BFI Discussion Online

Tuesday, 21 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: BFIThe British Film Institute has uploaded an 8 minute clip taken from the recent Q & A with Matt Smith, Katherine Jenkins and Stephen Moffat, which took place after the South Bank screening of the episode earlier this month.

The clip is on the BFI Live page and contains spoilers from the episode.




FILTER: - Specials - Special Events - Online

A Christmas Carol introduction by Matt Smith

Tuesday, 21 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Today's Adventure Calendar from the BBC's Doctor Who site features Matt Smith (aka the Doctor) presenting a special introduction to Saturday's Christmas episode, A Christmas Carol.


This video is served by the BBC may not play outside of the United Kingdom




FILTER: - Online

Doctor Who: Red Button Blog

Tuesday, 21 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor Who Confidential preview of A Christmas Carol is now available via the Red Button service on Freeview and Sky/Virgin media.

The preview is Day One of a video blog by Charlie McDonnell, who explores the Doctor Who set. Further segments are expected at 6pm each day, leading up to the broadcast of the episode itself on Christmas Day.

The schedule for the red button service is listed here.


The preview is also available on the BBC's YouTube Channel:


Video may not be available outside the United Kingdom.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Online - Broadcasting

WhoNews Charity Appeal Updates

Monday, 20 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
From Monday there are just four days left of the WhoNews iOS app charity appeal. WhoNews is a Doctor Who news application which offers news from over 30 websites. For a full list of features please click here.

Paul Gee, creator of the app is donating all profits from sales to charity between 23rd November and 23rd December. Below are updates from his blog.

9th December: From 9th - 23rd December all profits from WhoNews will be going to Cure Leukaemia, a charity that enables patients access to potentially life saving, ground breaking drugs and treatments. The charity supports the Haematology Centre at the University Hospital Birmingham, UK and also those hospitals working with the centre through joint research into the condition. This includes Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Stoke on Trent, Dudley, Worcester, Stafford, Heartlands and Sandwell. Check out their website for more details.

16th December: I thought I’d also give you a little update on Andrew the young boy who inspired the appeal. Andrew turned 13 on Monday but had to spend the day in hospital topping up his platelet levels which were very low. On Tuesday he was rushed to hospital after his speech became slurred and the Doctors suspected this may have been caused by a small clot which resulted in a mini-stroke. On Wednesday his speech had improved and he under went an M.R.I scan and we hope to hear the results very soon..


Just by purchasing WhoNews from the App Store either via iTunes or on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch you will make a donation of £1.45 in the UK or $2.80 in the US to Cure Leukaemia. Just click here to be taken to the app store.




FILTER: - Online - Charities

A Christmas Carol: clips roundup

Thursday, 16 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC's Doctor Who site have made four clips from A Christmas Carol available to watch online. These extracts originally featured during this week's news coverage, but can now be watched independently (and without dialogue intruding over the clips!).

The videos feature as Day Fifteen of the site's Adventure Calendar. Other recent calendar treats include an interview with Katherine Jenkins, parts one and two of Matt Smith's Cracking Christmas Challenge, and The Adventure Games edition of The Christmas Questions.

Please note that these videos may not play in regions outside of the United Kingdom.






The Guardian also has a video interview with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.




FILTER: - Specials - Online

Doctor Who - BBC Video Catchup

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A number of videos have been released on the BBC website in the last couple of days relating to publicity for the Christmas special, A Christmas Carol; these appeared on BBC news programmes, but are sometimes extended versions online.

In this video, Matt Smith talks to Lizo Mzimba about his thoughts on the Christmas special, during which he was asked if he felt any pressure over ratings with previous specials doing so well at Christmas:
I hope it continues to do well, I really do. Yeah, but I can't really feel any pressure for it because I've done it now, I've made it, so c'est la vie, what will be will be, it's out of my control. But I think it's a great episode and it will be a nice way to spend it with someone.
Matt was also very surprised to find out that he'd been known as the Doctor for nigh on two years:
"Is it really? Blimey oh Riley. God, that's a long time, isn't it! It's whizzed by I suppose because we're very busy up in Cardiff, but, yeah it's been a wonderful two years, it's been a privilege to play it, I have to say, and it's been a great experience for me, it really has."
The video includes several brief scenes from A Christmas Carol.

Children's news programme Newsround featured a truncated version of the above video, which was broadcast during their television bulletins. Here, Matt talked about emotional impact of the special:
It's a very Christmassy Doctor Who, and I think that Stephen (Moffat) has interpreted and managed the spirits of the Doctor. Particularly in the retelling of classical stories, anyway; if you look back at the classic stories that tend to hit us over Christmas, a lot of the great ones do pull at the heart strings.

As reported earlier tonight, Katherine Jenkins visited her old primary school in the afternoon. During this video, she was asked how she found filming for her first acting role in a BBC Wales production:
Well we filmed it over about three/four weeks, in Wales of course, and so that was lovely because I was able to come home and see the family. It's challenging in so many ways because I'd never done any green screen stuff either, so all the sleigh/carriage stuff, the flying scenes ... when you're just in a room with a fan and having to scream on tap, you know, it was sometimes quite wierd. But lots of fun, cos I was in the carriage sometimes with Matt, and sometimes with Michael Gambon and so we had a really good laugh.

I cannot thank them enough, the whole Doctor Who family have been brilliant at making me feel very welcome and making me feel like I could do this. Matt is so energetic and so enthusiastic, and I kept thinking I when was doing scenes with Sir Michael Gambon, "how has this happened, how am I acting here across from Dumbledore" - it was just a very surreal moment.

This is my debut, and for it to be such a typically Welsh show, I think that was part as well in making me feel so at ease, because most of the crew are Welsh-based. Yeah, it was really, really lovely and I've got great memories of it and I don't think I could have done it without everyone being involved.

Monday saw television critic Alison Graham on BBC's Breakfast chatting about what she thinks are the programmes to watch over Christmas; Doctor Who was of course one of her favourites, which she discusses in this video segment from the programme.
The special I thought was lovely, it was very, very, very Christmassy, it was snowy, based on A Christmas Carol, so can't get more Christmassy! One man has the power to rescue everybody, but he's Michael Gambon, a very Scrooge type, so the ghost of Christmas past, who's the Doctor, comes in and tries to make him see the error of his ways. I loved it, quite warmed my heart!

Finally, Catherine Tate appeared on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning; in this video she briefly talks about her experience with meeting Daleks!




FILTER: - Specials - Online - Catherine Tate

First images from Shadows of the Vashta Nerada revealed

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have now released a few images from the next story in the their PC/Mac game series Doctor Who Adventures, Shadows of the Vashta Nerada:



The images form part of today's Adventure Calendar on the BBC's Doctor Who site; for Day 14 you can also download the Vashta Nerada as wallpaper (4:3 and 16:9 sizes), and a screensaver that showcases images from throughout the Doctor Who Adventures series.

As reported at the beginning of the month, the new game will be available for download (PC/Mac format) in the United Kingdom from the BBC's Doctor Who site on Christmas Day.




FILTER: - Online - Games

Voyage of the Damned for 13p

Monday, 13 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
For today only you can rent Voyage of the Damned for 13 pence from online video catch up and rental service SeeSaw.

The deal is part of the site's Christmas Advent Calendar which offers episodes at reduced price for one day only. You can rent the episode by clicking here. You get 30 days to start viewing the episode after you purchase it.

You can also rent two other Christmas Specials, The Christmas Invasion (£1.19) and The Next Doctor (99p). SeeSaw also offers some Classic Series episodes for free including The Tomb of the Cybermen.




FILTER: - UK - Online - Series 4/30

Doctor Who available online in Australia

Monday, 6 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Yahoo Australian viewers can now see all episodes of Doctor Who Series 1 and 2 and all episodes of the first two series of Torchwood via Yahoo!7's catchup TV service.

Australian PlayStation 3 owners will find a "Plus7" button on their crossmedia bar (same place as the ABC iView button), and computer users can access the site here.

The episodes are available as a result of a deal between BBC Worldwide Australia and Yahoo!7. The ongoing deal will see future quality BBC content air on the service, either in catch-up following transmission on the Seven Network, or as part of PLUS7’s dedicated library of TV shows.

Other shows included are The Catherine Tate Show and Little Britain as well as classic comedy programs like Fawlty Towers and The Young Ones.

Kath Hamilton, Director of Audience, Yahoo!7 said
The deal with BBC Worldwide Australia means that we can deliver even more quality content. I'm confident that shows like Doctor Who and comedy favourites like Fawlty Towers and Catherine Tate Show will have our audience engaged. New and old fans alike will now be able to experience the best of the BBC on Yahoo!7,

PLUS7 is free to access via www.yahoo7.com.au/plus7 and is available across Australia.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Online - Series 1/27 - Series 2/28 - Australia

Adventure Game Four for Christmas Day

Thursday, 2 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have announced the final game in the first series of the Doctor Who Adventure Games:

The Adventure GamesShadows of the Vashta Nerada

Kicking off immediately after the cliff-hanger ending of episode three, the latest Adventure Game picks up the story of the Doctor and Amy who've materialised just south of London (and about a 1000 miles to the left), inside a sea-bed colony called Poseidon. Shadows of the Vashta Nerada features a cracking plot which surrounds a real-world conspiracy and, of course, it takes place at Christmas.

Steven Moffat, executive producer and lead writer for Doctor Who: "We've gone all-out for the season finale. Shadows of the Vashta Nerada takes place entirely underwater - something which would be impossible for the TV series, as water is so expensive. It's thrilling, terrifying, educational and fun. Just steer clear of those shadows..."

As one might expect from the title, the storyline will feature the return of the shadowy Vashta Nerada, previously 'seen' in the Moffat-penned episodes from Series Four, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead.

The game is written by Phil Ford - author of the first 'gamisode' in the series, City of the Daleks - and is due to be released in the UK on Christmas Day, where it will be possible to download for free from the BBC Doctor Who website for both PC and Mac platforms

As with the previous games, Shadows of the Vashta Nerada will be available for purchase worldwide on the PC platform at a later date from Direct2Drive, who will release both this and the third game TARDIS together as a bundle; however, the Mac version will not be available outside the UK.

As we reported in September, Season Two of The Adventure Games is expected to come out sometime next year, developed by the same team as with the current games.


The news came as part of the BBC's 2010 Adventure Calendar, where you can also download festive wallpaper featuring the Doctor and Amy as part of Day Two in the run-down to Christmas.




FILTER: - Online - Games