BBC's download plans get backingBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 31 January 2007 - Reported by Kenny Davidson

The BBC Trust have given their provisional approval to the BBC's proposals for making their television output available via their website for "on-demand" access. This ought to enable Doctor Who episodes to be made available from the official site later this year.

However, this is only provisional approval; the Trust will reach its final decision before 2 May 2007, after taking account of the responses it receives during the consultation period.

The BBC Trust must give its approval to this service before the BBC can launch it as the Trust exists to safeguard the interests of UK licence fee payers, ensuring that the BBC provides high quality output and good value. The on-demand service, which has been trailed with a number of BBC2 programmes over the past year, would be a major shift in broadcasting for the corporation if rolled out across all their television output.

The online programmes would be available for 30 days after initial broadcast and would be restricted by use of Digital Rights Management. The trust's press release gives some more information on the nature of the DRM:
As proposed, the TV catch-up service on the internet relies on Microsoft technology for the digital rights management (DRM) framework. The Trust will require the BBC Executive to adopt a platform-agnostic approach within a reasonable timeframe. This requires the BBC to develop an alternative DRM framework to enable users of other technology, for example, Apple and Linux, to access the on-demand services.





FILTER: - Online

Cover for Torchwood DVD Vol 2Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, 31 January 2007 - Reported by Kenny Davidson
The cover artwork for the second volume of Torchwood on DVD has been released and can be seen by clicking on the thumbnail below. Volume two, due to be released in the UK on February 26th, features the episodes 'Countryside', 'Greeks Bearing Gifts', 'They Keep Killing Suzie' and 'Random Shoes'.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Blu-ray/DVD

Michelle CollinsBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 31 January 2007 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
The BBC's Doctor Who website has confirmed that Michelle Collins, best known for her role as Cindy Beale onEastEnders, has been cast in an upcoming Doctor Who episode.

Collins will appear in episode 7, written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Graeme Harper. Her character is named McDonnell.

More casting information, and the title of this episode, will be revealed in Doctor Who Magazine #379, released on newsstands in the UK tomorrow (1 February).

UPDATE: The title of episode seven has been announced as 42. Show head Russell T Davies is quoted in DWM as saying: "Yes, spelt with numbers not letters!"

According to DWM, the episode will also feature William Ash playing Riley, Matthew Chambers (Korwin), Anthony Flanagan (Scannell), Gary Powell (Ashton), Rebecca Oldfield (Erina) and Vinette Robinson (Lerner).




FILTER: - Production - Series 3/29 - DWM

New Runaway Bride photosBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 30 January 2007 - Reported by Kenny Davidson
There are only 328 shopping days left until next Christmas, but if you and your bank balance are still recovering from the effects of the last Christmas, the BBC's official site have given you a reason to remember the good things about Christmas 2006, with a bundle of new photographs from The Runaway Bride.




FILTER: - Special Events - Online

Six Doctors' costumes included in high-profile auctionBookmark and Share

Monday, 29 January 2007 - Reported by Kenny Davidson
More than 400 outfits tailored by Angels, the pre-eminent costumier for films shot in the UK, will be auctioned by Bonhams of London. The collection includes costumes that were worn by some of Hollywood's biggest names, from Errol Flynn to Al Pacino, as well as outfits from classic British television shows, including Doctor Who.

Six Doctors are represented in the Doctor Who collection, including Jon Pertwee's jacket, which comes complete with a sonic screwdriver, which the auctioneers found in one of its pockets. The tool, which the Doctor used to open locks, is simply a pen glued to a toothpaste tube cap and sprayed silver.

Costumes worn by Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker are expected to fetch £20,000 each and Christopher Eccleston's leather jacket is estimated at £4,000.

Amongst the other costumes is Sir Alec Guinness's brown hooded cloak from Star Wars, which went missing for 30 years and was only discovered in 2005 when Angels made an inventory of its 1.5 million outfits which hang on six miles of rails in a warehouse in north London.

The auction, which takes place on 6th March, is expected to raise more than £1 million. Below are full details from Bonhams of the Doctor Who items included.
Costumes representing six of the Dr Who actors from the period of 1963 – present day will be sold.

A complete Patrick Troughton outfit (the second Dr. Who) comprising full-length fur coat, tailcoat, checked trousers, shirt, tie, handkerchief and bandana is estimated at £15,000-20,000. Known for his scruffy appearance, Troughton played a much quirkier Doctor. The producers and writers behind the programme wanted the Doctor's second incarnation to be a contrast to first Doctor, William Hartnell's 'Victorian Headmaster' mode of attire. Therefore Troughton was unveiled as, in his words, the "Cosmic Hobo," an eccentric exemplified by his unusual combination of garments, and in particular his long hair coat.

The third Doctor Who, John Pertwee, is represented through his black cape coat, burgundy velvet jacket, black cravat, and his sonic screwdriver (estimate of £15,000-20,000). Pertwee took the character of the doctor in a different direction from the ‘Cosmic Hobo' of before, Pertwee opting for being a dandy with a twist: he was a master of Venusian Karate and became a Doctor to rival James Bond with his ingenious gadgets and quick wit, Victorian tailcoats, deep purple velvet jackets, capes and scalloped shirtfronts.

Tom Baker, the fourth incarnation of the Doctor, exploded onto our television screens in 1974, unmistakable with his mass of teeth and curls. Baker came to resemble a comic hitchhiker, with his long overcoat, Victorian jackets and overlong woolly scarf.

The complete outfit for Tom Baker includes a maroon wool top coat, three pairs of trousers (tweed, grey wool and dark grey cotton), striped waistcoat, three felt hats and a striped scarf, and is estimated at £15,000-20,000. A wine coloured 3/4 length coat, complete with two large added pockets for the Doctor's jelly beans and sonic screwdriver used by Baker in various episodes of Dr Who (including some Dalek Episodes), is estimated at £8,000-10,000. The fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, is represented with a beige and orange-edged single breasted top coat, stripe trousers, cricket jumper, white shirt and straw hat, estimated at £8,000-10,000.

An outfit worn by Sylvester McCoy – the seventh Doctor Who – including a cream linen jacket, grey pinstripe trousers, shirt, tie, pullover, scarf, shoes, cravat and hat, is estimated at £5,000-7,000.

After a 16-year absence of the series, Christopher Eccleston returned as The Doctor. In the sale is his black leatherette jacket estimated at £3,000-4,000.




FILTER: - Special Events - Christopher Eccleston

Canada: Fear Her Delayed One Week on CBCBookmark and Share

Monday, 29 January 2007 - Reported by Mike Doran
The broadcast of the David Tennant episode Fear Her originally scheduled for tonight on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is being delayed one week due to the broadcast of a live event. The broadcast of Ken Dryden's Jersey Retirement Ceremony live from Montreal conflicts with Doctor Who's time slot in Atlantic Canada and if it runs longer than scheduled could also affect the broadcast of the show in Quebec and Ontario. Due to this conflict the CBC will air a repeat of New Earth this evening. Fear Her will now air on February 5th.




FILTER: - Canada - Series 2/28 - Broadcasting

Newspaper interview with FreemaBookmark and Share

Monday, 29 January 2007 - Reported by Kenny Davidson

New companion Freema Agyeman is interviewed in the current issue of the children's publicationThe Newspaper, which is distributed through schools in the UK. It is a short interview, and has mild spoilers concerning Martha's character and how she differs from Rose.
What's Martha like?

She's older than Rose, more secure, but she doesn't have a boyfriend. She has her own little flat and her family around her. Rose had only her mum, but Martha has a big family. She isn't looking to the Doctor for guidance or education, she wants adventure! She hasn't kissed her old life goodbye though, and I think she intends to go back to qualify as a doctor. There are funny moments when the Doctor says, 'I'm the Doctor' and Martha says, 'So am I'! She speaks her mind.

The Doctor's companions have changed over the years.

The girls were called assistants, they sounded like a magician's helper but now they are stronger thanks to girl power! It's about companionship, friendship, teamwork, exploration and looking out for one another.

In the last series you played a character who was killed by Cybermen, Martha isn't related to that character, is she?

No, the writers have found a clever way around it. You'll see!





FILTER: - People - Press

Casting Rumour from the SunBookmark and Share

Monday, 29 January 2007 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper
The Sun Online has released an article stating that Life on Mars star John Simm is the "favourite to play" an important character in series 3.

For more details click on the spoiler space below.
The Sun claims that John Simm is in negotiations to play the Master, who would return in a major twist at the end of the third series.
Sir Derek Jacobi, 68, will play another Who foe - The Professor. "He poses as a good guy but the Doctor discovers the truth when The Professor dies and regenerates."




FILTER: - Press

"Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf" - on tourBookmark and Share

Sunday, 28 January 2007 - Reported by Anthony Weight
Outpost Gallifrey has received the following press release concerning the one-man show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, which after its success at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival is going out on the road in 2007. The release runs:
MOTHS ON THE RAMPAGE
Being the surprise critical and commercial success of last year's Edinburgh Fringe wasn't enough for Toby Hadoke and his one man show Moths Ate My Dr Who Scarf. He's now embarking on a nationwide tour (preliminary dates below, more to follow). The show has recently been bought by BBC 7 and is being turned into a two part comedy drama for broadcast later in the year (although this will be very different from the one-man show). The tour kicked off at The Windsor Arts Centre in January and came perilously close to selling out.

Award winning comedian Toby Hadoke takes you on a personal odyssey through one man’s obsession with a TV show. Sharp, satirical, poignant and ultimately uplifting, this show appeals across the board, even to people without intimate knowledge of Time Lords and Tetraps. Not suitable for football hooligans, Daily Mail readers, Hollyoaks actors or The BNP.

“Recommended – a confident performer in a well structured and surprisingly effective one-man show with an emotional kick” – The Times

“Eloquent, forthright, passionate – one of the most entertaining hours this side of Gallifrey” – Chortle

“A must see – well conceived and worryingly accurate”
– Edinburgh Evening News.

The tour will be intermittent – these are confirmed dates, with a further thirty or so awaiting confirmation throughout the year. Visit TobyHadoke.com for updates.

14th February – Leicester Comedy Festival (please note, the addition of an apostrophe to the word Moths was made by the team behind the festival brochure and a move Toby would like to wash his hands of)
16th & 17th March – Theatre Royal, Bath (16th is an extra date due to demand)
23rd March – Glasgow Comedy Festival
11th May – Hemel Hempstead
25th May – St Albans
8th June – The Lowry, Salford
14th June – Ammanford Mines Theatre
23rd Sept – Sheffield Comedy Festival, The Lescar




FILTER: - Special Events

Punk gigs likened to DW consBookmark and Share

Saturday, 27 January 2007 - Reported by DWNP Archive
Sham 69 singer Jimmy Pursey has likened punk nostalgia gigs to Doctor Who conventions.

He made his barbed comment following the iconic group's acrimonious split. The band were formed in 1975 but have broken up after a disagreement over live performances.

Guitarist Dave Parsons and drummer Ian Whitewood claim to have sacked the singer as he had not shown much interest in playing live.

However, Pursey hit back, saying he only rejected revival gigs that had been arranged purely for money, adding that Parsons had left the group.

"I can turn down a nostalgia gig, which is like a Doctor Who convention, where it's just bringing a load of old punk rockers together to celebrate nostalgia," Pursey told BBC News.

Both sides are now claiming ownership of the band's name.




FILTER: - Press