Gallifrey Details

Wednesday, 12 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Big Finish has released details about its forthcoming four-part miniseries caleld Gallifrey, to be released on audio next year and starring Lalla Ward as Romana and Louise Jameson as Leela. Says director/producer Gary Russell: "I've always loved the Doctor's home planet and feel that the actual society therein was never explored very deeply on TV. Oh we saw a few High Council meetings, and the odd assassination but I've always wanted to find out how the hierarchy ticks. How they cope under pressure. What Time Lords actually do all day long, and why. How do they cope with a Madame President with a somewhat more shady past than most of her predecessors, with a friend like Leela an off-worlder with a very different cultural heritage. I always felt, perhaps during the Tom Baker era, that an opportunity was missed by not stranding the Doctor on his home planet for a season. The Deadly Assassin and Invasion of Time so diluted the mystery of the Time Lords and yet added so many new layers to their story, I feel it would have been nice to discover a bit more. In the case of this mini-series, with no Doctor around, we might learn a few secrets that we've otherwise only had hints of before. I imagine this series to be The West Wing meets Spooks to some extent, with a dash of The Sopranos perhaps."

The first chapter is Weapon of Choice by Alan Barnes, which focuses on political bickering between the races who have some mastery over time, and a terrible super weapon that could erase entire continuums. But who developed the weapon, and will they use it? Part two is Square One by Stephen Cole, in which Leela goes under cover to attempt to expose the traitors who are attempting to destroy the d?tente that exists, tenuous as it is, between the temporally-capable species. Justin Richards penned part three, The Inquiry where Romana's methods in dealing with the other races come under the scrutiny of the Gallifeyan hierarchy. The final chapter is A Blind Eye by Alan Barnes, in which Romana must deal with exactly that which she has been afraid of: Someone is taking advantage of the space/time vortex and changing timelines to suit themselves... Says Russell, "Both Lalla and Louise were very excited by the ideas we discussed during Zagreus, and hopefully a couple of other familiar voices may crop up from time to time, including John Leeson as the voice of a K9 or two!" (Thanks to Big Finish)




FILTER: - Audio

Bob Russell

Wednesday, 12 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
LibDem MP Bob Russell today said in the House of Commons that he was "delighted" Doctor Who is coming back, referring to its past success and contribution to the British economy. (Thanks to Ian Wheeler)




FILTER: - Press

Shalka BBC Coverage

Wednesday, 12 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
BBC News has posted information about the imminent launch of BBCi's The Scream of the Shalka; click here to read the article. Among the details is a brief chat with Cosgrove Hall animation studio producer Steve Maher. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)




FILTER: - Online

BBCi series news page

Tuesday, 11 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
BBCi today opened a new page to cover official news details on the new TV series. Says BBCi: "This means that we can only report what has been officially announced by the BBC about the new series of Doctor Who. As the new series approaches our screens, we'll be keeping you up to date with its development and production. But we won't be reporting speculation or uncomfirmed rumours." Very kindly, they singled out Outpost Gallifrey in our coverage of the media frenzy surrounding the announcement and continued to recommend us for the latest scuttlebutt. We've always supported BBCi (and vice versa), and we'll continue to keep you posted on developments, news, and the latest rumor & speculation (clearly identified as such) here at the Outpost too. (Thanks to BBCi, and a nod to James, Rob, Ann & Daniel for their kind comments about my site...)




FILTER: - Online

Terry Nation Biog

Tuesday, 11 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Manchester University Press will be publishing Terry Nation, a book about the life of the creator of the Daleks, "Blake's 7" and other icons, written by Jonathan Bignell and Andrew O'Day, in late spring 2004. Says the press info: "Terry Nation was a prolific writer for television, specialising in science fiction adventure. This book charts his television career, focusing on Dalek and other stories for 'Doctor Who', the post-apocalyptic drama 'Survivors', and the space adventure 'Blake's 7'. As well as analysing programmes in detail, the book discusses Nation's collaborations with the producers, script-editors and directors who brought his work to the screen. Illustrations feature rarely-seen stills from key episodes." To be placed on Manchester's mailing list for further info, send email here. (Thanks to Andrew O'Day)




FILTER: - People

Wheel Confirmed, more CD's too

Monday, 10 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
BBCi today confirmed our story from the weekend that The Wheel in Space will be out on CD in 2004. Meanwhile, according to the folks at the Galaxy 4 shop, the new Tales From the TARDIS CD and the previously released Death Comes to Time will be released as MP3-CD's in April; "Tales" is currently an unknown commodity but we believe it might include the previously released "Short Trips," "Earth and Beyond" and "Out of the Unknown" only available on cassette. (No word on a release of "Tales" as a normal CD.) Galaxy 4 also says that the BBC "intend to issue ALL the incomplete stories on CD including the ones previously released with BBC Video titles such as The Ice Warriors, The Invasion and The Tenth Planet. This is so that fans can hear the stories complete without having to swap between formats." (Thanks to BBCi, Galaxy 4)




FILTER: - Audio - Classic Series

Revised Empire Blurb

Monday, 10 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Author David Bishop kindly supplied to the Outpost Gallifrey Forum's readers the revised version of the blurb for his forthcoming BBC Books novel Empire of Death (the one we featured a few days ago, taken from the distributors' publication, was an earlier draft.) The corrected version is as follows:

EMPIRE OF DEATH by David Bishop

In 1856, a boy discovers he can speak with the voices of the dead. He grows up to become one of England's most celebrated spiritualists...

In 1863 the British Empire is effectively without a leader. Queen Victoria is inconsolable with grief following the death of her beloved husband, Prince Albert. The monarch's last hope is a secret seance...

The Doctor and Nyssa are also coming to terms with loss, following the death of Adric and Tegan's sudden departure. Trying to visit the Great Exhibition of 1851, the time travellers are shocked when a ghost appears in the TARDIS, beckoning them to the Other Side...

What is hidden in a drowned valley guarded by the British Army? Is there life after death and can it be reached by those still alive? And why is the Doctor so terrified of facing his own ghosts?




FILTER: - Books

Mindgame DVD

Monday, 10 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Reeltime Pictures has released on DVD their independent video Mindgame, written by Terrance Dicks and starring Sophie Aldred (Ace) and Miles Richardson; the story isn't directly related to Doctor Who but features the Draconians and Sontarans, and Aldred plays "an 'Ace'-like character". The sequel story Mindgame Trilogy will be released separately. The "Mindgame" disc contains a new extended "making of" documentary and photo gallery. At right is a thumbnail of the cover of this DVD. (Thanks to Galaxy 4)




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD

DW on Mousemat Radio

Monday, 10 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Doctor Who websites will be the focus of an article on BBC Radio Wales' Mousemat, a weekly radio programme discussing home computing and the internet. Each week they chat about websites on a particular topic, and in the programme that goes out on November 19, between 1803GMT and 1830GMT on BBC Radio Wales, they'll be discussing Doctor Who sites (hmm... wonder if they'll mention us here!) For those in the UK outside of Wales it's on Sky Channel 867 and it's also available online at www.bbc.co.uk/radiowales. (Thanks to Damon Querry)




FILTER: - Radio

Nightmare Fair Charity CD

Monday, 10 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Rob Dunlop of Argolis Productions contacted Outpost Gallifrey to let us know that the charity audio CD production of The Nightmare Fair released earlier this year to raise money for Sense (a deaf-blindness and associated disability organization) -- chosen by former Doctor Who script editor Anthony Read -- raised รบ403 for this worthy cause. Copies are still available at www.argolis.co.uk. (Thanks to Rob Dunlop)




FILTER: - Press