Ratings Competition Winners

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: RatingsBARB have now issued the official ratings for the Week Ending 26 December, confirming A Christmas Carol has a final rating of 12.11 million viewers. Once figures for those watching on HD are factored in, the programme finished fourth for the week, behind EastEnders, Coronation Street and the new Matt Lucas and David Walliams comedy, Come Fly With Me.

Only eight other Doctor Who episodes have ranked fourth or higher in the weekly charts, including Matt Smith's first story, The Eleventh Hour.

Thank you to all those who entered our Christmas Competition.

The standard was high with over 25% of answers within half a million of the correct answer.
The highest guess was an optimistic 15.48 million and the lowest a pessimistic 7.4 million.
Doctor Who: Ratings
Only one person, Peter Hart of Oxford in the United Kingdom, correctly guessed the exact number of 12.11 million.

He wins an Eleventh Doctor Christmas Adventure Set and as a bonus for guessing the exact number we will be sending a DVD of A Christmas Carol.

We have five runners up who also win an Eleventh Doctor Christmas Adventure Set.
  • Chris Chalmers of London (12.10 million)
  • Russell Reinke of Lake Wales, Florida (12.12 million)
  • Kevin James Kirby of Camarillo, California (12.12 million)
  • Lyndsey Robinson of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire (12.08 million)
  • Sharon Vincent of Carterton, Oxfordshire (12.14 million)




FILTER: - Ratings - Competitions

More Moths ...

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Back in June actor/comedian/Doctor Who DVD moderator Toby Hadoke reported that his acclaimed show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf would be drawing to an end.

However ...
Never say never, as Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf seems hell bent on never ending. The show's chronic hysterisis leads it to the following venues, with more to come:

28th Jan - Alleyn's School, Dulwich
4th & 5th Feb - Hull Truck Theatre, Hull
18th Feb - Little Theatre, Chorley
19th Feb - Pound Arts Centre, Corsham

There'll also be another performance in Sevenoaks on the 27th June.
 
Toby's other tour, Now I Know My BBC will also be touring during 2011.

You can find out more details on the shows from Toby's website, www.tobyhadoke.com




FILTER: - Special Events

The Ambassadors of Death DVD developments

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Wired Magazine have reported that Third Doctor Jon Pertwee's adventure from Season Seven, The Ambassadors of Death is in the process of being completed for DVD.

The story is one of a number that do not exist in the BBC Archives in full colour; though an off-air camera copy exists, this does not provide a good signal for recreating a colour version as seen in the DVD release Doctor Who And The Silurians (details of that process may be read from the Restoration Team's Beneath the Surface article). A new colour decoding strategy was deployed for episode three of the Planet of the Daleks DVD release (see article), and has now reached maturity to tackle the third Doctor's third adventure:

Their method is a refined version of that trialled on the 2009 Planet of the Daleks re-release; it is now being deployed on a seven-part 1970 Jon Pertwee adventure, The Ambassadors of Death. "It seemed on most recordings, they didn't filter off the colour carrier [encoded as a 'chroma dot' pattern in each frame], which for the last few decades has been nothing more than an annoyance." Team member Richard Russell used the signal to reverse-engineer raw colour pictures that could be retouched frame by frame. "It's very, very labour intensive -- several hundred man hours' work every episode," says Steve Roberts. Luckily, a new "quadrant editor" is helping them to produce better source material upfront, so they hope to deliver the Ambassadors episodes to the BBC within weeks.

No other details on the future DVD release is known at present, though a commentary for the story was recorded back in late 2009, featuring members of the cast and crew including Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), Terrance Dicks (script editor), Peter Halliday (alien voices) and Derek Ware (stunts/fight arranger).


Follow classic Doctor Who DVD developments on Twitter: @classicdw.




FILTER: - Jon Pertwee - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Classic Doctor Who channel launched on YouTube

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
BBC Worldwide have launched a channel for Classic Doctor Who on YouTube this evening with two exclusive clips from Meglos.

You can subscribe to the channel so you can catch all the exclusive content from the latest 2|entertain DVD releases. Just head to youtube.com/BBCclassicDoctorWho.

We reported last week that 2|entertain had announced plans to launch the channel in January. Today a press release was put out by the BBC Worldwide press office announcing the launch of the channel:

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, will be launching a Classic Doctor Who channel on YouTube on 4th January.

The new channel, featuring a mixture of classic clips and exclusive previews from forthcoming Doctor Who DVD releases, will appeal to existing fans and give new viewers an opportunity to sample some classic Doctor Who. The channel will complement the Classic Doctor Who Twitter account @classicdw run by 2entertain.

Jo Warren, Head of UK & Ireland Sales says, "We're really looking forward to giving Classic Doctor Who its own home on YouTube. It will be a great space for fans to discuss Classic Who - we're launching with some fantastic clips and we'll be regularly adding to the collection!"

Classic Doctor Who Brand Manager Dan Hall comments, "I'm delighted to join forces with our digital team and YouTube. This is an exciting, new way to deliver content for our net-hungry market."

Classic Doctor Who will launch on YouTube with over 45 clips dating from the first episode, along with new Meglos clips and an exclusive clip previewing the new Doctor Who Meglos DVD boxset which will be released by 2entertain on 10th January. Meglos stars Tom Baker and was originally broadcast in 1980.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Online - Classic Series

David Tennant engaged

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: David TennantThe British Tabloid, The Sun, has reported that Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, has got engaged to his long term girlfriend Georgia Moffett.

According to the paper the couple plan to marry early next year.

Georgia Moffett played Jenny in the 2008 story, The Doctor's Daughter as well as providing the voice for Cassie Rice in the 2009 animated story Dreamland.

The actress is the daughter of Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison.




FILTER: - David Tennant

A Christmas Carol - Repeat Ratings

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
1.7 million viewers watched the BBC One Bank Holiday repeat of this year's Christmas Special, A Christmas Carol, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The episode, shown at 4.10pm, was watched by 9.5% of the total television audience and was the 42nd most watched programme of the day.

The timeslot was won by Deal or No Deal on Channel 4 with 2.5 million watching.

A Christmas Carol is now back on the BBC iPlayer for an additional 7 days.




FILTER: - Specials - Ratings - UK

Ratings Competition Winners

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: RatingsBARB have now issued the official ratings for the Week Ending 26 December, confirming A Christmas Carol has a final rating of 12.11 million viewers. Once figures for those watching on HD are factored in, the programme finished fourth for the week, behind EastEnders, Coronation Street and the new Matt Lucas and David Walliams comedy, Come Fly With Me.

Only eight other Doctor Who episodes have ranked fourth or higher in the weekly charts, including Matt Smith's first story, The Eleventh Hour.

Thank you to all those who entered our Christmas Competition.

The standard was high with over 25% of answers within half a million of the correct answer.
The highest guess was an optimistic 15.48 million and the lowest a pessimistic 7.4 million.
Doctor Who: Ratings
Only one person, Peter Hart of Oxford in the United Kingdom, correctly guessed the exact number of 12.11 million.

He wins an Eleventh Doctor Christmas Adventure Set and as a bonus for guessing the exact number we will be sending a DVD of A Christmas Carol.

We have five runners up who also win an Eleventh Doctor Christmas Adventure Set.
  • Chris Chalmers of London (12.10 million)
  • Russell Reinke of Lake Wales, Florida (12.12 million)
  • Kevin James Kirby of Camarillo, California (12.12 million)
  • Lyndsey Robinson of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire (12.08 million)
  • Sharon Vincent of Carterton, Oxfordshire (12.14 million)




FILTER: - Competitions - Doctor Who News

Free UK iTunes download -The End of Time, Part One

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
Doctor Who: The End of Time, Part One is being offered as a free download as part of iTunes UK's "12 Days of Christmas". The episode, also available in HD, will only be free for 24 hours on 4th January.

Click here to download from iTunes.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Specials - UK

People roundup

Monday, 3 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
David Tennant talks about taking up the role of Jimmy Murphy in the BBC film United: "I am famously not that much of a football fan at all, so when the script arrived I didn't think that it was going to be for me. However, it really knocked me back and the emotional power of the story is what hooked me. The way I saw it was if it was affecting me, then it's one that is going to get to everyone." [Sunday Mail]

John Barrowman commented on how he feels the need to get back in shape: "I know I'm good-looking but I'm not egotistical, I have flaws. I have to dye my hair twice a month to get rid of all the grey, Scott doesn't like it grey. I also have these eye-flaps and bags. I have let myself go in the waist area; when I see myself naked, I know I'm heavy and out of shape - I need a hot personal trainer!" [Now Magazine]

Guardian critic Vicky Frost writes of high expectations for Steven Moffat: "As the successor to Russell T Davies at the helm of Doctor Who, Moffat had already become one of the few British TV writers to acquire the kind of recognition usually reserved for those on screen. But last summer's Sherlock, which Moffat co-wrote with Mark Gatiss, propelled him to a whole new level. "I've found myself in this situation and, let's be honest, I won't be in it for that long," Moffat says. "Nobody in their right minds could have expected this. It's ridiculous. I can't think of anyone having this much fun in TV at the moment."" [Guardian]

Moffat's Sherlock stablemate Mark Gatiss will be appearing at the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury on 7th January in aid of the Banbury and District Samaritans; described as an informal evening hosted by John Arthur, enabling the audience to meet and chat with the actor/writer. [with thanks to Steven Moffat]

Alex Kingston is due to be a guest on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS on 6th January. Kingston recently filmed in the UK and US for the next series of Doctor Who (and Matt Smith appeared on the show when shooting in the States in November). [with thanks to Dominic May]

Kylie Minogue (Astrid, Voyage of the Damned) has celebrated reaching five years since beating breast cancer. "I had a lot of support from around the world. A lot of it I didn’t see or hear, but I felt it. That might sound a little bit cosmic but in that kind of ­situation you need to reach for any positive feeling that you can. I really felt people’s good ­wishes. Sometimes you don’t want to be mollycoddled, you don’t want people treating you like you’re so ill. But what I found helpful is you have to let them help you. They are grieving as well. You have those moments when you’re down and so ­horribly, ­horribly low, but you still come up again, so believe in that." [Mirror]




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - People - David Tennant - John Barrowman

End of Time Part Two - Ratings

Monday, 3 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC One repeat of the Tenth Doctor's swansong, The End of Time Part Two, had an audience of 1.2 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

The programme which stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott and Timothy Dalton as Lord President, had a 10.6% share of the audience and was just out-rated by Bargain Hunt on BBC Two.

The repeat series concludes today on BBC One at 4.10pm with this year's Christmas Special A Christmas Carol.




FILTER: - Specials - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30 Specials