News Round-Up

Finally its the end of the week and time for the first of many news round up of the week, as i said in previous post, work and time is out of my hands and have no time to update, anyway below is a collection of the weeks headlines surrounding the DW Universe
the news items will be from latest to earliest:


Key Of Marinus Coming To DVD

entertain have confirmed that the First Doctor story The Keys of Marinus is scheduled to be released on DVD in the first half of 2009. This release is in addition to the stories previously announced.

The Keys of Marinus was William Hartnell's fifth story and was originally shown between 11 April and 16 May 1964. It was written by the Daleks' creator, Terry Nation, and directed by John Gorrie. The Doctor Who restoration team has an article on the making of the DVD including details of previously unknown cuts in the episodes and how this missing material was restored.

The team also have a feature on the upcoming release of the Patrick Troughton 10 part epic, The War Games.

There are 11 DVD release slots scheduled in 2009. The two remaining slots are likely to be filled with a box set consisting of three stories, and a stand alone release.

The current confirmed UK DVD release schedule is as follows:

• 26 Jan 2009 - E-Space Trilogy Box (Full Circle, State of Decay and Warriors' Gate)
• 23 Feb 2009 - The Rescue / The Romans
• 16 Mar 2009 - Attack of the Cybermen

In addition, the following are slated for UK release in 2009, with specific dates yet to be announced: The Keys of Marinus; The War Games; Dalek War box set (Frontier in Space / Planet of the Daleks); The Deadly Assassin; Image of the Fendahl; Delta and the Bannermen

Piper Talks about Smithh

Talking to TVGuide.com, Billie Piper has added her insight on new Doctor Matt Smith, speaking as his former co-star.

The two appeared together in The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Piper labels herself a "big fan" of Smith. "I love him. He's a stirring actor, and he has the right energy," she says. "That's what the Doctor is about, essentially - having that energy that you just can't understand."

Addressing the concern that Smith, at 26, is too young to effectively play the good Doctor, Piper notes, "The fans get so concerned about these things, and they should just relax. It's going to be fine. They're in good hands."

Piper also comments on the rumours that a woman - possibly even herself - was being considered for the role of the new Doctor. "David [Tennant] has joked about me doing it, but... I don't think the Doctor should be a woman," she says. "It's like going, 'Let's make James Bond a woman.' It's a man's role."
Billie Piper has told TVGuide.com that she's a huge fan of new Doctor Matt Smith.
"I love him," she told the website. "He's a stirring actor, and he has the right energy. That's what the Doctor's is about, essentially - having that energy that you just can't understand."

Like the majority of fans, Piper, who has previously starred alongside Smith in The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, isn't worried by Smith's young age. At 26 years old, he'll be the youngest actor to portray the Time Lord in the show's history.

"The fans get so concerned about these things," Piper said. "And they should just relax. It's going to be fine. They're in good hands."

The actress has also responded to the rumours that she herself was in line to be cast as the Eleventh Doctor.

"David Tennant has joked about me doing it, but I don't think the Doctor should be a woman," she said. "It's like going, 'Let's make James Bond a woman.' It's a man's role."

So, will Piper be returning to the show to work with Smith in the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will hit our screens Spring 2010?

"I don't know," she hedges. "It's hard. Sometimes you just want to leave something behind, and then you see an episode and are like, 'God I really want to do it!' You change your mind all the time."


Barrowman To Write a TW Comic
When the March issue of Torchwood Magazine hits the newsstands, readers will find a special treat inside: an original Torchwood comic strip written by John Barrowman

The actor, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in the Doctor Who spinoff, has penned "Captain Jack and the Selkie" with his sister Carole E. Barrowman and editor Martin Eden.

Eden told the magazine: "I'm so excited to be working on this story. John and Carole are an absolute pleasure to work with. Believe me, the readers are in for a treat!"

Carole revealed that the project has been on her and John's agenda for some time, saying: "When John and I were working on [John's autobiography] Anything Goes, we spent a lot of time together on the Torchwood set.

"In between our storytelling and moments of inspired silliness, we decided we'd like to work on a project together that involved Captain Jack."
The multi-talented John Barrowman will showcase his artistic skills when he pens a comic for the official Torchwood magazine.
The actor, singer, presenter, author, you-name-it-he's-done-it, will write Captain Jack and the Selkie with help from his sister, Carole E. Barrowman, and editor Martin Eden.

"I'm so excited to be working on this story," Eden said. "John and Carole are an absolute pleasure to work with. Believe me, the readers are in for a treat!"

Carole, who also helped John write his autobiography, added: "When John and I were working on Anything Goes, we spent a lot of time together on the Torchwood set."

She added: "In between our storytelling and moments of inspired silliness, we decided we'd like to work on a project together that involved Captain Jack."

Captain Jack and the Selkie will be featured in the March issue of Torchwood: The Official Magazine.


Torchwood To be Broadcast during Summer 09

Michael Jensen of AfterElton.com has revealed tentative plans for the broadcast of the five-part Torchwood miniseries, Torchwood: Children of Earth. Please bear in mind that these comments represent early plans, which may change.

If the report is accurate, it may disappoint some British Torchwood fans, who had been hoping that the miniseries would air in the spring. But the report has good news for American Torchwood fans, who may not have to wait as long as usual to see the latest episodes:
BBC America president Garth Ancier is here in Los Angeles for the Television Critics Association January tour and after he presented panels for BBC America's latest offerings, I had the chance to ask him if he had an air date for Torchwood: Children of Earth on BBCA. He didn't yet have a firm air date as BBC America is waiting for the BBC to finalize their date, but he was fairly certain that it was going to be the first part of this summer, possibly late June or early July.

He also said that not only would BBC America air the five episodes on consecutive nights as they are doing across the pond, but that they would also air in the U.S. the same day as they did in the U.K. meaning American audiences will have almost no lag time in seeing the series. (The U.K. is five hours ahead of the east coast of the U.S meaning the delay should be about that give or take). Ancier said the series might also air in High Definition, a first for BBCA.
The anticipiated third series of Torchwood, Children of Earth, will hit our screens this Summer, according to AfterElton.com.
Michael Jensen claims that, whilst attending the Television Critics Association in LA, he managed to ask the BBC America president Garth Ancier when the miniseries would be transmitted on BBCA.

Ancier told him that although there's no confirmed airdate yet, it's likely that the series will air in America during the Summer - either late June or early July.

However, he added that the episodes will transmit in America on the same day as they do in the UK, meaning that the airdate for British fans will be the same (give or take a few hours).

This news will come as a disappointment for UK fans, who were hoping for a Spring airdate. However, it means that American fans will also get to enjoy the series without having to wait months behind.

Click here to read Jensen's full article, and please bear in mind that these details aren't accurate or confirmed, so there's a chance they might still change after all.


RTD Talks About the First Special
Executive Producer and Head Writer Russell T. Davies reveals that the forthcoming Doctor Who special Planet Of The Dead will serve as an "antidote" to recent adventures.

The departing showrunner told Doctor Who Magazine: "After the events of Journey's End and The Next Doctor I think it's time to get away from the past and have an adventure with lots of new elements. And lots of fun too!

"The next Special should be a nice antidote to Christmas, with a bit of sunshine if we're lucky. And with not one but two alien races that you've never seen before."
The next episode of Doctor Who, Planet of the Dead, will be an "antidote" to past adventures, according to Russell T Davies.
The executive producer told the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine: "After the events of Journey's End and The Next Doctor, I think it's time to get away from the past and have an adventure with lots of new elements. And lots of fun too!"

He added: "The next Special should be a nice antidote to Christmas, with a bit of sunshine if we're lucky. And with not one but two alien races that you've never seen before."

Filming for Planet of the Dead kicks off in Cardiff on Monday (19th January), and it's expected to hit our screens this Easter!


DW DVD Files

This week sees the launch in the UK of a Doctor Who DVD and magazine series, the Doctor Who DVD Files.

Published by GE Fabbri, which also produces Doctor Who Battles in Time, it will be available fortnightly. Every issue comes with a DVD featuring two full-length episodes and a unique pull-apart magazine to form a reference work about the show.

The first issue features Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor as he meets Rose Tyler in the opening episode of the new series, "Rose", then takes her to "The End of the World". Subsequent issues follow the series through in broadcast order as the Doctor and his companions travel the universe, facing monsters such as the Daleks, Slitheen and Cybermen, and villains such as the Editor and Cassandra.

Every DVD comes with a 24-page magazine containing insider information and specially-commissioned artwork. "Because of the way it builds up you'll soon have hundreds of pages of invaluable information," says GE project manager Ben Robinson.

The magazine will feature never-seen-before photographs, exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews, episode guides, profiles of monsters, heroes and villains, new artwork showing classic moments from the show's history and specially created diagrams and cutaways produced by members of the Doctor Who art department.

The first edition is out on January 14.
The brand new magazine, Doctor Who DVD Files, has landed, with issue one out now in newsagents across the United Kingdom!
Each issue of the magazine, which is released every fortnight, comes with a DVD featuring two complete episodes of the new series of Doctor Who (issue 1 kicks off with Rose & The End of the World, issue 2 with The Unquiet Dead & Aliens of London, issue 3 with World War Three & Dalek, etc...), as well as a guide to the episodes, the Doctor's companions, monsters and more!

The collection will consist of 28 issues, the last of which will include Journey's End and The Next Doctor, meaning that if you were to buy every issue, you'd eventually have every single episode from Series 1-4. It's likely that it'll carry on after that once new episodes of Doctor Who are available.

Issue 1 is out now, priced £1.99, and the DVD with it includes Rose and The End of the World. Every issue from now will be released at the RPP of £6.99.

The advert will be posted soon




John scott Martin

The Stage entertainment industry newspaper reports that actor John Scott Martin, veteran of countless roles in over one hundred episodes of the classic series of Doctor Who, died on January the 6th, at the age of eighty-two. His daughter Catriona has penned an obituary piece for the paper, outlining his career.

Martin is best remembered by fans as the main Dalek operator across the twenty-six years of the classic series, but he also played various other monsters opposite the first seven Doctors, and also had occasional more visible roles, such as the dead miner at the start of The Green Death. In 2004, he told BBC News how he would love to play a Dalek again for the new series.

In addition to his Doctor Who work, Martin appeared in BBC series such as Quatermass and the Pit and I, Claudius, as well as in films (including Little Shop of Horrors) and the theatre. In 2004, he appeared as the old man who inherits all of Swansea in the Russell T Davies comedy-drama serial Mine All Mine for ITV1.

And heres the rest:

The New Doctor / Companion:
Daily Star - Doctor Who "race" Battle
Western Mail - Matt's mop has to go
Wired - New Child-Friendly Doctor Who Toys Shrink Daleks, The Doctor
Celebuzz - Is Kelly Brook Set To Star In British Sci-Fi 'Doctor Who'?
Den of Geek - Kelly Brook in line for new Doctor Who assistant?
Easier - Matt Smith is the new Doctor

Digital Spy - Davies promises fresher 'Dr Who' special
"After the events of 'Journey's End' and 'The Next Doctor' I think it's time to get away from the past and have an adventure with lots of new elements. And lots of fun too! The next Special should be a nice antidote to Christmas, with a bit of sunshine if we're lucky. And with not one but two alien races that you've never seen before."

Torchwood:
Digital Spy - Barrowman to write 'Torchwood' comic
Comic Book Resources - Barrowman, Edwards collaborate on Torchwood comic strip
AfterElton - Carole and John Barrowman Write Torchwood Comic
Plus Newsarama, NewsWales, This is Gloucester - All look at Barrowman writing a Torchwood comic
Den of Geek - Torchwood delayed until Summer?
io9 - notes on DWM and Torchwood adversaries

Misc:
Beatles News - Tardis to ride
Daily Record - Virgin on the Ridiculous (Internet auctions)
Telegraph - Green-fingered Doctor Who fans convert Tardis into allotment shed
24dash - Tardis lands in Doctor Who fans' allotment

And finally:
Digital Spy - Tennant stuns kids at Davison's party