Davison's Celery Aids Children in Need

Thursday, 22 November 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

21-year-old Australian fan Dimitry Telfer won a piece of plastic celery worn in the series by Peter Davison - and autographed by the actor - in an eBay auction raising funds for Children in Need.

Telfer's winning bid was 5,500 pounds. The BBC put the signed celery stick up for auction in aid of the children's charity last week, with bidding starting at just 99p.

Dimity told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "I couldn't let an opportunity like that get away from me and it's for a great cause. I got into 'Doctor Who' in 2005 and I've been hooked. Peter Davison is my favourite."

FILTER: - Special Events

Sarah Jane breaks records

Thursday, 22 November 2007 - Reported by Marcus

Official figures released by BARB show that the Monday 1730 CBBC showing of The Sarah Jane Adventures has broken records for the digital channel.

The second part of Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? is the highest rated programme to have been shown on CBBC since its launch, with an official audience of633,000 viewers.

In the list of top rated programmes on cbbc this year, The Sarah Jane Adventures holds the first six positions, with the 7th position being taken by MI High, with 388,000 viewers.

Figures for the final two episodes of this series will be available over the next two weeks.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Sarah Jane

Lost Boy - Ratings and AI

Wednesday, 21 November 2007 - Reported by Marcus

Unofficial overnight figures for week nine of The Sarah Jane Adventures show that part one of The Lost Boy was watched by 1.3 millionviewers.

This was the highest rating of the series since the premier and gave the programme a 9.5%share of the total TV audience.

The Appreciation Index for this episode was 84.

On the digital channel CBBC, the conclusion of the story had 0.35 million viewers, an15.7% share of all children watching.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Sarah Jane

Peter Haining

Wednesday, 21 November 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Acclaimed author Peter Haining has died suddenly at the age of 67.

Haining, who lived in Suffolk, wrote a number of books about Doctor Who, starting with the 20th-anniversary volumeDoctor Who: A Celebration - Two Decades Through Time And Space in 1983.

Other titles followed, namely The Key To Time: A Year-By-Year Record, The Doctor Who File, The Time-Travellers' Guide, Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years and The Nine Lives of Doctor Who.

Haining also wrote about fictional heroes Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Maigret and James Bond. In addition, he edited many anthologies of horror and fantasy stories.

In 2001, he won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award.

It is believed the cause of death was a heart attack.

(Thanks to Tony Clark and Grant Watson.)

FILTER: - Obituary

Beneath the Surface DVD Cover

Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

The cover art for the upcoming Beneath the Surface DVD box set has been released, although the cover's designerClayton Hickman has noted on The Doctor Who Forum that this is not the finished version.

The set includes three classic stories: Doctor Who and the Silurians and The Sea Devils starring Jon Pertwee, andWarriors of the Deep starring Peter Davison. The three stories will be available as individual releases in addition to their inclusion in the box set.

Beneath the Surface is set for release in the UK on 14 January 2008.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD - Peter Davison

Torchwood Season Two on BBC America

Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

In a press release today, BBC America issued the following statement:

"BBC AMERICA's all-time highest rated show, Torchwood, is back with a U.S. premiere second season, beginning January 26, 9:00pm ET/PT. Created by Russell T Davies, lead writer on the current Doctor Who series, Torchwood (13 x 60) is a BBC Production, distributed by BBC Worldwide."

Torchwood is set to debut on BBC2 "early 2008", and the press release describes the show's American airing as "close to its UK premiere".

The 7-disk Season One box set is set for release in America during that same week, on January 22nd.

The entire press release appears below:

JANUARY IS TORCHWOOD MONTH WITH THE RETURN OF BBC AMERICA'S HIT SCI-FI SHOW AND DVD RELEASE

BBC AMERICA's all-time highest rated show, Torchwood, is back with a U.S. premiere second season, beginning January 26, 9:00pm ET/PT. Created by Russell T Davies, lead writer on the current Doctor Who series, Torchwood (13 x 60) is a BBC Production, distributed by BBC Worldwide.

With guest stars including James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville), Alan Dale (Ugly Betty, The OC) and Doctor Who's Freema Agyeman, the show will air close to its UK premiere.

Richard De Croce, VP Programming, BBC AMERICA says: Torchwood has legions of loyal fans in the U.S. and we wanted to bring them the next season as soon as possible.

And fresh from its critically acclaimed airing on BBC AMERICA in September, Torchwood: The Complete First Season goes on sale January 22. The 7-disc DVD set includes over 6 hours of bonus features including outtakes and cast interviews.

Torchwood is an action-packed, adrenalin-fuelled sci-fi series following the adventures of a team of investigators, lead by Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who use alien technology to solve crime. With fearsome new aliens and compelling storylines the second season takes the close-knit Torchwood team through dare-devil action, temptation, heartache and a life changing event for one of the team.

Hollywood Reporter called it "...a crackling good, brilliantly conceived sci-fi series that targets actual grown-ups" while the Philadelphia Inquirer said it was "...super-slick, raw, bizarre, hilarious, spooky, scary and sublimely sexy."

BBC AMERICA brings audiences a new generation of award-winning television featuring razor-sharp comedies, provocative dramas, life-changing makeovers and news with a uniquely global perspective. BBC AMERICA pushes the boundaries to deliver high quality, highly addictive and eminently watchable programming to viewers who demand more. BBC AMERICA is distributed by Discovery Networks. It is available on digital cable and satellite TV. For more information about BBC AMERICA visit www.bbcamerica.com.

FILTER: - Torchwood - USA - Broadcasting

Writers' Guild Award

Monday, 19 November 2007 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

The BBC's Doctor Who website has announced that the writers of Doctor Who Series 3have won the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Soap or Series (TV). (The other nominated series were New Tricks Series 4 and Life on Mars Series 2.)

All the writers of Series 3 (Chris Chibnall, Paul Cornell, Russell T. Davies, Stephen Greenhorn, Steven Moffat, Helen Raynor and Gareth Roberts) were honored. Cornell, Greenhorn, Moffat and Roberts were in attendance at the ceremony, which was held at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Further details of the award ceremony are available at the Writers' Guild blog.

FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Russell T Davies - Online - Production - Awards/Nominations

Time Crash - Ratings

Saturday, 17 November 2007 - Reported by Marcus

Unofficial overnight figures show that the Children in Need Special, Time Crash, was the most watched programme on British Television on Friday.

Overall the Children in Need programme scored a rating of 9.4 millionviewers and was the most watched programme of the day.

The telethon peaked between 20:15 and 20:30, when the two Doctors special was shown, with 10.9 million viewers, a 45% share of the total television audience.

The programme won its time slot comprehensively, with the nearest opposition being The Thin Blue Line on ITV1, which scored 2.8 million against the Doctors.

When official figures are available, Time Crash could be the most watched segment of Doctor Who since the series returned in 2005. Rose achieved a rating of 10.8 million, but peaked at 11.3 million. Time Crash is also likely to beat EastEnders highest audience of the year, which currently stands at 11.0 million.

Around 2.5 million viewers watched the repeat of the segment at 00:45.

FILTER: - Special Events - Ratings

Exhibition Returns To Space Centre

Saturday, 17 November 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

The Doctor Who Up Close Exhibition has returned to the UK's National Space Centre.

The display in Leicester opened on November 13 and will be there until January 6, 2008.

According to promotional material, it includes Martha's and the Master's costumes, as well as Weeping Angels, Witches (presumably Carrionites), Daleks and Cybermen plus other foes, although the official exhibitions site says there will be just one each of the Angels, Witches and Cybermen, plus a Dalek Encounter.

The centre also hopes to have exhibits from the Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, in January.

Entry is free for all ticket-holders to the National Space Centre. However, school bookings do not include entry to the exhibition. The centre is open Tuesdays to Sundays. During school holidays, it is also open on Mondays.

The centre, in Exploration Drive, previously hosted an Up Close exhibition from November 22, 2005 to January 8, 2006.

(Thanks to Malika Andress.)

FILTER: - Exhibitions

DVD Award

Thursday, 15 November 2007 - Reported by Marcus

The second season boxset has won the prize for the Best Foreign TV Series at the Fourth Annual TV DVD Awards.

The awards which honour the best DVD's released this past year, are presented by Home Media Magazine in association with tvshowsondvd.com.

FILTER: - Series 2/28 - Blu-ray/DVD

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