Doctor And Donna Books Announced

Monday, 12 May 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive
Posted By John Bowman

Details of the forthcoming first three original, stand-alone novels featuring the Doctor and Donna have been released.

Ghosts of India by Mark Morris, The Doctor Trap by Simon Messingham and Shining Darkness by Mark Michalowski will be published in hardback by BBC Books in September.

See below for the synopses.
Ghosts of India: India in 1947 is a country in the grip of chaos - a country torn apart by internal strife. When the Doctor and Donna arrive in Calcutta, they are instantly swept up in violent events.

Barely escaping with their lives, they discover that the city is rife with tales of 'half-made men' who roam the streets at night and steal people away. These creatures, it is said, are as white as salt and have only shadows where their eyes should be. With help from India's great spiritual leader, Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi, the Doctor and Donna set out to investigate these rumours.

What is the real truth behind the 'half-made men'? Why is Gandhi's role in history under threat? And has an ancient, all-powerful god of destruction really come back to wreak his vengeance upon the Earth?

The Doctor Trap: Sebastiene was perhaps once human. He might look like a 19th-century nobleman but in truth he is a ruthless hunter. He likes nothing more than luring difficult opposition to a planet then hunting them down for sport. And now he's caught them all - from Zargregs to Moogs, and even the odd Eternal…

In fact, Sebastiene is after only one more prize. For this trophy, he knows he is going to need help. He's brought together the finest hunters in the universe to play the most dangerous game for the deadliest quarry of them all. They are hunting for the last of the Time Lords - the Doctor.

Shining Darkness: For Donna Noble, the Andromeda galaxy is a long, long way from home. But, even two and a half million light years from Earth, some things never change . . .

A visit to an art gallery turns into a race across space to uncover the secret behind a shadowy organisation. From the desert world of Karris to the interplanetary scrapyard of Junk, the Doctor and Donna discover that appearances can be deceptive, that enemies are lurking around every corner - and that the centuries-long peace between humans and machines may be about to come to an end. Because waiting in the wings to bring chaos to the galaxy is The Cult of Shining Darkness.




FILTER: - Books

Doctor's Daughter - Overnight Ratings

Sunday, 11 May 2008 - Reported by Marcus
Unofficial figures show that episode six of Series Four, The Doctor's Daughter, was watched by 6.6 millionviewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television audience.

While most programmes have been getting lower figures than the previous week, Doctor Who has increased its audience to bring it back over the 6 million mark.

The top rated programme was still ITV1's Britain's Got Talent although its audience was down by a million at 7.5 million. Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest share of any programme on Saturday.

The programme is currently the 11th most watched of the week, once more beating all episodes of Emmerdale. Final figures will be released by BARB in ten days time.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

BAFTA win for Moffat

Sunday, 11 May 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight
Steven Moffat has tonight been awarded the British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for Best Writer, for the script of his 2007 Doctor Who episode "Blink". The Award was presented at the annual BAFTA Craft Awards ceremony, which honours those who work behind-the-scenes in the industry. Moffat won the award ahead of Jimmy McGovern (for "The Street"), Tony Marchant (for "The Mark of Cain") and Heidi Thomas (for "Cranford"). Full details can be found on the BAFTA website.

One of the highest accolades available to a British scriptwriter, it is Moffat's second BAFTA Award in recent weeks, having also won the BAFTA Cymru (Welsh BAFTAs) scriptwriting category, again for "Blink".




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Production - Awards/Nominations

Tate In West End Play

Sunday, 11 May 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive
Posted By John Bowman

Catherine Tate will be appearing in London's West End this summer in the play Under The Blue Sky.

It is being staged at The Duke of York's Theatre, in St Martin's Lane, from Tuesday, July 15 until Saturday, September 20.

The play, by David Eldridge, consists of three love stories that are connected subtly. Tate will be appearing with Francesca Annis, Lisa Dillon, Chris O'Dowd and Dominic Rowan.

Her previous theatre credits have included Some Girls at The Gielgud Theatre, with David Schwimmer, as well as The 24 Hour Plays at The Old Vic.




FILTER: - People - Catherine Tate

Doctor Who Adventures 63

Friday, 9 May 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive
Posted By John Bowman

Sontaran stationery is the giveaway with this week's Doctor Who Adventures.

Issue 63 looks back at last week's episode, The Poison Sky, and previews what is happening in tomorrow's adventure,The Doctor's Daughter.

Also in the magazine:
  • Tales from the TARDIS: The Doctor meets Donna again in Partners in Crime
  • Who's where? Trouble for the Doctor on The Weakest Link
  • Quiz: What do you remember from The Poison Sky?
  • Puzzle: Get the Adipose back to the Nursery Ship
  • Secrets: Making Vesuvius erupt
  • Doctor's Data: UNIT facts and statistics
  • Comic strip: Part one of Nightmare on the Boulevard - trouble in Hollywood for the Doctor and Donna
  • Who knows: What happened to the Lazarus experiment and who does the Doctor fear the most?
  • Part two of a three-part competition to win an Ood head worth 700 pounds




FILTER: - Magazines - DWA

Tate was robbed of Comedy Award

Thursday, 8 May 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight
An investigation by the British broadcasting industry regulator OfCom has found that Doctor Who star Catherine Tate was unfairly denied the People's Choice Award at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, screened on the ITV network. The recipient of the award was to have been decided by a telephone vote from viewers.

BBC News reports that even though Tate won the most votes in the category, the prize was given to presenting duoAnt and Dec. This was done because pop star Robbie Williams had agreed to attend the ceremony and present a prize, but would only do so if it could be for Ant and Dec. As they had not won any of the jury-decided categories, it was decided that they should win the audience award to ensure Williams's attendance.

The Times quotes a spokesman for Tate as saying that the actress was an "innocent bystander" in the matter, and had no desire to comment. Ant and Dec have said that they will return their award, which will presumably now be given to Tate.




FILTER: - People - Catherine Tate

Sontaran Stratagem - Final Ratings

Wednesday, 7 May 2008 - Reported by Marcus
Final figures released by BARB give episode four of Series Four, The Sontaran Stratagem, an official rating of7.06 million viewers. The programme was the 17th most watched for the week on British Television.

On multi-channel television, the Sunday BBC3 repeat was watched by 1.04 million viewers and was the 6th most watched programme on multichannel for the week. The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidential got 0.59 million viewers. Also listed is Fridays repeat of Planet of the Ood which got 0.64 million viewers.

Full ratings data, including data for iPlayer downloads can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.
Top 20 Programmes (w/e 27 April 2008)

1 - CORONATION STREET (MON 2029) 10.81
2 - CORONATION STREET (MON 1933) 10.22
3 - BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (SAT 2005) 9.86
4 - EASTENDERS (MON 2000) 9.66
5 - CORONATION STREET (FRI 1933) 9.41
6 - EASTENDERS (THU 1929) 9.19
7 - CORONATION STREET (FRI 2029) 9.14
8 - CORONATION STREET (WED 1931) 8.87
9 - EASTENDERS (FRI 1959) 8.79
10 - EASTENDERS (TUE 1929) 8.59
11 - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (TUE 1928) 8.53
12 - MIDSOMER MURDERS (SUN 2002) 7.98
13 - THE APPRENTICE (WED 2100) 7.85
14 - EMMERDALE (MON 1901) 7.49
15 - EMMERDALE (FRI 1902) 7.20
16 - EMMERDALE (THU 1903) 7.15
17 - DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1819) 7.06
18 - EMMERDALE (TUE 1859) 6.77
19 - EMMERDALE (WED 1900) 6.72
20 - CASUALTY (SAT 2057) 6.56

Top Twenty Multichannel Programmes (we 27 April 2008)

1 - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LIVE (Wed 1900) 1.77m - Sky Sports 2
2 - LIVE FORD FOOTBALL SPECIAL-MATCH (Sat 1200) 1.39m - Sky Sports 1
3 - BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (Sun 1959) 1.19m - ITV2
4 - EASTENDERS (Tue 2202) 1.09m - BBC3
5 - EASTENDERS (Thu 2201) 1.04m - BBC3
6 - DOCTOR WHO (Sun 2002) 1.04m - BBC3 
7 - HEROES (Thu 2231) 990,000 - BBC3
8 - FORD SUPER SUNDAY (Sun 1533) 968,000 - Sky Sports 1
9 - BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT AUDITIONS (Sun 2103) 921,000 - ITV2
10 - KATIE AND PETER: THE NEXT CHAPTER (Thu 2101) 876,000 - ITV2
11 - UEFA CUP (2007- 2008) (Thu 1859) 872,000 - ITV4
12 - EASTENDERS (Mon 2200) 810,000 - BBC3
13 - 60 SECONDS (Tue 2200) 807,000 - BBC3
14 - BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT AUDITIONS (Sat 2204) 760,000 - ITV2
15 - HOME AND AWAY (Wed 1829) 710,000 - Fiver
16 - HOLLYOAKS (Mon 1900) 708,000 - E4
17 - HOME AND AWAY (Mon 1829) 706,000 - Fiver
18 - HOME AND AWAY (Thu 1829) 705,000 - Fiver
19 - HOME AND AWAY (Fri 1829) 700,000 - Fiver
20 - HOME AND AWAY (Tue 1829) 694,000 - Fiver

Source: BARB




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Sylvester McCoy stars in 'The Mikado'

Wednesday, 7 May 2008 - Reported by R Alan Siler
Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy will be playing the lead in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. The production opens at the Sheffield Theatre Lyceum following a successful run in the West End and features the Oscar-winning sets and costumes from Mike Leigh's film Topsy Turvy.

Starring alongside the Professor is Nichola McAuliffe, who will be reprising her role of Katisha from the West End run. McAuliffe previously appeared in Doctor Who as Vivien Rook in 2007's "The Sound of Drums" and was also the voice of James Bond's BMW in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies.

Transporting you to the magnificent Japanese court of Titipu, this hilarious tale of love, marriage, executions and heroics brings to life some of Gilbert & Sullivan's most colourful and popular comic characters from Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner, Pooh-Bah and Nanki-Poo, to the delightful three little maids.

The Mikado plays seven exclusive performances from Tuesday 27 May to Saturday 31 May, 2008. For more information, please visit http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/




FILTER: - People

Freema Agyeman cast in BBC One's Dickens

Wednesday, 7 May 2008 - Reported by R Alan Siler
BBC Drama Production today announced the key cast for Little Dorrit, Andrew Davies' major adaptation of Dickens' novel, which will be broadcast on BBC One this autumn (date to be announced). Freema Agyeman, best known to audiences as Martha Jones from Doctor Who and Torchwood, has been cast as Tattycoram, the foundling companion of the Meagles' daughter Pet.

The Dorrit family are joined by a host of colourful characters who they encounter on their way from rags to riches in Dickensian society.

When the benevolent Arthur Clennam returns from overseas he is determined to solve the mystery of his father's dying words, "Put it right Arthur. Your mother. Put it right."

The 15-part drama series began filming last week (commencing 28 April 2008) and will film throughout the summer in locations in and around London, Buckinghamshire, Kent and Herefordshire.

Adapted by acclaimed writer Andrew Davies (Sense And Sensibility, Bleak House) Little Dorrit will play out in soap opera format with 14 half-hour episodes following an initial hour-long episode.

Kate Harwood, BBC Head of Series and Serials, says: "We are very proud to be presenting this wonderful line-up of cast who will be bringing to life one of Dickens' broadest range of characters in a gripping, witty and touching script by the inimitable Andrew Davies. Part-murder mystery, part-love story, and wholly entertaining, Little Dorrit promises to be an autumn treat."




FILTER: - People

Bernard Archard 1916 - 2008

Tuesday, 6 May 2008 - Reported by Marcus
Classic series actor Bernard Archard has died at the age of 91.

Archard created two memorable roles in the series. In 1966 he played the role of Bragen, the security chief seeking complete control of a colony of humans on the planet Vulcan, in Patrick Troughton's first story, The Power of the Daleks.

He returned to the series in 1975 to create the classic role of Marcus Scarman in the Tom Baker story Pyramids of Mars a story highly rated by fans.

Bernard Archard had a long and distinguished career appearing in such series as No Hiding Place (1962), The Avengers (1968), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971) and Bergerac. A detailed obituary is available in the Independent.

Thanks to Trevor Smith




FILTER: - People - Obituary