Matt Smith makes Christmas Visit

Thursday, 30 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Matt SmithA young Doctor Who fan had his dream come true when he got the chance to meet Matt Smith thanks to Smith's local paper the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.

Alfe Game was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma when he was just five and spent last Christmas in Hospital. He went into remission in the summer and has since dedicated hours of his time to helping children in a similar position to himself, collecting toys for presents for children and designing Christmas cards to be sold to fund presents for friends who have relapsed with leukaemia.

As a thank-you for his hard work, the paper set up a surprise Christmas Eve visit from the Eleventh Doctor, who was born and grew up in Northampton.

After the visit Alfe Game said
Meeting Doctor Who was fantastic. When I heard I was going to meet him I was so excited I was crying inside and when I saw him on my doorstep I was so happy. I’ve got what I wanted for Christmas. This has been the best Christmas yet.

Smith told the Chronicle & Echo
We talked a lot about Doctor Who and what he wanted for Christmas, and then he showed me his presents, but we were just hanging out really. It’s nice to see how inspired children are by Doctor Who and how much of a difference it can make sometimes, when you hear about them meeting in hospital, talking about it and bonding over it. This has been a wonderful experience.

More details and a video clip of the meeting can be seen on the paper's website.




FILTER: - Matt Smith

Voyage of the Damned Ratings

Thursday, 30 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Voyage of the DamnedThe BBC One lunchtime repeat series continued on Wednesday when of the 2007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, had an audience of 1.4 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

The programme which stars David Tennant as the tenth Doctor and Kylie Minogue as Astrid Peth, had a 12.7% share of the audience. The second half of the programme won its timeslot outrating Oliver Twist on ITV1.

The repeat series continues Thursday with The Next Doctor at 2.10pm.




FILTER: - Specials - Ratings - UK

New Doctor Who Maxi Busts

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
Titan Merchandise have added two new 8" 3/4 length busts to their the Doctor Who Masterpiece Collection.

This beautifully-sculpted 8" maxi-bust of Captain Jack Harkness perfectly-replicates John Barrowman's effortlessly-charismatic performance as the rogue time agent, Torchwood leader, and sometimes-companion of the Doctor! With his swirling RAF greatcoat and his signature vintage revolver at the ready, this Doctor Who fan-favorite is captured amazingly accurately in this astonishingly detailed three-quarter length premium sculpt.



The most evil being the Time Lords have ever produced, The Master has vexed the Doctor for decades. Sculpted by Titan, this beautiful 8" maxi-bust of The Master celebrates John Simm's acclaimed performance as The Doctor's arch-enemy, British Prime Minister Harold Saxon - better known as the Master! An evil grin and his laser screwdriver at the ready, the universe's most evil Time Lord is captured amazingly accurately in this astonishingly detailed three-quarter length premium sculpt.



These are to be released in April 2011 and can be pre ordered in the USA from BigBadToyStore.com




FILTER: - Merchandise

Runaway Bride Ratings

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Runaway BrideThe Tuesday BBC One lunchtime repeat of the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride, had an audience of 1.5 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

The programme which stars David Tennant as the tenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, had a 12.3% share of the audience and won its time slot.

Meanwhile this year's Christmas special, A Christmas Carol has shot to the top of the US iTunes chart.




FILTER: - Specials - Ratings - UK

BBC America Ratings

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who:A Christmas Carol had an average audience of 727,000 viewers for its first showing on BBC America on Christmas Day.

TV by the Numbers report the figure, which is for the 9-10.20pm showing on the channel. Last year the first part of The End of Time, which was shown the day after Christmas, achieved 671,000 viewers in the same timeslot.

Figures are not yet available for the other showings on the channel.




FILTER: - Specials - USA - Ratings - BBC America

Doctor Who returns to Italy

Monday, 27 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: RAIDoctor Who returns to Italy next month, when the state broadcaster RAI brings the show to their entertainment channel RAI 4 available on digital terrestrial television in Italy and digital satellite television through Tivù Sat.

The channel has acquired all five series of modern Doctor Who as well as the specials. Day and time of broadcast are, at present, still under development but the channel has confirmed via their Facebook page that the series will start sometime in January.

The first three series were previously shown on satellite television in Italy and RAI will be using the same dubbed transmission tapes when they show the series. The fourth and fifth series will be new to the country. The translation is being handled by BBC Worldwide.

For a full roundup of Doctor Who around the world, see our sister site This Week In Doctor Who.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Broadcasting

A Christmas Carol: Appreciation Index

Monday, 27 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol achieved an Appreciation Index or AI score of 83.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. Although the score is down slightly on previous years, it was still the second highest AI on BBC One for Christmas Evening with just The Royle Family scoring more with 84.

The Sunday evening BBC Three repeat was watched by 527,000 viewers.

With overnight ratings available for the whole week, Doctor Who finished fourth, with a decent chance of moving up the chart when the official figures are released next week.




FILTER: - Specials - Ratings - UK

People Roundup

Monday, 27 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) has won the Christmas edition of Strictly Come Dancing. He told the Daily Mail that on the possibility of hosting the dance show: "If [Bruce Forsyth, current host] were to offer those dancing shoes to me, I would gladly take them. It would be an incredible gig.".

Katherine Jenkins (Abigail Pettigrew, A Christmas Carol) was due to sing for the troops with James Blunt in Afghanistan but because of the snowy weather hitting the UK the plane was unable to take off. She posted to her Twitter account: "Am so gutted - words can't describe how disappointed we all are." The BBC have a video of Katherine singing for the troops on board the plane.

Jane Espenson (Writer, Torchwood: The New World) has indicated via her Twitter page that she'll be producing the episodes that she writes for The New World.

David Harewood (Joshua Naismith, The End of Time) has joined the cast of forthcoming US Showtime drama pilot Homeland. Deadline has more information about his role.

Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow, Blink) is on the front cover of ELLE UK for January 2011 which features an interview with her. There is a behind the scenes video of the photo shoot for the magazine. Click here for more details about the issue.

Daphne Ashbrook (Grace Holloway, TV Movie) has released her first music CD entitled Grace Notes. It is available to download from iTunes and other online stores. Daphne was talking about her new CD and musical career with The Happiness Patrol podcast.

David Tennant has narrated Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice. The BBC YouTube channel has uploaded 3 preview clips. 1, 2 and 3.




FILTER: - People - John Barrowman

A Christmas Carol debuts down under

Monday, 27 December 2010 - Reported by Adam Kirk
A Christmas Carol has debuted in Australia to good ratings. TV Tonight reports that Carol averaged 880,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. It won its time-slot, was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating drama of the day and was the eighth highest rating programme of the day overall. Doctor Who at the Proms also rated a respectable 141,000 viewers at the early timeslot of 5pm.

The fast-tracking of the Christmas special has also attracted considerable local media, including a number of interviews with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. Gillan has been interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times, while Smith has spoken to the Herald-Sun, the Sunday Telegraph and the Sun-Herald where he expresses the hope of visiting Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald has also rated 'A Christmas Carol' its 'show of the week' with Michael Idato writing that it 'is sure to be the firmest and finest footprint in the life of the 11th doctor so far.'

Boxing Day shoppers and restaurant goers got an unexpected surprise in the middle of Melbourne when the giant screen in Federation Square switched from the end of Australia's tragic day's play in the Ashes to a live feed from ABC TV showing the entirety of the 2010 Christmas Special!






FILTER: - Specials - Ratings - Broadcasting - Australia

Doctor Who Experience: Pilot test days

Monday, 27 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
BBC Events are offering fans the chance to take part in pilot days to test the Doctor Who Experience attraction before opening up to everyone.

The test days will take place on Saturday 5 February and Wednesday 9 February. You can enter the random draw at any time until 4pm on Friday 14 January.

More information below from the events listing.

Step into the TARDIS and be part of the adventure.

BBC Worldwide invites you on a journey of a lifetime. The Doctor Who Experience promises to be an unmissable adventure featuring an exhilarating and unique walk-through experience and an awe-inspiring exhibition.

You'll be invited to step through a crack in time to become the Doctor's companion on an adventure. Your challenge will be to reunite the Doctor with the TARDIS whilst fending off threats from a Dalek spaceship and Weeping Angels along the way, before exploring the wonders of Doctor Who at an out-of-this-world exhibition.

Prior to opening to the public on Sunday 20 February 2011 at Olympia Two, we are inviting an audience to take part in two pilot days to fully test the attraction. These audiences will be the first lucky people to view the new attraction, therefore their patience and understanding will be required due to the fact that it will be a test day.

The test days will take place on Saturday 5 February and Wednesday 9 February.

Due to the popularity of this attraction we are operating a random draw and limiting ticket requests to four tickets per household per day.

You can enter the random draw at any time until 4pm on Friday 14 January.

Further information:
The Doctor Who Experience operates a timed ticket entry. You will be allocated an arrival time between midday and 2.30pm. Guests are asked to arrive 20 minutes before their allocated time slot to allow for queuing time, ticket checks and security checks.

Like the television series, the new Doctor Who Experience includes monsters and scenes that young children may find scary, so parental guidance is recommended.

Visitors are not permitted to take any pictures, video or audio recordings of the Doctor Who Experience pilot event or disclose any other information about the Doctor Who Experience pilot event without BBC Worldwide's prior written approval. BBC Worldwide reserves its right to bring legal action for breach of this condition.

CCTV will be in use at this event for your security and safety.

Please note filming will be taking place, by attending you give BBC and BBC Worldwide the right to use the whole or part of your contributions in all media and markets throughout the world.

Please note that by applying for tickets you are agreeing to your details being passed to production who may contact you before the event.

To enter the random draw visit the BBC Events Website or call the BBC Ticket Line on 0370 901 1227.




FILTER: - UK - Exhibitions