Mal Young Speaks

Thursday, 15 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
BBC Wiltshire feature a new interview with new series producer Mal Young regarding current plans for the new show. Some of the highlights, as transcribed by the Dark Horizons website, are as follows; you can find a RealAudio version of the interview at BBC Wiltshire site. (Thanks to BBC Wiltshire and Dark Horizons).

How do you think the style of the show will change in this new series?

"The trick that we have to pull off is stay true to the original spirit of the show and the original character, but make it for the 21st century and a younger audience now who have been brought up watching some fantastic sci-fi films and TV shows. Televisions changed, films have changed so we have to move with the times".

Were you tempted to change Dr. Who radically to update it?

"There's always different vesions of it, but we just wanted to say well look lets go back to the TV original...when you watch it today the stories are great, the characters are great but the young viewers today wouldn't stand for those kind of production values...we need to have film-ic values, we need to bring production values to it that they expect now from shows like "Buffy".

What considerations were made for a new Doctor and when will we know?

Where we're up to at the moment is, Russell [T. Davies] is writing the scripts now and we have some other writers working with him. We'll be making around about 12 or 13 episodes, that's quite a big body of work so that's going to take some time to get right. We want to aim for that quality and make sure we've got good scripts. Then when we've got scripts, then we can start approaching actors.

We've drawn up a long short list of who'd we would like to see in the role - the consideration is that the expectation from the audience will be so high, that the pressure on the actor whoever that may be will be so great to carry off this iconic character that it will have to be someone who can really pull it off....Its probably not realistic to think that we're going to take a chance on someone whose never worked on television before, they're going to have to know what they're doing.

How will the character be modernised?

I think the character remains the same...there's no point redesigning the wheel, its a fantastic character this timelord, it works so why change that. We'll stay true to that, but we'll just make sure the story telling is pacier, that it can be very intelligent...they'll expect us to do quite heavy tough and involving stories that a whole family can watch.

What aspects of the old series will be retained for this?

We don't know yet, as I say he's just now sitting down to write the scripts. We don't just want to do the same old thing, there's no point in doing what's already been done - Russell's going to have a great time inventing some great new monsters, it should feel scary and it should feel fun. We may see some of the old characters from the past coming back but we don't know yet.

When will it hit screens?

We'll be in production later this year, and we hope that it'll be ready for transmission in 2005. Which end of 2005 we're not sure yet. We want to get it right, we don't want to set ourselves a deadline and then rush with the script, the casting and the production and not get it right. We're gonna get one go at this, and the interest already from the media this far ahead has proven that we have to get it right - that the pressure will be great. We're taking our time, putting a lot of time and effort into it and all the best talent onto it as possible.

Any prospect of a lady Doctor Who?

Its been mentioned a few times...we're not ruling out anything, but my taste I think it would probably be male but....we'll just leave it open to the best person for the role.




FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27

Shalka Blue Chip

Thursday, 15 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Shalka animators Cosgrove Hall have been nominated for a Blue Chip award, the digital industry award for the North West, for the BBCi webcast animated serial.




FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Animation

Daleks Master Plan Part 2 Found!

Thursday, 15 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Episode two of the lost Doctor Who serial The Daleks' Master Plan, entitled "Day of Armageddon," has been recovered in its entirety and has been returned to the BBC's archives, according to Steve Roberts of the Doctor Who Restoration Team. The episode stars William Hartnell, the first Doctor, with companions Steven (Peter Purves) and Katarina (Adrienne Hill), along with Space Special Security agent Bret Vyon (played by Nicholas Courtney, who would later return to the series as the Brigadier)... indeed, the most notable fact about the episode may be that it's the first and only complete episode to feature footage of both Katarina and Bret Vyon (who have only been seen in very short extant footage since the story was wiped in the 1970's).

Says Roberts: "I was contacted on Tuesday via the RT Website address by the former Head of Engineering at Yorkshire Television, who told me that he thought that the time was right to return two cans of Doctor Who film that he had "borrowed" from a pile of junk he was asked to dispose of whilst a trainee BBC engineer in the early seventies. The first was a copy of 'The Expedition' from the first Dalek story... but the second was 'Day of Armageddon', the second episode of 'The Daleks' Master Plan'! I've just watched the episode and it's fantastic - you get to see Katarina, more of Bret Vyon, the alien delegates (including, of course, Celation, who we only ever had a single picture of!) and the Doctor disguised as Zephon stealing the Taranium Core!"

Outpost Gallifrey's Doctor Who Episode Guide entry for "The Daleks' Master Plan - click here

Says the official press release: "Doctor Who episodes have a history of being returned from slightly strange places and in the past they have been found in such diverse locations as a church basement, a car boot sale and even a jumble sale in New Zealand! The latest find is no exception, as the episode is literally a gift from the opposition - in this instance from Francis Watson, Head of Engineering at Yorkshire Television in Leeds. As a young engineer working for the BBC in the early seventies, Watson had been given the task of clearing out a room full of junk at the CorporationÆs Television Film Studios in Ealing. Among the rubbish were two 16mm cans marked Doctor Who, which Watson saved from destruction so that he could watch them on the projector at his local film club. For over thirty years and through two house moves, he kept the films safe and now feels that the time has come to return them to the BBC. Watson says that he has always felt slightly embarrassed about ôborrowingö the films, but he can be assured that, thirty years on, both the BBC and fans of the series will be only too happy about it, for his minor indiscretion as a junior engineer undoubtedly ensured the episodeÆs survival. The second of WatsonÆs film cans contained a poor-quality episode of The Expedition, an episode of the very first Dalek adventure, of which the BBC already has a master copy. Day of Armageddon is a great find however, as it is a crucial episode which helped to set up the ambitious twelve part story, a classic space-opera romp through space and time which sees the Doctor and his companions try to thwart the traitorous æGuardian of the Solar SystemÆ, Mavic Chen, and his Dalek allies - culminating in the destruction of time itself! Importantly for both fans and historians alike, this second episode contains scenes with several characters for which very little visual reference material still exists - in fact only a single, blurry photograph of the alien leader Celation is known to have survived in a private photograph collection."

The recovery of Day of Armageddon comes almost five years after the previous missing episode, "The Lion," the first chapter of the serial "The Crusade," was recovered from a film collector in New Zealand, and returned to the BBC via the Restoration Team. More details as we get them. (Thanks to Steve Roberts, Julian Knott and the Restoration Team)




FILTER: - Classic Series

Master Plan Clip on BBC News

Thursday, 15 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
A clip from The Daleks' Master Plan 2 can be found on the BBC News website, part of a BBC News article on the recovery of the episode (see below). Clips from the recovered episode were also shown this evening on BBC London.




FILTER: - Classic Series

Pyramids in Australia

Saturday, 10 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
According to BBC Worldwide, Pyramids of Mars has been scheduled for DVD release in Australia in June 2004. (Thanks to Dwayne Bunney)




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD - Australia

Big Finish Update

Saturday, 10 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Big Finish has updated some details on its 2004 audios, including confirming the dates and casts for the forthcomingThe Axis of Insanity by Simon Furman (April), which stars Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and Caroline Morris as the Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem; Arrangements for War by Paul Sutton (May), starring Colin Baker and Maggie Stables as the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn; and The Harvest by Dan Abnett (June), starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and newcomer Philip Olivier as the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Hex. Big Finish has also added the cover illustrations and blurbs for Jim Mortimore's The Natural History of Fear (as well as a new downloadable trailer) and the sixth Short Trips fiction anthology volume, Past Tense. Meanwhile, some new details about the new character, Hex, and Philip Olivier's debut in "The Harvest"; says the Big Finish site, Hex's real name is Hector, "not the coolest name for a kid growing up in Merseyside," and he lives and works in London in the year 2021. "He enjoys working as a nurse in a hospital, is terribly good at his job and gets on with patients and staff alike, an all round good bloke. He's quite taken by Dorothy McShane [aka Ace] (she's only a few years older), a friend who has been working part-time at the hospital for some months now. Intrigued by her, he follows her home one night to an address in Shoreditch, only to find it's not quite the home he expected... Hex and Ace form a good friendship and together with the Doctor solve the galaxy's problems. However, everyone has a past, despite what appears on the surface and Hex knows that one day, whether he likes it or not, his might surface and that could seriously damage the dynamic of the new TARDIS team. So he opts to keep quiet about things... for now..." According to Gary Russell, he didn't have any actor in mind for the part, but saw Olivier in the UK soap "Brookside," where he was playing the character of Tinhead. (Thanks to Big Finish)

The Natural History of Fear, by Jim Mortimore

IT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE TO COPY OR ATTEMPT TO COPY ANY PERSONALITY OR MEMORY-RELATED ARTICLE SHOWN OR DISPLAYED IN THIS PUBLIC THEATRE, INCLUDING THIS WARNING. PUNISHMENT OR CONVICTION IS AN UNLIMITED REDUCTION OF AUTHORISED OVERTIME HOURS AND TOTAL PERSONALITY REVISION. YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO BRING ANY JUKEBOX OR RECORDING EQUIPMENT INTO THIS PUBLIC THEATRE. THIS WILL BE TREATED AS AN ATTEMPT TO BREACH COPYRIGHT. ANY PERSON DOING SO CAN BE EJECTED AND THE EDITOR MAY CONFISCATE SUCH ARTICLES. WE ASK THE PUBLIC TO BE VIGILANT AGAINST ANY SUCH ACTIVITY AND REPORT ANY MATTERS AROUSING SUSPICION TO THEIR LOCAL CONSCIENCE. THANK YOU.

Public Warning
Faction Against Character Theft

Short Trips 6: Past Tense, edited by Ian Farrington

Doctor Who began in 1963 with a remit to teach its audience about the past. One of the regular characters was a history teacher and the intention was that the series would regularly explore bygone centuries, meet historical figures and interact with our ancestors. Soon, the TARDIS was making visits to the Roman era, the time of the French Revolution and the pre-Cortez Aztec culture; the Doctor and his companions met cavemen, Marco Polo, Richard the Lionheart and Wyatt Earp. But just as the Doctor is an alien visitor, so other interlopers from other worlds have found themselves in Earth's past some with the intention of changing history.

Past Tense features seventeen tales set on Earth in days gone by. The Doctor finds himself and his fellow travellers in a variety of times and places: involved in international espionage with British and German spies, at the annexation of the Transvaal, watching an Ashes cricket match and mixing with the late-Sixteenth Century theatrical set. Seeing history happen, learning about its nuances, trying to prevent its corruption, or simply enjoying its atmosphere, our heroes find themselves in exciting adventures wherever or whenever they go.

Featuring "The Immortals" by Simon Guerrier, "One Small Stepà" by Nicholas Briggs, "Ante Bellum" by Stephen Hatcher, "CHAOS" by Eric Saward, "The Thief of Sherwood" by Jonathan Morris, "Come Friendly Bombsà" by Dave Owen, "Graham Dilley Saves The World" by Iain McLaughlin & Claire Bartlett, "Mortlake" by Mark Wright, "Far From Home" by Alison Lawson, "White Man's Burden" by John Binns, "All Done With Mirrors" by Christopher Bav, "Bide-a-Wee" by Anthony Keetch, "Of Mercury and Jupiter" by Ian Mond & Danny Heap, "The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up" by Nev Fountain, "To Kill a Nandi Bear" by Paul Williams, "Fixing a Hole" by Samantha Baker, and "That Time I Nearly Destroyed The World While Looking For a Dress" by Joseph Lidster.




FILTER: - Audio

An Anniversary Salute?

Saturday, 10 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Bill Baggs of BBV Productions is currently working with BBC South on "a new, short Doctor Who story to celebrate the 40th anniversary." Baggs told Outpost Gallifrey, "If it gets off the ground it will be made soon, and would air within BBC South Today, the south of England's regional, early evening magazine programme, so not all of the UK would necessarily see it." They hope to employ an established Doctor Who actor and a familiar foe. (Thanks to Bill Baggs)




FILTER: - Documentary

In Memoriam

Saturday, 10 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Iain Truskett, co-moderator of the Jade Pagoda books discussion list, passed away suddenly on December 29 after suffering cardiac arrest. Our deepest sympathies to all his friends online and his family & friends in Australia.




FILTER: - Obituary

Enemy of the World Photonovel

Thursday, 8 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
BBCi has begun another photonovel on the official Doctor Who site, this time the lost Patrick Troughton serial The Enemy of the World. Their photonovel series are camera-shots from the original television broadcasts, the only visual evidence from the episodes that have since been purged. Check it out!




FILTER: - Online - Classic Series

Pyramids Update

Thursday, 8 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
BBCi has noted confirmation of the "Pyramids of Mars" DVD for March, the details of which were announced at theRestoration Team site in early December.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD