Peter Tuddenham

Thursday, 12 July 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Actor and voice artiste Peter Tuddenham has died at the age of 88 after a short illness.

His vocal talents were used in Doctor Who for The Ark in Space, The Masque of Mandragora and Time and the Rani, but he will also be well-known to cult TV fans for providing the voices of Zen, Orac and Slave in Blake's 7, which was created by Terry Nation.

In addition, Tuddenham was in the Kaldor City audio spin-offs Occam's Razor and Death's Head, which were Doctor Who/Blake's 7 crossovers produced by Magic Bullet.

(Thanks to David and Lesley McIntee.)

FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Last of the Time Lords - Final Ratings

Wednesday, 11 July 2007 - Reported by Marcus

Official figures released by BARB show that the final episode of Season Three, Last of the Time Lords was watched by 8.61 million viewers, making it the 7th most watched programme on British television for the week.

The programme got higher ratings than three editions of EastEnders, one edition of Coronation Street and all editions of Emmerdale.

The Sunday repeat was the 3rd most watched programme on multi channel Television with 0.87 million viewers.

It was beaten by the Saturday edition of Doctor Who Confidential, which topped the multi channel charts with 1.02 million viewers, the highest rating the programme has ever achieved on this channel, narrowly beating the rating for last years season climax which had 1.01 million.

The Friday repeat of Episode Twelve, The Sound of Drums was 17th in the list with 0.62 million watching.

Final figures are much more accurate than the initial overnights and include those who recorded the programme and watch it within 7 days.

Top Twenty Programmes (we 1st July 2007)

1 CONCERT FOR DIANA (SUN 2010) - 12.22 - BBC1
2 CORONATION STREET (MON 1934) - 9.97 - ITV1
3 CORONATION STREET (MON 2029) - 9.91 - ITV1
4 CORONATION STREET (WED 1930) - 9.35 - ITV1
5 EASTENDERS (MON 1959) - 9.31 - BBC1
6 BBC NEWS (SUN 2230) - 9.24 - BBC1
7 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1905) - 8.61 - BBC1
8 EASTENDERS (TUE 1929) - 8.21 - BBC1
9 EASTENDERS (THU 1931) - 8.08 - BBC1
10 EASTENDERS (FRI 2000) - 7.97 - BBC1
11 CORONATION STREET (FRI 1934) - 7.82 - ITV1
12 EMMERDALE (MON 1902) - 7.53 - ITV1
13 CONCERT FOR DIANA (SUN 1530) - 7.39 - BBC1
14 EMMERDALE (TUE 1902) - 7.12 - ITV1
15 EMMERDALE (THU 1903) - 7.05 - ITV1
16 CASUALTY (SAT 2013) - 6.98 - BBC1
17 CORONATION STREET (SUN 1928) - 6.92 - ITV1
18 EMMERDALE (WED 1859) - 6.67 - ITV1
19 EMMERDALE (FRI 1903) - 6.33 - ITV1
20 THE BILL (WED 1959) - 6.30 - ITV1

Top Twenty Multi Channel

1 DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL (Sat 1957) 1,017,000 - BBC3
2 AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (2007) (Fri 2125) 977,000 - ITV2
3 DOCTOR WHO (Sun 1902) 807,000 - BBC3
4 FILM: LETHAL WEAPON 3 (Thu 2105) 777,000 - ITV2
5 FILM: LETHAL WEAPON 3 (Thu 2157) 752,000 - ITV2
6 EASTENDERS (Thu 2159) 714,000 - BBC3
7 HOME AND AWAY (Thu 1829) 695,000 - Five Life
8 HOLLYOAKS (Thu 1859) 680,000 - E4 In
9 HOME AND AWAY (Wed 1829) 670,000 - Five Life
10 ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE (Thu 2156) 667,000 - ITV2
11 HOLLYOAKS (Mon 1859) 648,000 - E4 In
12 HOME AND AWAY (Tue 1829) 645,000 - Five Life
13 EASTENDERS (Tue 2159) 644,000 - BBC3
14 LAST MAN STANDING (Tue 2101) 643,000 - BBC3
15 HOLLYOAKS (Wed 1859) 642,000 - E4 In
16 HOME AND AWAY (Mon 1828) 633,000 - Five Life
17 DOCTOR WHO (Fri 2101) 618,000 - BBC3
18 HOLLYOAKS (Tue 1859) 617,000 - E4 In
19 EASTENDERS (Mon 2200) 585,000 - BBC3
20 AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (2007) (Sat 1833) 567,000 ITV2

Source: BARB

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 3/29

First Glimpse at Voyage of the Damned

Wednesday, 11 July 2007 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The BBC has today released the first official publicity photograph from the forthcoming 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, production of which began in Cardiff earlier this week. The image, seen at right, shows David Tennant as the Doctor along with the episode's main guest star Kylie Minogue, who according to a report on the official BBC Doctor Who website will be playing a character named Astrid, a waitress on board the Titanic. A larger version of the publicity picture can be found on the same page.

The BBC report also confirms casting details for the special, including two names reported earlier by Outpost Gallifrey, classic series veterans Geoffrey Palmer (who plays the Titanic's Captain) andClive Swift. Additional actors in the episode are Gray O'Brien,Debbie Chazen, Clive Rowe, Russell Tovey, George Costiganand Jimmy Vee, previously seen in the programme as the Moxx of Balhoon in series one.

Reports on the publicity picture can also be found at BBC News Online, The Sun, The Times, the Daily Mail and This is London.

The MediaGuardian's report on the image runs in their Media Monkey diary column (requires free registration to view), which also quotes BBC One controller Peter Fincham on the subject of Doctor Who from today's press launch for his channel's forthcoming autumn season line-up. "Today at the BBC1 autumn launch the channel's Cyber controller Peter Fincham dodged a question about the casting of Catherine Tate, depriving viewers of Martha Jones, one of the few black role models on television. 'They want to top each previous series with the new one,' Fincham told hacks. 'I wouldn't put pressure on Russell in any way to do anything,' Fincham said. We kind of guessed that from the overblown season finale this year, Pete."

FILTER: - Specials - Production - Press

SyFy Genre Awards

Tuesday, 10 July 2007 - Reported by Marcus

The Doctor Who genre has received several nominations for the SyFy Genre Awards, presented by the websiteSyFyPortal.com, an industry leader in science fiction and fantasy news. The SyFy Genre Awards honor the best in television and the silver screen that premiered to American audiences between June 1, 2006 and May 31, 2007. Among the nominations are Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant for Best Actor, Billie Piper for Best Actress,The Parting of the Ways for Best Episode, Doctor Who for best series, and Russell T Davies for their Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award, named after the late creator of "Star Trek". Christopher Eccleston is also nominated for his guest appearances on Heroes.

And, incidentally, Outpost Gallifrey is one of the five nominees for Best Website.

Readers can visit SyFy Portal beginning July 25 to vote once per day per e-mail address on the complete ballot, with the poll closing Aug. 25. In the past seven years, more than 2 million ballots have been cast.

Click on the spoiler tag below for the complete list of nominees (no spoilers included, we've only tagged it to shorten this news story on the news page!)

BEST ACTOR/Television
Christopher Eccleston, "Doctor Who"
Joe Flanigan, "Stargate: Atlantis"
Matthew Fox, "Lost"
Edward James Olmos, "Battlestar Galactica"
David Tennant, "Doctor Who"

BEST ACTRESS/Television
Evangeline Lilly, "Lost"
Mary McDonnell, "Battlestar Galactica"
Jacqueline McKenzie, "The 4400"
Billie Piper, "Doctor Who"
Amanda Tapping, "Stargate SG-1"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR/Television
James Callis, "Battlestar Galactica"
Michael Hogan, "Battlestar Galactica"
Lennie James, "Jericho"
Masi Oka, "Heroes"
Terry O'Quinn, "Lost"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS/Television
Tricia Helfer, "Battlestar Galactica"
Ali Larter, "Heroes"
Lucy Lawless, "Battlestar Galactica"
Elizabeth Mitchell, "Lost"
Katee Sackhoff, "Battlestar Galactica"

BEST ACTOR/Movie
Gerard Butler, "300"
Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End"
Doug Jones, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Clive Owen, "Children of Men"
Brandon Routh, "Superman Begins"

BEST ACTRESS/Movie
Ivana Baquero, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Kate Bosworth, "Superman Returns"
Lena Headey, "300"
Keira Knightley, "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End"
Julianne Moore, "Children of Men"

BEST YOUNG ACTOR
Ivana Baquero, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Noah Gray-Cabey, "Heroes"
Conchita Campbell, "The 4400"
Thomas Dekker, "Heroes"
Hayden Panettiere, "Heroes"

BEST WEB PRODUCTION
Episode 1, "Sanctuary"
To Serve All My Days, "Star Trek: New Voyages"
Webisode 9, "Battlestar Galactica"
Webisode 10, "Battlestar Galactica"
World Enough and Time, "Star Trek: New Voyages"

BEST WEB SITE
Dark Horizons
GateWorld
Outpost Gallifrey
SciFi Wire
Whedonesque

BEST SPECIAL GUEST/Television
Richard Dean Anderson, "200," Stargate SG-1
Christopher Eccleston, "Distractions," Heroes
Christopher Eccleston, "The Fix," Heroes
Nathan Fillion, "I Do," Lost
George Takei, "Landslide," Heroes

BEST EPISODE/Television
"Company Man," Heroes
"Crossroads Part 2," Battlestar Galactica
"Exodus Part 2," Battlestar Galactica
"Maelstrom," Battlestar Galactica
"The Parting of the Ways," Doctor Who

BEST SERIES/Television
Battlestar Galactica
Doctor Who
Lost
Heroes
Jericho

BEST MOVIE
300
Children of Men
Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End
The Prestige

GENE RODDENBERRY
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Gene Coon
Russell T. Davies
James Doohan
Ronald D. Moore
Edward James Olmos

FILTER: - Awards/Nominations

Sea Devils Fort For Sale

Tuesday, 10 July 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

The fort that was used in the filming of The Sea Devils is up for sale.

A report in today's edition of Portsmouth daily paper The News says No Man's Land Fort - built in the 1860s as a sea defence against a feared invasion by the French that never happened - is on the market after the collapse of a commercial property finance business and the jailing of its boss.

The exterior of the construction - which is in the Solent, off the south coast of England - doubled as an abandoned sea fort when theDoctor Who crew went to Portsmouth in October 1971 for extensive location filming on the Jon Pertwee six-parter.

Now converted into a hotel plus events and hospitality venue, it is reported to be worth millions, and administrator KPMG says it is open to offers.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Press

National Television Awards Voting Begins

Tuesday, 10 July 2007 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Early voting has been opened for the 2007 National Television Awards, sponsored by ITV. Both David Tennant and Freema Agyeman are among the long list of nominees for Most Popular Actor and Actress, respectively, while Doctor Who is once again up for Most Popular Drama.Torchwood also receives the Most Popular Drama nomination, while its star John Barrowman is nominated for Most Popular Actor. John Simm from the last three episodes of this past series is also nominated as Most Popular Actor for his work on "Life on Mars".

The NTA preliminary vote carries over to the final vote later in the year as the nominees' list is whittled down, with the presentation of the awards to take place in November. Doctor Who has been a big winner at the past two years' NTAs, the series taking both drama series awards and Tennant, Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper all winning in their categories.

Voting takes place at the National Television Awards website.

FILTER: - Series 3/29 - Billie Piper - Awards/Nominations

Christmas Special Casting Update

Tuesday, 10 July 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

The Sun has reported today that Geoffrey Palmer has been lined up to guest star in the 2007 Christmas special,Voyage of the Damned. It reports that he will be playing the Captain of the Titanic, although it is unclear whether this character is based on the real Captain of the liner, Edward Smith.

Geoffrey Palmer is best known for his roles in the comedy series As Time Goes By and Butterflies, as well as his appearances in a variety of films, including Mrs Brown, The Madness of King George and Tomorrow Never Dies.

He has previously made two appearances in Doctor Who in the Jon Pertwee stories Doctor Who and the Siluriansand The Mutants. His sonCharles Palmer directed four recent episodes of Doctor Who: Smith and Jones, The Shakespeare Code, Human Nature and The Family of Blood.

FILTER: - Specials - Production

Peter Davison and the Holy Grail

Monday, 9 July 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

BBC News reports that, starting 23 July, Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison will be taking over the role of King Arthur in the West End production of Monty Python's Spamalot. The show is currently running at the Palace Theatre.

Bill Ward, from the ITV soap Coronation Street will be joining the cast at the same time as the sexually disorientated Sir Lancelot.

The producers of the show are also launching a new family friendly performance on Fridays at 5:15pm, aimed at kids and young audiences.

FILTER: - People - Classic Series - Peter Davison

Media Guardian Top 100

Monday, 9 July 2007 - Reported by Marcus

The Media Guardian has placed Doctor Who's executive producer Russell T Davies as the15th most powerful player in the industry in the UK. Davies, who was placed 28th last year, is described as the person who made family TV drama cool again with his award-winning reinvention of Doctor Who and who put BBC1 back on top in the Saturday night ratings war.

The Tenth Doctor himself, David Tennant, is 24th and described as the most powerful actor in television. The Media Guardian says the definition of a star is someone who can get a project off the ground simply by agreeing to be in it. Tennant is that man.

Also listed is Jana Bennett the BBC's director of vision who comes in 11th.

Current BBC1 controller Peter Fincham is 12th and the Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson was 3rd in the list.

FILTER: - People - Russell T Davies

Canada: CBC to make Series Three Available Online

Monday, 9 July 2007 - Reported by Mike Doran

The Doctor Who Blog is reporting that they have been informed by sources inside the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the broadcaster will be posting Series Three ofDoctor Who online at their Doctor Who Website. Each episode will appear online the day after it airs onCBC Television, and will remain available for up to four weeks.

It is expected that the first three episodes should be posted on the site soon. The episodes are expected to be geofenced, and only be available to those connecting from Canadian ISPs.

(Thanks to Rudolf Mammitzsch and DWIN)

FILTER: - Canada - Series 3/29

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