"Out of this World"

Monday, 22 February 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Out of this WorldThe Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will be presenting an afternoon of sci-fi music, which will feature music from Doctor Who, amongst other sci-fi favourites:
A fantastic adventure through Time And Relative Dimensions In Space as our very own Time Lord has close encounters with out of this world favourites from large and small screens.

The programme includes music from Dr Who, a musical tribute to Star Trek, as well as music from Star Wars. Mankind’s giant leap is remembered and we pay a visit to our nearest planetary neighbour with a movement from Holst’s Planets Suite. Come in your best outer space gear for a truly intergalactic experience!

Best of all - come to the Phil from 1.30 pm to meet all your favourite Dr Who and Star Wars characters!
The concert will be presented by Alasdair Malloy, a musician who's dedicated much of his life to promoting music to children; talking to the Liverpool Echo about the forthcoming concert:
It’s extraordinary. There’s no doubt the RLPO plays to more children than any other orchestra in the UK, if not Europe. For me I think a successful family concert should have all the same things as a successful family day out. Like a theme park for example – the moment you wake up the children are excited. Then the event itself should have all these elements of excitement and surprise and discovery. Then afterwards you have the shared experience as a family and with any luck you’re going to talk about it.


The concert is on the 7th March at 2:30pm at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall - see their website for further information and to book tickets.




FILTER: - Music - Special Events

Bonhams Auction: Public Viewing

Monday, 22 February 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
This Wednesday sees the Bonhams Auction of many Doctor Who costumes and props take place, and the auction rooms are now open for public viewing up until Tuesday. Entrance to both the viewings and the auction is by purchase of the auction programme, which costs £15.00 (£5.00 goes to the charity Children in Need).

Stephanie Connell, entertainment specialist at Bonhams said: "Doctor Who is without doubt one of the most important and best loved television programmes, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to offer some of the iconic costumes and props from the show."

As might be expected, the media is taking an interest in the auction, most of which revolves around the sale of two Daleks which featured in their last 'classic' story, Remembrance of the Daleks (MKI and MKII versions).

The BBC1 magazine programme The One Show is expected to run a feature on the auction on Tuesday evening, from 7:00pm.


For full details on the auction, including openings times for public viewing, see the Bonhams website.




FILTER: - Special Events - UK

Bonhams Auction Catalogue

Monday, 1 February 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
As previously reported, Bonhams will be holding a Doctor Who related auction on Wednesday 24th February. The catalogue for the auction is now available to view online, and includes items from both the 'modern' series of recent years, and also from the 'classic' 20th Century series - many of which originate from the recently closed Blackpool Exhibition.

There are a variety of costumes and props listed in the auction, ranging from the SUV from Torchwood through to the oldest item in the auction, a Brontosaurus model from Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

It is possible to pre-register on the site to bid in the auction on the day.




FILTER: - Special Events - UK

Doctor Who auction at Bonhams

Friday, 22 January 2010 - Reported by Anthony Weight
Auctioneer Bonhams is to hold an auction dedicated to Doctor Who costumes and props from the BBC archives.

The event takes place on Wednesday 24th February at its Knightsbridge saleroom in Montpelier Street, South Kensington, London, starting at 2pm.

The catalogue is currently unavailable to view but people are advised to keep checking. The only lot that appears to be mentioned on the Bonhams site at the moment is a Sea Devil costume from 1984's Warriors of the Deep (pictured), estimated at between £3,000 and £5,000.







FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Classic Series

Buzzcocks Ratings

Thursday, 17 December 2009 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor Who themed edition of Never Mind The Buzzcocks got an audience of 2.9 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures. The programme, which was presented by David Tennant, and starred Bernard Cribbins and Catherine Tate, got a share of 14% or the total audience.

The rating is much higher than usual for the programme, which, this series, has averaged around 2.1 million viewers per programme. It is the highest rating for the programme since November 2007.

Never Mind The Buzzcocks is repeated on BBC Two next Tuesday and is available in the UK on the BBC i-Player.




FILTER: - Special Events - Bernard Cribbins - Ratings

Doctor Who items on sale at Bonhams

Sunday, 13 December 2009 - Reported by Anthony Weight

Auctioneer Bonhams has a number of lots related to Doctor Who in its entertainment memorabilia sale on Wednesday 16th December at Knightsbridge in London.

Going under the hammer are the following (estimate in brackets):

Two vampire guard costumes from State of Decay (£150-£200 and £200-£300)

A Tetrap costume (pictured) from Time and the Rani (£4,000-£4,500)

Thawn's costume from The Power of Kroll labelled with actor Neil McCarthy's name (£650-£750)

Four rehearsal scripts from The Robots of Death (£250-£300) with a short, typewritten letter dated 14th October 1976 indicating that the part of SV7 was originally offered to the actor Hilary Minster.The role was eventually played by Miles Fothergill. Minster appeared in Planet of the Daleks and Genesis of the Daleks.

A Time Lord robe believed to have been used in The Deadly Assassin and Arc of Infinity (£500-£600)

A partial Cyberman costume worn by Ken Barker in Attack of the Cybermen (£2,500-£3,000)

A Shrivenzale foot from The Ribos Operation (£400-£450)

The auction begins at midday.





FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Classic Series

The End of Time Parties

Thursday, 10 December 2009 - Reported by Chuck Foster
David Tennant's Doctor Who finale, The End of Time Part Two, will be celebrated by two free pub events, both running from 3pm to 10:30pm on New Year's Day. One takes place in London in Farringdon, with the other taking place in Manchester at The Lass O'Gowrie pub on Charles Street.

Says Doctor Who fan and Lass O'Gowrie publican Gareth Kavanagh: "We'll be using all our big screens and pub system to create a fantastic atmosphere befitting the end of an era. It's free to attend - however, it's first come, first served. Under-16s are fine to stay until 9.30pm but they must be accompanied by an adult." For more details contact Gareth at info@thelass.co.uk.

The London event is organised by Jeremy Bentham, who has arranged parties for the premiere of all four series of 21st Century Doctor Who to date; for more details on where the party will take place, contact him at jjbentham@aol.com.




FILTER: - Specials - Special Events - Series 4/30 Specials

Doctor Who Adventure Calendar

Wednesday, 2 December 2009 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The Doctor Who Adventure Calendar returns to the official Doctor Who website for another year, and will feature a mix of games, videos, quizzes, interviews and stories. Visit every day for the next Christmas goodie!




FILTER: - Special Events - Online

Children in Need Ratings

Saturday, 21 November 2009 - Reported by Marcus
Over 12 million tuned into BBC One to see the 3 minute preview of The End of Time on Children in Need last night.

The quarter hour beginning at 8pm had an average audience of 11.9 million viewers on BBC One, the highest peak of the evening on any of the channels. The share was 49.5%. Once the Doctor Who clip had been shown the audience dropped off by 2 million with some viewers switching to ITV1 for Coronation Street. Overall the first section of Children In Need had an average audience of 9.8 million. An additional 260,00 viewers watched the Doctor Who clip on BBC HD, taking the total above 12 million.

Meanwhile the final part of The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Gift, finished its strong run with an audience of 0.8 million and a share of 6.4%, far above the average for the channel at this time.




FILTER: - Special Events - Ratings - UK - Sarah Jane

Charity Auctions

Sunday, 15 November 2009 - Reported by Marcus
Two rare sets of pre-production UK release ‘Time Crash’ figures, featuring the fifth and tenth Doctors are being auctioned for charity on Ebay. Both sets are signed by David Tennant and Peter Davison and have been donated to the Lynn North memorial fund by the Doctor Who Art Department.

Meanwhile doctorwhotoys.net has launched its annual auction for Children in Need with a Real Time action figure of Colin Baker up for grabs.




FILTER: - Special Events