Sunday 19th May sees the broadcast of two Peter Davison stories, Frontios and Resurrection of the Daleks on Australian and New Zealand television. They are screening as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

In Australia Frontios is scheduled to screen at 2:30pm and Resurrection of the Daleks at 4:30pm. In New Zealand Frontios screens at 2:40pm and Resurrection of the Daleks at 4:20pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 20th May at 2:40am and 4:20am respectively.

The two stories, which are consecutive in series order, received their first Australian broadcast in 1984. Their New Zealand debut was delayed until 1989.

Resurrection of the Daleks was originally screened in Britain as two double-length episodes, but was first broadcast in Australia and New Zealand in four parts. The UKTV transmission will feature the two-episode version of the story.

The UKTV billing describes the stories as follows:

Frontios: In the future, the TARDIS is forced to crash land on the planet Frontios, where the Doctor finds some of the last surviving Human beings cowering from a meteorite bombardment.
Resurrection of the Daleks: Captured in a time corridor, the Doctor and his companions are forced to land on 20th century Earth, diverted by the Doctor's oldest enemy - the Daleks.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. The stories are two of a set of six stories featuring Peter Davison's Doctor due to be broadcast during May. Next week's story is The Caves of Androzani (26 May).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

A special souvenir magazine from the makers of Doctor Who Magazine has been released:

Please note: this is a special release and is not included in any regular DWM subscription.

The video tribute to Doctor Who shown at last Sunday's TV BAFTA ceremony to mark the programme's 50th anniversary has been made available online.

The dazzling montage, which lasts 2 min 16 sec, features clips and dialogue from a multitude of adventures, and is followed by a scene inside the TARDIS where the Doctor, as played by Matt Smith, discovers a BAFTA award mask, which he likens to an Axon. He is corrected by Clara - Jenna-Louise Coleman - who takes the mask to present at the ceremony, which was hosted by Graham Norton.


Overseas readers may find the above will not play, in which case they should try this version:



The BBC Four adaptation of Room At The Top, in which Coleman starred, won the mini-series BAFTA. Other winners with Doctor Who connections were: Olivia Colman - supporting actress and female performance in a comedy programme; Sheridan Smith (companion Lucie Miller to the Eighth Doctor in the Big Finish audio dramas) - leading actress; Last Tango In Halifax, starring Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid, Sarah Lancashire, and Sacha Dhawan - drama series; Twenty Twelve, starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes, and Olivia Colman - situation comedy; and Game of Thrones, starring Iain Glen, Harry Lloyd, and Liam Cunningham - audience award.

A video of the guest panel at this month's BFI celebration of the Fifth Doctor's era is now available to watch.

As part of its Doctor Who At 50 season, the BFI screened The Caves of Androzani, which was followed by a question-and-answer session featuring actors Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, and Matthew Waterhouse, as well as the story director Graeme Harper.


The event, held on Saturday 4th May, saw the discussion led by season co-curator Justin Johnson.

As reported last month, the next celebratory screening - marking the Sixth Doctor's era - will be The Two Doctors, taking place on Saturday 15th June at 2pm. Because demand for all the events has been so high, tickets are now being allocated via ballot.

Saturday 1st June sees a big screen, one-night only, celebration of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary across Australia and New Zealand.

A double bill of episodes from Series 7, Asylum of the Daleks and The Angels Take Manhattan will screen at 48 cinemas across Australia and New Zealand, including Event, Dendy and Village cinemas in Australia, and Event Cinemas in New Zealand.

This will be the second one-off simultaneous cinema screening in both countries this year. The first was for The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon on 14th March.

On the same night as the cinema screenings, a light show featuring Doctor Who projections will be staged in Sydney.

A series of specially-created 3D-mapped images will be projected on to the façade of Sydney’s Customs House at Circular Quay.

The Doctor Who projections are part of the 18-day Vivid Sydney festival, taking place from 24 May to 10 June. The festival is organised by the New South Wales Government Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

“This is a one-night only celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, and sees Australian creative innovators, The Spinifex Group, working with the Doctor Who team to create projections that will deliver a show-stopping, unique anniversary celebration for Doctor Who’s legion of fans.” - Andrew Stoner, NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment.

“We are delighted to partner with Destination NSW and Vivid Sydney to bring this unique night of Doctor Who entertainment to life in Sydney. Vivid Sydney is the perfect platform for this Anniversary celebration, which will see the Doctor projected 7m high onto one of the city’s most historic buildings. The Spinifex Group has done a tremendous job of creating a display which makes the most of Customs House’s amazing façade.” - Sharon Wilson, Head of Marketing, Global Brands, BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand. 

A video of the guest panel at last month's BFI celebratory screening of The Robots of Death can now be watched online.

The event, which was held on Saturday 20th April as part of the BFI's Doctor Who At 50 season, marked the Fourth Doctor's era.

The BFI has uploaded a four-minute excerpt featuring Tom Baker, which can be seen below and on its YouTube channel.


The fuller, 32-minute presentation, which also features former companion actress Louise Jameson and ex-producer Philip Hinchcliffe, can be seen here. The discussion was led by season co-curator Justin Johnson.

The BFI says it will be uploading the panel video from last Saturday's Fifth Doctor event next week.

As reported earlier, the next celebratory screening will be The Two Doctors on Saturday 15th June at 2pm. Because demand for all the events so far has been so high, tickets are now being allocated on a ballot basis.

Doctor Who is to be honoured with a special tribute to be shown at Sunday's BAFTA television award ceremony.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will be marking the programme's 50th Anniversary year by showing a video montage celebrating the long history of the show.

Current companion Jenna-Louise Coleman will also attend the ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London and will present one of the night’s awards.

Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, said:
Steven Moffat, Doctor Who’s Lead Writer and Executive Producer, said the production team would be sending Daleks to patrol the red carpet:
Doctor Who won the main BAFTA award for Best Drama Series in 2006 and has won many BAFTA Craft Awards since the series returned in 2005.

Sunday 12th May sees the broadcast of two four-part Peter Davison stories, Earthshock and Snakedance on Australian and New Zealand television. They are screening as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

Earthshock is scheduled to screen in both countries at 2:40pm. Snakedance is scheduled in New Zealand at 4:20pm and in Australia at 4:30pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 13th May at 2:40am and 4:20am respectively.

Earthshock was first broadcast in Australia in 1982 and in New Zealand in 1983. Snakedance was first broadcast in both countries in 1983.


The UKTV billing describes the stories as follows:

Earthshock: In the 26th century, a party of soldiers led by Professor Kyle & Lt. Scott investigate the death of a palaeontologist murdered by androids while studying dinosaur remains in a cave.

Snakedance: The Tardis lands on Manussa where Tegan once again gets possessed by the Mara, who plan to break into the physical world.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. The stories are two of a set of six stories featuring Peter Davison's Doctor due to be broadcast during May. The rest of the month's line up includes: Frontios and Resurrection of the Daleks (19 May), and The Caves of Androzani (26 May).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

The writer of the fifth in the Puffin Books series of e-books has been revealed to be Patrick Ness, the multi-award winning author of the Chaos Walking trilogy.


Born in Virginia, USA Patrick Ness spent his upbringing in the states of Hawaii, Washington and California before moving permanently to the UK. He is the author of the Chaos Walking trilogy which established him as one of the most original and exciting writers of today. The trilogy has won many awards including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Patrick’s sixth book A Monster Calls received high critical acclaim and is the winner of the Children’s Book of the Year Award at the Galaxy National Book Awards, the Red House Children’s Book Award and the UKLA Children’s Book Prize. In June 2012, A Monster Calls became the first book ever to win both prestigious CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. His highly anticipated new novel for adults, The Crane Wife, was inspired by a Japanese folk tale and just published by Canongate in April 2013. A daring new YA novel More Than This is forthcoming later this year from Walker (Candlewick in the US).

Ness commented:

A video of the author will be released on YouTube by BBC Worldwide later in the month, with the book itself coming out on the 23rd May.

Sunday 5th May sees the broadcast of the four-part 1982 Peter Davison story, Kinda on Australian and New Zealand television. The story is the 19th instalment in the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who stories on the UKTV channel.

Kinda is scheduled in New Zealand at 4:15pm and in Australia at 4:20pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 6th May at 4:15am.

The story was first broadcast in Australia in 1982 and in New Zealand in 1983.

The UKTV billing describes the story as follows:

The TARDIS visits the planet Deva Loka. Nyssa remains in the ship to recover from a mental disorientation & Tegan falls asleep under some wind chimes & becomes possessed by an evil force.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. Kinda is the first in a set of six stories featuring Peter Davison's Doctor due to be broadcast during May. The rest of the month's line up includes: Earthshock and Snakedance (12 May), Frontios and Resurrection of the Daleks (19 May), The Caves of Androzani (26 May).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.