K9 Tales box set extras

Tuesday, 29 April 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The Doctor Who Restoration Team website has published an article confirming the release of the K9 Tales box set later this year, and announcing the extras package being provided for the two stories - 1977's The Invisible Enemy and 1981 spin-off adventure K9 and Company.

The extras for The Invisible Enemy are:

A commentary Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Mat Irvine and Bob Baker.

Documentary feature Dreams and Fantasy, looking back at the making of the story.

Studio Sweepings - behind-the-scenes studio footage.

Visual Effect - a look at the visual effects work on this and other stories.

Blue Peter - an extract showing K9's first appearance on the famous children's magazine show.

Optional CGI effects.

Trailers and continuity announcements, on-screen production notes, a photo gallery, coming soon trailer, and PDF files of Radio Times billings.

On K9 and Company:

A commentary with Elisabeth Sladen, John Leeson, Linda Polan and Eric Saward.

The K9 Files - a documentary looking at the making of this production.

K9 - A Dog's Tale, K9 is interviewed about his life.

Pebble Mill at One - K9 appears on the BBC1 lunchtime chat show.

BBC trailers and continuity announements.

PDF files of K9 Stories, four books starring the dog originally published in the 1970s.

A Photo Gallery, Coming Soon trailer, Radio Times Billings PDFs, Programme subtitles and Subtitle Production Notes.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD - Radio Times

Sontaran Stratagem - AI and Digital Ratings

Monday, 28 April 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Episode four of series four, The Sontaran Stratagem, achieved an Appreciation Index of 87. This was the highest score for the day on any of the four main channels.

With overnights now available for the whole week, Doctor Who is currently the 18th most watched programme of the week. Final figures will be released byBARB in 9 days time.

Saturday's edition of Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.55 million viewers, according to unofficial overnights. The programme, which had a share of 3.2%, was the 5th most watched on multi channel television on Saturday.

Sunday's BBC3 repeat of The Sontaran Stratagem got an overnight audience of 0.87 million, a 4.1% share and was the 4th most watched programme on multi channel TV for Sunday. Doctor Who Confidential got an audience of0.51 million for the repeat showing.

Meanwhile last Friday's repeat of Planet of the Ood got an audience of 0.51 million and was the 5th most watched multi channel programme for the day.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Radio Times

Monday, 28 April 2008 - Reported by Marcus

This week's Radio Times features an interview with Freema Agyeman who, last week, returned to Doctor Who in the role of Martha Jones, now a fully fledged member of UNIT. Has joining the Unified Intelligence Taskforce toughened her up? "It's affected her definitely" says Agyeman, "but she's still the same Martha underneath. She still wants to help and heal people,"

And who thought sparks would fly between Martha and Donna (Catherine Tate). "Too obvious!" laughs Agyeman. "Everyone was expecting that, so it's brilliant to have wrong-footed them." What about the Sontarans? Was she able to keep a straight face opposite them? "Tiny little warriors who look like potatoes, Well, they look cute, but they’re totally obsessed with war and bloodlust and death and honour. I think they're suffering a bit from small-man syndrome."

The Radio Times Website also contains a couple of articles related to the return of UNIT, including an interview with the Brigadier, Nicholas Courtney.

FILTER: - Magazines - Radio Times

Sontaran Stratagem - Overnight Ratings

Sunday, 27 April 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Unofficial figures show that episode four of Series Four,The Sontaran Stratagem, was watched by 6.4 million viewers, giving it a 35.5% shareof the total television audience.

The programme was the second most watched of the day, being beaten by ITV1's Britain's Got Talent, which was 3 million viewers ahead of any opposition with 9.4 million viewers. Doctor Who won the time slot, beating Animals Do the Funniest Things, which got 3.3 million viewers and it was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day.

The programme is currently the 17th most watched for the week. Final figures will be released by BARB in ten days' time.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

BAFTA Cymru triumphs

Sunday, 27 April 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

Doctor Who has won six categories at the 17th annual BAFTA Cymru Awards, given to films and television programmes produced in Wales. The ceremony was held tonight at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

The programme took the awards for Best Drama Series (Phil Collinson, for "Voyage of the Damned"), Best Screenwriter (Steven Moffat, for "Blink"), Best Sound (BBC Wales Sound team), Best Director, Drama (James Strong, "Voyage of the Damned"), Best Director of Photography (Ernie Vincze for "Voyage of the Damned") and Best Make-Up (Barbara Southcott and Neill Gorton at Millennium FX for "The Shakespeare Code".)

Spin-off series Torchwood took one award, Best Costume for the episode "Captain Jack Harkness".

IC Wales and BBC News both have reports.

FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Awards/Nominations

Torchwood comes to Radio 4

Saturday, 26 April 2008 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

Team Torchwood is slated to make an appearance on Radio 4 this summer. The 45-minute show, airing as Radio 4's Afternoon Play, has been written by Joseph Lidster (A Day In The Death) and will feature the voices of John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and Freema Agyeman. Recorded in March, the story will be transmitted on Radio 4 as part of a day's programming dedicated to the CERN project, expected to air in June or July. According to an interview in Torchwood Magazine with writer Joseph Lidster, Martha calls the team while investigating strange goings-on at the CERN nuclear facility in Switzerland, leading to Torchwood's very first international adventure!

The story will be the first time that Torchwood has not featured Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori, though Lidster says their characters Owen and Tosh, who died at the end of series two, do have a part to play in the story.
"But the story isn’t about death," says Lidster, "and I think it will appeal to those Radio 4 listeners who don't usually watch Torchwood, as well as the fans."

FILTER: - Torchwood

Tristram Cary 1925 -2008

Thursday, 24 April 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Classic Series composer Tristram Cary has died at the age of 82, at his home in Adelaide, South Australia.

Cary worked on many of the earliest stories of Doctor Who, providing incidental music for some of the most memorable episodes. He scored the very first appearance of the Daleks in 1963 and his last contribution for the programme was for The Mutants in 1972.

Cary holds a unique place in contemporary music. While serving as a wartime naval radar officer in 1945, he independently conceived the idea of electronic and tape music, and was a world pioneer in this field. His work ranged from concert and entertainment musical repertoire to pure electronic music and from instrumental solos to orchestral and choral works covers.

He provided the scores for many well known British films including the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers in 1955 and the Hammer productions of Quatermass and the Pit in 1967 and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb in 1971.

Cary was a citizen of both Australia and Britain, and in 1991 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to Australian music. In 1999 he received the SA Great Music Award for the year, and in 2001 he gained the degree of Doctor of Music at Adelaide University.

FILTER: - People - Obituary

Radiophonic Workshop - 50 years

Thursday, 24 April 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop would have been 50 years old this month. Disbanded a decade ago, the Workshop - based at the BBC's Maida Vale studios in London - was the in-house audio special effects team responsible for the majority of the special sounds, sound effects and electronic music heard in the classic series of Doctor Who.

To commemorate the anniversary of the Workshop, the BBC News website has today published a feature looking back at its work, including embedded video content. Interviewed are Dick Mills and Mark Ayres, both of whom worked extensively on Doctor Who, with Ayres still being involved in the sound restoration for classic series DVD releases.

Speaking about the creation of the iconic voices of the Daleks, Mills says: "We tried to give the impression that whenever a Dalek spoke, it wasn't speaking like we do, it was accessing words from a memory bank, so they all sound the same - dispassionate, mechanical and retrievable."

Both Mills and Ayres are scheduled to appear on Breakfast on BBC One tomorrow. According to a posting by Ayres on the Restoration Team forum today, they will be on about 9.45am. He adds: "In other words, any time between 9.30-10.00am, as long as a more important story does not break."

(Additional reporting by John Bowman, with thanks to Tony Clark.)

FILTER: - Audio - Production

Fires of Pompeii - Final Ratings

Wednesday, 23 April 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Final figures released by BARB give episode two of Series Four, The Fires of Pompeii, an official rating of 9.04 million viewers. The programme was the 10th most watched for the week on British Television. On BBC1 it was the 4th most watched for the week, beating an episode of EastEnders.

On multi-channel television, the Sunday BBC3 repeat was watched by 1.03 million viewers and was the 8th most watched programme for the week. The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidential got 0.63 million. Friday's repeat of Partners in Crime got0.74 million viewers and was the 25th most watched programme for the week.

Full ratings data and audience profile can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.

Top Programmes w/e 13 April 2008

1 CORONATION STREET (MON 2029) - 11.18 - ITV1
2 CORONATION STREET (MON 1931) - 11.03 - ITV1
3 EASTENDERS (MON 2001) - 10.60 - BBC1
4 CORONATION STREET (FRI 2029) - 10.17 - ITV1
5 CORONATION STREET (FRI 1934) - 10.08 - ITV1
6 CORONATION STREET (WED 1931) - 9.85 - ITV1
7 EASTENDERS (FRI 2000) - 9.49 - BBC1
8 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (SAT 1949) - 9.44 - ITV1
9 EASTENDERS (THU 1929) - 9.04 - BBC1
10 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1846) - 9.04 - BBC1
11 EASTENDERS (TUE 1930) - 8.94 - BBC1
12 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (TUE 1929) - 7.92 - ITV1
13 EMMERDALE (MON 1901) - 7.92 - ITV1
14 FOYLE'S WAR (SUN 2004) - 7.74 - ITV1
15 EMMERDALE (WED 1900) - 7.35 - ITV1
16 EMMERDALE (FRI 1902) - 7.34 - ITV1
17 THE APPRENTICE (WED 2100) - 7.32 - BBC1
18 EMMERDALE (TUE 1859) - 7.20 - ITV1
19 EMMERDALE (THU 1900) - 7.04 - ITV1
20 CASUALTY (SAT 2051) - 6.76 - BBC1

Top Multi Channel Programmes w/e 13 April 2008

1 FORD SUPER SUNDAY (Sun 1533) 2,308,000 - Sky Sports
2 GAVIN AND STACEY (Sun 2102) 1,401,000 - BBC3
3 FORD SUPER SUNDAY (Sun 1300) 1,300,000 - Sky Sports
4 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LIVE (Wed 1900) 1,210,000 - Sky Sports
5 60 SECONDS (Sun 2101) 1,189,000 - BBC3
6 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT AUDITIONS (Sun 2000) 1,163,000 - ITV2
7 EASTENDERS (Tue 2200) 1,043,000 - BBC3
8 DOCTOR WHO (Sun 2002) 1,029,000 - BBC3
9 KATIE AND PETER: THE NEXT CHAPTER (Thu 2100) 994,000 - ITV2
10 EASTENDERS (Mon 2202) 963,000 - BBC3
11 EASTENDERS (Thu 2200) 937,000 - BBC3
12 UEFA CUP (2007- 2008) (Thu 1927) 932,000 - ITV4
13 HOME AND AWAY (Mon 1829) 875,000 - Five Life
14 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (Sun 1847) 870,000 - ITV2
15 COME DINE WITH ME (Sun 1742) 834,000 - More4
16 COME DINE WITH ME (Sun 1816) 819,000 - More4
17 HOME AND AWAY (Wed 1829) 801,000 - Five Life
18 HOME AND AWAY (Tue 1829) 798,000 - Five Life
19 HOME AND AWAY (Thu 1829) 787,000 - Five Life
20 SKINS (Mon 2200) 766,000 - E4

Source BARB

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Doctor Who Adventures - 61

Wednesday, 23 April 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who Adventures issue 61, is now out across the United Kingdom.

PRESS RELEASE

Ood news!

This week’s issue of Doctor Who Adventures is an really Ood issue. There’s a menacing red-eye Ood staring out on the cover and inside we look at our favourite moments of last week’s scary episode! You can also test out how well you know the Ood with our tricky quiz.

The issue comes with a FREE Judoon notepad, a set of monster tags and there’s also the final part of our giant Doctor Who double-sided poster. On one side you get a picture of Donna and on the other you get all the monsters from the last series!
PLUS:
Three brand-new posters: Miss Foster, Planet of the Ood and the Master.
The Sontaran Stratagem: special preview of the next Doctor Who episode.
Tales from the TARDIS: the Titanic is about to hit Buckingham Palace…
Fact file: all you need to know about the Pyrovile.
Activity: make a cool 3-D Cyber head!
Doctor's Data: Foon Van Hoff.
Create your own monster winner: we reveal the winning monster – who also stars in a special comic strip with the Doctor.
Time Teasers: Ood food and Bloodtide and Doomfinger with a fun word search.
Who knows! Are Cybermen from Earth and can Weeping Angels fly?
Win: answer the questions correctly and you could win loads of prizes!
Subscription offer: if you subscribe you’ll get a FREE Doctor Who audiobook – The Feast of the Drowned.
AND LOADS MORE!

Sadly, DWA is not available on the Ood home planet.

FILTER: - Magazines - DWA

Previous 10 Stories

K9 Tales box set extras

Sontaran Stratagem - AI and Digital Ratings

Radio Times

Sontaran Stratagem - Overnight Ratings

BAFTA Cymru triumphs

Torchwood comes to Radio 4

Tristram Cary 1925 -2008

Radiophonic Workshop - 50 years

Fires of Pompeii - Final Ratings

Doctor Who Adventures - 61

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