Who and Torchwood in the news

Wednesday, 9 January 2008 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

Davison's daughter for companion role?
As previously reported on this page, Georgia Moffett, daughter of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, will be appearing in an episode of Doctor Who this year. However, several media sources (including Digital Spy and the NottinghamEvening Post) are reporting that Moffett is being considered for a regular role as the Doctor's companion in the 2010 series. The same reports say that Felicity Jones, who will appear in the forthcoming Agatha Christie episode, is also in the running for the role of the next companion. The story appears to derive from a comment by Phil Collinson in the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine.

Tennant promotes cancer research
David Tennant has become a patron of the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR), and will film a video for the Scotland-based charity. Fife TodayDigital Spy and the AICR website have more information.

John Barrowman talks to everyone

Torchwood star John Barrowman's autobiography, Anything Goes, ghostwritten by his sister Carole, will be published on January 24. The Times has a joint interview with the siblings. The Stage also interviews Barrowman, who makes a passing comment about gay actors who remain in the closet; this comment is picked up by other sources, including The GuardianDigital Spy and Pink News. Some of these sources slightly misrepresented Barrowman's comment, and The Stage has posted a clarification. Scotland on Sunday has an extensive talk with Barrowman, which includes comments about how the actor would like to have children with his partner Scott Gill. These remarks have been picked up by Digital SpyActress ArchivesNow Magazine andShowbiz Spy. Some of these sources also note Barrowman's on-screen kiss with James Marsters in the first episode of Torchwood's second series; The Sun has pictures of the kiss. And Off the Telly has yet another Barrowman interview.

Other Torchwood news
Digital Spy interviews Eve Myles, who says that in the upcoming series her character Gwen Cooper will be monogamous with her boyfriend Rhys. The Sun and Digital Spy pick up comments from Rhys actor Kai Owen, originally reported in the South Wales Echo.

SFX has Q&As with the Torchwood cast and crew on their website all this week; interviews with Kai Owen and Gareth David-Lloyd are already up, and talks with writer Chris Chibnall, producer Richard Stokes and Eve Myles will follow later in the week.

Tate complaints continue
The BBC has defended Catherine Tate's Christmas special against complaints about its content, reports theGuardian. The Daily StarThe Press AssociationThe Sun, the Bedford Times & Citizen, Nottingham'sEvening Post and the Biggleswade Chronicle note that a Conservative Member of Parliament has added her voice to the complaints about the special. Some viewers objected to foul language used by Tate's character Nan in the special; others complained about the portrayal of a Northern Irish family in one sketch. (The latter charge is refuted by a columnist for the Belfast Telegraph.) Tate will return to Doctor Who as Donna Noble in the 2008 series.

Miscellany
The Evening Standard has a story about David Tennant's upcoming role as Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The Guardian profiles Billie Piper, and Wales on Sunday and The Press and Journal (Aberdeen) pick up a months-old quotation in which the actress said she had forgotten how to play Rose Tyler. Meanwhile, the coverage of her wedding to Laurence Fox has reached China Daily, and the Daily Mailand Evening Standard say that Fox's uncle Lawrence Fox chose not to attend the ceremony, because his young children were not invited.

Montreal-based filmmaker Kara Blake has made a documentary on Delia Derbyshire, who realized the original version of the Doctor Who theme music and other avant-garde sound as part of the BBC Radiophonic Workship; the Montreal Mirror discusses Blake's Derbyshire project, titled "The Delian Mode".

Mark Johnson, creative director of digital agency Sequence, will speak at a digital media forum in Swansea about the games and other web content Sequence has created for the BBC's Doctor Who website. The Western Mail and Swansea's Evening Post write that Johnson will speak at amperSANDat the National Waterfront Museum on Wednesday, January 16.

The Manchester Evening News notes the closing of the "Doctor Who Up-Close" exhibit, which brought over 225,000 visitors to Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry.

A replica Dalek has been donated to the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, reports BBC News.

Political commentator Andrew Sullivan is one among many bloggers who are linking to a page which asks whether the Doctor is a revolutionary or a "tool of The Man", and when in the series' long history each descriptor might fit him.

And finally, a columnist for Singapore-based Asia-Pacific Broadcasting discusses watching William Hartnellepisodes on a friend's mobile phone in Kuala Lumpur.

Thanks to Ian Berriman and Sean Palmerston, and "PolyG" and "aaaa" of the Doctor Who Forum.




FILTER: - Production - Press - Radio Times

Who's effects nominated for awards

Wednesday, 9 January 2008 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

Doctor Who has been nominated for three Visual Effects Society (VES) awards. "Voyage of the Damned" was nominated for Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special and "Last of the Time Lords" for Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series and Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial. Variety has the full list of nominees.

In other awards news, Doctor Who lost the People's Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi Show to Stargate Atlantis.




FILTER: - Production - Awards/Nominations

DVD News

Wednesday, 9 January 2008 - Reported by Marcus
Information posted on the British Board of Film Classification official website has reveled the identity of two new UK DVD releases. The first is the 1982 Peter Davison two part story, Black Orchid. The extras for this release have been cleared and include a number of deleted scenes as well as clips from Blue Peter and Points of View. There is also a documentary looking at the locations of Black Orchid.

One other extra listed is a trail for another release, the 1978 Tom Baker story, The Invasion of Time. This story, set on Gallifrey featured the return of The Sontarans and the departure of Louise Jameson from the series.

In addition a posting on Colin Baker's website mentions that he was recently due to record a commentary for the complete Trial of a TimeLord season, for future DVD release.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Gary Russell interviewed about IDW comic

Wednesday, 9 January 2008 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

The new Doctor Who comic book from IDW Publishing will be released soon, and Broken Frontier has an interview with its writer, Gary Russell. Russell has a long history with Doctor Who and Doctor Who fandom, and currently works as a script editor on the BBC Wales series. He speaks to Broken Frontier about the IDW comic and his other Doctor Who work.

The Doctor Who comic book will be available in comic shops across North America this month. Readers in the United States and Canada can follow this linkto find a comic shop near their location.

Thanks to Andy Oliver.




FILTER: - Books

Novel signing

Wednesday, 9 January 2008 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

This Saturday, Forbidden Planet will host a signing event for the latest Doctor Who novels from BBC Books. Trevor BaxendaleSimon Guerrier andJames Swallow will sign their respective novels Wishing WellThe Pirate Loopand Peacemaker at Forbidden Planet's London store (179 Shaftesbury Avenue) on Saturday, January 12 from 1 to 2 pm.




FILTER: - Special Events

William Hartnell - One Hundred Years

Tuesday, 8 January 2008 - Reported by Paul Hayes
William Hartnell (Credit: BBC)William Hartnell, the actor who originated the role of the Doctor in the 1960s, playing the first incarnation of the character for BBC Television from 1963 to 1966, was born exactly 100 years ago today. For many of the original Doctor Who fans who were children in the 1960s, he remains the definitive Doctor.
 
Emerging from a difficult family background about which he was later evasive, Hartnell held down a succession of short-term odd jobs before turning to acting in the 1920s.
 
He enjoyed success as a touring repertory actor, and in the 1930s began appearing in films, particularly the "quota quickies" companies were obliged to release to fulfil their obligations to promote British film. Here Hartnell developed his talents as a light comedy actor, but it was not until the Second World War that his reputation began to flourish.
 
After being invalided out of the army, he appeared as the sergeant in the well-received propaganda piece The Way Ahead, and this helped him to develop a reputation for such tough-guy roles that won him many major supporting parts. Of all the actors to have played the Doctor he had the most successful film career, with major roles in landmark films such as Brighton Rock, as the eponymous sergeant inCarry On Sergeant and, cast against type in a sensitive character part, in the film version of This Sporting Life.
 
It was this role that led producer Verity Lambert to offer him the part of the Doctor. Although Hartnell was initially uncertain about it, Lambert and director Waris Hussein persuaded him to accept the part, and it became the role for which he is best remembered, making him a household name in 1960s Britain.
 
Hartnell became incredibly attached to the role and particularly enjoyed the attention and affection it brought him from children, groups of whom would follow him around his local village. He would often happily open fetes and other functions in costume and character as the Doctor.
 
Although ill health forced him to reluctantly relinquish the part in 1966, he remained fond of the series and in 1972, with his health rapidly deteriorating even further, battled his failing memory to film one final performance as the character in the tenth anniversary special The Three Doctors, which aired between December 30, 1972 and January 20, 1973. It was his final professional performance; he died on April 23, 1975, aged 67.
 
 

In celebration of his centenary, the Plymouth Who fan group are holding an event to mark his life and work this coming Sunday, January 13 at The Astor Hotel in Plymouth. The event runs from 1pm to 5pm and features a screening of one of the most popular stories of Hartnell’s era, The War Machines, which introduced Anneke Wills in the role of companion Polly. Wills will be a special guest at the event and will take part in a question-and-answer session with fans. There will also be Hartnell-themed quizzes as part of the day’s festivities. For more information about the event, please see the Plymouth Who website.
With thanks to Paul Hayes for the tribute
 




FILTER: - People - William Hartnell

Moths 2008 Tour Dates Announced

Sunday, 6 January 2008 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Toby Hadoke's acclaimed solo comedy Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf embarks on a major UK tour next month - including two weeks at the Arts Theatre in London's West End.

The show has had two Edinburgh fringe runs, went on tour in the UK last year and was adapted for BBC7. The BBC7 production was released on CD by BBC Audiobooks.

The dates and venues of the 2008 tour are as follows:

Saturday, February 2, 7.30pm - Forest Arts, New Milton
Thursday, February 7, 7pm - Flavel, Dartmouth, Devon
Friday, February 8, 7.30pm - Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis
Saturday, February 9, 7.30pm - Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington
Friday, February 15, 8pm - Phoenix Arts, Leicester
Tuesday, February 19, 8pm - Darlington Arts Centre, Darlington
Wednesday, February 20, 7.30pm - New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth
Thursday, February 21, 7.30pm - Norden Farm, Maidenhead
Friday, February 22, 8pm - Swindon Arts Centre, Swindon
Thursday, February 28, 7.30pm - Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich
Friday, February 29, 8pm - South Street Arts Centre, Reading
Saturday, March 1, 8pm - The Rondo, Bath
Friday, March 7, 8pm - Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone
Wednesday, March 12, 8pm - Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Thursday, March 13, 7.15pm - Swansea Grand Studio, Swansea
Friday, March 14, 7.30pm - Stafford Gatehouse
Saturday, March 15 (no time announced as yet) - The Tron, Glasgow Comedy Festival
Wednesday, March 19, 7.30pm - Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield
Friday, March 28, 7.30pm - Victoria Theatre, Settle
Thursday, April 3, 8pm - Palace Theatre, Southend
Wednesday, April 9 to Saturday, April 12 and Wednesday, April 16 to Saturday, April 19, 7.30pm (Saturdays at 3.30pm only) - Arts Theatre, Great Newport Street, London
Friday, May 23, 8pm - Oxford Playhouse

UPDATE 11 January: Please note that the Oxford Playhouse date has been changed; the correct date (23 May) is above.

More dates are to be announced.

See the textbox below for further details about the show, taken from the press release.
Charting the rise, fall and subsequent rise of a television legend, Hadoke presents a personal, satirical and razor-sharp comic odyssey charting the Doctor's triumphs and disasters, and Hadoke's progress from child to man, through obsession, joy and disappointment.

Part memoir, part tribute, part stand-up, always riotously funny and sometimes surprisingly touching, this award-winning comedian's show is a must for anyone who's ever had a passion for anything. An intimate knowledge of Doctor Who is not required, although a disdain for the British National Party, football hooligans and Hollyoaks would be useful.

Hadoke's devotion to Doctor Who is by no means the norm: he reminds us that the current resurgence in the show's popularity is quite a turnaround. In 1996, burglars broke into Toby's flat – they took a broken guitar, a Bananarama single (on vinyl) and half a jar of coffee yet left his Doctor Who video collection intact. Now everyone wants a piece of it.




FILTER: - Special Events

Voyage - Repeat ratings

Wednesday, 2 January 2008 - Reported by Marcus
Unofficial overnight figures show that 2.4 million viewers watched the New Year's Day repeat of Voyage of the Damned. The programme got a 16.9% share of the total audience and won its time slot, beating The Flintstones on ITV1.

The Appreciation Index for the repeat was 88. It is not unusual for repeats to have a higher AI figure as the smaller audience is more likely to be made up of fans.

The BBC3 repeat at 7pm got 456,000 viewers and a 2.06% share of the audience.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Doctor Who Adventures - Issue 46

Wednesday, 2 January 2008 - Reported by Marcus

The new edition of the Doctor Who Adventures is out across the United Kingdom on Thursday 3rd January 2008.
Press Release

In the very first Doctor Who Adventures of 2008, we review our favourite bits of the Christmas special Voyage of the Damned.

With its highest ratings since Doctor Who returned in 2005, Voyage of the Damned proved a massive success. At its peak, 13.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the Doctor battle his way around the Titanic and save Earth from destruction with Kylie Minogue as Astrid Peth by his side.

The Doctor Who Adventures inbox has already been flooded with emails from readers saying how much they loved it:

"I thought it was awesome!" Alex Tierney, aged 8.
"I would give it 20/20!" Faiaz Alam Aninda
"It was just brilliant!" Conner Bradshaw
"The Hosts were extremely scary!" Matthew Hill, aged 9.

To celebrate, issue 46 has a fantastic fact file on the terror of the Titanic, Max Capricorn, a huge Voyage of the Damned poster and a brilliant Bannakaffalatta mask for readers to make.

This issue also contains exciting news on Billie Piper’s imminent return as the Doctor’s companion Rose Tyler.

PLUS:
- News! DWA is about to go weekly. Stand by for even more adventures!
- Tales from the TARDIS The Master blows up Martha’s flat and kidnaps her family.
- Cyber puzzle Oh no! Cybermen have invaded our issue. Help!
- Why we love the Daleks! Five reasons they’re the best Doctor Who monster ever!
- Comic strip Part one of The Monster Upstairs.
- Secrets Find out about the killer Christmas trees with Doctor Who Confidential.
- Doctor's Data Top Toclafane facts.
- Time Agent Upload Readers' fantastic drawings and photos.
- Exclusive posters! Donna and the Doctor, the Weeping Angels and the TARDIS, and Voyage of the Damned.
- Win – loads of fabulous Doctor Who goodies!
- Puzzles! Doctor Who time teasers and the Woven Word Search!

Doctor Who Adventures contains a brilliant free Dalek yo-yo and metallic sticker set for every reader.




FILTER: - Magazines - DWA

Gallifrey 2008 Convention Update

Wednesday, 2 January 2008 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Gallifrey 2008, North America's nineteenth annual Doctor Who convention, has published the first tentative schedule of events for the convention. Also confirmed are a host of new guests including Moya Brady (Bridget in the new series episode "Love and Monsters"), Derek Riddell (Sir Robert in the episode "Tooth and Claw" and also a star of the new "Blake's 7" audio series), Carrie Dobro ("Crusade" and the "Blake's 7" audio series), Dr. Jerry Pournelle (science fiction novelist and space sciences consultant), Curtis Rivers, Tom Lucy & Jason Hunjan (stunt performers from Doctor Who and Torchwood), Andy Lane (Doctor Who and Torchwood novelist), Arne Starr (illustrator) and several others, with more guests to be announced soon. Also available on the website is the current membership list, forms for the convention art show and much more. Gallifrey 2008 takes place February 15-17 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel with guests of honor Sylvester McCoy (the Seventh Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Andrew Cartmel(Seventh Doctor era script editor), Daphne Ashbrook (Grace Holloway), Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield),Jason Haigh-Ellery (Big Finish Productions), new series writers Paul Cornell & Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Restoration Team members Steve Roberts & Mark Ayres and many more. Full details available on the conventionwebsite.




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Conventions