Production Moves to Monmouth

Thursday, 16 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Production of the new Doctor Who series will be moving north for several days in the near future as the production goes on location in the Welsh community of Monmouth, Outpost Gallifrey has learned. According to a letter sent by series location manager Clive Evans to residents in the town of Monmouth, "the scenes are snow scenes and are at night, so for one evening, you will be treated to a Christmas scene outside your window and an insight into the work of the BBC special effects team. We will also introduce horses and carriages, background artists in period costume and the use of braziers to take us back to Christmas 1869 [this might give you a clue that it might not be a silent night]." This will likely be the episode that features a guest appearance by actor Simon Callow. The letter goes on to note that emergency access will be available as usual for local residents. Out of respect to the series production team, so as to not disrupt the production work, Outpost Gallifrey won't report on the exact dates or specific Monmouth locations given in the letter at this time, but it will take place in the next several weeks. (Thanks to Jonathan Knibbs)




FILTER: - Series 1/27 - Filming Reports

Katy's Australian Citizenship

Wednesday, 15 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Katy Manning (Jo Grant), long a resident of Australia, is now a citizen of that country, one of 200 people around the world to receive citizenship from Governor-General Michael Jeffery at Government House according to the official Doctor Who site. "It's absolutely terrific because I've been a gypsy for so many years," Manning told the News.com.au site. "This is the first place out of all the places that I've lived that I actually woke up one day and I thought this is really truly where I want to be, this is where my heart now is."




FILTER: - People

More SFX Daleks

Monday, 13 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
SFX has posted a second gallery of entries for their "Re-design the Daleks" competition. (Thanks to SFX/Ian Berriman)




FILTER: - Magazines

Tom in Radio Times

Monday, 13 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Tom Baker is on the cover of next week's edition of Radio Times, albeit in his new role in the series "Monarch of the Glen".




FILTER: - Tom Baker - Radio Times

Colin and Sylvester Updates

Monday, 13 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Today's icLiverpool has a brief story about next Sunday's Evening with Colin Baker at the Alexander's Jazz Theatre in Chester, sponsored by Enigma Events.

Meanwhile, Sylvester McCoy is starring as Mr Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice" at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, Surrey UK from the 14th - 18th September, alongside Rula Lenska ("Resurrection of the Daleks"); more details available at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre website.




FILTER: - Sylvester McCoy - Colin Baker

Joe Ahearne: Third New Series Director

Monday, 13 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
According to today's edition of Professional Casting Review (PCR), a UK casting and trade periodical, Joe Ahearne is the director for the "third block" of the first season of the new Doctor Who series. Ahearne's directing credits include the TV series "This Life," "Strange," "Trance" and "Walking with Spacement" as well as the miniseries "Ultraviolet". What episodes are included in the third block remain unknown right now. PCR was our previous source of the first new series director, Keith Boak (May 24 news item) and, prior to that, the identity of series casting director Andy Pryor (February 23). (Thanks to "Alex/Speedway1975")




FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27

Glyn Owen

Saturday, 11 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Glyn Owen, who played Rohm-Dutt in the Fourth Doctor story "The Power of Kroll" and returned many years later to play Commander Harlon in the Big Finish audio "Nekromanteia," died Friday from complications due to cancer. Owen's career spanned 50 years, including roles on "Emergency Ward 10," one of the first "big soap operas" on British television; as Jack Rolfe in "Howard's Way," perhaps his best known role; and on "Casualty," "The Saint," "Thorndyke," "Heartbeat," "Survivors," "Peak Practice," "Juliet Bravo," "The Professionals," "All Creatures Great and Small" and in two episodes of "Blake's 7" (in "Cygnus Alpha" and "Space Fall" early in the show's first season). Owen is survived by his wife Carrie, daughter Cathy, and son, actor Lloyd Owen ("Monarch of the Glen," "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles"). He was 76. At right is a photo of Owen from a recent autograph signing at the Tenth Planet store.




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Tom Baker: Make Me The Master

Saturday, 11 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
In an interview with today's Daily Record, Tom Baker goes on record of wanting to go "over to the dark side on Dr Who. Says the Record, the 71-year-old actor says he'd love to get one over on the character, which made him a household name in the Seventies and Eighties, by returning to the show as the Doctor's arch-enemy The Master. "If the BBC were brave enough, which they're not, then what they really should do would be to make me The Master," Baker says. "That would be really witty. Heroes always need villains. Superman can't exist without evil and vice versa. So it would be very clever to have this person who was once the hero become the villain, because within life, as well as fiction, we are nowhere without villains. Without them there'd be no newspapers, no film industry, no literature. You absolutely need the dark side." Baker goes on to note that "Doctor Who was the best job I ever had, so there's no way I'd be satisfied with anything like a bit part in the new series. That would bore me to death because then it would be all about this walk-on appearance from the old Doctor Who." Tom also mentions that he's relieved the Daleks have been cleared to return to the show. "They'd have been mad not to bring them back, bloody crazy. 'They can do without his robotic dog K-9, I think. But the Daleks were so important to the story. How many millions of children have been influenced by the Daleks? They couldn't even begin to think about bringing it back without them." You can read the full interview here. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Graham Brown)




FILTER: - Tom Baker - Press

Winter Wonderland?

Saturday, 11 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Today's "This is South Wales" features an article about a rather interesting transformation of part of the city of Swansea for one of the new Doctor Who series episodes. Meanwhile, the "Sun" newspaper also had some plot details, although these are mostly recycled from earlier info (and some of the Sun's 'report' appears to be speculative stuff right off of Outpost Gallifrey's own Forum!) Click on the spoiler tag below for some interesting information.
According to the South Wales report, the city of Swansea's maritime area will be "taken back in time and transformed into a scene from 1869 for the star-studded production." Says the report, fake snow is set to cover the road between Adelaide Street and Pier Street, and along the whole of Cambrian Place, Burrows Place and Gloucester Place. Period costume along with horses and carriages will help bring the scene to life. The article mentions Simon Callow's casting as Charles Dickens earlier in the week. An "insider" told the reporter, "We are currently working on the new series of Dr Who for BBC Wales. We have recognised the timeless charm of the Maritime area of Swansea and we would like to shoot some of our scenes there. The shots are snow scenes and are at night so for one night people will be treated to a Christmas scene outside their windows. We will also introduce horses and carriages, background artists in period costume and the use of braziers to take us back to Christmas 1869. We will be providing alternative parking for residents in a nearby secure car park and although road closures have been agreed and will be implemented, emergency vehicles will have access as normal." Swansea Councillor Gerald Clement, cabinet member for culture, recreation and tourism commented, "We are delighted that part of the new Dr Who series will be filmed in Swansea and extremely pleased to be associated with such a high-profile project. Our tourism marketing team works with the SWW office of the Wales Screen Commission to promote Swansea as a film and TV location and collectively, we have been successful in attracting a number of high-profile projects over the past couple of years."

The Sun, meanwhile, states (with a rather rude title) that "the new Doctor Who is to take on deadly aliens hell-bent on wiping out mankind รน by passing wind," regurgitating the Geith storyline that Outpost Gallifrey reported last week. (Indeed, we believe some of the Sun details are taken from the same source as we had.) It also mentions the Doctor faces an attack by "a race of dastardly 8ft villains called the Slitheens" which we previously reported. "The Doctor and sidekick Rose Tyler, played by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, must stop the Slitheens taking over the bodies of key politicians who run the country. They are part of a fiendish plot in which an alien crash-landing diverts attention from the plan to overthrow the Government." It mentions the March date again and notes that "other storylines include Rose witnessing the end of the world far in the future."




FILTER: - Press

DWM 348

Thursday, 9 September 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Issue #348 of Doctor Who Magazine will be out on September 16. The following is the press release for the new issue; click on the thumbnail image for a larger version of the cover.
Director Euros Lyn spills the beans in latest DWM.

It's time for another thrilling adventure in time and space with the crew of Doctor Who Magazine.

The latest news from BBC Wales on the new series of Doctor Who includes a chat with the Block Two director Euros Lyn. Phil Collinson gives us an update on how the recording is going, while Russell T Davies tells us what a block actually *is* in another of his unmissable Production Notes. The tease! And then there's all this other stuff too ...

Don't miss the third and final part of the chat with former series script editor Eric Saward - find out why Eric found that working on the series had become something of a trial by 1986 ...

Meanwhile, Scheduled for Success reaches its season finale, as DWM's tireless researcher Andrew Pixley looks at some of the reasons why Doctor Who had become an 'ex-series' by the start of the1990s, and predicts the fortunes of the show in the ratings-driven TV landscape of the 21st century.

Plus! To celebrate its release on DVD, Ghost Light is examined in detail by The Fact of Fiction. It really does all make sense.

Meanwhile, the Time Team explore the Pyramids of Mars; find out about the upcoming Doctor Who at the BBC Volume 2 CD release from BBC Audio's Michael Stevens; and read all the latest (made-up) news from Sorvad as Space-Time Telegraph takes its final bow.

Plus! Don't miss the third part of the new comic strip adventure, The Flood, to see if the Doctor and Destrii can make good their escape from the deadly Cybermen - we're not guaranteeing anything, you know ...

DWM 348 is on sale from Thursday 16 September 2004.




FILTER: - Magazines - DWM