Tuesday, 11 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
2|Entertain have reported via their Classic Series twitter feed that two commentaries are due to be recorded in London this coming Sunday. The two remaining original TARDIS travellers William Russell (Ian Chesterton) and Carole Ann Ford (Susan) will be reunited to record the commentary for First Doctor adventure The Sensorites, whilst Third Doctor tale Colony in Space will feature Katy Manning(Jo Grant) alongside (then) assistant floor manager Graeme Harper. Both recording sessions will see additional reflections from other, as yet unnamed, guests.
As usual, this announcement should not be taken as an indication of the stories coming out on DVD imminently, as commentaries are often recorded way in advance of release to take advantage of the commentators' availability!
Saturday, 8 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have released details on the new series of Torchwood - which has now been renamed from The New World to Miracle Day.
The release introduces the plot of the new story, plus cast and character details.
The principal guest stars which have been mentioned in the news over the last couple of months are now formally confirmed, with a couple of character name changes. As reported last month, the principle role of CIA operative Rex Matheson will be played by Mekhi Phifer (most recently seen as FBI agent Ben Reynolds in Lie to Me), whilst protagonist Oswald Danes will be played by Bill Pullman (Independence Day). Alexa Havins (One Life to Live) will play field agent Esther Drummond, whilst Arlene Tur (Crash) plays Doctor Vera Jaurez.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
REX MATHESON (Mekhi Phifer)
He’s the golden boy. The embodiment of the American dream and has been all his life. Harvard education, Rex is destined for success and could make a fortune in Wall Street or Hollywood, but he chose the C.I.A. because he believes in justice and will fight for it. He can talk his way into anything, then charm his way out, fast. This may be just what he needs as he joins forces with Jack and Gwen to fight a global mystery behind “Miracle Day” that has them racing from one crisis to another, dodging assassins, blackmail, corruption and conspiracy, from Washington to Wales and the slums of Shanghai.
CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS (John Barrowman)
Jack looks like a hero. He's handsome, witty and subversive with a killer smile. But there's a reason for that glint in his eye. His dashing style hides a secret. Truth is Jack Harkness is immortal, the only one of his kind. He once ran the Torchwood Institute, a British organization dedicated to fighting the strange and bizarre. But Torchwood closed down, and Jack disappeared, to start yet another of his many new lives. When a new, epic danger affects the whole planet, Jack finds himself back at the center of events, fighting not just for his own life, but for everyone on Earth.
GWEN COOPER (Eve Myles)
Gwen once lived the ultimate double life - the funny, salty, earthy woman who loves home and family, combined with the tough, ruthless warrior, who loves the thrill of the fight. She was the heart and soul of an organization called Torchwood. She was a defender of the human race. But now she lives in seclusion, with her devoted husband Rhys and baby Anwen, knowing that one day trouble would come calling again. When events surrounding “Miracle Day” push Gwen to the limit, she'll need to call on resources she never knew she had and make the most terrible decisions, on behalf of all mankind.
ESTHER DRUMMOND (Alexa Havins)
Esther is an innocent, in a world of assassins, liars and zealots. She got where she is with the C.I.A through diligence and application. Hard work keeps Esther focused but she still dreams of active duty as a field agent serving her country. The dream is going to happen faster than she thinks and in no time at all, Esther finds herself running alongside Jack, Gwen and Rex, living off the grid, gun in hand, fighting a global conspiracy against enemies ranging from big business to the state. It’s a tough, brutal, hard lifestyle where survival is hard won and life-changing choices have to be made.
OSWALD DANES (Bill Pullman)
Well-educated and a former school teacher, Oswald’s a convicted child killer, both guilty and unrepentant. But when Oswald survives his own execution, he’s given a whole new life. The most infamous man in the world, he becomes the most provocative figure in modern media. He’s a flare, reviled yet mesmerizing, whose very existence embodies how the world changed on “Miracle Day”.
DR. VERA JUAREZ (Arlene Tur)
An attending surgeon in Washington D.C., she’s smart, fast talking and hard working, Vera is on the frontline of medical care on “Miracle Day”. As the world crisis grows, Vera's surgical and ER experience sees her recruited to advise on government think-tanks until she has to make a moral choice of enormous consequence. Sexy, confident and passionate, Vera's life is soon inextricably tangled up with Rex's.
The plot of Torchwood: Miracle Day takes place over the course of the ten episodes of the series:
One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging -- they get hurt and sick -- but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight. With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four months’ time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?", he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.
Though launching in the United Kingdom (BBC1) and the United States (Starz), BBC Worldwide plan to distribute the new series around the world. Torchwood has previously been seen in countries like Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, Israel, Russia and across Latin America.
Production shifts into gear to start filming next week, with members of the production team recently confirmed in the latest Torchwood Magazine - all of which have established sci-fi credentials!
Production designer is Greg Melton (whose previous work includes the Zombie series The Walking Dead) and within the UK is joined by the original designer for Torchwood, Ed Thomas. Costumes are being handled by Shawna Trpcic (who has worked on shows like Angel and Firefly), and Makeup by Todd McIntosh (Pushing Daisies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The Director of Photography is Nate Goodman (whose credentials include Heroes).
The series will be produced by Kelly Manners (who worked on Angel and co-produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer); he will be joined in the UK by the producer of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Brian Minchin. The first episode is due to be directed by Bharat Nalluri (whose credits include directing the first episodes of BBC successes Life on Mars, Spooks and Hustle).
As previously reported, the writers for the series are Jane Espensen, John Shiban, Doris Egan, and John Fay, and of course executively produced by series creator Russell T Davies alongside Julie Gardner.
You can view all of our recent articles on casting and the development of The New Worldhere.
An earlier version of this article cited a launch date for The New World - this has been reported by BBC Marketing as incorrect and has been removed. More news soon!
Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Filming for the Matthew Graham-penned episodes five+six returned to Cardiff Castle today, where three of its guest stars were spotted on-site in the story being directed by Julian Simpson.
As previously reported, Sarah Smart is playing a character named Jennifer Lucas. Her recent on-screen credits include Wallander (Anne-Britt Hoglund), Casualty 1906/1907/1909 (Ada Russell), and Five Days (Sarah Wheeler). [Smart's entry at Conway - Van Gelder - Grant Voices]
Leon Vickers is a new actor, having just graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His television credits include Garrow's Law (John Davis) and Being Victor (Carl Sutton), and is believed to be playing a character named 'Clone Worker' in Doctor Who. [Vickers's entry at Amanda Howard Associates].
Mark Bonnar's credits include timey-wimey series Paradox (D.S. Ben Holt), and recurring roles in Casualty (Bruno Jenkins) and The Bill (Ray Moore). His role in Doctor Who is currently unknown. [Bonnar's entry at Hatton McEwan]
Filming for this block is drawing to a close, with Matthew Graham tweeting: "My DW 2-parter finishes shooting end of this week. They will be glad to come in out of the perishing cold. Poor dears."
Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Two more guest stars have been confirmed online for the Neil Gaiman-penned episode three of the next series, directed by Richard Clark.
Spotlight have listed Adrian Schiller as playing the character "Uncle" in the story. Schiller has recently played Noah Zeitler in BBC Series Silk, and has previously appeared in sci-fi/fantasy projects Being Human (Hennessey) and Going Postal (Mr Gryle).
As one might expect, an "Uncle" implies an "Auntie", and that role has been confirmed by United Agents as being played by Elizabeth Berrington. Berrington plays regular character Ruby in Waterloo Road, and sci-fi/fantasy-wise played nurse Nicola in Psychoville; she also appeared over the festive period as Terry in Jo Brand's Christmas Cracker.
The two join Suranne Jones, reported last year as playing the character Idris.
The Evening Times has revealed that Jimmy Vee will be rejoining Doctor Who for the forthcoming series, saying "details of who or what he’s playing are top secret". He is probably most notable for playing The Moxx of Balhoon in The End of the World and Bannakaffalatta in Voyage of the Damned, as well as playing various other characters in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Wired Magazine have reported that Third Doctor Jon Pertwee's adventure from Season Seven, The Ambassadors of Death is in the process of being completed for DVD.
The story is one of a number that do not exist in the BBC Archives in full colour; though an off-air camera copy exists, this does not provide a good signal for recreating a colour version as seen in the DVD release Doctor Who And The Silurians (details of that process may be read from the Restoration Team's Beneath the Surface article). A new colour decoding strategy was deployed for episode three of the Planet of the Daleks DVD release (see article), and has now reached maturity to tackle the third Doctor's third adventure:
Their method is a refined version of that trialled on the 2009 Planet of the Daleks re-release; it is now being deployed on a seven-part 1970 Jon Pertwee adventure, The Ambassadors of Death. "It seemed on most recordings, they didn't filter off the colour carrier [encoded as a 'chroma dot' pattern in each frame], which for the last few decades has been nothing more than an annoyance." Team member Richard Russell used the signal to reverse-engineer raw colour pictures that could be retouched frame by frame. "It's very, very labour intensive -- several hundred man hours' work every episode," says Steve Roberts. Luckily, a new "quadrant editor" is helping them to produce better source material upfront, so they hope to deliver the Ambassadors episodes to the BBC within weeks.
No other details on the future DVD release is known at present, though a commentary for the story was recorded back in late 2009, featuring members of the cast and crew including Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), Terrance Dicks (script editor), Peter Halliday (alien voices) and Derek Ware (stunts/fight arranger).
Follow classic Doctor Who DVD developments on Twitter: @classicdw.
BBC Worldwide have launched a channel for Classic Doctor Who on YouTube this evening with two exclusive clips from Meglos.
You can subscribe to the channel so you can catch all the exclusive content from the latest 2|entertain DVD releases. Just head to youtube.com/BBCclassicDoctorWho.
We reported last week that 2|entertain had announced plans to launch the channel in January. Today a press release was put out by the BBC Worldwide press office announcing the launch of the channel:
BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, will be launching a Classic Doctor Who channel on YouTube on 4th January.
The new channel, featuring a mixture of classic clips and exclusive previews from forthcoming Doctor Who DVD releases, will appeal to existing fans and give new viewers an opportunity to sample some classic Doctor Who. The channel will complement the Classic Doctor Who Twitter account @classicdw run by 2entertain.
Jo Warren, Head of UK & Ireland Sales says, "We're really looking forward to giving Classic Doctor Who its own home on YouTube. It will be a great space for fans to discuss Classic Who - we're launching with some fantastic clips and we'll be regularly adding to the collection!"
Classic Doctor Who Brand Manager Dan Hall comments, "I'm delighted to join forces with our digital team and YouTube. This is an exciting, new way to deliver content for our net-hungry market."
Classic Doctor Who will launch on YouTube with over 45 clips dating from the first episode, along with new Meglos clips and an exclusive clip previewing the new Doctor Who Meglos DVD boxset which will be released by 2entertain on 10th January. Meglos stars Tom Baker and was originally broadcast in 1980.
The BBC One repeat of the Tenth Doctor's swansong, The End of Time Part Two, had an audience of 1.2 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.
The programme which stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott and Timothy Dalton as Lord President, had a 10.6% share of the audience and was just out-rated by Bargain Hunt on BBC Two.
The repeat series concludes today on BBC One at 4.10pm with this year's Christmas Special A Christmas Carol.
The BBC One repeat of the 2009 Christmas special, The End of Time Part One, had an audience of 1.4 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.
The programme which stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott and John Simm as The Master, had a 9.8% share of the audience and was level with Midsomer Murders on ITV1.
The repeat series continued today on BBC One with The End of Time Part Two.
The BBC One repeat of the 2009 Easter special, Planet of the Dead, had an audience of 1.3 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.
The programme which stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Michelle Ryan as Christina and Lee Evans as Malcolm, had a 12.5% share of the audience and won its timeslot.
The repeat series continued today on BBC One with The End of Time Part One which, along with the rest of the repeat season, is available on the BBC iPlayer..