Doctor Who film in the works?

Monday, 14 November 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Variety have reported that preparation has begun to turn Doctor Who into a feature film, to be helmed by director David Yates (Harry Potter) in association with BBC Worldwide Productions under the auspice of Jane Tranter (VP of programming and production).

Yates told Variety:
We're looking at writers now. We're going to spend two to three years to get it right. It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena. The notion of the time-travelling Time Lord is such a strong one, because you can express story and drama in any dimension or time.

Russell T. Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch. We want a British sensibility, but having said that, Steve Kloves wrote the Potter films and captured that British sensibility perfectly, so we are looking at American writers too,

Tranter has commented on the potential of a Doctor Who film before; asked about the possibility when outlying her plans for BBC Films back in 2007, she answered: "I would not rule out a film version of Doctor Who, no."

The BBC confirmed development via their Doctor Who Facebook presence:
There's been a lot of talk today about the possibility of a Doctor Who movie - a feature film remains in development with BBC Worldwide Productions in Los Angeles. But, as of yet there is no script, cast or production crew in place.

 
Perhaps the most famous attempt to produce a film occured in 1992 with the BBC Enterprises project The Dark Dimension, aimed to be released during the show's 30th Anniversary the following year. Others include Doctor Who Meets Scratchman, an attempt by then Doctor Tom Baker and Ian Marter to take Doctor Who to the big screenin the 1970s, and a long-term project by the Daltenreys group (aka Coast to Coast) in the late 80s/early 90s.





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Movies

Doctor Who Encyclopedia available for iPad

Wednesday, 2 November 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Books have released an Apple iPad application for the Doctor Who Encyclopedia to tie in with the revised hardback edition that was published on 15th October:
Written by former Doctor Who script editor Gary Russell, the app is the ultimate guide to seven years of thrilling Doctor Who adventures, which includes up to date information on every episode since the show’s return to our screens in 2005.

It allows you to scroll your way through a complete A-Z of the show and explore and search thousands of entries by series or episode. You will discover the Doctor’s fiercest enemies, closest allies and key places and objects and have the opportunity to preview and buy those must-have episodes.

The app contains over 3000 entries and each entry includes links to episodes, people, places and objects that relate to it. Additionally, each entry has an episode reference, allowing you to search the Encyclopedia by episode or series – so you can find out all you ever need to know about the Doctor, his allies, enemies and everywhere he’s ever visited. You can also preview episodes and buy your favourites directly from iTunes.


The app also contains 11 unique portals - special interactive entries, for the Doctor, Amy, Rory, River and other major characters in the show. The Doctors’ portal uses parallax technology which allows users to move their iPad to scroll through a 3D environment, featuring the Doctor’s closest companions and deadliest enemies.
The application was developed by Brandwidth in partnership with BBC Books and is available as a number of downloads, with the initial purchase covering the Eleventh Doctor. Additional downloads can then be purchased to cover the Ninth and Tenth Doctor era.

Albert DePetrillo, Senior Editorial Director at BBC Books, commented:
The Doctor Who Encyclopedia offers a completely immersive digital reading experience, offering fans a stunning variety of navigational possibilities as they explore the world of the Doctor. In its simple and intuitive design, as well as its intelligent and elegant execution, the digital Encyclopedia is pure Doctor Who and I am very proud to be publishing it on the BBC Books list.

Further details on the Doctor Who Encyclopedia can be found on its website, and BBC Books can also be followed on Twitter with the Encyclopedia being discussed via the #WhoiPad tag.


Doctor Who Encyclopedia iPad video trailer, via YouTube


There are no immediate plans for the application to be released for other media devices such as Android or Windows-based tablets.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Books - BBC

The Gunpowder Plot - now available to play in the UK

Monday, 31 October 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have now released their new Adventure Game, The Gunpowder Plot:
The TARDIS lands in London, 1605, encountering a group of men who are plotting to assassinate the Head of State. The Doctor, Amy and Rory realise they are at a pivotal point in time but so are two alien races, each of which are more than happy to change history to suit their own ends...
The game was written by Phil Ford and produced by Gary Russell, and is available to download for free in the United Kingdom.





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Online - Games

People's Choice Awards 2012

Saturday, 22 October 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
People's Choice have launched their 2012 Awards, and Doctor Who has been nominated in the Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show category.

The show is up against a wealth of US and Canadian produced series, including the remake of Being Human; other popular shows in the category include Fringe, True Blood, The Walking Dead, Supernatural and Game of Thrones.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - USA - Awards/Nominations

Wedding of River Song: Chart Position

Friday, 14 October 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who RatingsThe final episode in the recent series of Doctor Who, The Wedding of River Song has now been confirmed as the 16th most watched programme of the week, with a final audience share of 32.0%

Final Figures include those who record the programme and watch it within seven days, but do not include those watching on iPlayer.

ITV1 once more claimed all the top spots of the week with The X Factor, Downton Abbey and Doc Martin once again taking the top four spots. The main two soaps also did well and the start of the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing also scored highly. Doctor Who beat everything else during the week including all episodes of Emmerdale.




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

Closing Time: Chart Position

Friday, 7 October 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who RatingsDoctor Who: Closing Time has now been confirmed as the 20th most watched programme of the week.

Final Figures include those who record the programme and watch it within seven days, but do not include those watching on iPlayer.

ITV1 once more claimed all the top spots of the week with The X Factor, Downton Abbey and Doc Martin taking the top four spots. The main three soaps also did well with Doctor Who rating more than once episode of Emmerdale to make 20th place for the week.

The final audience share for Doctor Who was 29.4%




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

Closing Time: Official Ratings

Monday, 3 October 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Closing Time had a final official audience figure of 6.93 million viewers, according to figures released by BARB.

The episode was the fifth highest rated programme on BBC One for the week. When HD figures are counted it is likely to finish as 21st for the week.




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

The Wedding of River Song: AI

Monday, 3 October 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song had an Appreciation Index score of 86

The score is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the episode. A score of 86 is considered excellent.

The Sunday repeat had an audience of 0.48 million viewers and a 2.2% share of the audience.

With overnight figures available for the whole week, Doctor Who is currently the 20th most watched programme. Final figures should be available next week.

The final Doctor Who Confidential had an overnight audience of 0.4 million on BBC Three on Saturday.




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

Wedding of River Song: Overnight Viewing Figures

Sunday, 2 October 2011 - Reported by Marcus
6.1 million watched the Doctor Who series finale, The Wedding of River Song, on Saturday, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The the programme had an audience share of 28.3%. It was the third highest rated show of the day and the second highest rated programme on the BBC.

Top of the day was The X Factor with 9.5 million watching and Strictly Come Dancing was second for the day with 7.5 million, giving Doctor Who a much better lead-in than the two previous weeks. The new series of Merlin had 5.2 million watching as was fourth for the day.

All Star Family Fortunes on ITV1, had an average of 3.6 million viewers, with its audience dented by Strictly Come Dancing. During the period it was placed directly against Doctor Who it achieved 5.5 million against Doctor Who's 6 million viewers.

With one day to come Doctor Who is the 17th most watched programme of the week.

Final official figures should be available next week.




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

Doctor Who Confidential to be cancelled

Wednesday, 28 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The producer of the behind-the-scenes documentary series Doctor Who Confidential, Zoe Rushton, has confirmed on Twitter that the show will no longer be produced by the BBC. The final edition of the show will be broadcast this coming Saturday at 8:35pm on BBC3 (with Rushton clarifying that previously reported production for a Christmas edition is no longer occuring).

Reasons for the show's cancellation have been cited by the Guardian newspaper as being financial in nature, with the BBC having to engage in several cost-cutting exercises to meet its tighter budget. Part of this initiative has been a 're-alignment' of programming on BBC3, with controller Zai Bennett commenting at last month's Edinburgh International Television Festival that "it's about focusing my budget on 9pm and 10pm; those are the time slots that count. Budgets are tight, so we have to be sensible with the money we have." Further details about BBC3 changes are expected to be outlined by the Director General, Mark Thompson on 6th October.

The BBC Press Office confirmed to us that:
The Doctor Who spin-off series, Doctor Who Confidential, has been a great show for BBC Three over the years, but our priority now is to build on original British commissions, unique to the channel.





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Documentary - Series 7/33