Thirteen Episodes?

Monday, 8 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

A report today on BBCi mentions the appearance of producer Mal Young last week on Liquid News and his statement about thirteen storylines. Says BBCi: "We contacted BBC Publicity for confirmation of this. Their response was that Russell T Davies has developed thirteen possible storylines. The keyword here is possible. It doesn't mean that thirteen episodes will be made, and it is unlikely that Russell will be writing them all." (Thanks to BBCi)

FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27

Pyramids DVD Details

Monday, 8 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The Restoration Team has shared details of the forthcoming DVD release of Pyramids of Mars, due out in early March in the UK. A feature article on the RT site discusses the process in which "Pyramids" was cleaned up, including the video dropout and re-grading of film sequences. Extras on the DVD release include:

Commentary by Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane), Michael Sheard (Laurence Scarman) and producer Philip Hinchcliffe, with input from director Paddy Russell (recorded elsewhere but seamlessly inserted)
Osirian Gothic, a 22-minute interview featurette which includes director Paddy Russell, Sladen, Sheard, Hinchcliffe, Bernard Archard (Shaun Lyon Scarman), Peter Copley (Dr. Warlock), Gabriel Woolf (Sutekh) and designer Christine Ruscoe
Serial Thrillers, a 42-minute featurette covering Philip Hinchcliffe's era as the show's producer, with Hinchcliffe, director David Maloney, writer Robert Banks-Stewart, designers Christine Ruscoe and Roger Murray-Leach, actress Elisabeth Sladen, writers Gareth Roberts, Alan Barnes and others
Now and Then: The Locations of Pyramids of Mars, an 8-minute feature shot on location at Stargrove, the country house featured in the story narrated by Michael Sheard (with Elisabeth Sladen and Jon Culshaw), music by Heathcliffe Blair
Deleted Scenes including the unused shot of the TARDIS materialising on the alternative future Earth of 1980, an alternative take of the poacher running away from the mummies after he shoots Shaun Lyon Scarman, and the full-length version of the war missile explosion, plus three sequences utilising roll-back and mix effects that Paddy Russell felt were not successful and subsequently cut out
Oh Mummy, a 7-minute comedy sketch focusing on Sutekh's career after "Pyramids of Mars" written by and starring Rob Hammond and directed by Matt West, starring Gabriel Woolf as Sutekh (this was screened at the Panopticon 2003 convention)
Plus a photo gallery, production notes and one easter egg

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Gordon Reid

Friday, 5 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Gordon Reid, who played Phillips in episode 1 of "Invasion of the Dinosaurs," died on stage in London on November 27. (Thanks to Ben Jolly)

FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

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

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

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

New Zealand Locale?

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Interesting rumor, take with a grain of salt: a radio update on New Zealand's Newstalk 1ZB on Tuesday morning stated that the first new Doctor Who episode would be filmed in that country, at Mount Ruapehu. The mountain (seen most recently in the "Lord of the Rings" films) is one of New Zealand's more popular ski resort areas. Of course, Outpost Gallifrey doubts that this is any more than simple wishful thinking, as location scouting for any new series is likely not to have yet begun. Update: Mount Ruapehu also features in the first episode of "The Scream of the Shalka" so it's likely this is where the confusion lies, mistaking "Shalka" for the new series. (Thanks to Campbell Pentney, and Jeff Murray for the addendum)

FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27 - New Zealand

The Visitation Extras

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The British Board of Film Classification website is listing the following extras for the forthcoming DVD release of The Visitation starring Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse, due out in January:

These items include the half-hour interview segment with director Peter Moffatt, a featurette about the scoring of the episode and other items. More when it's available.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Welsh Anniversary Salute

Monday, 24 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The ic North Wales site has a three-page article today on the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who, a summary of the show and it's connections with the Welsh. Interestingly, says the article, "The absence of a special Dr Who weekend of programmes dedicated to the time travelling doctor marks a bizarre scheduling decision which is entirely in keeping with the BBC's love/hate relationship with the adventurous Time Lord," omitting the fact that UK Gold did exactly that all weekend. You can read the full article by going here. (Thanks to Steve Tribe, Andrew Harvey)

FILTER: - Documentary - Classic Series

UK Gold Docu Repeats

Monday, 24 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

According to producers of this past weekend's Doctor Who @40 event on UK Gold, the documentaries that have been run are cleared for "six transmissions over the next year," so they'll be repeated for those who weren't able to see them. No word as to when it will be done. Also, credits were left off these programmes only because the producers ran out of time in production, but the credits on each will be run during the next transmission. Meanwhile, among the highlights during the weekend was a ten-minute feature at the end about the future of Doctor Who... which ended with a number of people recommending Paul McGann for the new series, and the very final word was McGann saying "You never know..." and winking at the camera. (Thanks to Roger Anderson, Dave Pashby)

FILTER: - Classic Series - Broadcasting

Previous 10 Stories

Thirteen Episodes?

Pyramids DVD Details

Gordon Reid

Mal Young Comments - Updated!

More on Visitation DVD

Bill Strutton

New Zealand Locale?

The Visitation Extras

Welsh Anniversary Salute

UK Gold Docu Repeats

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