1996 Movie: New US AiringsBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie starring Paul McGann will soon air on the Starz/Encore suite of premium channels in the US starting in June. This may mean that the US Sci-Fi Channel's rights to the movie (where it aired a few times over the past couple years) have expired. Nine broadcasts are scheduled on the Starz Mystery Channel, and three on Starz' MOVIEPlex channel. The following are the scheduled airdates and times; if you have one or both of these channels, remember to determine which Feed(s) you have access to and adjust for local time. (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott at "This Week in Doctor Who")

Thursday 3 June 9:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Thursday 3 June 4:45PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 7:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 3:20PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Sunday 13 June 11:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 7:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 8:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 4:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 5:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 11:10PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Late Friday 18 June 12:10AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Tuesday 29 June 2:40PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery




FILTER: - USA - Broadcasting

Hartnell, McGann on DVDBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
William Hartnell starred in the comedy "And the Same To You" (1960), which will receive its first home video release (VHS and DVD) in the UK on 14 June 2004. The movie is about a clergyman's nephew who decides to become a boxer but must maintain an outwardly religious appearance. Also stars Brian Rix, Tommy Cooper and Sid James. Meanwhile, the thriller "Downtime" (1997), which stars Paul McGann as an ex-police psychologist trying to talk down a suicidal woman on the roof of a building, receives its first widescreen home video release (DVD) in the UK on 7 June 2004. Also stars Susan Lynch and Tom Georgeson. (Thanks to Steve Hill)




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD

Richards on "Legend"Bookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The May 18 edition of "UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Lancashire" discussed the now sold-out hardcover Doctor Who book The Legend by Justin Richards. "YOU'VE heard of coffee table books?" said the article. "Well this massive tome is hefty enough to be a table in its own right." It noted that Richards was "a long time fan of the series and actually met second doctor Patrick Troughton on a visit to the set in the sixties at the tender age of eight" and notes that there "are many [photographs] here among the 500 that have never been seen before and some have been borrowed from private collections."




FILTER: - Books

Telos' Time Hunters BooksBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Telos Publishing has released details on the fourth and fifth books in their new Time Hunters spinoff series, which continued the characters and situations from their Doctor Who novella of last year, "The Cabinet of Light". Kitsune by John Paul Catton, due out September 23, "sees Honor? Lechasseur and Emily Blandish in the year 2020 where they find themselves thrown into a mystery as an ice spirit wreaks havoc during the Kyoto's Gion Festival, and a haunted funhouse proves to contain more than just paper lanterns and wax dummies." The Severed Man by George Mann ("The Human Abstract") is due out on December 2, in which "Honor? and Emily investigate the links between a clutch of sinister murders in Victorian London, an angel that appears in a Staffordshire village in the 1920s and a small boy running loose around the capital in 1950 and discover that nightmares can turn into reality." (Thanks to David Howe)




FILTER: - Books

Ainley Obits Finally InBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
New obituaries for the late Anthony Ainley have finally been turning up, albeit a few weeks late, in the UK press. The UK Newsquest Regional Press, in their "This Is Local London" section on May 21, ran an obit and noted that he died at Northwick Park Hospital. The May 20 edition of "The Stage" ran an obit noting that Ainley was 71 years old (his actual age and birthdate have been the subject of speculation; Doctor Who Magazine's obit in the June issue will attempt to get to the bottom of this.) The Harrow Times and the Guardian have picked up the story as well. May 27th's Courier Mail also ran an article, "Forever The Master, arch-nemesis of Dr Who". (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Andrew Harvey, Francis Moloney)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Who's Next: A Guide to Broadcast WhoBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
In early 2005 Virgin Books will publish WhoÆs Next: An Unofficial & Unauthorised Guide To All Of Broadcast Doctor Who, a "comprehensive, critical journey through every episode of Doctor Who broadcast by the BBC on television, radio, and the Internet" by Mark Clapham, Eddie Robson and Jim Smith. Says the press release: "WhoÆs Next will be the immediate, obvious way into the seriesÆ past for new fans introduced to Doctor Who by its imminent return to television as well as offering new perspectives and opinions on the show to those already intimately familiar with it." Says Robson, "This isnÆt a continuity guide or a production history. Not only are such books already available, but also the seriesÆ lengthy history necessarily makes them weighty tomes. We recognise that this can be daunting for the uninitiated viewer and so weÆre aiming to boil it down to the essentials. ItÆs a viewersÆ handbook, the entry point in the seriesÆ vast and rich history. For those who are already very familiar with the series, we offer a fresh perspective on much-dissected material." An email list has been set up for updates and information, and can be found atgroups.yahoo.com/group/whosnextbookinfo. (Thanks to Mark Clapham)




FILTER: - Books

Recent Press ClipsBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Some general Doctor Who press mentions (thanks to Steve Tribe):

May 17th's "This Is Lancashire" featured an article on Doctor Who fans and the recent Doctor Who Autograph Collectors' Club day in Darwen. The article quotes Terry Molloy and Mike Tucker, who waxes on his time doing effects on the show and how it compares to the new one: "Dr Who was a challenge. Producers wanted Star Wars-style effects but gave us a small budget."

BBC News online Entertainment section this morning includes a brief but positive review of the DVD release of The Green Death, which can be found by clicking here.

Today's Guardian Diary has brief (and mocking) mention of Tim Collins, who has given an interview to an unnamed magazine for a piece called 'My Sci-Fi', in which he cites the Doctor as his hero. The text is as follows: "Tory education spokesman Tim Collins shows a neat sense of timing in a magazine interview entitled My Sci-Fi. 'The Doctor, of course,' replies the Doctor Who fanatic, when asked to name his favourite sci-fi hero by SFX magazine. 'Mind you, not the pale pink pacifist some believe him to be. Rather the guy who fights evil and who mocks those who think you can strike a deal with it. The Donald Rumsfeld of the cosmos,' he concludes, 'not the Robin Cook.'" For registered readers, it can be foundhere.

The Guardian's Online section reports the following: "The science fiction genre has its own vocabulary, and a project is now underway to help gather citations for the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for words that were first used in science fiction stories. A huge number of words are covered, from 3-di to zero-gravity. There are also guidelines to help you contribute your own citations, and a graph to show which decade has been responsible for the most new words." Clickhere. No direct Doctor Who connection, as you can see, but of interest for obvious reasons - with a bit of effort, Doctor Who entries could probably swamp everything else!!




FILTER: - Press

New Series Press ClipsBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Some recent New Series press clips, with thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, James Crout, Gary Pryke, Andrew Screen, Phillip Vaughan:

The May 21st edition of Broadcast magazine, the "Weekly newspaper of the Television and Radio Industry," ran an interview with new series executive producer Mal Young which mentioned Doctor Who several times. "Leslie Grantham's webcam antics may have terrified a nation and been a sore point for EastEnders bosses," said the article, "but award-winning BBC drama boss Mal Young seems more concerned about the Daleks." The article quotes him on the subject of whethere the Daleks are coming back: "Yeah, they are, and they're going to be scary. They might be a bit more sophisticated but they're still scary as f--- as far as I'm concerned." The story ended with the following: "Interview over, Young picks up what he says is 'the most valuable thing in this office'. It's Russell T. Davies' script for the first episode of the new Doctor Who." The Sun picked up on the story later in the week, quoting the "They're scary as f----" comment. There was also a two page spread on the return of the series in the April 8 edition of Broadcast.

'I can't wait to bring my Tardis back to Cardiff' was the title of an article on icWales on May 20, in which new Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston told of "his excitement at coming to work in South Wales." "I think it's a whole new life for me," Eccleston said, "a whole new element to my career and I'm looking forward to working in Cardiff because I worked there 12 years ago. I like the people and I like the place. I think it's good that it has not gone to London or Manchester, that somebody else has got this thing." Read more of the article at icWales.

Last week's Radio Times featured an interview with Jon Culshaw of Dead Ringers. "I'd really like to play Doctor Who," says the cover. Culshaw's comments about the new series are quoted in the interview, including "It will be interesting to see how Christopher Eccleston plays the part. He brings a lot of intensity to what he does." He also talks about his Tom Baker impersonations. "The Tom Baker character is indelible. My favourite is the Doctor phoning the Cosmos bingo hall, asking 'Where is the Cosmos?' and this Manchester housewife answers, 'Eccles, luv.' Eventually I'd like to evolve into straight acting, although I don't underestimate it like some shallow pop star. What I'd really like is to play Doctor Who in my late 40s."

May 8th's edition of The Australian (Australia's national daily newspaper) featured an article called "Who is Doctor Who?" by Mark Juddery. It starts by giving a history of Christohper Eccleston and his new role as the Doctor. It also features a history of the show and a lot of trivia information, and concludes with the statement, "More important, they hope the dust settles before the new series begins filming in the (northern) spring. Whoever plays the Doctor, he's always more fun with the Daleks."

Channel 4's Teletext music pages mentioned the other day that Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison had grown up watching Doctor Who - and he wanted his band to be given the chance to record the new theme. Obviously there will be many people wanting to do the same...

Orbital's forthcoming new album features a sample of Christopher Eccleston from "The Second Coming." The track, entitled You Lot, samples Eccleston's most Doctorish moment when he first addresses the worlds media and talks of how the human race is set to become gods after unravelling DNA and cultivating bacteria that can wipe out all life on Earth.

Finally, the UK gossip column Popbitch.com noted the following late last week: "'Dr Who filming at the IBM offices in Cosham right now Eccleston running around the quad as I type'." Now, we don't think they've started filming, and indeed there was speculation that Bill Baggs' team was filming something in the area. We'll let that rumor close out this edition of the press update...




FILTER: - Series 1/27 - Press - Radio Times

Aliens of London?Bookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Today's Media Guardian has a snippet about a possible story in the forthcoming series, maybe in the two-part "Aliens of London" or another story. Click on the spoiler tag below to read it. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe)




FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27

Dalekmania CalendarBookmark and Share

Monday, 24 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Galaxy 4 has sent Outpost Gallifrey the cover illustration for the forthcoming Dalekmania 2005 Doctor Who calendar, seen at right. We hope to bring you further details, such as the release date, very soon. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version. (Thanks to Galaxy 4)




FILTER: - Merchandise