Nightmare in Silver: Official Viewing FiguresBookmark and Share

Friday, 24 May 2013 - Reported by Marcus

Full ratings data for the week ending 12th May 2013 is now available and give Doctor Who: Nightmare in Silver an official rating of 6.64 million viewers, a share of 27.1% of the total television audience.

Once ITV HD and +1 figures are factored in, Doctor Who was the 22nd most watched programme on British Television for the week.

On BBC One, Doctor Who was the ninth most watched programme of the week and it was the third most watched programme of Saturday, behind the two reality shows Britain's Got Talent and The Voice.

Figures do not include iPlayer viewings, figures for which will be available later.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Ratings - UK - Series 7/33

Troughton's Hitch In Time To Get Spruced-Up DVD ReleaseBookmark and Share

Friday, 24 May 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
The film A Hitch In Time starring Patrick Troughton as a time-travelling professor is to be released on DVD for high-definition viewing.

Penned by the Oscar-winning scriptwriter T E B "Tibby" Clarke and directed by Jan Darnley-Smith, the 54-minute Children's Film Foundation feature from 1978 will form part of the three-film CFF collection Weird Adventures from the BFI.

In A Hitch In Time, Patrick Troughton plays time-hopping inventor Adam Wagstaff. Discovered working on his time machine by two curious kids, Wagstaff decides to send them back through the ages. But with malfunctions a-plenty, will they be able to make it back?
It also stars Jeff Rawle as "Sniffy" Kemp, a teacher out to spoil the fun. The art direction is by Doctor Who's current production designer Michael Pickwoad.

The other two films in the collection are Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's last collaborative feature The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972) and Alberto Cavalcanti's The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961).

All the films have been newly transferred for high-definition viewing from the best available elements in the BFI National Archive, having been out of distribution for a number of years.

Weird Adventures - the third volume of CFF films brought out by the BFI - will be released on Monday 17th June and is available to pre-order.

The CFF was a non-profit-making pan-industry initiative set up in 1951 by the owner of the Odeon and Rank cinema chains to make home-grown entertainment for young cinema-goers to see at the "Saturday morning pictures". Key themes included adventure, mysteries, monsters, science-fiction, shipwrecks, races, and animals, with regional content from Scotland to south-west England.

It became the Children's Film and Television Foundation in 1982, with film production ending in 1987. The CFTF is now known as the Children's Media Foundation, with the film collection preserved in the BFI National Archive.





FILTER: - Merchandise - BFI - Blu-ray/DVD - Patrick Troughton

BFI Screenings: Seventh Doctor Title AnnouncedBookmark and Share

Friday, 24 May 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
Remembrance of the Daleks is the story that has been chosen to represent the Seventh Doctor's era for the BFI's Doctor Who At 50 season.

The four-parter, written by Ben Aaronovitch and directed by Andrew Morgan, originally aired in October 1988 and saw the Doctor return to Coal Hill School and the Totter's Lane junkyard first seen in the show's premier episode in 1963. It also continued the story arc of the civil war between rival Dalek factions and marked the last appearance of the Daleks and Davros in the original run of the show.

Remembrance will be getting its big-screen showing on Saturday 27th July at 2pm, with priority booking for tickets being subject to a ballot via the members' section.

BFI Champions can enter the ballot from Monday 3rd June and members can enter from Tuesday 4th June.

The ballot will close on Friday 7th June and be run over the weekend of 8th and 9th June, with all entrants to be notified on Monday 10th June if they have been successful or not. Any tickets reserved for Champions and members through the ballot will be held until 8.30pm on Friday 14th June, and any that are unclaimed by then will be released for public sale on Saturday 15th June.

Although all the celebratory screenings have been immediate sell-outs, returns and stand-bys are a strong possibility, so if all else fails do keep checking with the BFI!

Guests for the accompanying question-and-answer panel will be announced nearer the time.

UPDATE - SUNDAY 16th JUNE: The BFI has launched a competition to win a pair of tickets to the Remembrance screening, with a copy of the BFI book 100 Science Fiction Films - to be published on Friday 28th June - also going to the winner. Enter via this link. The competition closes on Friday 19th July. Travel is not included, and terms and conditions apply.




FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Seventh Doctor - BFI - WHO50

The Ice Warriors: original trailer to be included on DVDBookmark and Share

Thursday, 23 May 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
ClentPenley
The DVD release of The Ice Warriors is to include the original in-character trailer, with brand new animation. Producer Chris Chapman explained on Twitter:
So... the plan is at the moment that the Ice Warriors DVD will include the original 1967 in-character trailer- animated back into existence! We weren't going to do this - didn't think we'd have time, but Chris Chatterton and his team have pulled out all the animated stops! Worth saying though that the Ice Warriors trailer audio is beyond restoration - it's really bad. So we're including subtitles to help!
As mentioned, the audio quality of the trailer utilised for the project is in very bad quality, and Chris has asked if anybody owns a copy that they believe is of a good standard that could be used on the DVD to please contact him asap.

The original trailer was broadcast after the final episode of The Abominable Snowmen on 4th November 1967, and featured Peter Barkworth as Clent and Peter Sallis as Penley introducing the situation facing Brittanicus Base.

BBFC Updates

The BBFC have recently classified various aspects of the DVD release, including the existing four episodes and their commentaries, plus special features (which confirms their running times):
00:10:03:06 BLUE PETER (DOCTOR WHO - THE ICE WARRIORS - 
DVD EXTRAS - BLUE PETER DESIGN-A-MONSTER)
00:03:51:24 THE ICE WARRIORS - PHOTO GALLERY (DVD EXTRA)
00:13:46:08 DOCTOR WHO STORIES - FRAZER HINES (DVD EXTRA)
00:19:17:23 (DOCTOR WHO - THE ICE WARRIORS - DVD EXTRAS - VHS LINKS)
00:24:28:18 COLD FUSION - MAKING THE ICE WARRIORS (DVD EXTRA)

The newly animated version of The Tenth Planet: Episode 4 has also been passed (running time 24m 35s), as has the trailer for Scream of the Shalka.




FILTER: - Second Doctor - First Doctor - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

The Daemons' White Witch To Return On DVDBookmark and Share

Thursday, 23 May 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
A drama production featuring Damaris Hayman reprising her role as white witch Olive Hawthorne from Third Doctor story The Daemons is to be released on DVD later this year.

White Witch of Devil's End is a Reeltime Pictures spin-off and, according to producer Keith Barnfather, despite nearing the age of 84 Hayman jumped at the chance of playing the role again.

Hayman herself said:
I shall retire, I think, in my coffin! Miss Hawthorne was my all-time favourite role and I was enchanted by the thought of being her again for a little while. After a lot of working together consulting over the scripts I'd subsequently never enjoyed filming more, and I can't wait now to see the final result.
Barnfather commented:
I was amazed and delighted that, as an octogenarian, Damaris was prepared to take this on. We had recently recorded an interview with her for our Myth Makers series profiling actors who had appeared in Doctor Who and I already knew she still had a hunger to act. But I really didn't expect her to be so keen.
Because of her age, the actress knew she had to pace herself, so director Anastasia Stylianou decided to film the drama in a "talking head" style, adding dramatic cutaway material to bring the words to life. Stylianou said:
I knew it would be a challenge. We needed to film a 50-minute drama at least, so I decided to make an asset out of a limitation.
Primary filming has already taken place at a cottage near Hayman's home, with the crew collecting and returning her each day. Once back home each evening, she was able to recover and study the next day's script.

Barnfather said:
We used autocue to help Damaris. It was an impossible task for any actor to learn so much dialogue. She was a true professional and took to it instantly.
A release date of Thursday 31st October - Halloween - is planned, and Stylianou added:
It's just getting all the dramatic cutaway material "in the can" that is crucial. The drama is really an anthology – a set of connecting stories about Olive's life told, as it were, in her own words.
Barnfather, who contacted pal David J Howe at Telos Publishing when considering who should write the stories, stated:
I thought it would be fantastic to ask individual writers knowledgeable in the occult and magic to write each story and David, through Telos, knew so many of the best young talent in the country.
Howe and his partner Sam Stone contacted several authors they felt would be sympathetic to the material and got them all on board for the project. Stone, who is an award-winning author, said:
I took on the task of outlining the whole story and then asked the writers to come up with ideas which fitted that framework. We needed to tell stories at different points in Olive Hawthorne's life, and the writers rose to the challenge and delivered scripts which exceeded all my expectations. I then worked with them to refine the scripts into the completed screenplay.
As well as Howe and Stone, the writers involved in the project are Raven Dane, Debbie Bennett, Jan Edwards, and Suzanne J Barbieri, with a final script polish being applied by Big Finish writer Matt Fitton.

The DVD, which will be region-free, is available to pre-order here. Extras are yet to be finalised but will include a "Making Of . . . " feature as well as interviews with the authors.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Blu-ray/DVD

The Caves of Androzani on UKTVBookmark and Share

Thursday, 23 May 2013 - Reported by Paul Scoones

UKTV

Sunday 26th May sees the broadcast of the last Peter Davison story, The Caves of Androzani on Australian and New Zealand television. The story is presented as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

In New Zealand the story screens at 4:10pm and in Australia at 4:20pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 27th May at 4:20am.

The Caves of Androzani
The UKTV billing describes The Caves of Androzani as follows:
Landing on the planet Androzani Minor, the Doctor & Peri develop lethal spectrox toxaemia poisoning. They search for a cure & become enmeshed in a decades-old feud.
The story was first broadcast in Australia in 1984. New Zealand did not get to see it until 1989. When it was first broadcast in both Australia and New Zealand the story had extensive censor cuts intended to reduce scenes of violence.

UKTV is showing stories each week throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. Next month shifts focus to Colin Baker's sixth Doctor. The schedule for June includes: Attack of the Cybermen (2 June), Vengeance on Varos (9 June), The Mark of the Rani (16 June), The Two Doctors (23 June), and Revelation of the Daleks (30 June).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.





FILTER: - Classic Series - WHO50 - New Zealand - Australia

Time and Relative Dimensions in FaithBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 22 May 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith (Credit: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd)Last year we reported on a book to be compiled focusing on the portrayals of religion in Doctor Who. The book has now been completed and due to be published by Darton, Longman and Todd.

Editorial director David Moloney told us:
The book will be published on 29th October 2013, and its new title is Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith (and yes, there is a reason for the plural dimensions – as the editors Andrew Crome and James McGrath explain inside the book). The book is currently estimated to be a 304 page 198x126mm paperback, with 19 chapters written by contributors from the UK, US and Australia covering a wonderfully diverse range of subjects – all related to the exploration of religious themes in Doctor Who (in its many forms – TV old and new, books, audios, comics, etc).

As a Doctor Who fan myself I am absolutely delighted to be publishing this book in the show’s 50th anniversary year.





FILTER: - Merchandise - Books

Doctor Who: Canada RatingsBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 22 May 2013 - Reported by Marcus
The Name of the Doctor was watched by 584,000 viewers on Canadian station SPACE last Saturday, becoming the most watched season finale in the series history in the country.

The episode made SPACE the number 1 network for the 9pm timeslot for total viewers, as well as for the key demographics of 25-54 and 18-49.

Total reach for the finale was nearly 1 million total viewers. The programme was also the most-watched entertainment specialty program of the day on Saturday, capping off a strong Season 7 for the Doctor and Clara with a season average audience of 608,000.




FILTER: - Canada - Ratings - Series 7/33

Doctor Who wins Peabody AwardBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who has been presented with a Peabody Award, one of the highest honours in American media.

The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious service by broadcasters, cable and webcasters, producing organizations, and individuals. Selection is made by the Peabody Board, a 16-member panel of distinguished academics, television critics, industry practitioners and experts in culture and the arts.

The citation reads:
Seemingly immortal, 50-years-old and still running, this engaging, imaginative sci-fi/fantasy series is awarded an Institutional Peabody for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe.

The award was accepted by Steven Moffat, Jenna-Louise Coleman, and Matt Smith at a ceremony in New York last night.





FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Doctor Who - Matt Smith - Awards/Nominations - Jenna-Louise Coleman

TV Choice Awards 2013 Longlist AnnouncedBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
The longlist for this year's TV Choice Awards has been announced, with Doctor Who nominated for Best Drama Series.

It is up against 22 other shows in the category, which this year has been changed from Best Family Drama, in which the show has previously featured and won.

In addition, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman are up for, respectively, Best Actor and Best Actress, with Smith facing challenges from - among others - David Tennant (for Broadchurch), John Simm (for The Village), Derek Jacobi (for Last Tango In Halifax), and Daniel Mays (for Mrs Biggs), while Coleman must fend off the likes of Eve Myles (Frankie), Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife), Anne Reid (Last Tango In Halifax), Lesley Sharp (Scott & Bailey), Ruth Jones (Stella), Anna Maxwell Martin (The Bletchley Circle), Olivia Colman (Broadchurch), and Suranne Jones (Scott & Bailey) as the 25 contenders in her category are whittled down.

Voting in this qualifying round of the 17th awards is open online until midnight on Friday 14th June. A shortlist - again open to public vote - will then be revealed on Tuesday 2nd July with voting open for about a week, said a spokeswoman for TV Choice, and the winners will be named at a ceremony hosted by Ben Miller at The Dorchester in London on Monday 9th September.

The show or its actors have won a TV Choice award every year since 2005 except in 2009, including Christopher Eccleston (2005) and David Tennant (2006-2008) for Best Actor and Billie Piper (2006) for Best Actress.





FILTER: - UK - Matt Smith - Awards/Nominations - Jenna-Louise Coleman