Dreamland for North AmericaBookmark and Share

Thursday, 28 January 2010 - Reported by Marcus
DreamlandThe animated story Dreamland will be be released in North America on 4th May. The 45 minute story was originally made for the BBC's interactive service.

The story features the vocal talents of David Tennant, Georgia Moffett, David Warner, Stuart Milligan and Clark Peters and is set in the infamous alien hotspot Roswell. It is described by writer Phil Ford as 'Doctor Who meets a Fifties monster B-movie'.

Like the UK release, the DVD will be part of a two disc set and will feature the three documentaries looking back at the last five years of Doctor Who, Doctor Who's Greatest Moments, which were shown in the UK last summer.

More details and the cover can be seen at TVShowsonDVD

The DVD is released in the UK on 1st February.




FILTER: - USA - Animation - Blu-ray/DVD

Dreamland on the Red ButtonBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 16 December 2009 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC Press Office have released information on the number of viewers that have used the red button facility on digital television, and revealed that the animated adventure Dreamland was watched by almost one million people.

John Denton, Managing Editor, BBC Red Button, said: "This year has proven that audiences love choice and enjoy the extra interactivity that the red button service can provide and we're pleased that, as UK television becomes fully digital, we've been able to take this incredible performance to even more viewers."

"Traditional" broadcasting ratings are reported here.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Animation

Dreamland RatingsBookmark and Share

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - Reported by Marcus
The animated adventure Dreamland was watched by an estimated 0.45 million viewers on BBC Two for its first television broadcast. The six episodes have been available for UK viewers to watch online, but this is the first time the complete programme has been available.

The audience share was 6.5% and the programme was the second highest-rated in its timeslot, getting double the audience of CITV.

The HD audience was below the threshold for accurate analaysis.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Animation

Dreamland UpdateBookmark and Share

Thursday, 19 November 2009 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has confirmed that the animated story, Dreamland, will be shown, complete, on BBC Two on Saturday 5th December at 10am and on the BBC HD channel at a time to be confirmed.

Dreamland which stars the vocal talents of David Tennant, Georgia Moffett, David Warner, Stuart Milligan and Clark Peters, is set in the infamous alien hotspot Roswell and described by writer Phil Ford as 'Doctor Who meets a Fifties monster B-movie'.

The BBC Two showing will follow the story's début on the BBC's interactive services from Saturday 21st November. The six episodes will air on a daily basis and will be available on the BBC website as well as on the Red Button services on Sky and Virgin from 7am on 21 November to 4am on 28 November.

The service will also be on freeview at various times depending on other broadcast requirements.

Planned freeview times are

21 November – 7.00-8.50am, 11.10am-2.20pm, 7.25-10.35pm
22 November – 12.10am-7.50pm
23 November – 12.10am-7.50pm on 24 November
24 November – 10.40pm-2pm on 25 November
25 November – 3-10.15pm, 11.10pm-9.50am on 26 November
26 November – 7.10pm-9.50am on 27 November
27 November – 6.10pm-4am on 28 November

The story will not be available on Freesat.

Dry Springs, Nevada, 1958. During a visit to a local diner, the Doctor befriends a young waitress, Cassie, and her friend Jimmy. When he stumbles across a strange alien artefact, the Doctor is led to the mysterious Area 51 in Roswell, also known as Dreamland, the most secret base in the USA. There, he has a dark encounter with the sinister Colonel Stark.

So begins a momentous mission for the Doctor who, with the help of his new companions and Jimmy's grandfather, Night Eagle, sets out to rescue the stranded alien, Rivesh Mantilax, and his wife, Saruba Valek, from the threat of the ruthless Viperox, led by Lord Azlok, and the clutches of the American military.

As sunset falls the Viperox battle drones start to attack the US army base. Can the Doctor find a way to halt the seemingly unstoppable aliens in their tracks?




FILTER: - Online - Animation

Dreamland Broadcast DateBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 4 November 2009 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC Press Office have released details for the broadcast of the animated Doctor Who adventure Dreamland. Episode One will premiere on Saturday 21st November on the BBC's Red Button service, and the subsequent five episodes each day thereafter. The episodes will be available all day on Sky and Virgin, with a limited service on Freeview. The episodes will also be available from the BBC's Doctor Who website, which will be enhanced by a brand new comic reader application.




FILTER: - Online - Animation - Press - Broadcasting

Dreamland blogBookmark and Share

Friday, 21 August 2009 - Reported by Marcus

Highslide JS
The BBC has launched the new Dreamland blog, detailing the production process behind the six-part animated adventure due later this year.

The story, voiced by David Tennant and written by Doctor Who writer Phil Ford, takes the Time Lord to Roswell, where he stumbles upon a mysterious alien artefact that leads him on a mission to rescue Rivesh Mantilax from the threat of the Viperox and the clutches of the American military.

Commissioned by BBC drama multiplatform, the series will be available on Red Button and on the Doctor Who website. CBBC will then show the entire 45-minute animation on BBC Two this autumn, as will the BBC HD channel.

Rosie Allimonos, drama multiplatform commissioner, said the series ‘presents an amazing opportunity to expand the multiplatform storytelling potential of Doctor Who’.

The Doctor will be joined by a new companion, Cassie Rice, played by Georgia Moffett, who played the Time Lord’s daughter Jenny in Series Four. David Warner stars as the leader of the ruthless Viperox.

In the run up to the animation, fans will be able to visit the Doctor Who website and follow a behind-the-scenes production blog on the making of Dreamland, giving the opportunity to follow the progress of the animation as it develops.

Produced by Brighton-based animation company Littleloud, the animation is being executive-produced by Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Piers Wenger. ‘Dreamland is a remarkable project and I'm thrilled with it. Phil Ford is a wonderful writer and promises to send the Doctor into a whole new visual dimension,’ Davies said.




FILTER: - Russell T Davies - David Tennant - Animation

New Animated Adventure On the WayBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 - Reported by R Alan Siler
A second animated story starring David Tennant as the Doctor will be broadcast later this year.

"Dreamland", written by Phil Ford, will comprise seven episodes of roughly six minutes each. This will air as part of the BBC's red button service and Children's BBC.

Also appearing in the story are Georgia Moffett ("The Doctor's Daughter") playing a character called Cassie Rice, Lisa Bowerman("Survival" and the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series), and David Warner (Tron, Time Bandits). Warner is also no stranger to Doctor Who, having played the Time Lord himself in two Big Finish audio plays released in 2003 and 2008.

"Dreamland" follows 2007's animated adventure "The Infinite Quest", currently available on DVD.

Ford has written for Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and his other 2009 Doctor Who story, The Waters of Mars (co-written with Russell T Davies) is slated to broadcast in November. Directing "Dreamland" is Gary Russell.

More details will be forthcoming.




FILTER: - David Tennant - Animation

Fans Take Up the Project of Animating Lost EpisodesBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 25 June 2008 - Reported by R Alan Siler
The June 26th edition of The Guardian features an article describing the efforts of a very talented group of fans who have taken inspiration from the 2006 DVD release of 1968's "The Invasion" and are animating lost episodes of Doctor Who.

Garrett Gilchrist is a director and artist based in the US. For the past eight months he has been working on an ambitious project to restore to life an episode of the lost 1967 Patrick Troughton epic, "Evil of the Daleks."

"'The Invasion' DVD was such a gift to fans, such a wonderful project," he says. "The first thought in everyone's mind was, 'So, when are you animating the rest of them, then?' "

Gilchrist is taking a very loyalist approach to the project. "They (the animations) have to match the original episodes as closely as possible, and feel like the 60s Doctor Who, not updated," says Gilchrist. "Just recreated with new technology. Recreated, not updated."

The article includes a 'sample reel' of scenes from various episodes, ranging from "Marco Polo" to "The Wheel in Space"




FILTER: - Animation - Classic Series

Comic Maker Gets Bafta NominationBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 18 March 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive
Posted By John Bowman

Doctor Who has been nominated for a Bafta in the Interactivity category of the British Academy Television Awards for 2008.

The official site's Comic Maker is up against Channel 4's Big Art Mob, BBC One's Spooks Interactive and ITV1's The X Factor.

Jo Pearce and Anwen Aspden of BBC One and BBC Wales receive the specific Comic Maker citations.

The award winner will be announced at a ceremony at the London Palladium on April 20. It follows the series' Emmy nomination earlier this month for its interactive services.

The show won two Baftas in May 2006 - Best Drama Series and the Pioneer Audience Award. In addition, Russell T Davies won the Dennis Potter Award, for outstanding TV writing, at the 2006 event.




FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Animation

Infinite Quest - RepeatBookmark and Share

Saturday, 1 September 2007 - Reported by Marcus
Viewers in the United Kingdom can see a repeat of the animated Doctor Who Story,The Infinite Queston Sunday morning, at 9.10 on BBC2.

The Infinite Quest was originally shown as part of the CBBC series Totally Doctor Who.

Meanwhile BBC3 continues its repeat schedule with Season Three, showing weekday evenings at 7pm.




FILTER: - Animation - Broadcasting