The Story of Doctor WhoBookmark and Share

Thursday, 27 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The Story of Doctor Who, a one-hour documentary celebrating the show's 40th anniversary, will air on BBC1 on Tuesday December 30 at 6:30pm. Says the blurb: "Nostalgic retrospective of the longest-running sci-fi series ever, which made its low-key debut 40 years ago and went on to become a national institution that had generations of young viewers hiding behind their sofas from the colourful alien menaces tackled by the time-travelling hero. This documentary features behind-the-scenes revelations, recalls some of the classic stories from the series' past and interviews all the surviving actors who have played the good Doctor on TV, including Tom Baker and Peter Davison." (Thanks to Alexander Sives, Phillip Madeley, Neil Perryman, John Leacey, Andrew Foxley)




FILTER: - Documentary

New Doc from Cardiff...?Bookmark and Share

Thursday, 27 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Gavyn Davies, the BBC Chairman, made a speech in Cardiff last night to the BBC Governors, and made the following comment: "The new Doctor Who will come from Cardiff, though he will not necessarily speak Welsh." The speech is reprinted here in its entirety; it's likely that he was referring to the production, not a future cast member. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)




FILTER: - Production

Davies Interview with BBC NewsBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 26 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
In an article for BBC News Online, Russell T. Davies today spoke to correspondent Nick Dermody about some new details on the series. Russell apparently has the first series planned, but he "admits that his way of working means he will 'leave the typing to the last minute - and panic'." He says he has some very specific ideas for the character of the Doctor: "As an alien, he is the most human you could wish to meet. He is so marvellously human, a scientist, an artist, passionate, funny, emotional." The article also mentions that he's been bombarded with ideas from fans and that he won't say whether or not the show will feature familiar adversaries or "a new generation of monsters fit for the 21st Century." If you'd like to read the full article, click here and follow the link under South West Wales at bottom (for some reason you can't get to the page directly!) (Thanks to Steve Tribe)




FILTER: - Russell T Davies

New Zealand Locale?Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Interesting rumor, take with a grain of salt: a radio update on New Zealand's Newstalk 1ZB on Tuesday morning stated that the first new Doctor Who episode would be filmed in that country, at Mount Ruapehu. The mountain (seen most recently in the "Lord of the Rings" films) is one of New Zealand's more popular ski resort areas. Of course, Outpost Gallifrey doubts that this is any more than simple wishful thinking, as location scouting for any new series is likely not to have yet begun. Update: Mount Ruapehu also features in the first episode of "The Scream of the Shalka" so it's likely this is where the confusion lies, mistaking "Shalka" for the new series. (Thanks to Campbell Pentney, and Jeff Murray for the addendum)




FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27 - New Zealand

Adult Swim TributeBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Sunday night's Adult Swim block of programming on the Cartoon Network featured a tribute to Doctor Who's anniversary. The brief announcement, at the end of the "Sealab 2021" animated program, featured a voiceover with some artwork (silhouettes of various iconic images from the show.) Obviously there's a Doctor Who fan in the office, there... (Thanks to Graeme Burk, Mike Fuller)




FILTER: - Press

BBC Internal AuctionBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Last Friday, the BBC apparently held an internal auction for the "Children in Need" charity; among the items auctioned at the two-hour event, broadcast on the BBC's internal channel for staff, was a "day out" no the new Doctor Who set next year, including a lunch with producer Mal Young and the cast. A Dalek was on hand to push bids along at the auction, in which BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey participated. If there was any doubt that Doctor Who would be back, this is probably enough to tip the scales in its favor!




FILTER: - Press

Series Press ItemsBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
New items in the papers today: icLiverpool celebrates the 40th anniversary in an article that includes comments from several Doctors, including Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. "I think the next Doctor should be a woman - Dawn French," said Colin. "She'd be fabulous, but I don't know if they'd have the bottle to do it this time." icWales also chimes in with anarticle about the show which includes comments from Russell T. Davies, in which he comments about being bombarded with personal e-mails from 'fans' demanding the return of the Daleks Cybermen, and so forth! The article speculates that there will be seven episodes, but this is speculative. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)




FILTER: - Press

Bonnie SpeaksBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The Objectmonkey website features a new interview with Bonnie Langford, in which the actress speaks about her website, gadgets & gizmos, and her album "Jazz and the Theatre". She also speaks a bit about her time on Doctor Who and her performances in the Big Finish audios. "The audio dramas can be fun," Langford says. "They're rather polite and reserved though. Lovely civilised lunches, don't have to learn the lines, can park outside and enjoy.... I only agreed to do the audios after hearing the quality of their previous CDs and on the understanding that Mel had some decent input - no screams and no 'but, Doctors'." You can read more of the interview by clicking here (note: there is a bit of language used)




FILTER: - People

Michael SheardBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Michael Sheard speaks about his roles in Doctor Who, Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and appearing at conventions, in an audio interview with BBC Wiltshire.




FILTER: - People

The Visitation ExtrasBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 25 November 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The British Board of Film Classification website is listing the following extras for the forthcoming DVD release of The Visitation starring Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse, due out in January:

00:05:31:12 | FILM TRIMS
00:26:12:18 | DIRECTING WHO - PETER MOFFATT
00:12:50:02 | WRITING A FINAL VISITATION
00:05:11:15 | PICTURE GALLERY
00:01:27:17 | CONTINUITY ANNOUNCEMENTS EPISODES 1 TO 4 (REPEAT UK TRANSMISSION)
00:16:17:24 | SCORING THE VISITATION

These items include the half-hour interview segment with director Peter Moffatt, a featurette about the scoring of the episode and other items. More when it's available.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD