The Adventure Games: The Gunpowder PlotBookmark and Share

Thursday, 21 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have announced that the next Adventure Game is to be released in October, and will be entitled The Gunpowder Plot. The release describes the game thus:
The Gunpowder Plot will be the most advanced of the Adventure Games so far. Gamers will be able to play as the Doctor, Amy and Rory, exploring the immersive environments of this historic period. The adventure will feature multi-linear gameplay, even more sophisticated puzzles, and a complex lighting system specifically designed to recreate the atmosphere of 17th Century London. And for the very first time, the introduction of portal technology will enable gamers to experience for themselves that the TARDIS really is bigger on the inside...

Written by Phil Ford and produced by Gary Russell, the game is set in 1605 and will see the return of two old enemies of the Doctor's - and of course will feature the main protagonist of the title, Guy Fawkes.

The game will also be accompanied by an online resource pack with downloadable assets to support History and Literature lessons in schools, via BBC Learning.



This isn't the first time the Doctor has encountered this period - the First Doctor, Ian and Barbara became embroiled in the plot back in 1996, for the Virgin Missing Adventures series book The Plotters written by Gareth Roberts.




FILTER: - Online - Games - BBC

New Executive Producer AnnouncedBookmark and Share

Thursday, 21 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has announced that Caroline Skinner will join Steven Moffat as Executive Producer on Doctor Who.

Skinner has recently been working as producer on Five Days, a serial for BBC One. She has previously been script editor on productions such as House of Saddam, The Shadow in the North, The Ruby in the Smoke and Bleak House.

Skinner will start work on the series immediately, working alongside departing Executive Producer Piers Wenger on the 2011 Christmas special, before taking charge for the fourteen episodes which form the next series of the show, which leads up to the programme's 50th Anniversary.

Speaking about the appointment, Moffat told the official website:
The exec joining me on Doctor Who is Caroline Skinner - fresh from the wonderful Five Days, and still finishing up on a brand new show called The Fades (a fantasy horror series, written by Jack Thorne - I've seen episode 1, and it's BRILLIANT.) Somewhere between me laughing in a basement and choosing planets to invade, and Marcus Wilson raising armies, there has to be a Prime Minister actually running the whole thing. That's the job Piers Wenger and Beth Willis have been doing so wonderfully for the last few years. Now that Piers is off to movie land, that's the furnace Caroline will be walking into.




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Production - Caroline Skinner - Series 7/33 - BBC

Colony in Space DVD release for OctoberBookmark and Share

Thursday, 21 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
The 1971 Jon Pertwee story Colony in Space, has been scheduled for release on DVD in the UK on 3rd October this year.

The story by Malcolm Hulke, sees the third Doctor, along with companion Jo Grant, sent to the planet Uxarieus by the Time Lords, where they discover a struggling colony being terrorised by giant reptiles.

The six part story was originally shown between 10th April and 15th May 1971. Katy Manning plays Jo Grant and Roger Delgado appears as the Master.

Other members of the cast include John Ringham in his third role in the series, Helen Worth, who went on to play Gail McIntyre on the soap opera Coronation Street, Bernard Kay and Tony Caunter.

The single disc release will contain 4 seconds which were missing from VHS & US masters of the story and which restores 2 lines of dialogue.




FILTER: - Jon Pertwee - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Let's Kill Hitler: UK preview screeningBookmark and Share

Thursday, 21 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The British Film Institute are to show a special preview screening of the Series Six second half opener Let's Kill Hitler. The screening will take place on the 15th August 2011 from 6:20pm, and will be accompanied by a Q&A session (guests to be confirmed).

As with previous Doctor Who/Torchwood events, it was fully booked by 2:30pm within hours of being announced; some return tickets might be available from the Box Office in due course.

Following the game-changing mid-series finale in June, The Doctor returns for the first of six new episodes to be broadcast on BBC One this autumn. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and Alex Kingston star in this new adventure written by Steven Moffat and directed by Richard Senior. Join us for the chance to see this opener to the autumn series followed by a Q&A with some special guests (to be announced nearer the time). We regret that due to the pressures of time, autographs will not be possible.
 





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Special Events - UK - Series 6/32

BBC Books: Harvest of TimeBookmark and Share

Thursday, 21 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Books have announced that they are to release a new past Doctor adventure called Harvest of Time, featuring both the Third Doctor and the Master; set on both 20th century Earth and far into the future, it will see the duo battling to save the universe – and facing the ultimate moral crisis.

The book is to be written by Alastair Reynolds, who having worked at the European Space Agency for over a decade has now turned to writing full time; he has won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel with Chasm City and shortlisted for the for the British Science Fiction and Arthur C Clarke awards with Revelation Space. He said:
Doctor Who has been a big part of my life for forty years. To put things into perspective, when I was little I did not want to go round to another boy's house because he had Dalek wallpaper, a concept I found unspeakably terrifying. I am delighted and honored to have the chance to write a novel featuring not only one of my favorite Doctors, but the single greatest villain ever imagined: The Master.

Editorial director of BBC Books, Albert DePetrillo, commented:
We've been carefully planning our venture into Doctor Who's past for a while now, first with our reissues of six of the Target novelisations, then our novelisation of Shada in 2012. The next step is all-original adventures with past Doctors, and we knew we needed to publish those in a special way. I'm absolutely delighted that Alastair can be part of that plan. He is simply one of the best science fiction writers around, and we're thrilled to have him contributing to the Doctor Who list.

Harvest of Time is due to be released in hardback in 2013.




FILTER: - Books

Next Time: RenditionBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 19 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
This Thursday (21st July) sees the second episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day premiering in the UK, with Rendition being broadcast at 9:00pm on BBC1/BBC1HD. The episode will also be repeated on BBC2/BBCHD the following Monday at 11:20pm, and available to watch online in the UK via the BBC iPlayer until 23rd September.

The following is the plot synopsis for Rendition which might be considered a spoiler


As the Torchwood team is reunited, Jack realises he's the most vulnerable man on Earth; and a flight to the USA turns into a desperate battle for survival.

The BBC trailer for the episode is now available online:

Torchwood online Rendition trailer, BBC, via iPlayer - may not play outside of the United Kingdom

A preview clip from the episode is also available to watch:

Torchwood episode 2 preview clip, BBC, via iPlayer - may not play outside of the United Kingdom
Alternatively there is a YouTube version.





FILTER: - Torchwood - UK - Online - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Rendition: Starz ratingsBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 19 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Initial audience figures have been released for the second episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day shown on Starz, and indicate that an average of 1.4m viewers watched Rendition over its airings across the weekend. The premiere broadcast on Friday at 10:00pm was watched by 609,000 viewers. This compares with 819,000 viewers for The New World on its premier broadcast, and an average of 2m across the opening weekend.


Starz have also reported that the total audience for The New World reached 2.7m viewers once the additional weekday airings and the Live+3 DVR data have been included.





FILTER: - Torchwood - USA - Ratings - Miracle Day (Series 4)

The New World: Appreciation IndexBookmark and Share

Sunday, 17 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus


The UK premier of Torchwood: The New World had an Appreciation Index score of 85.

The Appreciation Index or AI score measures how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The scores are based on the comments of a panel of around 5,000 people who rate and comment on programmes.

A score of 85 is regarded as excellent.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Ratings - UK - Miracle Day (Series 4)

The Tom Baker Years on Sci Fi in AustraliaBookmark and Share

Sunday, 17 July 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
The Australian Sci Fi Channel is to air Doctor Who episodes from the Tom Baker era, starting with his first story, Robot  on 17 August.
In 1974 an unknown actor called Tom Baker was cast in the lead role of Doctor Who, and turned an already popular show into a phenomenon. For a generation, the Fourth Doctor is the definite article– warm, witty, clever and sometimes very strange indeed. Clad in his trademark overlong scarf and with a bag of jelly babies to hand, he strode confidently through some of the show’s most memorable adventures. Over seven exciting years this Doctor met old adversaries - like the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans –with some help from much-loved friends like Sarah Jane Smith, Leela, Romana and the faithful K-9.

If you’re a fan of the incredible new series of Doctor Who, then this is a great chance to check out where the legend began. If you saw it back in the day then you won’t need reminding what awesome fun it was to go travelling with the Fourth Doctor every weeknight. Get on board the TARDIS and have yourself some all-time classic adventures in time and space with Doctor Who: The Tom Baker Years – only on SCI FI!
Schedule for Robot
Wednesday, August 17
06:30-06:55 - Episode 1
06:55-07:20 - Episode 2

Thursday, August 18
06:30-06:55 - Episode 3
06:55-07:20 - Episode 4
(times are shown in AEST)

A full schedule for the rest of Season 12, including repeats can be found here.
(with thanks to Matthew See)




FILTER: - Tom Baker - Classic Series - Broadcasting - Australia

The Doctor visits ElysiumBookmark and Share

Saturday, 16 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Visitors to the special Doctor Who immersive theatre experience, The Crash of the Elysium, got a surprise yesterday when the Doctor himself popped in to see them!

A fan of the organisers Punchdrunk since seeing one of their shows in New York, Matt Smith wanted to see the current production based around Doctor Who that has been taking place at the Manchester International Festival this month; normally, videos of the Doctor appear during the show, but producers arranged for him to appear in character yesterday instead of the final video, much to the delight of the 6-12 year old audience.

Commenting on the project, he said:
Punchdrunk and Doctor Who! A Marriage made in creative space heaven. It's been a privilege to work with Punchdrunk to put children at the heart of a Doctor Who adventure. I've always watched Punchdrunk shows and marvelled at their inventiveness and individuality. Put that together with Doctor Who and there is a wonderful template to tell unique stories in unique ways. The Doctor would definitely approve.

The final performance of The Crash of Elysium is today.





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Special Events - Theatre