Mal Young Comments - Updated!

Friday, 5 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

In an interview on BBC3's Liquid News on Thursday, new series producer Mal Young made comments indicating that progress was actually further along than we'd expected. Young said that the thirteen stories for the first season were already written, by Russell T. Davies, and were "brilliant," contradicting earlier reports that the first season would consist of twelve episodes. Update: several other correspondents have written in to let us know that Young actually spoke about "storylines" completed, not actual scripts; this ties with the earlier claim that Davies would be involved in the overall story arc of the first season but not writing each individual episode. (Outpost Gallifrey maintains that Davies willnot be the sole writer of the new series.) Young also mentioned a "long short list" of potential Doctors had already been vetted, and they were currently working on casting. Young made comments on some female Doctor suggestions, including Caroline Quentin ("Jonathan Creek") and Michelle Collins ("Eastenders"). (Thanks to Phillip Madeley, Ben Morris, Alexander Dante, Darren Pickles)

FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27

Story of Who Date

Tuesday, 2 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

According to the BBC Press Office, on a press release on their website, the forthcoming anniversary documentary The Story of Doctor Who will air on Tuesday, December 30 at 6:30pm on BBC1. Check your local listings closer to the event. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

FILTER: - Press - Broadcasting

More on Visitation DVD

Tuesday, 2 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The BBC Shop has the following details about the release of The Visitation on DVD in the UK on January 19, 2004:

Doctor Who: The Visitation
Directed by: Peter Moffatt

The Doctor attempts to take Tegan back to Heathrow Airport but the TARDIS arrives in the 17th Century instead of the 20th. The time travellers discover that a space capsule has crash-landed nearby and that its alien occupants, three Terileptil prison escapees, intend to wipe out all indigenous life on Earth by releasing rats infected with an enhanced strain of the great plague. The creatures are also using a sophisticated android to strike terror into the local villagers. Aided by itinerant thespian Richard Mace, the Doctor tracks the Terileptils to their base in Pudding Lane, London. The creatures are ultimately destroyed when a fire breaks out and the Terileptil leader's weapon explodes - also setting off the Great Fire of London.

Extras include: 4 x 25 minute colour episodes with mono audio. Commentary - stereo. Music-Only option - mono Film Trims (dur. 5' 32") - including extended / deleted scenes. Directing Who - Peter Moffatt (dur. 26' 13") - a featurette about the work of the director of this and several other Doctor Who stories. Writing a Final Visitation (dur. 12' 50") - an interview with the story's writer, Eric Saward. Scoring The Visitation (dur 16' 19") - Mark Ayres interviews composer Paddy Kingsland about his music for the story. Picture Gallery (dur. 5' 12") Easter Egg Production Notes.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

BBC Photo Gallery

Tuesday, 2 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

BBC News today features a photo gallery tribute to the Doctor's companions over the years.

FILTER: - Online

Bill Strutton

Monday, 1 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Author Bill Strutton, the author of the much-discussed Doctor Who serial "The Web Planet," died on November 23 at age 80. Says an article printed today in the Telegraph, "[W]hen Bill Strutton wrote the script of The Web Planet in 1965, he had a hard act to follow. At first the Zarbi, inhabitants of the bleak and desolate planet Vortis, seemed formidable enough; it transpired, however, that for all their malevolent chirping, they had originally been harmless scavengers. Only under the auspices of the Animus, a dark power who addressed Dr Who in sinisterly smooth and mellifluous feminine tones, had they been transformed into militant aggressors. Once the Doctor had outwitted the Animus, the Zarbi resumed their original unthreatening character. Strutton, for his part, extended his profits with a covering novel Doctor Who and the Zarbi (1965)." Strutton was born in 1923 in Australia and spent time as a prisoner of war during World War II; he was a novelist, journalist and television writer whose work includes "The Saint," "Ivanhoe" and, of course, "Doctor Who". He is survived by a son and two daughters. (Thanks to Jim Sangster, Steve Stratford)

FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Sidekicking

Monday, 1 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

News is circulating (on the Ananova and Daily Scotsman web news services) that in a TV Times interview due to be printed on December 2, Russell T. Davies alludes to a Buffy-style sidekick in the new series. "His new sidekick will be a modern action heroine," says the TV Times interview, "and... shows like Buffy, featuring a butt-kicking Sarah Michelle Gellar, have raised viewers' expectations of female characters." Says Davies, "A screaming girly companion is unacceptable now. I don't mean in terms of women's rights - dramatically, we've got Buffy the Vampire Slayer now, so a screaming girly companion would be laughed out of the room." Also, while the TARDIS will stay in the picture, Davies says "I love the Daleks, but I wouldn't load the series with lots of old monsters. We want to make brand new ones." (Thanks to Steve Tribe, Andrew Harvey, Stephen Dunn, Phillip Madeley)

FILTER: - Press

Mal Young Comments - Updated!

Story of Who Date

More on Visitation DVD

BBC Photo Gallery

Bill Strutton

Sidekicking

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