The Time of The Doctor - Canadian transmission confirmed

Thursday, 5 December 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Time of The Doctor - BBC poster (Credit: BBC/Ray Burmiston)SPACE is the latest channel to confirm a transmission time for The Time of the Doctor, which will premiere in Canada on Christmas Day at 8:00pm (EST).

Other programming for SPACE in the run-up to the festive adventure includes a marathon run of the Christmas specials from 6:00pm on Christmas Eve, plus another chance to see An Adventure in Space and Time; then from 10:00am on Christmas Day itself the channel repeats the 50th Anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor.


The worldwide transmission time for The Time of the Doctor currently looks as follows: United Kingdom at 7:30pm GMT; Germany at 9:35pm CET (8:35pm GMT); Canada at 8:00pm EST (1:00am GMT); USA at 9:00pm EST (2:00am GMT); and Australia on Boxing Day at 7:30pm AEST (9:30am GMT).




FILTER: - Canada - Specials - Time and the Doctor - Press - Broadcasting

The Time of The Doctor: posters

Thursday, 5 December 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC and BBC America have released some posters to promote The Time of the Doctor.

The Time of the Doctor (poster). Image: BBC/Ray BurmistonThe Time of the Doctor (poster). Image: BBC America/Ray Burmiston/Lee BindingThe Time of the Doctor (poster). Image: BBC America/Ray Burmiston/Lee BindingThe Time of the Doctor (poster). Image: BBC/Ray BurmistonThe Time of the Doctor (poster). Image: BBC America/Ray Burmiston/Lee Binding




FILTER: - Specials - BBC America - Time and the Doctor - Press - Publicity - BBC

Doctor Who Cuttings Archive Returns

Wednesday, 27 November 2013 - Reported by Marcus
The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive is returning to the internet, courtesy of the Gallifrey Base forum.

The highly-praised website, which consists of newspaper cuttings related to Doctor Who, was launched by Roger Anderson in 1998. Earlier this year, Anderson, who ran the original website from 1998 through to its closure in 2010, agreed to provide his collection of newspaper and magazine articles to Steven Hill, co-owner of Gallifrey Base, in order to make them available again to the public.

Although the transfer of Anderson's materials is still in progress, the new Cuttings Archive is available now with over 200 articles. The new archive curator is John Lavalie, whose focus has been on making the information accessible and useful. Articles are being converted to text so the entire archive can be searched.

Technical support for the new Doctor Who Cuttings Archive is provided by Hill and Dennis Kytasaari, who is a co-owner of epguides.com, a well-known television episode guides site.

The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive can be found at cuttingsarchive.org.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Press

The Day of the Doctor - press reviews

Sunday, 24 November 2013 - Reported by Marcus
The papers have been reviewing The Day of the Doctor, with most of them being impressed by the 50th anniversary episode.

The Mirror loved the show, saying how Steven Moffat "has put something together that not only gives hardcore fans a beautiful reinvention of their favourite show, but also gives casual viewers a stonking story." The paper praises the acting as "superb," with Matt Smith holding his own against veteran John Hurt. The Telegraph compares the acting styles of David Tennant and Matt Smith, calling the former "edgy and mercurial," and the latter "gentler, with a boyish eccentricity." They praised John Hurt as a "fantastic counterpoint to the physicality of Tennant and Smith," adding "with one withering look, he was able to silence his younger selves"

The Guardian found the episode "confusing" but praised the "beautiful acting." The Mail called the episode "typically chaotic, full of big, hollow bluster and knowing tiny detail." The paper disliked the effects, accusing the BBC of pandering to the American audience, while disliking the Zygons as not scary enough.

Online Mashable talked of "a towering achievement of an episode, one designed to please fans and newcomers alike which shows why the Doctor is finding his way into ever more homes and hearts." TVfanatic praised Steven Moffat for doing justice to a long-running favorite by "paying homage to the past and opening up a new future of what will hopefully be a show generations in the future will continue to love."

According to social analytics company, SecondSync Doctor Who generated almost half a million tweets during its simultaneous broadcast to over 90 countries. Most tweeting about the episode were female, with the peak number of tweets occurring at the beginning of the episode at 12,939 tweets per minute.




FILTER: - Day of the Doctor - Press

Media Catchup: Friday

Saturday, 23 November 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A summary of the media coverage relating to the 50th Anniversary for a very busy Friday.

(note: the BBC radio broadcasts are available worldwide, but video broadcasts may be unavailable outside the United Kingdom. BBC iPlayer programmes are generally available for seven days after broadcast)

Television

  • BBC Breakfast's coverage of the 50th Anniversary continued this morning with an article by BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz about 50 years of the show, plus the Doctor himself, Matt Smith, talked live from London as he prepares for the first day of the Excel Doctor Who Celebration. The item is available to watch via the BBC website.
  • Richard Arnold briefly reported on the weekend of celebration to come on ITV's Daybreak (ITV Player). This was then followed by a preview of The Day of The Doctor by showbiz journalist Dan Wootton. (ITV Player)
  • Sunday Mirror critic Kevin O'Sullivan delivered his weekly Talking Telly on Channel 5's The Wright Stuff, feeling that there may have been a little too much coverage of the show over the last fortnight! (Demand 5)
  • BBC regional news programme Look East delved into Doctor Who's association with the region, including interviews with Terry Molloy and Brian Hodgson. The programme is available to watch on the BBC iPlayer from 23:05
  • BBC London News reported on Doctor Who activity in the capitol, including a visit to The Who Shop and participants for the Doctor Who mass wedding taking place this weekend. (BBC iPlayer)
  • BBC South East Today celebrated 50 Years of the show from Herne Bay, home to its first credited writer Anthony Coburn - and also arranged a local screening of An Unearthly Child. (BBC iPlayer - from 12:34)
  • BBC2 premiered Me, You and Doctor Who: a Culture Show Special, with Matthew Sweet taking us through the history of Doctor Who and how it has influenced the social life of Britain. (BBC iPlayer)
  • Matt Smith and David Tennant were guests on The Graham Norton Show on BBC1 (BBC iPlayer)

Radio

  • Matt Smith popped in to chat to Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1. (BBC iPlayer - from 1:38:17)
  • Lots of items from BBC Radio Norfolk! Brian Hodgson explains how he created the Dalek voices (BBC iPlayer link); scenic designer Spencer Chapman (link); writer David Fisher (link); Graham Cole on playing a Cyberman (link); Ken Caswell's father painted the TARDIS prop in 1963 (link); Mike Thomas remembers being at Doctor Who rehearsals as a child (link); and John and Gay Hodgson recall Tom Baker encounters (link).
  • BBC Radio Scotland's The Culture Studio with Janice Forsyth features four super-fans - authors A L Kennedy and Jenny Colgan, TV critic Paul Whitelaw and comedian Charlie Ross. Also features Sylvester McCoy and David Tennant! (BBC iPlayer, throughout show)
  • Ray Clark on BBC Essex met an Essex TARDIS owner and hears from former Doctor Who screen writer Donald Tosh. (BBC iPlayer - day overview at 51:52, TARDIS from 2:17:45, Donald from 2:52:01)
  • Dave Monk on BBC Essex chatted to DWM editor Tom Spilsbury and county-born Deborah Watling. (BBC iPlayer - Tom from 52:04, Deborah from 2:35:56, and also more from Donald Tosh at 1:34:32)
  • Mark Punter is next up on BBC Essex, exploring the world of memorabilia, and also chatting to author Jacqueline Rayner. (BBC iPlayer - memorabilia from 23:00, Jacqueline from 1:05:20)
  • The final BBC Essex instalment comes with Drivetime, which features writer Victor Pemberton. (BBC iPlayer - from 49:10, plus Donald Tosh at 1:23:24 and Deborah Watling at 2:36:24)
  • BBC Leicester's Jim Davis chatted to K9-vocalist John Leeson. (BBC iPlayer)
  • The BBC World Service's Witness spoke to Carole Ann Ford (BBC iPlayer, also available as a podcast)
  • Newshour on the World Service reflected on 50 years of the series. (BBC iPlayer - from 43:00 and 47:58)
  • Sara James from the Oxford University Doctor Who Society featured on BBC Radio Oxford's Phil Gayle show dicussing the group and plans for tomorrow. (BBC iPlayer - from 03:41:30)
  • BBC Leicester's Jonathan Lampon included special Doctor Who stories during the show. (BBC iPlayer - from 2:07:45)
  • The theme for BBC Scotland's Get It On With Bryan Burnett for Friday is "songs about the Doctor's assistants, from You've Got a Friend in Me to It Takes Two." (BBC iPlayer)

Misc Media Items

Highlights for Saturday

  • BBC Breakfast report from the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Celebration at the Excel Centre.
  • Graham Norton also presents his show on BBC Radio 2 live from the convention from 10:00am.
  • Blue Peter celebrates the anniversary with a special party on CBBC from 9:30am.
  • CBBC's 12 Again presents a Doctor Who special from 2:30pm, with cast and celebrities sharing their memories of growing up with the show.
  • BBC3 will present Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty from 9:05pm.
  • Peter Davison presents the mission of classic Doctors to be involved in the 50th Anniversary Special, from 10:05pm via the BBC Red Button.
  • BBC Radio 4 Extra presents a three hour special, Who Made Who? from 9:00am, with audio from the archive, new interviews and extracts from audio versions of Doctor Who.
  • For early birds, BBC Radio Solent's Richard Latto looks at Doctor Who's relationship with Southern England.
  • BBC Radio Norfolk's David Whiteley presents the final two snippets of the county's relationship with the show, with interviews with Terry Molloy and Brian Hodgson.

  • Oh, and a small matter of a 50th Anniversary celebratory episode, The Day of The Doctor, 7:50pm, BBC1 and simulcast around the world!
For further details on these and a number of other local radio broadcasts on Anniversary Day, don't forget to visit This Week In Doctor Who!




FILTER: - WHO50 - Press

An Unearthly Child will be shown as part of 50th Anniversary celebration

Wednesday, 13 November 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have confirmed that Doctor Who's very first adventure, An Unearthly Child will be broadcast next week on BBC4 as scheduled.

Recent newspaper reports indicated that writer Anthony Coburn's son Stef had challenged the Corporation's ownership of the copyright of the TARDIS, leading to a question over whether or not his father's story could be broadcast. Coburn himself stated this morning via his Twitter account that he had been informed that the BBC were not going to show the episodes.

However, the BBC Press Office have told us:
These first episodes form an important part of the BBC’s celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and we don’t want to deny BBC viewers in the UK the opportunity to see them. We don’t believe that Mr Coburn’s claims should affect any planned programming.

An Unearthly Child is to be broadcast at 10:30pm on Thursday 21st November on BBC4, immediately following the television premiere of origins drama An Adventure in Space and Time, showing on BBC2 from 9:00pm.





FILTER: - WHO50 - Press - BBC

The Day of The Doctor - Press Details

Wednesday, 6 November 2013 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC have released press details for the 50th Anniversary story The Day of The Doctor
The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special.

In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.
The timeslot for the episode, due to be shown around the world on 23rd November, is still to be confirmed by the BBC.




FILTER: - Day of the Doctor - Press - Broadcasting

BBC News confirms episodes found

Tuesday, 8 October 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Patrick Troughton as Doctor Who (Credit: BBC)BBC News have now confirmed that a (currently unspecified) number of previously assumed missing Doctor Who episodes have now been returned to the BBC.

Entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba reports:
A number of early episodes of Doctor Who, which were believed to have been permanently lost, have been returned to the BBC.

BBC Worldwide is expected to confirm the find at a press conference in London later this week.

It follows weeks of speculation that some lost episodes had been located.

Details of how fans will be able to watch the recovered episodes are also expected to be revealed later this week.

Update: the official Deborah Watling website reports: "Deborah, along with Frazer Hines, will be helping the BBC to launch the newly found Dr.Who episodes this Thurs (10/10/13), between 3.30pm and 7.00pm approx."

Meanwhile, Peter Purves has indicated that he is unaware if any of his episodes have been returned in an interview with BBC Radio Norfolk.





FILTER: - Missing episodes - BBC Worldwide - Press

Radio Times and Mirror claim missing episode recoveries

Sunday, 6 October 2013 - Reported by Anthony Weight
The websites of the Radio Times magazine and the Daily Mirror newspaper in the UK have this evening published articles claiming that episodes of Doctor Who previously missing from the BBC's archives, starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor and unseen in the UK since the 1960s, have been recovered and will be made available for sale in the UK via online download on Wednesday 9th October.

The news follows an article published by the Mirror's sister title, The People, this morning. While this earlier article contained the unlikely claim that all missing episodes of Doctor Who had been recovered from a station in Ethiopia, it follows months of speculation in fandom that a large number of episodes had been recovered, with many of the circulating rumours focusing on a recovery from Africa.

Officially, 106 of the 253 episodes of Doctor Who broadcast during the 1960s are missing, being wiped or junked due to the BBC's archiving policies of the 1960s and 70s. Since this policy changed in the late 1970s many episodes have been recovered, but there have been just four such recoveries in the past twenty years.

So far there is no official comment from the BBC on the articles published this evening, but the Radio Times - which was formerly owned by the Corporation, and has always had strong links with Doctor Who - claims:

BBC Worldwide will put two previously lost episodes from different stories – both believed to be from the Patrick Troughton era – for sale on digital platforms such as iTunes from Wednesday, RadioTimes.com understands.

They are believed to originate from a haul discovered in Africa and have been digitally remastered for sale, although exact details remain sketchy.

The Mirror article adds:

The 1960s programmes – featuring the first two Doctors William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton – vanished after the Beeb flogged off a load of old footage and wiped copies or lost them.

But the corporation’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has now called a press conference and screening on Tuesday in a London hotel.

The invitation sent out had [t]he event details written inside the screen of a[n] old-fashioned sixties style television set, complete with a dial to tune in the channels, seeming to hint at the type of news to come.

Journalists will be told exactly which old footage has been recovered, with some of it then broadcast on screen to watch.

Doctor Who News cannot confirm any episode recoveries, only that the Radio Times and the Mirror are reporting the news. We will continue to monitor the story and bring you updates as we have them.

UPDATE I - 9am BST, MONDAY 7th OCTOBER: RadioTimes.com has now amended its article, replacing the word "two" with "the" but retaining the word "both". The relevant paragraph now reads as follows: "BBC Worldwide will put the previously lost episodes from different stories - both believed to be from the Patrick Troughton era - for sale on digital platforms such as iTunes from Wednesday, RadioTimes.com understands." Please note that DWN does not know if this now means that a number of missing episodes from two stories will be made available.

UPDATE II - 5.40pm BST, MONDAY 7th OCTOBER: According to The Mirror a short while ago, the press conference has been postponed to the end of this week, with the episodes' availability also delayed. It quotes a BBC spokesman as saying the episodes were "not quite ready". It also says a BBC spokesman had played down the reports of 100-plus episodes having been discovered, stating that they were inaccurate. However, The Mirror added that when the spokesman was asked if some episodes would be announced this week, he said: "There is a connection." In addition, RadioTimes.com has amended its piece again, to say: "Originally the BBC had scheduled a Wednesday release but now sources confirm that the date is likely to be later this week. A reason has not been given, but sources are adamant that the release will be this week."




FILTER: - Missing episodes - BBC Worldwide - Press - Radio Times

The Day of The Doctor: a global broadcast

Tuesday, 1 October 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Day of the Doctor - Promotional Poster (portrait) (Credit: BBC/Adrian Rogers)Back in July BBC Worldwide announced its intention to take the broadcast of the 50th Anniversary special, The Day of The Doctor, worldwide. Tonight, it was announced that so far some 75 countries have signed up to make the broadcast a global phenomenon, which as well as the USA (BBC America), Canada (SPACE) and Australia (ABC), also includes places in Europe that currently show the series, such as Germany (FOX) and Finland (YLE), and worldwide through the BBC Entertainment channel. Other networks are expected to be announced in due course.

In addition, over 200 cinemas around the United Kingdom are set to simulcast the episode, many of which will broadcast the adventure in 3D - which will also be available for compatible television sets through the BBC's HD Red Button service.

Tim Davie, chief executive of BBC Worldwide, said:
Few TV shows can still lay claim to being appointment viewing but Doctor Who takes this to another level. In its 50th anniversary year, we wanted to create a truly international event for Doctor Who fans in as many countries as possible and the simultaneous broadcast and cinema screening of the special across so many countries will make for a fitting birthday tribute to our Time Lord.

Brendan Dahill, Controller ABC1 said:
ABC1 is thrilled to be part of this momentous global television event, celebrating 50 years of everyone’s favourite Time Lord.

Writer and executive producer Steven Moffat said:
The Doctor has always been a time traveller – now he’s travelling time zones. On November 23, it won’t be the bad guys conquering the Earth - everywhere, it will be the Day of the Doctor.



Though the premiere date of 23rd November is embedded in every Doctor Who fan's mind, the actual time of broadcast has yet to be confirmed; however, ABC have announced that their prime-time repeat broadcast of The Day of The Doctor will be on the Sunday at 7:30pm AEDT. Meanwhile, PRIME in New Zealand have reported that they will show the episode within 24 hours of its broadcast in the UK (the episode's usual PG censor rating means it unfortunately cannot be shown on the terrestrial channel in the early morning).





FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Season Specials - International Broadcasting - WHO50 - Press