International iPlayer launched in Europe

Thursday, 28 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
After months of anticipation, the international version of the BBC iPlayer service has been launched today for Apple iPad users in parts of Europe. The application enables those in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland to watch a variety of programming from the BBC's archive, including Doctor Who.

The CEO of BBC Worldwide, John Smith, said:
I'm proud that we're one of the first international broadcasters to give access to our shows in a perfectly packaged app. This launch is an important route to market in our strategy of pursuing multiple platforms for our programmes and brands, taking British programmes to new digital audiences around the world. Today marks a significant next step on a digital journey that has already seen 12m BBC Worldwide apps downloaded across brands as diverse as Lonely Planet and Good Food.
BBC Worldwide President of Worldwide Networks and Global iPlayer, Jana Bennett, said:
Based on the soaring success of the UK's pioneering BBC iPlayer service, the app combines technical innovation with editorial creativity to transport users to the heart of the BBC and British television and on a journey of discovery, wherever and whenever they want. We have an exciting vision for what this service could become and will develop it based on feedback from within the markets.

The video-on-demand service, which will cost €6.99 a month, or €49.99 annually, differs from the UK version in allowing both online streaming and downloading for offline viewing of programmes. As well as Doctor Who, subscribers will have access to many series, including Fawlty Towers, Sherlock, Luther, Eastenders, Only Fools and Horses and Top Gear - programming is expected to expand weekly.

(newslink: BBC Press Release)


Meanwhile in Australia, technology manufacturer Samsung have announced that their Smart TV and blu-ray players will be able to utilise a new application to access ABC's iView on-demand service, enabling access to programmes like Doctor Who, Angry Boys and Spics and Specs; BBC News will also be available as a streaming service.

Brad Wright, AV Sales and Marketing Manager for Samsung Australia, said:
Samsung is committed to delivering a wide range of local and international content direct to Australian homes through Samsung Apps. Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-ray players are changing how consumers perceive the TV experience in their home.




FILTER: - Online - Broadcasting - BBC - Australia

Doctor Who: episode ten details

Wednesday, 27 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Writer Tom MacRae spoke to the Northampton Chronicle about his forthcoming episode for Doctor Who, which has now been named by the BBC in a recent roundup on their Doctor Who website.

The following gives some details about episode which might be considered a spoiler.



The episode is to be called The Girl Who Waited; says MacRae:
I went down onto the set quite a lot and it was great to see it filmed. It’s a real tear-jerker of an episode and it’s very much focused on Karen. Her acting in it is amazing. I know she’ll break the viewers’ hearts in two when they watch it, it’s so emotional.

MacRae hails from Northamptonshire, like the current Doctor Matt Smith:
It’s wonderful writing for Matt, he’s such a fantastic actor and a genuinely lovely guy. He’s about the same age as me, we’re from the same town and we’ve got a lot of friends in common, so it was great to work with him. And as The Doctor, I admire him so much. I’m a huge fan of what he’s done on the show, I would say he’s 'my Doctor'.

(newslink: Northampton Chronicle)





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Series 6/32

Doctor Who Insider - Issue 5 + UK Special

Tuesday, 26 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The fifth edition of Doctor Who Insider will be available in North America from 4th August.

In this issue, John Barrowman talks about how couldn't be happier to be playing Captain Jack Harkness once again in the new series ofTorchwood:
To think that John Barrowman – you know, a British television guy – and I’m now
riding my bike through Warner Brothers and people are going "heyyyy!"

Also in this issue:
  • SPACE AGE SAVAGE: It’s been over 30 years since Louise Jameson played scantily‐clad Leela opposite Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, but the series is still part of her life, as she tells Insider in the first part of an exclusive interview.
  • NEW TRICKS FOR AN OLD DOG: Visual effects designer Mike Tucker tells Insider how the Doctor’s faithful robot dog, K9 was given a new lease of life in the Tenth Doctor adventure, School Reunion.
  • BACK ON TARGET: We discover how the fondly remembered Doctor Who novelizations of the past are being given a new lease of life as audio books from AudioGO and in brand new editions
    from BBC Books.
  • I WAS... OMEGA: Actor Stephen Thorne tells Insider how he was the unseen face, but unforgettable voice, behind three of the Doctor’s greatest foes – including the legendary Time Lord, Omega.
  • NEXUS POINT: We examine the moment when the renegade Second Doctor was finally captured by his own people, the Time Lords and put on trial for interfering in the affairs of others.
  • DATA FILE: We take a look back at last year’s Victory of the Daleks in which the Eleventh Doctor met Churchill and encountered his arch enemies for the first time.
  • TIME SCOOP: Trapped in the Time Scoop this issue are the unstoppable Cybermen who have fought the Doctor in many of his incarnations.
  • MERCHANDISE: Previews of the latest Doctor Who merchandise, including Paradise Towers and The Sun Makers on DVD, featuring an interview with Michael Keating who played Goudry in The Sun Makers. We talk to the authors of the 150th Doctor Who audio drama release from Big Finish Productions and look back on the best audio stories of the past. Author George Mann reveals how he sent the Doctor on a time‐twisting adventure in Edwardian England in his new novel, Paradox Lost. David J Howe rounds up the latest Doctor Who merchandise and takes a look at the latest figures from Underground Toys.
PLUS! The latest official news and a giant, double‐sided poster of Captain Jack and Victory of the Daleks.

For subscription information, visit the USA or UK websites.


A special 84 page edition of Doctor Who Insider featuring the best of issues 1-4 will be released in the United Kingdom on 28th July.

The magazine will feature:
  • THE STARS OF DOCTOR WHO 2011: Exclusive interviews with regular cast members Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Arthur Darvill (Rory Pond), and Alex Kingston (River Song).
  • GUEST‐STARS PAST AND PRESENT: Insider speaks exclusively to Doctor Who guest‐stars from all eras of the show’s long history, including: Stuart Milligan (President Nixon), Mark Sheppard (Canton Everett Delaware III), Jacqueline Pearce (Chessene), Frances Barber (Madame Kovarian), Dan Starkey (the Sontarans), and Christopher Benjamin (Henry Gordon Jago). Plus Katy Manning who was Jo Grant, companion to the Third Doctor.
  • BEHIND‐THE‐SCENES FEATURES: We talk to Doctor Who’s current production designer, Michael Pickwoad, who tells us how he created Christmas on another world for 2010’s A Christmas Carol. Plus, we discover how the Doctor’s old foes were given a new lease of life for the Doctor Who Experience in London.
  • NEXUS POINT: We examine some pivotal moments from the Doctor’s adventures, including Pyramids of Mars and The Parting of the Ways.
  • DATA FILE: All the Doctor’s greatest foes gathered to entrap him in The Pandorica Opens. Our guide shows you who exactly was there for this momentous occasion.
  • TIME SCOOP: Three of the Doctor’s greatest foes – the Sontarans, the Silurians, and the evil creator of the Daleks, Davros are all caught in the Time Scoop as we present a visual guide to their various encounters with the Doctor.
PLUS! A double‐sided poster of the Doctor, Amy and Rory, and The Pandorica Opens.




FILTER: - USA - UK - Magazines

The New World: UK final ratings

Monday, 25 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Episode One of Torchwood: Miracle Day had a final official rating of 6.59 million viewers according to figures released by BARB.

The programme was the 8th highest rated on BBC One for the week. The final result includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within 7 days. It does not include those watching on iPlayer. The rating is almost exactly the same as the first episode of the last series of Torchwood, Children of Earth, which had a final rating of 6.47 million on BBC One with an additional 0.13 million watching on BBC HD.

Meanwhile Episode Two had an AI score of 85, the same as that for Episode One.




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

Steven Moffat enters the Guardian Media 100

Monday, 25 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
For every year since 2001 the Guardian has released the Media 100 - a list of who they consider are currently the most powerful people in the UK Media; candidates for the list are judged on cultural influence, economic clout and political power over the course of the last year.

This year sees Doctor Who and Sherlock lead writer Steven Moffat enter the chart as number 92:
Steven Moffat is one of a select band of writers and producers who is almost as famous as the stars who appear in his shows.

Not content with being the showrunner on the BBC's biggest-selling global hit, Doctor Who, he was also the co-creator, along with League of Gentlemen star Mark Gatiss, of one of BBC1's most acclaimed new dramas of last year, Sherlock.

Moffat, a long-time Whovian, began his TV career with the Bafta-winning children's show Press Gang and was best known for BBC2 sitcom Coupling before taking over from Russell T Davies on the time-travelling show. He also co-scripted new Steven Spielberg film, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

BBC executives that have an influence of Doctor Who's future in the list include Director General Mark Thompson (4), Director of Vision George Entwistle (26), and BBC1 Controller Danny Cohen (14)


Moffat's predecessor Russell T Davies was a regular in the chart when he was overseeing Doctor Who, entering the chart strongly for his 2004 involvement in bringing the series back at number 14 in the 2005 list, followed up by 28 (2006), 15 (2007) and 31 (2008). The Doctor himself has also appeared in the past, represented by actor David Tennant who was listed as number 24 in 2007.


The list is drawn up by a panel of judges, which this year included Lorraine Heggessey, the BBC1 controller responsible for the decision to bring Doctor Who back into production during 2003 (and herself ranked 46/54 during that period).




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - People - Doctor Who

Doctor Who Return Date

Sunday, 24 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
BBC America have confirmed that Doctor Who will return to the channel on Saturday, August 27th at 9/8c when the series continues with Let's Kill Hitler, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Richard Senior.

The BBC will not confirm a UK date for the return until much nearer the date of transmission, but a showing in the early evening of Saturday 27th is very likely.

There are six more episodes to be shown as part of Season 32





FILTER: - USA - Series 6/32

Doctor Who Series 6 Part 2 UK Promotion

Sunday, 24 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have released a trailer for the second half of Series Six, which returns to BBC1(HD) later this year; the trailer premiered at the San Diego Comic Con event taking place this weekend.


Doctor Who Series Six Part Two, BBC, via BBC iPlayer (may not be available outside the United Kingdom)

The series is also featured in the new Original British Drama trailer (34 seconds in), which includes other productions like The Body Farm, The Hour, Spooks and Page Eight.


Original British Drama, BBC, via YouTube (may not be available outside the United Kingdom)


An extended trailer has also been released for The God Complex by Toby Whithouse, episode 11 of the series:


Doctor Who: The God Complex trailer, BBC, via BBC iPlayer (may not be available outside the United Kingdom)




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Series 6/32 - Online

Karen Gillan stays with Doctor Who

Sunday, 24 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Karen Gillan had told the website Zap2it that she is staying with Doctor Who for the foreseeable future and will be returning as Amy Pond for the next series of the show which goes into production at the end of the year.

Doctor Who has been commissioned for a further fourteen episodes following this year's Christmas Special, and previously only Matt Smith was known to have been contracted for the run. Gillan was interviewed at Comic-Con and when asked if she would be returning she said, "I am going to come back, yes,That's the first time I've said that today".

The 33rd series will be the seventh full series since the show returned in 2005. It is due to be shown during 2012 and 2013.




FILTER: - Karen Gillan - Series 7/33

Karen Gillan's West End Theatre Debut

Sunday, 24 July 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Karen Gillan (aka Amy Pond) will be making her West End theatre debut this Autumn in a revival of John Osbourne's 1964 play Inadmissible Evidence.

The play is to be performed at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre and will be directed by Jamie Lloyd. Gillan will play the character of Shirley, the hard-done-by secretary to middle-aged laywer Bill Maitland, to be played by Douglas Hodge; other cast members include Esther Hall, Amy Morgan, Daniel Ryan, and Al Weaver.

The Daily Mail reported that Lloyd had been very impressed with the Doctor Who actress:
Karen read twice for him at auditions and he was impressed with her charisma and her natural instincts. "More importantly, she can do the text convincingly and she feels as if she comes from that Sixties British Mad Men world," Lloyd added.

Originally performed in 1965 on Broadway, the play featured Nicol Williamson as Maitland and Jeanne Hepple as Shirley. It was subsequently made into a film with Williamson reprising the role alongside Eileen Atkins in 1968.

Synopsis: Bill Maitland, a middle aged lawyer, struggles to avoid the harsh truths of his life and keep a hold on reality. As those closest to him begin to draw away, he puts himself on trial to fight for his sanity.


The play runs from 13th October to 26th November - for more details see the theatre website.




FILTER: - People - Karen Gillan

Eccleston Expands on Reasons for Leaving

Sunday, 24 July 2011 - Reported by Marcus
EcclestonNinth Doctor Christopher Eccleston has been expanding on remarks he made in the Radio Times last year as to the reasons he left Doctor Who.

In comments to students at an acting master class in London, and reported by Bad Wilf, he told of how he left the series after falling out with those in charge of the show.
I left Doctor Who, because I could not get along with the senior people. I left, because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye, with them. I didn't agree with the way things were being run. I didn't like the culture that had grown up, around the series. So, I left. I felt, over a principle. I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility, the price I would have had to pay, was to eat a lot of shit.

I'm not being funny about that. I didn't want to do that and, it comes to the art of it, in a way. I feel that if you run your career and-we are vulnerable as actors and, we are constantly humiliating ourselves auditioning. But, if you allow that to go on, on a grand scale. You will loose, whatever it is about you and, it will be present in your work.

If you allow your desire to be successful and visible and financially secure – if you allow that to make you throw shades on your parents, on your upbringing, then you’re knackered. You’ve got to keep something back, for yourself, because it’ll be present in your work. A purity or an idealism is essential or you’ll become– you’ve got to have standards, no matter how hard work that is. So it makes it a hard road, really.

You know, it’s easy to find a job when you’ve got no morals, you’ve got nothing to be compromised, you can go, ‘Yeah, yeah. That doesn’t matter. That director can bully that prop man and I won’t say anything about it’. But then when that director comes to you and says ‘I think you should play it like this’ you’ve surely got to go ‘How can I respect you, when you behave like that?’

So, that’s why I left. My face didn’t fit and I’m sure they were glad to see the back of me.


Despite his reasons for leaving Eccleston is still proud of what he achieved in the role.
The important thing is that I succeeded. It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I've always acted for adults and the suddenly, you're acting for children. Who are far more tasteful, they will not be bullshitted. It's either good, or it's bad. They don't schmooze at after show parties, with cocktails.

During the master-class Eccleston revealed that he had recently been informed that he was a victim of phone hacking during his time as the Doctor, and he said will be taking legal action against the parties involved.




FILTER: - Christopher Eccleston