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

Dinosaurs invade Riverside!

Wednesday, 28 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

This January sees the release of Invasion of the Dinosaurs on DVD, a story which has the dubious fame of including the final casualty of the old BBC process of destroying prints, with episode one only existing as a black and white print in the BBC Archive.

The episode, like other 'monochrome' Pertwee episodes, has been a focus as to whether a colour version could be recreated; speaking in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, DVD executive producer Dan Hall said:

This colour recovery has been a miracle, pulling out colour information from black and white film prints. Unfortunately, in the case of Invasion (of the Dinosaurs) Part One, the process has not produced a perfect colour print, but enough information has been salvaged to offer a tantalising glimpse of what the original broadcast may have been like.

As a result, the episode will be presented in the story in its 'clean' black and white version, with the partial colour restoration available as an alternative.

The colour episode will be shown in the form of a special preview for attendees at the forthcoming DWAS convention, Time 5, taking place at Riverside Studios on Saturday 29th October 2011:

To publicise the forthcoming DVD release we are pleased that the colour version of episode 1 will be previewed on the big screen in the cinema.

The trailer for the forthcoming The Reign of Terror - recently seen in Australia - will also be screened during the convention.
(with thanks to Paul Winter)

FILTER: - Conventions - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Doctor Who: The Complete Series Six Boxed Set confirmed for 21st November

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

2|Entertain have now confirmed that the Complete Series Six boxed set will be released in the United Kingdom on the 21st November 2011 on Blu-ray and DVD:

The Doctor, Amy and Rory return to face monsters, mysteries and adventures all across time and space in the the action-packed sixth series.

Together they find themselves in Sixties America, battling the invasion the world forgot, then journey on the high seas of 1696 aboard a pirate ship, to solve the mystery of the Siren. In a bubble universe at the very edge of reality, the Doctor meets an old friend with a new face, and in a monastery on a remote island in the near future, an industrial accident takes on a terrible human shape. They also venture across centuries and galaxies, where they encounter the greatest war criminal in all of history - and Hitler. They'll also discover there's no scarier place in the universe than a child's bedroom and a visit to an alien quarantine facility will reveal to Rory a very different side to his wife. In a hotel where walls move, corridors twist and rooms vanish, death lies waiting. But the Doctor's time has yet to come. He has one last stop to make on his final journey - an old friend needs his help and an old foe must be defeated. But time catches up with us all and the Doctor can delay no more.

As previously revealed by the BBFC earlier in the month, only four episodes will be accompanied by a commentary this year, covering The Impossible Astronaut, The Doctor's Wife, A Good Man Goes To War, and The Wedding of River Song. However, as usual all thirteen episodes of the series have their accompanying episode of Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down.

Also included with the release are last year's festive treat, A Christmas Carol, the Comic Relief mini-episode Space & Time, and the five series preludes released online through the BBC's Doctor Who site; though not listed in the press release, the Script to Screen mini-episode Death is the Only Answer is also expected to be included. The set also sees the addition of five new mini-episodes, themed "Night and the Doctor", which have been written exclusively for the release by Steven Moffat, plus a special Confidential to accompany them, The Night's Tale.

The boxed set will also contain the four Monster Files released with the previous, individual Part 1 and Part 2 series sets.

The DVD boxed set will also be released as a limited edition "Silence" version, which will also include four lenticular prints.

FILTER: - Merchandise - Series 6/32 - Blu-ray/DVD

The Wedding of River Song: Radio Times/BBC Publicity Photos

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The new edition of the Radio Times (1st-7th October) is out today, and bids farewell to the current series of Doctor Who; it features interviews with series showrunner Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, and also includes who their hidden Who heroes might be - plus a look back at what it considers to be the Doctor's five greatest escapes ...

You can also read a preview for the episode on the Radio Times website.

Next week also sees the return of The Sarah Jane Adventures, and in the magazine Elisabeth Sladen’s daughter Sadie talks movingly of her mother’s legacy.

Meanwhile, the BBC have now released a host of photos featuring a number of new and familiar faces that will appear in the 45 minute finale this coming Saturday:

**** PUBLICITY PHOTOS FOR THE WEDDING OF RIVER SONG
**** MIGHT BE CONSIDERED SPOILERS

FILTER: - Series 6/32 - Online - Radio Times

Torchwood: Final Ratings

Monday, 26 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus

The final episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day has a consolidated audience of 5.13 million viewers, making it the 14th most watched programme on BBC One for the week.

With figures now available for the whole series, the 10 episodes averaged 5.17 million viewers each week. Highest rated was episode one, with 6.59 million watching and the lowest rated was episode 7 with 4.48 million.

Each episode ranked amongst the highest programmes accessed on the BBC iPlayer with over half a million requests each. Episode one was by far the most popular episode on the iPlayer with over a million programme requests. Successive episodes scored lower on the iPlayer, but were available for a shorter time.

Series Three of Torchwood, Children of Earth averaged of 6.60 million when it was shown on BBC One in 2009. Series One had its preimere on on BBC3 on Sunday evenings, achieveing an average of 1.42 million with Series Two on BBC Two averaging 3.78 million.

Full Ratings data can be found in the Series Guide.

FILTER: - Torchwood - Ratings - UK - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Closing Time: Appreciation Index

Monday, 26 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who: Closing Time had an Appreciation Index, or AI score of 86.

The AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the episode. The score puts the programme in the excellent category. It was the second highest on the two main channels for Saturday night, just behind Casualty which scored 87.

Overnights are now available for the whole week, with Doctor Who currently in 28th place. Final consolidated figures should be released next week.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 6/32

The God Complex - Official Ratings

Sunday, 25 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus

Last week's episode of Doctor Who, The God Complex had an official consolidated rating of 6.77 million viewers.

Although the programme was beaten by All Star Family Fortunes in the overnight charts, the official figures, which are much more accurate than the initially reported overnight figures, and which include those who record the programme and watch it within a week, showed Doctor Who actually outrated the game show by over a million viewers, with ITV getting 5.39 million watching.

Doctor Who had 28.3% of the available TV audience.

The figures do not include those watching on iPlayer where over 800,000 have so far accessed the episode.

Full figures which will reveal the chart position should be available later this week.

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

Closing Time: Overnight Viewing Figures

Sunday, 25 September 2011 - Reported by Marcus

5.3 million watched Doctor Who: Closing Time on Saturday, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The the programme had an audience share of 24.6%. It was the third highest rated show of the day and the highest rated programme on the BBC.

On overnights the episode lost out to All Star Family Fortunes on ITV1, which achieved an average of 5.6 million viewers. Doctor Who should regain the lead when final figures are released next week.

Doctor Who's lead-in Celebrity MasterChef had an average of 2.4 million viewers and the winner on the night was once more The X Factor, which had 10.0 million watching. Fourth for the day was Match of the Day with 3.9 million watching.

With one day to come Doctor Who is the 24th most watched programme of the week.

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

The God Complex: Australian ratings

Sunday, 25 September 2011 - Reported by Adam Kirk

The God Complex has debuted in Australia to respectable ratings. TV Tonight reports that, up against the football finals on the commercial stations, the episode averaged 591,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. It was the second highest rating drama and the eighth highest rating programme for the day overall. The corresponding Confidential Cutdown rated 408,000 viewers in the five major capitals. These overnight figures, however, do not include regional, rural and time-shifted viewers and hence significantly understate the actual national ratings.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, the latest episodes of Doctor Who and Torchwood: Miracle Day (both on Prime) rated 119,850 viewers and 77,780 viewers respectively.

FILTER: - Torchwood - Ratings - Series 6/32 - Miracle Day (Series 4) - New Zealand - Australia

Next Time: The Wedding of River Song

Saturday, 24 September 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Next Saturday sees the premiere of The Wedding of River Song - the final episode in the current series of Doctor Who - broadcast on BBC1/BBC1HD at 7:05pm, 1st October in the United Kingdom; it then follows on SPACE in Canada at 8:00pm ET, on BBC America in the United States at 9:00pm ET, and on ABC1 in Australia at 7:30pm on the 8th October.

The BBC synopsis for the episode follows, which might be considered a spoiler:

As the Doctor makes his final journey to the shores of Lake Silencio in Utah, he knows only one thing can keep the universe safe – his own death – in the concluding episode of this series of the time-travelling drama. But has he reckoned without the love of a good woman?

The Wedding of River Song: Trailer, BBC, via YouTube - may not play outside of the United Kingdom

The Wedding of River Song: Next Time Trailer, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom

The BBC have also released an introduction to the episode in the form of a special scene taking place before the story begins:

The Wedding of River Song: Prequel, BBC, via the BBC Doctor Who site - may not play outside of the United Kingdom
Alternatively there is a YouTube version.

FILTER: - Series 6/32 - Online

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