updates from dwm 327Bookmark and Share

Thursday, 6 February 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Issue #327 of Doctor Who Magazine is now on shelves and has several bits of Doctor Who news. First -- BBC Books has confirmed the September 2003 novel release as beingWolfsbane by Jacqueline Rayner, a Fourth Doctor, Sarah and Harry novel... with the Eighth Doctor as well. The novel concerns lycanthrophy in the sleepy west country of 1935: "Even a book which is pure of heart, and says its prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms, and the moon is full and bright." Next, the issue states that the next out-of-print novel to be released on the BBCi site will be The Well Mannered War by Gareth Roberts. The final Missing Adventures release from the days of Virgin Publishing's license, the electronic version of the book should be available on the site in late February. Finally, yet another note about the still unconfirmed by the BBC Press Office DVD release of The Talons of Weng-Chiang (which now bears the catalogue # BBCDVD1152 according to several sources): the commentaries on the disc are by Louise Jameson (Leela), John Bennett (Li H'sen Chang), Christopher Benjamin (Henry Gordon Jago), producer Philip Hinchcliffe and director David Maloney. (Thanks to Phillip Madeley, Daniel Hirsch, themaster120 and DWM)




FILTER: - DWM

bbc radio collection updateBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 4 February 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
audio release updateAudio  •  February 4
Mark Ayres of the Doctor Who Restoration Team clarified a detail in yesterday's report about the new 2003 releases from the BBC Radio Collection. Frazer Hines will be narrating the August release of The Evil of the Daleks while Anneke Wills indeed narratesPower of the Daleks, released at the same time. The press information we received yesterday stated only Frazer's name. (Thanks to Mark Ayres for clarifying!)


bbc radio collection updateAudio  •  February 3
Michael Stevens of BBC Audiobooks contacted Outpost Gallifrey to clarify the news about forthcoming releases from the BBC Radio Collection, which includes some new information for the first half of 2003 (until August). Just released this week on February 3 is The Space Pirates, the lost Patrick Troughton story narrated by Frazer Hines. In April, the series will diverge briefly for a new format: "In a new departure for British audio publishing," says the release, "BBC Radio Collection is releasing six titles on MP3-CD format. MP3-CDs offer the same high-quality sound as standard CDs, using a fraction of the disc space. Digitally remastered for optimal sound quality, they are able to hold more tracks than a regular CD ... all episodes contained on just one MP3-CD." This will include two Doctor Who releases on April 7: The Daleks' Master Plan and a combined CD of The Abominable Snowmen & The Web of Fear. (The other titles in the series will include "Fawlty Towers," "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," "The Hobbit" and "Dead Ringers Series 1, 2 & 3".) On June 2, a new CD boxed set will be calledYeti Attack! featuring the existing releases of "The Abominable Snowmen" and "The Web of Fear" in a collector's box; the same treatment will be given to a second boxed set called Adventures in History on August 4 featuring The Myth Makers, The Massacre and The Highlanders. Each of these two boxed sets will be back in the standard CD format (likely the original releases encased in a new box). Finally, August 4 will also see the release of The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Dalekstogether in a specially-designed package; says the report: "These stories were previously issued on cassette in the early 1990s; they have now been digitally remastered from better soundtrack sources and have brand new linking narration. Long awaited by fans!" Frazer Hines will narrate both of these new releases. (Thanks to Michael Stevens)




FILTER: - Audio

doctor who unboundBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 4 February 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Big Finish has announced plans for Doctor Who Unbound, a brand new series of CD's "that are thematically linked by the question 'What if...?'," according to their website. "In each play the Doctor will be portrayed by an actor completely new to the role. The team of six writers have been presented with a blank canvas and invited to write a story that will diverge dramatically from Doctor Who as we know it. This divergence may manifest itself as an intriguing twist on established Doctor Who continuity or as a stylistic change in the mood of the story or even in the way that it is told." The first CD will be released in May, entitled Auld Mortality by author Marc Platt ("Loups-Garoux"), posing the question "What if the Doctor and Susan never left Gallifrey?" "Marc has written a slightly surreal, melancholic tale of what might have been that draws on some of the concepts and characters that were present in his novel Lungbarrow." Actress Carole Ann Ford reprises her role as Susan, while Geoffrey Bayldon (Organon in "Creature from the Pit") plays the Doctor in the story. Additional stories are Full Fathom Five by David Bishop (June), Sympathy for the Devil by Jonathan Clements (July), Exile by Nicholas Briggs (August), He Jests at Scars by Gary Russell (September) and Deadline by Rob Shearman (October). According to a report in issue 327 of Doctor Who Magazine, one of the stories will feature a female Doctor! The mini-series is produced by John Ainsworth and Jason Haigh-Ellery, and script-edited by Nicholas Briggs. More details as they come in...




FILTER: - Big Finish

reeltime pictures updateBookmark and Share

Monday, 3 February 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Reeltime Pictures, the video documentarians with a long history of Doctor Who themed video tape releases, have announced that the entire back catalogue of video releases -- the Myth Makers series of interviews included -- will be re-released on DVD with two titles per disc starting this year. The monthly DVD schedule will begin with Nicola Bryant and Graeme Harper (director) interviews on April 3, followed by William Hartnell and Jack Pitt (May), Mary Tamm and John Leeson (June), Sophie Aldred and Andrew Cartmel (July), Jacqueline Pearce and Stephen Greif of "Blake's 7" (August) and Deborah Watling and Victor Pemberton (September). Meanwhile, newer Reeltime titles will be released simultaneously on VHS and DVD, starting with "Patrick Troughton in America" on April 30, a documentary featuring film footage of his appearances prior to his death in 1987. Most importantly, Reeltime has apparently begun work on what is only called "a Sea Devil drama" for October 2003. (Thanks to Andy Swinden at Galaxy 4)




FILTER: - Documentary

aztecs dvd winsBookmark and Share

Monday, 3 February 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The online journal DVD Times recently posted the results of its 2002 Awards list for excellence in DVD releases. The Doctor Who DVD release of The Aztecs was given the title "Best Picture Restoration", while Tomb of the Cybermen won second prize in the "Best DVD" category. Congratulations to those responsible!





FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Blu-ray/DVD