Gridlock - Overnight Ratings

Sunday, 15 April 2007 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who was once more top of the charts with unofficial overnight figures showing that episode three, Gridlock, was watched by 8.0 million viewers, a 39.5% share of the total audience.

The programme was the most watched of the day by nearly two million viewers, beating Any Dream Will Do, which gained 6.2 million.

The programme had almost double the viewers of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on ITV1.

In terms of share it was fourth, just being beaten by the sporting events of the afternoon.

With one day to go, this makes the programme the seventh most watched of the week, beating three episodes of EastEnders, and gives Gridlock a high probability of bringing Doctor Who once more into the week's top ten.

Doctor Who was again top of the children's top ten, with 1.4 million under 16s watching, double the second placed Any Dream Will Do.

Doctor Who Confidential was top of the multichannel charts, with a rating of 0.56 million viewers, over 50% more than the second placedInspector Morse




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 3/29

Friday Ratings

Saturday, 14 April 2007 - Reported by Marcus
The Friday repeat of The Shakespeare Code was watched by510,000 viewers, a 2.9% share, making it the 5th most watched programme of the day on multi Channel TV and the highest rated programme on BBC3 for the evening.

Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 282,000 viewers, a 1.6% share.

On BBC1, Totally Doctor Who got 700,000 viewers, the same as week one and roughly equal to other CBBC programmes in the same slot.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 3/29

Earlier start time for Daleks

Saturday, 14 April 2007 - Reported by Marcus
Schedules published for 21st April show that episode four, Daleks in Manhattan has an earlier start time of 6.35pm.

The programme is once more sandwiched between The National Lottery People's Quiz and the talent show Any Dream Will Do.

ITV1 appear to have altered their schedule to place their talent showGrease Is The Word at 7.25pm, missing Dcotor Who and placing it directly against the BBC's Joseph. Against the Doctor and the Daleks, they have scheduled Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon, where Wendy RichardMichael Le VellJamelia and Andrea Catherwood help recreate Blankety Blank.

BBC2 viewers are offered another futuristic drama series Superstorm, which runs from 6-7pm, followed by live coverage of World Championship Snooker from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, while Channel 4 once more hasBorn Survivor: Bear Grylls. Last week, this got 1.4 million viewers.

Channel 5 is showing a 1987 Blake Edwards comedy, Blind Date, starringBruce Willis and Kim Basinger.

Doctor Who Confidential is on BBC3 at 7.25pm.

NB: schedules are subject to change.




FILTER: - UK - Series 3/29 - Broadcasting

The Now Show

Saturday, 14 April 2007 - Reported by Marcus
This week's Now Show on BBC Radio 4 features a song about the scheduling of Doctor Who, wishing Manchester United a clear and decisive win, just to ensure that tonight's episode of Doctor Who isn't postponed. This is the latest of several Doctor Who-related songs to have been performed on the programme by comedian and Outpost Gallifreyforum member Mitch Benn.

The programme is available via the BBC Listen again feature for the next seven days. The song is approximately seven minutes into the programme.

(Thanks to Julian Shortman.)




FILTER: - Radio

Eccleston to Time Travel in Upcoming Film

Friday, 13 April 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

According to the Manchester Evening NewsChristopher Eccleston is set to star in a theatrical adaptation ofSusan Cooper's Young Adult novelThe Dark Is Rising.

Eccleston will play the main villain, the Rider, who leads the evil forces back and forth through time, in what are described as Harry Potter-style films. The five books in Cooper's series are optioned and will be produced, depending on the performance of the first film.

No information on production schedule or proposed release date is included in the article. Book description appears below:
"When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back,
Three from the circle, three from the track;
Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone;
Five will return, and one go alone."


With these mysterious words, Will Stanton discovers on his 11th birthday that he is no mere boy. He is the Sign-Seeker, last of the immortal Old Ones, destined to battle the powers of evil that trouble the land. His task is monumental: he must find and guard the six great Signs of the Light, which, when joined, will create a force strong enough to match and perhaps overcome that of the Dark. Embarking on this endeavor is dangerous as well as deeply rewarding; Will must work within a continuum of time and space much broader than he ever imagined.




FILTER: - People

DW Helps TV Exports Success

Friday, 13 April 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Doctor Who has been namechecked by the UK government as helping with the success story of overseas TV sales.

Income from the export of TV shows rose by 20 per cent last year to 593 million pounds.

Creative industries minister Shaun Woodward said: "The inventiveness and quality of British TV makers continues to shine through and is recognised across the world.

"Production teams still deliver on core programmes such as period drama or Doctor Who, but also move television formats forward with shows such asDancing on Ice, which effortlessly cross continents."

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said a quarter of the increase was down to an 87 per cent rise in income from licensing TV formats.

According to the figures, Europe's share was 33 per cent of TV sales, which generated 125 million pounds, compared with 77 million pounds from the USA.

The largest rises in sales were to eastern Europe and Scandinavia, which had increases of 54 per cent and 42 per cent respectively, because of new TV channels and the popularity of UK programmes there.

John McVay, the chief executive of Pact, which commissioned the research, said: "The quality and range of UK programming, from factual entertainment to sports, to drama and animation, means UK companies always have a broad range of compelling content to offer international buyers."




FILTER: - Production

Short Story Competition Update

Friday, 13 April 2007 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

Big Finish Productions has announed the status of their Short Tripsshort story writing contest. They are now halfway through reading the 1,073 entries, and hope to announce a winner in May.




FILTER: - Audio

Battles In Time - Special Edition

Friday, 13 April 2007 - Reported by Marcus
Next Month sees a special issue of Battles In Time. This issue is set to be released on May 16th and includes many special features.
Following the phenomenal success of the Doctor Who Battles In Time TCG comes a brand new Collector’s Special featuring the two deadliest adversaries of the Doctor: Daleks vs Cybermen!

Complete with new, spectacular imagery from the TV series, Daleks vs Cybermen features 2 booster packs, each with 9 cards. Each pack contains 8 non-randomised foil common cards, plus a randomised 9th holo card from 4 design variants.

In the accompanying magazine, enjoy new gaming possibilities with the stunning gatefold game board, pitting Daleks against Cybermen for the ultimate Battle in Time. The special also comes with a FREE TARDIS Deck Tin, Gaming Dice and Card Bases – making Daleks vs Cybermen an essential collector’s item.

FREE with every Daleks vs Cybermen special:

2 packs of 9 cards. Each pack contains 8 non-randomised foil common cards (identical designs across all issues), plus a randomised 9th holo from 4 Dalek Sec variants and 4 Cyber Leader variants.
Stunning Collector’s TARDIS Deck Tin.
Exclusive gaming accessories – 8 bespoke Dalek and Cybermen Gaming Bases and 2 Gaming Dice.

In the magazine:

32 pages on Cybermen and Daleks – read the magazine one way for Daleks; flip and read the other way for Cybermen.
In the middle gaming board, choose to be Daleks or Cybermen and battle it out with your base-mounted cards for control of the Universe.
Learn about the history of the Doctor’s two main enemies and their past battles with the Time Lord.
Stunning battle scenes between the Daleks and Cybermen.




FILTER: - Merchandise

The Judas Gift

Friday, 13 April 2007 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

Big Finish Productions have now released the April installment of their Bernice Summerfield range,The Judas Gift by Nick Wallace. The Judas Gift introduces the Draconian character Kothar, being played by Michael Fenner, who will be recurring for this season.
The Braxiatel Collection. Once it was a home, a haven, one of the 800 Wonders of the Universe. Not any more.

Draconia and the Mim are at war and the Collection is caught in the crossfire. Its future hangs in the balance as Bernice tries to fathom the motives of a new Draconian ambassador.

Director Bev Tarrant must use every trick she knows if the Collection is to survive. She's been a smuggler, a killer and a thief, but all that's behind her now. Isn't it?

Beware your sins will find you out. Especially when you accept the Judas Gift.




FILTER: - Audio

Classic Series Downloads

Friday, 13 April 2007 - Reported by Marcus
Following a deal between BBC Worldwide and the P2P company Azureus, fans in the USA can now download several episodes of the classic series.

The programmes are available for rent from the Vuze website for a small fee; the first episodes of The Three Doctorsand The Talons of Weng-Chiang are available for "free rental". As well as classic Doctor Who episodes, other BBC material such as Red Dwarf and Steven Moffat'sCoupling is available.

NB: For copyright reasons, these downloads are currently only available in the United States, and because of the digital rights management software with which the files have been encoded, they can be played only on Windows computers running Windows XP or Vista (i.e. not on computers running Macintosh or Linux).




FILTER: - USA - Online - Classic Series