Daddy's Girl: 50th Anniversary edition of Deborah Watling's autobiography

Tuesday, 30 May 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Fantom Publishing have announced the re-release of actress Deborah Watling's autobiography, Daddy's Girl, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of her appearance in Doctor Who as Victoria.

Daddy's Girl (50th Anniversary edition) (Credit: Fantom Publishing)

Daddy's Girl (50th Anniversary edition)
Written by Deborah Watling, with Paul W.T. Ballard
Published by Fantom Publishing

Daughter of renowned star of stage and screen Jack Watling, Deborah has entertained millions in a career which spans over fifty years.

From her early successes in series such as The Invisible Man, The Power Game and Out of the Unknown, through to her iconic role as the scream queen Victoria Waterfield in Doctor Who, film roles opposite Cliff Richard and David Essex, and as the notorious ‘Naughty’ Norma in Danger UXB, Deborah has endeared herself to a broad spectrum of fans.

For the first time, in her own words, Deborah recalls the highs and lows of working on stage and in front of the camera along with the behind-the-scenes personal struggles, and reminisces about working with a whole variety of famous acting names including the late and much-missed Patrick Troughton.

This edition, published to celebrate Deborah's fiftieth anniversary in Doctor Who has a special cover taken from the private collection of Alexandra Tynan (Sandra Reid) on location for The Evil of the Daleks.

Daddy's Girl (50th Anniversary edition) alretnative cover (Credit: Fantom Publishing)

Daddy's Girl: In Pictures (Credit: Fantom Publishing)

The fiftieth anniversary edition is also available to purchase with an alternative cover in a bundle alongside sister book Daddy's Girl: In Pictures, and a set of five The Abominable Snowmen Location postcards - full details on the Fantom website.

FILTER: - Auto/Biography - Books - Fantom

The Lie Of The Land - Publicity Images

Tuesday, 30 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC have released a number of new publicity images to promote this week's episode of Doctor Who, The Lie Of The Land

The Lie Of The Land

Writer: Toby Whithouse
Director: Wayne Che Yip

The world is gripped by a mass delusion and only Bill Potts can see the truth. When even the Doctor is fighting on the wrong side, it’s up to Bill to convince the Time Lord that humanity is in deadly danger. And if she can’t do that, she may just have to kill her best friend…

Bill's In Trouble - The Lie Of The Land Preview

This week BBC One will show Doctor Who at 7.35pm.

Main Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 3 Jun 2017	7:35pm BST
Middle East	BBC First	Sat 3 Jun 2017	10.20pm AST	(Sat 7:45pm BST)
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 3 Jun 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 3 Jun 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 4 Jun 2017	7:30pm NZST	(Sun 8:30am BST)
Finland	YLE2	Sun 4 Jun 2017	12:25am EEST	(Sun 10:25am BST)
Australia	ABC	Sun 4 Jun 2017	7:40pm AEST	(Sun 10:40am BST, also on ABC ME)
Brazil	SyFy	Sun 4 Jun 2017	8:00pm BRT	(Mon 12:00qm BST)
Latin America	SyFy	Sun 4 Jun 2017	10:00pm CDT	(Mon 4:00am BST)

Full listings here

FILTER: - Publicity - Series 10/36

Australian overnight ratings for Pyramid and final ratings for Oxygen

Monday, 29 May 2017 - Reported by Adam Kirk

The Pyramid At The End Of The World has debuted in Australia, averaging 420,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. The story was the second highest rating ABC drama of the day and the twelfth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview, regional or time-shifted viewers.

Meanwhile, including time-shifted viewers, Oxygen averaged 529,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 92,000 extra viewers it was the fourth highest time-shifted program of the day (the two equal highest time-shifted programs both had 107,000 extra viewers) and the eleventh highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview or regional viewers.

Media Links: TV Tonight (Pyramid ratings); TV Tonight (Oxygen ratings)

FILTER: - Australia - Broadcasting - Ratings - Series 10/36

Rachel Talalay Directing Christmas Episode

Sunday, 28 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has confirmed that Rachel Talalay will be directing the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas episode, the last one before new showrunner Chris Chibnall takes over the series

Talaley has directed the final two episodes of both series 8 and 9 of Doctor Who, including the highly acclaimed Heaven Sent, as well as directing the upcoming finale to the current series.

Moffat confirmed her involvement while speaking at the first ever US Sherlock convention.

Making big-budget spectaculars on no money at all is what we need, and Rachel’s got such a deep background, and such great ability at that! We’re just finishing up on the finale episodes, and planning the Christmas one, which she’s also directing — which is my very last one.

The Christmas episode will also be the last one featuring current Doctor Peter Capaldi.

On Twitter Talalay said how pleased she was to be working on the series again.

Yes, thrilled to be doing #DoctorWho Xmas episode (and what a script!). Very sad it's our last.

FILTER: - Production - Series Specials

The Pyramid at the End of the World - Reaction

Sunday, 28 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

The Pyramid At The end Of The World: Xiaolian (Daphne Cheung), Secretary General (Togo Igawa) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))

Press Reaction to this week's Doctor Who The Pyramid at the End of the World is generally positive with most reviewers enjoying the episode

The Mirror called the episode a cracking exploration of cause, effect and hubris. "Capaldi’s opening monologue is another to add to his catalogue of great speeches, both reflecting The Doctor’s woe at his current state and foreshadow the series of events that are set in motion by the scientists."

Digital Spy felt the episode was a step up from last week's. "What a relief this week to see Doctor Who returning to its strengths, kicking things off with a lovely, big, ridiculous visual gimmick. That's always a good starting point for a Who episode, with 'The Pyramid at the End of the World' throwing up – you guessed it – a 5000-year-old pyramid that suddenly appears out of thin air."

Radio Times called the episode a peculiar blend of the deadly serious and hilariously hokum. "The most effective strand follows two English scientists at Agrofuel Research Operations in Yorkshire and their slow-burn bio-disaster. It reminds me of Terry Nation’s 1970s serial Survivors: one slip from a scientist and deadly bacteria will escape and wipe out all life on the planet."

The Telegraph praised the writing "As we’ve come to expect, this script was full of snappy exchanges and well-turned one-liners. We enjoyed the Doctor’s mild flirtation with lab queen Erica, referring to her as his “glamorous assistant”. See also Capaldi talking to himself as he tried to hatch a plan: “Think, think. Stupid Doctor. Aha! Handsome, adorable, hugely intelligent but still approachable Doctor.”

Den of Geek felt the episode was a good example of the TARDIS team working together. "What this series has been excellent at so far is having a mixture of the Doctor, Nardole and Bill – sometimes all three – puzzling things out, and using their intelligence to resolve situations. The stories have been careful to show some of the working too, and I find stuff like that really satisfying."

Screen Rant felt the episode was following previous patterns, noting the similarities with Series 9. "Harness is an obvious choice to help with impending threat of extraterrestrials bent on world domination, as he scripted season 9’s two-part ‘The Zygon Invasion‘ and ‘The Zygon Inversion‘, the first part of which pretty much speaks for the tone of ‘Pyramid’."

IGN also noted the similarities to previous episodes and found the quality mixed. "Overall It’s another enjoyable outing for Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat’s final season, and one that looks to have set up a pretty cool premise for next week’s finale."

Finally AV Club felt a mediocre episode was rescued by a fantastic climax. "What an ending. That’s probably what I’m going to remember from “The Pyramid At The End Of The World,” especially when thinking of it as the middle entry between the brilliant “Extremis” and the seriously intriguing-looking “The Lie Of The Land.” The rest of the episode is mostly just unobjectionably decent, which isn’t the worst thing to sit through for five minutes of utter brilliance."

Link to Doctor Who News Review

FILTER: -

The Pyramid At The End Of The World - Overnight Viewing Figures

Sunday, 28 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

The Pyramid At The end Of The World: Xiaolian (Daphne Cheung), The Commander (Nigel Hastings), Secretary General (Togo Igawa), The Doctor (Peter Capaldi), Nardole (Matt Lucas) (Credit: BBC/BBC Worldwide (Simon Ridgway))

Doctor Who - The Pyramid At The End Of The World had an overnight viewing audience of 4.01 million viewers, a share of 20.4% of the total TV audience, according to unofficial figures.

Top for BBC One for the day was the coverage of the FA Cup Final which preceeded the Doctor and had an average of 6.43 million watching. The football had a peak auience of 9.56 million.

Overall ITV's Britain's Got Talent was once more top for the day with 8.38 million watching, down slightly on the previous week. The Keith and Paddy Picture Show on ITV had 3.24 million watching while on BBC One Mrs Brown's Boys had 3.11 million.

Doctor Who is currently 31st for the week. Final figures should be available in 8 days time.

FILTER: - Ratings - Series 10/36 - UK

The Pyramid At The End Of The World - Introduction

Friday, 26 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has confirmed that this week's Doctor Who episode has been edited out of respect for victims of the Manchester bombing.

A small sequence in the episode, refering to terrorism, has been removed from the programme which will be broadcast this weekend. This is not the first time a episode has been edited because of events in the real world. In 2014 the episode Robot of Sherwood was edited shortly before transmission, following the murder of two hostages by terrorists.

A spokesperson told Radio Times:

Following the tragic events in Manchester, we have made a small edit to this week's episode of Doctor Who.

The remainder of the episode will not be changed and will air on its scheduled slot at 7.45pm on 25 May on BBC1.

Peter Capaldi & Pearl Mackie Introduce The Pyramid At The End Of The World (via YouTube)
Steven Moffat Introduces The Pyramid At The End Of The World (via YouTube)
Bring It - The Pyramid At The End Of The World(via YouTube)

Main Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 27 May 2017	7:45pm BST
Middle East	BBC First	Sat 27 May 2017	9:45pm AST	(Sat 7:45pm BST)
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 27 May 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 27 May 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 28 May 2017	7:30pm NZST	(Sun 8:30am BST)
Finland	YLE2	Sun 28 May 2017	12:25am EEST	(Sun 10:25am BST)
Australia	ABC	Sun 28 May 2017	7:40pm AEST	(Sun 10:40am BST, also on ABC ME)
Brazil	SyFy	Sun 28 May 2017	8:00pm BRT	(Mon 12:00qm BST)
Latin America	SyFy	Sun 28 May 2017	10:00pm CDT	(Mon 4:00am BST)

Full listings here

FILTER: - Publicity - Series 10/36

BBC Store to Close in November

Thursday, 25 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

BBC Worldwide has announced that the BBC Store website and apps will be closing on 1st November 2017.

The BBC Store was launched in the UK in November 2015, giving users the ability to download programmes from the extensive BBC archive. It was the platform chosen to launch the animated version of The Power of the Daleks last autumn. However, the service has struggled to compete with the established streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime and BBC Worldwide have taken the decision to close the service.

Users who have purchased items from the site will be able to download and watch them until the site closes in November. The items will then become unavailable and users will be able to request a refund. From 1st June you will no longer be able to watch programmes you purchased from BBC Store on BBC iPlayer.

Refunds can be processed earlier than November, but you will lose the ability to access your programmes once the refund has been issued. Refunds will either be credited to the user's bank account or can be taken as Amazon Video vouchers. Those who opt for vouchers will receive 10% more than they are owed, as a goodwill gesture. For full details logon to the BBC Store website.

A statement on the BBC Store website says the BBC will continue to find new ways of making BBC archive content available.

FILTER: - BBC Worldwide

Doctor Who's Chinese expansion + Series 15 in pipeline

Thursday, 25 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

BBC Worldwide have issued a press release indicating that the entire catalogue of Doctor Who related shows will be made available in China via Shanghai Media Group Pictures, which includes a first look at Doctor Who up to its fifteenth series!

BBC Worldwide/SMG Pictures Doctor Who agreement (25 May 2017) (Credit: BBC Worldwide)

BBC Worldwide today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with leading Chinese media company, Shanghai Media Group Pictures (SMG Pictures) that will see expansion of the Doctor Who brand in China.

The MOU was inked yesterday evening at a signing ceremony at BBC Worldwide’s Television Centre in London, with Mr Chen Sijie, GM of SMG Pictures and Jaclyn-Lee Joe, Chief Marketing Officer, BBC Worldwide. Madam Wang Jianjun, Director General President of Shanghai Media Group, Tim Davie, Chief Executive of BBC Worldwide and Kelvin Yau, GM, Greater China, BBC Worldwide witnessed the event.

The agreement will see BBC Worldwide working with SMG Pictures to increase the Doctor Who fan base in China, exploring future opportunities as well as exchanging expertise between the two teams.

The MOU comes on the back of a content deal that BBC Worldwide also signed with SMG Pictures yesterday evening. The deal will see the entire catalogue of Doctor Who including spin-offs, Torchwood and Class available on popular TV channels and on-demand platforms all over China.

The deal not only covers Showrunners Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat’s Series 1- 10, but also incoming Showrunner Chris Chibnall’s yet-to-film Series 11, well as a first look for Series 12-15.

Jaclyn-Lee Joe, Chief Marketing Officer, BBC Worldwide, said:

This marks the start of a longer and even more fruitful partnership with SMGP,” said . “Doctor Who already has a substantial fan base in China. Now, Chinese fans will be able to access the entire catalogue of Doctor Who and its spin-offs thanks to this agreement. The MOU is an affirmation of both parties’ commitment to build the Doctor Who brand and grow its fan base in China.

Chen Sijie, General Manager, SMG Pictures, said:

China is going through a time of tremendous growth and rapid market development. Everyone here is curious about popular cultures around the world. At the same time, they want to share their Chinese culture and values. Doctor Who, with its long television history and iconic place in popular culture, is a great representative of British pop culture. We hope that this partnership with BBC Worldwide will enable both parties, as well as Chinese and British fans to share and exchange ideas and learnings to grow the universe of Doctor Who in China.

BBC Worldwide and Oriental Pearl Group previously worked together on the theatrical release of Sherlock – The Abominable Bride as well as the upcoming launch of One Amazing Day a co-production with SMG Pictures. The entire catalogue of Top Gear, Top Gear UK and all the UK specials, as well as five series of Top Gear USA, six series of Top Gear Korea and both series of Top Gear China has also recently launched on BesTV, SMG’s linear television service. There has also been a CBeebies programming block on BesTV since 2014.

Shanghai Media Group Pictures is the film business unit of Oriental Pearl Group, held by Shanghai Media Group.
Doctor Who is a BBC Studios production for BBC One and a BBC AMERICA co-production.

FILTER: - BBC Worldwide

Titan Summer Event - The Lost Dimension

Tuesday, 23 May 2017 - Reported by Marcus

The Lost Dimension - Cover A (Credit: Titan)

The Lost Dimension - Cover B (Credit: Titan)

The Lost Dimension - Cover C (Credit: Titan)

Titan Comics have announced that this year's summer event will feature multi-Doctor storyline Doctor Who - The Lost Dimension

The Lost Dimension, comprised of eight chapters over three months, will cross over all four ongoing series featuring the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors. The event will begin a new era for Titan’s Doctor Who comics, with the Doctors playing their part to battle The Void!

This event will prelude Doctor Who Comics Day on Saturday, September 2, 2017, and continue in the Ninth Doctor special that same week.

The Void has always existed: “No place. The silent realm. The lost dimension.” But the Void is no longer empty. The Void is hungry, and devouring our universe – through time and space. Now, the four Doctors must join forces to save…everything!

The series will begin this August with an issue from writers George Mann (Eleventh Doctor), and Cavan Scott (Ninth Doctor), with art by Rachael Stott (Twelfth Doctor) and Rod Fernandes.

The first issue comes in one of three covers including a very special embossed foil TARDIS cover, a photo cover by Will Brooks, and a multi-Doctor mash-up by Rachael Stott and Luis Guerrero.

Look out for more exciting reveals as to special guest characters, all-new writers and artists making their mark on the storyline, and more hints as to the future, in the days and weeks to come.

FILTER: - Comics

Previous 10 Stories

Daddy's Girl: 50th Anniversary edition of Deborah Watling's autobiography

The Lie Of The Land - Publicity Images

Australian overnight ratings for Pyramid and final ratings for Oxygen

Rachel Talalay Directing Christmas Episode

The Pyramid at the End of the World - Reaction

The Pyramid At The End Of The World - Overnight Viewing Figures

The Pyramid At The End Of The World - Introduction

BBC Store to Close in November

Doctor Who's Chinese expansion + Series 15 in pipeline

Titan Summer Event - The Lost Dimension

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