Schedule Update

Friday, 14 March 2008 - Reported by Marcus
Following next week's showing of Torchwood Episode 10, From Out Of The Rain, the series moves to a new slot of Fridays at 9pm with the showing of Episode 11, Adrift, on Good Friday, 21 March 2008. The following week sees Episode 12, Fragments, with the season finale, Exit Wounds, showing on BBC Two on Friday, 4 April 2008 at 9pm. Each episode will still receive its premier on BBC Three.

The SciFi Channel now has a webpage for The Sarah Jane Adventures, which premiers in the United States on Friday, 11 April 2008 with Invasion of the Bane. This pilot episode will be shown at 7.30pm ET with the series moving to a regular slot of 8pm the following week.

April 18th also sees the arrival of Doctor Who Season Four to the Sci-Fi channel, with the showing of the Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned. No date has yet been confirmed for the UK premiere of Series Four, but the series is expected to launch in the first half of April.




FILTER: - Torchwood - USA - Sarah Jane - Broadcasting

RTS Programme Award nominations

Monday, 3 March 2008 - Reported by Kenny Davidson
Nominations for the Royal Television Society awards have been announced. Included in the list are:

Best Drama Series: Doctor Who
Best Actor: David Tennant (Recovery/Doctor Who)
Best Children's Drama: The Sarah Jane Adventures

The awards will be presented on Wednesday 19th March 2008. A full list of nominees is available on the RTS website.




FILTER: - David Tennant - Awards/Nominations - Sarah Jane

Sarah Jane - Series Two Confirmed

Wednesday, 6 February 2008 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has issued a Press release confirming that The Sarah Jane Adventures will return for a second series.

The first series, shown on BBC1 and CBBC achieved high ratings and audience appreciation figures. The programme is the highest rated show ever shown on CBBC.

The Guardian reports the recommissioning of the series in the context of the announcement coming on the same day as the cancellation of CBBC's 30-year-old children's drama Grange Hill. The paper suggests that The Sarah Jane Adventures is one of several dramas being used by CBBC to replace the long-running programme.

Thanks to GracieLizzy and Lizo




FILTER: - Sarah Jane

Sci Fi confirms April debut for Who and SJA

Monday, 4 February 2008 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
The Sci Fi Channel has confirmed earlier reports that both Doctor Who Series Four and The Sarah Jane Adventures will begin airing on the channel in April. The channel's news service, Sci Fi Wire, has the confirmation, and Sci Fi's full press release is below.

(Thanks to "GracieLizzy" of the Doctor Who Forum.)
DOCTOR WHO SEASON FOUR AND THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES COMING TO SCI FI CHANNEL IN APRIL

NEW YORK - February 4, 2008 - SCI FI Channel has acquired the fourth season of People's Choice Award-nominated Doctor Who and the phenomenally popular series' new spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures from BBC Worldwide America. Both series are slated to premier on SCI FI in April 2008.

The Sarah Jane Adventures is written and produced by the same creative team behind Doctor Who, including multi-award winning writer Russell T. Davies. Having traveled the universe with The Doctor, Sarah Jane is used to alien encounters. Accompanied by her new young friends Maria, Luke and Clyde, she becomes embroiled in an offbeat world of mystery and danger.

In season four of Doctor Who, David Tennant reprises his role as the tenth Timelord. For his latest adventures he is joined by a brand new companion, Donna Noble, played by award-winning actress Catherine Tate (The Catherine Tate Show, BBC AMERICA) who appeared as 'the runaway bride' in the previous season. 'Martha Jones,' played by Freema Agyeman, the Doctor's most recent companion, who had a dramatic role last season's finale, makes a triumphant return in the middle of season four.

"We are excited to have Doctor Who back on SCI FI for its 4th season," said Chris Regina, Vice President of Programming, SCI FI Channel. "It's an exciting franchise that continues to reinvent itself for new generations of viewers. The youthful appeal of The Sarah Jane Adventures will no doubt attract even younger new viewers."

Candace Carlisle, EVP Sales and Co-productions, BBC Worldwide Americas commented, "The imagination of Russell and the rest of the production team in Cardiff who have produced these two incredible shows is outstanding. We are so pleased that the loyal fans of the SCI FI Channel will be able to meet a whole new range of characters and aliens that are intrinsically linked to the Doctor's history. Both 'Sarah Jane Adventures' and the new season of 'Doctor Who' are jam packed with some of the most creative storylines ever produced by the BBC's brilliant team."

The third season of the new Doctor Who averaged 1.3 million weekly viewers on SCI FI.

The deals were brokered by Lisa Hofer, Vice President of Co-Production & Sales, BBC Worldwide Americas. Executive Producers for The Sarah Jane Adventures are Russell T Davies, Head of Drama, BBC Wales, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson. The series producer is Matthew Bouch. Doctor Who season four is produced by Phil Collinson; Executive Producers are Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies. Doctor Who season four is a BBC production in association with CBC.

SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com ) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 93 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.

BBC Worldwide Americas incorporates the U.S., Canadian and Latin American arms of BBC Worldwide, a commercial and wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). With offices in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Sao Paulo and Miami, BBC Worldwide Americas has five core businesses: Channels, TV Sales, Content & Production, Home Entertainment and Digital Media. Profit from BBC Worldwide is returned to the BBC public service.




FILTER: - Series 4/30 - Sarah Jane - Broadcasting

Sarah Jane coming to America

Friday, 1 February 2008 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
In an interview with Russell T. Davies, the Los Angeles Timesmentions in passing that The Sarah Jane Adventures will be broadcast in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel beginning in April.

The article also states that Doctor Who's next season will begin on Sci Fi in April. The BBC has not announced a broadcast date for Series Four in the UK, but the program will air in Britain before any international broadcasts.

In the Los Angeles Times interview, Davies also talks about the success of Doctor Who, his attitude towards sexuality on Torchwood and past projects such as Bob and Rose.

He also notes that he deliberately keeps organized fandom at arm's length: "I think we're an unusual science-fiction franchise in taking a very big step back from fandom and having nothing to do with them. . . . Every program on the BBC has a message board on the website. I forbid it to happen on 'Doctor Who.' I'm sorry to say this, all the science fiction producers making stuff in America, they are way too engaged with their fandom. They all need to step back."




FILTER: - USA - Sarah Jane - Broadcasting

Press round-up

Monday, 28 January 2008 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
Doktor Wer?

The Sun reports that BBC Worldwide has sold the first two series of Doctor Who to Germany's ProSieben. The voices of the Ninth Doctor and Rose will be dubbed into German by Frank Roth and Maren Rainer, respectively.

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Despite Elisabeth Sladen's statement to SFX that a second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures has been commissioned, Digital Spy quotes a BBC source saying that no decision has yet been made.

Meanwhile, SFX has updated their report, suggesting that the "24 episodes" may represent two series being filmed back-to-back.

Torchwood

There are still more reviews of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" from the American press: the Chicago Sun-Times (which calls Torchwood "pretty, witty and gay"),The Sun-Ledger (New Jersey), the Orlando SentinelSci Fi Weekly andAbout.com all have largely positive reviews. (Earlier season reviews from the Associated Press and Newsday are also being reprinted in newspapers across the US.)

Eve Myles told Sci Fi Wire that the second series of Torchwood contains both action and romance. And Sci Fi Weekly has a John Barrowmaninterview, portions of which have already appeared in Sci Fi Wire.

Naoko Mori tells the Daily Record (Glasgow) what she loves and hates, and tells The Independent (London) about her week in media.

Finally, the Daily Record also has excerpts from John Barrowman's autobiography "Anything Goes".

(Thanks to "Lianne" of the Doctor Who Forum.)




FILTER: - Torchwood - Sarah Jane - Press

Sladen speaks to SFX

Friday, 25 January 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight
SFX Magazine are currently running a feature on their website, previewing a forthcoming interview the magazine has conducted with actress Elisabeth Sladen. Sladen, who plays Sarah Jane Smith, confirms in the feature that not only has spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures been recommissioned for a second series, this time of 24 episodes, but that she will also be returning to Doctor Who itself for a guest appearance in series four.

The full interview will be printed in a special edition of SFX due out in March.




FILTER: - Magazines - Sarah Jane

Sarah Jane hits new record

Wednesday, 5 December 2007 - Reported by Marcus
Final figures released by BARB show the last episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures set a new ratings record for the digital channel CBBC.

The second part of The Lost Boy got an official rating of 659,000 viewers and is now the highest rated programme ever shown on the channel. The Sarah Jane Adventures holds the top eight places in the ratings for the channel, for this year, and the top two places since the channel's launch in 2002.

Top Programmes on CBBC in 2007

1 - Sarah Jane - The Lost Boy 2 - 659,000
2 - Sarah Jane - Whatever happened to Sarah Jane 2 - 633,000
3 - Sarah Jane - The Lost Boy 1- 465,000
4 - Sarah Jane - Revenge of The Slitheen 2 - 446,000
5 - Sarah Jane - Warriors of Kudlak 1 - 425,000
6 - Sarah Jane - Eye of the Gorgon 2 - 411,000
7 - Sarah Jane - Whatever happened to Sarah Jane 1 - 406,000
8 - Sarah Jane - Warriors of Kudlak 2 - 397,000
9 - MI High - 15 Jan - 388,000
10 - MI High - 20 Nov - 378,000
11 - The Story of Tracy Beaker - 21 Nov - 374,000
12 - Shaun the Sheep - 5 Nov - 368,000
13- Sarah Jane - Eye of the Gorgon 1 - 365,000
14 - The Story of Tracy Beaker - 13 Nov - 346,000
15 - The Story of Tracy Beaker - 20 Nov - 342,000

Top Programmes on CBBC since launch

1 - Sarah Jane - The Lost Boy 2 - 659,000
2 - Sarah Jane - Whatever happened to Sarah Jane 2 - 633,000
3 - The Story of Tracy Beaker - 2 Dec 05 - 602,000
4 - The Story of Tracy Beaker - 9 Dec 05 - 521,000
5 - The Story of Tracy Beaker - 14 Dec 05- 517,000

Source: BARB





FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Sarah Jane

Sarah Jane Adventures coming to Canada

Wednesday, 28 November 2007 - Reported by Mike Doran
Canadian digital cable channel BBC Kids has announced that The Sarah Jane Adventureswill be coming to the channel in January 2008. The run starts with the premiere of the hour-long pilot "Invasion Of The Bane" on Sunday, January 13th at 9:00pm EST (repeated at 4:00am EST). Thereafter BBC Kids will run two episodes back-to-back every Sunday at 9:00pm EST with repeats at 4:00am EST.




FILTER: - Canada - Sarah Jane - Broadcasting

Sarah Jane Ratings

Tuesday, 27 November 2007 - Reported by Marcus
Unofficial overnight figures for the final week of The Sarah Jane Adventures show that part two of The Lost Boy was watched by 1.2 millionviewers, a nine percent share of the total TV audience.

Final figures are now available for the first part of the series and show the programme has achieved ratings far in excess of the average for its time slot.

The highest rated episode so far is the season premier Revenge of the Slitheen Part 1which got a final rating of 1.4 million viewers. This is the highest audience this year for BBC1 in this time slot. The average audience for the time slot is 0.92 million viewers and the average audience for the first four episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures is 1.2 million.

Final figures are accepted as the industry standard, being much more accurate than the initial overnights. They include viewers who record the programme and watch it within seven days.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Sarah Jane