Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time

Wednesday, 24 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A new game is to be released for Apple's iphone/ipod/ipad for Christmas. The platforms will see mobile games designer Tag Games release The Mazes of Time, which will be available from Apple's iTunes store.

The game will enable the player to take on the role of either the Doctor or Amy, and engage in action puzzles in which the time travellers race to save a family that has been attacked by a rogue Dalek. It is aimed for players aged six upwards, and has been written by Oli Smith, who was also responsible for the recent Nintendo games Evacuation Earth and Return to Earth.

The Head of Games Technology, Robert Henning, said:
Doctor Who is the UK's number one science fiction property, and I think it is in the BBC's top three for worldwide sales, so it is great to bring it to Dundee. Since we were established we have never done a game for ordinary retail — it has always been digital distribution. The digital model allows us to talk directly to our customers, so it is quite different from the traditional games model. We can get feedback from our customers and change and adapt things.
Doctor Richard Wilson, of games industry representatives TIGA, said:
This is fantastic news for Tag Games, and it demonstrates the level of creativity in the industry and it shows the government should be backing this important sector. But it is really encouraging to see a Dundee game company secure a licence like this.

Meanwhile, the existing Nintendo games have had mixed reviews, with the Wii version Return Earth reported by the Official Nintendo Magazine as failing to break the top ten games last weekend (it was number 11). Promotion for the titles is set to be cranked up in the lead-up to Christmas, with greater advertising on digital channels catering for children (e.g. CITV, Nickelodeon); a front-cover splash for Doctor Who Magazine has also been mentioned by promoters Koch Media.




FILTER: - Games

SPACE confirm air date for A Christmas Carol

Wednesday, 24 November 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
The Canadian SPACE channel have confirmed via their Twitter page that A Christmas Carol will broadcast on 26 December at 9pm Eastern Time.

SPACE are only the second channel to have a confirmed air date for the Christmas special. BBC America announced last week that it will be showing the episode just hours after the UK broadcast, which is still to be announced. Also yet to have a confirmed broadcast time is Australia's ABC but they have already announced a broadcast date of Boxing Day.

SPACE will also be broadcasting a Doctor Who Christmas Specials Marathon as part of their 12 Days of SPACE-MAS, beginning at 3am ET on 25 December with The Christmas Invasion.




FILTER: - Canada - Broadcasting

Matt Smith/Karen Gillan on BBC Radio 1 Christmas Eve

Wednesday, 24 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are to become guest presenters on BBC Radio 1 as part of the Top 10s of 2010, where celebrities from both the music and entertainment world will present their ten favourite tracks from the year.

The duo's broadcast will be on Christmas Eve, between 8:00-9:00am, and will be available to listen to through all the usual BBC media facilities.

Read the BBC Press release for more details about the Top 10s of 2010.




FILTER: - Special Events - Karen Gillan - Matt Smith - Radio

A Verity Lambert Biopic

Wednesday, 24 November 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
A short film about Verity Lambert and her struggle to get Doctor Who made will broadcast online in early December.

The film is written by two film students from the University of Central Lancaster. Thomas Cowell and Joey Guy have produced the ten minute biopic which will focus on the key stage of production for the very first episodes of Doctor Who between August and December 1963. More details about the production of this film can be found here.

London, 1963. Verity Lambert, the woman in charge of the BBC's new children's show, is facing somewhat of a struggle. Not only has she got to make a TV show with the entire scope of time and space (on a small budget), but she also has to face bitchy co-workers and arrogant male peers.

"Verity" shows how she fought for the Daleks right to exist on TV, battled against jealous co-workers and ended up triumphant with a national success on her hands. It will be broadcast on YouTube in early December.

You can follow updates at Thomas Cowell's blog.





FILTER: - People - Online - Auto/Biography - Classic Series

Ingrid Pitt 1937 - 2010

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Ingrid PittThe actress Ingrid Pitt has died at the age of 73.

Ingrid Pitt had two roles in Doctor Who. She played the role of Galleia in the 1972 third Doctor story The Time Monster. Galleia was Queen of Atlantis and the wife of King Dalios. In 1984 she returned to the series to play Solow in the fifth Doctor story Warriors of the Deep. During the eighties she also co-wrote a Doctor Who story The Macros with her husband Tony Rudlin which, though it never progressed into a televised production at the time, was later produced by Big Finish as part of their Lost Stories series.

Pitt was best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s. She was born in Poland on 21 November 1937 as Ingoushka Petrov. She had a German father and a Jewish mother and as a result she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp during the second World War. In 1965 she made her film debut in Doctor Zhivago, playing a minor role. In 1968 she co-starred in the low budget science fiction film The Omegans and in the same year played in Where Eagles Dare opposite Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.

Her work with Hammer Film Productions elevated her to cult figure status. She starred in The Vampire Lovers, and Countess Dracula, as well as having a small part in the cult film The Wicker Man. She founded her own theatrical touring company and starred in successful productions of Dial M for Murder, Duty Free, and Woman of Straw.

Pitt made her return to the big screen in the 2000 production The Asylum. The film starred Colin Baker and Patrick Mower. In 2003, Pitt voiced the role of 'Lady Violator' in Renga Media's production Dominator. The film was the UK's first CGI animated film.

She died earlier today at a hospital in south London after collapsing a few days ago.




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

WhoNews iPhone App

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
A Doctor Who News iPhone application will be donating 100% of its profits to the Make-A-Wish Foundation from today until the 23rd December 2010.

WhoNews was created by Paul Gee and offers time ordered news from over 30 websites including The Doctor Who News Page. For a full list of features please click here.




WhoNews all profits to Make-A-Wish Foundation 23rd November to 23rd December

Recently the cousin of my step-children was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Andrew Brown is only 12 years old and recently underwent chemotherapy for the condition which thankfully seems to be in remission but Andrew still has to have a lot of treatment. The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children and young people fighting life threatening illnesses.

For an insight into what Andrew and his family have been through in the past month click here

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

I'm donating 100% of the profits from the sale of WhoNews for a month from the 23rd November to 23rd December which marks the 47th anniversary of Doctor Who. The profits will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help other children like Andrew.

Just by purchasing WhoNews from the App Store either via iTunes or on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch you will make a donation of £1.45 in the UK or $2.80 in the US to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Just click the App Store image below.

Alternatively if you wish to make a donation direct to the foundation you can do so here make-a-wish.org.uk/getinvolved/donations

Photobucket




FILTER: - Online - Charities - Miscellaneous

Happy Birthday, Doctor Who

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 - Reported by Dean Braithwaite

Doctor Who is 47 today!

The first-ever episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, was broadcast on this date in 1963.

The official Doctor Who site has a small feature to celebrate the show's 47th anniversary, including a clip featuring the original TARDIS crew of William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell and Jacqueline Hill.

BBC Archive has a feature on The Creators of Doctor Who.

AOL Television has put up an ultimate guide slide-show so "you can reminisce about all those wonderful Doctor Who filled times and characters".

Digital Journal has a piece, "Happy 908th Birthday, Doctor Who", about the confusion surrounding the Doctor's actual age.







FILTER: - William Hartnell - Classic Series - Press - BBC

DVD Updated Release Schedule

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: The ArkThe third Doctor Who DVD release of 2011 has been confirmed as the First Doctor story The Ark. This will be released in the UK on 28 February with a release in the US and Canada following a week later on 8 March. A release in Australia is expected soon after.

The first release of the year is the Fourth Doctor story Meglos, which following its previously announced release in the UK on 10 January and in the US and Canada on 11 January, has now been confirmed for an Australia release on 20 January helping to fulfill the desire of 2|entertain to release all titles worldwide within a much smaller timeframe.

The second release will be the Third Doctor Story The Mutants released in the UK on 31 January and in the US/Canada on 8 February.

As part of the catch up, the Fourth Doctor story, The Seeds of Doom, released in the UK in October, will be released in the US/Canada on 8 March.

For full details see our release schedule.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

The Doctor tops Lollipop Poll

Monday, 22 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
This week sees the launch of Road Safety Week, organised by charity Brake in order to promote awareness of being safe on the roads. The theme for this year is 'Kids say slow down', and involves thousands of participants from schools, companies, emergency services and community groups.
As part of this week, a poll was undertaken by Kwik-Fit Insurance to see which celebrity children would most like to see as their local lollipop man/woman. Some 3000 children were surveyed between the age of seven and fourteen, of which 27% were in favour of The Doctor supervising their crossing of the road!

The runners-up were singer Cheryl Cole (21%), official Children in Need record singers JLS (12%), and footballer David Beckham (also 12%).
Managing Director of Kwik-Fit Insurance, Brendan Devine, said:
The competition is all about celebrating lollipop people and the work they do in keeping our young people safe as they cross the road, and it was interesting to see which famous face was the most popular choice for this important job.


This isn't the first time the Doctor has been associated with road safety, of course; back in 1976 Jon Pertwee featured in the Splink! road safety campaign for the Green Cross Code (you can watch the advert and read all about it on the BBC News site).




FILTER: - Matt Smith - Miscellaneous

Matt Smith on the Nerdist Podcast

Monday, 22 November 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
The latest Nerdist Podcast which features an interview and chat with Matt Smith has been released.

Smith talks briefly about a new monster that appears in Episodes 1 and 2 of Series 6 which Smith says "is on par with The Weeping Angels" and is part of a story arc from Series 5. Other topics discussed include Smith's audition to play The Doctor, his early career before the Who role, playing with Orbital at Glastonbury earlier this year and his short stories that he wrote about The Doctor and Albert Einstein.

Smith recorded the podcast with the host Chris Hardwick on the same day the two of them were guests on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Please note that this podcast does contain some strong language.




FILTER: - Online