Canadian Ratings

Sunday, 13 March 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Canadian Channel SPACE have revealed the last series of Doctor Who had an average of 391,000 viewers.

The news was in a press release noting that January was the most-watched month in the channel's history and looking forward to the new series of Doctor Who which is expected to be shown on the network shortly after its UK premier.

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan return as The Doctor and Amy Pond for Season 6 of fan and critical darling. Filmed in North America for the first time ever, the two-part opener finds the Doctor, Amy, and Rory (Arthur Darvill) on a secret summons that takes them on an adventure from the Utah desert to the Oval Office in 1969. Alex Kingston (ER) reprises as River Song, while Mark Sheppard (SUPERNATURAL) guest stars as Canton.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Canada - Ratings

Piers Wenger steps down as Head of Drama, BBC Wales

Monday, 7 March 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A BBC Press release today has revealed that Piers Wenger, one of the excutive producers and creative influences of the Eleventh Doctor's era of Doctor Who, is stepping down as Head of Drama at BBC Wales. His successor in the role will be Faith Penhale, creative manager and executive producer at Kudus Film and Television (Spooks).

The release goes on to explain:
Doctor Who: Piers WengerPiers Wenger, who joined BBC Wales in 2007 and, with Stephen Moffat and Beth Willis masterminded the latest regeneration of Doctor Who with Matt Smith, will continue in his role as creative leader of a range of key shows including the Doctor.

Wenger was responsible for the highly successful relaunch of Upstairs Downstairs as well as the extraordinary Eric And Ernie, which was the most successful drama on BBC Two for more than a decade. Having previously held the post as Head of Drama, he now wishes to focus more exclusively on the running of his existing slate of in-house shows as well as the creative development of individual projects, including Sir Tom Stoppard's forthcoming five-part adaptation of the Ford Madox Ford novel Parade's End for BBC Two.
Wenger went on to say:
I am absolutely thrilled for Wales that it has someone as brilliant and experienced as Faith to bring in the next generation of shows. The department has blazed a trail across a wide portfolio of in-house and indie shows in the last few years and it’s exciting for us all to have someone with Faith’s huge talent to build on their success.




FILTER: - People - Doctor Who - Production

Win The Good, the Bad and the Alien/System Wipe

Thursday, 3 March 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Today is World Book Day in the UK and Ireland and to celebrate, The Doctor Who News Page is offering readers the chance to win a copy of Book 2 - Doctor Who: The Good, the Bad and the Alien/System Wipe by Colin Brake and Oli Smith.

The Good, the Bad and the Alien/System Wipe
Written by Colin Brake and Oli Smith

Book 2 in the thrilling new Doctor Who original fiction series! Starring the Eleventh Doctor and his companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams, these double-fronted books each contain two fast-paced, fun-filled adventures.

Aliens have crash-landed in the Wild West and they’re ready for a showdown in The Good, the Bad and the Alien! Can the Doctor, Rory and Amy work out which are the good guys and which are the bad?

The Doctor finds himself trapped in a virtual world in System Wipe. As he tries to save the characters of the virtual world from being destroyed by a deadly virus, Amy and Rory must fight to keep the Doctor’s body in the real world safe from the mysterious entity known as Legacy…

Released: 3rd February 2011

(available to buy now from our Amazon Shop)

We have three copies of the book up for grabs courtesy of Penguin Books. To be in for a chance of winning the competition, simply answer this question:

In the previous Book 1 story, Death Riders, what is the name of the planet that the 'Galactic Fair' arrives on?

Send your answer with your name, address and email to us at book2-competition@doctorwhonews.net, with the subject line Book2 Competition.

Closing Date:17th March 2011





FILTER: - Competitions - Doctor Who News

International iPlayer less than $10 per month

Thursday, 3 March 2011 - Reported by Marcus
iplayerBBC Director General, Mark Thompson has given more details on the international version of the BBC iPlayer, first reported in August.

In a speech to the Financial Times Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference 2011, Thompson confirmed the iPlayer app will launch later this year and said the price will be under $10 per month.

The app will give international users the chance to see BBC programmes, such as Doctor Who and Torchwood, shortly after their broadcast in the UK and without the 'shows being rebranded or reformatted.'

Thompson paid tribute to the domestic success of the iPlayer, saying in January 162m programmes, an average of six per household, were downloaded via the iPlayer in the UK. Matt Smith's debut story, The Eleventh Hour, still remains the most downloaded programme ever.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Online

Win the Ark on DVD (R2)

Friday, 18 February 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who News is offering readers the chance to win a copy of The Ark, starring William Hartnell as The Doctor.

The Ark
Written by Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott
Directed by Michael Imison


The TARDIS arrives some ten million years in the future on a giant spaceship carrying all the Earth's surviving plant, animal and human life (much of it miniaturised and in suspended animation) on a 700 year voyage to a new home on the planet Refusis II. Dodo is suffering from a cold - an unknown affliction in this era - and as the human Guardians of the ship and their servant race the Monoids have no resistance, a plague breaks out.

Released: 14th February 2011
(available to buy now from our Amazon Shop)

We have three copies up for grabs of the DVD courtesy of 2|Entertain. To be in for a chance of winning the competition, simply answer this question:


During The Ark, the First Doctor is assisted by the invisible Refusians to defeat the Monoids; many years later the Third Doctor encounters more invisible beings in Planet of the Daleks - name this race.

Closing Date: Friday 4th March 2011

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This competition is open worldwide - however PLEASE NOTE that the prize is a REGION 2 DVD and will only play on machines that can accept that region.


K9 Competition winners

The answer to the question "In which David Tennant episode did K9 make his first appearance for over 20 years?" is of course School Reunion.

Congratulations to Gary Lewin of Yeovil, Neil White of Worksop, and John Collins of Stockton on Teme who have all won a copy of K9 Series One Volume One.




FILTER: - Competitions - Doctor Who News

Doctor Who win big at the 2011 SFX Awards

Saturday, 5 February 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
Doctor Who have won in 5 categories at the 2011 SFX Awards.

Matt Smith beat ex Dcotor David Tennant to 'Best Actor'. Smith told SFX:
"Thank you so much to the readers of SFX for voting for me. I’m really proud to have won this award and it’s amazing to receive such fantastic support from fans of the show. I’d also like to thank the team at SFX who have continued to produce brilliant coverage on the show – the magazine’s 3D lenticular cover last April was incredible and a real highlight for everyone involved in Doctor Who."

Karen Gillan won 'Best Actress'. She told SFX:
"Wooah! I really wasn’t expecting that! I’m completely honoured that the cool cats who read SFX have voted me best actress! Basically I’m trying to say thanks to each and every reader who took the time to vote. I would also like to thank the Doctor Who production team who work so hard every day to make this show a success. And a big thank you to Matt and Arthur for making the TARDIS team such fun to be in.

"We are back on your screens this spring with some seriously scary stuff going down. So look out…."


The show won 'Best TV Show' - which was accepted by Steven Moffat (see a video of his acceptance speech below) - and the 'Sci-Fi Phenomenon Award'.

Other awards for Doctor Who went to Character Options for their Eleven Doctors action figure set, which won 'Best Collectable, Model Or Toy'. Russell Tovey (Midshipman Alonso Frame, Voyage of the Damned and The End of Time, Part Two) won the 'SFX Cult Hero'.

Vincent And The Doctor
lost 'Best TV Episode' to the final episode of Ashes to Ashes.

The ceremony took place at the SFX Weekender and the full list of winners and nominees on the night can be found on the SFX website.


(YouTube video courtesy of Tim Drury)




FILTER: - Doctor Who - UK - Awards/Nominations

A Christmas Carol - Soundtrack details

Thursday, 3 February 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
Silva Screen have released the cover art and tracklisting for the soundtrack to A Christmas Carol. The album was originally due to be released in the UK on 21 February but has now been delayed until 21 March.

1. Come Along Pond
2 .Halfway out of the Dark
3. Pray for a Miracle
4. Geoff
5. You Didn't Hit the Boy
6. Fish
7. Kazran Sardick 12 1/2
8. Ghost of Christmas Past
9. Babysitter
10. Talk About Girls
11. Sonic Fishing
12. Just a Little One
13. Big Colour
14. I Can't Save Her
15. The Other Half's Inside the Shark
16. Abigail
17. He comes every Christmas
18. Shark Ride
19. New Memories
20. Holding Hands
21. Christmas Dinner
22. Goodlucknight
23. Goodnight Abigail
24. This Planet Is Ours
25. Ghost of Christmas Present
26. The Course of my Life
27. Ghost of Christmas Future
28. Abigail's Song (Silence is all you Know), (performed by Katherine Jenkins)
29. Everything Has to End Some Time

The music is composed by now Doctor Who composer of choice Murray Gold and performed by the excellent BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Crouch End Festival Chorus. The album will be released both physically (SILCD1360) and digitally (SILED1360). The TV episode was broadcast on Christmas Day at 6pm and featured Matt Smith as The Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams. They were joined by Michael Gambon as Kazran Sardick and Katherine Jenkins as Abigail Pettigrew.





FILTER: - Music - Murray Gold - Merchandise - Doctor Who - Series 6/32

Doctor in Stubble

Monday, 31 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor WhoThe BBC has released some details about the upcoming series of Doctor Who, featuring Matt Smith - seen here from the new series trailer as the Doctor chained and sporting a considerable beard.

The actor commented:
It was a glued-on beard. I wouldn't be able to grow a full-on beard like that in time. They had to remove it with a substance smelling like white turps.

It's also been confirmed that Smith has filmed special scenes, scripted by show runner Steven Moffat for the new interactive exhibition opening at London's Olympia next month, the Doctor Who Experience.
It gives a sense of the TV show. I've filmed some scenes for the experience. It places you, the fan, at the heart of the action and become the companion, in a sense. There's a Tardis, which you can go on. The museum has all things Doctor Who. It should feature costumes from all the Doctors over the ages, and I'm sure I've got a few bits in there.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Series 6/32

Win K9 Series One Volume One on DVD

Thursday, 27 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor Who News Page is offering winners the chance to win a copy of the first volume of K9, covering episodes one to thirteen of the first series.

K9 BLAST BLASTS INTO HIS OWN LIVE ACTION SCI-FI ADVENTURE SERIES COMBINING COMEDY, ACTION AND SUSPENSE!

Originally created for the classic British sci-fi show Doctor Who in 1977, K9 has long been an iconic television character. He was created by Bob Baker & Dave Martin, who had been long standing contributors to the show from the Jon Pertwee days through to the Tom Baker era. The robotic dog worked his way into the nation’s hearts and he made on screen come back in 2006 showing up in the David Tennant story School Reunion.

K9 now blasts into his own sci-fi/adventure series combining comedy, action and suspense, which is being shown on shown on Five in the UK. The series combines live action and stunning visual effects and comes from his original creator Bob Baker.


K9: Series One Volume One is due for release in the shops from 31st January 2011.

We have three copies up for grabs of the DVD courtesy of Organic Marketing. To be in for a chance of winning the competition, simply answer this question:

In which David Tennant episode did K9 make his first appearance for over 20 years?
  • Blink
  • School Reunion
  • The Christmas Invasion

Send your answer with your name, address and email to us at k9-competition@doctorwhonews.net, with the subject line K9 Competition.

Closing Date: Friday 11th February 2011



News links:
K9: UK DVD release update (22nd Dec 2010)




FILTER: - Competitions - Doctor Who News

Character Sets - More Details

Thursday, 27 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
NTAMore details have emerged on the new set of Doctor Who Characters available this spring from Character Building.

Chris Elmer from the website Active Dad got a chance to play with the Characters at the 2011 London Toy Fair held at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in London.

Fans of the classic series will be delighted that each of the eleven incarnations of the Doctor is represented in toy form along with vast armies of Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels.

Building sets featuring scenes from the series include the TARDIS Console Room Playset, the TARDIS Mini Set, the Cybermen Conversion Chamber Set, the Dalek Factory Set and the Time of Angles Mini Set .

The sets are not connected to LEGO, although the bricks and characters do fit together.

For more infomation check out ActiveDad.co.uk which also has a review of other Doctor Who Merchandise available at the Fair.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Doctor Who - Character