Next Time: The Sarah Jane Adventures: Sky

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Next week sees the return of The Sarah Jane Adventures, with the two episodes of the first story, Sky, being broadcast at 5:15pm on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th October respectively on the CBBC channel. (At the time of writing no details on broadcasts on BBC1 or BBCHD are available.)




**** THE FOLLOWING SYNOPSES MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS



Alien investigator Sarah Jane Smith is back on CBBC with a fifth and final series of the award-winning The Sarah Jane Adventures, starring the late Elisabeth Sladen.

Created by Russell T Davies, the hugely successful Doctor Who spin-off returns for a brand-new, six-part series, featuring three stories, each told over two episodes. The first is the spectacular two-part story, Sky.

In today's episode, Sarah Jane finds a baby girl on her doorstep and tries to find out who abandoned her.

At a nearby nuclear power station, a beautiful woman appears out of thin air and uses alien powers to take control. She's looking for something – and realises that Sarah Jane may just have it...
Today, Sky has undergone an amazing transformation, but in doing so has triggered a countdown that no one can stop.

As Sarah Jane and Sky find themselves trapped between the alien war fought by Metalkind and Fleshkind, Clyde and Rani face a race against time to stop the biggest bang in history...

Series Five trailer, BBC, via the CBBC Sarah Jane Adventures site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom

The BBC have also released a number of publicity photos for the series:


**** PUBLICITY PHOTOS FOR THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES
**** MIGHT BE CONSIDERED SPOILERS


















FILTER: - Online - Sarah Jane

Torchwood: Final Ratings

Monday, 26 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus
The final episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day has a consolidated audience of 5.13 million viewers, making it the 14th most watched programme on BBC One for the week.

With figures now available for the whole series, the 10 episodes averaged 5.17 million viewers each week. Highest rated was episode one, with 6.59 million watching and the lowest rated was episode 7 with 4.48 million.

Each episode ranked amongst the highest programmes accessed on the BBC iPlayer with over half a million requests each. Episode one was by far the most popular episode on the iPlayer with over a million programme requests. Successive episodes scored lower on the iPlayer, but were available for a shorter time.

Series Three of Torchwood, Children of Earth averaged of 6.60 million when it was shown on BBC One in 2009. Series One had its preimere on on BBC3 on Sunday evenings, achieveing an average of 1.42 million with Series Two on BBC Two averaging 3.78 million.

Torchwood Ratings Torchwood Ratings

Full Ratings data can be found in the Series Guide.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Ratings - UK - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Closing Time: Appreciation Index

Monday, 26 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Closing Time had an Appreciation Index, or AI score of 86.

The AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the episode. The score puts the programme in the excellent category. It was the second highest on the two main channels for Saturday night, just behind Casualty which scored 87.

Overnights are now available for the whole week, with Doctor Who currently in 28th place. Final consolidated figures should be released next week.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 6/32

The God Complex - Official Ratings

Sunday, 25 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Last week's episode of Doctor Who, The God Complex had an official consolidated rating of 6.77 million viewers.

Although the programme was beaten by All Star Family Fortunes in the overnight charts, the official figures, which are much more accurate than the initially reported overnight figures, and which include those who record the programme and watch it within a week, showed Doctor Who actually outrated the game show by over a million viewers, with ITV getting 5.39 million watching.

Doctor Who had 28.3% of the available TV audience.

The figures do not include those watching on iPlayer where over 800,000 have so far accessed the episode.

Full figures which will reveal the chart position should be available later this week.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Ratings - UK - Series 6/32

People Roundup

Sunday, 25 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
David Tennant is to star in a new 3D-CGI film version of children's television hero Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie - You Know You're The One, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the show; the actor will lend his vocal talents to the film alongside Rupert Grint, Jim Broadbent, with the voice of Pat to be provided by Stephen Mangan. [Mirror, 16th Sep]

Meanwhile, a pair of pants signed by the actor and the rest of the West End cast of Much Ado About Nothing was able to raise £252 for the Make A Difference Foundation. [Daily Record, 25th Sep]

Arthur Darvill (Rory) will be performing as one of a multitude of cast for the Bush Theatre's production of Sixty Six Books: "Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, each book of this great English work is spoken to by a remarkable range of playwrights, poets, songwriters and novelists from all faiths and none, from over a dozen countries and across five continents." The performances run between 10th-29th October. [Bush Theatre]

Steven Moffat was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special at this year's Emmy Awards; however, the Sherlock writer lost out on the night to Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes. [Academy of Television Arts and Sciences]

Alex Kingston (River Song) will be joining the cast of BBC drama Upstairs, Downstairs; her character, Blanche Mottershead, is described as "a free-thinking and outspoken archaeologist who smokes cheroots and who is fond of a 'little light nudism'". The actress said of the role: "I simply couldn't resist the opportunity to get inside the iconic 165 Eaton Place. I can say the character is very complex, very intriguing and very straight-talking. She has some very dark secrets of her own." [BBC News, Mail on Sunday, 25th Sep]

Arlene Tur (Vera in Torchwood: Miracle Day) talks about her new production: "I started my producing career recently. I've been producing a show called Homeless Improvement, which is a show where we come alongside homeless people who want to become a part of society and get reunited with their family, so we work with them to do that. We've filmed it and now we're shopping it around for distribution and there are some networks that are interested so we're excited about that. I have a real heart for philanthropy, I think we're made to give back – we're not meant to just take while we're here. I do a lot of mission work abroad so it was wonderful to take on a project where I'm helping people in the States, because I tend to go away usually." [Stuff, 25th Sep]

Bernard Cribbins (Wilf) will be talking about his experiences in the angling world at The Lands End pub in Landsend Lane, Twyford on 19th November. A keen angler himself, the actor has also produced films for the angling world. [Get Wokingham, 21st Sep]





FILTER: - People - Bernard Cribbins - David Tennant

Closing Time: Overnight Viewing Figures

Sunday, 25 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus
5.3 million watched Doctor Who: Closing Time on Saturday, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The the programme had an audience share of 24.6%. It was the third highest rated show of the day and the highest rated programme on the BBC.

On overnights the episode lost out to All Star Family Fortunes on ITV1, which achieved an average of 5.6 million viewers. Doctor Who should regain the lead when final figures are released next week.

Doctor Who's lead-in Celebrity MasterChef had an average of 2.4 million viewers and the winner on the night was once more The X Factor, which had 10.0 million watching. Fourth for the day was Match of the Day with 3.9 million watching.

With one day to come Doctor Who is the 24th most watched programme of the week.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Ratings - UK - Series 6/32

The God Complex: Australian ratings

Sunday, 25 September 2011 - Reported by Adam Kirk
The God Complex has debuted in Australia to respectable ratings. TV Tonight reports that, up against the football finals on the commercial stations, the episode averaged 591,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. It was the second highest rating drama and the eighth highest rating programme for the day overall. The corresponding Confidential Cutdown rated 408,000 viewers in the five major capitals. These overnight figures, however, do not include regional, rural and time-shifted viewers and hence significantly understate the actual national ratings.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, the latest episodes of Doctor Who and Torchwood: Miracle Day (both on Prime) rated 119,850 viewers and 77,780 viewers respectively.





FILTER: - Torchwood - Ratings - Series 6/32 - Miracle Day (Series 4) - New Zealand - Australia

Next Time: The Wedding of River Song

Saturday, 24 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Next Saturday sees the premiere of The Wedding of River Song - the final episode in the current series of Doctor Who - broadcast on BBC1/BBC1HD at 7:05pm, 1st October in the United Kingdom; it then follows on SPACE in Canada at 8:00pm ET, on BBC America in the United States at 9:00pm ET, and on ABC1 in Australia at 7:30pm on the 8th October.

The BBC synopsis for the episode follows, which might be considered a spoiler:




As the Doctor makes his final journey to the shores of Lake Silencio in Utah, he knows only one thing can keep the universe safe – his own death – in the concluding episode of this series of the time-travelling drama. But has he reckoned without the love of a good woman?

The Wedding of River Song: Trailer, BBC, via YouTube - may not play outside of the United Kingdom

The Wedding of River Song: Next Time Trailer, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom


The BBC have also released an introduction to the episode in the form of a special scene taking place before the story begins:

The Wedding of River Song: Prequel, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom
Alternatively there is a YouTube version.




FILTER: - Series 6/32 - Online

Stonewall Award nominations 2011

Saturday, 24 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The nominations for the sixth annual Stonewall Awards have been announced, and include the following recognisable names amongst this year's shortlists:
  • Matt Smith features in the Entertainer of the Year category, nominated for his role as Christopher Isherwood in the recent BBC film Christopher and His Kind; other shortlisted include Jane Hazlegrove (Kathleen Dixon in Casualty), Harry Derbridge (The Only Way is Essex), Christopher Plummer (Hal in Beginners) and Jessie J (singer).
  • Torchwood features in the Broadcast of the Year category, alongside other shows like Lip Service (BBC3), The World’s Worst Place to be Gay (BBC3), The Night Watch (BBC2), and Jamie’s Dream School (Channel 4).

The awards take place on 3rd November at the V&A in London - see the Stonewall site for full details.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Torchwood - Matt Smith - Awards/Nominations - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Closing Time: BBC Publicity

Saturday, 24 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
This evening sees the penultimate episode of this series of Doctor Who, Closing Time, and the BBC have released two short preview clips to introduce the episode, plus a brief introduction from the episode's director Steve Hughes alongside guest star James Corden:


Closing Time: Preview Clip 1, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom


Closing Time: Preview Clip 2, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom

Closing Time: Introduction with Steve Hughes and James Corden, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom


Radio One presenter Greg James will be making a cameo appearance in the episode, and on Wednesday he broadcast his experiences on set for filming back in March; this can be heard worldwide via the BBC iPlayer until 28th September (segment starts from 1:40:38).





FILTER: - Series 6/32 - Online