Last-minute Christmas shopping time!

Stuck for a present for the Battlestar Galactica fan on your list! Just released from Sequart Publishing,  Somewhere Beyond the Heavens is a comprehensive and entertaining book of articles about old and new series, and one of those is by Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore! Click the link for details.

A Message from the Dalek Supreme!

Wait, Anthony Ainley is dressed up as *what* now?

Christmas is time for panto, and you don't get much more panto than Time-Flight. The latest 50 Things... takes you through the tinsel, the glitter, the borderline-dodgy humour, the people dressing up and the topical references, to explore the strangest Doctor Who story ever to be set in an airport. Climb aboard the Concorde!

The Black Archive on The Robots of Death

It's official! Obverse Books' The Black Archive series, which is a collection of book-length in-depth examinations of every Doctor Who story from 1963 to the present, has announced that their volume on The Robots of Death will be coming out in 2020, and will be written by Magic Bullet's own Fiona Moore, scriptwriter on Hidden Persuaders and extensive contributor to the Articles page. More details closer to the time!

Jacqueline Pearce Remembered

New on the Kaldor City site, Alan Stevens' tribute to Jacqueline Pearce, as previously seen in Celestial Toyroom. This brief, moving piece explores Pearce's range as an actor and her relationship with Servalan, the character she made truly her own.

Driving Ambition: Print books

Print copies of Fiona Moore's cyber-detective novel Driving Ambition are now available!  The link here will take you to the publisher's website. A reminder that you can also get Kindle and Kobo versions if you're not into dead trees.

Driving Ambition: E-books and Interviews!

Driving Ambition, a tale of murder, labour politics and self-driving cars, is now available as an e-book in Kindle and Kobo formats. Print copies will be available to order later, but some advance copies might make their way to the BSFA's interview event with Fiona Moore next Wednesday. Please come if you're in the London area!

In the meantime, here's a tortoiseshell cat contemplating her new copy...

Regeneration Special: It's a Two-Fer!

With the new season of Doctor Who starting, Magic Bullet brings you not one but two articles exploring the series. First, Rose No More by Alan Stevens speculates on what became of Rose after the changes in history happened on the Eleventh Doctor's watch. Following that up, we've got The Doctor's Kill List by telefantasy expert Mike Kenwood, figuring out the number of times that The Man Who Never Would, um, did.

Driving Ambition cover reveal

Launching at Can-Con next month, with events in Toronto and London, UK to follow, this book will soon be available from Bundoran Press. It's got rogue robots, virtual policewomen, a murder mystery, and anti-automation terrorists-- everything that the Kaldor City fan could want!

Vintage Jacqueline

In memory of Jacqueline Pearce, here's a link to a 1991 interview Alan and Alistair conducted with her.

Jacqueline Pearce 1943-2018

Sad to hear the news about Jacqueline Pearce, with whom we had the honour of working on The Logic of Empire. We were always going to get the band back together someday, and now we never will.

The long way to a small angry planet?

Aside from containing a possibly controversial five page article on Olag Gan by Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore, issue 2 of the free online fanzine Gallifrey, The Long Way Round, contains a further 75 pages of SF features, stories, interviews and great artwork; ten months in the making!
Click the link to enjoy!

Celestial Toyroom bonus art

Celestial Toyroom issue 485/5 also contains a free postcard by the splended artist JL Fletcher.

Celestial Toyroom 484/5 Full Cover Spread

Plus! Alan's Churchillian editor's blog post here. Copies of the magazine are now arriving in mailboxes!

Celestial Toyroom cover reveal

The cover for Alan's latest editorial job for the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, by the multitalented Colin Brockhurst, has now been revealed. More details at this link.

Heat wave getting you down?

No fear, we have 34 1/2 Cool Things About "The Curse of Peladon" (and 15 1/2 Stupid Ones), plus two Ice Warriors, to chill you out!

A delivery from Kaldor

Here is a photo of the major new restock of Kaldor City CDs which arrived this week. Apologies to the people who have been patiently waiting, but your order will be with you soon. We've got the packing Vocs working at optimum efficency!

Corbyn and the Collector

Alan Stevens recently edited the Politics issue of Celestial Toyroom, which had a special wrap-around cover by artist and political cartoonist Smuzz. We're posting a full colour version so you can appreciate the subtle anti-capitalist messaging of 1970s Doctor Who, and its relevance to the present day.

Dancing Days

Another Magic Bullet person guests on the Time For Cakes And Ale Podcast, reviewing every episode of The Prisoner. This time, Professor Fiona Moore discusses feminism, psychoanalysis and apocalypses in "Dance of the Dead." Click the link for more!

Celestial Toyroom #482

The next issue of Celestial Toyroom will be edited by Alan Stevens. Alan has this to say:

"Greetings from Earth!
Reports that say something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.
One thing I do know is that Celestial Toyroom issue 482 is no longer an unknown quantity, as I've once again managed pull together a great team of writers (Michael Seely, Tony J Fyler, Fiona Moore, Ken Shinn, Jim Cooray-Smith, Ann Worrall and Robin Pierce) to tell us about fan politics, geopolitics, sexual politics, political allegory and the politics of fear in our favourite TV show, Doctor Who.

I'd also like to thank political cartoonist Smuzz for the wonderful wrap-around cover depicting man of peace Jeremy Corbyn about to smack the Collector from The Sunmakers over the head with a chair; and to also extend my thanks to another fantastic artist, JL Fletcher, for providing the superbly dramatic image of a Dalek for the colour postcard included with this edition.
Kindest regards,
Alan Stevens (with thanks to Donald Rumsfeld)"

To further whet your appetite, here is Smuzz's Soviet-realist wrap-around cover art (click to embiggen):

Remembering Scott

Also new online: Fiona Moore's obituary for Scott Fredericks from Celestial Toyroom is now available to read in the People Section.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Mutant?

New article up this month: 38 Stupid Things About Mawdryn Undead (and 12 Cool Ones). From a time when Class wasn't the only unwatchable serial about an alien in disguise as a schoolboy at a British school with an ex-companion of the Doctor's as a teacher.

New drinking game ideas

Alan Stevens guest stars on this week's Time For Cakes And Ale Podcast, talking about the classic The Prisoner episode "Free For All". Alan says: "See if you can count how many times I respond with "I don't know" when asked specific questions about the episode."

Peter Miles Tribute

Alan Stevens' tribute to Peter Miles in Celestial Toyroom is now online here.

Magic Bullet in Doctor Who Magazine

This month's Doctor Who magazine has a very good tribute to Peter Miles, and includes a mention of his work for Magic Bullet:

A Night at the Space Opera

See below for a video of Fiona Moore's talk at this year's Eastercon, looking at how various space operas-- including Blake's 7 and Battlestar Galactica-- use colour and style to establish character, mood and theme.

Own a Dalek Poster

In happier news, if you love the magnificent image of Daleks fighting UNIT on the cover of Alan's latest Celestial Toyroom, you can now buy a full-colour high-quality poster for your wall. Click the link for the offer-- and, if you're not a DWAS member, you can still buy them from the DWAS' ebay shop (all profits to charity).

Peter Miles

Taken by Alan Stevens last year on the release of Vworp Vworp!

Peter Miles

All of us at Magic Bullet are mourning the loss of Peter Miles, who has been a key part of our work since the very first audios, and a friend for decades. We can’t begin to describe what he’s been to us. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

How To Talk Like A Dalek

Issue 479 of Celestial Toyroom, forthcoming, is guest-edited by Alan Stevens, and features articles about Dalek language, UNIT and the 1960s spy genre, meeting Terry Nation, why the Tenth Doctor is terrible, and much more! With a wraparound cover by Andy Lambert (prints of which are also available), this issue has something for everyone. Visit the Doctor Who Appreciation Society website for details.

The Robot Revolution Will Be Novelised

Kaldor City: Hidden Persuaders co-author and longtime Magic Bullet production manager, Fiona Moore's novel, "Driving Ambition", has been acquired by Bundoran Press. From their announcement:

"In the not-too-distant future, intelligent Things are recognized as sentient beings--but do they have the same rights as humans? And what about the free-floating Intelligents deep within the Internet. Thompson Jennings is a man with unique problems and unique abilities--he can interface between the human and machine worlds, acting as a go-between in labour negotiations and other disputes. But when one his clients, a sentient taxicab, is murdered, his problems multiply and his abilities are stretched to the limit."

So: Robots, murders, political intrigue and artificial sentience... what more could Kaldor City fans ask for? The book will be published in autumn 2018, details will be forthcoming.