BBC goes to court to find out who leaked one of Jodie Whittaker's Doctor Who debut scenes

The BBC is going to court over last week's Doctor Who leak, requesting Californian officials to issue a subpoena – an order to attend court – to mobile internet forum site, Tapatalk.

Footage from Jodie Whittaker's debut scenes as the Doctor found its way online last Monday (June 25), marking series 11's first significant leak ahead of its premiere later this year.

Digital Spy has learned that the BBC is now pursuing legal action over the clip, which is believed to be an unfinished rough-cut, in order to protect the final product for fans. We also understand that this is an open investigation, and the BBC are pursuing all avenues to determine where the leak came from.

In a statement, a spokesperson for BBC Studios told Digital Spy that they are taking "the theft and illegal distribution" of the content "extremely seriously".

"[We] will strive to protect our programme-makers, audiences and licence fee payers from any breaches of security – ensuring Doctor Who fans enjoy the final and fully completed version of the episode when it premieres," the statement read.

Leak or no leak, Doctor Who fans have already caught their first glimpse of Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor in Peter Capaldi's final episode 'Twice Upon a Time'.

And former star of the iconic series Carole Ann Ford recently revealed that it was that very introduction to Jodie that convinced her a female Doctor was in fact a good idea.

"Jodie's got a very strong presence," she said, reflecting on her regeneration scene. "I saw the moment she arrived and I've been thinking about it quite a lot.

"I really would like to meet her," she added. "Wouldn't it be fun?! What would I say to her? 'Hello Grandma!'"

Recalling the team's decision to cast Jodie as Thirteen, the series' new showrunner Chris Chibnall said last year that the actress was their "number one choice".

"Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role. The Thirteenth Doctor is on her way."

So, let's stop those leaks, shall we?

Series 11 of Doctor Who will air on BBC One and BBC America in Autumn 2018.

Source: Digital Spy

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Doctor Who series 11 composer has been revealed

It's official: the next series of Doctor Who – Jodie Whittaker's first – will be scored by composer Segun Akinola.

Akinola, a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, will write the music for all 10 episodes of series 11, as well as provide a fresh take on the legendary theme tune.

He replaces Murray Gold, who served as composer for all 10 previous series and various specials since Doctor Who returned to screens in 2005.

"Welcome to the Doctor Who family, Segun Akinola!" said showrunner Chris Chibnall. We're over the moon Segun's agreed to join us, to provide the score for the next phase of the Doctor Who adventure.

"From our very first conversations, it was obvious Segun was a passionate, collaborative and delightful human being as well as a fantastic and bold composer.We'reking forward to introducing the world to his exciting and emotional soundtracks for the Thirteenth Doctor."

Akinola himself said: "Doctor Who is woven into the fabric of British culture and recognised globally. I am absolutely thrilled to be given the privilege of working on such a beloved series and to bring my musical voice to it."

Akinola's previous work includes scoring BBC Two's four-part documentary series Black and British: A Forgotten History, written and presented by historian David Olusoga.

He also scored Shola Amoo's 2016 debut feature film A Moving Image and the same year's short film Dear Mr Shakespeare, for which he received an Honourable Mention for the 2017 BSO Jerry Goldsmith Award for 'Best Original Score for a Short Film'.

Recently, he completed the scores for the major three-part series The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed and two-part series Expedition Volcano, both for BBC Two and PBS.

Doctor Who will return to BBC One in the autumn, with a trio of companions – Yasmin (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole), and Graham (Bradley Walsh) – joining Whittaker's new Doctor.

Source: Digital Spy

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Torchwood returning for official series 6 at Big Finish – with twists in store

Torchwood is returning for an official sixth 'series' courtesy of Big Finish – and there are some serious surprises on the way.

John Barrowman will reprise his role as Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood – God Among Us, a new set of audio plays which pick up where the previous Aliens Among Us left off.

Released in August 2017, Aliens Among Us was presented as an official fifth series of Torchwood, with approval from creator Russell T Davies and following the events of the last TV outing, Miracle Day.

God Among Us will pit the Torchwood team against an alien god and kicks off a few days after the Aliens Among Us finale, but not everyone has made it out alive...

Joining Barrowman as Captain Jack will be Tracy-Ann Oberman as the resurrected Yvonne Hartman, Paul Clayton as Mr Colchester, Alexandria Riley as Ng, Samantha Béart as Oor, Jonny Green as Tyler Steele, Rachel Atkins as Ro-Jedda and Tom Price as Sergeant Andy Davison.

Notice any significant omissions from that list? *starts trembling with fear and anticipation*

"They are really great stories in series 6, they really move the narrative forward," said Barrowman. "I find all over the world, from Puerto Rico to Paris, from London to Pensacola Florida to South America, there are huge Torchwood fans and the audience is always growing."

The new set will comprise four stories: 'Future Pain' by James Goss, 'The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood' by Guy Adams, 'See No Evil' by John Dorney and 'Night Watch' by Tim Foley.

"We had such a great reaction to series 5, it's been a delight getting the cast back together to do more," producer James Goss said. "Now things are established the stories are more standalone, seeing Torchwood face some tough challenges – a plague of sleep, a city that goes blind, organising a funeral, and then there's an alien god to deal with!"

Torchwood: Series 6, Part 1 launches this next set of adventures in October 2018. Part 2 will follow in February 2019, and part 3 will complete the season in June 2019.

All three parts can be pre-ordered today from bigfinish.com – either individually for £25 on download or £28 on CD, or you can save money in a specially-priced Torchwood series 6 bundle with all three parts at £60 on download or £75 on CD.

Source: Digital Spy

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Georgia Tennant revisits Doctor Who's Jenny – and explains why she wasn't satisfied with her TV episode

Whatever happened to the Doctor's daughter? It's a question that Doctor Who fans will have to ponder no longer, as the character of Jenny (Georgia Tennant) returns in a new series of audio plays from Big Finish.

Jenny – a genetic anomaly artificially created from the Doctor's DNA – debuted in the 2008 TV episode 'The Doctor's Daughter'. But while her Time Lord genetics allowed Jenny to escape a brush with death, the character hasn't been seen since she hijacked a rocket and jetted off into outer space at the episode's climax.

Looking back on her TV debut as the character, Georgia told Digital Spy that she wasn't totally satisfied with her performance, explaining that – as the daughter of fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison – she felt overwhelmed by the pressure of appearing in the iconic BBC sci-fi series.

"It's been such a massive part of my life, and then to get to the point where I'm in it, I just thought, 'If I can just get through this, it'll be fine. If I can just say the words in the right order and put one foot in front of the other...'

"Now of course I look back and go, 'Oh, I could've done so much more with that!' I think it would've been really great if I'd done that character now. I felt such pressure back then to just sort of get through it."

A decade later and Georgia is reprising the role, having recorded four stories for a new boxset release in December of last year. "I've enjoyed it much more than I thought I was going to enjoy it," she admits. "The pressure that I felt back then has lifted, and I've just had a bit of a laugh!"

Jenny – The Doctor's Daughter has the character as a universe-trotting "Time Lord in training", with Harry Potter's Sean Biggerstaff cast as Noah, "Jenny's mysterious, unknown, but knowing companion".

Big Finish explores various realms of the Whoniverse on audio, from Torchwood to Class to the further adventures of Lady Christina de Souza (Michelle Ryan) and had been trying to secure Georgia to appear in a Jenny spin-off for "quite a long time".

"Enough time needed to have had passed after the TV episode, so that I felt like I could put my own mark on her," she explains. "Because obviously she was effectively born at the beginning of the TV episode, so by the end of it, she's not formed a massive personality.

"I wanted to make sure that I could create a well-rounded, interesting, fun version of her that I would be happy to commit to. It's a slightly weird thing in that you're reprising a role, but actually you're sort of creating it fresh, because she wasn't particularly fully-formed [on television]."

As part of that process, Georgia was also involved in Jenny's new adventures as an associate producer – advising on story ideas, scripts and casting. "It's a power thing!" she jokes. "They didn't at any point say, 'Step back, madam!' so that was good."

In fact, Georgia is now regularly working as a producer alongside her acting gigs, having most recently put out the romantic comedy You, Me and Him, co-starring her on-screen father and off-screen husband David Tennant.

She's not sure if future Jenny boxsets will reunite the character with the tenth Doctor or even see her cross paths with the fifth, with the focus right now being on cementing the series as a standalone. "[The Doctor] gets referred to every now and again," she says. "But Jenny is very much a separate character in her own right."

One thing's for certain, though: having experienced a wealth of enthusiastic reactions from fans when her spin-off was officially announced back in November, she's keen to keep carving out adventures for Jenny for the foreseeable future.

"I only saw positive things, which is good – I didn't delve into the depths of the internet to find the negatives! But the fans are really excited to see what she's been up to. And that's really nice. There's no fans quite like the Doctor Who fans!"

Jenny – The Doctor's Daughter is available to buy now on CD and as a digital download from Big Finish.

Credit: Digital Spy

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Christopher Eccleston says Doctor Who exit almost destroyed his career

Christopher Eccleston has claimed that his exit from Doctor Who almost destroyed his career in a new interview.

Speaking to The Guardian, Eccleston reflected on his decision to leave the iconic show after just one series and didn't hold back on the BBC's handling of the situation, as well as his role in rebooting the classic show.

"What happened around Doctor Who almost destroyed my career. I gave them a hit show and I left with dignity and then they put me on a blacklist," he alleged.

"I was carrying my own insecurities as it was something I had never done before and then I was abandoned, vilified in the tabloid press and blacklisted. I was told by my agent at the time, 'The BBC regime is against you. You're going to have to get out of the country and wait for regime change.'"

Digital Spy has reached out to the BBC for comment.

Since his Doctor Who exit, Eccleston has appeared in BBC shows like The Shadow Line and The A Word, but famously turned down the chance to appear in Doctor Who's 50th anniversary special, something Steven Moffat spoke about earlier this year.

"Christopher Eccleston said no, and that was awful, that was just awful. I was so depressed that day, because I'd written most of the script and he was in it. I didn't know what to do," he recalled.

Doctor Who series 11 is expected to premiere later this year on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US.

Credit: Digital Spy

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