The Categories of Life premiered on BBC One in 2011 at 9:02pm BST, watched by 5.17 million viewers.
Gray O'Brien is 52 today - credited as Rickston Slade in Voyage of the Damned

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Charles Cecil MBE is 58 today - 2 credits, including Voice Director for Blood Of The Cybermen (as Charles Cecil)(Games)

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Mickey Edwards is 71 today - credited as Visual Effects Designer for Four To Doomsday

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Clive Doig is 80 today - 15 credits, including Vision Mixer for The Daleks

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Ian Thompson is 81 today - 2 credits, including Hetra in The Web Planet

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John Gorrie is 88 today - 2 credits, including Director for The Keys of Marinus

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Brian Badcoe (died 1992 aged 67) would be 95 today - credited as Adam in Invasion of the Dinosaurs

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Ron Grainer (died 1981 aged 58) would be 98 today - 312 credits, including Title Music for An Unearthly Child

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Hugh Martin (died 1997 aged 82) would be 106 today - 2 credits, including Munro in Terror of the Zygons
Eddie Powell (died 2000 aged 73) - 2 credits, including Stunt Double for Doctor Who in The Deadly Assassin

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Derek Newark (died 1998 aged 65) - 2 credits, including Greg Sutton in Inferno

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Peter Cushing (died 1994 aged 81) - 2 credits, including Dr. Who in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.(Aaru)

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Episode 1 of Season 2 of David Tennant Does a Podcast With… is released today   In the new series of his Podcast, the Tenth Doctor will be joined by stars including Dame Judi Dench, Dan Levy and Stacy Abrams.   Doctor Who News has been given an excluside clip from the first in the new series, in which Tennant talks to Jim Parsons the American actor and producer best known for playing Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory   David Tennant Does A Podcast    To hear the whole episode and subscribe to the series visit Apple Podcasts. 
11 Aug

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Over the past six months, Big Finish has given away over 100,000 free downloads of stories from its various ranges, including Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, Sherlock Holmes, and Dorian Gray.     Throughout August, Big Finish is releasing a selection of giveaways including free and discounted releases, entitled Weekly Freebies. These will be made available to download exclusively from the Big Finish web site’s Weekly Deals page   These stories can be unlocked by anyone who has registered for a Big Finish account (which is free to create) and played on the Big Finish listening app (which is free to install).   Each download will be available for one week only, and comes accompanied by a special discount offer on related titles, available as either downloads or collector’s edition CDs or box sets.   This week’s Weekly Freebie is:  Doctor Who: The Nightmare Fair part one, written by Graham Williams, adapted by John Ainsworth.  This full-cast audio drama was Big Finish’s first ever Lost Story, adapted from the script originally planned for Doctor Who’s twenty-third season on television. It stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant (as the Sixth Doctor and Peri), with guest star david baillie as The Celestial Toymaker (a part originated by Michael Gough in the 1960s).   The TARDIS has been drawn to Blackpool in the year 1985, where the Doctor intends to investigate a dangerous space/time vortex… while enjoying some local attractions along the way. But an old enemy is watching from his base deep within the amusement park, a timeless being who craves revenge.  The Celestial Toymaker has returned. The game is on. And, should he lose, the Doctor will pay the ultimate forfeit…  The complete Doctor Who: The Nightmare Fair is available for £4.99 as a collector’s edition CD or download (at over 60% OFF), while stocks last.   Big Finish listeners can also get up to 60% OFF any story in Doctor Who: The Lost Stories (series one), and up to 50% OFF Doctor Who - The Lost Stories: The Second Doctor box set, either as collector's edition CD, or as a digital download, while stocks last.   All offers end at 23:59 on 16 August 2020. All titles offered are going out of print – once the current stock is sold, these will not be repressed.    
10 Aug

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Big Finish Productions, in association with BBC Studios, today announced the long-awaited return of Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor in a brand new series of audio adventures. First seen on screen in 2005, Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor introduced a whole new generation of fans to Doctor Who. Now he's back, with a brand-new series of twelve full-cast audio adventures in space and time, due to be released across four box sets, starting with volume one in May 2021. Christopher Eccleston said: After 15 years it will be exciting to revisit the Ninth Doctor's world, bringing back to life a character I love playing. Story details, writers and additional guest cast are being kept under wraps at present but this Doctor Who audio series promises to be, once again, the trip of a lifetime. Big Finish’s Chairman, Jason Haigh-Ellery said: I first talked to Christopher about returning to the role of the Doctor at the Gallifrey One convention in February this year. Christopher said he was enjoying meeting the fans and was pleased that his Doctor was remembered so fondly. I am so pleased that Christopher has decided to return to the role with us – and I'm excited to welcome him to the Big Finish family as we discover the new adventures of the Ninth Doctor.   Big Finish’s Creative Director, Nicholas Briggs, added: Working with Chris was a very special time for me. The beginning of my Doctor Who TV career. So, writing for and directing him feels incredibly exciting. He’s such a powerful performer and it’ll be amazing to work with him again. Doctor Who fans worldwide can now pre-order all four volumes, which are available in three formats – collector’s edition CD, digital download or limited edition gatefold triple LP vinyl – exclusively from the Big Finish website. Each of the four volumes in Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures will be released as a 4-disc collector’s edition box set or download containing three brand-new full cast audio adventures, plus a selection of behind-the-scenes extras. Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures is now available to pre-order. Find out more and get your copy exclusively at the Big Finish website    
9 Aug

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Big Finish has today revealed its final contribution to the Doctor Who multi-platform adventure Time Lord Victorious with a new limited edition vinyl – starring David Tennant and Paul McGann.  Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious - Echoes of Extinction comprises of two separate adventures that listeners can play in any order and form a greater narrative.   This very special double-A side vinyl Doctor Who release features a different incarnation of the Doctor on each side and will be released on split red/blue vinyl.   Trapped, a haunted monster waits to consume new victims. It needs help. It needs a doctor. Unfortunately, it also needs to kill whoever it meets. Thrust into immediate danger, and on the back-foot, it will take all of the Doctor’s ingenuity to triumph.   Two interlinked adventures. Two Doctors. One foe.   The supporting cast also includes Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), Burn Gorman (Torchwood, The Expanse), Mina Anwar (The Thin Blue Line, The Sarah Jane Adventures), Kathryn Drysdale (Benidorm, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) and Paul Clayton (The Crown, Him and Her).   David Tennant said: The Doctor in Time Lord Victorious is a different character. He's slightly lonelier, slightly scratchier, when he doesn't have one of his pals to hold him back.   But it's nice to tell stories from different times of his life. You just have to try and make sure you're in the right mindset. The script is fascinating. I've only got one side of it, but I'm very aware there's more to this story, that there's another Doctor on the other side of the disc. I look forward to getting my LP so I can listen to it all. Paul McGann added: I've read this script twice through and I'm still none the wiser. I'm more confused after the second time than I was after the first. It's only while working on it that I've become aware of how it's going to be structured.   It really appeals to me, the idea that it's in two parts, on two sides of vinyl. I think it's fun for people listening. Part of the excitement is when the different incarnations meet... or nearly meet. Writer and Producer Alfie Shaw said Director Scott Handcock has pulled together an amazing who’s who of Doctor Who for the cast. We’ve got alumni from the series as well as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. It’s been an honour to create Big Finish’s first commissioned-for-vinyl story, and utterly thrilling to write for both the Eighth and Tenth Doctors. The vinyl will launch in selected UK ASDA stores on 27 November 2020.   A digital download of the story will be released from the Big Finish website on 04 December 2020, and is now available for pre-order at £8.99.  
6 Aug