60 years of Doctor Who is to be celebrated with impressive programme of talks, panels, and performances at this year’s Bluedot festival.
Cheshire’s multi award-winning celebration of music, science, and cosmic culture will once again be taking over the grounds of the iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory from Friday 20 – Sunday 23 July – with Grace Jones, Pavement, Roisin Murphy, Max Richter, and Leftfield among the names lined-up to take to the stage over the three-day festival.
BBC Concert Orchestra, Young Fathers, and Annie Mac also form part of this year’s already-announced lineup, alongside a series of hands-on science workshops, exhibitions, and so much more.
And now, you can add a massive Doctor Who anniversary celebration that list.
It’s pretty fitting that Bluedot’s Jodrell Bank home would host the 60-year celebrations to the long-running BBC sci-fi show, as fans will know that the Observatory is rightly-renowned in Whovian lore for having provided the backdrop to the fourth Doctor’s transition to the fifth back in 1982 – when Tom Baker handed the role over to Peter Davison.
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Taking place on the Sunday of the three-day festival, with a full programme of events curated by the Bluedot festival team – who are self-confessed Who superfans – actor and renowned Doctor Who expert Toby Hadoke, and the charity Delia Derbyshire Day, 60 Years of Doctor Who – A Celebration promises festivalgoers a spine-tingling experience.
Radiophonic Workshop will be the event’s very-special guests with the premiere of brand-new live show, Dawn of the Doctors.
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60 years of Doctor Who to be celebrated Bluedot Festival with talks, performances, and more / Credit:
Aside from that though, Toby Hadoke’s series of talks and panels include a conversation with BBC Radio 4’s Robin Ince for a “fascinating and hilarious deep-dive into life as a Whovian”, a talk with Dr Tom Attah, Dr Emma Alexander, and comedian and Doctor Who actor Bethany Black titled ‘Why Do We Love This Silly Programme So Much’.
One of the stand-out talks in Toby’s lineup is ‘Doctor Who Made Me’ – which will be made up of prolific TV scriptwriter and producer Stephen Gallagher, who wrote the Doctor Who stories Warrior’s Gate and Terminus, and actor and writer Dan Starkey, who has played the fan-favourite Strax the Sontaran character in numerous episodes.
Bluedot 2023 is taking over the grounds of Jodrell Bank on Thursday 20 – Sunday 23 July / Credit: bluedot
Further panels include ‘Reversing the Polarity of the Timey Wimey Flow: The Changing Portrayal of the Scientist in Doctor Who’ with David Butler, Jen Gupta, and Simon Guerrier, and ‘Doctor Who and the Current Crisis; The Role of Drama in Imagining Futures’ with Sashwati Mira Sengupta.
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Another one of the event’s highlights is ‘Conversations in Space, Time, Science and Music: Doctor Who at 60’ – which is a fascinating programme of panels featuring Dick Mills, who was Delia Derbyshire’s tape assistant during the production of the original theme, and Mark Myers of the Radiophonic Workshop Band.
Both final day and weekend tickets for Bluedot 2023 are on sale now, and you can find out more and grab yours here.
Featured Image – Lucas Sinclair
What's On
MTV EMAs nominations announced ahead of star-studded Manchester award show
Daisy Jackson
The nominations for the 2024 MTV EMAs have been announced, ahead of a truly massive awards show right here in Manchester.
The star-studded event will be taking place at the Co-op Live, and it’s the first time the global music celebration has ever been held in our city.
And now that MTV has revealed its list of nominations, we’re starting to get a good idea of what famous faces we might see gracing the streets of Manchester.
Megastar Taylor Swift is leading the nominations for the MTV EMAs for a second year running, with seven nods, with other top contenders including Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX and Ariana Grande.
Now in its 30th year, the MTV EMAs celebrates the biggest and best of the music industry across genres, with categories honouring the best music videos, collaborations, live shows and even fanbases.
It’s a huge deal for Manchester to be the host city, especially with our very own Liam Gallagher going up agains rock icons like Bon Jovi, Coldplay, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Lenny Kravitz and The Killers in the Best Rock category.
Also leading the nominations, with four each, are Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Chappell Roan, Tyla, LISA and Arya Starr.
Taylor Swift is leading the nominations for the MTV EMAs. Credit: SuppliedAriana Grande has several MTV EMAs nominations. Credit: Supplied
Other top contenders in the MTV EMAs nominations include Sabrina Carpenter. Credit: Supplied
There are 19 first-time nominees too, such as Fred Again, Disclosure, Kehlani, Tinashe, The Last Dinner Party, Fontaines D.C. and Jimin.
And as for the Best Collaboration category, there are huge names like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars; Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar; LISA and Rosalía; Peso Pluma and Anitta; Charli xcx and Billie Eilish, plus Taylor Swift and Post Malone.
Just stop for one minute and imagine all of those people wandering the streets of Manchester. Wild.
The 2024 MTV EMAs will take place at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Sunday 10 November, and will be broadcast live on MTV UK, Channel 5 and Pluto TV.
Voting is now open HERE for fans to choose their winners from the range of categories announced.
2024 MTV EMAs nominations in full
Best Song
Credit: SuppliedCredit: SuppliedBeyonce and Chappell Roan are both nominated for Best Song at the MTV EMAs
Ariana Grande – we can’t be friends (wait for your love)
Benson Boone – Beautiful Things
Beyoncé – TEXAS HOLD ‘EM
Billie Eilish – BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso
Best Video
Ariana Grande – we can’t be friends (wait for your love)
Charli xcx – 360
Eminem – Houdini
Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
LISA ft. Rosalía – NEW WOMAN
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – Fortnight
Best Artist
Beyoncé
Billie Eilish
Post Malone
RAYE
Sabrina Carpenter
Taylor Swift
Best Collaboration
Billie Eilish is one of the top nominees for the MTV EMAs. Credit: SuppliedBrat star Charli XCX is nominated for several MTV EMAs. Credit: Supplied
It’s been nearly eight years since Jordan Stephens and Harley Sulé, otherwise known as iconic British duo Rizzle Kicks, released music together and played to audiences of adoring fans nationwide, instead favouring acting and other solo projects in the meantime – but now, the pair is drawing their indefinite hiatus to a close and heading out on a UK tour in 2025.
The duo, which has sold more than one million singles and 600,000 albums in the UK, is set to peform their first headline show in nearly a decade at London’s iconic KOKO in Camden next month, before they hit the road.
The highly sought-after London show sold out in less than a minute, so it’s expected that eager Greater Manchester fans will also quickly snap up tickets to see the duo’s first tour when they go on sale later this week.
Rizzle Kicks will be arriving in Manchester and taking to the beloved O2 Ritz stage in March 2025, as well as headlining other major cities like Birmingham and Brighton.
Rizzle Kicks – UK Tour Dates 2025
Wednesday 19 March – O2 Ritz, Manchester
Friday 21 March – O2 Institute, Birmingham
Saturday 22 March – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
Friday 16 May – Brighton Dome
The pair returned in style with comeback single ‘Javelin’ being released this past summer, and have now followed on with this continuation of their mature and evolved sound with new track ‘Gumdrops’ – which offers a nuanced discussion about masculinity and lad culture.
Both singles are taken from a forthcoming, as-yet-untitled, project that sees Rizzle Kicks return to the pop music space sober, in love, and equipped with life lessons, self awareness, and a maturity they’ve built on separately, while still retaining their sense of humour and humanity that sets them apart from other artists.
Rizzle Kicks will perform take to the O2 Ritz stage in Manchester on Wednesday 19 March 2025, and tickets will go on general sale from this Thursday (10 October) at 10am.
Emily Sergeant -
26th May 2023 
