Doctor Who Adventures Goes Global With App

Friday, 28 December 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
Doctor Who Adventures reaches issue number 300 today and to mark the occasion it has launched an app, making the publication available around the world via iPads and iPhones.

Returning after its Christmas break, the magazine has a free set of Dalek figures and a pack of Doctor Who Monster Invasion Extreme cards, while among the contents of issue 300 are:

  • An episode guide for The Snowmen
  • A peek at the Whoniverse in 2013
  • Monster resolutions
  • More comic adventures
  • A look at the brand-new TARDIS

People can get the app from the App Stores in the UK and USA.





FILTER: - USA - UK - Magazines - DWA

The Snowmen: new BBC America Trailer

Saturday, 15 December 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC America have released a new trailer for The Snowmen, featuring a number of different clips to the original that aired on BBC One this week:


The Graham Norton Show:

BBC America have also announced that the festive edition of The Graham Norton Show that will feature Matt Smith as a guest will be broadcast immediately after The Snowmen has aired on Christmas Day. The episode will have its premiere in the United Kingdom on Friday 21st December at 10:35pm, with Matt sharing the sofa alongside comedians Billy Connolly and Jennifer Saunders, and award-winning movie star Dustin Hoffman.





FILTER: - USA - Series Specials - Series 7/33

A K-9 Christmas!

Friday, 14 December 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
K-9: SyFy - Christmas Day 2012The US broadcaster SyFy are to show the entire first series of K-9 on Christmas Day.

The mammoth run kicks off with Regeneration from 10:00am ET, followed by every episode back-to-back in half-hour intervals leading up to the series finale, Eclipse Of The Korven, from 10:30pm ET.

The press release follows below:
NEW YORK – December, 2012 – Syfy has acquired U.S. broadcast rights to the 26-part Dr. Who spinoff K9 and will marathon the series in its entirety on Christmas Day -- Tuesday, December 25 -- from 10AM-11PM ET/PT.

K9 follows the adventures of the robotic canine created by British writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin and first seen in the original 1978 BBC TV series Doctor Who series. The show mixes live action with stunning CG and special effects and pits the robot dog K9 and his teenage friends against a number of human and alien adversaries. The new dog is voiced by the legendary John Leeson, who voiced the original K9 from the 1978 Doctor Who series.

Bob Baker has won a number of BAFTAs for his co-writing of the hugely successful Wallace and Gromit shorts and feature, and together with his business partner Paul Tams,created the new K9 series.

The show has its own facebook page and website, www.k9official.com, where fans can find out facts, be kept up to date with news, and order exclusive merchandise. Now available: T Shirts, figurines etc.
(with thanks to Paul Tams)




FILTER: - USA - K9

BBC America: The Doctor Who Ultimate List of Lists

Thursday, 13 December 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC America is to broadcast a special programme on the 21st December to look at the Top Five of several favourite Doctor Who topics:

The Doctor Who Ultimate List of Lists

What's your Top Five Doctor Who companions? Your Top Five Scariest Monsters? Your Top Five Guest Stars?

Don't miss as BBC AMERICA's pop culture correspondent ASHA LEO is joined by special guest Captain Jack Harkness himself, JOHN BARROWMAN (Torchwood, Doctor Who), to countdown the rankings in these and other heated polls.

Watch the World Premiere of the All New Special
Friday Dec 21 at 10/9c *** only on BBC America.

Rankings are based on votes from readers of BBCAMERICA.com's Anglophenia blog.

The Doctor Who Ultimate List of Lists is a show in the channel's The Brit List series, which explores the shared British and American pop-culture.




FILTER: - USA - Documentary - John Barrowman

Doctor Who to feature on TV Guide cover

Monday, 3 December 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
TV Guide (10-16 Dec 2012)Back in October ten candidates were announced for the Fan Favorites Cover Poll, which enables readers to vote for their favourite television show to grace the cover of American weekly television listings magazine TV Guide.

The poll included a variety of popular American-based shows: Fringe, Grimm, Happy Endings, Parks And Recreation, Pretty Little Liars, Scandal, Spartacus, The Vampire Diaries, and The Walking Dead.

However, the country's breakfast show, Good Morning America, revealed this morning that a British show rose above the rest to top the poll - Doctor Who! TV Guide confirmed the accolade via their Facebook page:
As revealed this morning by our friends at Good Morning America, the winner of our 2012 Fan Favorites cover poll is... BBC America's Doctor Who! Congratulations to the show and to all the fans who voted!
The special double issue, covering 10th-23rd December 2012, goes on sale in the United States later this week.


This will be the first time that Doctor Who has graced the cover of TV Guide, which will celebrate sixty years of publication in 2013. The closest Doctor Who came previously was with a special insert for the Paul McGann television movie back in 1996.

The show received another American honour earlier this year, when it made the front cover of US media magazine Entertainment Weekly.





FILTER: - USA - Magazines - Polls

The Snowmen: BBC America Press Release

Saturday, 17 November 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC America have published a press release for this year's Christmas Special, which will be broadcast on the channel on Christmas Day at 9:00pm ET/PT.

BBC AMERICA’S DOCTOR WHO ANNOUNCES DETAILS FOR ALL-NEW CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Announced today, the title of this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special is The Snowmen. A new companion, a new look for the Doctor, plus a new monster will all be introduced in this movie-scale episode. Starring Matt Smith as the Doctor and introducing Jenna-Louise Coleman as new companion Clara, The Snowmen follows their adventures as they embark on a mission to save Christmas from the villainous Doctor Simeon (Richard E Grant, The Iron Lady, Dracula) and his army of icy snowmen. This year’s Doctor Who Christmas special premieres Tuesday, December 25, 9:00pm ET/PT on BBC AMERICA.

A sneak peek was released earlier today, during the broadcast of the BBC Children in Need special, revealing a new costume for the Doctor. Additionally, a special prequel was released showing the impact of the loss of the Ponds, with old friends Vastra, Strax and Jenny trying to persuade the Doctor not to give up his adventures.

Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, said: "The Doctor at Christmas is one of my favorite things - but this year it's different. He's lost Amy and Rory to the Weeping Angels, and he's not in a good place: in fact, he's Scrooge. He's withdrawn from the world and no longer cares what happens to it. So when all of humanity hangs in the balance, can anyone persuade a tired and heartbroken Doctor that it's time to return to the good fight. Enter Jenna-Louise Coleman..."

Matt Smith, who plays the Doctor, commented: "For this year’s Christmas special we have the wonderfully villainous Richard E Grant as Doctor Simeon. As well as lizards, Victorian assassins and deranged warriors from the future, who all return to convince the Doctor that he should board the TARDIS again and save the world. Add to that Jenna-Louise Coleman and so begins the Christmas Special 2012. I hope everyone enjoys it!"

The BBC Cymru Wales produced series will return to BBC AMERICA on December 25 and an additional eight epic episodes will premiere in the spring.

Doctor Simeon (Richard E Grant). Photo: BBC Worldwide

The BBC have also published a press release for the Special, though unlike the United States the time of transmission has yet to be confirmed.





FILTER: - USA - Series Specials - Press - Series 7/33

Doctor Who Up For People's Choice Award Again

Friday, 16 November 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
Doctor Who is once again up for one of the American People's Choice Awards after making it on to the 2013 short list of nominees for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show.

It faces competition from Once Upon A Time, Supernatural (which beat Doctor Who last year in the same category), The Vampire Diaries, and The Walking Dead. The nominees for all 48 categories in the CBS awards show honouring TV, film, and music were announced yesterday at The Paley Center in Beverly Hills.

People can vote as often they like until Thursday 13th December, and the award winners will be revealed on CBS on Wednesday 9th January 2013.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - USA - Awards/Nominations - Broadcasting

People Roundup

Wednesday, 10 October 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
Matt Smith has revealed his keenness to appear in a play by the Bard. "I definitely want to do Shakespeare. I don't know what role, though, and it wouldn't be just yet. I'm too busy at the moment, there's just not enough time," he said. [Telegraph, 7 Oct 2012]

John Barrowman with The Krankies.Superhero series Arrow is due to premiere tonight on The CW in the United States, and on Sky 1 in the UK from Monday 22nd October. As previously reported, John Barrowman is to feature as a recurring character in the series, described only as "the well-dressed man". Lead actor Stephen Amell says: "He's a very well-spoken, well-respected businessman in Starling City. I know I tweeted a couple of weeks ago that I was reading a script that was episode 7 and I read a scene and I audibly gasped and I went "[gasp] that's really cool!" It's from the beginning of episode 7, and it's a scene with John. He's a really fun guy to work with. He obviously is very comfortable and he made the crew and even me, when it was my coverage, crack up during a rehearsal and it took a while to get it back for the actual takes." Actor Colin Salmon will also feature in another recurring role. [KSiteTV, 4 Oct 2012]

Barrowman talks about his third Christmas pantomime in Glasgow alongside The Krankies - Jack and the Beanstalk at the Clyde Auditorium: "There's a sense of humour up here that is unlike any other in the country and it's the same kind of sense of humour that the three of us have so it goes over very well. We can play right to the kids because they see Jack, Jimmy and their dad doing all this stuff but the adults know it's John, Ian and Janette who are having a bit of fun, so those jokes go to them and just go right over the kids' heads. I love coming up and doing panto in Glasgow at Christmas." [Daily Record, 8 Oct 2012]

Tommy Knight as Kevin Skelton in Waterloo Road.Tommy Knight makes his debut in Waterloo Road tomorrow evening on BBC One. Talking about recognition, the Sarah Jane Adventures star said: "Well, the attention side of acting isn't really my favourite thing, I'll be honest! I was out in Glasgow high street a few weeks ago and I was with Kaya Moore who plays Phoenix, and with the amount of attention he was getting, it must have taken us a couple of hours to get down the high street! I was standing there thinking, 'Oh my word', and I was a little bit worried about it. It's a bit intimidating as being on Waterloo Road will probably mean the most attention I've ever had. I think I'll be alright, I suppose I'll just have to see how I feel about it when it happens. When Sarah Jane was first out, I was recognised an awful lot. I used to pick up my little brother from his primary school every day and I remember when the show first aired, it got really hectic around the primary school. I was trying to find my little brother among all these kids going, 'Sign my contacts book!' and 'Sign my face!'" [Digital Spy, 10 Oct 2012]

Caitlin Blackwood - aka the young Amelia Pond - will be taking part in a question-and-answer session at The Churchill pub in New York on Friday 12th October. Book via event organiser Who York.

Referring to his "music obsession", Arthur Darvill has a particular era he would have liked his character Rory to have visited: "I'd have liked to travel back to the Sixties and do something with the Doctor there. Or go back to when I was an annoying child and reassure myself it's all going to be all right." He also thinks that after Amy and Rory's departure from the series "they have a very quiet life – which is quite sad after having such an adventurous time – but they're just happy to be together. Obviously it doesn't run smoothly as they're stuck back in quite a horrible place but they've got each other and that's all they really need." [Radio Times, 8 Oct 20120]

Mark Gatiss, Daniel Mays, Tom Goodman-Hill, and Brigit Forsyth will appear in the BBC Radio 4 series Living With Mother when it returns for a second series later this month. The individual comedies focus on mothers and adult sons living together. Gatiss will be in the first episode, when the series starts on Wednesday 31st October at 11.15pm, with Mays in the second one, Goodman-Hill in the third, and Forsyth in the fourth. [Radio Times, 9 Oct 2012]

Katy Manning will be appearing in You're Only Young Twice at The Crewe Lyceum Theatre from Tuesday 30th October to Saturday 3rd November. Also starring in the show are John D Collins and Melvyn Hayes (pictured right with Manning), the former husband of Wendy Padbury.

Paterson Joseph has been talking of the thrill of being in the Series 1 episodes Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways. He said of the show: "I did watch it when I was a kid. I can't actually say I was obsessed with it as some other people are, but I was very happy to be shown around the Tardis. It was then I suddenly thought, 'Wow this is really exciting'. I also got the chance to get killed by a Dalek and not many people can say that in their lives. I had a 6ft Dalek rolling towards me screaming, 'Exterminate'. It was truly frightening." Joseph plays Brutus in Julius Caesar at the New Theatre in Cardiff from Tuesday 23rd October to Saturday 27th October. [Wales Online, 7 Oct 2012]

Dark Horizons author and Doctor Who fan Jenny Colgan has spoken of her excitement at writing the book. "The thrill of typing 'The Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS' was huge," she said, adding that she approached the BBC to write a novel. "A friend of mine called Naomi Alderman had written one for them [Borrowed Time] and that gave me the idea. I asked them nicely and they said, 'Oh well you can't put any kissing in it' and I promised faithfully that I wouldn't, and then I offered them three different ideas for stories and they chose one. It was enormous fun to do." She also tells of the background work she did. "I did a lot of research into Vikings because I wanted to write about the Lewis chess set, the set of figures that was found there that are about a thousand years old. Nobody knows how they ended up there, so I thought it would be an interesting mystery for the Doctor to solve. There are a couple of bits I really hope readers will enjoy: a scene set on a beach in the current day, and the Norse God that the Viking princess thinks the Doctor is." [TV Book Club, 7 Oct 2012]

Frazer Hines is taking his one-man show The Time-Travelling Scot to Tasmania. He will be in conversation at the Wrest Point Entertainment Centre in Sandy Bay, Hobart, on Sunday 9th December, telling behind-the-scenes stories about his time on Doctor Who.

Jean Marsh reflects on her appearances in Doctor Who: "I was in the very first series, I think (Season 2's The Crusade), which has probably been wiped. I can’t remember what it was called, but I remember I played a Princess of France in the 10th century. That was just one episode. Then I came back as Sara Kingdom (The Daleks' Master Plan), sort of a space spy, fabulously ridiculous, wearing a catsuit of very tight, elastic brown tweed. Why one has to wear those sort of things… It was a bit like Joanna Lumley. It was just to show your body, I suppose. So I did eight episodes of that and turned from being a baddie into being a goodie. Then I was killed in a brilliant way. I was running — in my catsuit — away from someone who was trying to kill me, and he had an aging gun. And he hit me, and I started aging very quickly, and they had to keep switching my makeup, and then the last shot of me was of a very, very, very old woman. So that was terrific. Then the third one was Morgan le Fay with King Arthur (Battlefield). I loved doing that because they were beginning to take Doctor Who more seriously, and that was a bit more fun." [A.V. Club, 5 Oct 2012]

BBC Two has commissioned the comedy-thriller The Wrong Mans from James Corden and Mathew Baynton. The six-parter centres on two lowly office workers - Phil (Corden) and Sam (Baynton) - who become caught up in a deadly criminal conspiracy after Sam discovers a ringing phone at the scene of a horrific car crash. Filming starts in January 2013. [BBC Media Centre, 9 Oct 2012]
(Compiled by John Bowman and Chuck Foster)
(with thanks to Paula Bentham)




FILTER: - People - Arthur Darvill - Theatre - Books - David Tennant - Radio - Special Events - USA

Doctor Who Could Be On TV Guide Cover

Monday, 8 October 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
Doctor Who could make it on to the cover of the prestigious and long-running American weekly listings publication TV Guide for the first time.

The programme is among the 10 nominated shows for the magazine's third annual Fan Favorites Cover Poll, and whichever programme wins will feature on the cover of the edition for the week starting Monday 10th December.

Polling ends on Sunday 28th October at midnight Pacific Time, and people can vote as often as they want to, although they have to "Like" the publication on Facebook first.

The other programmes nominated by TV Guide are: Fringe, Grimm, Happy Endings, Parks And Recreation, Pretty Little Liars, Scandal, Spartacus, The Vampire Diaries, and The Walking Dead.

Votes can be cast via this link.

TV Guide was first published on 3rd April 1953 and currently has a total paid, verified, and analysed non-paid circulation average of 2,010,879 copies a week.




FILTER: - USA - Magazines - Polls

Doctor Who In The U.S.

Saturday, 29 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC America are to show a special documentary that examines the Doctor's fascination with the United States:
Doctor Who in the US - a BBC America documentary.Doctor Who in the U.S.
BBC America, 8/7c

We'll uncover the Doctor's special relationship with the U.S., from Daleks on the streets of New York to robot gunslingers in the Wild West. The special includes behind-the-scenes reports from the Doctor's death in Monument Valley, Utah and the Weeping Angels' invasion of Manhattan and looks back with contributions from current Doctor MATT SMITH, the Tenth Doctor DAVID TENNANT, plus JOHN BARROWMAN (Captain Jack Harkness), ARTHUR DARVILL (Rory Williams), NOEL CLARKE (Mickey) and PETER PURVES (Steven, a companion of the very First Doctor).
 
The documentary is being shown immediately before the broadcast of The Angels Take Manhattan, tonight at 9pm ET.





FILTER: - Specials - USA - Series 7/33