SFX Competition

Wednesday, 9 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
SFXSFX Magazine, in association with BBC Books, have launched a competition looking for a new description for the Eleventh Doctor, written in the style of Target Books legend, Terrance Dicks.

Fans of the paperback series, which ran through the 70's and 80's will remember Dicks's classic descriptions of the various regenerations of the Doctor. A new description of the Eleventh Doctor is now needed for the new range of BBC Books and SFX are asking their readers to come up with one. Entry's need to be submitted by Twitter so need to be 119 characters or less. They must have the tag #SFXWHO at the end and sent to @SFXmagazine.

The winning phrase, as judged by Terrance Dicks himself, will be used in one of the future Eleventh Doctor books.




FILTER: - Competitions

Davies talks Torchwood

Wednesday, 9 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Torchwood creator Russell T Davies has been talking to BBC News about the new series now in preperation.

He confirmed that part of the series will be filmed in Wales and that John Barrowman will be joined by a mix of British and American cast members. Part of the plot will deal with culture differences between team members.

When asked about the current series of Doctor Who, Davies said he loves the new series, he described Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as part of a glorious age, and said he wished there were twenty episodes a year.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Russell T Davies

Wilkie Dalek for Sale

Wednesday, 9 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Wilkie DalekThe original narrow-based Dalek from The Evil of the Daleks is being sold at Bonhams in London on the 23rd of June.

It was created to go through ordinary doors on set and was nicknamed the Wilkie Dalek after Bernard Wilkie, co founder of the BBC Visual Effects Department rescued it from a skip at Ealing Studios in the 1970’s. It is up for sale with a number of other Doctor Who exhibition items following the closure of the Doctor Who Museum in Blackpool last year.





FILTER: - Auctions

Doctor Who wins timeslot in Canada.

Tuesday, 8 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
SpaceCanadian Broadcaster SPACE was the most watched channel in the country during last Saturday's showing of Episode 7 of the current series, Amy's Choice.

Nearly 400,000 viewers were watching Doctor Who at 9pm ET, beating every other Canadian channel. SPACE have described the news as "a big, awesome deal for us – we are thrilled that so many are loving the new Doctor."

The series continues on SPACE this Saturday and runs through until July 24th. The final episode will be followed by a live one-hour 'InnerSpace' fan forum, with a guest panel discussion in front of a live studio audience.





FILTER: - Canada - Ratings - Series 5/31

Cold Blood - Final ratings

Tuesday, 8 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Cold BloodFinal figures for Episode Nine, Cold Blood, published by BARB show the story was watched by 7.49 million viewers.

On BBC One the programme got 7.04 million watching where it was the fourth most watched programme for the channel for the week, beating Tuesday's EastEnders. An additional 0.45 million watched on BBC HD and when added together the programme totalled 7.49 million viewers and was the 9th most watched programme of the week.

The BBC Three Sunday repeat did not rank high enough to get into the top 30 for the week.

Full ratings for the series so far can be found in Gallifrey Base.





FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

Torchwood International!

Monday, 7 June 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
TorchwoodThe BBC have announced that a new series of Torchwood will be produced by the BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide, and US network Starz Entertainment.

The series will see John Barrowman and Eve Myles reprise their roles of Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen, and will comprise of ten episodes overseen by series creator Russell T Davies. Other former cast members (like Gwen's husband Rhys played by Kai Owen) have yet to be confirmed, but new faces will appear in the team, with adventures taking place around the world.

Says Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning:
We have a long history of working with many U.S. networks but it is incredibly exciting to be working with Starz for the first time, as well as to be reunited with the best of British in Russell, Jane and Julie. Torchwood will burst back onto the screen with a shocking and moving story with global stakes and locations that will make it feel bigger and bolder than ever.

Jane Tranter, EVP, BBC Worldwide Productions:
Torchwood has attracted remarkable attention and loyalty in both the UK and U.S., and in this new partnership with Starz, the next chapter will not only reward our current fans, but also introduce new viewers to the most impressive instalment yet.

Chris Albrecht, LLC, President and CEO of Starz:
We're committed to programming exceptional television that is entertaining, imaginative and provides a premium TV experience, and by any measure the new concept for Torchwood fits that mandate. I've been part of successful partnerships with Jane Tranter and the BBC previously, and I'm very much looking forward to working with them again.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Albrecht added:
It was too good an opportunity to pass up. Each season of the show, the show has evolved and "The Children of Earth" was terrific as evident in it was just named a Television Critics Press Awards nominee. I'm interested in doing sci-fi and what I like a lot about "Torchwood" is it's a very classic sci-fi entry. It's all about the story, it's not about big effects. I thought "Children of Earth" evolved the franchise to a place where it could continue to evolve on pay TV with an American partner that could bring more production resources.

At the end of "Children of Earth" Torchwood was destroyed, so when we pick up in our world the need for Torchwood arises again. A lot of this story takes place in the U.S. as well with several characters that are in the U.S. intelligence forces and end up teaming up with Gwen and Captain Jack to deal with the situation at hand.

The Hollywood Reporter also spoke to Russell T Davies:
It's very much the next step. It's not a new version, it's not a reboot. We're simply moving countries. The show was previously a format show -- monster of the week. The breakthrough was "Children of Earth" and that it became one long story. It's not going to be 'Lost' and take 20 years to find out what's going on. It's going to have a most remarkable conclusion after 10 episodes.

We're simply going to tell a good story. I wrote the pilot 7 months ago irregardless of network. BBC1 is a prime-time channel, but a brave channel. I don't worry about content.

No date for production and eventual broadcast for the series has been announced, though some media sources have suggested it premiering during Summer 2011.




FILTER: - Torchwood

Vincent and the Doctor - AI

Monday, 7 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Vincent and the DoctorVincent and the Doctor got an AI or Audience Appreciation Index score of 86.

This puts the programme once more in the excellent category and was the highest score of the day on the two main channels.

With the whole week's overnight figures now available, Doctor Who is in 30th place for the week on overnights, a position which will rise when final figures are released next Monday.

The BBC Three repeat got an audience of 0.52 million, a 2.4% share.

Saturday's Doctor Who Confidential scored an AI figure of 84.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

Australian ratings for The Hungry Earth

Monday, 7 June 2010 - Reported by Adam Kirk
The Hungry Earth has debuted in Australia to excellent ratings. TV Tonight reports that the episode averaged 914,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, again despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. However, it was not the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating program of the day, instead coming a close second to a new episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot which averaged 926,000 viewers. The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated a solid 635,000 viewers in the five major capitals.




FILTER: - Ratings - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting - Australia

Vincent and the Doctor - Overnight Ratings

Sunday, 6 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Vincent and the DoctorDoctor Who got an audience of 5.0 million viewers for episode ten, Vincent and the Doctor, according to unofficial overnight figures.

4.7 million watched on BBC One, where it was the highest rated show of the day. An additional 0.3 million watched on BBC HD, giving a total audience of 5.0 million and a share of 29.4% of the total audience. It was the 2nd highest rated show of the day.

The winner of the day was the final of Britain's Got Talent on ITV1, which had an audience of 12.3 million, becoming the most watched programme of the week.

Doctor Who is currently 26th for the week, a position which will rise when the final figures are released next week.

On BBC Three, Doctor Who Confidential had an audience of 241,000, a 1.2% share.






FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

Jonathan Battersby

Saturday, 5 June 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Jonathan BattersbyThe actor Jonathan Battersby has died at the age of 57.

Jonathan Battersby recently appeared in the second story of the current series playing Winder in The Beast Below. He also appeared in an uncredited role in Victory of the Daleks.

Battersby, as well as being a well respected actor, was well known in financial circles. After graduating from RADA in 1972, he worked as an actor for a number of years, including a spell in the National Theatre. In 1981 he left acting and joined the financial industry, rising to become president of the Life Insurance Association.

He retired from the LIA in 2004, and returned to his previous career as an actor, winning roles in Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Emmerdale as well as Doctor Who.

Battersby was first diagnosed with prostate cancer during his LIA presidency. He died peacefully on 22nd May 2010, at Trinity Hospice, Clapham.




FILTER: - People - Obituary - Series 5/31