Monday, 18 July 2011

Gadget, Gadget

Over the years the Doctor has come into possession and been seen to use a large number of different gadgets and bits of tech to get him out of a sticky spot or two, here are five of the best.

Psychic Paper
First seen on screen during the Ninth Doctor's incarnation, the Psychic Paper has helped the Doctor sneak his way into many an institution, letting the viewer see whatever the Doctor wanted them too, and sometimes what he didn't. The Psychic Paper didn't always work though, and those with a greater intelligence, such as Shakespeare, simply saw it for what it was. A blank sheet of paper. At times, the Psychic Paper would act as an answering machine for the Doctor, picking up messages from people such as Boe and River Song. While not exactly 'high tech', it's use was obviously a threat enough for instituations such as Torchwood or the army of Demon's Run to issue training to it's operatives in an effort to stop them being taken in by it.

The Sonic Blaster
The Sonic Blaster, more commonly referred to under it's more high tech name of 'The Squareness Gun' first made it's appearance as a weapon of Captain Jack Harkness in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. The blaster used a sonic wave projected into the form of pulsing squares of blue light which could cut through thick walls, and also had a reverse function which could replace the removed chunk of material afterwards. This was a flaw as well as a help though because doing so usually meant that it would completely drain the batteries, rendering it useless. After leaving the blaster behind in the TARDIS, it managed to find it's way into the hands of River Song, who brought it with her on her expedition to the Library during series 4, where it helped the team to escape from the Vashta Nerada.

The Species Matcher
It has only made the one appearance so far, but the brilliance of The Species Matcher means it is more than worthy of a mention here. It fell into the hands of the Doctor as a gift from his Godmother, though he never used it until he was in his eleventh incarnation. The Species Matcher is capable of identifying the species of an individual by their image, and though it takes it a while to work properly, it get's there in the end. Much like the Doctor on occasion. This though was less practical than most other gadgets and had to be worn in harness straps on the upper body, and as evidenced in Vincent and the Doctor, this can be quite an inconvenience if you are trying to identify a monster that is chasing you down the street. We last saw it with it's mirror shattered by the krafayis, but here's hoping that it get's another outing sometime soon.

The Vortex Manipulator
Rarely used by the Doctor, who saw it as more of a 'space hopper' compared to his 'sport's car' of a TARDIS, the Vortex Manipulator has nonetheless remained a favourite with Captain Jack and River Song, being used on multiple occasions to get them, and even the Doctor at times, where they need to be in a hurry. It didn't just whizz you through time though, oh no. With a flick of a switch there can be Princess Leia style hologram messages being sent to anyone with compatible wristwear. Add to that the fact that it can be used for tracking multiple life forms and even taking control of other bits of technology and we have quite a nifty little gadget. It would also appear to be virtually indestructable too, surviving a bomb blast that left its wearer literally in pieces. And I bet it even tells the time, too.

The Sonic Screwdriver
Oh come on, don't say you didn't see it coming. The Sonic Screwdriver has got the Doctor out of more scrapes than we even care to try counting, we couldn't leave it off this list now, could we? Ok, so it has perhaps become a little overused of late, and yes, perhaps the list of it's uses has become ridiculously long, but where would we honestly be without it? If it hadn't have unlocked those taxi doors in The Runaway Bride then Donna would have ended up having to pay the full fare! And what about that Champaigne bottle in Voyage of the Damned, eh? How else would they have got the cork out? If it wasn't for those pesky deadlock seals that turn up randomly out of nowere in the strangest of places, then there wouldn't be a single thing the Sonic Screwdriver couldn't do. Of course, the Screwdriver has it's more important uses too though like disabling teleports and bringing down perception filters and has been helping the Doctor since his Second incarnation, so despite its more recent overuse and it's seemingly endless 'get out of jail' uses, the Sonic Screwdriver is well deserving of it's place at the top of any tech list.

Saturday, 16 July 2011

Join The Infinite Quest - The Twin Dilemma


This weeks story in The Infinite Quest has been revealed, and it is our first foray into a Sixth Doctor story with The Twin Dilemma.

A race of giant Gastropods has taken over the planet Jaconda. Their leader, Mestor, now intends to cause an enormous explosion in order to spread his people's eggs throughout the galaxy, and he kidnaps juvenile twin geniuses from Earth to work out the necessary mathematical equations. Space fighters led by Lieutenant Hugo Lang are dispatched to get the twins back, but they soon come under attack...

Meanwhile, a newly regenerated Doctor and Peri become involved and help Jaconda's elderly former ruler Professor Edgeworth to defeat Mestor and free the planet's bird-like indigenous people from the gastropods' reign of terror.

The Twin Dilemma was the seventh and final story of Season 21. It was the first full story to feature Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor. It was also the last story to feature half-hour episodes until Season 23.


Come on over to the forum this week to join in with all the discussions, rate the story and have your say on The Twin Dilemma by visiting The Doctor In The TARDIS

Friday, 15 July 2011

Miracle Day Episode 1 Ratings UK


Last nights premier of Torchwood: Miracle Day managed to bag BBC1 an overnight figure of 4.8m, with a peak early on in the episode of 5.2 million viewers.

The episode, which was first broadcast in the United States nearly a week earlier, has potentially suffered from many people deciding to download instead of waiting for broadcast. It took an audience share of 21.1%

These figures are down slightly on last year, though it must be remembered that these are just overnight figures and the actual consolidated number will be released in about 10 days.

Thursday, 14 July 2011

Miracle Day finally arrives in the UK


One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. People keep aging, they get hurt and sick, but they never die, threatening to change what it means to be human, forever.

The wait is over ...

It's been two years since Torchwood last graced UK television screen with the event that was 'Children of Earth.'

Tonight it finally returns with it's fourth series, Miracle Day. The first episode, 'The New World,' which airs tonight at 9pm on BBC1, has the following synopsis on the BBC Torchwood site:

When death itself comes to a halt, the whole world faces its greatest danger yet. CIA agent Rex Matheson has only one clue: the word 'Torchwood'.

So, are you excited that Torchwood is finally back on our screens?

Whatever your thoughts, why not come & share them in our special Miracle Day section on the forum after the episode has finished. We'd love to know what you thought.

Monday, 11 July 2011

Miracle Day Episode 1 Ratings


The ratings for the first Torchwood: Miracle Day episode to air on Starz have been released.

According to SFX, the initial airing brought in 819,000 at 10pm with the +1 service bringing in a further 687,000 viewers, bringing the total up to 1.51 million, narrowly missing out on becoming the most watched launch ever on the channel, just behind Camelot which manages 1.57.

This figure does not include viewers who saw the episode as it was being streamed on the Starz website, which could add many more thousands to the above total. A final and full consolidated rating is expected next week.

Web Of Lies: Episode 1

Here is episode one of Torchwood: Web Of Lies, the online series to accompany Miracle Day.

Sunday, 10 July 2011

Review: Eighth Doctor Audio - Sisters Of The Flame


The richest man in the galaxy has just bought a backwards planet with no obvious mineral wealth in the outer reaches of the universe. An obscure mystical sect has been revived after centuries of neglect. A new race of aliens are hunting for prey. Why?

As the Doctor and Lucie attempt to discover the answer, it becomes clear that someone is attempting to resurrect the past - and they need a Time Lord to help them achieve it.


So What's Good With It? Lots actually. I should start out by saying this is the first part of a two part finale for the second series of of the New EDA's. Nicholas Briggs is the writer on this one and you have to hand it to the guy, he knows his Who. There are lots of subtle little references to the past that will excite fans of the classics without alienating people who havent seen them. The story takes off at breakneck speed and keeps a brilliant pace throughout with some excellent story concepts and even better dialogue between the cast. Sheridan Smith gets a chance to shine as Lucie once again as she carries most of the story (it's quite Doctor Lite), and she more than handles it. The story itself is nice and dark but also plenty of fun and the twists and turns draw you in and hook you so you can't wait to get to the end to find out whats going on. The Majority of the cast are on excellent form and you can tell they are having a lot of fun with the script, which is nice to listen to

But What's Wrong With It? Ok, so first things first. That cover has to be one of the worst BF covers to date! Just needed to get that out of the way. The Sisters Of The Flame from the title, who were previously seen in the TV story The Brain Of Morbius, get less airtime than I personally would have liked and little is done to explain them and who they are so if you aren't familiar with their TV appearance you may feel a tiny bit lost. While most of the supporting characters are on excellent form, some just don't cut it. Nikolas Grace who stars as Straxus pretty much overacts every line he is given and Alexander Siddig (who many of you may know as Dr Bashir from DS9), who works in this story as a sort of companion to the companion, puts in one of the most bizarre performances of any audios I have heard. While it works at times, his random speech pattern quickly gets annoying.

Final Verdict: Overall a great story and well worth a listen.

Sisters Of The Flame gets 4/5 TARDIS's


Extra Info: 60 minutes long on 1 disc. Bonus features include interviews with the cast. It can be purchased from Amazon for £7.69

Thanks to Peri-Peri for this review. For more news and reviews head over to The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

New Fourth Doctor Audio Series - Serpent Crest


Tom Baker his making another return to the Doctor Who audio world as he stars in a brand new 5 part audio adventure for the 4th Doctor, with Susan Jameson as his companion Mrs Wibbsey

Part 1 - Tsar Wars, which is pictured above, is due for release on 08 September 2011.

The time travellers are transported to an advanced civilisation in space, where they are soon enmeshed in the dangerous war between Robotovs and human beings

Part 2 – Broken Down due 6th October…

Trapped in 19th Century Hexford, the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey discover that all is not well at the rectory – and that there is more to its residents than meets they eye.

Part 3 (title unknown) due 3rd November…

Trapped in an underground network of tunnels, the time travellers help a young boy in search of an ancient lamp. Perils await them on their quest to find both the lamp and a way out…

Parts 4-5 (title and synopsis unknow) due 8th December

Get Your Who Fix Here

There are so many ways that you can now keep up with the all the latest news, reviews and spoilers that The Doctor In The TARDIS are bringing you every day.

We Are Mobile


You may or may not be aware that this blog went mobile a few months back, making viewing all the news on the move a much easier and more streamlined experience, meaning you never have to be more than a few clicks away from all the latest updates.

We Are On Facebook






For those of you with Facebook accounts, you can get updates from us direct to your feed by following us at www.facebook.com/thedoctorinthetardispage and 'liking' us. All the news from here is posted there daily as well as discussions and polls on all things 'Whoniverse'.

We Have A Forum



Come on over to the forum, grab yourself a username and tell us all your thoughts and opinions on the show past and present, as well as discussing all the spin offs, merchandise, news and reviews and competitions. We have sections covering every inch of Doctor Who, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K9 with over 50,000 posts in nearly 2000 topics you are sure to find something to discuss, so come and join us HERE

Follow Us On Twitter


If you are a Twitter user than you can get updates from the blog and forum direct to your feed as soon as they are posted. We also use the Twitter feed to interact with fans around the world and find out your thoughts on what is going on in the world of Who, as well as holding the occasional quiz or poll. You can find us on Twitter by clicking @TardisSpoilers and following us there.

Nominate In The Doctor In The TARDIS Awards 2011


The awards are back for the second time and this year they have been expaned to cover fifteen seperate catagories. As with the first awards last year, the catagories for Best Doctor, Best Companion and Best Story have been split into Classic and New to make voting as fair as possible because while everyone has seen the show since it returned in 2005, not everyone is as familiar with the classic series and it deserves to get equal representation.

The awards for Best Villian has been modified slightly to cover a wider range and now sits alongside Best Alien/Monster Species. This will mean that individual baddies will be recognised apart from their race, for example. Restac could be nominated seperately from The Silurians. Other new catagories include Best Guest/One Off Character, Best Writer and Best Director.

As with last year, it is not compulsory to vote in every catagory. You can vote for as little as one or as many as fifteen when you submit your nominations, but votes will only count once so think carefully about your choices.

We had a tremendous response last year and it has been just as good so far this year, but we want even more of you to put your votes in. There are many ways that you can sumbit your nominations. You can either send a DM via Twitter to either myself or PopRockGeek, or send us a PM on the forum (requires registration) or by sending a personal message via the facebook page. Alternatively, you can send an email to us HERE. Just copy and paste the catagories below, along with your answers in whichever way is easiest for you.

Best Doctor (New) -
Best Doctor (Classic) -
Best Companion (New) -
Best Companion (Classic) -
Best Story (New) -
Best Story (Classic) -
Best Guest/One Off Character -
Best Recurring Character -
Best Alien/Monster Species -
Best Villain -
Best Writer -
Best Director -
Best Spinoff -
Best Audio Book/Adventure -
Best Book (Fiction/Non Ficton) -

So don't delay. Get those nominations in now.