Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4 (and 5!) commissioned

Thursday, 4 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC Press Office have announced that the Doctor Who Children's Television spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures has been recommissioned for a further two series. Both series will consist of twelve, twenty-five minute episodes.

Says CBBC Controller Damian Kavanagh:

We are thrilled to be making many more episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It is been a huge ratings and critical success on CBBC and we hope our viewers are going to be hooked on Sarah Jane's action-packed adventures for some time to come.

BBC Wales Head of English Language Programmes, Clare Hudson, added:

The idea for The Sarah Jane Adventures sprang from the success of Doctor Who and it has since rocketed in popularity in its own right, thanks to the vision, talent and hard work of the show's brilliant cast and crew.

The fourth series starts production at the end of March (believed to be the 29th), for transmission in Autumn. The new producer has been named as Brian Minchin (former script-editor for Doctor Who/Torchwood), who will work alongside co-producer Phil Ford, with Russell T Davies and Doctor Who producer Nikki Wilson as executive producers; writers include Ford, Joseph Lidster, Rupert Laight, Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman, and the series will be script-edited by Gary Russell.

The show will feature all three main stars Tommy Knight (Luke), Daniel Anthony (Clyde) and Anjli Mohindra (Rani), as well as the title-star Elisabeth Sladen as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith; however, no mention has currently been made of K9.

The new adventures will feature the usual mixture of thrills, scares and fun with enemies old and new, including the terrors of the Nightmare Man, the sinister Shansheeth, the series' first visit to an alien world, and even a dangerous journey back into history.

The fifth series is expected to go into production next year.

FILTER: - Production - Sarah Jane - Press

SPACE announces Canadian start date

Thursday, 4 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Canadian broadcaster Space have announced that they will be broadcasting the new series of Doctor Who from the 17th April, the same evening as BBC America for the United States. The show will go out at 9:00pm ET.

FILTER: - Canada - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

RTS award for Who Peter Documentary

Wednesday, 3 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus

The DVD documentary Who Peter has helped earn its director and writer, Chris Chapman, a Royal Television Award, the Andrea Wonfor trophy, for Best Newcomer. The 30 minute feature will form part of the Myths and Legends Box Set due to be released in the UK at the end of March. The judges described Chapman's potfilio of work for Dene Films, which included Who Peter, as breathtaking for the quality of skills on show.

In other DVD news a couple of the additional extras for the re-issue of The Caves of Androzani as part of the Re-visitations box set have been announced. The disc will include 8 minutes of Peter Davison and Colin Baker's appearance on a chat show as well as a documentary looking at Graeme Harper's work on Doctor Who.

FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Blu-ray/DVD

New Titles Revealed

Wednesday, 3 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus

Three new episode titles have been revealed by Executive Producer Steven Moffat in his Production Notes column in this month's Doctor Who Magazine.

Occupying slots 4 and 5 of the new series will be The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone. This two-part story is written by Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith and sees the return of Alex Kingston as River Song. It was the first story to be recorded. It is stressed that the titles are working titles and may be changed before transmission.

Slot 6 will be filled by Vampires in Venice. This story is written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Jonny Campbell.

FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Series 5/31

Matt Smith - First DVD release date

Tuesday, 2 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus

Amazon have listed the first DVD release for the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith. The disc, available in DVD and Blu-Ray format, is due for release in the UK on June 7th will contain the first three stories of the new Doctor, "The Eleventh Hour", "The Beast Below" and "Victory of the Daleks". Amazon currently have the title listed as Series Five - Volume One, at odds with the previous statement that the series would be promoted as Series One.

The disc will contain a special feature, The Monster Diaries. Produced by the same team who make Doctor Who Confidential, the documentary will contain previously unseen footage and comments from cast and crew.

FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Series 5/31

Sarah Jane Adventures nominated for RTS Award

Tuesday, 2 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

As the award season continues apace, the latest nomination comes from the Royal Television Society with The Sarah Jane Adventures up for their Children's Drama award. The show faces two other CBBC-produced shows MI High and Roy. The award ceremony takes place at the Grosvenor Park Hotel on Tuesday 16th March - the venue also sees the annual TRIC awards a week beforehand where Doctor Who is up for best TV Programme Drama (see our award report last month for more details).

The Royal Television Society is Britain's leading forum for television and related media, and has existed for over 80 years. It produces the monthly industry magazine Television.

FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Sarah Jane

Doctor Who Launch Party 2010 (UK)

Monday, 1 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

In a tradition dating back to series one, a free-to-enter event will be taking place in London to celebrate the return of Doctor Who to television. This year, however, will see a change of venue for the party, for which registration will be required - full details below.

'Eleventh Hour' Launch Party

A venue in the City of London will be playing host to a major, free-to-enter launch party to celebrate the arrival of 11th Doctor Matt Smith on Saturday 3 April.

Those familiar with previous parties at The Printworks in London may be dismayed to learn that the venue has not only changed hands, but changed its identity too. However, no fewer than three new, similarly equipped establishments in the City are in the running to stage this year's party, although final choice of venue will be decided by the number of people who would like to attend.

The party is open to anyone aged 18 years or over, and will run from 2:00pm-10:00pm. Early arrival is recommended to secure best viewing points for the largest screens. All major Doctor Who programming will be screened in high-definition, surround-sound, and a licensed bar and full food service will be available all day.

Entry is free, but YOU MUST HAVE A TICKET. Bear in mind also this will be Easter weekend, so check out any public transport issues before registering your request for tickets.

To request tickets, send an email to organiser Jeremy Bentham stating your name, your email address (for replies), the number of people in your party, and your likely arrival time.

N.B: All registration requests must be received by 10:00pm Sunday 14 March. If your application is successful, you will receive details of the confirmed venue, plus your individual or group tickets, during the week commencing 22 March.

FILTER: - Special Events

MFX Warehouse ends Replica line

Monday, 1 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The MFX Warehouse have announced that they have ceased their lines of replica Doctor Who props.

The Warehouse produces replicas designed by its award-winning parent company Millennium FX. With that company having worked on Doctor Who and its spin-offs since production resumed in 2004, the last five years have seen the Warehouse produce fully licensed authentic hand-made replicas of a number of their designs, including items such as Cyberman and Ood heads, Clockwork Man masks, and the sonic screwdriver.

However, the announcement has stated that this line has now ended, and that their remaining stock of sonic screwdrivers - on sale at a reduced price - will no longer be available to purchase from April.

FILTER: - Merchandise

IDW announce first US Doctor Who Annual

Monday, 1 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

IDW Publishing have announced a new Doctor Who Annual to be released in the United States in 2010. Revealed at the Gallifrey One convention at the weekend, editor Denton Tipton explained:

The U.K. annuals are always reprints, oversized stuff, where this will be something new and different that hasn't been done before. The annual is a Tardis-centric issue - it's not really a Doctor Who book, it's more of a Tardis book, so we've got some pretty cool ideas there."

The annual will be written/drawn by three established writers for IDW's Doctor Who range - Tony Lee, Al Davison and Matthew Dow Smith - plus Hollywood screenwriter Jonathan L Davis who has written the main story.

The annual also features a short story by Matthew Smith and Tony Lee that leads into IDW's final arc of their ongoing Tenth Doctor range of comics (issues 13-16, entitled Final Sacrifice). The comic series itself continues from March with issue 9 starting the Don't Step on the Grass story by Tony Lee; the new story will also feature the Doctor's companion Martha Jones.

You can read more about IDW's Doctor Who range in a report by Comic Book Resources from the convention.

FILTER: - Merchandise

Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4 (and 5!) commissioned

SPACE announces Canadian start date

RTS award for Who Peter Documentary

New Titles Revealed

Matt Smith - First DVD release date

Sarah Jane Adventures nominated for RTS Award

Doctor Who Launch Party 2010 (UK)

MFX Warehouse ends Replica line

IDW announce first US Doctor Who Annual

This Week in Doctor Who

ARCHIVE

FILTER