More 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.
Thursday, 27 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Casting directory Spotlight have listed a few more actors cast for the currently filming Torchwood: Miracle Day.
First up, actor William Thomas is returning to the show playing Gwen's father Geraint Cooper - he previously appeared in series two's Something Borrowed at Gwen's wedding alongside Sharon Morgan as Gwen's mother Mary (at the time of writing she is not currently credited for filming). Interestingly his entry says that he is a "Series Regular".
Since his previous appearance in Torchwood, Thomas continued his role as Will James in Belonging, and in other Welsh series including Gari Tryfan, Ar Y Tracs and Alys.
Lena Kaur is credited as Dr. Alicia Patel; the actress is best known as regular character Leila in Hollyoaks, and most recently appeared in the television show Speechless and film The Endz.
Actor Danny Szam is listed as a character named Surveillance; he has appeared in Channel 4's Skins, and had a flurry of medical-related appearances in Doctors, The Royal and Casualty!
Finally, actor Daniel Adegboyega is listed as playing a guard in the series; his CV includes appearances in Spooks and The Bill.
Writer Jane Espenson confirmed that the ten episodes of the series will have individual episode titles (like series one and two). She is penning episodes three, five, seven and eight (the latter co-written with Ryan Scott), with Russell T Davies responsible for the series opener and finale, Doris Egan handling episode two, and John Shiban for episode six. This just leaves episodes four and nine to be revealed.
Episode one is being directed by Bharat Nalluri, and episode two by Bill Gierhart; both are working with The Sarah Jane Adventures producer Brian Minchin for filming in the United Kingdom, which itself sees expanded filming taking place over the next few weeks (with filming believed to cover several episodes for the series).
Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner at filming on 25th January Photo courtesy of the Torchwood! Facebook group
This week has seen varied locations being used, including Cardiff International Airport and Rhossili Bay. The South Wales Evening Post caught up with Russell T Davies at the latter location, where he spoke about bringing the show back into the UK:
There are so many good locations in Wales, and I love coming back to Swansea. I'm immensely proud of where I'm from and quite like the opportunity to show places like Rhossili to the world.
It's a sort of national trait of Wales that we tend to be very proud of where we are from, yet don't sing our praises enough.
I'm quite excited that Torchwood will hopefully introduce Wales to people who have never seen it before.
There have been a number of episodes of Doctor Who and Torchwood which have been filmed in Swansea, and I plan to keep that up. I don't think I'll ever run out of places to film here because there are so many great ones.
One thing I've quite enjoyed is the little jokes in the show about Brits feeling lost in America, and Americans not knowing where Wales is.
A more detailed report on filming will appear on the Doctor Who News Page at the weekend.
Thursday, 27 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
South Yorkshire Police are in the process of selling off some of their disused properties in the Sheffield area, ranging from small buildings to police boxes! The agents for the sales are property consultants Knight Frank; Rebecca Schofield commented:
Police boxes often attract a lot of interest thanks to their history, their convenient locations and, of course, the Doctor Who association.
However, they can be used in a variety of ways such as a small office or storage space. In the past people have acquired disused police boxes and turned them into a small retail outlet or a kiosk and many of these Sheffield sites could also present an opportunity for redevelopment, subject to necessary planning consent.
Nigel Hiller, Director of Finance for South Yorkshire Police explains:
Most of our buildings were built pre World War II and they are not suitable for a modern age, as it isn't easy to cable them.
Each of the buildings were surveyed which explains how much it would cost to make them fit for purpose. It is never cheaper to buy a new building but we have to look at how we police communities for the next 50 to 100 years. And many of our facilities are not located in the right place for people to access.
An item on the sale featuring Hiller appeared on the BBC's regional news programme Look North - the video may be viewed on the BBC News website.
David Livingstone, South Yorkshire Police’s Head of Facilities Management said:
The advent of mobile phones and BlackBerrys mean officers no longer require police boxes for reporting when they’re out on the beat. This has prompted us to put these properties on the market so they can be put to alternative good use in communities and the city centre.
You can read some more about the history of the police box at the Police Boxes and Mind Robber websites, and the more familiar "TARDIS" version at the Metropolitan Police website.
Spring will be a bumper season for fans of the Third Doctor with Warner Home Video announcing that both Terror of the Autons and Planet of the Spiders will be released on DVD in the United States and Canada on May 10th.
tvshowsondvd.com report on the two Jon Pertwee stories, details of which were released last month.
The North American release means the stories will be released in the UK during April or the first week of May. Planet of the Spiders, which was the final story for Jon Pertwee, will be released as a standalone story, while Terror of the Autons will be paired with a remastered version of Pertwee's first story, Spearhead from Space.
A release in Australia is also expected shortly after the UK release.
For full details of the global DVD release schedule see our product page.
ABC in Australia have confirmed they plan to screen the 2011 series of Doctor Who shortly after the series is screened in the UK.
The plan was confirmed by Brendan Dahill, Network Programmer for ABC1, in an interview with TV Tonight.
I can’t tell you the date yet because the BBC haven’t told me what date they’re transmitting yet but we’re going close to UK TX again. Australians are great downloaders and they don’t want to wait until Easter to see a Christmas episode, so if we can get it out straight away we will.
The Christmas Special was shown in Australia on Boxing Day evening, less than 24 hours after it made its début on BBC One in the UK.
BBC America has also indicated it will screen the 2011 series within hours of its UK broadcast.
Doctor Who lost out in the 2011 National Television Awards on Wednesday evening, failing to win an award for the first time since the return of the series in 2005.
The series was beaten in the Best Drama Category by the BBC series Waterloo Road, the contemporary drama series set in a challenging comprehensive school. Matt Smith was nominated for Best Drama Performance, but the award went to veteran actor David Jason.
It was a disappointing night for Doctor Who's showrunner, Steven Moffat, whose other show Sherlock was nominated but failed to win an award.
Doctor Who did play a part in the proceedings when the show opened with a specially shot 3 minute sequence, written by Steven Moffat and staring Matt Smith as the Doctor, trying to get host Dermot O'Leary to the show on time:
2|Entertain have announced that the DVD release of the Third Doctor story The Ambassadors of Death has been delayed due to ongoing restoration issues.
It was hoped that the story would be out later this year and it was due to be released along with the 1977 story The Sun Makers. However the company confirmed via their twitter account that the story will not now be released this year.
The story only existed in the BBC Archives in a mixture of formats. Although the original Transmission Master of Episode One exists, the rest of the story was only kept as 16mm black and white film. A second generation colour copy exists as an off air recording from WNED Channel 17 in Buffalo, and this was used to restore episodes five and six to colour for the 2002 Video release. However the quality of the colour recording was not good enough to allow for the restoration of the rest of the story.
Earlier this year it was reported that the remaining episodes were being restored to colour using the same technique applied to Episode Three of the 1973 story Planet of the Daleks. However it appears this process has run into problems and the release date has been delayed to give the restoration team more time to work on the project.
Who's That Girl? the autobiography of Elisabeth Sladen is due to be published in the UK later this year.
Originally planned for release in April the book is now expected in the Summer or Autumn.
The 320 page hardback book will tell the story of the woman behind one of Doctor Who's most enduring characters, Sarah Jane Smith. Elisabeth Sladen first took on the role of in 1973, playing opposite Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, a role she is still playing today in the hugely successful Sarah Jane Adventures. The book tells the story of her remarkable career: giving a unique, insider’s view of the world’s longest-running science fiction series; and of British television yesterday and today.
The book is published by Aurum Press Ltd on 25 April 2011 and will be priced £16.99
WHO’S THAT GIRL? - The Autobiography of Elisabeth Sladen
When Elisabeth Sladen debuted as journalist Sarah Jane Smith in the Doctor Who story ‘The Time Warrior’, she had no idea the character would become one of the most enduring and popular in the series’ history. The coming years would see Elisabeth traverse time and space alongside classic doctors Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, whilst a generation of children crouched behind the sofa, terrified but transfixed as their tea-time heroine found herself menaced by Daleks, dinosaurs, Cybermen, Sontarans, Egyptian mummies and even the Loch Ness Monster.
Her decision to quit the TARDIS made front-page news, but it wasn’t the end of Sarah Jane. Elisabeth has reprised the role many times, toured the weird, wonderful world of Doctor Who fandom and regularly tops polls of fans’ favourite companions. Now Elisabeth Sladen tells the story of her remarkable career: a unique, insider’s view of the world’s longest-running science fiction series; and of British television yesterday and today.
Elisabeth Sladen plays companion Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. She has also appeared in Coronation Street, Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em and Z-Cars.
Publishers Aurum have also announced that their biography of Terry Nation, The Man Who Invented the Daleks, will be published in May.
The book, which was first reported last July, looks at the life of the man behind Blake's 7, The Survivors and The Daleks.
THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE DALEKS - The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation by Alwyn W. Turner
Terry Nation was one of the most successful and prolific writers for television and radio that Britain ever produced. His vision of a post-apocalyptic England, Survivors, has been re-made thirty years on, Blake’s 7 endures as a cult sci-fi classic, and his most famous creations, the Daleks, ensured, and at times eclipsed, the success of Doctor Who.
But while those alien ‘pepperpots’ remain at the core of his appeal, Nation also had a role to play in the early days of radio and television comedy – as part of the legendary Associated London Scripts, he wrote for Spike Milligan, Tony Hancock and Frankie Howerd – and he became a key figure in the internationally successful adventure series of the 1960s: The Avengers, The Saint and The Persuaders!
This is the first serious, mainstream account of Terry Nation’s life and contribution to British television and will shed light on a fascinating melting pot of ambitious young writers, producers and performers without whom British culture today would look very different.
Alwyn W. Turner is the author of Crisis? What Crisis?: Britain in the 1970s, Rejoice! Rejoice!: Britain in the 1980s, and The Biba Experience
Items of clothing worn by Tenth Doctor David Tennant when he worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, are among more than 10,000 costumes and accessories that go on sale next month at the company's rehearsal rooms in Stratford-Upon-Avon. The sale, on 12th February, includes over 1,000 pairs of shoes, 500 shirts, 300 hats, Egyptian head-dresses, a variety of military uniforms, cloaks and clerical outfits. It includes numerous items worn by Tennant, including his understudy costume from the 2008 production of Love's Labour's Lost, a green brocade doublet with bronze ornate buttons, breeches, leather boots and socks and his backstage slippers. Tennant himself was a guest at the 2011 British Comedy Awards which took place at London's O2 Centre on Saturday evening, where he presented the People's Choice Award to comedienne Miranda Hart.
Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, has revealed on his blog that he is currently filming an episode of the BBC daytime drama Doctors. Baker has appeared in the series three times before, in 2001, 2006 and 2009. His theatre tour playing Inspector Morse in House of Ghosts has now finished, although Baker notes there are plans to try to get a tour list together either in the Autumn of 2011 or Spring of 2012.
Fourth Doctor Tom Baker, who celebrated his 77th birthday last week, has said on his Forum that he has decided on two projects for Big Finish Productions. Baker indicated in the past that he is keen to work with Big Finish. He has completed two stories for BBC Audio, Hornets' Nest and Demon Quest.
Saturday, 22 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Filming for Torchwood: Miracle Day continued this week in Los Angeles, California.
The week saw the main cast joined by Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Arlene Tur (Doctor Vera Jaurez), and original cast member Tom Price (Andy Davidson), with scenes filmed within an old prison, a "haunted" hospital, and Los Angeles City Hall!
As with last week, filming details are compiled from the tantalising tidbits revealed by the cast and crew on Twitter, plus the official production office feed, BBC Torchwood.
A more detailed breakdown of developments during the week follows below; times have been quoted for the local Californian timezone.
Monday
A new week, but no rest for the 'wicked'!
10:40 AS A 30 hour weekend was not enough to prepare me for the week. Womens prisons, haunted hospitals... And btw those rn't storylines. 14:32 BBC After a long great week of work we're at it again. Eve, Mekhi, & Kai all day today. They say hello and tell everyone you know to follow us!
The shoot was summed up by Kai Owen:
21:06 KO Cracking day. Cracking Day. Eve gorgeous, Mekhi awesome.
No confirmation on where filming took place, but apparently popular vampire series True Blood was shooting next to the Torchwood production; as BBC_Torchwood put it: "Stealth mission #1: sneak Russell onto the set. Oops Ryan K, how did we get into your trailer?"
Tuesday
A busy day, with a production meeting for episodes two and three in the morning:
07:47 JE Meeting John Barrowman RIGHT NOW. He's RIGHT THERE. 08:52 BBC They're having a table read for EP#2 upstairs. Bill Pullman is on location today. Great stuff. 11:43 TP Just done read of eps 2&3. Woooo. It's really good. I played several roles, including Man#2 which I think has awoken LA to my arrival well. 13:01 BBC Family style lunch with everyone. We're all going to have Welsh accents by the end of this show. It'll be wonderful. 13:58 KO The read through was epic! Amazing scripts. Great cast. Brilliant.
First "TW-Spy" for this week comes from Tom Price:
Actual filming for the day was at the Sybil Brand Institute, a former women's prison which closed in 1997 and has since been used for a variety of films and television, including Gangland, 24 and The X Files. No time off for the crew though, with another early morning start:
00:22 AS is going to prison at 6:42am. I'll check in via FB and twitter once I'm situated haha 07:01 ST Big scenes today dressing 86 background head to toe. 15:11 AS Laying on a cold hard floor...
23:56 GB a very long day with an 8am script read for episodes 2+3, then long location shoot at an old prison - we love Arlene Tur a lot....
Wednesday
Another day, another location, this time the Linda Vista Hospital which since closure in 1991 has been the focus of a number of paranormal investigations as it is allegedly haunted! Unsurprisingly, it is another popular site for productions, playing host to Outbreak, Pearl Harbour, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the original hospital for the pilot for E.R.! Today, however, it's the turn of Torchwood and first day in front of the camera for both Bill Pullman and Tom Price
(This was of course assuming that Tom and Kai had recovered from a previous day's excitement at Universal City! As Tom surmised: "Off to do some work soon. Not sure I'm ready. Can't I just keep going on roller coasters?")
10:36 KO Off in to work. It's gonna be emotional, and very HOT!!! 12:26 AS Oh my gosh. Bill Pullman = brilliant! So frighteningly good it's hard to watch.
"TW-Spy" continues as Alana, Kai and Tom go on a ghost hunt in-between filming:
A night shoot, with Los Angeles City Hall being the focus of attention.
09:30 AS Oh boy... couldn't sleep in this morning but I have to work all night, outside, in the cold... this might not be good. 14:20 BBC The action never stops, tonight is a big night for John and Alexa on location in LA. We working hard on trying to release teasers :-) 14:24 BBC Tomorrow is a super big travel day for cast and crew. Goodbye LA, hello Wales. :-) Don't worry, we'll be tweeting from both locations. 14:31 BBC We will miss everyone here until you return, wishing you safe travel. Now its time for the highly anticipated day 9 explosion. FUN. 18:53 BBC EP 2 and 3 production meeting then off to set to visit John and Alexa - we hear its really exciting over there.
A number of fans were able to watch some of the filming outside the Hall during the evening:
I heard online that there was going to be an on location shoot for Torchwood in downtown LA, specifically at City Hall. Knowing how rare an opportunity to see John Barrowman is, living in the US, I decided I had to at least try or I would regret it. My friends and I arrived when they were still setting up, this was around 5pm. We saw the film crew and loads of prop vans and trailers. But alas no Barrowman, nor did we glimpse Alexa Havens who we heard would be there and I am a fan of from her soap opera days.
We DID however get friendly with a number of the folks working on the shoot a prop guy, a few security guards, some lighting technicians, everyone was very nice and didn't mind that fans were around so long as we were quiet for rolling and didn't pummel the talent. We also ran into 2 other BarrowFans and we teamed up for the night.
After the first part of filming, where we were not at an angle to SEE JB or Alexa they moved to a different part of the building. We walked to the new set up and we could plainly see the rehearsing and filming which was such a treat. We were pretty content just getting to see Jack in action but then John Barrowman went above and beyond and acknowledged us!
He was filming then he made his way towards a van and he yelled over to us that he was going to get done up and I yelled back that he looked fabulous to which he responded thank you and that he would come visit us later, bless, what a GEM of a man he is.
He was gone for quite a while actually and when he returned he went back to filming at which point we got chummy with some of the extras, one of which I gladly educated about the phenomenal John Barrowman. Needless to say I saw quite a bit of what was going on a few tidbits about the scenes and effects going into the new series BUT they specifically asked me not to take photos and I got the impression that gossip about details would be frowned upon so for now I'll keep to myself with the promise I will re-blog once the show has aired, sound fair?? I hope you understand I just don't want to step on any toes.
So, after some more filming and minutes after my jaw had a random attack of pain, maybe from smiling too much, we see John and Alexa walking towards us. Which, we were pretty far actually so as to not be in the shot. They came over and greeted us with thanks and hugs. And let me just say, John Barrowman smells 51st century for sure. He hugged me and apologized for getting me wet cause they filmed a wet scene, mind out of the gutters people! He also was kind enough to stay and chat for a few minutes. He signed papers and what we had for everyone and he did so with a Sharpie I produced from my chest, thank you *takes a bow*, best pocket EVER. He did also slip in some kind words about my chest when I produced a small piece of paper I prepared for him out of my bra. I just gave him information about Barrowman Day, you know me ALWAYS at the ready! We didn't get a picture because he wasn't allowed to while it wardrobe but he promised to next time I meet him, should I be so lucky.
Dana was also able to visit the South Spring Street shoot last Friday - you can read her report in the Week One Summary.
(with thanks to Kristine Keller)
(with thanks to Tony Arranaga)
Last word goes to Director of Photography Nathaniel Goodman for this week: "US shooting finished on high note Ep 1 Torchwood. Cool stunt - Capt. Jack and newby Esther great. Pullman kills as usual. Off to Wales!"
Key to initials: AS - Alana Stone (fashion designer); BBC - BBC Torchwood (production office); GB - Gavin Barker (John Barrowman's agent); JE - Jane Espenson (writer); KO - Kai Owen (Rhys); ST - Shawna Trpcic (costume designer); TP - Tom Price (Andy)
Next week sees the shoot move across the Atlantic back to Torchwood's homeland, South Wales; costume designer Shawna Trpcic reported on Tuesday that costumes had been sent over (and that Gwen's new costume had been well received!), and confirmed on Thursday that UK-series veteran Lindsay Bonaccorsi would be handling the UK-side.
It also appears to be an extended shoot to the originally expected fortnight mentioned by Eve Myles last year. The Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles takes place on 18-20th February, and organiser Shaun Lyon has reported:
It's with great sadness that we must announce that Kai Owen and Tom Price will not be able to be with us at Gallifrey 2011. Tenth Planet Events (who was sponsoring them) just informed us that their UK filming schedule on the next series of Torchwood, which starts next week, has been extended, and regrettably, what they both expected would be a quick trip back to LA for the convention has to be cancelled.
The only known location for the UK shoot at the time of writing is at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay on the 1st February, the interior of which last appeared in the series representing the offices of Permanent Secretary to the Home Office and Torchwood liaison John Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth.
Torchwood filming at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff all day 1st February. Locals have been asked not to park in the car park area just outside as building is to be used as "a Victorian hospital" apparently.
More details have emerged on the new set of Doctor Who Characters available this spring from Character Building.
First up, actor 
ABC in Australia have confirmed they plan to screen the 2011 series of Doctor Who shortly after the series is screened in the UK.
Doctor Who lost out in the 
2|Entertain have announced that the DVD release of the Third Doctor story The Ambassadors of Death has been delayed due to ongoing restoration issues.
Filming for Torchwood: Miracle Day continued this week in Los Angeles, California.
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