Classic Series Downloads

Friday, 13 April 2007 - Reported by Marcus

Following a deal between BBC Worldwide and the P2P company Azureus, fans in the USA can now download several episodes of the classic series.

The programmes are available for rent from the Vuze website for a small fee; the first episodes of The Three Doctorsand The Talons of Weng-Chiang are available for "free rental". As well as classic Doctor Who episodes, other BBC material such as Red Dwarf and Steven Moffat'sCoupling is available.

NB: For copyright reasons, these downloads are currently only available in the United States, and because of the digital rights management software with which the files have been encoded, they can be played only on Windows computers running Windows XP or Vista (i.e. not on computers running Macintosh or Linux).

FILTER: - USA - Online - Classic Series

New Beginnings North America Boxed Set Details

Monday, 2 April 2007 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Outpost Gallifrey has received the full-color cover illustrations for the forthcoming North American DVD releases of The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis and Castrovalva, the Tom Baker-Peter Davison serials that will be sold both separately packaged as well as part of the New Beginningsboxed set, due on June 5 from Warner Home Video. The cover illustrations and full details on the extras for each release are below.

New Beginnings Boxed Set (WHV #E4013)
Includes all three discs

The Keeper of Traken (WHV #E4010)
Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary by actors Anthony Ainley, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse and writer Johnny Byrne
DVD ROM Features: 1982 Doctor Who Annual, Radio Times and BBC Enterprises literature PDFs
Documentary: Being Nice to Each Other: A new 30-minute "making of" documentary that includes contributions from Sarah Sutton, Sheila Ruskin, Geoffrey Beevers, John Black, Johnny Byrne, Christopher H. Bidmead
Interviews: Swap Shop: Noel Edmond interviews Sarah Sutton (11 mins)
Music Only Track
Other: The Return of the Master: Geoffrey Beevers, Christopher H. Bidmead and John Black talk about the return of the Doctor's arch-enemy (8 mins)
Trailers and Continuity Announcements (6 mins)
Photo gallery
Production Notes

Logopolis (WHV #E4011)
Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary by actors Tom Baker and Janet Fielding and writer Christopher H. Bidmead
DVD ROM Features: 1982 Doctor Who Annual, Radio Times and BBC Enterprises literature PDFs
Documentary: A New Body at Last: A new 50-minute documentary on the transition from Tom Baker to Peter Davison, featuring many of the actors and production team involved, plus exclusive behind the scenes footage of the regeneration
Interviews: Nationwide Interviews with Tom Baker and Peter Davison (8 mins)
Pebble Mill at One: Peter Davison interview (12 mins)
Music Only Track
Other: BBC News Reports on Tom Baker's wedding, the announcement of Tom Baker's departure and Peter Davison's arrival (1 min)
Photo gallery
Production Notes
TV Spot: Trailers and Continuity Announcements (2 mins)

Castrovalva (WHV #E4012)
Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary by actors Peter Davison and Janet Fielding, writer Christopher H. Bidmead and director Fiona Cumming
DVD ROM Features: 1982 Doctor Who Annual, Radio Times and BBC Enterprises literature PDFs
Deleted Scenes
Featurette: The Crowded TARDIS: 11-minute featurette with Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, John Black and Christopher H. Bidmead
Interviews: Being Doctor Who: Peter Davison discusses how he approached this iconic role (13 mins)
Directing Castrovalva: 11-minute interview with Fiona Cumming
Swap Shop, Blue Peter: Peter Davison interviews (29 mins)

FILTER: - Canada - USA - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD - Radio Times

Torchwood On BBC America

Monday, 2 April 2007 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

BBC America has confirmed that Torchwood will be added to its line up as part of theSupernatural Saturday strand. It will join Doctor Who, Hex, Life on Mars and Jekyll as part of the new programming.

Exciting news from BBC AMERICA's press department hit the wires this morning: the entire channel is undergoing a "radical makeover" later this year. The channel will now "focus exclusively on bringing U.S. audiences the very best in contemporary British programs - including a greater emphasis on our world renowned news coverage," according to our new head honcho, Garth Ancier. Lots of great acquisitions to announce, including MI-5 (Spooks to you UKers), the long-running youth soap Hollyoaks (which I love), Hotel Babylon, the new Jennifer Saunders comedy The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle, Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood, and new seasons of Hex, Life On Mars, and Doctor Who.

FILTER: - Torchwood - USA - Broadcasting

Houston PBS looking for Who fans

Monday, 26 February 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

The Houston PBS station is about to get new Who and are actively looking for Who fans in the area to get involved with their programming.

I've contacted the station and their Community Education/Outreach Director, Ann Crider, has confirmed that they are indeed looking for Who fans and groups in the Houston Texas area.

If you are from Texas or know any Who organizations in the area you need to contact:
Ann Crider
Director, Community Education/Outreach
HoustonPBS
4343 Elgin
Houston, Texas 77004

or email her at:
acrider@houstonpbs.org

FILTER: - USA

New Beginnings DVD Boxset for North America in June

Thursday, 22 February 2007 - Reported by Mike Doran

TV Shows on DVD is reporting that the New Beginnings DVD box set will be released in North America (Region 1) on June 5th, 2007. The set, which was released in the UK in January, contains the stories The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis and Castrovalva. These stories cover the final two adventures with Tom Baker as well as the first with Peter Davison.

In addition to the featured episodes, the three-disc set contains commentaries, interviews, specially produced featurettes, photo galleries, production notes, trailers and isolated music tracks.

FILTER: - USA - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD - Peter Davison

40 PBS Stations Airing Eccleston DW Episodes So Far

Tuesday, 20 February 2007 - Reported by Benjamin Elliott

If you get one or more of the following public TV stations, they have bought into the Christopher Eccleston Doctor Who package, available to stations as early as March 1. Additional stations may have bought into the package, but they have not made themselves known yet.

1) Georgia Public Broadcasting
2) Idaho Public Broadcasting
3) Iowa Public TV
4) KACV 2 Amarillo TX
5) KBTC 28/KCKA 15 Tacoma/Centralia WA
6) KERA 13 Dallas TX
7) KLCS 58 Los Angeles CA
8) KLRU 18 Austin TX
9) KOCE 50 Orange County CA
10) KOZK 21/KOZJ 26 Springfield/Joplin MO (Ozarks Public TV)
11) KRMA 6 Denver CO (and repeaters through Colorado)
12) KTEH 54/KCAH 25 San Jose/Monterey CA
13) KTWU 11 Topeka KS
14) KUED 7 Salt Lake City UT
15) KUHT 8 Houston TX
16) KVPT 18 Fresno CA
17) Louisiana Public Broadcasting
18) Maryland Public TV
19) North Carolina Public Broadcasting
20) Prairie Public Broadcasting (North Dakota's statewide network)
21) Nebraska Educational TV
22) New Hampshire Public TV
23) Oklahoma Public Broadcasting
24) Oregon Public Broadcasting
25) South Dakota Public Broadcasting
26) WCET 48 Cincinnati OH
27) WEDU 3 Tampa FL
28) WILL 12 Champaign-Urbana IL
29) WJCT 7 Jacksonville FL
30) WLIW 21 Long Island NY
31) WLVT 39 Allentown PA
32) WMFE 24 Orlando FL
33) WMVS 10 Milwaukee WI
34) WPBT 2 Miami FL
35) WQLN 54 Erie PA
36) WSKG 46 Binghamton NY
37) WTTW 11 Chicago IL
38) WTVP 47 Peoria IL
39) WUFT 5 Gainesville FL
40) WXXI 21 Rochester NY

FILTER: - USA - Broadcasting

Series 3 in US: Summer 2007

Saturday, 23 December 2006 - Reported by Benjamin Elliott

The American cable network Sci Fi Channel has announced that they have secured the rights to air Series Three starting in the summer of 2007, according to a note on their Doctor Who page. Sci Fi completed the airing of Series Two with the double-bill of "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" last night.

Series Three will air on the BBC in the UK this coming Spring; if this plan by Sci Fi in the US holds, it will be the earliest turnaround of episode broadcasts since the start of the new series (Series One having taken a full year; Series Two, six months).

FILTER: - USA - Series 3/29 - Broadcasting

US PBS Station Gets New Who

Tuesday, 19 December 2006 - Reported by Benjamin Elliott

The people at KTEH 54, San Jose, CA http://www.kteh.org have sent out a press release heralding their acquisition of the Christopher Eccleston Doctor Who episodes, making them the first public TV station to publicize that they purchased this package. It is expected that public TV stations will get Doctor Who in a one-hour block - the unedited episodes followed by a cut-down version of the relevant Doctor Who Confidential episode. Says the article, "Doctor Whoreturns to KTEH after an absence of over four years. When the series last ran, KTEH had aired the equivalent of 7703 episodes (Over 10 times more than the BBC actually produced!!) as well as producing around a dozen Doctor Whorelated interviews. Beginning on April 13, 1981, Doctor Who captured the attention of the viewers of the San Francisco Bay Area, with the series being shown every weeknight, and full stories every Saturday night. Doctor Who last aired in January of 2003, and was a victim of budget problems and declining funding from the viewing public." A Teaser is available at http://www.dvillage.org/KTEH/DW-Teaser.mov.

FILTER: - USA - Broadcasting

New books out in North America this week

Sunday, 10 December 2006 - Reported by Jeremy Bement

For our readers in the US and Canada, a new Doctor Who book and new magazine will be available this week at comic book stores. Doctor Who: In Their Own Words Volume 2 (Item number SEP063746), a collection of interviews from the 1970s compiled from various issues of Doctor Who Magazine and published by Panini Press should hit the shelves Wednesday. Likewise, Talkback: The Unofficial Interview Book (Item number MAY063632), edited by Stephen James Walker and published by Telos, will also be available. If your local shop doesn't have these, ask them to order these books from Diamond Comic Distributors.

FILTER: - Canada - USA - Books

North America DVD Update

Tuesday, 5 December 2006 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Warner Home Video has announced the release of The Sontaran Experiment starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter, and The Invasion starring Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury, on DVD in North America, due out on March 6, 2007. The cover illustrations for both are below; click on each for a larger version.

As in the UK release, The Invasion will feature both episodes 1 and 4 - missing from the BBC archives - in a special fully-animated reconstruction by Cosgrove Hall, using the program's original soundtrack. Full details on each release, including lists of extras, are available at the website of the Doctor Who Restoration Team (articles for The Invasionand The Sontaran Experiment accessible).

FILTER: - Canada - USA - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

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