TARDISes in Transit

Wednesday, 1 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
A lorry carrying eleven TARDISes was spotted in a Cardiff industrial park today.

The lorry had made a stop in the Foreshore Road warehouses - which is next to the Heliport and not too far from the site of the new BBC Wales Studios - but it is not known where they were actually heading to, or what they are for. The TARDIS prop used for filming is transported as a flat pack and then assembled on location, which makes this sighting rather intriguing.




Update: I've been informed that there are actually 22 Police Boxes on this lorry.

If you have any more information about these TARDISes please contact us.





FILTER: - UK - Miscellaneous

Online Advent Calenders

Wednesday, 1 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC Advent Calendar Day One
It's that time of year again, and the BBC have once again launched their popular "Adventure Calendar". Day One sees the updated return of an old game, "Doctor in the House":
... you have to sneakily use as many quotations from the Doctor as possible. Use the guile of a Time Lord to win big points! Download Doctor in the House to find out the rules and find the new quotes for this year's version. And even if you don't fancy playing the game (is that possible?) then why not peruse the quotations and see how many you recognise... can you say what episodes the lines are from?
A new treat will be added to the calendar every day.


Our own advent celebration takes the form of artwork provided by an artist known to us as "Willy Phantom", author of images for the festive period for a number of years. The artwork will appear daily in the right sidebar of the News Page.


On other fan sites, the Doctor Who Times are presenting an animated advent calendar, in association with Blink; day one provides a TARDIS snow globe you can 'shake'.

You can also find advent treats on WhovianNet, whose calendar for today features four Christmas cards for you to download and print - you can choose from the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River.
 
Finally, for those who prefer the traditional one on the shelf, there is the BBC/bonbonbuddies "Dalek" advent calendar with milk chocolates, and Doctor Who Adventures included a calendar free with Issue 124.






FILTER: - Miscellaneous

Peter Hoar to direct an Easter Special?

Wednesday, 1 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency have cited a credit for Doctor Who on their profile of director Peter Hoar; the entry reports that he will be directing a "one-off Special of the popular series to be broadcast over the Easter weekend", a one hour long story written by Steven Moffat and produced by Marcus Wilson.


There is no other confirmation on the details listed; filming for the new series during November saw the completion of the opening story penned by Steven Moffat, and then moved onto Matthew Graham's two-part story (as reported by the writer), so the production date given remains unclear at present.

The positioning of such a special within the series is also uncertain - though Doctor Who traditionally broadcasts from around Easter, 2011 sees the weekend fall later in April (22nd-25th); this might suggest that an earlier Spring start to Series Six, but previous years have shown that any such decision is unlikely to be confirmed until a few weeks before transmission.

Update: since the news item was published, the profile listing has now been adjusted to read "Director of a single episode to be broadcast in 2011".

Hoar's CV includes the BBC's popular spy series Spooks, Mistresses, and ITV's crime drama Wire in the Blood.






FILTER: - Specials - Series 6/32 - Production

Special Sound

Wednesday, 1 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Special Sound is a new book chronicling the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop, written by Dr Louis Niebur, Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Nevada.

Special Sound traces the fascinating creation and legacy of the BBC's electronic music studio, the Radiophonic Workshop, in the context of other studios in Europe and America. The BBC built a studio to provide its own avant-garde dramatic productions with experimental sounds "neither music nor sound effect." Quickly, however, a popular kind of electronic music emerged in the form of quirky jingles, signature tunes such as Doctor Who, and incidental music for hundreds of programs. These influential sounds and styles, heard by millions of listeners over decades of operation on television and radio, have served as a primary inspiration for the use of electronic instruments in popular music.

Using in-depth research in the studio's archives and papers, this book tells the history of the many engineers, composers, directors, and producers behind the studio to trace the shifting perception towards electronic music in Britain. Combining historical discussion of the people and instruments in the workshop with analysis of specific works, including a large number of Doctor Who incidental scores, Louis Niebur creates a new model for understanding how the Radiophonic Workshop fits into the larger history of electronic music. In particular, he explores the unique relationship between Doctor Who and the Radiophonic Workshop through new interviews with that program’s composers.

The book is published by the Oxford University Press (USA).




FILTER: - Books

Boxing Day for Australian debut of A Christmas Carol

Wednesday, 1 December 2010 - Reported by Adam Kirk
The TV Tonight blog confirms that the Doctor Who 2010 Christmas special, A Christmas Carol, will make its Australian debut on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Boxing Day, Sunday 26 December 2010 at 7.30pm on ABC1. As TV Tonight reports, this will be the first time ever an episode of Doctor Who will air in Australia within 24 hours of its UK debut.

Thanks to TV Tonight.




FILTER: - Specials - Broadcasting - Australia

Sarah Jane Official Ratings

Wednesday, 1 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Sarah Jane AdventuresFinal Ratings for Series four of The Sarah Jane Adventures are now available.

This year each episode premièred on the digital Children's Channel CBBC on a Monday and Tuesday before being repeated on the mainstream BBC One later in the week. The exception to this was The Nightmare Man which was repeated on BBC Two as The Commonwealth Games were being shown on BBC One.

The series has done incredibly well on CBBC with Part One of The Empty Planet now holding the record for the highest rated programme on CBBC. The series was boosted with the apperance of Matt Smith and Katy Manning in Death of the Doctor half way through the series, with most of the audience staying with the show until the end.

On BBC One the average rating for the series was 0.52 million or 0.49 million if the BBC Two showings are added in. The BBC One average for this timeslot for the year so far is 0.46 million. The fact that The Sarah Jane Adventures beats this, dispute this being the second showing of the week, is very impressive.

By comparison the average BBC One audience for other CBBC programmes was Junior Masterchief 0.72 million; Blue Peter 0.44 million; Gastronuts 0.42 million; Relic: Guardians of the Museum 0.42 million; Amimals at Work 0.29 million; My Genius Idea 0.27 million.

The highest combined rating was for Part One of Lost in Time which had a total of 1.57 million viewers across both channels. Last year the series peaked with 1.59 million watching The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.

This year the total average for the series was 1.29 million viewers. Last year the BBC One average was 1.01 million.








FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Sarah Jane

Doctor Who items in Bonhams Auction

Tuesday, 30 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Three items from the classic series of Doctor Who have been listed for Bonham's Entertainment Memorabilia Sale, taking place in Knightsbridge on Wednesday 15th December from midday.
Lot 101: a black jacket worn by Jon Pertwee, with braid to lapels and cuffs, single button to front, labelled Austin Reed, the right sleeve inscribed inside by Jon Pertwee in silver pen, To Dewey My very own! Worn for ''The Doc'' back in '69!!, also with some other very indistinct writing, believed by Pertwee when signing the jacket at a convention in February 1991.

Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000, EUR 3,500 - 4,700
 
Lot 102: a script from Resurrection Of The Daleks, 1984,contained within a folder labelled 'Warehouse, Space Ship (Dalek) Composite', with detailed notes in an unknown hand, and stage directions, the scenes of the script separated by BBC Internal Mail envelopes.

Estimate: £200 - 300, EUR 240 - 350
 
Lot 103: a Sea Devil Costume from Warriors of the Deep, 1984, made of foam latex, fibreglass and vinyl, including, a tunic with applied scale effect and chest piece and shoulder piece, a pair of matching trousers (as suit), together with head cowl of latex, fibreglass helmet and foam latex feet.

Estimate: £800 - 1,200, EUR 940 - 1,400
 
The showroom is open for sale viewings beforehand, daily from Sunday 12th December.





FILTER: - Auctions

Odds on a Who Christmas (2010)

Tuesday, 30 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
LogoBetting company Paddy Power have collated odds on which television programme will top the Christmas Day ratings this year; as of today Doctor Who is currently believed to be the fourth most likely show to claim the coveted spot.

Paddy Power Odds (30 Nov)
2/5 Eastenders
5/1 The Royle Family
Coronation Street
8/1 Doctor Who
12/1 Emmerdale
Upstairs Downstairs
14/1 Queen's Speech
Top Gear
16/1 Strictly Come Dancing
20/1 The One Ronnie
25/1 Come Fly With Me
BBC News
33/1 Rock and Chips
Harry Hill's TV Burp
40/1 Top of the Pops
50/1 The Nativity
Last year saw similar expectations for the shows vying for the top; however the final result was controversial in terms of the ratings, as the launch of BBCHD gave viewers a choice of channel to watch the show on - thus Doctor Who was the most watched programme overall on television that day, but third in individual channel ratings (see our chart for details).

Not so much a problem in previous years, with clear-cut ratings breakdowns showing:
2005: Eastenders, 10.60m(1)
The Christmas Invasion, 9.84m(2)
2006: The Vicar of Dibley, 12.39m(1)
Eastenders, 9.40m/11.56m(3/2)
The Runaway Bride, 9.35m(4)
2007: Eastenders, 14.38m(1)
Voyage of the Damned 13.31m(2)
2008: Wallace and Gromit, 16.15m(1)
The Next Doctor, 13.10m(2)
 
How will Doctor Who fare this year? The HD division should not be an issue this year (BBC1 and BBC1HD are considered to be the same channel, and not separate like the BBCHD channel), but the traditional competition is on hand to give us a good fight for the top spot on the day!




FILTER: - Specials - Ratings - Betting/Odds

6pm for A Christmas Carol

Tuesday, 30 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: A Christmas CarolThe BBC has confirmed this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, A Christmas Carol with be shown on BBC One and BBC One HD, on Christmas Day at 6pm.

Final schedules were signed off this afternoon. Doctor Who has been shown at 6pm on Christmas Day for the last two years.

This year Doctor Who will be preceded by The One Ronnie, a variety show starring Ronnie Corbett and will be followed by Christmas Editions of Strictly Come Dancing, featuring John Barrowman, and EastEnders.

The programme has already been confirmed for transmission on Christmas Day in the United States on BBC America at 9pm ET and on Boxing Day in Canada on SPACE at 9pm ET and in Australia on ABC 1 at 7.30pm.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Specials - UK - Broadcasting

The Mazes of Time: Android platform version expected?

Tuesday, 30 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A version of the mobile game The Mazes of Time is to come out for the popular Android operating system as well as the already reported Apple platforms, if an advert published by the game's author Oli Smith is accurate.

The author's article was posted on the 23rd November, a day before the official announcement, so the decision may have changed - though a link to the advert was posted today by Tag Games on their Twitter feed.

Oli Smith wrote of the game:
Developed by the talented developers at Tag Games, this action puzzle adventure charts the adventures of the Doctor and Amy as they attempt to rescue an innocent family, scattered through time by the fallout from a Dalek attack, and will be out sometime in December!





FILTER: - Games