People Roundup (Current Series)

Saturday, 8 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The following round-up includes interview discussion of the current series which may be considered spoilers for upcoming episodes.


Matt Smith talks about the speculation over a future female Doctor: "I think there are many actresses that could play it because there are so many wonderful actresses. I mean, it would change the role because she would be a woman so when you put her in a room full of men, it's a different scenario than if you put a man in a room full of men, because she's a different sex. Would it change the fundamentals of the character? No. But it's an interesting idea, if the Doctor's a woman, does she have a Doctor baby? Is there a mini-Doctor? I don't know, who knows? What actresses could play her? Oh gosh, so many, so many could play her. It depends on what age you would want. It could be... Charlize Theron is pretty kick ass, isn’t she? They just have to find a brilliant actress. I never see that happening any time soon to be honest. I don’t think it will happen. And I'm not turning into a woman. [The Mary Sue, 1 Sep 2012]

Arthur Darvill talks about his decision to leave the show this series: "It does feel like the right time to move on. The worst thing you can do is outstay your welcome on something like this. We've had such a good run and such good stories, but the whole program is about change. It's about things changing and evolving. So it's sad to leave, but it feels like the right thing to do. ... It's one of the best things I've ever done in my life," said Darvill. "I think people, when they leave a show, they can kind of separate themselves from what they've done. But I'll always be proud of the work that I've done on Doctor Who. I've learned so much doing it and had such an amazing time doing it. It's given me such a great start in everything. I still feel fairly early on in my career, and it's a really good foundation." [Blastr, 31 Aug 2012]

Writer Chris Chibnall talks about bringing dinosaurs to the screen: "There were two sides to it, one of which was, you know going in that it’s not a Michael Bay budget. It’s a Doctor Who budget. A BBC budget, although a very good one. But you know you can’t do dinosaurs endlessly for 45 minutes, so there has to be a big ‘other’ story going on. That was my job really, to go, ‘Okay, this is the story I want to tell around the dinosaurs, why they’re there and who’s with the Doctor’ and all that kind of stuff." [SFX, 3 Sep 2012]

Steven Moffat talks about the introduction of a new companion for the Doctor: "“We are going to do the story properly of the Doctor having lost a friend and making a new one. We’re not taking that lightly. It's not in one door out the other. It’s the story of how all that affects him, why he engages with somebody else and what’s going on with that – that’s all important." [SFX, 3 Sep 2012]

Tom MacRae hinted about his forthcoming Doctor Who story: "I don’t know when you’ll see it, but you definitely will!" [On The Box, 7 Sep 2012]

Young actor Cameron Strefford landed a role in the Christmas Special, which has recently been filming. The ten year old's mother Anthea said: "I watched his takes on the monitor and members of the crew said he came over very well. It's not the way he says his lines, it is the way he comes over on camera. He is quite intuitive and has a good feel for the part." [This is Wiltshire, 30 Aug 2012]




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - People - Arthur Darvill - Matt Smith

People Roundup

Saturday, 8 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Karen Gillan has been involved in a photo-shoot for fashion magazine Marie Claire in a project alongside This is Great Britain to place the UK's brightest stars in London's most historic locations. Karen appears in front of 10 Downing Street! Editor-in-chief Trish Halpin said: "To be the first fashion magazine granted access to these amazing London landmarks was a real honour." A video of the shoot is also available to watch. [Marie Claire, 5 Sep 2012]

The actress has also paid for her father to record an album. She said: "He's a singer, not professional, he just loves doing it. I got it as a Father's Day present. I'm thinking of doing a duet with him but he's far better than me." [Daily Record, 4 Sep 2012]

Matt Smith mentions one of his experiences in New York recently: In New York, Karen and I walked into this 'Doctor Who'-themed bar. It shows the appalling limits of our vanity that we wanted to go to a 'Doctor Who' bar. But our curiosity got the better of us. You could have heard a pin drop when we strolled in." [FemaleFirst, 3 Sep 2012]

Smith will be a guest on the Channel 4 chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man on Friday 21st September at 10pm, according to a tweet by the programme's official Twitter feed.

Arthur Darvill talks about his departure from Doctor Who, and onto new projects such as the West End show Our Boys: "We all met up on Monday to do a publicity photoshoot for that, all in army gear. Everyone else had these really sharp uniforms and I was in cold weather gear, so I had a shirt, a polo neck, a jumper, a massive jacket on the hottest day of the year!" [GT Magazine, Oct 2012]

A host of photos during rehearsals and further information on the play can be found via the play's official Facebook page.

The first episode of the two-part BBC Four adaptation of Room At The Top starring Jenna-Louise Coleman as Susan Brown is set to air during the week beginning Saturday 22nd September. The drama, which co-stars Kevin McNally, was made in 2010 and should have been broadcast in April 2011 but the BBC was prevented from showing it because of a copyright wrangle, which was finally resolved earlier this year. The day and time of transmission is yet to be confirmed. [BBC Programme Information]

Alex Kingston traces her family history in a forthcoming edition of Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC One. It is likely to be shown on Wednesday 19th September at 9pm.

David Tennant discussed how important the works of Shakespeare are: "I am on the board of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a huge part of what they do is education and outreach -- partly just to educate an audience for themselves but also just to teach that sort of language so kids can appreciate it. I think Shakespeare is one of those things that you get very excited about when you do it and when you love it and when you feel like you own that language. Often it's a difficult thing to teach to kids because it can feel like a slow and a difficult thing, but it can be really inspiring!" [TheaterMania, 29 Aug 2012]

The actor has also donated a signed copy of the Complete Second Series of Doctor Who an auction on behalf of The Alzheimer's Society - potential bidders can find the item on Ebay here over the next eight days. [Alzeimer's Society, 7 Sep 2012]

Digital Theatre and Routledge Publishing have made theatre performanances from the Routledge Performance Archive online; amongst the shows available for download/rental is David Tennant's Much Ado About Nothing, which co-starred Catherine Tate. [Standard, 6 Sep 2012]

John Barrowman commented on gay representation on American television: "America has the most gay men represented on television than any country in the world. The only thing I wish they would do more often is not stereotype those gay men and women. It's always the same type they choose. Rather than seeing camp, flouncy, girly men and butch heavy women, it would be nice to see other types. There are 'lipstick lesbians,' pretty girls. There are butch guys, guys who are into sports." [Desert Outlook, 4 Sep 2012]

Eve Myles has won the title role in the new six-part BBC One series Frankie, which will see her reunited with Torchwood director Mark Everest. The drama is described as "a modern and redemptive take on the life and work of a dedicated district nurse [Frankie Maddox] whose patients matter more to her than her personal life." Also appearing in it are Dean Lennox Kelly and Derek Riddell. Filming will take place in Bristol, where the series is set, with the drama due to air next spring. [BBC Media Centre, 6 Sep 2012]

Former executive producer and current Head of Drama at Channel 4 Piers Wenger has announced a new initiative to seek out original drama ideas for development on E4: "This is an exciting first step in the development of a slate of new drama series for E4. There is a wealth of British drama talent out there and I am thrilled to be able to green-light a drama pilot season and invite new and established writers to come to us with their big ideas. In the last few years, E4 has established an unrivalled reputation for launching young, ground-breaking drama series and we are looking for a range of original drama ideas which will allow audiences to connect with the channel now. We don't want to be prescriptive on genre, format or length of episode - the aim is to see a variety of home-grown and innovative drama on E4 in 2013 and beyond." [Televisual, 6 Sep 2012]

(compiled by Chuck Foster and John Bowman




FILTER: - People - Arthur Darvill - Karen Gillan - Catherine Tate - Matt Smith - David Tennant -

The Gunpowder Plot gathers Steam

Friday, 7 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Legacy Games have announced their intention to make the fifth instalment of the Doctor Who Adventure Games, The Gunpowder Plot, available through Valve's Steam gaming platform.

The company, which sells the games outside the United Kingdom (where they are free to TV licencees via the BBC) have listed the item on the Steam website, which requires its community to 'greenlight' the item to be made available through the gaming system.

The popular Doctor Who TV show, broadcast in over 50 countries and running for more than 4 decades, arrives in a marvelous 3D adventure game! Based on the escapades of the Eleventh Doctor, this is the 5th game in a five-part series, all with standalone stories and all voiced by the TV actors! Once we get this game approved, we'll release the other four games as well! Using a mix of stealth, exploration, traditional adventure game elements, and of course, epic sci-fi storytelling, this game is a must for Doctor Who and adventure game fans alike!



(with thanks to Vitas Varnas)




FILTER: - Merchandise - Online - Games

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: Preview clips

Thursday, 6 September 2012 - Reported by Harry Ward
The BBC has released two 40 second preview clips for this Saturday's episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.


New Images

The BBC also released 4 new images from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.
 


Coming soon: The Power of Three

The BBC has released a synopsis for episode 4, The Power of Three, which will air on Saturday 22nd September.
The Doctor and the Ponds puzzle an unlikely invasion of Earth, as millions of sinister black cubes arrive overnight, almost like presents falling from the sky

But what are they, what’s inside them and most importantly, who sent them? With the international community at a loss, it’s left to the Doctor to unearth who is behind the mystery.


Guest stars: Mark Williams (Brian Williams), Steven Berkoff (Mr Shanks) and Jemma Redgrave (Kate Stewart)

Writer: Chris Chibnall
Executive Producers: Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
Producer: Marcus Wilson
Director: Douglas Mackinnon




FILTER: - Online - Series 7/33

CafePress licensed to sell Doctor Who merchandise

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Worldwide Americas have licensed online apparel distributor CafePress to sell official Doctor Who merchandise.

The World's Customization Engine™, today announces its new partnership with BBC Worldwide Americas to bring exceptional Doctor Who-branded apparel and gifts to fans in North America via CafePress' e-commerce store. With the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who approaching in November 2013 as well as the premiere of the new season that premiered September 1st on BBC AMERICA, fan interest in the show has never been higher. Doctor Who recently was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, making it the first British TV series to earn the cover. This partnership, which will extend through December 2014, will give eager Doctor Who fans a chance to show and share their love for the iconic brand.

As part of this new partnership, CafePress and BBC Worldwide Americas will bring unique Doctor Who items featuring some of the show's most popular characters, images and themes. Products available for purchase will range from "Bow Ties are Cool" (in honor of Matt Smith's portrayal as the Eleventh Doctor) and Cybermen t-shirts to TARDIS hoodies. Through this partnership, new designs will be released regularly to celebrate constantly evolving Doctor Who phenomena as well as milestones for the show. Fans will also have the print-on-demand option, where they can order the size, color, fashion body and graphic to suit their taste.

"Doctor Who fans span several generations and we're genuinely excited to be part of this phenomenon and make this shop available to such loyal and passionate supporters," says Marc Cowlin, Director of Marketing at CafePress. "Whovians can prepare themselves to celebrate the pending 50th Anniversary of the show with truly unique gear."






FILTER: - Merchandise - USA - Press

BBC America: Asylum of the Daleks breaks audience record

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The viewing figure for last Saturday's premiere of Asylum of the Daleks on BBC America has been released, indicating that over 1.5 million tuned in to watch the Doctor's latest adventure with his arch-enemy - giving the episode the highest audience for Doctor Who on the channel so far!

BBC America reported:
(Saturday) delivered the channel's highest-rated, most-watched telecast ever in Live + Same Day. Doctor Who delivered 1.555 million viewers and 723,000 A25-54. The series ranked #1 in cable, excluding sports, among A25-54 in the Saturday 9:00pm-10:00pm time slot. The Doctor Who premiere and the third episode of BBC AMERICA's first original series COPPER helped BBC AMERICA achieve its highest-rated weekend ever.

Doctor Who premiere 9/1/12 9:00pm ET. Rank vs. ad-supported English language cable, excluding sports.P2+: .76 coverage rating/.54 national rating/1,555,000. P25-54: .86 coverage rating/.61 national rating/723,000

The figure comfortably overtook the previous highest rating of 1.268m achieved by last year's series opener, The Impossible Astronaut.

(figures: BBC AMERICA)




FILTER: - USA - Ratings - BBC America - Series 7/33

Big Finish: The Sands Of Life

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Big Finish have revealed the cover for The Sands Of Life, the second story in the Tom Baker/Mary Tamm season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, which also see the duo re-united with K9 (as played by John Leeson) for the first time this series.

Producer David Richardson said:
I loved Nick's script for this story, and it sets up an interesting arc for the series which will see David Warner and Toby Hadoke recurring through four of the releases. I think we made Toby’s year when we cast him in an ongoing role opposite one of his favourite Doctors!

Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs, it is due to be released in February 2013.

The Sands of Life
by Nicholas Briggs
starring Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and John Leeson

Plot synopsis to be confirmed.

Cast: Hayley Atwell (President Moorkurk), David Warner (Cuthbert), Toby Hadoke (Mr Dorrick)

 




FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Tom Baker - Big Finish

Doctor Who Adventures 285

Wednesday, 5 September 2012 - Reported by Harry Ward
This week's Doctor Who Adventures magazine comes with a Doctor dress-up set which includes a bow tie, a physic-paper notebook, the eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver and a TARDIS key.
Every Dalek Ever! This week in Doctor Who Adventures!

Hooray! Doctor Who is back - and Asylum of the Daleks is the best and scariest episode ever*! We celebrate with a special pull-out guide to the story, cool posters and a really tricky Dalek quiz. Plus we've an amazing preview of the next episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. We can't wait!

What's more, our amazing Doctor dress-up set means you can be the top Time Lord. We've also got lots of top tips on how to be the Doctor!

All this plus a terrifying comic strip, the secrets behind giant spider-woman The Empress of the Racnoss and jokes so bad you will have nightmares.

* We weren't scared by it. We just had to sleep with the lights on. And a teddy bear. With a laser gun.
Issue 285 of Doctor Who Adventures is out in the UK from 6 September.




FILTER: - DWA - Series 7/33

SPACE reports high ratings for Asylum

Tuesday, 4 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Canadian broadcaster SPACE have announced that as well as being the highest rated programme for its timeslot on Canadian television last Saturday, season opener Asylum of the Daleks also become the second-highest rated episode in the show's history on the channel!

The channel's press release said:
He did it again! The Season 7 premiere of DOCTOR WHO drew an earth-shattering 620,000 viewers, making it the second-highest rated episode in series history on SPACE and the most-watched program on Canadian television in its timeslot Saturday night. Featuring zombies, break-ups, make-ups, and more Daleks than you can shake a sonic screwdriver at, Asylum of the Daleks made SPACE the #1 network – conventional or specialty – Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET with total viewers and in the key demos A25-54 and A18-49. Peaking with 746,000 viewers, in all 1.1 million Canadians watched some or all of the episode.

The Season 7 premiere of DOCTOR WHO exterminated minds with an unexpected appearance by Jenna-Louise Coleman as Oswin Oswald, who is set to star as the Time Lord’s next companion later this season. Viewers can relive the time-travelling trickery online at SPACEcast.com.
 

The highest rated episode (so far) is last year's Let's Kill Hitler, which managed 834,000 viewers, with a peak of 977,000 and some 1.2m unique viewers in all.




FILTER: - Canada - Ratings - Series 7/33

AudioGo: October Releases

Tuesday, 4 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
AudioGo have released details on audio titles in their spoken word range due to be released in October.

The adaptation of Target novelisations continue with the Fifth Doctor adventure The Visitation, which is read by Matthew Waterhouse (Adric). Meanwhile, the television series soundtrack range sees the release of Fourth Doctor adventure The Pirate Planet, with linking narration by John Leeson (K9). In addition, two compilation collections are also to be released, themed around Earth invasions and Dalek encounters. Finally, a collection of six Eleventh Doctor adventures are also to be released in a special "TARDIS" box.

The audio releases are all due on the 4th October.

The Visitation
Written by Eric Saward
Read by Matthew Waterhouse
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

Arriving on the outskirts of London in 1666, the Doctor, Tegan, Adric and Nyssa receive a decidedly unfriendly welcome. It soon becomes clear that the sinister activities of other alien visitors have made the villagers extremely suspicious of outsiders. And as a result of the alien Terileptils’ evil schemes, the Doctor finds himself on the point of playing a key role in a gruesome historical event...

Matthew Waterhouse, who played Adric in the original TV serial from 1982, reads the story.
 
The Pirate Planet
Written by Douglas Adams
Narrated by John Leeson
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

Starring Tom Baker and the late Mary Tamm. The Doctor and Romana discover a planet ruled over by the tyrannical Captain. They soon discover that all is not what it seems about the ‘pirate planet’ – and a far darker power lurks behind the scenes.

This full-cast four-part TV soundtrack from the original 1978 BBC TV serial has the benefit of special linking narration by John Leeson, who in a bonus interview recollects his time as the Voice of K9.
 
Doctor Who: Invasion Earth!
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

A collectible slipcase containing three exciting Doctor Who audiobooks across 12 discs, each featuring an alien invasion of Earth! In "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," the Doctor and his friends must fight to save the planet from the Daleks in the 21st Century. In "The Auton Invasion," a newly-regenerated Third Doctor encounters the Nestenes and their robotic "shop window dummy" servants the Autons. In "The Dinosaur Invasion," London faces an incursion of prehistoric monsters as the spearhead of Operation Golden Age.

Read by William Russell, Caroline John and Martin Jarvis, with original sound design, and Nicholas Briggs as the voice of the Daleks.
 
Doctor Who: Dalek Menace!
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

A collectible slipcase containing three exciting Doctor Who audiobooks across 15 discs, each featuring the Daleks! In "Daleks: The Chase," the TARDIS is pursued through Time and Space by the Daleks, who are intent on preventing any future intervention in their plans by the Doctor. In "Daleks: Mission to the Unknown" and "Daleks: The Mutation of Time," the leader of Earth in the far future, Mavic Chen, has allied himself with the Daleks. When the Doctor steals the core of the Time Destructor, his arch enemies pursue him across the galaxy in order to retrieve it.

Read by Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Jean Marsh, with original sound design, and Nicholas Briggs as the voice of the Daleks.
 
Doctor Who: TARDIS Adventure Collection
Released 4th October 2012 (CD) (pre-order)

The Doctor Who: TARDIS Adventure Collection comes in a wonderful TARDIS-shaped box with front opening door, containing six 11th Doctor Audio Original titles: THE RUNAWAY TRAIN, RING OF STEEL, THE JADE PYRAMID, THE HOUNDS OF ARTEMIS, THE GEMINI CONTAGION and THE EYE OF THE JUNGLE.

Read by Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill, Clare Corbett, Meera Syal and David Troughton, with original sound design, this impressive box set is guaranteed to provide a Christmas highlight for all Doctor Who fans.
 





FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Classic Series