BBC America has announced that their new BBC America HD channel will launch in July with the HD broadcast of Torchwood: Children of Earth and the latest Doctor Who special, Planet of the Dead. Torchwood: Children of Earth will air on BBC America HD and BBC America on five consecutive nights, beginning on Monday, July 20. Planet of the Dead will follow on Sunday, July 26. (As previously announced, the 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor, will air on BBC America on Saturday, June 27.)

It is not known whether earlier plans for "Children of Earth" to be aired on the same day on BBC America and BBC One are still on track. British television channels traditionally announce their schedules closer to broadcast date than American channels do, so the UK broadcast date for "Children of Earth" will probably not be confirmed for several weeks.

Full details for the launch of BBC America HD, including broadcast times and information about "Being Human" and "Primeval", are available here and here.

In a turnabout from a previous arrangement, BBC America now has first US broadcast rights for the soon-to-be-aired hour-long specials of Doctor Who, Variety reported today.

The Next Doctor, the show's 2008 Christmas episode, will make its US debut at 9:00 p.m. on June 27, followed by Planet of the Dead in July (date TBA). Specific US air dates will be determined for the subsequent specials after they've aired in the UK.

BBC America - which has to bid for British shows just like any other American broadcaster - will continue its first run deal on Torchwood, airing that show's third season in July.

Other science fiction shows debuting on the network this summer include Being Human (starting July 25) and Survivors, starring Doctor Who's Freema Agyeman (date TBA). The third season of ITV's dinosaur time romp Primeval is currently airing on the network.

Current BBC America president Garth Ancier says that's the network should always have had Doctor Who. "If I'd been here [when the original deal was made]," Ancier said, "we wouldn't have sold it, to be quite honest." For the last four years, the Sci Fi Channel has held first rights, with BBC America holding second rights.

Just a couple of weeks following the release of complete seasons of new series Doctor Who on iTunes in the USA, a selection of classic Doctor Who adventures are now available on the download service as well.

While most of the titles released so far have already been made available on DVD, such as "Carnival of Monsters", "Mark of the Rani" and "The Ark in Space", a number of stories have been released that are avaiable nowhere else (with the VHS releases now long out-of-print), like "The Krotons", "The Sun Makers" and "Planet of the Spiders".

The stories are avaiable episodically, and cost $1.99 per episode.

BBC Worldwide Americas have announced a pair of releases for November. The Complete Fourth Series and The Infinite Quest will both be released in North America on November 18th, 2008.

The Complete Fourth Series box-set will include Voyage of the Damned, as well as Children in Need skit Time Crash, which was not shown in North America.

The Infinite Quest will be a single disc release of the animated adventure featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha.

TVShowsOnDVD.com has provided some information about the special features for each release. According to the site, The Complete Fourth Serieswill include cut-down versions of Doctor Who Confidential and commentaries for all episodes. The Infinite Quest will include "over 30 minutes of terrific bonus material", which is presumably the same as the features on the Region 2 release (cast interviews, David Tennant's animation test, behind-the-scenes features on the animation and voiceover, animatics of episodes and deleted scenes, character profiles and a photo gallery).

In other DVD news, a box set of the first season of The Sarah Jane Adventures will be released in North America on October 7th, 2008, and in the UK on November 10th. The set will have four discs, and will include the pilot Invasion of the Bane and all ten episodes from the program's first season. The set will include the following special features:

• Interviews with Cast and Crew
  
• Synopses for All Stories
  
• Investigating Tools: A Gadget Glossary
  
• Quiz, with Special Outtakes as Prizes
  
• A Sarah Jane Smith Video Timeline
  
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage
  
• Character and Alien Profiles
  
• Photo Galleries
  
• UK BBC TV spots
  
• Trailers
  

Cover images below are courtesy of TVShowsOnDVD.com

The TV Shows on DVD website has provided a preview of the latest announced DVDs for the North American market, both due in October: The Trial of a Time Lord Boxed Set, starring Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Bonnie Langford, and The Brain of Morbius starring Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. The box covers for the North America (US/Canada) releases are below; click on each for a larger version. (A new version of the "Morbius" disc release has now been uploaded). The "Trial of a Time Lord" set (four discs) includes commentaries by C. Baker, Bryant, Tony Selby (Glitz), script editor Eric Saward, writers Pip & Jane Baker, director Chris Clough and others, as well as "Making Of" featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, interview features, trailers, news coverage and documentaries (and even the famous "Doctor in Distress" music video!) The "Morbius" disc includes commentaries by T. Baker, Sladen, Philip Madoc (Solon), director Christopher Barry and producer Philip Hinchcliffe, a short documentary, trailers and photos.
Recent North America releases (in case you haven't picked them up) included "The Time Warrior" and "Timelash" in April, "Planet of Evil" and "Destiny of the Daleks" before that in March, and "Torchwood: The Complete First Series" back in January.
With thanks to the Doctor Who DVD FAQ.

Posted By John Bowman

US residents can now buy and download Torchwood from the iTunes Store.

The Doctor Who spin-off is among the BBC Americaprogramming available as part of the strategy of BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, to secure the broadest possible distribution for its TV shows.

People can buy single episodes and complete seasons.

Also among the programmes available is the comedy series Little Britain, for which Tom Baker provides the narration.

Beth Clearfield, the vice-president of digital media and business development for BBC Worldwide America, said: "The BBC is delighted to provide US audiences with the unique ability to purchase and download select award-winning BBC America programming on the iTunes Store.

The commentary track for The Last of the Time Lords featuring David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, and John Barrowman, is currently available for download from BBC America. The track was available on the Region 2 release of the Series Three DVD set, but was left off of the Region 1 release due to rights issues. There is also a feature on the site that will allow fans to run the commentary in sync to the episode as it airs on April 19th.

Following next week's showing of Torchwood Episode 10, From Out Of The Rain, the series moves to a new slot of Fridays at 9pm with the showing of Episode 11, Adrift, on Good Friday, 21 March 2008. The following week sees Episode 12, Fragments, with the season finale, Exit Wounds, showing on BBC Two on Friday, 4 April 2008 at 9pm. Each episode will still receive its premier on BBC Three.

The SciFi Channel now has a webpage for The Sarah Jane Adventures, which premiers in the United States on Friday, 11 April 2008 with Invasion of the Bane. This pilot episode will be shown at 7.30pm ET with the series moving to a regular slot of 8pm the following week.

April 18th also sees the arrival of Doctor Who Season Four to the Sci-Fi channel, with the showing of the Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned. No date has yet been confirmed for the UK premiere of Series Four, but the series is expected to launch in the first half of April.

Our friends at TV Shows on DVD have acquired cover illustrations for the North America (US/Canada) release of theBeneath the Surface Boxed Seton DVD, due on June 3. Below are the individual covers for "The Silurans," "The Sea Devils" and "Warriors of the Deep", the three releases in the boxed set; larger covers will be made available when we get them. Click on each for a larger version. Says TVShowsonDVD, "Costs are confirmed to be $34.98 SRP for the 2-DVD release of Doctor Who - Story #052: Doctor Who And The Silurians (CA$43.98 SRP in Canada); the single-disc releases of Doctor Who - Story #062: The Sea Devils and Doctor Who - Story #131: Warriors of the Deep will be $24.98 SRP each (CA$30.98 SRP each in Canada); and the 4-DVD box set of Doctor Who - Beneath The Surface will be $59.98 SRP (CA$74.98 SRP in Canada)."

In an interview with Russell T. Davies, the Los Angeles Timesmentions in passing that The Sarah Jane Adventures will be broadcast in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel beginning in April.

The article also states that Doctor Who's next season will begin on Sci Fi in April. The BBC has not announced a broadcast date for Series Four in the UK, but the program will air in Britain before any international broadcasts.

In the Los Angeles Times interview, Davies also talks about the success of Doctor Who, his attitude towards sexuality on Torchwood and past projects such as Bob and Rose.

He also notes that he deliberately keeps organized fandom at arm's length: "I think we're an unusual science-fiction franchise in taking a very big step back from fandom and having nothing to do with them. . . . Every program on the BBC has a message board on the website. I forbid it to happen on 'Doctor Who.' I'm sorry to say this, all the science fiction producers making stuff in America, they are way too engaged with their fandom. They all need to step back."