Ricky Gervais is the next Doctor?

Friday, 15 July 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
Ricky Gervais has filmed a scene for his new comedy, Life's Too Short, that will feature a TARDIS and Daleks.

On the news page of his website, it is revealed that he has filmed a "little something for sci-fi nerds everywhere".

The blog post also contains photos of Gervais posing with a TARDIS and two Daleks. No other information has been revealed as yet. Guest stars in Life's Too Short include Sting, Johnny Depp and Steve Carell. It is not known if Matt Smith will guest star as himself or the Doctor in the scene

Ricky Gervais is no stranger to the world of Doctor Who. In the 2007 Christmas Special and series finale of his sitcom, Extras, he filmed a short Doctor Who parody with David Tennant as the Doctor, and himself as the slug monster called Schlong.




FILTER: - Miscellaneous

The New World: UK overnight viewing figures

Friday, 15 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Torchwood: The New World had an average audience of 4.8 million viewers on BBC One and BBC One HD, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The UK premiere of the new series had an 21% share of the audience and was the 5th most watched programme of the day, behind the four main soaps. It won the 9pm timeslot, with Single Handed on ITV1 getting 3.7 million viewers.

Episode One of the last Torchwood series, Children of Earth, had an overnight ratings of 5.9 million and a final figure of 6.47 million viewers.

The final ratings for The New World will be released next week and will include those who record the programme and watch it within seven days.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Ratings - UK - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Experience the Screamer

Thursday, 14 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A 10" model of a monster created for a Doctor Who Adventures competition has been added to the Doctor Who Experience.

Twelve year old Jessica Rickarby won the design-a-monster competition which featured in the magazine with her design, Screamer, picked from over 1,000 entries. The monster was then incorporated into a comic strip character for the Doctor to encounter in last week's issue, and a model maker has created a physical version which has been put on display to visitors to the Doctor Who Experience for the next three months; Jessica will then receive it to keep.



Natalie Barnes, editor of Doctor Who Adventures said:
The popularity of our Design A Monster competition highlighted the amazing imagination of children in the UK – but as soon as we saw the Screamer we knew that Jessica’s creation was the winner. With the ability to render its victim unconscious by screaming in its face, the Screamer was so original and so scary, we had to ask the model-maker to make sure it wasn't too terrifying for adults!

The prize-winning design featured on today's edition of the news programme for children on BBC1, Newsround - this is currently available to watch in the UK via their website.




FILTER: - UK - Exhibitions - Miscellaneous - DWA

TARDIS materialises at Caernarfon Castle

Thursday, 14 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

TARDIS at Caernarfon Castle, photo via visitwales/Yfrog
In what seems to be turning into a regular trip to the historic castles of Wales, this week sees the TARDIS materialise at the gate of Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. The police box prop stands prominently in the Queen's Gate and will be there until 27th July.

Previously, the police box appeared at Raglan Castle back in February, and also turned up on the battlements of Caerphilly Castle during December 2009 as part of promotional activities by the Welsh historic environment service CADW.


Doctor Who's relationship with castles and castle-like structures has flourished in recent years; May's adventure The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People saw several such locations used for filming, including Cardiff Castle, Caerphilly Castle, St Donat's Castle (aka Atlantic College), and the ruins of Neath Abbey.






FILTER: - UK - Miscellaneous

Blink - Qwertee T-Shirt Offer

Wednesday, 13 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

"You'll Miss Me If You Blink Twice ..."


Qwertee have launched their latest Doctor Who inspired design, created by artist zerobriant.

This is a limited edition print which will only be available to purchase for two days (i.e. until 11:00pm Friday 15th July).


Readers of Doctor Who News will be able to take advantage of a special 40p/50¢ discount off the usual £8/€10/$13.50 price of this t-shirt - simply enter this promotional code when ordering:
ilovedoctorwhonews
The t-shirt can be ordered from the Qwertee website.

 

We'll be launching a new competition in association with Qwertee on Saturday - keep an eye on our Competitions page for full details.




FILTER: - Merchandise

Doctor Who best seller for BBC Worldwide

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Worldwide's Annual Review for 2011 has been released, and figures show that Doctor Who has led the way for the BBC's commercial arm's success in the last year.

The series was the biggest show sold internationally last year, and is now available in over fifty territories. It saw significant growth within the United States, including becoming the third-biggest seller in the US iTunes charts (behind Mad Men and Glee). Overall, the Doctor Who franchise saw its revenue increase by 49%.

Series Five was one of the top five selling series for BBC Worldwide, with the others being the first series of Sherlock, series 15 and 16 of Top Gear, and Human Planet. In terms of revenue, the top three series were Top Gear, Doctor Who, and Waking the Dead.

Doctor Who is one of the five "power brands", along with Top Gear, Lonely Planet, BBC Earth and Dancing with the Stars; together their revenue reached £308.1m, accounting for 27% of BBC Worldwide's total of £1.16 billion.

The full report can be found via the BBC website.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - BBC

Win - Chameleon Circuit: Still Got Legs

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor Who News Page is offering readers the chance to win a copy of Still Got Legs by Chameleon Circuit.

Still Got Legs
Music written and performed by Alex Day, Charlie McDonnell, Liam Dryden and "Eddplant".

Track List:
  1. The Subwave Signal
  2. Regenerate Me
  3. Nightmares
  4. Travelling Man
  5. Everything Is Ending
  6. Mr Pond
  7. Kiss the Girl
  8. Knock Four Times
  9. Teenage Rebel
  10. Big Bang Two
  11. Eleven
  12. The Sound of Drums
  13. Silence and the End of All Things
  14. The Doctor Is Dying
  15. Still Not Ginger
Released: 12th July 2011

(available to purchase now from DFTBA Records or via the iTunes store)

We have three copies of the CD up for grabs courtesy of DFTBA Records. To be in for a chance of winning a copy, simply answer this question:

What was the name of the device that allowed the Doctor and his companions to see The Beatles perform Ticket to Ride in 1965's The Chase?

Send your answer with your name to us at stillgotlegs-competition@doctorwhonews.net, with the subject line Still Got Legs Competition. Winners will be notified via email.

Closing Date: 11:59 PM BST, 26 July 2011. Open Worldwide.





FILTER: - Competitions - Doctor Who News

Doctor Who adventures arrive on Facebook

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC are to make a number of classic and new Doctor Who stories available to watch via their Facebook page. The stories, which includes (the as-yet unreleased on DVD) The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, will be 'rentable' for 48 hours from the page using Facebook's proprietry credit system.

As well as the Seventh Doctor's clownish encounter above, the initial offering includes a monochrome cyber-adventure for the Second Doctor in Tomb of the Cybermen, Sontaran shenanigans for the Third Doctor in The Time Warrior, a trip to Paris for the Fourth Doctor in City of Death, the Fifth and Sixth Doctors' encounters with the Cybermen in Earthshock and Attack of the Cybermen, and revived series stories such as the Ninth Doctor taking Rose to the future in The End of the World, and the Tenth Docotor's first meeting with River Song in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.

BBC Worldwide's Chief Executive John Smith said:
As we have grown internationally, we've seen through our Facebook channel that fans who are loving the new series are asking for a guide into our rich Doctor Who back catalogue. Our approach to Facebook and other leading edge platforms is to be right there alongside them in fostering innovation. We see this service as a perfect way to give our fans what they want, as well as a great way for them to get their fix between now and the autumn when Series Six continues.

Facebook's Director of Platform Partnerships Christian Hernandez said:
Millions of people engage with their favourite TV shows on Facebook every day and we're now seeing broadcasters look at innovative ways to use Facebook tools to connect their fans with exclusive content. Through its Facebook page, BBC Worldwide is giving Doctor Who fans a quick and easy way to access these iconic episodes.


The stories will be accessible via the BBC's application on Facebook, and may be viewed by users from Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Online

The New World: Canadian Ratings

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
The premiere of Torchwood: Miracle Day drew nearly a million viewers to SPACE on Saturday delivering the channel its highest audience ever.

The New World achieved an average of 432,000 viewers with 929,000 watching some part episode. When compared to the premiere of Torchwood’s third series, Children of Earth, the premiere of Miracle Day increased 55% among total viewers, 49% among A25-54, 53% among A18-49, and 56% among female viewers.

The series continues next Saturday, July 16 at 9 p.m. ET.




FILTER: - Canada - Torchwood - Ratings - Miracle Day (Series 4)

The New World: Starz ratings

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Audience figures have been released for the premiere episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day broadcast on the US cable subscription channel Starz on Friday, and indicate that 1.51m watched The New World on its first two broadcasts (819000 at 10:00pm, 687000 at 11:00pm); a combined figure of 2m viewers was reached after the Sunday evening repeats.

The figures compare favourably with Starz's recent series Camelot, which achieved the highest "original series" premiere for the channel back in April with 1.57m tuning in on its opening night, and then too reached 2m by the end of the weekend.

Torchwood's viewing figures above do not factor in on-demand or online viewers.




FILTER: - Torchwood - USA - Ratings - Miracle Day (Series 4)