BBC Sarah Jane site launched

Wednesday, 20 December 2006 - Reported by Kenny Davidson

The BBC's official tie-in website for The Sarah Jane Adventures has gone live. The site reveals the series logo and includes videos of Sarah Jane's collection of alien objects, access to her desktop computer, and information on a Mr Smith.

The site's content is, however, limited to UK IPs only; readers from outside the UK are redirected to an FAQ explaining that the content is restricted to the UK "for rights reasons".

The Sarah Jane Adventures, staring Elisabeth Sladen, begins on New Year's Day at 4.50pm on BBC One.

FILTER: - Online - Sarah Jane

BBC and Azureus announce legal downloads of Dr Who

Tuesday, 19 December 2006 - Reported by Kenny Davidson

BBC Worldwide has struck a licensing deal with popular bit-torrent provider Azureus to distribute legal episodes of Doctor Who to United States users early next year. The programme will be one of a number of high profile BBC titles available via Azureus' new Zudeo client software. The deal marks a significant first step for the broadcaster in Peer-to-Peer distribution.

Which episodes will be carried, and what costs will be involved, has yet to be announced. The current series is airing in the US on the Sci-Fi Channel, BBC America and soon in select markets on PBS. The classic series is airing only in a few US markets.

This story is being reported by Wired.com. Thanks to Panodk from our forum for the initial link to Business Wire'sreport.

Update, Dec 20th: Further news links on this story: BBC News and The Guardian.

FILTER: - Online

The Runaway Bride Preview

Monday, 18 December 2006 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The entertainment section of the BBC News Online website has today published a preview of the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas special The Runaway Bride. The feature contains quotes from David Tennant, as well as the episode's main guest stars Catherine Tate and Sarah Parish.

Responding to a question on how long he will stay in the role, Tennant is quoted as saying that: "From the moment I accepted this job, people have asked me when I'm leaving... I have tried to be as noncommittal as possible and shall maintain that stance today."

On her role as the bride Donna in the special, Tate said the part was "one of the best things I've done... It was such a fantastic job, and so exciting. It was like making an action movie. I agreed to do it without even knowing what it was - I just said yes."

Parish, playing the villainous Empress of the Racnoss in the episode, is quoted about the heavy costume and make-up she had to wear for the part. "It was a heavy, cumbersome costume but I loved it. It was a really interesting exercise... You really have to over-accentuate everything in order to make the prosthetics work."

The full article contains some very minor spoilers for the special, so do not click the link if you want to remain completely surprised next Monday.

FILTER: - Specials - Online

Director Euros Lyn Interview

Friday, 15 December 2006 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Ain't it Cool News is featuring an interview with Euros Lyn, director of The End of the World and The Unquiet Deadfrom Series 1, the 2005 Children in Need Special and, from Series 2, Tooth and Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Idiot's Lantern and Fear Her, the latter of which airs on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US later tonight; read the interview here.

Lyn is also the director of the 2006 Christmas episode The Runaway Bride.

FILTER: - Online

Runaway Bride - first trailer online

Tuesday, 12 December 2006 - Reported by Kenny Davidson

The BBC's Official Site is running an advent calendar on the run up to The Runaway Bride, and today's date (12th) reveals the first trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas special.

FILTER: - Specials - Online

Sarah Jane Adventures Clip

Saturday, 9 December 2006 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

As part of the advent calendar counting down to The Runaway Bride, the BBC have released a short clip from the upcoming Sarah Jane Adventures special featuring Elisabeth Sladen. The clip can be found on the BBC's Doctor Whowebpage in the 9 spot on the calendar. The special is set to air on New Years Day, with the proper series following later in 2007.

(This clip was the one featured in the BBC Breakfast article reported earlier.)

FILTER: - Online

Director Dan Zeff Interview

Friday, 8 December 2006 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Ain't it Cool News is featuring an interview with Dan Zeff, director of the series two episode Love and Monsters. The episode is slated to air on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US later tonight; read the interview here.

FILTER: - Online

BBC website gears up for Christmas

Monday, 4 December 2006 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

In anticipation of the Christmas Day debut of The Runaway Bride on BBC One, the official Doctor Who homepagehas gotten into the holiday spirit. Going along with the holiday theme, there is an Advent calendar on the homepage which will provide a different treat every day between now and Christmas. The daily surprises have already included desktop wallpaper, a "Who's Santa?" game and images of prop money used in filming of The Runaway Bride, with many more to come throughout the month.

FILTER: - Online

Runaway Bride spotted on YouTube

Saturday, 2 December 2006 - Reported by Kenny Davidson

A clip of the The Runaway Bride, this year's Christmas special, has been leaked onto the internet. Four minutes of the show have appeared on the video sharing site YouTube, which lets people put video online for others to watch. BBC Newsround suggests that the clip might come from "a special concert for Children in Need in Cardiff, where parts of the show were screened." Be aware that the Newsround link provided here also reveals spoilers about what the clip contains.

FILTER: - Specials - Online

TARDIS Report: The Past Week in the Press

Wednesday, 3 May 2006 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Here's a catch-up TARDIS report to fill you in on all the press coverage over the past few days...

BBC Updates

The BBC's official Doctor Who website had its regular Wednesday update at midday, with an episode four-themed homepage and a ten-strong picture gallery. Also added is the pre-transmission 'Fear Factor', the four children giving The Girl in the Fireplace a score of 3 - Very Scary. The site also now features the TARDISode for episode 4, as well as commentaries for all three previously transmitted episodes this season; besides the "New Earth" commentary which we reported on (featuring executive producer Russell T Davies, star David Tennant and producer Phil Collinson), there are commentaries for "Tooth and Claw" with Tennant, guest star Derek Riddell and script editor Simon Winstone, and for "School Reunion" with Collinson, guest star Eugene Washington and script editor Helen Raynor.

The episode commentaries available on the site have also been available as digital extras with the BBC Three repeats ... to some extent. In fact, and despite the continuity announcements and the official site publicity, the commentaries were initially available only to digital satellite and cable viewers. For Freeview users, neither repeat of 'New Earth' had a red-button commentary, and Sunday's 'Tooth and Claw' was similarly lacking; this seems to be due to extensive live coverage of a snooker championship taking up all the BBCi channels. With effect from the Friday repeat of 'Tooth and Claw', however, the commentary is now also available on Freeview and can be accessed from a few minutes before the episode's transmission. Unfortunately, it seems likely that future sports events may prove similarly disruptive.

Meanwhile, the BBC South East Wales Doctor Who website has been updated this weekend to include a Locations Guide to "School Reunion".

UK Gold Broadcast Update

UKGold will soon be ending their weekly Doctor Who repeats. Says an email from a UKGold programming agent, "I can confirm that we will be stopping our classic Doctor Who repeats following the end of the Jon Pertwee episodes. This is because we have decided to give the series a rest for a period in order to show some alternative programming. The classic Doctor Who eps will return to Gold in the future though I can not provide a specific date at this time."

Doctor Who Books

The latest Tenth Doctor novels from BBC Books continue to sell well, rising in the Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers chart in this week's Bookseller to take three places in the top ten. Last week's number 11, The Resurrection Casket, has risen to number eight, having sold another 2,513 copies; The Feast of the Drowned stays at number ten with 2,358 unit sales; and The Stone Rose goes up from number six to number three with 3,213 unit sales. Like last week, these sales figures are significantly up on 2005's second-week sales for the first three Ninth Doctor novels.

The Girl in the Fireplace Press

Although the new issue has no cover mention of the series (for the first time in six weeks), there's still plenty of coverage of Doctor Who in this week'sRadio Times, led by a two-page Doctor Who Watch feature on The Girl in the Fireplace (pp. 11-12). The article is dominated by a large photo of Rose and Mickey being menaced by clockwork robots, as well as several behind-the-scenes shots, and interviews writer Steven Moffat, who is asked whether this week's episode will be as scary as last year's The Empty Child: 'I wouldn't say this episode is as sinister, but there's an opening sequence that might frighten children.' Moffat discusses the 'Are you my mummy?' catchphrase, research for his new episode ('I'm damned if I'm doing it again'), the myth of the Doctor's asexuality, and the balance between fear and humour in family television. Moffat has warned on the OG Forum that the new Radio Times contains 'story-killing' spoilers, and he may be referring both to the behind-the-scenes photos and to the preview in Saturday's Choices (p.60), which selects the episode, once again, as Drama of the Week - 'This is one for the ladies,' writes Alison Graham. 'If you're not in a little puddle of weeping goo by the end, well, you don't have a heart.' The Girl in the Fireplace is also among 'The week's best television' selections on page 4: 'A whiff of romance for the Doctor as he meets Madame de Pompadour in 18th-century France. Terrific family entertainment.' More clockwork robots head the BBC One listing for Saturday evening ('Is this a wind-up? ... Can the Doctor throw a spanner in the works?'), while the listing itself reads: 'Madame de Pompadour finds the court of Versailles under attack from sinister clockwork killers. Her only hope of salvation lies with a mysterious stranger known simply as the Doctor' (p.62). On Doctor Who Confidential this week, 'The path of the collaborative process, from the words on the page to the images on the screen' is narrated by Mark Gatiss. Sunday's listing confirms a cut down Confidential for 7pm, ahead of the first repeat of episode 4 at 7.15pm; the same cut down version will follow the Friday 9pm repeat, while the full-length Confidential is on Sunday night/Monday morning at 3.25am. Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler) is announced as the studio guest on Totally Doctor Who on Thursday 11 May. There is also a full-page promotion for the Doctor Who sticker collection and poster free with next week's Radio Times (p.23), which appears to show both School Reunion and The Christmas Invasion as taking place in 2006, despite all the on-screen evidence to the contrary.

Series One's BAFTA nomination as best Drama Series also merits several mentions through the magazine - an article on the awards (to be televised on Monday 8) tips Doctor Who as the winner in the drama category: 'It's got to be Doctor Who, worthy though the others are. Russell T Davies's joy, enthusiasm and vision suffused every episode of a series that revitalised Saturday family viewing and introduced a new generation to one of TV's most enduring heroes' (p.14). Series Two is the subject of two letters this week, the first 'disappointed' by New Earth but pleased with Tooth and Claw's 'edge-of-the-seat stuff', yet more interested in 'what the Queen made of' the episode; the second letter is more concerned with correcting at some length Mike Tucker's apparent implication that the Doctor built K-9: 'I have to point out that K-9 was built not by the Doctor, but by an Earth scientist called, etc., etc.' Happily, this is not the last mention of the show in Radio Times this week: 'Next week in RT ... The Cybermen cometh', complete with inset photo of a silver giant from Telos. Or Mondas.

Heat gives the Girl In the Fireplace five stars and reviewer Boyd Hilton writes 'Some viewers have suggested that David tennant might be a bit too cheeky, comical and flippant to be the Doctor. He certainly hasn't been as intense as Christopher Eccoleston's previous incarnation. Until now. This week's episode, as well as being funny, ambitious, mysterious and as scary as we've come to expect, also functions as a superb showcase for Tennant. He switches brilliantly from action scenes to comedy and, most importantly, to intense romance in this intriguing story in which sinister forces invade the world of 19th century Madame de Pompadour in the court of Versailles. It turns out that the Doctor has somehow become the love of the Madame's life, and his slow-burn realisation of this, coupled with Billie's immediate jealousy, turns the episode into one of the most affecting and romantic ever. The Madame is played by the wonderful Sophia Myles, whose turn as lady Penelope stoe the Thunderbirds movie, but this is Tennant's episode all the way.'
Heat also places this episode at number 4 in their week's Best TV Shows, commenting 'David Tennant is fantastic in this wonderfully romantic episode.' (Last week's Tooth and Claw made number 3 in their viewing ratings for the week ending 23 April - soaps Eastenders and Coronation Street were at nos 1 and 2 respectively).

Closer has this episode as their main choice for Saturday TV - 'Sit back and enjoy quite possibly the most surreal Doctor Who yet. While Rose takes a back seat, the Timelord lands his Tardis in 15th-century France, where he winds up battling scary clockwork clowns who are stalking the King's mistress. Madame De Pompadour. In between flying through ballrooms on horseback and trying to outwit the monsters, the Doc finds time to enjoy a cheeky snog with Madame (played by David tennant's real-life girlfriend Sophia Myles) - and ends up falling in love. Mon dieu!'

New magazine writes: 'Steven Moffat, who wrote Coupling, guest writes this episode and treats The Doctor to some romance! He and Rose arrive at King Louis XV's Palace of Versailles, the King's attractive mistress, madame De Pompadour (Sophia Myles) needs help fighting off clockwork killers. The Doctor is happy to help...'

Reveal rates this episode as their Must See - Pick of the Day, and gives it their maximum 5 stars. 'Since David Tennant took over in the titular role at the end of the last series, there have probably been many people who have dreamt about Doctor Who and his cheeky grin. However, madame de Ponpadour, the official mistress of King Louis XV, has been haunted by recurring visions of the Time Lord for a lot longer than that - her memories of the mysterious stranger stretch back to childhood. When the King's palace at Versailles comes under attack from sinister clockwork robots, she attempts to summon the Gallifreyan in an effort to protect its inhabitants from the mechanical killers. Can a broken clock attract his attention? Sophia Myles guest stars as the Gallic monarch's illicit lover, alongside Billie Piper, Noel Clarke, Ben Turner and Jessica Atkins.'

Star magazine writes: 'The court at Versailles is under attack from a group of clockwork killers and Madame Du Pompadour realises ehr only hope for salvation is the man who has haunted her dreams since childhood. A man known only as the Doctor. Now who could that be?' Star has this episode as one of their Picks of the Day and gives it 3 out of 5 stars.

People

Billie Piper has signed a six-figure deal to write her autobiography, according to media reports. "The 23-year-old will tell all about her marriage to Chris Evans and her journey from teen pop singer to award-winning actress. The book will be published this autumn by Hodder & Stoughton. 'It may sound ridiculous being just 23 but I've a few good stories I'd like to share,' Piper said. 'I'm hoping the book will be honest, funny, insightful and, above all, life-affirming. This is a chance for me to talk openly about other areas of my life. Things that people won't know. Things that I'm hoping lots of people can relate to and maybe even be inspired by.' The book promises an 'astonishingly candid insight' into Piper's life. Hodder editorial director Nick Davies said: 'Billie has done more in her 23 years than most of us will do in a lifetime and she is ready to talk about it with honesty and humour. I have no doubt that we have a bestseller on our hands.' Swindon-born Piper was discovered in a Smash Hits TV advert at the age of 15 and signed up by record bosses." The report features in the Daily Mail and is also widely reported including at BBC News, CBBC, Yahoo News, The Sun, The Independent, The Mirror, Daily Record, ITV, and other locations.

Camille Coduri told The Sun that "This series is certainly scarier and darker than the first one and I know there have been concerns. But I don't think they should have a warning beforehand or anything like that." Coduri admitted that her son Sonny, 10, has been scared by some scenes in the show. "For the episode with the Auton shop dummies he started off in front of the TV and slowly progressed to sitting on my husband's lap clinging onto his neck feeling terrified. It's fine to scare kids a little - it's a tradition to hide behind the sofa watching it. It's up to parents to decide whether to let their kids watch as it is a PG show really."

John Barrowman has been lined up to headline this year's New Theatre pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk" which opens on 16 December in Cardiff. Tickets for the show, however, go on sale on Tuesday 9 May. Barrowman plays the role of Jack Trot. "Taking to the New Theatre stage for 71 performances over a six week period he will climb the beanstalk, do battle with the giant and save the day 71 times!" says the press release. "In this he will be joined by Welsh comedy favourite Andy Jones as Muddles and Capital Gold's Tony Wright as his mother, Dame Trot."

The latest It's Hot magazine (BBC, Issue 51) has an interview with Andrew Hayden-Smith. Some Q&As: "Tell us about your character in Doctor Who. 'He's called Jake Simmonds. The Doctor and Rose go to a parallel world, and everyone has a double, so Rose's boyfriend Mickey has a double and we're in a gang. We're fighting against this industry that's creating Cybermen. They were quite scary, but then when you see the guys sweating as they take their helmets off they're not so bad!' Were you nervous before filming started? 'Yeah, 'cause it's a big thing! I really wanted to do a good job. I'm pleased with what I've done. Everything about Doctor Who is great, the stories, the actors, the effects - the whole team behind it are great too. There's nothing else like it on TV.' On David Tennant: 'He's a nice bloke. It was great working with him, 'cause I'd seen him in other TV shows. We had a laugh, but he's got so much to remember he kinda stays in character and was quite quiet on set. Noel Clarke and I had a lot of scenes together, so we used to hang out every night.' So your character doesn't get to snog Billie then? 'No, he's a bit tough and he's not really interested, but it was so much fun playing him. It was just crazy running around Cardiff at four in the morning shooting Cybermen!' Are your mates jealous? 'A couple of mates are massive Doctor Who fans... to the point of being scary! They can't wait for it to come out, but I doubt they're jealous.' Also, Andrew reckons Johnny Depp would make a good Doctor: 'He can be pretty quirky and crazy. I think he'd be pretty good.'" Also, the new issue of the UK gay magazine Attitudefeatures an interview with Hayden-Smith where he talks about his role in the Cybermen adventure and the pleasures of working with Tennant and Piper, and an article by former DWM editor Gary Gillatt, arguing in a tongue-in-cheek style why every gay man needs to have a Doctor Who fan as a boyfriend.

The Western Daily Press says that "As the lovely reliable Giles in Buffy and the sweet romantic in the Nescafe Gold Blend coffee adverts, Anthony Head has long been the epitome of the charming good guy. But this weekend it will be no more Mr Nice Guy as the West actor shows his dark side to play a sinister teacher in this week's Doctor Who. With terrifying staring eyes and slicked back hair, Mr Head looks every inch the baddy for his role in the long-running BBC1 series. 'I've been in lots of things but this seems to be the one that is causing lots of ballyhoo.' And when he sits down with his family at their home in Timsbury, near Bath, this weekend, and the famous opening credits role, the veteran actor says he will feel a twinge of nerves. 'I will be nervous, it's completely bizarre, ' said Mr Head, who lives with his partner and two teenage daughters. 'Other stuff I've done has been written about of course, but this is so eagerly awaited, ' But his arrival in the show is no surprise, having already been suggested to play the main man himself, the timetravelling doctor, on two occasions over the past decade. Despite talks with producers in both the early 90s, and more recently, following Christopher Eccleston's departure after only one series, the part never came Mr Head's way. 'So me and Doctor Who seem to have been inextricably linked somewhere along the line, ' the 52-year-old said. 'It's not a huge leap because I am so associated with science fiction because of Buffy, and kind of accept that, so when they sent me the script and asked if I would be interested, my initial reaction was I don't know, I'm not sure. And then when the role was a teacher, and because Giles was involved with the whole school thing, I thought it's got be really good. But it was really good, and the writing is really good, which is the main thing. And the headmaster is nothing like Giles.' In this Saturday's programme David Tennant's Doctor Who will wind up at a reunion at a school presided over the by the scary Mr Finch. As a fan of the series as a child, particularly when it first started, Mr Head didn't need much persuading to take on the Mr Finch part."

CBBC News also mentions Head, saying that "Doctor Who villain Anthony Head has said that he thinks that children don't find him very scary. ... He said: 'There's been a good reaction to the episode but I met one little girl and asked if I scared her and she said no. I thought I was quite scary.' The actor spoke to Newsround at a big event called Collectormania, where fans get to meet their TV and film idols."

Waveguide says that "One of the best-known faces in British television appears in the Doctor Who two-parter Rise Of The Cybermen/The Age Of Steel on May 13 and 20. Roger Lloyd Pack has appeared in a number of popular and acclaimed programmes such as Dalziel And Pascoe,The Vicar Of Dibley, The Naked Civil Servant and Only Fools And Horses. Rise Of The Cybermen and The Age Of Steel sees the Doctor, Rose and Mickey trapped on a parallel Earth, and Roger takes on the role of the menacing John Lumic -- a man on an unrelenting mission to take over the world. 'I play a kind of evil genius who is creating an army of Cybermen in order to make himself immortal,' said Lloyd Pack. 'He's trying to get governments and people to go along with his plans, and Doctor Who tries to stop him.' When the actor was offered the role he read the script and immediately accepted the part, but a week later, fate intervened -- with a twist… 'It was a curious affair, because about a week after I agreed to do the part I broke my ankle,' Roger Lloyd Pack said. 'I couldn't walk without a stick, and was in plaster for a while, but it didn't interfere with the part because the role was in a wheelchair! I think God must have been saying ‘I'm going to give you a nice job, but I'm going to break your ankle as well!' I was taking research a little bit further than I usually do!' he said." Also, BBC News says that "As Del-boy's mate Trigger in only Fools and Horses, he perhaps wasn't the sharpest knife in the box. And, as a farmer in the Vicar of Dibley, he was never going to trouble the question-setters of Mastermind. But, for his latest role, actor Roger Lloyd Pack is playing an evil genius. So evil, in fact, that he's put himself in charge of a pack of Cybermen, who are out to change the face of London. What else could we be talking about but the latest series of Doctor Who? Roger's bagged himself a starring role in the Doctor's latest two-part adventure, which starts on Saturday. He came in to the Breakfast studio on Tuesday to tell us all about it - and to re-live some of his finest moments in Only Fools and Horses 'The Cybermen are definitely more scary than they were,' says Roger, who admits to having been a fan of Doctor Who since his first incarnation, played by William Hartnell. 'I am limited about what I can tell you. But I can say that I'm a baddy and I have a factory in which I capture people from London and upgrade their brains to cyberman status.' Roger Lloyd Pack will be in episodes 5 and 6 of the current Doctor Who series, on BBC One on Saturday evenings." It also includes a link to watch the entire interview on a Real Player frame. The interview is eight minutes long, with only the first two or three minutes covering Doctor Who.

The Telegraph interviews Simon Callow (from last year's "The Unquiet Dead"), saying that he "tells Tom Leonard about his affinity for Orson Welles, his intellectual promiscuity - and why he's best known for stripping off."

The Scotsman says, "Former Dr Who Sylvester McCoy will be among the stars appearing in the hit musical Me and My Girl when it comes to the Capital in the autumn. The popular musical is coming to the city's Festival Theatre in late October as part of a UK-wide eight-month tour. Also appearing will be former Steps star Faye Tozer and Trevor Bannister, who played Mr Lucas in Are You Being Served. Sylvester McCoy was in Edinburgh in 2004 when he performed alongside former TV star John Leslie in a stage adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice at the Playhouse. Me and My Girl was originally performed in London in 1937 and has since travelled the world to critical acclaim."

Worldscreen notes that Billie Piper was part of an award presented for her work on "The Friday Night Project" at the international entertainment television Rose d'Or festival which took place at Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, from April 25 to April 30, 2006.

Digital Spy notes that "ITV has commissioned a new half hour comedy series starring Josie Lawrence and Peter Davison. Now in production, Easy Peasy follows George Huntley (Davison), a professor of child psychology who is forced to put his theory into practice and look after his 7-year-old son Jamie (Noah Hedges) when his wife Phoebe (Lawrence) takes a job based in Paris. Finding a strong primetime comedy series has long been a problem for ITV; many series in recent years have either flopped or been aired in a post-primetime slot. Easy Peasy is likely to be given a shot at prime, however. 'I am delighted that Peter Davison and Josie Lawrence have been cast in this new comedy,' said Paul Jackson, ITV's director of entertainment and comedy. 'Easy Peasy strengthens ITV's portfolio and will appeal to a family audience.'"

School Reunion Coverage

As was done for 'New Earth' a couple of weeks ago, BBC One promoted 'School Reunion' as 'The One to Watch Tonight' with a ten-second trailer running between programmes throughout the day. The trailer uses the scene where the Doctor uncovers and introduces 'K9!'

Anthony Head, Mr Finch in 'School Reunion', is interviewed in the Daily Mirror. "'The script is great and I liked the idea of being able to do a character part, rather than a romantic role,' he says. 'Billie is absolutely adorable, a genuinely lovely person. She's cute as hell, but I don't find her sexy. She's half my age. I wouldn't go there. It's like when I was on Buffy and people used to say, 'Wahey, you're working with Sarah Michelle Gellar'. I'm not holier than thou, I just can't think of them in that way - I'm 52!'"

In The Guardian, Charlie Brooker announces that "Following a minor setback with this year's series opener, my love affair with Doctor Who ... is firmly back on: tonight's episode, in which K9 and Sarah-Jane return, brought tears to my eyes. Perhaps I'm losing my mind, or perhaps I'm just a sucker for a bit of bittersweet nostalgia, especially when it involves a ludicrous robot dog. Since my burgeoning Whomania knows no bounds, I'm prepared to go to any lengths - or sink to any depths - to indulge it. And if that means covering a crappy pornographic spoof called Dr Screw... then so be it." The Guardian also chooses the episode as one of Saturday's TV highlights: 'As the Doctor investigates reports of strange creatures haunting a London school, he encounters an old friend -- and her faithful robotic companion. Rose learns a few harsh truths about travelling with a Time Lord from her predecessor. Anthony Head guest stars, and Elisabeth Sladen, who accompanied Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker's Doctors in the 1970s, reprises her role as journalist Sarah Jane Smith.'

Monday's Leicester Mercury says, "Leeds Castle, Kent, sometime in the late 1970s and a sulk-inducingly dull family day out is unexpectedly enlivened by my dad spotting a camera crew in the stately home's gardens. It's a shoot for a Doctor Who episode, it turns out, and ooh look it's K-9 and ... and ... oh he's being pulled along on a piece of string by a beardy man hiding in the bushes. I think that was the moment I lost my telly innocence. TV had lied, and I felt cheated. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think K-9 was real or anything; I just thought at the very least he'd have a motor. Looking back, I can't see how I hadn't guessed. K-9 wasn't exactly hi-tech, was he? And that was a point pleasingly drawn-out in a playfully self-referential episode of Doctor Who on Saturday. 'Forget the shooty tin dog thing,' shouted Anthony Head's pupil-scoffing headmaster, as K-9-related chaos erupted in a school taken over by creepy monster bats. This was an episode designed for kids and adults alike. For the children, there was the happy notion that their teachers may be winged aliens, hellbent on evil. For the grown-ups, there was a full-on nostalgia trip, with the reappearance of K-9 and the majestic return of Elisabeth Sladen as the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker-era assistant Sarah Jane Smith. It was a hoot."

The Western Mail says that "Perhaps the most unfair category in this year's Bafta Cymru awards was Best Make-up. As long as the Tardis spirals through time and space, it's sewn up. Why bother entering if you're up against Doctor Who? However subtle your blusher tones for Con Passionate they're going to be no match for the Face of Bo or the gargoyled complexion of a Slitheen. But those of us who remember the series when the effects weren't quite so special, were excited by the retro touches of Saturday's episode, entitled School Reunion. The show saw Cardiff's Fitzalan High and Dyffryn Comprehensive in Newport transformed into an alien academy run by a marvellously deranged Anthony Head. In a particularly ingenious touch of post-modern irony, the pupils were turned into superintelligent alien hybrids by eating chips. Stick that in your smoothie maker, Jamie Oliver. And there was a blast from the past for the Doctor. One of the more mature hacks at the Cardiff Blues game had the video running. 'Can't wait to get home to see Sarah Jane tonight,' he beamed with an evident frisson of nostalgic lust. Sarah Jane, of course, was Elisabeth Sladen - assistant to Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. Reunited with the regenerated Doctor, there was genuine pathos as she described the pain of falling in love with a Timelord who never returned her calls. But at least she got custody of the dog - just a shame it was K9, a robot so tiresome he made Metal Mickey seem scintillating company. Yet BBC Wales's resurrection of the android mutt lacked the fastidious attention to details so handsomely rewarded by Bafta Cymru. Surely K9's voice was far more irritating first time round? Affirmative."

The Bristol Evening Post said that "Tonight's episode of Dr Who will see the return of K-9, the robotic dog created by a celebrated Bristol writer. The iconic sidekick was the brainchild of Bafta-winner Bob Baker, of Oldbury-on-Severn, and David Martin. The pair came up with the idea during the original run of the popular cult series in the 1970s. They brought him in to help the doctor in his Tom Baker incarnation. K-9... returns tonight in the current series of the classic show, which now sees David Tennant in the role of Dr Who. K-9 was not originally intended to be a companion, but producer Graham Williams liked the concept so much that he decided he must stay. His original name was 'FIDO' which was apparently derived from 'Phenomenal Indication Data Observation' unit. Mr Baker, aged 67, is the storyteller behind the animated Aardman movies that have taken the world by storm. He wrote Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were Rabbit, an idea he apparently hatched over a pint with animator Nick Park. He also penned The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave for Mr Park. Mr Baker began writing cartoons and short film scripts in the early 60s and won critical acclaim in the 70s for several hit TV shows including Bergerac and Z Cars. When he is not writing, he lectures on script-writing and film at Filton College's South West Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has nine grown-up children and works out of a shed that he built at the end of his garden as a summer-house. Despite earning a fortune from the scripts, Bob refuses to move from his humble three-bed semi, where he creates all his works on his laptop."

The Scotsman says that "Relationships continued to come under the microscope on Saturday in Doctor Who. David Tennant seems to have settled into the Time Lord's shoes and is starting to have fun with the role. Not quite as much fun as Tom Baker had, perhaps, but then it'd take a lot to convince me that the first Baker wasn't the best doctor ever. The real meat in this episode was the return of Sarah Jane Smith, a former assistant of the Doctor from many moons ago. The appearance of Sarah created some pangs of regret for the Doc, and some fine scenes of jealous rivalry for his new lady friend, Rose. 'How many of us have there been?' she pouted, nose put firmly out of joint. The return of K9 must have created another ripple of excitement for the die-hard fans - when everyone's favourite tin dog said 'affirmative' in that metallic voice, it sent me right back to Saturday night teatime circa 1980-something. Just like the TARDIS, Doctor Who manages to be more than it first appears. It caters to kids, their parents, the science fiction fans and whoever else happens to be watching. As Saturday night viewing goes, it's right up there with Ant and Dec's Saturday show, finally filling a void that's existed in the viewing schedules for years. With this sort of good old-fashioned entertainment on offer, it's almost worth staying in."

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph says, "Sarah Jane back with the Doctor; K-9 firing his red laser and wagging his metal tail suddenly I became an eight-year-old all over again. I don't know about Doctor Who being a time traveller, I suspect that actress Elisabeth Sladen must know something about defying the years as she didn't look any different from when she first appeared in the series back in the Seventies. After a shaky start, the second series of the new' Doctor Who is getting back on track. After last week's scary werewolves, this week we had bat-like creatures from another planet disguising themselves as teachers and using pupils to try and take over the universe as you would. The great joy about this week's episode was the way the script cleverly brought together old and new with Sarah Jane and the Doctor's latest travelling companion Rose Tyler. Billie Piper has certainly come a long way from the pop teen sensation who pranced about shouting Because We Want To', and now displays some great comic timing. But it was the forever youthful Ms Sladen who stole the show, providing a really poignant moment as she was reunited and then said goodbye to the love of her life. I'm still not totally convinced by David Tennant as the Doctor though. He's all wide-eyed stares and lacks that real charisma you'd expect the saviour of the galaxy to have. But you can't knock really knock a series that he made Saturday night TV worth watching again."

The Herald noted that "Doctor Who struck a far more acerbic comedy note -- at least, it did when it wasn't coming over all grief-stricken for the transient nature of humanity. Heavy stuff for a Saturday tea-time, and all the more engrossing for it. Alongside the doc's cuddly old robotic sidekick, K9, angry political satire was on show if you cared to spot it too -- not least in the name of the inner-city comprehensive where the regenerated sci-fi warhorse's action took place: Deepfry Vale. Doctor Who's current custodian, Russell T Davies, advanced a premise that allowed him to take numerous potshots at the policy of feeding schoolchildren burgers, chips and fizzy pop. The doc's foes this week were the Krilitanes: sinister bat-like creatures from some malignant corner of the cosmos, bidding to exploit our schoolkids by feeding them greasy foodstuffs fried in mind-expanding, soul-destroying Krilitanian outer-space chip-fat (you'll know the stuff: you also get it in certain city takeaways on a Saturday night). The lizardly Anthony Head was chief Krilitane, oiling easily between persuasive sophistry and world-enslaving viciousness. From time to time you couldn't help doubting whether Doctor Who would defeat this latest enemy -- surely the mark of a quality adventure. Win through he did, though, en-route meeting one of the many female assistants he's loved and left over the centuries: Sarah-Jane Smith (played by the actress who originally portrayed her, Elisabeth Sladen). Explaining why he scarpered in the Tardis, leaving Sarah-Jane stranded, David Tennant's charismatic Doctor unfolded his terrible dilemma as an undying entity: 'I'm the Doctor... you can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of my life with you. It's the curse of timelords.' No wonder the doctor's current partner, Rose (Billie Piper), looked glum as she realised how, in choosing to pay the price of love, she'd eventually wind up being abandoned too. Profoundly good, Doctor Who is."

Blogcritics said that "It must be fun to travel time and space with a man so interested in everything. The problem is, The Doctor can never die -- his companions however, do. That is the underlying tension that Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) brought to 'School Reunion,' the third episode of Series 2. Once again, an episode that is a mixed bag. The reunion between Sarah Jane Smith and the Doctor was a nice touch, sans the whole 'Why did you leave me?' stuff. He was right about one thing: No matter the length a person spends with a Timelord, he will never grow old nor will he die. I couldn't help feeling that a Christopher Eccelston performance would have exploited that loneliness better. In fact, the whole underlying theme of loss made me think of Christopher Eccelston's Doctor rather than David Tennant's. Character development, however, is hard to achieve in science fiction. As in the previous two episodes, the creature of the week was the main focus -- this time, it's bat people. This race had incorporated themselves into human bodies to carry out a dastardly plan -- they want to unlock the universe in order to make more of themselves. That's at least what I think they were trying to do. It feels like the dangers of the Doctor and Rose have been so passive and blah. I have the sneaky feeling that when another old enemy comes into play later this season, the writing will finally get a boost in quality. Noel Clarke's Mickey Smith still came off as the black Adric, annoying and seemingly in the way. This time I think the writers have learned to tone that aspect of his character down, in favor of a more practical approach -- make him do the grunt work. From pulling wires to smashing doors down, Mickey is good as a character to cut through the bullshit. This being the case, I think his return would have been better left out until later in the season. It's really hard to pay attention to him and the main plot and the return of Sarah Jane Smith without feeling confused. Since Sarah Jane hasn't been in the program for years, I would have stuck to that more. John Lesson's K9 also returned for 'School Reunion.' The last time anyone saw him was in 'The Five Doctors' in 1983, and he was relegated to a cameo. For all the technology that has come since the days of Tom Baker's era, you would think that he wouldn't be as stationary as he was this time around. The few moments K9 got to move seem like meters. I can understand the little time he was given as he wasn't the favorite of the Doctor Who production team in the early days. I'd like to see more of him in a Sarah Jane spin-off, but that was already attempted and failed to produce interest. Rose has been on the sidelines lately -- an answer to my prayers since Series 1. Billie Piper's new day companion character seemed to take over the series last year -- it very nearly could have been named Doctor Rose. Paired up against Sladen's Sarah Jane, the chemistry felt forced and was creating tension just to do so. I swear I wanted Anthony Stewart Head to be the Master -- He had the creepiness down to a science and demonstrated a good set of acting chops as the Headmaster of the school. The character seemed to have a Nazi theme about him that was rather funny -- always walking and turning like he was stiff. I hope the producers use him more for future episodes as he was one of the stronger actors to guest star on the show. Overall, this was a good reunion of an old guest star to the show. In terms of the quality of the episode, it was only fair. Perhaps when the Cybermen come along later this season, the writers will finally use their full abilities to make a classic episode. That's one of the conditions in being a fan of a show: You stick with it even in the dark times."

The Times says, "Every Saturday, one wonders 'Can Doctor Who get any better? Surely it couldn't, without in some way hurting us?' And yet, every week, it does get better. This week's episode makes the word 'humdinger' look positively humdrum: the Doctor goes to investigate a school at the centre of some UFO sightings, and discovers that it has been taken over by Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who is harbouring, as one always suspected he did, some quite serious plans for becoming ruler of the universe. Of course, the big news of the episode was the reunion between the Doctor and Sarah Jane, which could have been any one of the following: a) crass, b) mawkish c) camp d) full of a great deal of tedious extrapolation ('So then I moved to Middlesbrough for three years, which is where I met my first husband, Steve.') -- but was, instead, clever, moving and sharp as a steak knife. Sarah Jane was quite put out to discover that the Doctor had never mentioned her to his new assistant, Rose. Rose, meanwhile, was jealous of Sarah Jane's history with the Doctor. This resulted, for the first 15 minutes at least, in Doctor Who's first inaugural Diva Assistants' Bitching Fest, with the ladies like Joan Crawford and Bette Davis squabbling over the last false eyelash in the box. From there, the episode developed into a passionate, considered exploration of what happens to the Doctor's assistants when the big man drops them off in Dumpsville, population: one ex-sidekick. 'Did I do something wrong?' Sarah Jane suddenly asks, at one point, looking pained and bewildered. 'I thought you were coming back, but you never came back. I waited. You never said goodbye.' ... I was one year old when Sarah Jane originally left Doctor Who, so I didn't have a danny who she was, really, but even I was blubbing by the end. I can't believe something this good is a kid's show. Children raised on this stuff are going to be light years ahead of the rest of us. We'll probably be their chimp-gimps by 2012."

Other Press Items

TV Guide said of last week's US broadcast of "Father's Day," "'I did it again! Another stupid ape!' roars the Doctor. 'I offer to show you the universe and you ask what the universe can do for you!' In other words, Rose screwed up. But if you ask this ape, it was the Doctor's fault for bringing Rose within touching distance (twice!) of her late father. Did he really expect her NOT to make some kind of effort to save Peter Tyler's life? OK, so he was probably kicking himself when he shouted at our Rose, but to be fair he was pretty stressed out. Time Pterodactyls were besieging a church like white blood cells trying to combat an infection. (And just before a wedding too.) For Rose had indeed created a wound in time by changing the past and saving her Dad's life. Even the Doctor was eaten by one of the creatures until Peter took it upon himself to be run over by that car, thus healing the temporal fissure. This was another gem in the new Who canon. An obvious premise was developed into something exciting, hilarious and moving. Even though we knew how it was going to end, it was a helluva lot of fun getting there. Like all the Who episodes so far, there were a 1001 great little moments. The Doctor tells off a certain yapper. 'Jackie Tyler----I've been waiting a long time to say this---do as I say, go and check the doors!' Then there's Rose's 'Why does everybody think we're a couple?' quip after her spat with the Doc. Actually, I was nurturing a theory (I was! Right at the top of the show and everything!) that the Doctor was really her dad---a theory that was promptly dispelled. Rose's mum had nurtured her daughter's image of her late father as a near-saint. In fact, he was something of a sweet ne'er do well, who quarrelled often and loudly with Jackie. (Love her 80s perm BTW!) There was also a nod to 'Mawdryn Undead' in the 'paradox' of Rose encountering her infant self. Anybody remember when the two Brigadiers did the same thing? Jackie's friends, the would-be married couple---though amazed by the Doctor's prodigous intellegence and talent---had their blessings put in perspective by the man himself. 'Two in the morning, get a cab here...I'll never do that,' says our overworked universe-and-time trotter. Being the last of the Time Lords means very little vacation. Or benders. (I know how he feels.)" Additional reviews of the broadcast of "Father's Day" in the US at TV Squad.

icWales notes that "Eastenders is eternally linked with London, Morse epitomised Oxford, and Bergerac is synonymous with Jersey. Now Cardiff has its very own TV series that is attracting thousands of tourists. Not only has Doctor Who been filmed across the city's streets, in churches, department stores and theatres, the Doctor and his assistant Rose have even been seen at famous Cardiff landmarks, including the Millennium Stadium and the Temple of Peace. Now one city centre hotel is offering a special Doctor Who package, especially for visitors who want to experience the locations where the time lord battled with the Cybermen and defeated the Daleks. The Park Plaza Hotel is charging... for visitors to stay in the centre of the action and, with the help of their guide book and a blow-up Dalek, you can take a walk around the film set for series one. Marketing director for the Greyfriars Road hotel, Caroline Sims, said: 'I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Doctor Who following is phenomenal. Everybody recognises the Tardis and Daleks and now they recognise it as a part of Cardiff. We're now seen as a sexy city to visit. We're catching up with the likes of Edinburgh - Doctor Who is just another draw for visitors.' Caroline said that if the package, the first of its kind in Cardiff, is in demand the hotel will expand into Doctor Who weekends with dedicated talks and tours."

A writer for Leeds Today says, "I've been something of a fan of the classic sci fi series since childhood and it's never posed a problem until this year when a new actor was selected to become the timelord's tenth incarnation. The trouble is the man who got the job, David Tennant, is the spit of me. No really, the spit. It never occurred to me at first. Even when he first appeared in the late night drama Blackpool in 2004 I didn't spot the similarity. It was first brought to my attention by a fan of the show, a female colleague who, almost on a daily basis, now has to constantly suppress her fawning adoration for me. It's getting embarrassing now. ... And that's the problem -- David Tennant is very much the man of the moment which, by default, means that I'm getting a lot of attention too."

A writer in the Sunday Times said that "I quite fancy going along to the auction in Edinburgh next month, where a Doctor Who script signed by David Tennant will be sold off to benefit Christian Aid, at the church where his father, Sandy, was once a minister. Not through any appreciation of Doctor Who, I hasten to add -- since Jon Pertwee did away with his yellow Edwardian motor, Bessie, and the brigadier went to the great speech and drama class in the sky, the show has been little more than a husk to me. But a simple calculation shows that dweebishness multiplies exponentially as one moves towards the American continent, with the supplementary fact that disposable income increases proportionally with dweebishness. This means the script will have the Edinburgh natives digging in their pockets for loose change and will subsequently command a king's ransom from the Elmers and Elmerettes of Wisconsin, thanks to the wonders of eBay. It's not strictly ethical, of course, but the good doctor specialises in playing fast and loose with the moral codes of the space-time continuum. Somewhere in the constellation of Gallifray, it's what his two hearts would want."

Doctor Who again features in the British satirical magazine Private Eye, this time in a joke article (by 'our political staff, Lunchtime O'Sleaze') regarding the 'cash for peerages' scandal. The article reads: 'The Prime Minister has been accused of further corruption as the honours-for-cronies row deepens. It was claimed last night that Dr Who was only created a Time Lord after making a loan to the Labour Party. Said one disgruntled Dalek, 'Dr Who lent the Prime Minister his Tardis so that Tony could go back in time and regenerate himself by turning into Mrs Thatcher.' A spokesman for the Time Lord said, 'I really can't remember the circumstances of the loan. It was a long time in the future.'' The article also prints a small picture of Billie Piper - with the caption 'excuse to put in picture of
Billie Piper.'

The Express and Echo Express and Echo says that "Hollie Richards is celebrating after her design skills were recognised in a local competition. The 10-year-old, from Kenton, took part in a plate painting competition run by Earth, Paint & Fire at Powderham, near Exeter. Children were invited to submit designs based around the new Dr Who TV series. For her efforts, Hollie, from Kenton, received a sonic screwdriver. The second prize, a book on monsters went to Ellie Wrigley, from Cockwood, while joint third prize, an Easter egg, went to Finn Rawlings, from Kenton, and Niamh Stephenson, from Tiverton. 'We had some fantastic entries,' said Earth, Paint & Fire's owner Sue Maw. 'It was very difficult to pick the winners, we had lots of the tardis, some Daleks, and a very impressive Rose.'"

The Hackney Gazette notes that "From the moment Billie Piper as a possessed Rose Tyler looked at herself in the mirror and exclaimed: 'Oh my God, I'm a chav,' you just knew that Saturday night TV had at last moved out of the mundane, at least for 45 minutes, with the return of Dr Who. And with the night's top viewing figures of more than eight million it seems others agree with me that it's good to have the Doctor back, even if it is a new model. Russell T. Davies's dialogue and sub-plots building towards an overall link to the whole series give a spark to what would otherwise, let's face it, be all a bit daft. But with Dr Who now working on so many different levels it's compulsive viewing of a quality normally reserved for big boy's telly such as Messiah and Cracker."

The Daily Star said last week that "We fear that David Tennant got bitten by the werewolf in the last episode of Doctor Who. How else can the telly totty, 35, explain the beast-like fur covering the lower part of his mush, the deadly fangs and the cold, dead eyes of a killer? No wonder pal Kim Medcalf, 31, covered her neck after the opening night of her play Hay Fever at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket. Our man with the silver bullets said: 'He'd better shave. Rose won't get into the Tardis if he keeps this serial killer look.'"

What's On Stage says that "It's hard keeping up with the all the star-studded goings on at the Royal Court of late with the various activities surrounding its year-long 50th anniversary celebrations (See News, 11 Oct 2005). The latest announcement sees David Tennant, Helen McCrory and Ann-Marie Duff starring in the one night only tribute to Look Back in Anger on Monday 8 May 2006, 50 years to the day after John Osborne's classic had its world premiere at a then two-month-old Court under the English Stage Company. ... Tennant is Jimmy Porter, a part he played last year in Edinburgh and Bath. Duff (Days of Wine and Roses, The Daughter in Law, Collected Stories, TV's Shameless) is Alison and McCrory (As You Like It in the West End, Old Times, Five Gold Rings, Platonov) is her best friend Helena. Further casting has not yet been confirmed."

Newbury Today says that "A young Doctor Who fan proved he is the top 'Doc' when he appeared on a BBC TV programme about the series last night (Thursday). Sam Storey, aged 10, went head to head with the show's star 'Mickey', played by Noel Clarke, to see who knew the most about The Doctor. The children's show - Totally Doctor Who - saw Sam come up with the most difficult Doctor Who questions he could for 'Mickey', while the series' star hit back with a tough test of his own. But Sam won on the day and walked away with a whole host of Doctor Who goodies. Had the hours of watching the show, which is seen by around nine million viewers each week, and reading the books not paid off for the Brockhurst school pupil, Sam would have been forced to part with his prized possession - a Reading football shirt. The show was filmed at BBC Wales, in Cardiff, and Sam and mum Emily Storey enjoyed a studio tour and the chance to meet celebrities like Noel, as well as children's TV presenter Barney and Liz, who used to present Blue Peter."

Also: the Sci Fi Channel home page featured a video interview last week with Christopher Eccleston; Ananova says that "Time-travelling temptress Billie Piper has revealed she wouldn't say no to a spot of lady lovin"; theCBBC site has instructions for designing a Tardis t-shirt, with a printout-out guide;

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, John Bowman, Peter Weaver, Chuck Foster, Stephen Brand, Richard Little, Andy Parish, Keith Armstrong, Cameron Yarde Jr, Ed Martin)

FILTER: - Russell T Davies - Online - DWM - Series 2/28 - Press - Radio Times

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Director Euros Lyn Interview

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TARDIS Report: The Past Week in the Press

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