BBC Press Screening for the 2010 Series

Thursday, 18 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

This evening saw press and celebrities gather to see a special screening of the first episode in the new series of Doctor Who, The Eleventh Hour, which took place at the Cineworld in Cardiff. Though the actual screening was restricted to invited guests, there was plenty else to see, including interviews with both Matt Smith and Karen Gillan themselves undertaken by the BBC's Entertainment Correspondent Lizo Mzimba.

Some photos of the event below, courtesy of Sarah Morgan

FILTER: - Press - Series 5/31

Red Button Preview of The Eleventh Hour

Thursday, 18 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus

UK viewers will get an exclusive preview of The Eleventh Hour from next Wednesday when the first minute of the episode is made available on the BBC Red Button service.

The clip will launch on 24th March and will be available at various times until the series launches at Easter Weekend. On day one the clip is expected to be available from 6am-2pm, from 3pm to 5.50pm and then from 9.10pm onwards.

The BBC red button service can be viewed on digital platforms in the UK. Details on the BBC Website.

FILTER: - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

Tom Baker to record for Big Finish? (UPDATED 18 March)

Wednesday, 17 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus

Answering questions on his official website, Fourth Doctor Tom Baker has said that he has agreed to record a Big Finish Audio production.

Baker was answering a question asking what story he would do if he was given carte blanche to create any story he wanted. He replied that he has been in talks with Big Finish and that they have accepted some of his ideas. Baker recorded Hornets' Nest for BBC Audio last year, but has never worked for Big Finish before. Any project is likely to be in early stages of production and has not been confirmed by Big Finish. (But see update below.)

Tom Baker is answering about 20 questions per month via his website. Questions need to be submitted via the forum on the website. Please read the guidelines before posting.

UPDATE, 18 March:
Big Finish has posted a confirmation, of sorts, on their website:

In the wake of a large amount of speculation on the internet about the possibility of Tom Baker working on Doctor Who audio productions with Big Finish, we thought we'd state the facts as they are now.

Tom Baker would like to confirm that "warm contact" has been made with Big Finish and that he's "enthusiastic" to work with us. He adds, wryly, "In my twilight years, I am looking forward to a tremendous Big Finish and the sooner the better."

Executive Producer Nicholas Briggs: "Tom and I have been communicating about possible projects for some time. There is really no firm news other than that, but we are both keen to make something happen. Lis Sladen, Louise Jameson and Nicholas Courtney have also expressed an interest in being involved, but no storylines have been written or approved yet and we don't anticipate anything being available before 2011."

Louise Jameson today said, "I'm delighted at the possibility of working with Tom again now we have this new found friendship. I've always rated him as a brilliant and unique actor with the most marvellous voice, Big Finish must be over the moon that he has agreed to re-visiting the sci-fi world."

Big Finish would like to stress that any audio productions it may make featuring Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor would not clash with or affect Tom's continuing, highly successful work with BBC Audiobooks.

So, to summarize: as the Nucleus of the Swarm once said, contact has been made; however, nothing solid is yet in the works.

FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker

Moffat talks to Radio Times

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus

In the run up to the launch of the New Series in April, Executive Producer Steven Moffat this week gives an interview to Radio Times.

Steven Moffat is Doctor Who’s new “showrunner” – the flashy American term, adopted over here, to describe a visionary writer/producer/TV seer who is charged with the creative evolution of a big series.

So what grand monsters (and tiny terrors) can we look forward to this series? Moffat doesn’t want to give too much away, but the new Doctor, Matt Smith, and his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) are inevitably up against foes old and new, with a star-dusting of special guest-scarers, including Helen McCrory as “a sexy scary vampire-woman and Sophie Okonedo…” here Moffat pauses. As what? “I couldn’t possibly say. But she was in the trailer for the new series, and nobody noticed!”

FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Magazines - Radio Times

Start date and time revealed?

Sunday, 14 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC Programme Information site is saying the new series will begin on Saturday 3rd April at 6.25pm.

The Doctor has regenerated into a brand new man, but danger strikes before he can even recover. With the TARDIS wrecked, and the sonic screwdriver destroyed, the new Doctor has just 20 minutes to save the whole world - and only Amy Pond to help him.

The date and time have not been confirmed by the BBC Press Office and are subject to change. The series is referred to as Series Five on the website and the duration of the episode is noted as 60 minutes.

UPDATE: The reference to Series Five has now been removed from the site and replaced with New Series.

FILTER: - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

Greatest Screen Doctor

Saturday, 13 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Online market research site OnePoll have recently ran a poll on who is the best doctor on the screen, and The Doctor came out on top. The Time Lord beat off opposition from other well known doctors such as Doctor Watson, Doctor Dolittle, and Dr Emmett Brown (Back to the Future).

A OnePoll spokesperson said:

Doctor Who is a national treasure who has been on our screens for almost half a century now. David Tennant reinvigorated this fictional character and the show has seen huge success since.

The Top Ten Screen Doctors:
1.	The Doctor	Doctor Who
2.	Doc Brown	Back to the Future
3.	Doctor Kennedy	Neighbours
4.	Doctor Evil	Austin Powers
5.	Spock(!)	Star Trek
6.	Ross Geller	Friends
7.	Doctor Dolittle	Doctor Dolittle
8.	Perry Cox	Scrubs
9.	Douglas Ross	E.R.
10.	Doctor Watson	Sherlock Holmes

FILTER: - Polls

BBC7 reads Doctor Who

Friday, 12 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC Radio 7 will be broadcasting a number of Doctor Who related programmes in their 7th Dimension science fiction segment in the coming months.

The memoirs of Barry Letts will be broadcast over seven weeks from the end of March; "Barry Letts - Who and Me" is read by the late producer himself, delving into his career up to and including Doctor Who. (The autobiography is still currently available in print from publisher Fantom Films.)

In April, three BBC Audio Books will be broadcast; The Giant Robot, The Brain of Morbius, Creature from the Pit are all adaptations of the original Target novelisations, and are read by the 'Doctor' himself, Tom Baker.

The 7th Dimension is presented by the modern voice of the Daleks and Cybermen, Nicholas Briggs; the strand in the past has often featured Doctor Who, including new adventures for the Eighth Doctor as portrayed by Paul McGann.

FILTER: - Radio

Nintendo to develop Doctor Who game?

Friday, 12 March 2010 - Reported by R Alan Siler

According to the Sun, BBC Worldwide has inked a reportedly £10 million contract with Nintendo to develop a Doctor Who game for the Wii and DS consoles.

The game, still in the early stages, is said to feature Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor as well as key adversaries such as the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Silurians.

A BBC insider reportedly told the Sun, "This has been in the pipeline for years. We're delighted to have finally nailed down a deal. We went with Nintendo as they have huge appeal for families and Doctor Who is very much a family brand. The Wii console is key for us as it's something families play together."

The Sun quotes David Tennant as saying that the element that kept this from getting off the ground before now was how developers treated the character of the Doctor. "The video game was quite actively developed, but it's difficult to nail as the Doctor doesn't blow things up. He's not Batman, who goes around smacking people in the head."

The insider added: "BBC Worldwide, which licenses BBC shows, has been trying to find some way of doing it. But you can't have Doctor Who blowing things to bits with a laser gun. That would massively change the nature of the show."

According to the Sun, the plan is to have the game in shops in time for the 2010 Christmas season.

Read the full article here.

FILTER: - Merchandise - Matt Smith

Andrew Smith Returns to Doctor Who

Friday, 12 March 2010 - Reported by R Alan Siler

According to an interview that appeared in today's Rutherglen Reformer, Andrew Smith, author of the 1980 Doctor Who serial Full Circle, has been commissioned for a new script by Big Finish.

Smith wrote Full Circle at the age of 18. The story involved the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 entering the universe of E-Space. The story is notorious for introducing the character of Adric.

The new script, entitled Invasion of E-Space, has been written for the Companions Chronicles line with Lalla Ward as Romana telling the story, which features the Fourth Doctor and Adric.

Big Finish Producer David Richardson said: “I met Andrew at a convention in Glasgow last year. I was a fan of Full Circle, which was such a clever and inventive script, so I was delighted when he said he might be interesting in writing for Big Finish. It was an instant yes from me - and over the subsequent weeks we set about formulating ideas for a Companion Chronicle featuring the Fourth Doctor, Romana and Adric.”

Andrew told the Reformer: “I wanted the dialogue to sound naturalistic, as if it’s being spoken, not read off the page. You want it to sound like a normal conversation, not an unrealistic description of green and verdant hills, or whatever. I've done the first draft, and this is with (script editor) Jac Rayner now, while David at Big Finish is reading it. They will come back with notes and I'll do the next draft in the next two or three weeks."

To read the full interview, visit the Rutherglen Reformer website.

FILTER: - People - Merchandise - Audio - Big Finish

Doctor Who preview at WonderCon

Thursday, 11 March 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Attendees will be able to see a special preview showing of the new series opener The Eleventh Hour at WonderCon, an event taking place at the Moscone Center South in San Francisco over the 2nd-4th April. WonderCon is an event operated by the company that puts on the annual large-scale media event in San Diego, California, Comic Con International, which BBC America exhibits at annually.

BBC America Presents the U.S. Premiere Screening of the new Doctor Who only at WonderCon!

On April 17 a new era of the BAFTA-winning series, Doctor Who, premieres on BBC AMERICA. From new lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, the series follows the adventures of The Doctor, the mysterious traveler who, with his human companions, journeys throughout all of time and space, facing a variety of foes and righting wrongs. This latest series sees Matt Smith's debut as the new, Eleventh incarnation of the famous Time Lord alongside a new travelling companion, the enigmatic Amy Pond (Karen Gillan).

Doctor Who is television's longest running science fiction series. Here's your chance to see the very first episode weeks before it premieres! Doctor Who premieres Saturday, April 17, 9:00 PM ET/PT on BBC AMERICA.

The episode will be shown twice on Saturday 3rd (the same day as the series is expected to start in the United Kingdom), at 6:30pm and 7:45pm.

For full details of the convention see the WonderCon website.

FILTER: - Special Events - USA - Conventions - Series 5/31

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