Monday-Tuesday Series News

This week's Radio Times is now out, with the customary plug for the next episode, Boom Town on Saturday in "RT recommends... the week's best television" (page 4), describing the episode as "Frenetic fun". This week's letter writers are missing the point about programmes other than Doctor Who, but "Doctor Who Watch" continues (page 18), with photographs of Annette Badland as Margaret Blaine and a Slitheen accompanying an interview with Russell T Davies about the show's success ("we seem to have got it right. That's no reason to sit on your laurels, but it's quite weird"), his expectations for David Tennant ("He'll be different. He'll have his own traits. I'm writing that now.") and what he'd like to achieve with Series 2 ("we've set ourselves a challenge right from the start by having a new Doctor"). He also notes that "The fact that [the Slitheen] are back is dealt with in the first ten minutes, then the episode becomes a character-led piece about the Doctor's lifestyle [...] leaving the consequences of his actions behind him." On the same page, there's a short quote from Christopher Eccleston on Annette Badland: "the performance of the series [...] she just pinions the poor Doctor, in the same way as the Daleks do. It's spellbinding to watch." Once again, this weekend's episode is Saturday's pick of the day (page 64), with a colour photo of Margaret, Mickey and the TARDIS crew and the comment that "the smile count is high and there's plenty of dramatic meat on the bones. But there's no time to develop it [...] That said, it's slick, busy and, above all, great fun." A small photo of the Doctor and Jack heads Saturday evening's BBC1 listing (page 66): "The Doctor encounters an enemy he thought long since dead as a plan to build a nuclear power station conceals an alien plot to destroy the world." In Doctor Who Confidential, Jabe and Gwyneth "are honoured as unsung heroes from the current series who've laid down their lives to aid the Doctor." Lastly, RT Direct, the magazine's home shopping service, is this week promoting a range of digital television and DVD items, on the screens of which are Eccleston and Piper... well, it's what everyone's watching, isn't it?

Panini Books has released the cover illustration for the forthcoming Doctor Who Annual 2006, due out later this year. At right is a thumbnail of the cover illustration (sent to us by Tenth Planet; click on the thumbnail for a larger version.)

The official site has been updated with a "Boom Town" feel. The front page features what appears to be a post-nuclear Cardiff wasteland, in the midst of which is the TARDIS, with some mouse-revealed graffiti... So far, only the photo gallery has been updated for the next episode, although, as ever, video diaries and photo stories are promised for the weekend. Also, icWales previews "Boom Town" today, while Heat magazine previews "Boom Town" and the following episode, "Bad Wolf". Because both are full of spoilers, we've put them in the spoiler tag at the end of today's article.

BBC Worldwide has today issued a press release concerning the properties it is promoting at Licensing International in New York in June, led by Doctor Who. As well as confirming that filming begins for Series Two and the Christmas special this summer, the press release confirms the existing licensing partners as Italy, Holland, Finland, Denmark, Hungary, Korea, Thomsonfly (formerly Britannia Airways), Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The relevant sections of the press release note that "BBC Worldwide is a global leader in the business of entertainment rights management and these new properties, Doctor Who and Charlie and Lola, sit happily within its portfolio of high quality brands."

This week's showing of "The End of the World" in Australia made it into the Australian Top 50, showing at #48... better, in fact, than the debut episode, "Rose". The story rated 1,051,000 in the 5 main capitals (a slight drop in raw numbers from "Rose" but posting higher on the charts.) It was ABC Television's fourth highest rated programme after two editions of ABC News and "Australian Story".

Monday's Guardian has another in a string of highly positive reviews for the series, describing Doctor Who as one of the two best series of 2005 (the other being a documentary history of Soul music). Reviewer Rupert Smith thinks that The Doctor Dances "elevated an already great series into the realms of art." Likening the episode to the series 1960s/1970s "heyday" and citing various moments, he says that "you just don't get this sort of thing in British TV any more [...] The Tardis really is the fun place to be these days." The full review can be read at the website.

Today's Sun and Star both report on robot versions of Trinny and Susannah from "What Not to Wear," as being seen in the episode "Bad Wolf" in two weeks, along with photos of John Barrowman from the episode.

Issue 132 of SFX Magazine goes on sale on June 8. The issue has "an army of Daleks on the cover, and inside there's a nine page Doctor Who feature, which is a look forward at season two. The spine of the piece is an extensive Q&A with Russell T Davies, but it also includes an exclusive interview with concept designer Bryan Hitch, which includes his very first concept sketch of the TARDIS interior - drawn before he was even hired by the Beeb!; Steven Moffat giving a few hints about his season two episode, which he says will be "sexier" than The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances; an interview with Jack Barrowman (aka Captain Jack Harkness); an interview with Julie Gardner; a great opening spread image of Eccleston morphing into David Tennant (lovely!)" SFX has also posted the extended portion of the Barrowman interview on their website here, and the SFX site will soon be posting a special exclusive clip: an animated 3D visualisation of Bryan's initial concept for the TARDIS interior. The cover illustration is at right.

Australian newspaper The Age discusses the forthcoming Australia/New Zealand touring stage presentation Inside the TARDIS, featuring Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Katy Manning in select cities to promote the new series (see our May 19 story on the general Doctor Who news page here). "Don't expect Shakespeare, but for both hardcore fans and those new to the adventures of the Time Lord, the show will be a celebration of all things Who, with classic BBC clips and insiders' stories from a select group of former cast members."

According to a release from the BBC Press Office, new series writer and prominent fan Mark Gatiss has begun filming a role in BBC Three's new "comic thriller" Funland, which is co-written by his fellow League of Gentlemen member Jeremy Dyson. Set in the northern seaside town of Blackpool, the series is due to show on BBC Three in the autumn, consisting of one 60-minute and eleven 30-minute episodes. "Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen) plays the bizarre and haughty repressed taxidermist Ambrose Chapfel," the press release says.

The Stage today noted that drama commissioning at the BBC is to undergo a "significant overhaul, with executives able to commission two or three series of popular shows at a time, in a bid to retain talent for future productions. In an unprecedented move for the Corporation, multiple runs of programmes such as Spooks, Hustle and Waking the Dead could be commissioned in one block rather than consecutively." Said Jane Tranter of BBC Drama, "Double commissioning is designed to allow independent production companies the creative freedom to think further forward with their development of long-running drama for the BBC. This is a clear commitment from us to secure the very best drama for our audience and another way of making commissioning more nimble." Noted in the article is that the BBC recently came under fire for failing to ensure that Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper were contracted for more than one series of Doctor Who. However the new process only applies to returning dramas that have proved their popularity and would not have kept the pair in their roles for a second run of the show.

Last week's Surrey Comet (a local newspaper) detailed a "win your own Dalek" competition and showed Christopher Eccleston's visit to a local school. "A timelord can turn up wherever he wants, whenever he wants- so school leavers at Great Court School felt honored to meet the latest incarnation of Dr Who. Actor Christopher Eccleston dropped in at the school in Ham Street, Ham to attend their leaving certificate ceremony. The year 11 students whose last day of school before taking GCSEs was on Friday-were also presented with record of achievement folders to mark their progress to date."

Yesterday's Huddersfield Examiner asks, "The wonderful new series of Doctor Who continues to go from strength to strength. So why did they get such basic details of the Blitz wrong? ... The writing, direction, acting and verve of the production was great - so how did they get the blackout so badly wrong? During the war, no light could be shown in case it acted as a guide to attacking bombers. Every window was covered with a blackout curtain and front doors were not opened until interior lights had been turned off. But not in Doctor Who. At the height of a bombing raid, RAF pilots stand on a balcony in the heart of London enjoying a drink with the curtains wide open and the lights blazing out behind them."

Other news: The People, Digital Spy and CBBCNews all report on the Billie Piper/how many episodes in season two? story; there are reviews of recent episodes at The Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Adam Kirk, Stuart Ian Burns, Ian Berriman, Robert Simpson, Chuck Foster, Peter Weaver, Ian O'Brien)