The Tides of Time - UpdateBookmark and Share

Sunday, 29 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The release date for Panini's next graphic novel, The Tides of Time, has now been announced: the complete collection of Fifth Doctor comic strips from Doctor Who Monthly will be available in June. The cover illustration is at right; yesterday's news column featured a scan from Doctor Who Magazine but we've been provided a higher-resolution copy of the cover which you can now see by clicking on the thumbnail. (Thanks to Tenth Planet)




FILTER: - Books

Sunday Series UpdateBookmark and Share

Sunday, 29 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The overnight ratings for The Doctor Dances are in. The episode was watched by an average of 6.17 million viewers with a 35.9% viewing audience share, peaking in the second quarter-hour of the episode with 6.30 million. "Doctor Who" was the most watched programme of Saturday, day or night (versus 3.2 million for the ITV showing of "X-Men" at the same time) and while the overall viewer ratings are the lowest so far, this was during a major bank holiday weekend in Britain.

Meanwhile, a report on this week's airing of Father's Day on CBC in Canada: the episode was viewed by 809,000 viewers, down due to its main competition, the season finale of "American Idol". However, "Doctor Who" continues to hold on to 8pm's number two spot on Canadian networks, while rounding out the top four for all primetime (8pm to 11pm).

An update on the Billie Piper situation. Today's "News of the World," a tabloid, reports that Piper is not leaving the series at all, and will appear in all episodes of the next series despite reports to the contrary. "The People" also reports today that Piper "is to earn ú120,000 after agreeing to star in four extra episodes of Doctor Who. The actress announced that she was quitting the show last week, and originally planned to star in just three episodes of the show's second series. However, Billie, who plays Rose Tyler, will now appear in seven episodes of the next series. 'It's great news she's on board for more,' an insider told The People." The reports on her possible departure vary widely, obviously; time will tell as to whether she stays for the entire season or leaves at some point therein.

Today's Telegraph covers the sale of the series to South Korea. "Pagishikinda! Pagishikinda! This is the blood-curdling cry of the world's first Korean-speaking Dalek. Doctor Who, the popular science fiction drama, has made history by becoming the first BBC drama series to be sold to South Korea." The series will be known in the country as "Dacter Who" and the Korean broadcaster KBS 2 will show two different episodes each week, starting with its debut next weekend, to make it easier for viewers to get to know the character. Says Russell T Davies, "The Doctor has travelled far and wide and knows no boundary and now the programme is doing much the same." Jungwon Lee, executive director of KBS Media, said: "We are very excited to launch Dr Who on the network. We anticipate a great reaction from all age groups."

Also notable about the Telegraph article is that it mentions expanded airings of the show on various airlines. Previously the series had been announced as airing on Thomsonfly Airlines, a local carrier (and only the first episode) but the Telegraph article says that the series "has also been sold to some of the world's biggest airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand who will begin broadcasting it from next month."

Last week's Dead Ringers didn't have a Doctor Who sketch proper, but did have a spoof news item on the DVD getting a PG rating for scenes of cruelty to a Dalek. They claimed the BBC had pointed out that there was a helpline number at the end of the show for Daleks who had been affected by any of the issues in the programme. The show also featured a piece on the resignation of former BBC political editor Andrew Marr (seen as himself in "Aliens of London" and "World War Three"). Marr explained that it was because he had evolved into an uber-correspondent, and would from now on exist as a being of pure energy, reporting news from throughout the universe.

BBC News illustrated a story on the revelation that space-time wormholes can't function as a stable means of achieving time-travel (apparently) with a screengrab from the new series titles, mentioning in the text that the tunnel seen in the credits of Doctor Who looks suspiciously like a wormhole, "although the Doctor's preferred method of travel is not explained in detail".

(Thanks to Steve Berry, Rod Mammitzsch, Paul Hayes, Peter Weaver, Matt Kimpton)




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 1/27 - Press

Tenth Planet PostersBookmark and Share

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Tenth Planet have given us details on two new full colour posters available for the new Doctor Who series. "Now available: TWO large full colour posters featuring the Doctor and Rose and the last Dalek from the TV series starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. Large Posters measure 915x610mm (36x24") each and retail for ú3.99 each." Thumbnails of each are below.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Series 1/27

Doctor Who Magazine 357Bookmark and Share

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

DWM 357
Issue #357 of Doctor Who Magazine has been released. Below is the press release and a thumbnail of the cover; click on the thumbnail for a larger version (as always, a high-quality version only found here!)
Who's afraid of the Bad Wolf?
Doctor Who Magazine previews the final episodes of the current series...

"These episodes are going back to 1960s Doctor Who - the way it was on my head before I became awkward or embarrassed or analytical," says writer Russell T Davies about the thrilling climax to the series. "The black-and-white years... those were the days when great space fleets existed, where cosmic wars happened, where the lead character could do anything, and nothing was safe cos nothing was set in stone. That's what I wanted to create: an outer space epic..."

Meanwhile, the latest issue of the magazine chats to the Doctor and Rose's latest travelling companion, Captain Jack Harkness - alias actor John Barrowman - to find out about what he thinks about taxing tongue-twisters, stripping off for the cameras, and Rose's excellent bottom!

Voice artiste extraordinaire Nicholas Briggs presents the second part of his Diary of a Dalek, while DWM also goes Dalek-hunting under the Millennium Stadium to meet the cast and crew of Episode 6! Meanwhile the authors of the new Ninth Doctor novels chat about shaping new adventures for the Doctor and Rose, Billie Piper's interview from March's launch party is presented in its entirity, and all the usual regular features.

Plus: There's the exciting conclusion to the latest comic strip adventure The Love Invasion, as the Doctor and Rose try to foil Igrix's plan to destroy the moon!

DWM 357 is on sale from Thursday 26 May, priced ú3.99.




FILTER: - Magazines - DWM

Big Finish UpdateBookmark and Share

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Big Finish has updated its pages with the cover illustration for the forthcoming audio release Scaredy Cat by Will Shindler, starring Paul McGann; and the forthcoming original short story anthology Wildthyme On Top edited by Paul Magrs, featuring the character Iris Wildthyme (as played by Katy Manning in the Big Finish audios). Click on the thumbnails below for larger versions. The Big Finish site also notes recent mailings and releases, including the first installment of the Sapphire and Steel range starring David Warner ("Sympathy For the Devil") and Susannah Harker ("Shada").




FILTER: - Audio

BBC Books UpdateBookmark and Share

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Cover illustrations have now been posted on Amazon.co.uk for two forthcoming Doctor Who novels from BBC Books:Island of Death by Barry Letts, a third Doctor/Sarah Jane book due out on July 4; and Spiral Scratchby Gary Russell, the sixth Doctor/Mel book due out in early August. View each by clicking the thumbnails below; brief synopses for each are on ourReleases page. (Thanks to Dan O'Malley, Jim Trenowden, Philip Purser-Hallard)




FILTER: - Books

Revelation, Web Planet DVDsBookmark and Share

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The cover illustration for the forthcoming UK DVD release of Revelation of the Daleks has been issued by the BBC Shop; click on the thumbnail for a larger version. The DVD's official release date is July 11, 2005. Meanwhile, the BBC Shop also confirms the release of The Web Planet on DVD (reported as "being considered" in the latest DWM), as previously reported by Outpost Gallifrey some time ago; the William Hartnell serial is due out September 5 in the UK, followed on by "City of Death" in November and "The Beginning" in January 2006 as previously reported.




FILTER: - DWM - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

The Week's TV News CoverageBookmark and Share

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Editor's Note: As reported on Outpost Gallifrey's front page, I've been out of commission for a week due to illness. The following news article wraps up the series related highlights from the press on May 21-28:

The Billie Piper Story

The Dreamwatch exclusive that Billie Piper may not be appearing in all 13 episodes of Series Two -- reported on Outpost Gallifrey prior to the break -- was picked up in a large number of international news reports on Monday 23 May and throughout the following week. First off was the Daily Star, which gave the story front page status, and also set the tone of a show in crisis, its stars abandoning shipà With Rose's second-series episode count reportedly as low as three,The Sun soon joined the fray, along with the Daily Mirror, theDaily MailDe HavillandBrand Republic's Media BulletinThe Scotsman, the Daily RecordIreland OnlineU.TVHello!, the Irish Examiner, theicNetworkRTE InteractiveCBBC Newsround,Manchester Online, Contact Music, Female First, the Daily Express, World Entertainment News Network, the Herald-Sun (Aus), Newsquest, theEvening StandardDigital Spy,SyFyPortalThe Guardian, theMelbourne Herald Sun, the Sydney Morning HeraldNews.com (Aus),The Mercury (Aus), Dark HorizonsMega Star, the Press Association, Northern Territory News (Aus), the Newcastle Herald, the Courier Mail (Queensland), The Age (Aus), Sky ShowbizAnanovaITV.com, the Western Mail, and the Doctor Who Appreciation Society rounded up much of the coverage on its own site.

BBC News and BBC Cult also reported on the reports, which prompted the press release that emerged on Monday afternoon from the BBC Press Office: "The BBC today confirmed that Billie Piper - who plays Doctor Who's companion Rose - will return for the second series on BBC ONE. A spokeswoman said: 'Billie Piper will return for the second series of Doctor Who. It has not been confirmed how many episodes she will be in. We are awaiting storylines and scripts.'" However, this is a not a denial that the actress is leaving, merely the official statement made by the production at this time.

The Daily Mirror was the first of many of the above papers to speculate on likely replacements for Rose, although its definition of 'likely' probably differs from the BBC's, including various singers and ex-singers, along with some familiar names from the acting and entertainment worlds. Among the names most often mentioned this past week were Michelle Ryan (Zoe Slater in EastEnders) and Jennifer Ellison (formerly in Channel 4's Brookside, now a regular in various 'celebrity' reality TV shows). The latter, at least, seems to have cropped up so often thanks to assiduous efforts by her agent: she's blond (like Billie); she can sing (like Billie); she's a celebrity (like Billie); and she's also been firmly reported in recent weeks as the next Bond girl amongst several other projects. The Mirror notes that "auditions began last week and TV bosses are keen to sign a dark-haired girl with a posh accent."

Episodes 10-12

The official site was as usual updated earlier this week to preview the new episode, #10, The Doctor Dances. This week's Fear Factor preview gives the episode a score of 4: Chilling. The episode has also been previewed in the Sunday Times ("ingenious"), the Taunton Times, and The Stage, which concentrates on John Barrowman's role as Captain Jack.

As usual, this week's Radio Times continues to give plenty of coverage, once again selecting Doctor Who as its top pick for Saturday ("RT recommendsà", page 4): "an enjoyable, even uplifting adventure set during the Second World War." There's another letter on the new series, although this one has its writer taken aback by sight of "that little patterned dress I'd noticed in Top Shop!" ("Letters", page 10). After a two-page feature on Peter Davison's return in The Last Detective, this week's full-page "Doctor Who Watch" (page 16) is headed "To be continuedà" and concentrates on the importance of cliffhangers in Doctor Who, via an interview with Steven Moffat ("it is wonderful to build it up to that screaming pitch, and the series does -- and this is a matter of absolute fact -- have the best cliffhanger music ever in the world") and a couple of colour shots from The Doctor Dances. There's also an opportunity for RT readers to get a free copy of Pyramids of Marson DVD, as part of a DVD rentals promotion (page 17). Episode 10 recaptures the Pick of the Day slot ("Saturday's Choices", page 64, with a large photo of Captain Jack): "the Doctor's way of dealing with the advancing hordes [of zombies] is as sweet as it is unexpected. It's the first of many pleasing surprises in tonight's episode [à] if any watching grown-ups still can't remember why they fell in love with the show originally, this story ought to do the trick. Full of wonder and wit, it's also Christopher Eccleston's finest hour." The Doctor Dances also regains the photo (Richard Wilson and Eccleston) slot at the head of the evening's BBC1 listings (page 66), with the episode details including promotion for the Volume 1 DVD release, and Doctor Who Confidential's listing says that "this programme looks at some of the gizmos and gadgets at the good Doctor's disposal." The BBC3 repeats are confirmed for the 12.15am on Saturday night and 7pm on Sunday evening (with another Confidential Cut Down at 7.45pm).

The BBC Press Office has released its weekly programme information documents (note: all documents are PDFs) for the week beginning Saturday 4 June. The Saturday highlights document previews Bad Wolf episode 12 as follows: "The Tardis crew fight for their lives on the Game Station in Russell T DaviesÆs penultimate adventure through time and space. The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack have to fight for their lives on board the Game Station, but a far more dangerous threat is lurking, just out of sight. The Doctor realises that the entire human race has been blinded to the threat on its doorstep, and Armageddon is fast approaching. Christopher Eccleston plays The Doctor, Billie Piper plays Rose, John Barrowman plays Captain Jack Harkness, Camille Coduri plays Jackie Tyler, Noel Clarke plays Mickey Smith and special guest star Anne Robinson plays Anne Droid."

Ratings and Broadcasting

Episode 9, The Empty Child was well received by the UK press, with the Daily Express calling it "a brilliantly crafted episode". However, the overnight ratings for the episode were noticeably lower than for any other episode in the series, following the shift to an earlier timeslot to accommodate the Eurovision Song Contest, football-inspired last-minute changes to BBC1's Saturday evening schedule, and competition from a Star Wars film on ITV1. The episode scored a 6.6 million viewer average in its initial Saturday 21 May airing, but still placed a 34.9% share; the ratings peaked late in the episode 6.7m, and a 35% audience share, against 19% with 3.5m for The Phantom Menace. Once again, Doctor Who was top in its timeslot, although the FA Cup Final, Eurovision and Casualty all attracted higher ratings across the day. It also rated 181,390 viewers (4.2% share) in its 12.20am repeat late that night, and 669,400 viewers (4.2% share) in its Sunday night BBC3 repeat. It is interesting to note that the Sunday repeat is the highest-rated repeat of this season, meaning that it's possible that large numbers of people that intended to watch it Saturday missed out. Doctor Who Confidentialepisode nine had 405,130 viewers (3.2% share) in its initial airing at 7.10pm on Saturday 21 May, with 101,510 viewers (3.5% share) in the 1.05am repeat late that night.

The final UK ratings are in from BARB for episode 8, Father's Day: 8.06m, first in its timeslot, first for BBC1 on Saturday, fifth (behind four episodes of EastEnders) on BBC1 through the week, and 17th in the week's top terrestrial programming, behind the usual round of soaps, Heartbeat and the British Soap Awards. More detailed ratings information for the whole series so far is also available in the Outpost Gallifrey Forum.

"Rose" made its ABC Australia debut on Saturday 21 May and was among the weekend's top-rating shows, with 1,109,686 reported viewers. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) noted that the series "was first in its 7.30pm timeslot for the ABC. It won in four of the five major capital cities, only just edged out by Channel 7's Inspector Lynley in Brisbane."

In addition to our announcement last week about South Korea getting the series, Benjamin Elliott of "This Week in Doctor Who" reports that TV2 inFinland is the latest acquirer of the new series. TV2 airs English language programming in English with subtitles - no dubbing. The station's statement (in Finnish, translated), says that it "has purchased the rights to Doctor Who, the cult youth sci-fi series, from the BBC. The BBC has produced an impressive new version which will be shown on TV2." This means that Finland is added to the list that includes the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy and South Korea.

Canada's CBC has scheduled repeats of Doctor Who Sundays at 7PM (7:30PM Newfoundland) starting June 19. This will make the CBC the first network around the world to give the Doctor Who episodes a second airing (not counting same week encores). It also means that the repeats will begin before the first run of the series on Tuesday nights ends on June 28.

20th Century Roadshow will be transmitted on Sunday, June 5 at 6.45pm on BBC1. The special features Doctor Who merchandise and memorabilia. The Doctor Who Appreciation Society has a review/preview available at their website.

Merchandise

Volume 1 of the Doctor Who new series DVDs, comprising "Rose", "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead" was officially released on Monday 16 May, to great reviews and sales success. It made a Top 10 debut in several charts of DVD sales, including at Number 9 in the Official Chart listed on the BBCs' Radio 1 site. Several high street stores have also featured the DVD in their top tens (although these tend to be for promotional purposes rather than sales based), and the release was the bestseller at the BBC Shop as of 27 May, ahead of all other DVDs, CDs and books. Reviews have appeared in various Newsquest Media titles. (If you'd like to order it from Amazon.co.uk and support the Outpost,click here.)

The first three BBC Books novels featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose were officially published on Thursday 19 May and, according to Friday 27 May'sPublishing News, are already into a second printing after extremely strong sales. Publishing News reports that the three books "were reprinted before they even officially hit the shops on Thursday of last week. The original print run was 100,000 for all four, and the reprint was 75,000." "They're very, very successful, which isn't surprising considering the publicity and reviews that Doctor Who has had," Jon Howells, Press and Communications Manager for Ottakar's, told Publishing News. "They've had great sales, and I think that will continue." The novels have received strong promotion from UK booksellers, with Ottakar's and Tesco amongst those offering all three for the price of two. Friday 27 May's edition of The Bookseller also reports that the three novels are at five, six and seven in the "Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers" chart. Meanwhile, The Independent had Justin Richards' "Monsters and Villains" paperback at Number 3 in the Cinema and Television chart.

Looking ahead to September, the latest issue of DWM confirms the three Ninth Doctor novels previously reported on Outpost Gallifrey as "The Deviant Strain" by Justin Richards, "Only Human" by Gareth Roberts and "The Stealers of Dreams" by Steve Lyons. The same issue carries an interview with the authors of the current range, Richards, Stephen Cole and Jacqueline Rayner, and previews the provisional cover for "Only Human".Amazon.co.uk has released the cover for Only Human which can be seen at right; click on the thumbnail for a larger version.

Amazon now has a brief synopsis for Doctor Who: The Shooting Scriptscoming later this year. "This book collects together the entire shooting scripts for the first series. Seven of the scripts are by Russell T Davies, with the remainder by Stephen Moffat, Robert Shearman, Paul Cornell and The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss. Each of the scripts will be illustrated with screen grabs, ensuring the book appeals to broad audience. Introductions by the writers will explain the inspirations for the new series and the fascinating process of creating a Doctor Who script."

Series Two News

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine began to reach subscribers on Monday 23 May (its official publication date being Thursday, 26 May) and has one big -- if probably unavoidable -- spoiler for Series 2 which we have placed in theSPOILER TAG at the bottom of this news update. The magazine alsodenies rumours that David Walliams of BBC3's Little Britain comedy series will be writing an episode of the next series. Producer Phil Collinson states that there is "no truth in the tabloid rumours". Meanwhile, Russell T Davies is working on the as yet untitled Christmas special, which is confirmed as having a duration of 60 minutes. In his "Production Notes" column, Davies also reveals that Tom MacRae has delivered his first episode ("brilliant"), which contains the words "sickness", "mole" and "meat", and that episode numbers have yet to be allocated to the stories for Series 2.

Several news reports this week have suggested that Christopher Eccleston will be in the Christmas special; however, we do not believe he will be, instead appearing for the final time in episode 13 of this series.

Press Coverage

An article entitled "The return of Doctor Who" has been circulated widely by the Associated Press over the past week, appearing in a variety of mainstream press in North America, including at CNN.com and in a variety of local papers.

Press response to the series in Australia has been as generally positive as elsewhere with lots of reviews, previews and other articles, including several pieces in the Sydney Morning Herald ("Thank goodness for Who weekly -- there's no knocking the return of the wild-eyed chap in the big blue Tardis"), Northern Territory News, the Sunday Mail, the West Australian (Perth), The Australian, The Advertiser, the Courier Mail (Queensland), the Melbourne Herald Sun, The Age, Townsville Bulletin (Aus), the Newcastle Herald

It appears that certain press reports of Christopher Eccleston's post-Who intentions were, once again, inaccurate. He has not, according to bothEmpire and Moviehole, been cast as Silas in the forthcoming adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code", the role having gone to Paul Bettany. Eccleston was, however, seen by various newspapers taking part in the Great Manchester Run, which raised ú1 million for charity.

John Barrowman is interviewed by the Rainbow Network in which he says that "It's been great, but it's about to get much better! The thing is, is that I know what's going to happen, so I'm not watching it with the same baited breath that everybody else is. I know all the little secrets and storylines, but I am enjoying it; I think it's one of the better things on Saturday evening television." He notes that he is "in it until the end of this series, which is a cliff-hanger, and then we'll to wait and see what happens in the second and third series." On working with Eccleston and Piper: "It was just fantastic. When I initially started, which was just before Christmas 2004, I went into a series that had been filming since July. Everyone knew I was joining the team because I was hired at the same time as they were, but it was weird to walk into a situation where they'd been working together for a while. However, after we shot the first couple of scenes things just clicked and we had a great time together." He also discusses his next role, in the film version of Mel Brooks' "The Producers".

In an interview with The StagePeter Davison has said that his young children find the new series of Doctor Who "too scary", and ask to see old videos of "Daddy" playing the character instead. "They reckon the new Doctor Who is too scary and asked if they could watch Daddy playing him instead," Davison tells the Stage. "Although in fact, I'd say that was a compliment to the new series, as it implies that my episodes weren't scary at all and they merely wanted to be comforted by them." He also notes his feelings about Eccleston's departure: "I feel sorry for the fans, as I feel they've been rather let down. What it really needed, after all the effort and dedication of the fans over the years to get the show back on air, would be to have someone committed enough to stay with the role for two or three years. As it is, the fans must be disappointed and left feeling up in the air a bit."

Also in this week's The Stage, a note that "Jane Tranter, BBC head of drama commissioning, has pledged to open up early evening schedules on weekends and bank holidays to family-oriented drama, following the widespread success of Doctor Who. The show consistently attracts ratings of more than 7 million viewers and has already been credited with reviving BBC1's Saturday night fortunes. Now executives are hopeful it could mark a renaissance of family drama, a genre that has fallen out of favour in recent years with broadcasters and demographics experts blaming a lack of demand for it." Tranter tells the Stage that she thinks Doctor Who "has shown there is a real appetite for part of the week being set aside for family drama. ... It is clear that certain genres, such as fantasy or some real life situations, have the potential to get lots of people interested but if you are going to appeal to an 11-year-old and a 41-year-old there has to be something in its presentation that is universal."

Brand Republic's Digital Bulletin has reported on the huge online success of the Dalek game. The story says that "The Last Dalek" has "amassed 500,000 separate plays in just three weeks [à] More than 275 websites now list the game and its popularity is said to be spreading around the world from players in countries including Australia, Switzerland and Japan. The game was also a top-three entry into the Lycos Viral Game Chart".

In the Guardian over a week ago, there was a note in the Smallweed column with an ultimatum, which we reported on these pages: "Don't do away with our Daleks, Davies." May 28's Guardian featured a reply from Russell T Davies: "Dear Mr Smallweed, I surrender. You win. My neighbours have stuck your campaign message in their car windows and keep driving past me, shaking an angry fist in my direction. All right, all right, all right, the Daleks will be back. Hundreds of 'em. No more girly consciences either, they're back to being mean metal bastards. What d'you fancy next year? Cybermen?"

Some TV mentions: During discussion on the London Eye controversy on "Richard And Judy" on Tuesday 24 May, Richard suddenly introduced a clip from Rose featuring the London icon. Friday's "Lenny Henry Show" had a brief bit on the news about Billie's departure (and Daleks serving in the Queen Vic (Eastenders)!). The Beeb showed the wrong trailer after "Neighbours" Friday evening, put on the Father's Day one instead! The correct one was shown after the news and Eastenders. And another comment about Doctor Who budgets on "Have I Got News For You!"

Some other brief press mentions: the Times mentions Billie Piper in a list of suggested replacements for Kylie Minogue at Glastonbury; the Scottish Daily Record features an article on John Barrowman (and his Scottish connection); and theBristol Evening Post notes that a "junkie burglar who worked on Doctor Who set" has been jailed.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Peter Anghelides, Andy Parish, Chuck Foster, Paul Greaves, Robert Booth, Ryan Piekenbrock, Duncan Rose, Paul Hayes, Scott Matthewman, Peter Weaver, Adam Kirk, James Sellwood, Widya Santoso, Jim Trenowden, Doug Vermes and Rich Finn)
According to issue 357 of Doctor Who Magazine, the Cybermen will return to the series for its second season. There is no word on how many stories they will appear in but it is expected that they will be in multiple episodes.




FILTER: - People - Ratings - DWM - Series 1/27 - Press - Radio Times

Friday Series UpdateBookmark and Share

Friday, 20 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

BARB has now released the consolidated viewing figures for The Long Game: 8.01 million viewers, making the episode Saturday's second most watched programme (after Casualty, 8.35m), top in its timeslot, sixth on BBC1 in the week ending 8 May and seventeenth in the terrestrial top 30. In terms of its performance against the preceding six episodes of the series, it's in fourth place, behind "Rose", "The Unquiet Dead" and "Dalek". And today's Broadcast magazine confirms that the audience share for Dalek was 45%.

South Korea is the latest country to pick up the series. South Korean public TV station KBS (equivalent to BBC) is going to broadcast the new Doctor Who series from the 5th of June, every Saturday at 11.15 pm. No further details as yet.

On the official site, there is confirmation that the final appearance in the series of Christopher Eccleston will be in Episode 13, contrary to theories elsewhere that he will be appearing in the Christmas special, and that the remaining editions of Doctor Who Confidential will be cut to fifteen minutes for their Sunday evening repeats. The details of the episode titles for the last few shows in the run of Doctor Who Confidential have also been revised: "The Cult of Who" becomes "The World of Who" and focuses on the show's global appeal and its fans. Episode 13, "Finale", is retitled "The Last Battle". The show relives the highs and lows of the Ninth Doctor's time with Rose, and sees Christopher Eccleston taking his final bow. It's looking increasingly likely that all the remaining Sunday night repeats will be trimmed to fit a 15-minute slot, so be sure to catch Confidential on Saturdays if you want to see the uncut versions."

The BBC Press Office has released its weekly programme information documents (note: all documents are pdfs) for the week beginning Saturday 4 June. The Saturday highlights document (note: PDF file) includes a photograph of John Barrowman and Christopher Eccleston and a non-spoiler preview of Episode 11: Boom Town: "Building plans for the heart of Cardiff conceal a plot to destroy the world in Boom Town, written by Russell T Davies. When the Tardis crew take a holiday, the Doctor encounters an enemy he thought long since dead. It soon transpires that plans to build a nuclear power station in Cardiff city are disguising an alien plot to rip the world apart. And when the Doctor dines with monsters, he discovers traps within traps à Christopher Eccleston plays The Doctor,Billie Piper plays Rose and John Barrowman plays Captain Jack Harkness."

John Barrowman was on BBC Breakfast this morning at a little after 9am.BBC News is reporting on the item, which includes a RealPlayer file of the interview, which lasts a little under five minutes.

The Lincolnshire Echo is reporting that Christopher Eccleston could be filming in Lincoln this summer for the new movie "The Da Vinci Code" in which he has been widely reported to be participating. Filming will be focused in Lincoln Cathedral.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Ross Fitzpatrick, Steve Freestone, Chuck Foster, Chris Winwood)




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Production - Series 1/27

Piper To Leave Series?Bookmark and Share

Friday, 20 May 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

The next issue of Dreamwatch magazine will feature an exclusive report that the agent for Billie Piper has confirmed to the magazine that she will be leaving the series during its second season. "She's not doing the full season," the agent told Dreamwatch, indicating that she will likely appear in three to seven episodes of the second series. This is the first print indication that Piper may leave the show, although nothing official has yet been announced (we simply report what the magazine itself is reporting). Issue #130 of Dreamwatch will be available starting this weekend (and it also features interviews with Piper, Camille Coduri and John Barrowman).




FILTER: - People - Production - Billie Piper