Series Two DWM UpdateBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 29 March 2006 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine, #368, has now reached many subscribers and has a large amount of news from the forthcoming second Doctor Who series, including the new titles which we reported on yesterday, and the following items:
Promotion: Producer Phil Collinson confirms that the publicity campaign for Series Two will, like last year, include "posters at specially selected sites" and a "specially shot television campaign". These trailers will comprise exclusive footage of David Tennant and Billie Piper and was due to be shot on 18 March. Meanwhile, Blue Peter will continue its association with the show, beginning on Wednesday 19 April with a "make" and studio guests. Blue Peter editor Richard Marson also promises a film about the Cybermen; a report on a set visit by William Grantham, competition-winning designer of the Abzorbaloff; and a possible visit from K9. There will also be a 'Doctor Who Week' in The Sun, beginning on Monday 24 April, in which Sun readers who can operate a DVD player will be offered a series of specially produced DVDs; these will feature episodes already available from BBC DVD. TheRadio Times for 15–21 April will feature "another collector's special … [with] a really original and ambitious cover", interviews and behind-the-scenes material.
Production Updates: Collinson has told DWM that "production is now at full tilt", with 'The Satan Pit' and 'Love & Monsters' nearing completion. The final day of filming is scheduled for this Saturday, 1 April. Editing and dubbing of 'School Reunion' and 'Tooth and Claw' was almost complete as of the start of March, 'The Idiot's Lantern' and 'Fear Her' are "almost ready", and edits of 'Rise of the Cybermen' and 'The Age of Steel' "have been locked". Meanwhile, the production team is now turning to Series Three: "plans have been put in place" for this year's Christmas special and all of next year's scripts "have been commissioned". Russell T Davies' 'Production Notes' reveal that the series has its own new studio, "a dedicated space for both Doctor Who and Torchwood, with room for production, post-production and the actual filming." And they call it Camelot, Davies comparing its size to a Hollywood lot.
Casting: Actor Shaun Parkes joins the guest cast for 'The Impossible Planet' and 'The Satan Pit'; Parkes previously worked with David Tennant on "Casanova" and with Billie Piper in "Things To Do Before You're 30," and he has appeared in "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)." In the same episodes areClaire Rushbrook and Danny Webb; the latter's extensive credits include "Our Friends in the North" with Christopher Eccleston. The supporting cast will include Ronnie Jhutta and Myanna Buring. Collinson noted that the episodes featuring cameos from various UK television stars "are a bit cleverer than might first appear" from tabloid reports. "The TARDIS absolutely does not land in Albert Square, nor does the Doctor step onto the Trisha show to sort out his relationship with Rose."
Totally Doctor Who: The new children's magazine show now has a confirmed timeslot: from 13 April, it will transmit on BBC One at 5.00pm every Thursday. There will also be a weekly repeat on the digital channel CBBC, each Saturday at 6.30pm, immediately before the week's episode is broadcast. Its two presenters will interview studio guests from previous episodes and introduce "filmed inserts both from the Doctor Who set and the wider world of the series and the children who love it."
Doctor Who Confidential: The content of another hour of the three-hour Doctor Who Night on BBC Three on Sunday 9 April has now been revealed: the Doctor Who Confidential team has been commissioned to make a 60-minute special. Confidential will also soon have its own website. DWM interviews the series producers, Gillane Seaborne and Adam Page, who reveal that they have recorded "even more backstage footage and on-set interviews than last year". As a result, the programmes will rely much less on earlier Doctors and material on the history of the show. The first four editions have been completed. The first, 'New New Doctor', "follows David Tennant behind the scenes" on New Earth and "New New York"; 'Fear Factor' is the second and "looks back at 40 years of Doctor Who's creatures", including 'Tooth and Claw's werewolf and the Sycorax. 'Friend Reunited' concentrates on Sarah Jane Smith and K9, while the fourth, 'From Script to Screen', "follows every stage of the making of 'The Girl in the Fireplace'," from script and tone meetings to read-through and the start of recording.
"Tardisodes": One-minute mini-dramas, "like little prequels to the episode playing that week", these will be available for download to mobile phones "a few days" ahead of each Saturday's episode, and will also be made available on the official website. They share a production team with the interactive adventure 'Attack of the Graske', being written by Gareth Roberts, directed by Ashley Way, produced by Sophie Fante, script edited by Simon Winsone, design by Edward Thomas and with effects by The Mill. They will not feature David Tennant or Billie Piper, as the actors have been too busy; Gareth Roberts comments that the lack of the lead characters "works. You're creating different worlds every week, so it's good to show a bit of them." Roberts gives examples of "what Tardisodes might present": "a computer graphic of a Cyberman being formed, … Jackie talking to camera, or an excerpt from a TV show" and says that the Tardisode for 'The Girl in the Fireplace' will "follow suit" in being "very scary". Simon Winstone indicates that they will "show you something you wouldn't have seen otherwise … An element of back story. Some are live action… We didn't want these to be previews … They're part of the show's world" and Gareth Roberts suggests that they would "almost work as pre-credits sequences." Winstone also indicates that they will probably be included on a DVD release.
The Official Website: After each episode's transmission on BBC One, the official Doctor Who website will unveil two hours of extra material, including a full episode commentary for download, Tardisodes, trailers and video diaries by Doctor Who Confidential. The commentary for 'New Earth' is by Julie Gardner, James Hawes and Will Cohen, executive producer, director and visual effects supervisor respectively. The next game to be unveiled will feature K9, "pitting him against a whole host of the new series' most popular creations." A further game is also being prepared. The site will also be resuming its publication of ebooks of out-of-print novels, beginning with Mark Gatiss' New Adventures: Nightshade "later in the year". The interactive game, 'Attack of the Graske' is receiving about 42,000 requests per week on the website. DWM reports that there are plans to make the official website's commentary tracks available as an interactive extra to accompany the BBC Three repeats of each episode. They will also be for download from iTunes.
For additional news items and a lot of other feature articles, including previews of the first two episodes, an interview with Tom MacRae (writer of "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel"), the monthly comic, Russell T Davies' Production Notes column and more, pick up issue 368 of Doctor Who Magazine, due out on newsstands tomorrow!




FILTER: - Russell T Davies - Magazines - DWM - Series 2/28 - Radio Times