The New Series (2006) Last Alteration: Thursday 26 May 2022 The following are earlier news items from 2006; you can find the current news items here. A glance through the Christmas
Radio Times reveals a wealth
of episodes on throughout the period, what with repeats and even some
new items to catch the eye (grin). The list below covers what is
currently in the schedules - note this can always change, especially
where BBC3 is concerned!
(end of part one!) This rumour
from Sci-Fi Online is a major spoiler for those who don't really want to
know!
The opening evening of Torchwood has proven to digital station BBC3's
greatest success, with 2.4 million viewers tuning in to the
premiere at 9:00pm, some 12.7% of the audience. BBC3's Controller, Julian Bellamy, said: "I'm delighted that last night's Torchwood was such a big hit. It's an incredible achievement to be the highest rating show ever on BBC3 and one of the most watched programmes on a digital channel." The first episode's ratings were on par with "terrestrial" BBC1's broadcast of Wide Sargasso Sea, which attained a 10% audience share at 2.4m (rounded down!). The second episode also did well, with 2.3 million viewers and a greater share of 13.8% of the audience! Not only BBC3's greatest success, it was also one of the highest ever achievements of a non-terrestrial channel; only an episode of Friends on Sky One during 2000 (2.9 million) and two football matches on Sky Sports One (Manchester United vs Arsenal in 2004 - 2.8m, England vs Turkey in 2006 - 2.4m) have seen more viewers. ![]() ![]() ![]() John Barrowman: "Torchwood is a show that is like nothing else you've ever seen on British television. It is a science fiction show that will involve human stories, human nature, it will involve aliens, a lot of blood and gore, and quite a bit of sex!" Russell T Davies: "It's modern urban science fiction stories, all set in Cardiff with a team of investigators - they might find a monster one week, they might find an alien device the next. But a lot of it is very psychological, dark drama - great sense of humour in it, and all of it very very Welsh!" DWM have got it wrong! According to the online Radio Times the first
two episodes of Torchwood will be shown as a double-bill from 9pm on
BBC THREE ONLY. (The former "Jane Eyre" slot on BBC ONE is to be
given over to the dramatisation of it's prequel story "Wide Sargosso
Sea" which recently aired on BBC FOUR.)
The terrestrial debut of Torchwood is now scheduled for Wednesday
25th October at 9pm on BBC TWO. Also of note very late on sunday 22nd following a late night repeat of episodes one and two from 1am till 2.40am two short behind the scenes features entitled "Torchwood De-Classified" are to air from 2.40 till 3.05am. (presumably a similar format to the cut down versions of Doctor Who Confidential). Torchwood De-Classified 1 is also scheduled to be repeated from 9.50pm till 10pm on Friday 27th following a repeat of Episode One at 9pm. The De-Classifieds and all Episode repeats (except for that mentioned on Wednesday 25th) will all be shown on BBC THREE. submitted by Richard
The new issue of DWM has turned up, and of course has the "exclusive" news
about Torchwood - we don't look at the sides of buses, honestly! As previously speculated, it's starting on the 22nd October with a simultaneous broadcast on BBC1 and BBC3, with the next episode immediately afterwards on BBC3, and each week thereafter. They say that BBC1 will see it in the New Year (ie. not every week). No timeslot specified, but almost it's almost certainly 9:00pm in the "Jane Eyre" slot! The Torchwood site on the BBC launches tomorrow. The Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood is due to start airing
on the 22nd October, expected to be in the 9:00pm slot once the current
series Jane Eyre finishes. (at least as far as bus adverts are telling us!) On top of yesterday's TV Quick award, actress Billie Piper has just received
another acolade in the form of the GQ Woman Of The Year award for
her role in Doctor Who! Reported by: The Sun, Sky Showbiz, Digital Spy After Christopher Eccleston's win last year,
the annual TV Quick/TV Choice Awards ceremony taking place last night at the
Dorchester Hotel London saw Doctor Who receive three awards this time around:
Coverage on: BBC News, Daily Record, The Sun, news.com Australia, RTE, Hello Magazine, Daily Mail. Meanwhile, last week also saw David pick up another award, with a poll of 11-12 year olds by a pizza company placing him as top hippest celebrity in Britain! The runners up were Fearne Cotton and Jeremy Clarkson. Coverage on: Daily Record, In The News, The Sun Doctor Who did well in the sci-fi category of the Hugo Awards, with the
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form award seeing
episodes The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances taking first place,
and second and third places taken by Dalek and Father's Day. Meanwhile, Russell T Davies also won an award for Industry Player of the Year at the Edinburgh TV Festival. The news site Digital Spy reports that the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood will have interactive features, including the ability to explore the Torchwood facility, imaginary desktop, and weekly 10 minute behind-the-scenes featurettes.
"You can join the corporation of Torchwood and be one of its employees,"explained director of television Jana Bennett, who commissioned the application as part of the BBC Vision project.
The BBC have reported on the sales figures for the "junior" Doctor Who
magazine Doctor Who Adventures, reporting on a circulation figure
of 72,852. Toni Round, the joint Managing Director of BBC Children's Magazines, said: "Doctor Who Adventures has been one of our most successful launches, particularly as its target market includes 6-12 year-old boys - a challenging group to bring to the newsstand. The title has also benefited from some of the best quality and exclusive Doctor Who themed covermounted gifts."
The new companion for the Doctor has finally been announced by the BBC this
morning (though it was leaked across the Net yesterday!); it is to be
27 year-old Freema Agyeman, who has previously had roles in
Crossroads, Casualty, and most recently seen last week in Doctor Who itself
as first on-screen victim to the Cyber invasion Adeola. The new companion, Martha Jones, will make her first appearance in season three next year, leaving this year's Christmas special open for a special suprise ... Covered by: BBC Press Office, BBC News, Contact Music, icWales, Independent, ITV, Mail, Sky News. ![]() Today's
Sun
announced the finale to the series this morning (well, late last night),
and has now been confirmed in a
BBC Press Release and accompanying
news article. Be warned - this is a serious spoiler for the end of the series!!!! ... New Earth! After all the confusion on scheduling BBC3 finally
broadcast the first episode of this season tonight at 7:00pm (though the
preceeding 60 Seconds indicated it would be a Cyberman story!).
(and with clean end titles for the purists!) And this was followed by Confidential Cut Down, advertised as being From Zero to Hero and even introduced as such beforehand, but was actually New New Doctor! So ... at this stage we can't trust anything we're told - even on-screen - and simply wait and see each evening what we'll have next. (fingers crossed it will be Fear Factor tomorrow and not Three's Outtakes!) Well the broadcast schedule continues to make interesting reading depending
which website you look at! Whilst both the
Radio Times and
BBC websites both
agree that there are series two episode repeats throughout next week
on BBC3,
RT reports that it commences from The Christmas Invasion but the BBC
site reports New Earth to take the first slot on Monday evening! The latter is confirmed in the printed copy of Radio Times, and this is also the order shown on the Sky+ EPG; however, the magazine also reports that Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down follows each episode, whereas online it is Three's Outtakes from Tuesday! So ... the end result is that you'll have to watch out on the day for what will actually be broadcast! As a side note, last week saw Russell T Davies: Unscripted see a surprise repeat in place of a recently recovered episode of A For Andromeda, and of course the broadcast episode of Doctor Who itself was 20 minutes later than scheduled. (though for once those of us with Sky+ actually had the programme time updated in time!) Since yesterday's news update, the
Radio Times website has changed
the schedule for the next couple of weeks around slightly! Doctor Who
Confidential for the 20th May has now moved back to follow the episode
on BBC1, starting on BBC3 now at 7:25pm; the repeats on the following
Sunday have moved to 7:00pm and 7:45pm respectively, and the latter is now
listed as a "Cut Down" version - note, at this point the only "full length"
version of the programme is on Saturday (the same thing occured last year
with The Empty Child when Eurovision was
on). Also, the series is seeing it's first "repeat showing", with episodes on consecutive evenings from Monday 22nd May from 7:00pm on BBC3 commencing with The Christmas Invasion, and then New Earth on Tuesday (followed by the "New New Doctor" Confidential Cut Down). It isn't clear yet whether the episode repeats will have commentary options. The Radio Times and BBC websites still conflict over the order of shows on Sunday 14th - Sky's EPG shows the Conf/Who order! Up-and-coming broadcast schedule: 11th 5:00pm BBC1 Totally Doctor Who 5 12th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 5 12th 9:00pm BBC3 THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE (commentary option) 12th 9:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down: From Script to Screen 13th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 5 13th 7:00pm BBC1 RISE OF THE CYBERMEN 13th 7:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: Cybermen 13th 8:15pm BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men 13th 11:50pm BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men 14th 7:15pm BBC3 RISE OF THE CYBERMEN (commentary option) 14th 8:00pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: Cybermen *** these could be reversed! *** 15th 1:00pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 5 18th 5:00pm BBC1 Totally Doctor Who 6 19th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 6 19th 9:00pm BBC3 RISE OF THE CYBERMEN (commentary option) 19th 9:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down: Cybermen 20th 12:00am BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men 20th 2:50am BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men (signed) 20th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 6 20th 6:40pm BBC1 THE AGE OF STEEL 20th 7:25pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: From Zero to Hero 21st 7:00pm BBC3 THE AGE OF STEEL (commentary option) 21st 8:15pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down: From Zero to Hero 22nd 1:00pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 6 22nd 7:00pm BBC3 THE CHRISTMAS INVASION 23rd 7:00pm BBC3 NEW EARTH 23rd 7:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down: New New Doctor The Cybermen's 40th Anniversary is to be explored in a new BBC4 programme to
be broadcast this Saturday on BBC4, straight after Doctor Who Confidential
on BBC3!
Machine Men: Time Shift
Time Shift celebrates the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who's Cybermen with a look at the rollercoaster fortunes of robots, androids and cyborgs in fact and fantasy; from the Flash Gordon serials via The Six Million Dollar Man to Marvin the Paranoid Android. For decades we were alternately warned that robots could take over the planet, and promised that they would liberate us from the drudgery of everyday labour. But in the real world scientists struggled to design robots that could even climb the stairs. Yet the continued appeal of the Star Wars films, the recent remake of the TV classic A for Andromeda and the return of the Cybermen to our screens all prove that there's artificial life in the machine men yet. Among the contributors exploring whether we're on the cusp of the true robot age are actor Anthony Daniels, aka C-3PO in Star Wars; British SF visionary Brian Aldiss; writer Kim Newman; and a host of real-life robotics. After last week's appearance of Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down on Sunday, it has now moved to a (regular?) slot on BBC3 on Fridays after the episode repeat broadcast on that day (though typically as I mentioned it last time, there is no late night "continuity-free" broadcast of the normal version any longer - argh!) Also a point to note is that the Radio Times and BBC websites have conflicting information on the Sunday broadcast on BBC3, with the two sites presenting the episode and Confidential in reverse order (7:15pm-8:30pm slots). No UKTV Gold repeats this week, as the channel has decided to "rest" the series after the current run finished last Sunday with The Ultimate Foe. Up-and-coming broadcast schedule: 11th 5:00pm BBC1 Totally Doctor Who 5 12th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 5 12th 9:00pm BBC3 THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE (commentary option) 12th 9:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down: Script to Screen 13th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 5 13th 7:00pm BBC1 RISE OF THE CYBERMEN 13th 7:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: Cybermen 13th 8:15pm BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men 13th 11:50pm BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men 14th 7:15pm BBC3 RISE OF THE CYBERMEN (commentary option) 14th 8:00pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: Cybermen *** these could be reversed! *** 15th 1:00pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 5 18th 5:00pm BBC1 Totally Doctor Who 6 19th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 6 19th 9:00pm BBC3 RISE OF THE CYBERMEN (commentary option) 19th 9:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: Cybermen 20th 12:00am BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men 20th 2:50am BBC4 Time Shift: Machine Men (signed) 20th 6:30pm CBBC Totally Doctor Who 6 20th 6:40pm BBC1 THE AGE OF STEEL 20th 7:45pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: Mickey Smith 21st 7:15pm BBC3 THE AGE OF STEEL (commentary option) 21st 8:00pm BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential: Mickey Smith In the ever-continuing coverage of the series seen recently, Radio Times
are once again featuring a Doctor Who cover, this time proclaiming
the return of the Cybermen! The issue itself is also carrying an sticker album and the first set of stickers to put in it; additional sets will be in the following three issues to complete the collection. The issue is officially available from shops from tomorrow. The
Park Plaza Hotel
in Cardiff has launched a new offer aimed at Doctor Who fans!
The package deal includes bed and breakfast for two at the hotel, plus
a guide book to find the locations filmed in the city for series one. Says the hotel's Marketing Director, Caroline Sims: "The Doctor Who following is phenomenal. Everybody recognises the Tardis and Daleks and now they recognise it as a part of Cardiff. We're now seen as a sexy city to visit. We're catching up with the likes of Edinburgh - Doctor Who is just another draw for visitors." News Items: South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday, DigitalSpy. This Sunday sees the return of the cut-down version of Doctor Who Confidential,
"From Script to Screen",
which will broadcast before the repeat of The Girl in the Fireplace on BBC3. This seems likely to become the standard viewing schedule - at least
for the next couple of weeks! - with "Cybermen" in the same slot for
the 14th May. The full length Confidentials continue to be broadcast straight after the premiere airing of that week's episode on Saturday (7:45pm for the next couple of weeks on Saturday), and an early Monday morning repeat - the latter is interesting as, being the final show on BBC3, it doesn't feature either the annoying blue "Next:" banner or talking over the end credits (so far!). Just to note that Doctor Who itself is back to 7:00pm on Saturdays ... well until the 20th May at any rate when the Eurovision Song Contest could throw everything into confusion again! Disney-owned channel Jetix (formerly Fox Kids) have announced that they will
be broadcasting a new children's television show featuring the Doctor Who
character K9 (appearing next weekend in School Reunion). The
new-look character will be "redesigned as a sleeker, curvier hero complete with white bodywork and a liquid crystal display", rendered in CGI for a cartoon
series.
It is to be penned by original co-creator Bob Baker; says the writer:
"It's thrilling to be able to offer younger Doctor Who fans the chance to get to know K-9. I believe they will love the 21st century K-9 as much as past generations." Links: BBC News, Independent, C21Media, The Times, Daily Record. Elisabeth Sladen will be talking to Martin Barber on Friday about her return
to Doctor Who in School Reunion, and about the recent release
of the DVD Genesis of the Daleks - which includes a great story
about what happens when a Dalek gathers too much momentum! The interview will be available from the BBC Norfolk website from Friday at 3:15pm by clicking on the Listen Live button. New Earth opened the new series with a resounding success, not only being
the highest-rated programme on BBC1, but achieved the highest rating
for the entire evening! The overnight figures indicate that the show
was watched by an average of 8 million viewers, with a peak of 8.3 million;
ITV's broadcast of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on at this
time maintained a 5 million viewer average. Overall, BBC1's shows performed best for the evening, with Doctor Who, then Casualty with 7 million, The National Lottery Jetset (complete with Eamonn Holmes exiting TARDIS at start!) with 6.2 million, then ITV1's Harry Potter and Who Wants to be a Millionaire (4.7 million) taking up 4th and 5th places. The official BARB figures for the weekend, which will take account of recordings too, will be released on Wednesday 26th April. In comparison, this time last year saw the broadcast of Aliens of London, which achieved 7 million on the night, against Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway's 7.1 million; the audience share then was 33.9%. It'll be interesting to see how next week's episode fares, with lots of publicity about the werewolf that will feature; first trailer ran about 1:10am on BBC1 after Terminal Velocity and several times throughout Sunday! In the media: The Sunday Times, BBC News, CBBC, The Herald, TV Squad, Blogcritics, Digital Spy, In the News, The Guardian. Tuesday update: Lancashire Evening Telegraph, SyFyPortal, TV Squad, Guardian, Times, Waveguide, 25th Frame As if we haven't been treated to enough Doctor Who goodies in the last week
with a new trailer and the CBBC Xtra interviews/clips, BBCi now present us
with a 2:37 preview of what to expect for the next few episodes. Based on
the press preview presentation, the looping introduction to the new series
includes clips from Tooth and Claw, School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace,
Rise of the Cybermen/Age Of Steel, plus a couple of teasers for
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit for the eagle-eyed! It's available on digital via the red button (Freeview channel 302). John Barrowman confirmed on This Morning today that the Doctor Who spinoff
series Torchwood commences filming next week.
A trailer dedicated to New Earth has finally been transmitted (5:15pm),
after David Tennant's appearance in Ready Steady Cook on BBC2 this afternoon!
BBC1 swiftly caught up with the trailer shown before Neighbours.
Not long now ... !!!
BBC Digital Text are currently running a Doctor Who special on their
CBBC Xtra page (570); concentrating on the forthcoming Totally Doctor Who
series starting tomorrow, it also includes Q&A with David Tennant
and Billie Piper. Totally Doctor Who starts at 5:00pm on BBC1, Thursday, and is repeated on the CBBC channel on Friday (6:30pm), Saturday (6:30pm), and Monday (1:00pm). Yesterday saw a special preview showing of the "Scottish" episode
Tooth and Claw in Glasgow, with David Tennant, Billie Piper and
Russell T Davies in attendance. Reviews (warning: plenty of spoilers!): Daily Record (1), Daily Record (2), Evening Times, The Herald, The Scotsman. After a good few weeks speculation, the BBC have finally officially confirmed
that the new series will premiere on BBC1 at 7:15pm on Saturday 15th April! The date has been rumoured since January, but up until the press launch it still hadn't been confirmed, and even then it wasn't officially announced; some papers stated it would be the 15th, but the BBC Press Office information for the week said that the series had been "unplaced", and the Radio Times website stubbornly stuck to the expected timeslot "tbc". Likewise, ITV were also keeping what was to be on in that timeslot a secret too! However, both have finally revealed the programmes for that evening, with Doctor Who confirmed to be on at a later slot to last year at 7:15pm - whether this is the case for the rest of the series remains to be seen. ITV is reshowing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ... With the release of the programme information for
Week 16,
the question over when the series is back still remains. Says the release:
The wait is over! David Tennant, the 10th Time Lord, and Billie Piper as his feisty young companion Rose Tyler, return in the eagerly anticipated second series of the award-winning new Doctor Who.
Except that the show itself is unplaced, meaning that the actual
schedule time has yet to be determined! This is compounded by the note
indicating Strictly Dance Fever being on between 6:15pm and 7:15pm,
crossing Doctor Who's timeslot last year by 15 minutes!Doctor Who Magazine announced that the series would return on the 15th, so either the schedules are liable to change (not unusual!) or Who will be on at a different time, at least for the Easter weekend ... The online listings at Radio Times should cover Saturday by the 2nd April, so hopefully all will be revealed then ...
Additional Coverage: Computer Shopper, Indian Television, Pocket-Lint, The Stage, Tech Digest, Waveguide. Unsurprisingly, with the "embargo" on news lifted last night, many papers
and sites carried news on the press launch and the return of Doctor Who
to our screens, though the exact transmission date has still yet to be
confirmed (though some have stated it as the popular 15th April date). Most papers have concentrated on the fact that both David Tennant and Billie Piper have signed up for series three, quoting Billie - "There are lots of places for Rose to go" - and David - "I have had a ball ... I might still be here in 40 years!" The other hot topic involves a comment made by series producer and writer Russell T Davies on whether or not the Doctor could regenerate into a woman at a later date - "I'd do it, I wouldn't blink." The rest of the coverage is about New Earth itself, and how the scripts for this series are much "darker" than from last year. Links: BBCi, CBBC, Glasgow Evening Times, Guardian, Independent, Daily Mail, Manchester Online, Mirror, Scotsman, The Sun, Telegraph, This is London, Times, UTV. Update Friday: Addict 3D, Belfast Telegraph, Brand Republic, CityBeat967, Daily Post, Digital Spy, Evening News, Harry Potter's Page, In The News, ITN, ITV, Megastar, Monsters & Critics, Now Playing, The Register, The Register (2), RTE, Sky News, SyFy Portal, Western Daily Press New Series images can be found on the CBBC and BBC Cult sites. Doctor Who has finally been mentioned! BBC Wales's lunchtime news programme
included a brief snippet with David Tennant and Billie Piper, and this
evening's Wales Today will feature more from the stars and an exclusive
clip from the first episode! No doubt the first teaser trailer will be out tonight ... !!! Hot on the heels of Monday's general announcement of the BAFTA television
awards, the Welsh version of the ceremony reveal Doctor Who is up for some
fourteen nominations!
The Award Ceremony takes place at the Cardiff International Arena on 22nd April.
The BBC launched the new series last night with a special presentation of the
first episode New Earth, which saw a number of Who luminaries in
attendance including the four main cast members! However, despite
the "press embargo" mentioned by the
Guardian Diary
on the series itself until midnight tonight(?), both
the Star and
Sun
newspapers
have reported on the event itself this morning ...
Online, the launch was mentioned by
UTV.
TV presenter Alistair Appleton (House Doctor, Cash in the Attic)
is the latest name to be associated with
the new series. On the news section of his
own website it is reported:
The BAFTA nominations have now been
officially announced,
and sees Doctor nominated in the Best Drama Series category,
up against Bodies, Shameless and Spooks. The Awards Ceremony will be
taking place on the 7th May 2006 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. See also: Guardian, BBC News, CBBC. Talking of awards, Doctor Who is also up for the Hugo Awards; in the Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form section the series sees three entries for Dalek, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, and Father's Day; it is up against Battlestar Galactica, Jack Jack Attack (Pixar), Lucas Back in Anger (short film), and Prix Factor Hugo Awards Ceremony (from last year's World Sci-Fi Convention). Today's Metro (p24) has a brief article on Bob Baker, discussing
the lifestyle of the Curse of the Were-Rabbit scriptwriter; the article
ends: He now plans to write a TV drama about K-9 - the robot dog from
Dr Who.
Is this an indication of some truth to the Sun's article on a K9 spinoff series a couple of weeks ago?!!! The Royal Television Society Programme Awards took place yesterday
during their annual Awards Dinner
at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane.
Doctor Who was up for the Drama Series award, but lost out
to Bodies (series 2), with the other runner-up being
Shameless (series 2).
More details in their press release. Pioneer are sponsoring this year's television BAFTA ceremony, and voting
for the Audience Award for Best Programme of 2005 is now available
from their website.
As well as Doctor Who (of course!) are:
The Apprentice, Bleak House, The Catherine Tate Show,
Desperate Housewives, Jamie's School Dinners, Strictly Come Dancing,
and The X-Factor.
(with thanks to Eye of Horus)
And the awards keep coming along! During last night's Radio Industries Awards,
actress Billie Piper won a gong for "Best New TV Talent".
See the
Mirror report for more details. In a way which many Who fans would be jealous, comic actor Peter Kay has
landed a role in the second series by writing to Russell T Davies! Says the BBC Press release:
Added Thursday: The Sun (new article), Guardian, Tech Digest, Monsters & Critics, Daily Record, RTE, Brand Republic, Megastar; Friday: Hollywood News, This is Bury. The Bury article also refers to episode ten's name as Love and Monsters. The children's Doctor Who documentary series Totally Doctor Who
is looking
for children to participate in the show's quiz sections; to enter
children need to send in a video of themselves of around a minute in
length, and mentioning their three favourite new series facts! Full
details are on the
CBBC website and the
BBC's Doctor Who website.
Totally Doctor Who is due to air on the Friday evenings from mid-April, before each episode, and will be broadcast on the CBBC channel (with it's initial show on BBC2). The BBC are about to make another spin-off series from Doctor Who,
according to
The Sun this morning. The children's series is to star Elisabeth Sladen and K9.
Says the epitomous insider:
"It would have been a shame to put K9 back in his kennel, so we've come up with an idea for another drama.
It's early days but K9 and Elizabeth Sladen are inseparable characters.
There are loads of things we can do with Doctor Who. It's one of the most popular shows on TV and viewers can.t seem to get enough of it." (but will it have the K9 & Company theme?!!) Monday: coverage from DigitalSpy. Doctor Who is up for yet more awards, this time in the
Broadcasting Press Guild Programme Awards, taking place on
31st March. The series is up for no less than four awards:
The media have picked up on both Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant both up for the Best Actor award, with the latter cited for his roles in Casanova and Secret Smile as well as Who. Guardian, C21Media. Thursday: The Western Mail reports on both Welsh writers Russell T Davies and Andrew Davies being up for the Writer's Award. There have been heated discussions on the Net during the course of the
afternoon over whether actress Eve Myles
(Gwyneth from The Unquiet Dead)
is to feature in the new spin-off series Torchwood or not. This
was compounded by an article on the BBC's own news site which mysteriously
disappeared a little while later.
Friday: The debate as to whether this was an erroneous report from a rumour or an early release of an official announcement was put to rest this morning when an official BBC Press Release was made! See also: BBCi report, DigitalSpy, Western Mail (interview with Eve). Saturday: Both the Daily Record and the Mirror report more about Eve, but this counts as a spoiler! Today's "TV Biz" in the Sun (p23) has some details on
Pauline Collins, who is appearing in one of the new series episodes.
Also, this morning's Metro features an interview with former Eastenders actress Michelle Ryan, who briefly mentions Doctor Who?
There are rumours you're going to be Dr Who's new assistant. Are they true?
Everyone's been rumoured to be up for that. The media speculate as to who they'd like to see in the role but, as far as I know, no offers have been made. I'd consider it if it came up, though. Actress Maureen Lipman appeared on UKTV Gold's "Wogan Now and Then" show
this evening, during which she briefly discussed her role in the new
series of Doctor Who.
~
Doctor Who takes on a name from the past in the form of Florizel Street,
the originally mooted name for old ratings rival Coronation Street! The
street name has been used by Russell T Davies for a story in the second
series to be set in 1950s, filming of which has been taking place in
Cathays, Cardiff during this week.
ITV's South Bank Show awards were broadcast last night, during which
Billie Piper won the Times Breakthrough Award for rising British talent, for
her role as Rose in the new series. The series itself for once lost out a
top position, being beaten in the Best TV Drama category by Channel's 4
adaptation Elizabeth I starring Helen Mirren. The United States are finally set to see the new first series of Doctor Who,
with the option to show it being taken up by the Sci-Fi Channel.
Thomas Vitale, senior vice president of the channel, said:
"With its rich history of imaginative storytelling, Doctor Who is a true sci-fi classic.We're excited to add the show to our lineup.". Series executive
producer Russell T Davies said:
"The Doctor's made all sorts of journeys in time and space, but this is one of his most exciting yet! I'm a huge fan of the SCI FI Channel, and I'm delighted that Doctor Who is appearing on a channel that supports and enhances the entire genre."
The launch of the series on television has unsurprisingly led to a delay in the US DVD release, moving from February to 4th July ... The South Bank Show in association with the Times are allowing readers to
choose the overall winner of the Breakthrough Award for 2005; the
online
article will show the shortlisted candidates, amongst whom is Billie
Piper.
The BBC Press Office have announced
that a new BBC Magazine entitled Doctor Who Adventures is to be
launched, aimed at 6-12 year olds.
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