 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legendary actor John Hurt has spoken briefly about his role as “The Doctor” in the 50th anniversary special.
Hurt tells the Guardian: “I had no idea that Doctor Who had got so huge; I just thought, ‘Brilliant, I’ll be a Doctor!’ I was suddenly – what do they call it? You start ‘trending’. This is all new to me!”
Asked about the earlier reports of him playing the “dark Doctor” Hurt remains tight-lipped, neither confirming nor denying.
Hurt says: “Of course you have to remember that the Doctors are all one person, so I’m not outside of that.”
He adds: “I can’t talk about it, but I will say I was really impressed when I did it. Both the previous Doctors – Matt Smith and David Tennant – boy, are they good at it. Whoa-wee! They are so quick, and there’s a huge amount of learning and no time to learn it in. All that fake scientific nonsense. Terribly difficult to learn.”
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/is-john-hurt-playing-the-dark-doctor-53012.htm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 10, 2013 - 11:15 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
|
BBC News have revealed the title and length of the 50th anniversary special.
Note: the original article has been now been deleted (another blunder?) but the preserved text is below:
The BBC has announced a raft of programmes to mark the 50th anniversary of the first episode of Doctor Who.
A 75-minute special called The Day Of The Doctor will star the soon-to-leave Matt Smith and David Tennant.
Smith said: “Hope you all enjoy. There’s lots more coming your way.”
Other highlights include a BBC Two lecture by Professor Brian Cox on the science behind the hit show and the drama An Adventure In Space and Time, written by Mark Gatiss.
The one-off programme stars David Bradley, of the Harry Potter films, as William Hartnell – who was the first Doctor in 1963.
BBC Four will introduce new audiences to Hartnell, with a re-run of the first ever story. The four episodes are being shown in a restored format, not previously broadcast in the UK.
BBC Two’s flagship arts programme The Culture Show is to present Me, You and Doctor Who, with lifelong fan Matthew Sweet exploring the cultural significance of the BBC’s longest running TV drama.
A 90-minute documentary on BBC Radio 2 will ask “Who Is The Doctor?” – using newly-recorded interviews and exclusive archive material to find an answer – while BBC Three will be home to several commissions.
The anniversary episode sees the return of the Daleks For those less familiar with the show, Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide will provide a handy primer.
Danny Cohen, Director BBC Television said: “It’s an astonishing achievement for a drama to reach its 50th anniversary.
“I’d like to thank every person – on both sides of the camera – who has been involved with its creative journey over so many years.”
Smith has already started filming his final scenes as the Doctor, which are due to air in this year’s Christmas episode. His replacement, Scots actor Peter Capaldi, was announced in August.
Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer on Doctor Who said: “50 years has turned Doctor Who from a television show into a cultural landmark. Personally I can’t wait to see what it becomes after a hundred.”
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/50th-anniversary-title-length-outed-53051.htm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 10, 2013 - 8:18 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
|
The BBC have released a new promotional image for the 50th Anniversary Special, The Day Of The Doctor, which is once again presented in the style of a movie poster:
A full press release of the run-up to the anniversary episode has now been published:
Fifty years of Doctor Who to culminate in The Day Of The Doctor
The countdown starts here as the BBC reveals its plans to take over TV and radio to mark the Doctor’s 50th anniversary.
With special programmes planned across the BBC, the celebrations will peak on 23 November with the anniversary episode, revealed as The Day Of The Doctor. Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant and Jenna Coleman with Billie Piper and John Hurt, the special for BBC One has been confirmed as feature-length, with 75 minutes of adventure.?
Matt Smith, who plays the Doctor, says: “The Day Of The Doctor is nearly here! Hope you all enjoy. There’s lots more coming your way, as the countdown to the 50th begins now.”
Each channel will be home to unique content, celebrating the wealth of history and talent from the last 50 years.
BBC Two will broadcast a number of new commissions, focusing on telling the story behind the show. For one night only, Professor Brian Cox will take an audience of celebrity guests and members of the public on a journey into the wonderful universe of the Doctor, from the lecture hall of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (1x60 minutess). Drawing on the latest theories, as well as 200 years of scientific discoveries and the genius of Einstein, Brian tries to answer the classic questions raised by the Doctor: Can you really travel in time? Does extra-terrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastical as the TARDIS?
In an hour-long special, BBC Two’s flagship arts programme The Culture Show presents Me, You And Doctor Who (1x60 minutes), with lifelong fan Matthew Sweet exploring the cultural significance of the BBC’s longest running TV drama, arguing that it’s one of the most important cultural artefacts of modern Britain. Put simply, Doctor Who matters. He’ll examine how the show has become a cultural force in its own right and tell the stories of some of the unsung cultural heroes, who pioneered its innovative music, design and storytelling.
BBC Two wraps up its coverage with the previously announced An Adventure In Space and Time (1x90 minutes), which will tell the story of the genesis of Doctor Who and the many personalities involved. Written by Mark Gatiss, the drama stars David Bradley (the Harry Potter films); Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity), Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife) and Sacha Dhawan (History Boys, Last Tango In Halifax).
Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, says: "Fifty years has turned Doctor Who from a television show into a cultural landmark. Personally I can't wait to see what it becomes after a hundred."
BBC Four will introduce audiences to the first Doctor, William Hartnell, with a special re-run of the first-ever story, which marked the start of 50 years of history. The four episodes are being shown in a restored format, not previously broadcast in the UK.
There will also be programmes across CBBC with 12 Again (1x30 minutes) bringing together CBBC’s super-fan Chris Johnson, impressionist Jon Culshaw, Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Warwick Davis (Porridge), Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra), Dan Starkey (Strax) Louise Jameson (Leela) and the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, to share their memories of watching TV’s top Time Lord when they were young.
Blue Peter will launch an exciting new competition giving viewers aged between six and 14 the opportunity to design a new gadget that will become part of the iconic science fiction series. Two live Blue Peter specials will see presenters Barney, Lindsey and Radzi joined by aliens and monsters, with viewers challenging Matt Smith to answer their Doctor Who questions.
BBC Three will be home to several exciting entertainment commissions. Audiences will be encouraged to get involved and vote in Doctor Who: Monsters And Villains Weekend, as we countdown to the top Doctor Who monster. For those less familiar with the show, Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide will introduce fans and viewers to a wealth of archive material and act as a guide to all things Who. A further exciting commission to be announced later this year will see the celebrations finish with a bang.
Danny Cohen, Director of BBC Television, says: “Doctor Who is a titan of British television and I’m incredibly proud to have it on the BBC. It's an astonishing achievement for a drama to reach its 50th anniversary. I'd like to thank every person - on both sides of the camera - who has been involved with its creative journey over so many years.”
It’s not just TV where audiences will be able join in the celebrations; programming across Radio 2, Radio 1 and Radio 4 Extra will also mark the 50th.
BBC Radio 2 will ask Who Is The Doctor? in a 90-minute documentary featuring newly recorded interviews and exclusive archive material. The programme will look at the lasting appeal of Doctor Who and ask how much of its continued success can be attributed to its basic formula.
In The Blagger’s Guide To Doctor Who, David Quantick will give the iconic Doctor the Blagger’s treatment. He’ll be finding out the answers to questions such as, why do Americans think Tom Baker is still Doctor Who? How many Doctors have there really been? Were the Daleks really named after an encyclopaedia?
Finally, Graham Norton will be broadcasting his weekly Radio 2 show live (Saturday 23 November, 10am) from the Doctor Who Celebration in London. In a special three-hour show, Graham will take a ride in the TARDIS and will also be chatting with some of the series’ stars and fans.
Music is a key part of Doctor Who, from the famous theme tune to soaring melodies, but the show has also inspired a whole new phenomenon – Time Lord Rock (TROCK). Radio 1 will look at this genre of music inspired by the Doctor and his journeys through space and time with a 60-minute documentary.
Meanwhile, Radio 4 Extra travels back to 1963 with a three-hour special programme, Who Made Who?, to look at the world that inspired the television series. Doctor Who may have come from other times, but his roots were very much in the present of 1960s Britain. This distinctive programme combines audio from the archive, new interviews and extracts from audio versions of Doctor Who. Additionally, the station will broadcast readings and dramas featuring the great Doctor.
There will also be special content across the official website and on BBC iPlayer.
http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2013/09/day-of-the-doctor-poster-100914000008.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 10, 2013 - 8:21 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
|
Miwk Publishing have announced that they will be publishing an updated version of former script editor Andrew Cartmel's book Script Doctor; it is due to be released this coming November:
Miwk Publishing are absolutely delighted to be reprinting this unique insight into an era of Doctor Who which, while dividing fandom at the time, has seen a reappraisal in recent years following the release of the stories on DVD and the subsequent scrutiny of the era in the accompanying special features.
It has been revised and slightly updated from its originally version and features new forewords and afterwords additional to this edition. We couldn’t reprint the book without reprinting the original cover. Grateful thanks to Steve Cook for allowing us to reuse his photograph.
Script Doctor, by Andrew Cartmel (2013 edition) (Credit: Miwk)Script Doctor
Written by Andrew Cartmel
In 1987 Doctor Who was a series in the middle of an on-going crisis. Producer John Nathan-Turner had been ‘persuaded to stay’ even though his programme had only a year earlier been cancelled by ‘the powers that be’. Yet again those on-high stepped in to interfere with the show and asked him to recast the Doctor. But JN-T had other problems too, during season 23 his script editor Eric Saward had quit very publicly.
This vacancy was filled by Andrew Cartmel. Within very few months he had to find writers for the new season, write out the current companion, introduce a new companion and establish a new Doctor as well as planning ahead to the following season that would mark Doctor Who’s 25th anniversary.
For three years Andrew Cartmel, with the support of JN-T, pushed Doctor Who into a new direction. The show was moved to a weekday slot again up against ITV stalwart Coronation Street but still put up a good fight in its last three years. His writers Ian Briggs, Ben Aaronovitch, Stephen Wyatt, Malcolm Kohl, Rona Munro, Marc Platt, Kevin Clarke and Graeme Curry, had never written for Doctor Who before. This new broom sadly came too late and the show was cancelled again in 1989. But Cartmel’s legacy and his ‘Master-Plan’ would live on.
What he started was picked up and taken into the nineties by a new generation of writers who would eventually bring Doctor Who back to our screens in 2005.
‘Script Doctor’ is a memoir of those times, from his first day in the office to his first day on set right up to hastily penning the final few lines of the last story broadcast in the original run. Helping to cast the new seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, and create a new companion in Ace, played by Sophie Aldred, ‘Script Doctor’ is an intimate tale which sees a team of dedicated, creative new wave at the BBC, battling the old-guard and attempting to push the envelope.
The book will be available be on general release in paperback from November, and there is a limited edition signed and numbered hardback version exclusively available from the Miwk website.
http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2013/09/script-doctor-100913105008.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 12, 2013 - 11:39 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
|
In November 2013, Big Finish will be releasing Doctor Who: The Light at the End, a very special 100-minute story to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who. Tom Baker (1974-81), Peter Davison (1982-84), Colin Baker (1984-86), Sylvester McCoy (1987-89) and Paul McGann (1996) will all reprise their roles as, respectively, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors, whose paths suddenly intersect when they face imminent destruction.
“We wanted to do a proper, fully-fledged multi-Doctor story for this very special occasion,” says writer, director and executive producer Nicholas Briggs, “and it’s wonderful that all the surviving classic Doctors threw themselves behind the project so enthusiastically. That’s not to say the first three Doctors don’t appear – we wanted to pay homage to the whole history of the classic series.”
The Doctors will also be joined by a number of their regular companions: Louise Jameson reprises the role of the savage Leela, Sarah Sutton plays the scientist Nyssa, Nicola Bryant is American botany student Peri, Sophie Aldred is streetwise kid Ace and India Fisher returns as Edwardian adventurer Charley Pollard.
“And that’s not all,” says producer David Richardson, “because Geoffrey Beevers is back to create mayhem as the Master, and there will be a number of appearances from some much-cherished old friends from the TV series…”
Doctor Who: The Light at the End will be released in two different versions. A five-disc limited special edition comes with two hour-long documentaries, plus The Revenants, a Companion Chronicles tale which began life as a free Doctor Who Magazine download. It’s performed by William Russell, who starred in the very first TV story as Ian Chesterton. The special edition comes in beautiful special packaging, and will include a number of exclusive professionally photographed images of the cast.
The standard edition comprises two discs, featuring the two hour-long episodes of the story.
http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-50th-anniversary-release-announced
The other anniversary special...
The cover for issue #465 of Doctor Who Magazine has been revealed.
This month’s issue is dedicated to Big Finish’s upcoming multi-Doctor audio The Light at the End.
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/dwm-465-the-five-doctors-52989.htm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 13, 2013 - 8:10 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
|
The BBC America series celebrating each of the actors to have played the Doctor will be shown on Watch, the channel's schedule has revealed.
The Doctors Revisited will be broadcast at weekends, with the premiere of The First Doctor to be shown on Saturday 12th October at 2:00pm, followed by the accompanying story The Aztecs; Sunday will then see The Second Doctor at the same time, accompanied by The Tomb of The Cybermen. The following weekend then sees The Third Doctor on the Saturday alongside Spearhead From Space, and The Fourth Doctor alongside Pyramids of Mars on Sunday.
The documentaries were orginally broadcast monthly by BBC America, and were shown in Australia and New Zealand during August by BBC Worldwide's UKTV.
Other programming to accompany the launch of Doctor Who Revisited on the 12th October includes the documentaries The Companions at 4:30pm and Doctor Who Explained at 5:30pm, both of which are repeated before The Second Doctor on the Sunday.
Watch's schedules don't currently extend beyond the 20th October, but based on the pattern above the Fifth and Sixth Doctors are expected for 26th/27th October, Seventh and Eighth on 2nd/3rd November, Ninth and Tenth on 9th/10th November, and the Eleventh on the 16th - completing the series one week before the 50th Anniversary itself!
http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2013/09/revisited-uk-130913193008.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 23, 2013 - 6:49 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
|
Worldwide, fans of the program are getting VERY excited, as we approach the November 23rd global broadcast date of Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor: 50th Anniversary Special, celebrating a half-century of the Time Lord and his bigger-on-the-inside blue box! The 75-minute special will be shown on television AND in select theaters, and there is a 3D version of the production to boot! All the world knows that the 10th Doctor and 11th Doctor, and two of their fan-favorite companions - Rose and Clara - are included in the story: David Tennant, Matt Smith, Billie Piper, and Jenna Coleman will all be there! Legendary actor John Hurt (The Elephant Man, V for Vendetta, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hellboy, Alien) is a special guest star in this story, with a significant role to play! Also appearing is Jemma Redgrave (niece of Vanessa and Lynn), reprising her role as "Kate Stewart." Within the last couple of weeks, 5th Doctor actor Peter Davison revealed that he's got a copy of the script with his name on it, too...however, nobody has actually stated outright that the 5th Doctor is appearing in the production. Still, it certainly seems like it's a strong possibility, eh?
BBC Home Entertainment has revealed that fans in North America won't have long to wait to get Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor: 50th Anniversary Special on home video. They will be making it available on December 10th, both on DVD ($24.98 SRP) and high-def Blu-ray Disc ($29.98 SRP). But the Blu-ray version won't be alone: it will actually be a Blu-ray/DVD Combo package, with the same DVD disc, AND the regular Blu-ray Disc, AND also a 3D Blu-ray Disc, too! That will all come on 2 discs, apparently, and all versions include English subtitles. Each version will also come with bonus material, starting with the featurette "Doctor Who Explained," which is described as "the entire 50-year history in one hilarious 50-minute special!" As far as other extras go, the studio simply says for now "Other exclusive content still to be announced."
There is a rumor going around saying that the Day of the Doctor DVDs and Blu-rays, at least in the U.K., will include the upcoming documentary telefilm, "An Adventure in Space and Time," starring David Bradley ("Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," Game of Thrones, the Harry Potter films) as William Hartnell and Jessica Raine ("Hide," Call the Midwife) as Verity Lambert. My sources have not been able to either confirm or deny this rumor...although one of my industry contacts felt certain that it makes more sense for the BBC to release that production separately, as its own DVD. I suppose we'll have to see what the folks at BBC Home Entertainment announce to find out if the rumors are accurate or not.
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Doctor-The-Day-Of-The-Doctor/18991
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
