Series Four press release

Thursday, 9 August 2007 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The official Doctor Who website has revealed further information about the fourth series of Doctor Who, which has recently entered production. They have announced that in addition to the previously-confirmed return of the Ood, one episode of the fourth series will feature the Doctor and new companion Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate, encountering well-known thriller writer Agatha Christie.

Christie will be played by Fenella Woolgar, who recently appeared in Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat's BBC One drama serial Jekyll, as Min, one half of the show's lesbian private detective pairing. Also announced is the casting of Felicity Kendal, very well known in the UK for her leading role in the 1970s sitcom The Good Life. Kendal will be playing Lady Clemency Eddison. It has also been announced that Tim McInnerny(Blackadder, Notting Hill) will guest-star in an episode later in the series.

Matthew Prichard, Agatha Christie's grandson, is quoted as saying: "As far as I know my grandmother, never saw Doctor Who, but I am sure she would have been intrigued, excited and above all flattered by all this attention in 2007." Showrunner Russell T Davies adds that: "Visiting Agatha Christie has been on my wish-list for ages now, and for the Doctor, it's a real meeting of minds. Viewers can expect many more ambitious storylines and a whole host of guest stars in 2008."

Some further information about how the character of Donna is reunited with the Doctor has also been released, and is reproduced in spoiler tags below.

According to the press information about Donna: "When she returns in the new series, viewers will see her track down the Time Lord (David Tennant) during an alien emergency in modern-day London."

FILTER: - Series 4/30 - Press

Torchwood hits Brazil and Mexico

Wednesday, 8 August 2007 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

Torchwood is slated to begin airing in Brazil this month. The premiere will be on August 28th on the People and Arts channel.

Since the 9th of July Torchwood has also been available in Mexico, viaCanal22. The programme is shown in a half hour slot on Mondays and Wednesdays at 2230.

Thank you to Karla and Carlos Santillan

FILTER: - Torchwood - Broadcasting

Computer Game Latest

Wednesday, 8 August 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

The UK computer game developer Ironstone Partners is working on a Doctor Who title for the Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation2 and Windows PC platforms, according to Eurogamer.

As reported by Outpost Gallifrey last month, Top Trumps revealed plans for a video game that would be released for Christmas 2007.

Ironstone Partners has previously worked on other games based around the Top Trumps brand.

(Thanks to Zygma Experiment.)

FILTER: - Merchandise

"Voyage of the Damned" Location Report....from Colin Baker

Tuesday, 7 August 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

While the tour of his very successful current play Bedroom Farce(also starring Leela actress Louise Jameson) made a stop in Cardiff, Sixth Doctor Colin Baker was invited to visit the location filming on the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned.

Mr. Baker writes about the experience in his Bucks Free Press column. An excerpt is below; please visit here to read the entire article.

"What was particularly unexpected was the welcome that Russell T Davies and Phil Collinson, respectively executive producer and producer, afforded me and the very genuine affection they appeared to have for the original programme - "Classic Who" as it is now called."

FILTER: - People - Specials

Hulke Stories On Audio

Tuesday, 7 August 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Unabridged readings of classic era Third Doctor novels Doctor Who And The Cave Monsters and Doctor Who And The Doomsday Weaponare to be released by BBC Audiobooks, says the official programme website.

Both penned by Malcolm Hulke, the original TV versions of the Jon Pertwee stories were called Doctor Who And The Silurians and Colony In Space respectively.

Caroline John, who played assistant Liz Shaw in Doctor Who And The Silurians, reads Doctor Who And The Cave Monsters, while Geoffrey Beevers, who portrayed the disfigured Master in The Keeper of Traken, readsDoctor Who And The Doomsday Weapon.

The stories will be available from September 3 as CD sets and downloads.

FILTER: - Audio - Classic Series

December Who Novels

Monday, 6 August 2007 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

The covers and blurbs for the December Doctor Who novels from BBC Books are now available. All the books feature the Tenth Doctor and Martha, and will be available from 27 December 2007.

For full-size images of the covers, click on the thumbnails below.

Thanks to Paul Taylor of Tenth Planet

The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier

The Doctor's been everywhere and everywhen in the whole of the universe and seems to know all the answers. But ask him what happened to the Starship Brilliant and he hasn't the first idea. Did it fall into a sun or black hole? Was it shot down in the first moments of the galactic war? And what's this about a secret experimental drive?

The Doctor is skittish. But if Martha is so keen to find out he'll land the TARDIS on the Brilliant, a few days before it vanishes. Then they can see for themselves...

Soon the Doctor learns the awful truth. And Martha learns that you need to be careful what you wish for. She certainly wasn't hoping for mayhem, death, and badger-faced space pirates.

Wishing Well by Trevor Baxendale

The old village well is just a curiosity -- something to attract tourists intrigued by stories of lost treasure, or visitors just making a wish. Unless something alien and terrifying could be lurking inside the well. Something utterly monstrous that causes nothing but death and destruction.

But who knows the real truth about the well? Who wishes to unleash the hideous force it contains? What terrible consequences will follow the search for a legendary treasure hidden at the bottom?

No one wants to believe the Doctor's warnings about the deadly horror lying in wait -- but soon they'll wish they had...

Peacemaker by James Swallow

The peace and quiet of a remote homestead in the 1880s American West is shattered by the arrival of two shadowy outriders searching for 'the healer'. When the farmer refuses to help them, they raze the house to the ground using guns that shoot bolts of energy instead of bullets...

In the town of Redwater, the Doctor and Martha learn of a snake-oil salesman whose patent medicines actually cure his patient. But when the Doctor and Martha investigate they discover the truth is stranger, and far more dangerous.

Caught between the law of the gun and the deadly plans of intergalactic mercenaries, the Doctor and Martha are about to discover just how wild the West can become...

FILTER: - Books

Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Monday, 6 August 2007 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: The Discerning Fan's Guide to Doctor Who, a new academic survey of Doctor Who and its themes, is now available fromMcFarland and Company Publishing. The book can also be purchased through Amazon.com; following the Amazon links below directly benefits the operation of the Outpost Gallifrey website.

Mark Schuster, coauthor of the book, describes it as follows: "The basic argument of the book is that Doctor Who, like all good science-fiction, takes us to exotic worlds in order to show us what it means to be human. Exploring the weird and wonderful realm of Doctor Who in relation to such contemporary phenomena as cosmetic surgery, consumerism, reality television, political punditry and road rage, my co-author, Tom Powers, and I demonstrate that the exploits of our favorite time traveler provide us with everything we need to know about life, the universe and everything (to borrow a phrase from another legendary sci-fi series)."

The publisher's official blurb is below.

The long-running BBC science fiction program Doctor Who has garnered an intense and extremely loyal fan base since its 1963 debut. This work examines the influences of psychology, literature, pop culture, and the social sciences on Doctor Who storylines and characters. Topics explored include how such issues as class, gender, and sexual attraction factor into the relationships between the Doctor and his companions; whether the Doctor suffers from multiple personality disorder or other psychological afflictions; and the role of the Doctor's native culture in shaping his sense of identity.

FILTER: - Books

Filming Photos Needed

Monday, 6 August 2007 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

Telos Publishing is on the hunt for any photographs taken of the recording for Series 3. 'We're publishing our guide to the series shortly,' explained Telos' David J Howe, 'and as usual we'd like to try and include a colour photographic section in the book. So we're on the look out for any photographs taken of the recording sessions - maybe at the Globe Theatre, around Cardiff, or anywhere else that the show visited in 2007.'

If you have any images which you would be willing to let Telos use - although there is no payment for any use, free copies of the paperback and hardback editions will as usual be sent to all contributors - then please drop David an email at david@telos.co.uk to let him know what you have.

FILTER: - Series 3/29

Latest Sun Casting Rumours

Monday, 6 August 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

The Sun has issued its latest rumour of casting in Doctor Who Series Four ... and if true, it's certainly a surprise.

It is important to remember that this information is being treated only as an unfounded rumour until official confirmation is made by the BBC and/or the show bosses.

The body of the Sun article is copies below in the spoiler box:

Doctor Who bosses are set to sign up Gandhi star Sir Ben Kingsley to play the Daleks' creator Davros.

Sir Ben, 63 - who won an Oscar for his movie role as India's peace-loving spiritual leader - is in final negotiations to play one of the most dangerous baddies in the galaxy.

A source said: "Ben's agent has been in talks for a while now and he's very keen to play the part of Davros. A deal will be signed any day now."

Fans will be delighted that insane half-man, half-machine Davros is returning for the fourth series of the hit BBC1 show, which stars David Tennant as the Timelord.

The alien scientist - who first battled the Doctor in 1975 - is hell-bent on destruction with his army of exterminating Daleks.

FILTER: - Production - Press

Australian media coverage

Monday, 6 August 2007 - Reported by Adam Kirk

Channel Ten's decision to move Torchwood to a midnight timeslot has attracted some local media comment. Michael Idato of the Sydney Morning Herald says 'Ten has no one to blame but itself' for the 'critically acclaimed' programme's failure to develop an Australian audience. He writes that 'rather than let Torchwood go where it belongs - to the ABC as a companion piece to Doctor Who ... Ten bought it with the most disingenuous intention: to deny its science fiction roots and pitch it as a cop show.' Meanwhile, Andrew Mercado in the Sydney Sunday Telegraphcomments that the show has 'been dumped to midnights on Tuesdays ... confirming every sci-fi fan's worst fears that the 'Doctor Who' spin-off would eventually end up in late-night hell, along with The 4400 andBattlestar Galactica. Couldn't Ten have given it one last try in prime time on a Saturday night instead of those unimaginative Law & Orderand NCISrepeats?' Ian Cuthbertson of the Weekend Australian also writes that 'viewers enjoying Torchwood ... will find they have been stiffed. Not doing as well as Ten would have liked, the program has been uprooted and transferred to midnight [Tuesday]. How very sci fi.' Glenn Dyer of Crikeysays Ten is a 'loser . . . for sticking the underwhelming Torchwood at Midnight. Just 98,000 viewers. It's better than that, but it's not Dr Who-like. Why not a Friday night at 9.30pm and try and make it a cult show?'

Meanwhile Keith Austin, also of the Sydney Morning Herald, writes of 'The Lazarus Experiment', that the title character is 'played by great relish by the League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss, a long term 'Doctor Who' fan who has written some of the best episodes of the series' latest incarnation.'

Finally, in the ratings, 'Doctor Who' is on the rise: 'Evolution of the Daleks' scored 874,000 viewers in the 5 major capitals while 'The Lazarus Experiment' scored an even better 895,000 viewers, coming a close second to the Dame Edna Treatment on Channel Nine and the show’s best Aussie ratings since 'Smith and Jones'. For more ratings details see theSydney Morning Herald’s Tribal Mind.

Thanks to Theta Sega MP for the Sunday Telegraph piece.

FILTER: - Torchwood - Press - Australia

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