Week Two schedules published

Thursday, 29 March 2007 - Reported by Marcus

The TV schedules for the 7th April are now becoming clear, with Doctor Who facing its stiffest competition since Season One was placed against Ant and Dec.

The Shakespeare Code will be transmitted in the usual Who slot of 7pm. As with week one it will be preceded by theThe National Lottery People's Quiz and followed by the new search for a star series Any Dream will Do with Graham Norton leading a search for a new leading man for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor.

ITV1 fights back with its own search for a star series, Grease Is the Word at 6.05pm. The programme follows thousands of hopefuls auditioning for the the lead roles of Danny and Sandy in a brand new West End production of Grease. The programme runs until 7.10pm in direct competition with the first ten minutes of Doctor Who. ITV1 then schedules Harry Hill's TV Burp The programme has averaged 5.3m Viewers for the first part of this year.

On BBC2 the 1999 version of the film Anna and the King is being shown. Starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat. Last shown in 2006 it was watched by 2.0m viewers.

Channel 4 continues with Born Survivor: Bear Grylls demonstrating survival techniques.

Channel 5 has a spoof spy adventure, The Ambushers. Made in 1967 this film stars Dean Martin and Senta Berger. On its last showing on Channel 4 in 2005 it only got 0.3m viewers.

All schedules are subject to change

FILTER: - UK - Series 3/29 - Broadcasting

King of Cool

Wednesday, 28 March 2007 - Reported by Marcus

David Tennant's incarnation as the Doctor has been voted the coolest TV character beating federal agent Jack Bauer, played in the hit US show 24 by Kiefer Sutherland, to second place.

The poll for radiotimes.com was conducted to find the coolest character - defined as laidback and sexy - on TV.
The Fonz in the Seventies TV show Happy Days, played by Henry Winkler, now 61, came third.

Colin Firth's heart-fluttering turn as Mr Darcy in the TV adaptation of Jane Austen favourite Pride And Prejudice is fourth, followed by The Cat in Eighties comedy series Red Dwarf, brought to life by Danny John-Jules.

The top 10 list was voted for by more than 4,000 TV fans.

Radio Times deputy TV editor David Butcher said: "David Tennant is so hugely popular as the Doctor - he looks like becoming a bit of an icon.

1. Doctor Who (David Tennant)
2. Jack Bauer in 24 (Kiefer Sutherland)
3. The Fonz in Happy Days (Henry Winkler)
4. Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth)
5. Cat in Red Dwarf (Danny John-Jules)
6. DCI Gene Hunt in Life On Mars (Philip Glenister)
7. Dermot O'Leary
8. Columbo (Peter Falk)
9. Dylan in The Magic Roundabout
10.Sawyer in Lost (Josh Holloway)

FILTER: - David Tennant - Radio Times

Doctor Who Adventures 26

Wednesday, 28 March 2007 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The press release for issue 26 of Doctor Who Adventures has been released from BBC Magazines; the cover illustration is at right (click for a larger version).

Be prepared for the return of Doctor Who with the exciting new issue of Doctor Who Adventures.

Inside, there’s a sneak preview of the first two episodes – Smith and Jones and The Shakespeare Code. There are loads of new pictures, so look out for Judoon and some very sinister witches…

Also this issue:

* Monsters – meet the moody Adherents of the Repeated Meme.
* Comic strip – there’s a new adventure for the Doctor aboard a futuristic space station. What evil menace is hiding there?
* Win – we’ve got part two of our life-size Dalek Sec competition. And if you missed part one, you can still enter by collecting the bonus token printed in issue 27.
* Adventure Guide – there’s all you need to know about the day the Doctor met Donna in The Runaway Bride.
* Make a mask – wind your self up and put a Clockwork Robot mask on your head!
* Picture puzzle – prepare for mayhem at a New Earth hospital.
* Quiz – are you a Who expert? Take our quiz to find out.
* Posters – fantastic pictures of the Beast, the Doctor, Martha and Donna.
* PLUS more things to win, more puzzles and your Doctor Who questions answered.

This issue comes with three free gifts. You get a great Doctor Who folder, a set of felt-tip pens and a choice of two different sketch pads – either a sonic screwdriver pad or a TARDIS one.

Doctor Who Adventures Issue 26 is out on Thursday 29 March. Don’t miss it!

FILTER: - Magazines - DWA

60-Second Interview with RTD

Wednesday, 28 March 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

Metro, "Britain's first urban national newspaper," is currently featuring an interview with Russell T. Davies in its "60 Seconds" column, in which the Doctor Who Executive Producer gives a few insights into Season Three and his thoughts on fandom and on being a fan himself.

Davies responds to questions such as "What does the 'T' stand for?", "What's your favourite piece of Doctor Who merchandise?", and "Which are better, Cybermen or Daleks?"

Davies' answer: "Daleks any day; that’s why I wrote an episode where the Daleks thrash the Cybermen. The fact they still work now is astonishing. We were tempted to redesign them and drew up all sorts of different Daleks – circular Daleks, flying Daleks, real Star Wars-type Daleks – but they just weren’t Daleks. There’s a reason they’ve lasted 40 years. I’d like to read a university-level essay on why the design of the Daleks has worked so well."

Metro was launched in March 1999 as a free, colour newspaper for morning commuters. At first only available in London, now commuters in 13 of Britain's major cities can pick up a free copy of Metro as they travel to work in the morning. Every weekday morning some 1.12 million copies are distributed across the UK making Metro the world's largest free newspaper and the fourth biggest newspaper in the UK.

FILTER: - People - Press

Army of Guests in Glasgow

Tuesday, 27 March 2007 - Reported by Kenny Davidson

A one-day Doctor Who convention is to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, on 3rd June.

Army of Guests will take place at the Quality Hotel, near Glasgow's Central Station, bringing together Frazer Hines, John Leeson, Deborah Watling and Sophie Aldred, with further guests expected.

The event is organised by the Glasgow Doctor Who Group, and further details, including pricing, and help with travel and accommodation, can be found on their website.

FILTER: - Conventions

Tennant unable to go to script auction

Tuesday, 27 March 2007 - Reported by Marcus

Unfortunately, due to prior engagements, David Tennant will no longer be attending the auction of his signed script from The Satan Pit, as had been reported by Outpost yesterday.

FILTER: - David Tennant

Series 3 Complete Episode Titles

Tuesday, 27 March 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

The latest issue of the Radio Times has the final complete list of episode titles for series 3, along with a synopsis for each story. Notably, the issue confirms three previously-unknown titles; episode three is, as rumored for the past week,Gridlock, while the concluding episode of the Dalek two-parter, episode five, is called Evolution of the Daleks. Finally, the issue confirms the title for the season's last episode, which is called Last of the Time Lords. The full list of episode titles is below, from the issue which is now on sale; series three begins with "Smith and Jones" transmitted this coming Saturday evening at 7.00pm on BBC1.

Series Three Titles

1: Smith and Jones
2: The Shakespeare Code
3: Gridlock
4: Daleks in Manhattan (Part One)
5: Evolution of the Daleks (Part Two)
6: The Lazarus Experiment
7: 42
8: Human Nature (Part One)
9: The Family of Blood (Part Two)
10: Blink
11: Utopia
12: The Sound of Drums (Part One)
13: Last of the Time Lords (Part Two)

FILTER: - Production - Series 3/29 - Magazines - Radio Times

Freema Reveals Her Inner Fangirl

Tuesday, 27 March 2007 - Reported by R Alan Siler

In an interview in The Sun today, Freema Agyeman comes clean on a very important subject: "I'm a big sci-fi fan - I even went to a couple of Star Trek fan conventions. The Next Generation was my favourite show and I loved Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard."

Agyeman says that she grew up with Doctor Who when Sylvester McCoy was in the title role, but even then she was more of a Trekkie. However, she comments "Now I can't wait to go to a Doctor Who convention as a member of the cast."

This is partly to do with the reception that she's gotten from Doctor Who fans: "The fans have been really, really encouraging. I've had some great letters saying that they'll miss Rose but they're looking forward to meeting Martha. It warms my heart to know that the fans are backing me."

Catch Agyeman's debut as Martha Jones this Saturday, 31 March, at 7 pm in "Smith and Jones", the first episode of Series Three.

FILTER: - People - Press

Tennant to be at script auction

Monday, 26 March 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

David Tennant will be at the auction of his signed script from The Satan Pit at John Nicholson Auctioneers this coming Wednesday.

As earlier reported by Outpost, the script has been signed by Tennant, Billie Piper and Russell T Davies.

It was given by Tennant to Arabella Weir, who played the Doctor in the Big Finish audio Exile, and will be sold by her in aid of a parent-teacher association of a primary school supported by Tennant, who is godfather to her son.

The fine art and collectables auction will take place at the auction rooms in Midhurst Road, Fernhurst, Haslemere, Surrey and will be filmed for the ITV show Dickinson's Real Deal.

There is a reserve price of 1,000 pounds on this item, although the auctioneers expect it to go for between 3,000 and 5,000 pounds.

No ticket is necessary to go along to the event.

The full details of the lot going under the hammer are given below, and are as stated by the auctioneers.

LOT 401A. A DR WHO SCRIPT which was used in the last series with DAVID TENNANT as the Doctor, for DOCTOR WHO II, Episode 9. THE SATAN PIT, 4th Draft by MATT JONES, 4th Feb. 2006. The script was given to her by David Tennant as he is a close friend and godfather to Arabella's son. The script comprises 56 pages.

The script is the only one of its kind in the world. To prevent story leaks to the press each script is printed with name of the cast member at the top of each script. In this instance the script belonged to the leading role David Tennant. It is signed by David Tennant, Billie Piper and Russell T. Davis [sic].

3000-5000 pounds.

FILTER: - Special Events - David Tennant

Bafta Craft Awards nominations

Monday, 26 March 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive

Last year's series of Doctor Who has been nominated twice in the Bafta Television Craft Awards.

Crispin Green is up for an honour in the Editing: Fiction/Entertainment category, while The Mill has been put forward for recognition in the Visual Effects section.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at The Dorchester hotel in London on April 22.

Last year, the show was nominated for four craft awards but didn't win any, although Mike Tucker, who was in charge of the model effects, was in the team that scooped the gong for Best Visual Effects for the BBC1 drama/documentary Hiroshima.

(Thanks to Neil Marsh.)

POSTSCRIPT: As well as Doctor Who being nominated, The Model Unit, run by Mike Tucker, is also in line for an award for its visual effects work on Krakatoa: The Last Days, while Neill Gorton is nominated, alongside Vanessa White, for make-up and hair design on The Catherine Tate Show.

FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Series 2/28

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