who+sophie+aldred&qid=1585487465&sr=8-1

THE DINNER'S ON PERI!

There are few alien life forms that haven't had designs on Peri during her TARDIS travelling days, and even the monsters have wanted a piece of carniverous action, as seen with one of the Morlock creatures in the one-part great, one-part awful Sixth Doctor era adventure, Timelash.

STRANGE INVADER!

The robbing of the Magna Carta treaty from a critical point in human history is the perfect test for that fiendish The Master's new robotic servant, the shape-shifting android Kamelion, whose abilities have now been discovered by the Fifth Doctor, in Terence Dudley's fun 1983 two-parter, The King's Demons, to be enjoyed for what it was, and remembered that it was a tale never planned to have been a season ender, especially not for one as important as the Twentieth Anniversary.

ROBOT VS HUNTRESS!

Her hunting instincts honed and her fighting skills primed, Leela is ready to fend off the soulless, murder-intent mechanical men of the Sandminer, as The Robots of Death begin their attack. A classic image from the superlative four-parter from Chris Boucher, which was also a fine tribute to the literary sci-fi works of Isaac Asimov, most notably his robot detective novel greats The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun.

Louise Jameson meets an old foe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dNkRhfofOA

And don't forget Miss Jameson's effective reading of the Target Book for BBC Audio:

Doctor Who and the Robots of Death: 4th Doctor Novelisation (Audio Download): Terrance Dicks, Louise Jameson, BBC Audio: Amazon.co.uk: Books

THE COMPANY HE KEEPS...

The National Theatre Southbank complex and its unusual design structure are home these days to all manner of weird and wonderful life forms, but could things have been any stranger back in 1972, during its early construction and opening, than when Jon Pertwee was filming scenes with the alien thug Ogrons and the noble Draconians for the memorable space action/adventure Frontier in Space?

OUT THIS MONTH: 'THE FACELESS ONES'

The then newly opened Gatwick Airport in London is the excellent setting for an unusual 1967 take over of the Human form on Earth, as the alien chameleons begin their abduction plans on young globe-trotting tourists, though soon encountering the second incarnation of the Doctor and his companions, who fight back against those unusual but deadly The Faceless Ones. This popular but mostly episode-lost early story from the Patrick Troughton era, written by David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke, gets a fully-animated new lease of life, available from BBC Studios this month (20th March, 2020)

Behind the scenes of the original B/W story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loQ8IBdV-lU

DVD release info:

The Doctor and his friends Ben, Polly and Jamie arrive at Gatwick airport. They quickly stumble upon an alien plot, centring upon the mysterious ‘Chameleon Tours’ - a low-price holiday company, whose young passengers have been vanishing in unexplained circumstances. With the help of Scotland Yard and the airport staff, the Doctor investigates further, but it isn’t long before his own friends start disappearing too.

What is happening to the passengers of Chameleon Tours? Where are the company’s planes really going? Can the Doctor unravel the mystery of Chameleon Tours before it’s too late?

Most of the BBC’s original 1967 master recordings for ‘The Faceless Ones’ were lost soon after the programme’s original transmission. However, audio-only recordings have survived and have been used here to create a brand new fully animated reconstruction of this lost classic.

INCLUDES:
• Colour Animated Episodes 1-6*
• Black & White Animated Episodes 1-6*
• The Original Episodes 1 & 3*
• Telesnap Reconstructions of Original Episodes 2, 4, 5 & 6*
• Audio commentaries (Animated Episodes 4, 5 & 6, plus Original Episodes 1 & 3)
• Face to Face with the Faceless Ones (Making of)
• Stock Footage from Original Production
• Surviving Film Fragments
• Trailer – Fury from the Deep
• PDFs

*With Remastered Audio by Mark Ayres

Starring: Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines, Pauline Collins, Michael Craze, Colin Gordon, Wanda Ventham, Bernard Kay, Donald Pickering, Christopher Tranchell and Victor Winding

Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAMAxBFJBvE

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2a2tmKTnU

More info: http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/the-faceless-ones-animation-release-date-92571.htm

Get the DVD edition here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Faceless-Ones-DVD/dp/B07SGQQFP2/ref=tmm_dvd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1582816933&sr=8-1

Get the Blu-ray steel book here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Faceless-Ones-Blu-ray/dp/B07SKVPN1L/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LYWI9YWOI9RI&keywords=the+faceless+ones+blu+ray&qid=1582816933&sprefix=the+faceless+ones%2Caps%2C425&sr=8-1

INTRODUCING... THE DALEKS!

The crotchety Doctor's insatiable curiosity of the mysterious city located on a radiation-shrouded 'dead planet' soon lands him, granddaughter Susan, and their new unwilling Earth companions Barbara and Ian, into the dangerous realms of the mysterious metal-encased Daleks, as the series kicks off its now legendary status as a popular and iconic TV series with Terry Nation's epic and exciting seven-parter, The Daleks.

More terrific art from Tom Connell, showcasing a classic scene.

HAPPINESS WILL PREVAIL!

The combined forces of that purveyor of deadly confectionery in the unique sweet monster, the Kandyman, alongside the tyranny of the all-powerful Helen A make for a darkly comedic drama, as The Doctor and Ace set out to right the terrible wrongs brought to a far-off Earth colony, and all in just one long night too, within the richly imaginative swipe at Margaret Thatcher era British leadership that was The Happiness Patrol, represented in this excellent VHS sleeve art by Colin Howard for BBC VIDEO that was sadly never used.