Doctor Who returns to Ztélé from April 6

Tuesday, 22 March 2011 - Reported by Marcus

French-speaking Canadians will get a chance to catch up with the last days of the tenth Doctor and the first series of the Eleventh, when Doctor Who returns to Ztélé this spring.

The series kicks off with 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor, on Wednesday 6th April at 9pm ET. The rest of the specials will follow in subsequent weeks leading into Matt Smith's first series starting on May 4th.

English-speaking fans in the country will be able to see Matt Smith's second series on SPACE shortly after its UK début.

FILTER: - Canada - Specials - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

Fan claims ownership of Davros

Sunday, 20 March 2011 - Reported by Marcus

A Doctor Who fan is suing the BBC for breach of copyright, claiming that he invented the character Davros first seen in the series in 1975.

According to the Daily Mail, Steven Clark claims that he came up with the idea for the character when he was just 13 and entered a drawing competition run by TV Action magazine in 1972. Clark claims that he invented the name Davros and sent in a drawing of the character along with a handwritten essay called The Genesis Of The Daleks: The Creation Of Davros.

Clark has launched High Court proceedings to try to prove that the BBC has been using the character without his permission for nearly four decades and claiming damages, or a sum equivalent to the profits generated from the character over the years.

His competition entry was a pencil sketch coloured in with felt pens which he claims shows a ‘half-man half-Dalek’ with an additional eye in the centre of his forehead, a headset, epaulettes, a withered left hand and finger-like switchgear on the Dalek base.

The original competition was run independently of the BBC, but the judges included the then producer Barry Letts, script editor, Terrance Dicks, and the current Doctor, Jon Pertwee. Clark did not win the prize of a Colour Television and claims he was shocked when he saw his creation in the 1975 story Genesis of the Daleks.

He said he considered legal action at the time, but had lost his copies of the competition entry. However he claims the entries turned up 20 years later, when he found them hidden in a set of family encyclopaedias.

Clark said: 'The money aspect of it is not my primary motivation. I am proud of the character I created and I just want my work to be recognised. It would be nice to be finally linked to the character after all this time.' His lawyer Richard Kempner said: 'If they used the drawing, it’s only fair that they acknowledge it.'

Davros is one of the most popular Doctor Who villains, who has appeared regularly in the series since his first appearance in Genesis of the Daleks. Four actors have played the character which was brought into the revived series in 2008 in the story The Stolen Earth.

The character was always thought to have been invented by Dalek creator Terry Nation. Nation died in 1997 but agent for the estate, Tim Hancock, said he was aware of the claims and is to meet Nation’s widow Kate to search the family archives. BBC Worldwide have said 'We have received a claim from Mr Clark relating to matters from the Seventies.'

FILTER: - Doctor Who - Production - Classic Series - Press

First series trailer due?

Saturday, 19 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC Publicity have indicated the possibility of a 10 second teaser trailer being broadcast on BBC1 at some point today, though this has not been finalised at the time of writing and may occur at a later date.

A longer "Coming Soon" compilation trail is currently expected to launch from next Saturday (26th March).

FILTER: - Series 6/32

Title for Series Six confirmed

Friday, 18 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have now confirmed the title for episode one of the new series as The Impossible Astronaut, which will be broadcast at Easter; the title and date were given at the end of the Comic Relief Doctor Who special sketches broadcast this evening.

BBC America confirmed the date for the US premier last week.

The BBC's Doctor Who site is planning to mark the start of the series with a specially prepared prequel:

We'll be launching the Prequel to the series' opening two-parter very soon. It's an eerie sequence written by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who's Lead Writer, Executive Producer and writer of the opening story) that sets the scene in scary and mysterious style. It introduces us to the world the Doctor will collide with in the next adventure and watch carefully... was that the new monster..?

The first prequel stars Stuart Milligan and introduces us to story strands that will bind the Doctor - and enthral his audience - throughout the weeks ahead. We'll bring you more details soon, but be warned, it's a scary one...

This article has been amended to correct a dating error which could lead to confusion..

FILTER: - Series 6/32

Preview: Lords of the Red Planet

Friday, 18 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

2|Entertain have released a short video on their YouTube channel previewing Lords of the Red Planet, a feature on the upcoming re-release of the Patrick Troughton adventure The Seeds of Death, part of the Revisitations 2 boxed set due on the 28th March.

2|Entertain / @ClassicDW, via YouTube

A look back at the creation of the Ice Warriors and their re-appearance in the 'The Seeds of Death'. With actors Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines, director Michael Ferguson, script editor Terrance Dicks.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Michael Gough, The Celestial Toymaker, has died

Thursday, 17 March 2011 - Reported by Marcus

The actor Michael Gough has died.

Michael Gough was best known to Doctor Who fans for his role as The Celestial Toymaker alongside the first Doctor, William Hartnell. He later appeared with fifth Doctor Peter Davison when he played the Doctor’s old friend Hedin, in the 1982 story ‘Arc of Infinity’.

Gough was born in Kuala Lumpa in either 1916 or 1915 – he never knew which. Despite the uncertainty about his year of birth, he holds the honour of being one of the longest-lived actors to have appeared in Doctor Who. His career was extraordinary. Between 1947 and 2000, he recorded at least one film per year, often more, in addition to a busy TV and stage career, which included tours with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Michael Gough’s unstoppable film career began in the forties, with ‘Androcles and the Lion’, but it was his role as Nicholai in ‘Anna Karenina’ that set in motion a prolific and distinguished movie career. By the early sixties he was well-known to TV viewers through such series as ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’, ‘The Count of Monte Christo’, ‘The Saint’, ITV’s ‘Play of the Week’ and many more.

After appearing in the title role of the 1965 Doctor Who story ‘The Celestial Toymaker’, Gough started to achieve a cult status among horror film fans, appearing in several notable productions from Hammer and Amicus, while continuing to be a regular face on British TV, with roles in ‘The Avengers’, ‘Orlando’, ‘The Champions’ and ‘Theatre 625’, to name just a few. Throughout the seventies, he continued making several movies and TV series each year. Among the many classic series he appeared in during that decade are ‘Colditz’, ‘The Protectors’, ‘Crown Court’ and ‘Blake’s 7’. His career continued into the eighties with ‘Brideshead Revisited,’ ‘Smiley’s People’ and a second appearance in Doctor Who – this time with the fifth Doctor, Peter Davison.

After a further decade of TV and film appearances, Gough found new adoration among a new generation of film-goers as Batman’s butler, Alfred, in the new films in that franchise which began in 1989. His relentless work-rate continued during the 90s and into the 2000s, and he established a long friendship with director Tim Burton, appearing in ‘Sleepy Hollow’, ‘Corpse Bride’ and, in 2010, ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Gough was married four times – his third wife being Doctor Who actor Anneke Wills. Wills had encountered him at various times during her life – firstly during a theatre trip with her mother in 1952 – but they first met formally, on the set of ‘Candidate for Murder’ and the attraction was instant. Gough adopted Anneke’s daughter Polly, and in 1965, their son Jasper was born.

Wills said: "As his body was deteriorating this week, he said that he wanted to hang on for St Patrick’s Day. And he did, just. In the end... there is only love."

Michael Gough leaves his wife Henrietta, his daughter Emma and sons Simon and Jasper (Yogi).
His grandchildren Samuel and Daisy are also actors.

He was 94 or 95.

(Obituary by Tim Hirst)

FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Doctor Who Series Six Opening Story Titles Revealed

Monday, 14 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Screenings for the opening two-part story of Series Six of Doctor Who are now being arranged, and invitations have revealed the titles of those episodes to be The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon.

The BBC's Entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba first revealed the titles this afternoon: "Just got invite to screening of first two new Dr Who eps. 'The Impossible Astronaut' and 'Day of the Moon'. Gosh, the year's gone quickly." This was confirmed by Doctor Who Magazine, who also mentioned they would reveal further titles soon: "Invites for the DW press launch have been sent out today, confirming titles for Eps 1 & 2 as The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon. DWM has the titles for the next five episodes too – but we're going to sit on them for now. They're for our next issue's news page...!"

The date of the premier on television in the United Kingdom has yet to be announced by the BBC.

FILTER: - Series 6/32

Torchwood: Week Nine Production

Sunday, 13 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

It's week nine in the production of Torchwood, and the end of the second month of the shoot! However, there's still some three months of filming left to go so no time to wind down for the production team - as usual there was filming in progress by two or more units over the course of the week, both around Los Angeles (with scenes taking place at places like the beach and an old stadium) and on the Warner Bros studio backlot. Plus, a rather important birthday to celebrate ...

Cast highlighted this week included John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer, Ernie Hudson, Dichen Lachman and Alexa Havins - not to mention of course the silent majority of supporting actors, extras and stand-ins working on the production!

The BBC Production Office reported that this week would see filming commence on Jane Espenson's episode five. Two new directors were also revealed as working on the production, Gwyneth Horder-Payton and Guy Ferland. Horder-Payton's credits include Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy and The Shield; Ferland has also directed for the latter three shows, with other credits including The Mentalist, Human Target - IMDB reports him as working on John Shiban's episode six of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

It was also reported elsewhere that John Wells is one of the producers for Torchwood; his credits include Southland, Shameless, E.R. and The West Wing.

Times cited within reports below are in Los Angeles local time, except where indicated

Monday

Torchwood hits the beach! It was one of those rare occasions when the production was in an open place, with members of the public appearing in the background if they so wished (as long as they agreed to the conditions laid out on the notices!).

Eve Myles and Mekhi Phifer were on location today, with filming taking place by the DogTown skate park on Venice Beach. Tweets from Dichen Lachman suggested she was enjoying the beach, too!

16:00 AF  After thinking it was going to rain all weekend,
          the sun today feels SO good.  :)
11:03 AF  Hard at work! http://t.co/yTJcP8P 
11:08 AF  http://t.co/LVMiLg7
11:18 MP  shooting on venice beach right now...
          was supposed to rain but we been blessed with sunshine.
11:45 AF  The sun is warm and lovely, but wind is a bit chilly. :) 
14:53 AF  GAH!  Sandstorm!  O_O
14:55 AF  Pre-sandstorm! http://t.co/fgdTHQB 
17:52 AS  Cold, sun and wind burnt. Still its so beautiful. Yay for the beach.
18:37 AF  I miraculously managed to get thru it without any kamikaze grains
          going for my contact lenses! :D 
18:47 AF  I think this is my favorite photo I took of Venice Beach while down
          at the #Torchwood shoot today. ALIEN SEAGULLS!  :-) http://t.co/sxZMt3r

Paul Sauser was also on hand to see some of the action at the skate park, including Eve Myles apparently being filmed as Gwen on her mobile. Additional photos of her were published by Caught on Set.

Allyson Floyd, via Twitpic	Allyson Floyd, via Twitpic	Allyson Floyd, via Twitpic	Paul Sauser, via YFrog
Paul Sauser, via YFrog	Paul Sauser, via YFrog	Paul Sauser, via YFrog	Paul Sauser, via YFrog
Paul Sauser, via YFrog	Paul Sauser, via YFrog	Paul Sauser, via YFrog	Paul Sauser, via YFrog
Paul Sauser, via YFrog	Dichen Lachman, via YFrog	Dichen Lachman, via YFrog	Dichen Lachman, via YFrog

Tuesday - Wednesday

Chazz Sutton, via Plixi

After such a public location on Monday, the production disappeared into relative obscurity once more. However, it was possible to infer that one of the units was present at the Inglewood Forum based on snatches of conversation on Twitter:

07 20:48 CS  Working a show for Starz called Torchwood
             tomorrow in Inglewood. I just Google searched
             it... seems very intriguing
             *scratches fake goatee* 
08 18:01 CS  I just shook Lonestar's hand #Winning
08 20:13 CS  The end to a long ass day which I so needed.
             It's good to be paid.
             So grateful to be called back for tomorrow.
08 23:11 CS  Yeah 14 hours on set was no joke.
             So exhausting but was awesome to be part of
             somethin so hush hush. 
             Also met great new peeps. Recall baby! 
09 13:07 CS  Adventures in extras holding. So exciting.

Allyson Floyd chatted a little bit about the life of a stand-in:

08 14:53 AF  I spent more time wrangling with UPS today than I spent on set! :P  Oy.
08 23:07 AF  I'm literally not there at all, lol!  Stand-ins are only used to set up
             camera angles and lighting!
08 23:19 AF  I've done kind of a ridiculous amount of extra work though... 
             if you knew where to look, you'd see the back of my head everywhere!
08 23:20 AF  And a few places where I'm pretty recognizable, but it would be
             too tedious to look up all the episode #'s and movies.
11 01:15 AF  I generally stand in for one of the main cast, so that usually puts me
             there several days a week.

Meanwhile, the BBC Production Office were prepping for two kinds of activity later in the week ...

08 14:45 BBC We have a birthday coming up soon, 3 days to be exact.
             Mission #3 get JB the perfect gift. Are surprises still classy?
             Oh the possibilities!
09 18:38 BBC Wonderfully productive day! RTD is typing away and we're prepping two units.
             Phones are ringing! Carpal tunnel arising! Action galore.

Thursday

Matthew Arnold, via YFrog

Two locations were listed for activity Thursday, the James Oviatt Building (home to the Cicada Restaurant), and possibly the Yard, a kick-boxing club - however this address is also listed for the Willow Studios so their resources might have been in use instead! Reports also indicated other locations were visited throughout the day, with at least two units operating! Matthew Arnold reported that filming was taking place on a street at his uncle's, and this unit included Alexa Havins.

Meanwhile, another unit had to contend with a minor disaster on set:

09 17:18 AF  Then it's back to work on the set of
             #Torchwood: MD tomorrow!
10 09:56 AS  Another early morning. Yawn!
             But I have my honey with me today. :) 
10 12:22 AS  A water main just broken now there's a river
             running thru set. Too bad the waters nasty or
             I would run thru it like the 10 yr old I am. LOL 
11 13:00 BBC A water main broke at our 2nd Unit location,
             a cool looking salvage yard. Awesome location
11 13:04 BBC The water leak had nothing to do with us!!
             It was just a crazy random event.
11 14:27 AF  I missed out on that!  I had a later calltime.  ^_^

BBC, via img.mu

Alana Stone, via Facebook

Shawna Trpcic, via Plixi

BBC, via Twitpic

Another location in use turned out to be the Los Angeles City Hall again, with John Barrowman and Ernie Hudson present; John was later to receive two big cakes for his birthday on Friday (celebrated UK time!)

10 17:43 ST  A bit quiet here shooting a 6 page scene. 
             Amazing actor with John today.
             Both are intense. Really great writing too.
             Beautiful location too.
10 19:01 ST  Entire crew just sang @Team_Barrowman happy birthday
             and presented him a cake with candles.
             Lots of joy and laughter. Now we r on the move.
10 19:16 ST  A glimpse of vintage LA I love this city :-) 
10 20:00 ST  I can't say where til tomorrow when we r gone :-)
12 08:00 ST  LA City Hall

10 23:02 BBC Mission #3 SUCCESS! A surprise TWO cakes
             and we gave John the day off tomorrow.
             Happy Birthday!
10 23:54 JB  Hello from LA 
10 23:55 JB  Thanks for all the birthday wishes..
             6 more minutes till the actual bday
10 23:57 JB  Going to bed then of to Palm Springs tomorrow
             for celebrations with Mom and dad and family.
10 23:59 JB  been very busy filming and feel bad 
             I have not tweeted. hope to rectify that.
11 00:00 JB  Dont ask Torchwood questions as I cant answer...
             DUH!!!
             But get to Comic con if you can..

Friday

Daryl Crittenden, via YFrog

As mentioned above, Friday was a day off for John Barrowman as it was his birthday, but work continued for the rest of the cast and crew as usual.

10:32 ST  Concept meeting for episode 7.
          Creativity is not only coming up with a brilliant story
          it's bringing it to life on a budget. Oye!!
14:28 DC  Heading to set on #Torchwood today....
          time to make the doughnuts!
17:08 ST  Hint pink flamingo 
18:50 DC  This is a light post. Only a lightpost. #Torchwood
18:51 DC  Ps had a blueberry doughnut yum. #Torchwood

Filming also continued around the Willow Street facilities, as observed by Dina Kampmeyer:

11 19:01 Okay, trying not freak out, but torchwood is filming 20 feet away from me.
         If my bf can get me on set, i may just freak. 
12 14:45 I was having a drink at Villains & they were filming next door. 
         They were packing up, but I was there! 
12 14:47 The set was all dark & dank. Looks like maybe a basement or tunnels
         where creepy aliens would hide.

Finally, we're pleased to include a special report on life as an extra, courtesy of Maria Zambrana:

I worked on the second unit of "Torchwood: Miracle Day" last night, (Ep5, I believe?), as one of about 150 people for the night shoot. We didn't have to sign a confidentiality agreement like I did in Episode 1 (two months ago), but common sense dictates that it'd be wise not to go into extreme detail, no?

We were shooting on "French Street" on the Warner Bros. lot (that's a street name not the location setting!), and our holding was this empty building on the corner. The room filled up pretty quickly so, despite it being a bit chilly, others took their folding chairs and lined up along the sidewalks. I found that the "store" next to this one was empty, so I simply went in there and had the place to myself. A props cart was set up right outside the door where we picked up a few items.

There were some background people there that performed two or three different roles and got there around 3pm or so, and another lump of people brought in just for the one scene (7:45pm., 8pm., etc.). We were ostensibly broken up into groups (Group A, Group B, etc.) but that's just a basic early-stage organizational thing; by the time filming takes place, you're just swept up en masse into the action. The only thing that matters is your call time... as in, the 3pm. call time allowed the earlier people to be dismissed earlier. Also, they got lunch - we didn't get any food on set, save for some people who scavenged their leftovers before catering threw them away (this food-raid done at the encouragement of one of the A.D.s, incidentally, who was rather put off by the fact that catering was not available to everyone).

(This is why I always make sure to eat before I go to a set, and to bring my own water. You can't rely on a production to take care of you. I was on the set of final episode of "24" and the entire building ran out of toilet paper. Guess who the only extra was that brought their own roll that day?)

Eve Myles was the only main cast member on our part of the lot; there were two units, ours and another over at Warner Ranch, but I've no idea what they were shooting or who with. At one point, upon finding out that one of our number was a big "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" fan, she took a few minutes to pose with and take photos with the guy, which put him on Cloud 9! So sweet of her to do that.

All in all, though, the shoot went well. We all did one rehearsal walking around the block, past our holding area, and back to our starting positions. Then we made three or four more circles, wearing and carrying our props (aw, c'mon, why should I spoil what they were?). And we were done! Check-in to sign-out was about six hours, and a good four of those hours was wasted at wardrobe and holding.

Key to initials: AF - Allyson Floyd (stand-in); AS - Alana Stone (fashion designer); BBC - BBC Torchwood (production office); CS - Chazz Sutton (extra); DC - Daryl Crittenden; JB - John Barrowman (Jack); JE - Jane Espenson (writer); MP - Mekhi Phifer (Rex); ST - Shawna Trpcic (costume designer)

Next week sees the return of Kai Owen to filming ...

11 09:17(UK) Well our suitcases are packed, we're off to Los Angeles tomorrow for 3 months!! Crazy!
11 19:47(UK) Thank you all for your good luck messages, I'll try and keep you updated
             from the mad bad world that is #torchwoodmircaleday
12 19:12(US) Los Angeles beware!! We have arrived.

Just a quick note that clocks go forward in Los Angeles this weekend, meaning that for the next fortnight Torchwood activity is just seven hours behind the UK!

FILTER: - Torchwood - Production - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Docteur Who: Saison 5 finale ratings

Sunday, 13 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

This weekend saw the finale of Doctor Who broadcast on France 4, with Le Pandorica s'ouvre achieving 340,000 viewers, a further improvement on last week's episodes and achieving a share of 1.5% of the total audience.

Danse avec les stars continued to top the ratings on TF1, with 5.12m tuning in (24.7%); France 2 this week broadcast Champs-Elysées, which was watched by 3.75m viewers (17.5%). A full breakdown can be found at Premiere.

With the fifth series now completed in France, here is a summary of the ratings over the five weeks:

Le Prisonnier Zéro, La bêtes des bas-fonds, La victoire des Daleks	453,000	2%
Le labyrinthe des Anges (1+2), Les Vampires de Venise	374,000	1.7%
Le Seigneur des Rêves, La révolte des intra-terrestres (1+2)	295 000	1.3%
Vincent et le Docteur, Le colocataire	303,000	1.4%
La Pandorica s'ouvre (1+2)	340,000	1.5%

FILTER: - France - Ratings - International Broadcasting - Europe - Series 5/31

Docteur Who: la prochaine fois sur France 4

Thursday, 10 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

France 4 have released the trailer for the series finale this coming Saturday, La Pandorica s'ouvre parts one and two, which airs from 8:35pm (local time).

SOIREE DR WHO, fin de la saison 5 ce samedi 13 mars 2011 sur France 4, via YouTube.

In a bumper evening of Doctor Who, the finale is followed by repeats of La bête des bas-fonds and La victoire des Daleks, then back to the start of series three with La Loi des Judoons and Peines d'amour Gagnées.

You can follow France 4 via their Facebook page and Twitter feed.

FILTER: - France - International Broadcasting - Europe - Series 5/31

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