Doctor Roundup

Wednesday, 6 August 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Tom Baker Update

August 6, 2003 • Posted By Shaun Lyon

Tom Baker will be taking over the job of Unbound Doctor Geoffrey Bayldon in a new series of action adventure gameshow "Fort Boyard", to be broadcast on UK satellite/cable channel "Challenge TV" from October. "Fort Boyard" is a programme in which a team of five athletic lycra-clad contestants are forced to endure a series of horrible challenges in order to win keys that will unlock a treasure vault. One of the regular challenges each week is to climb a tower to meet "The Professor", a weird eccentric who poses a series of riddles and quizzes. During its first few series, the Professor was played by Geoffrey Bayldon, but for the new series he will be played by none other than Tom Baker - almost typecasting, you might say! The role of the fort's evil master Boyard has also been recast, with Resurrection of the Daleks actor Leslie Grantham having gone back to his legendary role of Dirty Den in EastEnders, Boyard will now be played by ex-The Bill actor Christopher Ellison. (Thanks to Paul Condon)

McCoy Spotlight

August 6, 2003 • Posted By Shaun Lyon

Sylvester McCoy is currently starring as Selsdon Mowbray in Michael Frayne's farce "Noises Off" at the Piccadilly Theatre, which began running on August 4. Meanwhile, McCoy will be a guest on this coming weekend's Radio 4 chat show "Loose Ends", which broadcasts on August 9; click here for details. (The show will be available soon after to listen to over the internet.)Finally, McCoy actually returns to the role of the Doctor -- sort of -- in a BBC Three series called "Risky Business" which features "looks at why celebrities have done something silly". The show, which attempts to analyze the celebrities by featuring animation of 'emotions' inside the head, features Sylvester McCoy providing the voice of the Doctor, piloting a CGI TARDIS to the day of that episode (we don't know when this recent episode will re-air, if at all.) (Thanks to David Innes, Stuart Ian Burns, Ian Robinson)

MISCELLANEOUS

Tuesday, 5 September 2000 - Reported by Marcus

Compiled by:
Shaun Lyon with Mark Phippen

Doctor Who: Third Best of All Time! The British Film Institute recently compiled a list of the 100 greatest British TV series of all time... and Doctor Who came in at number three! Says the BFI: "The hilarious antics of hotelier Basil Fawlty have earned Fawlty Towers the title of greatest British TV show of all time. The British Film Institute called on top TV industry figures to draw up their list of the best 100 programmes of all time. Old classics like Doctor Who and Monty Python's Flying Circus scored highly, but shows from the 90s struggled to make an impression. Popular comedy Absolutely Fabulous came in at a measly number 17 and the addictive Who Wants To Be A Millionaire at an even less-impressive 23." Fawlty Towers ranked at #1, Cathy Come Home at #2; the rest of the top ten, starting from #4, are The Naked Civil Servant, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Blue Peter, Boys from the Blackstuff, Parkinson, Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister and Brideshead Revisited.

Doctorin' the TARDIS: On August 21, Sylvester McCoy hosted an installment of "Artery," a Scottish arts series that aired only in ITV's Scottish regions. The half-hour installment, "Doctorin' The TARDIS," looked at plans to get police boxes rematerialising on the streets of Scotland. McCoy narrated the history of the boxes; "from former police officers to 'Dr Who' fanatics, the programme touches on personal memories to reveal exactly why the police box is such an emotive symbol" said the TV series caption. There were a fair number of Doctor Who references in the installment (obviously!) (Thanks to Chris Burnside)

Harlequin Miniatures have decided not to renew their contract to produce their range of 'Doctor Who' figures, and have two months to clear existing stocks. They have announced a 'buy two get one free' deal for orders over £50. For more details, see the company website:www.harlequin-miniatures.com

PC Pro DVD: This months issue of "PC Pro" magazine comes with a free DVD on the cover, promoting the BBC's DVD range. Included on the disc is a clip of the 5 Doctors Special Edition, which was released last year.

New Exhibition: A new Doctor Who exhibition has opened at the Shires Shopping Centre in Leicester, England, and will remain open throughout August. More details are available at www.theshires.co.uk.

Generation Game: The current series of Jim Davidson's Generation Game in the UK will feature a Dr Who item. Recorded 21/07/00 Colin Baker appears in costume along with the Police Box, Tardis Console, Cyberman and Dalek props. The two teams are asked to guess how much each prop is worth (with surprising results!). The show will air sometime in the new BBC ONE autumn season.

Amicus Film Book: Stray Cat Publishing (who publish 'The Dark Side' magazine) has released a lavishly illustrated book detailing the history of the Amicus film company, (who made the two Peter Cushing Dalek films, as well as movies featuring Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Mary Tamm and Anthony Ainley). The book dedicates eight pages to the two Dalek movies. 'Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood' is edited by Alan Bryce (ISBN: 0-9533261-3-6, £19.99) (Thanks to the official BBC website)

Porcelain Figures: Classic Sheercast have issued the first in a BBC licensed series of limited edition porcelain figures - William Hartnell as the Doctor. All seven BBC Doctors will eventually join the range. There's a website for more information athttp://www.doctorwhofigures.co.uk

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