Auction Items Fetch Thousands

Thursday, 19 June 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Posted By John Bowman

Two items from the 1980s era of Doctor Who were sold for more than 3,000 pounds yesterday.

An entertainment memorabilia auction at Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London, saw a moulded and painted foam baby Tyrannosaurus rex in a jar from the 1985 Colin Baker story The Mark of the Rani go for 1,080 pounds, while a Dalek guard costume from the 1984 Peter Davison adventureResurrection of the Daleks sold for 2,040 pounds.

As reported by this site last month, the model T rex had an estimate of 600 to 800 pounds, while the Dalek guard costume's estimate was 800 to 1,200 pounds. The guard costume had 'Rula Lenska' plus a measurement inscribed in ballpoint on the neck and came with a moulded weapon plus background paperwork, including a copy of a note by Lenska, who played Styles, and a signed photo (believed to be of Lenska)

FILTER: - Special Events - Classic Series

Forest of the Dead - Final Ratings

Wednesday, 18 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Final figures released by BARB give episode Nine of Series Four, Forest of the Dead, an official rating of7.84 million viewers.

The episode saw the series edge back into the weekly top ten, just beaten by the two main soaps and The Apprentice. Doctor Who beat one episode of EastEnders and one episode of Coronation street in the final ratings.

The Sunday repeat on BBC3 which was watched by0.82 million viewers and was the 7th most watched programme on multi-channel for the week.

The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidentialgot 0.87 million viewers making it the 5th most watched multi-channel programme.

Full ratings data, including data for iPlayer downloads can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.

Top Programmes w/e 8th June 2008

1 CORONATION STREET (MON 1932) - 9.16 - ITV1
2 CORONATION STREET (MON 2029) - 9.03 - ITV1
3 EASTENDERS (MON 2001) - 8.70 - BBC1
4 CORONATION STREET (FRI 1934) - 8.69 - ITV1
5 CORONATION STREET (WED 1930) - 8.42 - ITV1
6 CORONATION STREET (FRI 2030) - 8.15 - ITV1
7 EASTENDERS (FRI 1959) - 8.07 - BBC1
8 EASTENDERS (THU 1930) - 8.00 - BBC1
9 THE APPRENTICE (WED 2100) - 7.94 - BBC1
10 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1900) - 7.84 - BBC1
11 CORONATION STREET (SUN 2003) - 7.75 - ITV1
12 EMMERDALE (MON 1901) - 6.71 - ITV1
13 EMMERDALE (TUE 1858) - 6.61 - ITV1
14 EMMERDALE (FRI 1903) - 6.59 - ITV1
15 EMMERDALE (THU 1902) - 6.44 - ITV1
16 EASTENDERS (TUE 1929) - 6.18 - BBC1
17 EMMERDALE (WED 1859) - 6.06 - ITV1
18 CASUALTY (SAT 2037) - 5.89 - BBC1
19 TRAFFIC COPS (TUE 2100) - 5.64 - BBC1
20 BIG BROTHER (THU 2102) - 5.59 - Chann

Top Multi Channel Programmes w/e 8th June 2008

1 EASTENDERS (Tue 2202) 1,270,000 - BBC3
2 HEROES (Thu 2230) 1,080,000 - BBC3
3 FILM: THIS IS ENGLAND (2006) (Mon 2100) 1,005,000 - Film4
4 AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (Fri 2104) 992,000 - ITV2
5 DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL (Sat 1946) 865,000 - BBC3
6 HOME AND AWAY (Tue 1829) 853,000 - Fiver
7 DOCTOR WHO (Sun 2001) 819,000 - BBC3
8 HOME AND AWAY (Fri 1828) 784,000 - Fiver
9 EASTENDERS (Thu 2200) 757,000 - BBC3
10 EASTENDERS (Mon 2203) 740,000 - BBC3
11 FAMILY GUY (Sun 2224) 738,000 - BBC3
12 HOLLYOAKS (Thu 1900) 730,000 - E4
13 HOME AND AWAY (Mon 1829) 722,000 - Fiver
14 60 SECONDS (Mon 2201) 717,000 - BBC3
15 HOLLYOAKS (Mon 1900) 711,000 - E4
16 HOME AND AWAY (Wed 1829) 708,000 - Fiver
17 60 SECONDS (Tue 2159) 651,000 - BBC3
18 HOME AND AWAY (Thu 1829) 648,000 - Fiver
19 HOLLYOAKS (Fri 1859) 636,000 - E4
20 MIDSOMER MURDERS (Tue 2205) 623,000 - ITV3

Source BARB

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Photo spoiler in The Sun

Tuesday, 17 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The Sun daily national newspaper in Britain has published a story about a returning enemy in the final two episodes of the current series of Doctor Who. The story also features a high-quality photograph of this character, and also of another aspect due to feature in the finale. The information is contained in the spoiler box below - please do not click if you do not want to be spoiled!

Today's Daily Telegraph is also running the spoiler story, although their photograph is not from the current series.

The returning enemy is Davros, the creator of the Daleks, previously seen in five classic series stories. According to both papers, he is now played by actor Julian Bleach, who previously appeared in an episode of Torchwood.

A new type of Dalek, a Red Dalek, is also pictured in The Sun's story.

FILTER: - Series 4/30 - Press

Doctor Who Adventures 69

Tuesday, 17 June 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Posted By John Bowman

Get set for the return of Rose Tyler in this week's edition of Doctor Who Adventures.

Issue 69 looks at this coming Saturday's episode, Turn Left, in which Donna runs into the Doctor's old friend.

Also in the magazine is a Vashta Nerada mask, and readers can learn about the Doctor's long history with the Sontarans.

The free gift is a bumper sticker pack, with 91 different Doctor Who stickers in total, including a set of Dalek stickers, two sets of holo stickers and a sheet for sticking on the front of notebooks and diaries.

PLUS:

Three posters: Cyberman, Midnight and Sontarans
Tales from the TARDIS: A shock for the Doctor in The Unicorn and the Wasp
Secrets: Creating the Nodes from Silence in the Library
Doctor's Data: Fifth Doctor facts
Comic strip: Can the Doctor and Donna escape the wormhole?
Who knows: How many rooms are inside the TARDIS and is Miss Foster a Time Lord?
Win: Goodies up for grabs, including the new K-9 Tales DVD box set

Doctor Who Adventures issue 69 is out on Thursday, June 19.

FILTER: - Magazines - DWA

K9 Series Production Latest

Tuesday, 17 June 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Posted By John Bowman

Production on the long-awaited spin-off series featuring K9 is due to start in Australia next month, according to the Pacific Film and Television Commission.

An article in its June newsletter says that Bob Baker is currently in Queensland, writing the 26-part show. He co-created the character of the robot dog with Dave Martin, who died in March 2007.

According to the PFTC, Baker is working on the spin-off - called simply K9 - with Queensland writers Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong.

It is being produced by Simon Barnes, and Richard Stewart and Penny Wall from Brisbane company Stewart Wall Entertainment.

A PFTC spokesman told The Doctor Who News Page: "The series certainly is imminent! K9 is in pre-production at present in Queensland. However, exact dates for production have not yet been confirmed."

Outpost Gallifrey reported last July that an unspecified amount of funding had been approved by Australia's Film Finance Corporation.

TV distribution agent Park Entertainment has said the half-hour episodes, to be made by Jetix Europe, will be live action and CGI.

(With thanks to Anacleto.)

FILTER: - K9

Press round-up

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The most recent episode of Doctor Who, "Midnight", is reviewed in two of the British broadsheet newspapers this morning. The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen felt that the episode was "too much of a writing exercise to be really scary," however he does concede that: "It showed that even if it fails as often as it succeeds, this series is not afraid of variety. Like the passengers aboard the charabanc, Doctor Who is dead scared of repetition." Sam Wollaston of The Guardian gives a very positive assessment: "It's great. Because what we can't see is much more alarming than what we can. It's tense and claustrophobic, and it gnaws away at you."

icWales yesterday published an article examining what next for Welsh-produced drama once Russell T Davies leaves Doctor Who, claiming that Welsh drama productions are the envy of Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond. The article rather oddly refers to Davies's successor, Steven Moffat, as first English, before later pointing out his Scottish origins.

Davies's impact on television drama is also examined further afield: the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune have both published a piece by journalist Sarah Lyall, looking at Davies and Doctor Who's influence on the industry and British popular culture as a whole.

FILTER: - Series 4/30 - Press

Midnight - AI and Digital Ratings

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Episode ten of series four, Midnight, scored an Appreciation Index of 86, once more putting the show firmly in the excellent category. It was the 2nd most appreciated programme on BBC1 and ITV on Saturday after Trooping the Colour.

Continuing the general run of low ratings, none of Sunday's programmes were able to beat Saturday's Doctor Who, making it the highest rated programme for the whole weekend and the 5th most watched programme of the week. This position may rise when corrected figures, including numbers for those recording the programme, are released by BARB in 9 days time.

Apart from the last Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, which was 2nd in the weekly list, the highest chart position Doctor Who has ever previously achieved is 5th for episode two of the 1975 Tom Baker story The Ark in Space.

Sunday's BBC3 repeat got an overnight audience of 0.91 million viewers. It was a 4.5% share of the multi-channel audience and the most watched programme on all multi-channel TV for Sunday.

Saturday's edition of Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.52 million viewers. The programme, which had a share of 3.1 %, was the most watched on multi-channel television on Saturday.

Last Friday's repeat of Forest of the Dead got an audience of 0.35 million viewers. It was the 6th highest multi channel programme, and the highest rated on BBC3.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

New Radio Times

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The new edition of the BBC's Radio Times listings magazine, available across the UK from tomorrow, once again focuses on Doctor Who as its cover feature. The magazine published four alternative covers for its series four launch issue, and has also made the Sontarans cover stars during the current run of the programme.

The cover, a preview of which is shown below, promotes a feature by Russell T Davies, looking at the roles of the Doctor's recent companions. "The companion acts as our eyes and ears, our gateway into the Doctor’s extraordinary world," Davies tells the magazine. "The companion is there so that the kids watching at home can think, 'That could be me!' I hope the companions still make children think that's possible, to travel in time and space."

FILTER: - Magazines - Series 4/30 - Radio Times

K9 Tales - Faulty Disc - UPDATE

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

2 entertain, the company which produces the classic series DVDs, has confirmed there is an authoring error with the latest release, The Invisible Enemy, out this week as part of the K9-Tales disc set. The error is towards the end of Episode Three and causes the disc to skip part of the episode.

2 entertain will replace all faulty discs and have set up a helpline which will be active from Monday. Customers with faulty discs are advised to either emaildvd.support@bbc.co.uk (NOTE CORRECTED ADDRESS!) or call 020 7612 3186. Instructions on what to do are on the voicemail of the phone line and on the auto reply from the email.

The current DVD release schedule is listed below. Schedule is not confirmed and may change.

16 June - K9 Tales
21 July - The Brain of Morbius
18 August - Trial of a Time Lord
September - Four to Doomsday
October - The War Machines
November - Battlefield

FILTER: - UK - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Torchwood comes to BBC1

Sunday, 15 June 2008 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

According to the latest issue of Torchwood Magazine, Executive Producer Julie Gardner has confirmed rumours that the show will move to BBC1 with a much shorter run.

The magazine reports that the third series will consist of five episodes forming one continuous story with at least one penned by Russell T. Davies.

"It's the longest and most ambitious story we have ever made, so be prepared for some shocks and surprises!" Gardner told the magazine. She added: "Life at Torchwood is never quiet or easy and the whole of Captain Jack's world is about to be turned upside down!"

The new series will begin filming in August for transmission in early 2009.

FILTER: - Torchwood - Julie Gardner

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