The Hungry Earth

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The title of episode eight of the new series has been confirmed as The Hungry Earth.

The title is listed on the cover of the edition of Doctor Who Magazine due out this week and posted on the magazine's Facebook account.

A full series summary can be found on our 2010 series guide.

Update: Episode Nine will be titled Cold Blood.




FILTER: - Production - Series 5/31

Flesh and Stone - 360 Picture

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
A new 360 degree picture trailing Flesh and Stone has been released by the BBC. The second part of the Weeping Angels story can be seen in the UK on Saturday.




FILTER: - Series 5/31

Formal Apology

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has formally replied to the complaints received over the Nortongate incident.

The response goes further than the statement issued by a spokesman yesterday which just apologised for the timing of the caption. The formal response admits the caption was wrong and promises it will not happen again.

The BBC statement says
The Over the Rainbow trail in Doctor Who should not have played out on Saturday and we apologise to all Doctor Who fans whose enjoyment of the show was disrupted. We recognise the strength of feeling that has been expressed and are taking steps to ensure that this mistake will not happen again.

It is understood that the instruction to run the caption was made by BBC One management and was made without consulting the programme's producers or senior management at BBC Wales.




FILTER: - UK - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

Time of Angels - AI

Monday, 26 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Time of AngelsThe Time of Angels scored an Appreciation Index figure of 87, the highest of the series so far.

The AI or Appreciation Index or AI score is a measure of how much an audience enjoyed a programme. The score was the highest of the day on either of the two main channels.

Doctor Who Confidential had an AI figure of 84.

On BBC Three the Doctor Who repeat was watched by 0.55 million.

The BBC has updated its story on the controversial trail for Over the Rainbow which spoiled the cliff-hanger for many, reporting that, so far, 5,583 complaints have now been received.

The children's news programme Newsround is also asking for viewers feelings on the intrusion.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

Australian ratings for The Beast Below

Monday, 26 April 2010 - Reported by Adam Kirk
The Beast Below has debuted in Australia to very respectable ratings. TV Tonight reports that the episode averaged 851,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. Again it was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating program of the day, rating higher than its popular Sunday 7pm news (By comparison, the mini-series Burn Up only rated 367,000 viewers for the ABC in the following 8.30pm timeslot). The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated a respectable 536,000 viewers in the five major capitals.

Meanwhile in local media, Ruth Ritchie of the Sydney Morning Herald writes of The Eleventh Hour that 'a very, very young Doctor, with an almost childlike first take on his new body, is now an obvious choice to engage younger viewers. Smith already displayed an adorable alien quality in Party Animals. Our introduction to him through the eyes of Amelia Pond, a lonely little girl who hears voices through the cracks in her walls, is vintage Doctor Who. He unsuccessfully samples baked beans, bacon, yoghurt and most of the pantry in a display of adult food-spitting we've not seen since Tom Hanks in Big. After a feast of fish fingers dipped in custard, Smith's Doctor Who takes us on a wild and witty science-fiction ride.' The Sunshine Coast Daily also features an interview with Matt Smith where he indicates he might visit Australia next year. No incumbent Doctor has visited Australia since Peter Davison in 1983.





FILTER: - Ratings - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting - Australia

BBC apologises for advert intrusion

Sunday, 25 April 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Norton PromoAfter thousands of complaints about the trailer featuring an animated Graham Norton promoting Over The Rainbow during the closing moments of Doctor Who last night, the BBC have apologised for the occurrence.

In an article on the BBC News site:
The BBC often promotes programmes in this way but the corporation has acknowledged that in this case the scheduling was inappropriate.

A BBC spokesman said: "We apologise for the timing of Saturday night's trail."

The BBC received around 3000 complaints about the incident which affected viewers to BBC One in England.





FILTER: - UK - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

Time of Angels - Audience Figures

Sunday, 25 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Time of AngelsThe Time of Angels was watched by 6.8 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

BBC One had 6.5 million watching with an additional 0.3 million watching on BBC HD. The total share was 36.7%. Doctor Who was again the second most watched programme of the day with Britain's Got Talent getting 10.5 million. Third placed was Casualty with 5.5 million watching.

The cartoon Graham Norton didn't prevent over two million leaving BBC One once Doctor Who finished. The average audience for BBC One between 7.00-7.05 was 7.01 million and the average between 7.05-7.10 was 4.81 million.

Overall Doctor Who currently stands at twelfth for the week with a final top ten place almost certain.

On Multi-Channel Television, Doctor Who Confidential received 0.57 million viewers on BBC Three, with an additional 57,000 watching on BBC HD.






FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

The Return of Norton

Sunday, 25 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Norton PromoGraham Norton's second appearance in Doctor Who has provoked a storm of complaints, with many viewers upset at the appearance of a cartoon version of the Irish comic over the cliffhanger of the BBC One showing of The Time of Angels.

The appearance seems to be a bid by the BBC to prevent viewers leaving the channel once Doctor Who has aired. Last week nearly two million viewers left BBC One at the end of Victory of The Daleks. The appearance came at the climax of the episode, covering part of Matt Smith's face. Once the credits were rolling another promo for the Dorothy programme was broadcast.

A number of comments on Twitter have complained about the intrusion with critic Charlie Brooker tweeting "Why don’t the BBC just wipe s*** all over the screen during the final scene of Dr. Who next week? I hope Moffat is bellowing down a phone to someone right now." Simon Pegg, who starred in The Long Game, added "Congrats to the BBC for ruining the climax to Doctor Who with a cartoon Graham Norton telling about another xxxxxx talent show."

Graham Norton first made his presence felt during the first showing of Rose, when crossed wires resulted in a audio feed of his BBC Three programme being transmitted across the first episode of the relaunched Doctor Who series.

Anyone with strong feelings on the appearance can make a complaint via the BBC website, or by phone to 0370 010 0222.






FILTER: - UK - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

Moffat delighted with series reception

Friday, 23 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Steven MoffatExecutive Producer Steven Moffat has expressed delight on the reception of the new series and the publics reaction to the Eleventh Doctor. Speaking in Los Angeles, where the Doctor Who team have been stranded due to the ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Moffat said
I thought it'd take four or five weeks to get to where we got after the first broadcast, but people just seem to have fallen in love with him instantly.

Moffat said how the series gets super-scary with the next three episodes which see the return of the Weeping Angels.
We're now going for proper scares in four and five, so some good spine chilling stuff on its way. If you took a vote amongst the playgrounds of Britain they'd all be saying 'make it scary, you're meant to be behind that sofa!
Moffat has also written a Blog in which he describes the two-part story as a highly coloured, loud, action-movie and talks of Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor as halfway between Indiana Jones and Stan Laurel.

He talks about the first day of filming on the series and describes visiting the location and seeing the TARDIS sitting on the beach followed quickly by the arrival of several paparazzi and a number of fans with cameras.
I was stood on set with my phone, looking at pictures of myself which fans had taken already on the web. On one occasion I saw a photograph of myself watching the filming, which had been uploaded so quickly that I hadn't moved from the position I was in by the time it was on the web!

BBC Gloucestershire have published an article looking behind the scenes at another location for the story, Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean. The 14-acre site features deep gullies and dramatic rock formations known as scowles. It has also been used for location filming for the BBC series Merlin since 2008 and the same forest is said to have inspired JRR Tolkien to write The Hobbit.




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Series 5/31

Vampires of Venice - Press Details

Friday, 23 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Vampires of VeniceThe BBC Press Office has released details for the sixth episode of the new series, The Vampires of Venice.

The Toby Whithouse story, which stars Helen McCrory as Rosanna Calvierri, is scheduled for Saturday 8th May.
Dessicated corpses, terror in the canal and a visit to the sinister House of Calvierri – the Doctor takes Amy and Rory for a romantic mini-break, as the Tardis touches down once again. But 17th-century Venice is not as it should be. The city has been sealed to protect it from the Plague, although Rosanna Calvierri may have other plans...

Meanwhile schedules for 1st May have been confirmed with the second half of the Weeping Angels story, Flesh and Stone, being shown at 6.25pm on BBC One and BBC HD. ITV1 offers You've Been Framed! as an alternative, with BBC Two showing Newsnight. More News can be seen on Channel 4 while Five has the feature film Two Mules for Sister Sara starring Clint Eastwood.




FILTER: - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting